High above the city, a sacred, pristine angel hung suspended in the air.
Below, countless humans knelt in worship. Some held angel dolls, while others wore golden angel halos, continuously offering prayers to the heavenly being.
Mitsuo Itabashi and Beniko Oda stood atop a high-rise building, overlooking the scene below with immense satisfaction.
"The numbers are almost sufficient. We can prepare to open the gate to hell."
Beniko Oda nodded slightly in agreement.
Mitsuo Itabashi rose slowly into the air, flying right up to the angel and gazing down at the gathered throng.
"The day of final judgment has finally arrived. Unless the true demon is eradicated, humanity is doomed to destruction."
"The angel will soon descend in all its glory to vanquish the demon for you."
"And that demon is none other than Ultraman."
Mitsuo Itabashi's booming voice not only reached the ears of everyone present at the scene but was also broadcast live to every corner of the world.
Silence fell over the crowd as everyone processed what he had just said.
Then, someone in the crowd shouted the word "demon," and instantly, the entire assembly joined in, screaming and cursing in a frenzy.
At that exact moment, the entire GUTS team swung into action.
The roar of aircraft tearing through the sky signaled the start of the battle.
Watching Guts Wing 2 fly overhead, the crowd grew even more incensed, shouting insults at the top of their lungs.
Rena didn't hesitate for a second. She directly fired a massive sonic wave missile into the crowd.
In an instant, half the people on the ground clutched their ears, their bodies flickering violently.
Normal humans who had moments before been worried about their family and friends now watched as those same people gradually revealed the true, grotesque forms of the Gijera.
How could anyone still fail to understand what was going on?
The crowd broke into total chaos, fleeing in all directions in complete disorder.
Seeing this, Mitsuo Itabashi was overcome with rage. Transforming directly into his Gijera Form II, he unleashed a fireball straight at Guts Wing 2.
Fortunately, with Rena at the controls, Guts Wing 2 managed to evade the attack by a hair's breadth.
However, freed from the suppression of the sonic wave missiles, the minor Gijera on the ground all recovered their composure. They scattered wildly into the surrounding crowds, attempting to blend in and conceal their identities.
"JUUUUU!"
A green beam of light lanced straight into the back of a Gijera.
With a violent explosion of sparks, the creature collapsed to the ground, completely incapacitated.
Daigo stepped hard on the accelerator, weaving at high speed through the midst of the Gijera.
While Shinjo's piloting skills left much to be desired, his marksmanship was flawless. Every single shot hit its fleeing target dead center.
Whenever a few Gijera attempted to counterattack, Shinjo simply snatched the Hyper Gun from Daigo's waist and subdued them with a single sonic wave blast.
Yet, to everyone's surprise, Mitsuo Itabashi, towering over the city, didn't fly into a rage as he had before.
Instead, he let out a chilling, sinister laugh.
"Heh heh heh, foolish humans. Behold the true form of a god!"
With a sweep of his arms, all the fallen minor Gijera on the ground dissolved into streams of energy that surged directly into his body.
In a flash, razor-sharp spikes sprouted from Gijera Form II's arms. The exposed heart on his chest was gradually encased, replaced by a sleek, form-fitting suit of bone armor.
The third-generation Gijera had arrived.
An overwhelming wave of pressure caused everyone at the scene to unconsciously swallow hard.
Glancing down to admire his new physique, Mitsuo Itabashi smiled hideously.
"Ga... Gaia, or whatever. Whatever, never mind."
A dark red figure suddenly materialized out of thin air, delivering a fierce flying kick straight to the smug face of the third-generation Gijera.
Landing steadily, Darram could not help but remark, "No wonder that brat likes this move so much. It really is effective."
On the rooftop, Beniko Oda's eyebrows twitched involuntarily. Her face burned as if she had just been slapped.
Still, she was certain this wasn't that obnoxious punk from before.
Although this giant's movements were quite standard, Beniko Oda felt something was still lacking.
The sent-flying third-generation Gijera executed two and a half mid-air twists, followed by a handspring, and landed smoothly on his feet.
As he got a clear look at Darram's face, the monster looked puzzled.
"Who the hell are you?"
Too lazy to answer, Darram cracked his knuckles against his palm, slowly walking toward his opponent one step at a time.
"My friend, let's have a hearty, bruising brawl."
From the rooftop, Beniko Oda watched the battle between Darram and the third-generation Gijera without blinking.
Darram was clearly outmatched, struggling with all his might just to fend off the monster's relentless onslaught.
Suddenly, Beniko Oda sensed something amiss and threw herself sideways.
*SWOOSH!*
A whip of light lashed down right where she had been standing, shattering the concrete into pieces.
"You damned woman, wasn't last time's lesson enough? You actually dare come looking for trouble again."
Camilla shrugged indifferently.
"I felt like it. None of your business."
Seeing Camilla's nonchalant attitude, Beniko Oda finally snapped.
"What are you acting so high and mighty for? Do you really think you can win this time? You stinking bi—"
Before she could finish the last word, the familiar sensation struck her.
"Gaia!"
*THUD!*
Yin Xi's foot landed squarely on Beniko Oda's face, kicking her right off the edge of the building.
Naturally, neither of them believed that would be enough to finish her off.
Beniko Oda, transformed into Gijera Form II, reappeared in front of the building.
Yin Xi could even spot the imprint of his boot still stamped on her face.
Behind him, Camilla raised her Camilla Spark Lens.
A flash of black-and-gold light violently forced Gijera Form II back.
Elsewhere, Darram was dodging the third-generation Gijera's attacks in a rather disheveled state.
Seeing this, the monster couldn't resist a taunt.
After dodging a few more strikes, Darram stopped running. He stood frozen in place, utterly silent.
"Yo, why aren't you running? Tired of it?"
Darram let out a scornful chuckle and began gathering his ultimate attack.
Though momentarily surprised, the third-generation Gijera prepared to unleash his own finisher.
Just as he raised his arm, countless thin, blue-purple rays of light burst upward from the ground, binding him tightly and rendering him completely immobile.
Panic flashed across the monster's face.
From across the way, Darram's mocking voice drifted over.
"Why aren't you moving? Don't you like to move?"
With that, he unleashed his fully charged ultimate attack, slamming it squarely into the third-generation Gijera.
In an instant, thick smoke billowed everywhere.
Hudra removed his disguise and stepped up beside Darram, narrowing his eyes as he tried to pierce through the heavy smoke.
*Crack, crack, crack.*
A crisp, shattering sound reached their ears.
First to emerge from the haze was an object resembling a heart, glowing with an orange-red light.
That was followed by a pair of massive wings.
As the wings flapped, the dust cleared away, revealing the monster within.
The armor on the third-generation Gijera's chest was completely shattered, replaced by a physique even more muscular and robust than before. A pair of bat-like wings now protruded from his back.
The monster slowly rotated his neck, making a series of cracking noises.
"Both of you are truly dead meat."
Down on the ground, Daigo, who had assumed he wouldn't even need to step in, widened his eyes in disbelief.
The power displayed by the third-generation Gijera was simply too immense.
He and Shinjo had become separated a while ago.
Noticing there was no one around, Daigo hesitated no longer.
He pulled the Spark Lens from inside his jacket and raised it high above his head. The brilliant light of the Spark Lens enveloped his entire body.
Tiga entered the battle.