Afraid?
Of course there was fear—but more than that, he worried about what would happen to the people of the village town after his death.
As for terror—wanting to run away alone and the like—such a notion never even entered Uncle Nine's mind.
To abandon the people because of fear, to abandon the extermination of demons—such a person was not worthy of being called a Daoist, and would betray the teachings of Maoshan.
In his eyes, to die at the hands of demons in order to protect the people was the greatest honor for a Daoist who exorcised demons and upheld the Way!
Even if, after death, his soul went to the underworld and he saw the Maoshan elders and the patriarch, he could respectfully say: this disciple has not failed Maoshan, and has not failed the people.
"It seems the Child of Destiny of this world is only this strong."
"To possess such strength in an age approaching the end of spiritual energy is indeed not bad—but still too weak, truly too weak."
"So weak it doesn't even stir in me the interest to fight."
In the sky above, on a throne forged of dry bones and wreathed in a nether aura, a figure of inhuman beauty and eerie allure looked down on Uncle Nine's battle below. In his eyes, pure and translucent like rubies, a trace of boredom showed.
"Though his strength is too meager to rouse my fighting spirit, this Child of Destiny seems… familiar."
"In that fellow's memories, there seemed to be information about him… Forget it. Merely a weak soul with decent luck—trash who, at the moment of death, somehow earned the favor of a [Rule-class Item], carrying his soul across to the demon realm."
"If I hadn't crushed and devoured him in our soul-struggle, I might well have been possessed instead."
"But precisely because of that, I was able to bind with the [Rule-class Item] and come to this world."
"Demon Ancestor, Demon Ancestor—back then, you crushed me and took everything from me."
"In the future, I will return it all a hundredfold, a thousandfold, ten thousandfold!"
At this point, endless killing intent flashed in Morong's eyes.
He turned his gaze upon Uncle Nine, who still struggled to protect the people. His pupils went glacially cold. Extending his index finger, he slowly gathered a faint black sphere. He no longer felt like playing.
"Boom!"
At a thought, a black beam pierced space and lanced straight toward Uncle Nine below.
Uncle Nine's face changed. He looked up at the sky; the threat of death filled his heart.
The demons and fiends around him also sensed their king's attack. One by one they crouched low upon the ground, their bodies trembling without cease.
"Is this the end…"
Uncle Nine let out a breath. In the end, he still hadn't waited long enough for their support to arrive.
He had never understood what the group owner meant when she said the chat group was so "trashy." Now, he felt he understood a little.
"Bang!"
In that instant, it was as if heaven and earth fell into a pause.
Within the night, endless radiance blossomed in a single moment, illuminating heaven and earth. The night that had been shrouded in darkness suddenly shone as bright as day.
Light—dazzling light!
"Rumble—!"
Along with the light came a violent explosion. Morong watched with amusement as the radiance filled the world, paying not the slightest attention to the destruction on the ground wrought by his own attack.
No voice reached his ear from that fellow. Clearly, the Child of Destiny had been rescued.
He didn't mind. The child would die by his hand sooner or later. It was only a matter of time.
Compared to that weak Child of Destiny, he was far more curious to know what existence had caused this light before his eyes.
When the radiance faded, a colossal giant—dozens of meters tall, clad in bands of blue, red, and silver—stood between heaven and earth, with a green, gem-like transparent crystal set into its chest.
"This is… Ultraman Tiga?"
At the sight of the giant, memories belonging to the transmigrator he had devoured suddenly leapt forth in Morong's mind.
Obviously, compared to the Child of Destiny of this world, the other party's memories of this giant were far deeper—and in that transmigrator's memories, this giant was a character from a tokusatsu series.
"Interesting! Truly interesting!"
After a brief daze, Morong suddenly laughed aloud, excitement blazing through him.
Since it did not belong to this world, there must be a reason for its appearance here. The other party must be, like him, someone favored by a [Rule-class Item].
Thus he could cross into this world.
Wasn't that something worth delighting in?
As for Ultraman Tiga's power, he had some understanding from those memories. Judging by its presentation, it was as strong as a god to ordinary humans, but to him, it was not a powerhouse that inspired fear.
What deserved attention was merely that an Ultraman's combat strength was "mind-over-matter."
A power clearly established could, for some reason, suddenly become stronger—terrifyingly stronger, even.
But such things only happened in a world that belonged to Ultraman. In this world, he could only exert the strength he ought to possess.
However, what came next made Morong frown.
In his sight, besides Tiga, another being appeared—a tall creature with the muscular body of a man and the head of a dragon, a dragon's tail stretching behind him. In his hand he was carrying this world's Child of Destiny.
A dense healing power burst from that hand, treating the Child of Destiny, whose condition was anything but good.
"Another figure from a different world?"
"One of the Eight Demon Sorcerers, the Demon of Fire—Holy Lord."
"The power of the Twelve Talismans."
The smile at Morong's lips grew brighter. From the transmigrator's memories he also knew of the Holy Lord's strength—the power of flame and of the Twelve Zodiac Talismans.
Turning stillness to motion, eternal life and undying…
Good. Truly good!
Once he integrated these abilities himself, wouldn't he become even stronger?
Though the battle had yet to start, he already regarded the Holy Lord's power as his own.
A demon repeatedly toyed with by the weak—he did not believe such a being could threaten him.
Meanwhile, Tiga took no notice of Morong's gaze. He simply spread his hands, and a vast tide of light particles surged toward the horde of fiends.
Amid screams and wails, in just a few moments, those fiends dissipated within the light.
The Holy Lord, for his part, tossed the fully healed Uncle Nine—restored by the Horse Talisman—to the ground.
"You and he… are very similar."
In truth, they had long since arrived. When Uncle Nine had been laying out the formation in the village town, they had deliberately chosen to observe his strength, and so had not appeared—watching from behind instead.
Naturally, they also saw how Uncle Nine alone had stood in the way of the fiends for those common folk.
In that fearless, unflinching figure, the Holy Lord seemed to glimpse the shadow of "Lo Pei."
This was not praise; the Holy Lord would never truly praise someone, and in his eyes "Lo Pei" was no positive term. He merely felt so, simply and plainly.
(End of this chapter)