"Tiga, spare me!"
Dada's voice came from inside the mechanical monster, begging Yu Zhou for mercy.
"Spare you? Why should I?"
Yu Zhou hadn't forgotten—this guy had just exchanged blows with his Sky Type form, gained a slight upper hand, and immediately tried to kill him.
And now he was begging for mercy? Did he really think Yu Zhou was some soft persimmon?
Without wasting another word, Yu Zhou unleashed a Delacium Light Stream, blasting it straight at the already-sparking mechanical monster.
In the original storyline, the mechanical monster controlled by Dada was destroyed by Zaigorg, unleashed by Fukude Kei.
But now, even Zaigorg was no match for Yu Zhou—naturally, Dada's machine was even less of a threat.
As for why Zero originally struggled against it? Most likely it was because his body hadn't fully healed. But this time, things were different.
Zero's wounds had already been cured earlier by the little monster that carried the Cosmos capsule. If Zero faced this mechanical beast now, he'd have no problem at all.
The Delacium Light Stream hit dead-on, detonating on the lunar surface with a thunderous blast. The mechanical monster was blown to pieces, and Dada inside was reduced to ash as well.
Yu Zhou didn't bother worrying about whether Dada might revive again—if he did, Yu Zhou would just kill him once more.
After the fight, silence returned to space. From the far side of the moon, a streak of dark-red light quietly emerged, darting toward Earth.
…
Wrapped in light, Yu Zhou returned to the surface. The first thing he saw was Riku and the others.
"How did it go, Yu Zhou? Did you finish that monster off?"
Riku ran up the moment Yu Zhou landed, asking quickly.
He had seen the striped, zebra-like mechanical monster earlier.
He had been about to transform and deal with it himself—but when Yu Zhou stepped in, he held back.
Who would have thought the monster was bold enough to attack Yu Zhou's home, only to turn tail and flee once Yu Zhou transformed into Tiga?
"That mechanical beast was being piloted by Dada—the alien who once tried to target Aili before I stopped him," Yu Zhou explained. "This time he came seeking revenge."
"So that's what happened…"
Laiha recalled their first meeting with Yu Zhou—in the shopkeeper's warehouse, when she had mistaken him for some kind of beast and fought him on the spot.
It was only later that she learned Yu Zhou had actually saved Aili from Dada.
Just then, Yu Zhou's phone rang. It was Zenna.
"I heard from our AIB members that a monster showed up near your home. How's the situation?" Zenna's voice came through the line.
"Nothing big. It's already dealt with," Yu Zhou replied. "You didn't call just for that, did you?"
"Of course not. We've found Fukude Kei."
Soon after, Yu Zhou, Riku, and Laiha arrived at Zenna's location via the elevator of Nebula House.
"Where is he? Where's Kei?"
Yu Zhou looked around, but saw no trace of the man.
"He ran."
Zenna answered helplessly.
"Ran?!" Yu Zhou stared in disbelief. "You AIB agents were all here, and you let one Fukude Kei slip away?"
"He turned a corner, and when we chased after, he was gone," Zenna explained. "On the other side was an outdoor café, where a woman was sitting. We asked her, and she pointed us in a direction—but when we followed it, there was nothing."
"And you just believed her?!"
Yu Zhou felt like smacking him. Zenna was usually sharp, but today he seemed ridiculously naive.
Without another word, Yu Zhou rushed toward the corner. Riku and Laiha quickly followed.
Sure enough, there was an outdoor café there. A single woman sat quietly, focused on her laptop.
Yu Zhou's expression grew grim—he recognized her from the original storyline.
Her name was Arie Ishikari, a documentary novelist—not very famous.
More importantly, in the original story, when Belial was destroyed by Geed, his spirit possessed this very woman.
She was unaware of it, just as Zero's human host had once been oblivious to his presence.
Yu Zhou guessed Belial chose her because of the strong darkness in her heart.
In the story, Arie had even helped Fukude Kei steal the capsules of the Alien Emperor and Dark Lugiel, and declared her intent to destroy the world with him.
"If Belial intends to hide on Earth again, could it be that he'll possess this woman once more?"
Yu Zhou studied her carefully, thinking aloud.
"…Why are you staring at me like that? What do you want?"
Arie noticed his intense gaze and grew nervous.
"What do we want?" Yu Zhou raised an eyebrow. "Where's the man who just passed by here?"
"He… ran that way." She pointed.
"Really now?"
Yu Zhou crouched suddenly, pulling up the tablecloth beside her skirt.
"W-what are you doing?!" she cried in alarm.
"Yu Zhou, what are you—?!"
Riku froze, confused. Did Yu Zhou really just want to harass her?
"No, Yu Zhou wouldn't do that," Laiha said firmly, sword at the ready. She trusted him.
Sure enough, with a swish, the tablecloth flew up—and beneath the table, a gray-faced, trembling man was crouched.
"Fukude Kei!"
Everyone was stunned. He had been hiding there all along!
Arie quickly bolted from her seat and ran.
"Zenna, have someone keep an eye on that woman," Yu Zhou ordered. He didn't chase her—Belial hadn't been destroyed in this timeline, so there was no reason for him to have possessed her yet.
Still, precautions had to be taken.
Zenna nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, Laiha drew her sword and pressed it against Kei's neck, eyes burning with hatred.
She desperately wanted to cut him down—but the King of Ultra had forbidden it, saying Kei's knowledge still had value.
Kei crawled out from under the table, shaking, and collapsed in a faint.
Yu Zhou noticed a flickering glow of blue energy pulsing from Kei's chest.
"This must be the Strum Alien's phase-reversal organ."
In the original story, Kei had been badly wounded by its energy backlash, but he hadn't fainted like this.
"Maybe it's because back then, he only used six Ultra Capsules to convert energy. Now he's forced in ten—and his body simply couldn't handle it."
Yu Zhou thought for a moment and nodded at the conclusion.
"What do we do now?" Riku asked, unsure.
"Zenna, let us take custody of Fukude Kei."
"No problem," Zenna replied. "But make sure he doesn't escape again."
"Don't worry."
Yu Zhou intended to try something—perhaps he could convince Kei to change his mind, maybe even awaken a desire to restore Belial.
"If only I had the power of persuasion like those anime protagonists…" Yu Zhou muttered.
He summoned the Nebula House elevator, and with Riku's help, carried Fukude Kei inside—before calling Leito to come meet them there.