The crimson eyes of Golza flared violently when it spotted a dark-coloured giant suddenly appear before it.
It had been restless without a target, but now that something stood within its sight, Golza instantly went berserk—its instincts taking over.
Roaring like a mad gorilla, it beat its chest with both arms before raising its head to bellow.
"Rooo—glug glug glug…"
Before it could even finish its roar, seawater rushed into its mouth.
Yu Zhou froze for a moment, utterly dumbfounded.
"You… you're a land monster. What the heck are you doing in the ocean?"
He couldn't help but feel exasperated at Golza's self-destructive behaviour.
The lumbering creature staggered clumsily toward him through the water; its movements unsteady due to the resistance of the sea.
Yu Zhou sighed and slowly lowered his fighting stance.
"This doesn't even feel fair anymore."
Golza seemed to realize its own movement disadvantage underwater. It stopped advancing and began to charge energy in its chest, readying an attack.
The flame-like markings on its chest began to glow—but suddenly, countless bubbles burst from that very spot.
Yu Zhou's eyes narrowed. The "flames" on Golza's chest had been snuffed out by seawater.
Golza froze and looked down at its chest in confusion—its reaction almost… human.
"Buddy, how about we just stop here? I'll let you go for today," Yu Zhou said, waving his hand dismissively.
Unfortunately, Golza misunderstood the gesture as a provocation.
With a furious growl, it curled its massive body into a ball and rolled toward Yu Zhou, cutting through the water like a boulder.
Bang!
Yu Zhou crossed his arms in front of him and caught the impact head-on, halting Golza's advance with ease. Then, with a swift kick, he sent the creature flying backward—though due to the ocean's resistance, it didn't travel far before stopping.
Boom!
Golza unfolded from its curled form and stomped hard against the seabed. Cracks spread beneath its feet, and lava erupted from below.
The markings on its chest reignited, burning brightly as it absorbed the magma's energy through its legs, replenishing its power.
At the same time, red energy began to gather on its forehead, preparing to fire a heat ray.
"Oh? So that's how it works?"
Yu Zhou raised an eyebrow, intrigued. He gathered dark energy in his hands, forming the Dark Zeperion Ray, ready to meet the attack head-on.
Golza's red beam fired at the same instant Yu Zhou released his black beam.
Swish! Swish!
The two beams collided mid-water, one red and one black, releasing immense heat where they clashed—boiling the surrounding seawater.
But soon, the black ray overwhelmed the red, swallowing it whole before crashing directly into Golza's chest.
"…That's it?"
Yu Zhou looked unimpressed. He had expected the darkened Flame Golza to be far stronger.
However, the creature was not destroyed. The markings on its chest twisted and rippled, absorbing Yu Zhou's beam completely.
The black energy merged into its body, and the dark lines across its hide deepened in colour.
"Well, now. You actually managed to absorb one of my casual attacks."
Yu Zhou smiled faintly. He hadn't used much of his true power—had he gone all out, Golza would have been vaporized. But still, the monster's ability to absorb even a fraction of his darkness was commendable.
"Golza just absorbed Tiga's light beam!"
The Earth Defence Force members watching from their ships were shocked.
Even Cain and Captain Yuzare were stunned.
Previously, every time Tiga appeared, he had obliterated his enemies effortlessly. This was the first time a monster had survived his attack.
"Do you think Tiga's in danger?" one member asked anxiously.
"No," another replied, "look at him—he's completely calm. He even seems… pleased?"
Indeed, Tiga—Yu Zhou—wasn't panicking at all. He nodded in approval toward Golza, as though satisfied with what he saw.
"Master, what are you up to now…" Cain muttered, scratching his head in confusion.
Then, they saw it.
In Tiga's hand appeared a black iron rod, glowing faintly with purple spiralling energy that expanded outward, wrapping around the monstrous Golza.
In mere seconds, the raging creature was engulfed by the swirling light—and then, it vanished.
The purple energy recoiled into the iron rod.
"This Golza," Yu Zhou said with a satisfied smile, "is mine now."
He looked at the Giga Battlenizer in his hand. Inside one of its small compartments, the Dark Golza was roaring and thrashing in miniature form.
It was his first time capturing a monster—not through a Charija Capsule, but through the Battle Device itself. And it worked perfectly.
"Being able to subdue and control monsters like this… it must be because I absorbed the dark energy that once resided within Belial's body," Yu Zhou mused.
Even back when he'd lost consciousness, he remembered that moment clearly—how he had forcibly absorbed the darkness of the Reiblood soul instead of being possessed by it.
That power now resided fully within him.
"And this ability…" he thought with a smirk, "isn't bad at all."
He imagined using the Battle Device to collect the remaining rampaging monsters across Earth. It would be far more efficient than simply destroying them one by one—even if Nagano and White Belial were already cleaning up most of them.
"Tiga just captured a monster?"
The EDF members were utterly dumbfounded.
"He… stored that gigantic creature into a stick?"
"What's he going to do with it? Keep it as a pet?"
"I didn't even know monsters could be caught like that!"
Meanwhile, Cain whispered in awe, "To capture and tame monsters… That's actually possible?"
Even Yuzare narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.
"To claim the darkness as one's own…" she murmured, watching Tiga disappear into his ship, "Perhaps… darkness can indeed be used for good."
Yu Zhou released his transformation and returned to his craft. Though the dark stone hadn't led to the origin of darkness, he was satisfied.
Capturing a Dark Golza was quite the reward.
"Golza, Melba…" he muttered, thinking aloud. "If I can eventually capture Super C.O.V., Gan-Q, and Reicubas… wouldn't that make a full Five King fusion?"
Then, he grinned.
"Or maybe… I should just go straight for Five King itself. That'd be faster."