He tried to struggle, but couldn't move at all.
The black mist—seemingly possessing its own consciousness—fell into despair. It felt its body twist and distort before its awareness was slowly erased.
Yu Zhou extended one hand, grasping the mass of black mist that had been restrained. With deliberate force, he drew it in, converting it into pure dark energy and channelling it straight into the timer on his chest.
Devour it. Absorb it.
Dark power—something that was nothing short of nourishment to Dark Tiga. The fastest way for him to grow stronger was to consume other sources of darkness!
As the thick, potent dark energy flooded through his body, Yu Zhou exhaled in satisfaction.
It seemed this black mist possessed unusually concentrated dark power. After all, it was a being made entirely of darkness itself—far beyond the likes of ordinary dark monsters.
To Yu Zhou, the dark energy of creatures like Dark Golza or Silvergon wasn't even worth mentioning—it barely scratched the surface.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
Releasing his transformation, Yu Zhou approached the two men who had been thrown aside by the black mist's attack.
Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb hurried over as well.
All four of them felt a surge of respect for the two men who had risked their lives to shield them.
Just moments ago, when they had seen the black mist, fear had been written clearly on those men's faces. Yet despite that, they still charged forward—to buy Yu Zhou and the others time.
Even Camearra, who normally held little affection for the Earth Defence Force, couldn't help but think about how to save these two reckless heroes.
"After being struck by that kind of dark energy… can they still be saved?"
Hudra crouched beside one of the men, regret evident in his voice.
"They're lucky enough not to have been swallowed by the darkness," Yu Zhou sighed. He didn't like seeing this kind of tragedy.
"Wait a second…"
As Yu Zhou glanced down at the unconscious men, something caught his attention.
The moment he spoke, a glow began to shine from both men's chests, surprising everyone—Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb alike.
"This light… what is it?" Darramb asked, wide-eyed with curiosity.
"It's… the Heart of Light!" Yu Zhou said, stunned. He hadn't expected these two Earth Defence Force soldiers to possess such a thing.
If not for that light within them, the black mist's assault would have easily ended their lives.
"The Heart of Light?" Hudra tilted his head in confusion, looking to Yu Zhou for an explanation.
Darramb seemed equally puzzled.
But Camearra, having heard of it before, nodded thoughtfully before speaking:
"The Heart of Light is a rare phenomenon—an inner radiance that exists within certain souls."
"Only those who possess it can truly harness and channel light energy."
"Take the Lord of Fuhuo City, Anmon, for example. He has a Heart of Light—that's how he's able to use the power of light itself."
"I see!" Hudra and Darramb nodded repeatedly, fascinated by this revelation.
Yu Zhou was a little surprised as well. He had known that only people with the Heart of Light could awaken the stone statues of the Giants—like Daigo had done with Ultraman Tiga—but he hadn't realized that the same principle applied to wielding light energy in general.
"So, the Heart of Light is a requirement to command light itself…" he murmured.
"These two must have only just awakened theirs."
Even though he'd only just learned about it, Yu Zhou could tell their Hearts of Light were still faint—like newborn sparks, weak but pure.
That realization gave him a clue about how such hearts might awaken.
Daigo—and now these two—shared one defining trait: in moments of danger, they chose to protect others even at the cost of their own lives.
Of course, this was just a theory. No one truly knew how the Heart of Light was born.
"Their Hearts of Light… are healing them," Yu Zhou observed.
Before their very eyes, the wounds caused by the black mist's impact began to close, bathed in a gentle glow.
Before long, both men were completely healed.
"Let's wait until they wake up," Yu Zhou said quietly.
"Right."
The four stood nearby, watching over the men in silence.
After some time, the glow faded, retreating back into the men's chests. Moments later, both stirred awake.
"I… I'm not dead?" one of them said, sitting up in astonishment. He examined himself and found not a single injury.
The other stood up and threw a few punches through the air—his body not only intact, but stronger than before.
"It must have been you who saved us!" the second man said, turning gratefully toward Yu Zhou and the others.
The first quickly joined him, bowing in thanks.
Yu Zhou waved a hand. "No, not at all. You weren't saved by us. In fact, it's us who should be thanking you—for risking your lives to help."
"Haha, well…" one of the men scratched his head sheepishly. "As members of the Earth Defence Force, that's just part of our duty."
"Exactly," the other nodded. "If we'd just stood there and watched you get attacked, we couldn't have lived with ourselves."
"By the way, let's introduce ourselves," the first said. "My name's Herau."
(T/S note: The original author put Herau as this guy name, for consistency, I won't change it, unless you guys have other opinions)
"And I'm Achilles," said the other.
Hudra and Darramb exchanged glances before smiling. "I'm Hudra," said one.
"And I'm Darramb," said the other.
Camearra added softly, "Camearra."
"Herau… Achilles…" Yu Zhou repeated their names quietly, and then his eyes widened in recognition.
To anyone else, those names might have meant nothing—but to him, they were unmistakable.
Back in the Land of Tiga, within the pyramid that housed the stone statues, there had been two other giants standing beside Tiga's statue—Achilles and Herau.
It was almost certain now: these two men, who had just awakened their Hearts of Light, would one day become the Giants of Light themselves.
Ironically, Yu Zhou still had their stone statues stored away in one of the dimensional bracelets that Hikari had given him for crystal storage.
"Should I… give the statues back to them?" he wondered for a moment.
It would be poetic—returning their forms to their rightful owners.
But then again, it would also create a paradox of sorts.
After a moment's thought, Yu Zhou decided against it.
It was still too early to awaken them as Giants of Light.
He smiled and finally said, "Nice to meet you. My name is Tiga."