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Chapter 258: Frontal Assault
Orin Vale had about ten thousand ways to charge into the royal palace of Deherein and strike at its very heart.
From the sky or from underground, phasing through walls or submersible, ostentatious or silent—all kinds of methods were at his disposal.
However, after some consideration, he chose the most arrogant and most Green Lantern-esque strategy.
A frontal assault.
Just as the lyrics in Master Gao's opening song say, "Sometimes it's a fist, sometimes it's a flower."
Although we advocate for peace, it's undeniable that sometimes a fist is more useful than a flower. If you want someone to communicate with you calmly, showing them your fist first is always helpful.
Fear always accelerates growth.
And that was exactly what Orin Vale was doing now.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
The alarm blared across the capital of Deherein, and all units were mobilized. The defense systems in the royal palace activated immediately.
"Anything on the radar? Number of enemies, their position," a general immediately ordered.
"N-no need for radar, sir." The operator stammered, pointing out the window. "There's only one enemy. You can see his position for yourself."
The general followed his finger, his mouth falling open as his face went slack with utter shock.
The young soldier was right.
There was no need for radar or any detection reports. Direct visual observation was enough, because it was simply impossible to miss.
There was only one enemy, yet he created the sense that their entire city was surrounded.
A colossal giant stood before them, estimated to be at least a hundred meters tall. Red stripes pulsed like the rhythm of life, flowing across his silver, metallic-textured skin. He approached step by step, as if carrying the sky on his head. Each footfall was like a heavy war hammer striking the ground, and the tremor of each step seemed to match the nation's very heartbeat.
"S-Sir?" the operator asked, his voice trembling.
The general finally snapped back to his senses. He retracted his gaze, not daring to look out the window again. The giant's immense form seemed to exude a kind of oppression on a biological level. Merely looking at him was enough to shake one's soul and make breathing difficult.
"Attack... Attack!" the general roared. "All units, open fire, attack!"
The firepower from Apokolips's technology was their final resort. They had already witnessed what these weapons could do; almost any material on Earth was as fragile as butter before these extraterrestrial weapons. Until now, they had never seen anything they couldn't vaporize.
But now, they had.
The giant bathed in a curtain of light and heat, allowing all sorts of powerful impacts and explosions to wash over his red-and-silver body. The ground at his feet constantly erupted, and flames and black smoke dozens of meters high shot into the sky. The energy and fire, powerful enough to melt an aircraft carrier, licked at his body but seemed to do no more than give him a photon skin treatment. He didn't even seem to feel it.
Even the terrifying momentum carried by tons of ammunition was like a stone sinking into the sea when it struck that body. No amount of firepower seemed to do anything more than pour into a bottomless pit; they couldn't even get any feedback from the hits.
The general was stunned into a stupor.
What kind of monster was this?
Even if Superman took a saturation bombardment like this, he'd at least tumble a few times and smash through a few buildings, right?
How could he act as if he felt nothing at all?
Then, under the gazes of countless trembling eyes, Ultraman slowly raised his right hand. A light seemed to flash in his round eyes, and the rhythm of light traveled along the stripes on his body, gathering in his raised hand.
Among the senior Ultramen, there was the Showa Mage-King, Ace, followed by the Heisei Mage-King, Tiga. A battle involving a Mage-King type Ultraman probably looked something like this.
Monster: You're f*cking cheating! You never had this move in the TV show. You're making it up on the spot, aren't you?
Tiga: Yeah, just made it up. Is there a problem?
Monster: N-no, just asking. Have you eaten?
...
For their Human Hosts, it was probably a case of "You just strike a pose, and it's my fault if a skill doesn't come out."
Though it was a joke, there was some truth to it. An Ultraman's skills didn't necessarily have to be specific moves learned through training. For a warrior with sufficient skill and a deep enough level of understanding, skills could indeed be created on the spot. It was nothing more than deriving variations based on the knowledge of major categories they had already learned, such as damage, control, and purification techniques.
This was somewhat similar to a grandmaster in a wuxia story creating their own martial arts once their realm was high enough. When Orin Vale had first transmigrated, he didn't have this ability. He could only mechanically use the skills from the textbooks he had studied in the Land of Light. Creating his own moves was too much to ask of a fresh graduate.
However, after so much experience and daily, round-the-clock research, especially through his study of the Emotional Spectrum and its principles of "the manifestation and form-changing of Light," his understanding had deepened considerably. His use of light had become much more flexible and effortless.
For example, this move he was using now was something he had just whipped up on the spot.
Everyone watched as the giant raised his hand and flung an Orb of Light straight into the clouds. It blasted through the atmosphere, leaving a massive hole in the sky, and vanished from sight.
But two seconds later, it came right back down.
It had transformed into a vast, dense Light Rain!
The general's jaw dropped as he stared in shock at the screen-clearing curtain of light that rained down.
It looked exactly like an entire interstellar fleet was bombarding the ground positions!
And this giant had done it with just a casual flick of his hand...
"Take cover! Take cover!" the general screamed.
The firepower bombarded their defensive positions. The Apokoliptian equipment, which had once been so imperious, now lost all its might in the face of the devastating, all-encompassing Light Rain. With a single move, the defensive line was torn apart. The non-stop explosions ignited a continuous chain of flames, with the momentum of a fire sweeping through linked camps.
Orin Vale casually tossed out another Light Wheel. The spinning, serrated light wheel split into eight in mid-air, flying across the battlefield like eight sprites of light.
The giant walked into the encampment at a slow pace, as if strolling through a garden. The Light Wheels, trailing eight magnificent trajectories, crisscrossed and zipped around him, continuously slicing mecha war vehicles and heavy energy cannons in two. The Light Rain continued to detonate all around, causing explosion after explosion.
Orin Vale's pace never faltered. He walked right in from the front, unhurriedly, leaving a scene of chaos and devastation behind him.
Inside the royal palace, Steppenwolf's expression grew increasingly grim as he watched the scene outside.
"I have just calculated our chances of victory against the target outside, 'Ultraman,' based on his power level and performance."
The Madman popped up at his side again, holding a complex device that looked like a calculator and tapping away at it for a long time.
Then he looked up and stated seriously to Steppenwolf, "According to my meticulous calculations, if we round things up, our chances of winning are approximately... non-existent."
A muscle twitched on Steppenwolf's cold face. His hand rested on his battle-ax, looking as if he could no longer hold back.
But then the Madman's tone shifted again.
"However! I anticipated this situation. I prepared countermeasures for the Martians and the Kryptonians. Did you really think I would be completely unprepared for this Ultraman on Earth?"
The corners of the Madman's mouth curled up into a ferocious grin.
"There are always some things in this world that not even light can escape."
(end of chapter)
Orin Vale had about ten thousand ways to charge into the royal palace of Deherein and strike at its very heart.
From the sky or from underground, phasing through walls or submersible, ostentatious or silent—all kinds of methods were at his disposal.
However, after some consideration, he chose the most arrogant and most Green Lantern-esque strategy.
A frontal assault.
Just as the lyrics in Master Gao's opening song say, "Sometimes it's a fist, sometimes it's a flower."
Although we advocate for peace, it's undeniable that sometimes a fist is more useful than a flower. If you want someone to communicate with you calmly, showing them your fist first is always helpful.
Fear always accelerates growth.
And that was exactly what Orin Vale was doing now.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
The alarm blared across the capital of Deherein, and all units were mobilized. The defense systems in the royal palace activated immediately.
"Anything on the radar? Number of enemies, their position," a general immediately ordered.
"N-no need for radar, sir." The operator stammered, pointing out the window. "There's only one enemy. You can see his position for yourself."
The general followed his finger, his mouth falling open as his face went slack with utter shock.
The young soldier was right.
There was no need for radar or any detection reports. Direct visual observation was enough, because it was simply impossible to miss.
There was only one enemy, yet he created the sense that their entire city was surrounded.
A colossal giant stood before them, estimated to be at least a hundred meters tall. Red stripes pulsed like the rhythm of life, flowing across his silver, metallic-textured skin. He approached step by step, as if carrying the sky on his head. Each footfall was like a heavy war hammer striking the ground, and the tremor of each step seemed to match the nation's very heartbeat.
"S-Sir?" the operator asked, his voice trembling.
The general finally snapped back to his senses. He retracted his gaze, not daring to look out the window again. The giant's immense form seemed to exude a kind of oppression on a biological level. Merely looking at him was enough to shake one's soul and make breathing difficult.
"Attack... Attack!" the general roared. "All units, open fire, attack!"
The firepower from Apokolips's technology was their final resort. They had already witnessed what these weapons could do; almost any material on Earth was as fragile as butter before these extraterrestrial weapons. Until now, they had never seen anything they couldn't vaporize.
But now, they had.
The giant bathed in a curtain of light and heat, allowing all sorts of powerful impacts and explosions to wash over his red-and-silver body. The ground at his feet constantly erupted, and flames and black smoke dozens of meters high shot into the sky. The energy and fire, powerful enough to melt an aircraft carrier, licked at his body but seemed to do no more than give him a photon skin treatment. He didn't even seem to feel it.
Even the terrifying momentum carried by tons of ammunition was like a stone sinking into the sea when it struck that body. No amount of firepower seemed to do anything more than pour into a bottomless pit; they couldn't even get any feedback from the hits.
The general was stunned into a stupor.
What kind of monster was this?
Even if Superman took a saturation bombardment like this, he'd at least tumble a few times and smash through a few buildings, right?
How could he act as if he felt nothing at all?
Then, under the gazes of countless trembling eyes, Ultraman slowly raised his right hand. A light seemed to flash in his round eyes, and the rhythm of light traveled along the stripes on his body, gathering in his raised hand.
Among the senior Ultramen, there was the Showa Mage-King, Ace, followed by the Heisei Mage-King, Tiga. A battle involving a Mage-King type Ultraman probably looked something like this.
Monster: You're f*cking cheating! You never had this move in the TV show. You're making it up on the spot, aren't you?
Tiga: Yeah, just made it up. Is there a problem?
Monster: N-no, just asking. Have you eaten?
...
For their Human Hosts, it was probably a case of "You just strike a pose, and it's my fault if a skill doesn't come out."
Though it was a joke, there was some truth to it. An Ultraman's skills didn't necessarily have to be specific moves learned through training. For a warrior with sufficient skill and a deep enough level of understanding, skills could indeed be created on the spot. It was nothing more than deriving variations based on the knowledge of major categories they had already learned, such as damage, control, and purification techniques.
This was somewhat similar to a grandmaster in a wuxia story creating their own martial arts once their realm was high enough. When Orin Vale had first transmigrated, he didn't have this ability. He could only mechanically use the skills from the textbooks he had studied in the Land of Light. Creating his own moves was too much to ask of a fresh graduate.
However, after so much experience and daily, round-the-clock research, especially through his study of the Emotional Spectrum and its principles of "the manifestation and form-changing of Light," his understanding had deepened considerably. His use of light had become much more flexible and effortless.
For example, this move he was using now was something he had just whipped up on the spot.
Everyone watched as the giant raised his hand and flung an Orb of Light straight into the clouds. It blasted through the atmosphere, leaving a massive hole in the sky, and vanished from sight.
But two seconds later, it came right back down.
It had transformed into a vast, dense Light Rain!
The general's jaw dropped as he stared in shock at the screen-clearing curtain of light that rained down.
It looked exactly like an entire interstellar fleet was bombarding the ground positions!
And this giant had done it with just a casual flick of his hand...
"Take cover! Take cover!" the general screamed.
The firepower bombarded their defensive positions. The Apokoliptian equipment, which had once been so imperious, now lost all its might in the face of the devastating, all-encompassing Light Rain. With a single move, the defensive line was torn apart. The non-stop explosions ignited a continuous chain of flames, with the momentum of a fire sweeping through linked camps.
Orin Vale casually tossed out another Light Wheel. The spinning, serrated light wheel split into eight in mid-air, flying across the battlefield like eight sprites of light.
The giant walked into the encampment at a slow pace, as if strolling through a garden. The Light Wheels, trailing eight magnificent trajectories, crisscrossed and zipped around him, continuously slicing mecha war vehicles and heavy energy cannons in two. The Light Rain continued to detonate all around, causing explosion after explosion.
Orin Vale's pace never faltered. He walked right in from the front, unhurriedly, leaving a scene of chaos and devastation behind him.
Inside the royal palace, Steppenwolf's expression grew increasingly grim as he watched the scene outside.
"I have just calculated our chances of victory against the target outside, 'Ultraman,' based on his power level and performance."
The Madman popped up at his side again, holding a complex device that looked like a calculator and tapping away at it for a long time.
Then he looked up and stated seriously to Steppenwolf, "According to my meticulous calculations, if we round things up, our chances of winning are approximately... non-existent."
A muscle twitched on Steppenwolf's cold face. His hand rested on his battle-ax, looking as if he could no longer hold back.
But then the Madman's tone shifted again.
"However! I anticipated this situation. I prepared countermeasures for the Martians and the Kryptonians. Did you really think I would be completely unprepared for this Ultraman on Earth?"
The corners of the Madman's mouth curled up into a ferocious grin.
"There are always some things in this world that not even light can escape."
(end of chapter)
