Dark Lucifer
"Impressive, the Porter's apprentice really knows how to craft hidden masterminds!" Daniel thought to himself as he reached this part of the story.
In last week's Naruto chapter, the Porter had pulled off a plot twist by revealing that Black Zetsu, who had always been believed to be Uchiha Madara's loyal servant, was actually the embodiment of Kaguya's will. No one had seen that coming!
And now, Nexus was delivering a similar surprise.
In Ren's writing, Ishibori had always been portrayed as a great guy in the Night Raiders—kind, respectful, and always helping out other members of the team. He had especially looked out for Saijo, earning her trust and admiration. In fact, it was even hinted that Saijo had developed some feelings for him.
But now, it turned out that this very man, the one Saijo had feelings for, was the same person who had killed her parents?
If Daniel were in Saijo's shoes, he'd want to tear Ishibori apart!
Sure enough...
As Ishibori continued to reveal his dark schemes, Saijo's expression grew more and more twisted.
Her hatred was consuming her.
"You... you monster! Die!" Saijo screamed.
"Nexus!"
Ignoring the warnings of the Seer, she transformed into Nexus.
But her anger, fueled by her deep-seated hatred, caused her to sync with the fear sealed in the River of Forgetfulness. Ishibori grinned in triumph.
This was exactly what he had been waiting for!
Ever since he killed Saijo's mother when she was a child, he had planted the seeds of darkness in her heart. And now, combined with the fear energy from the River of Forgetfulness, Nexus' light was finally tainted!
Instead of releasing bright energy when she transformed, the light was swallowed by darkness.
This time, there was no glowing light—just pure darkness.
Saijo had turned into Dark Zagi, and she began rampaging wildly!
"Oh no, this is bad!" Daniel muttered, shaking his head.
Nexus was meant to protect peace, but now that Nexus had become Dark Zagi, what could the Night Raiders possibly do with their tiny aircraft?
Surely this would be the moment for Gōmon to step up, right?
After all, Daniel had always believed that Gōmon would eventually be revealed as one of Ultraman's chosen ones. Why else would he have so much screen time?
But to Daniel's surprise, Gōmon didn't get a heroic moment just yet.
Instead, the scene shifted to a prison.
"What's going on here?" Daniel wondered.
Inside the prison, a man with stubble stared intently at a photo in his hand. Suddenly, he lifted his head and gazed out the window, his eyes widening.
"Such powerful darkness..."
This man was none other than Gouryūki!
After the last incident, he had been imprisoned.
Perhaps it was because he had once helped humans, or maybe because the experiments had already been completed, but the TLT hadn't subjected him to more inhumane tests. Instead, he was locked up.
As someone who had once been consumed by darkness, Gouryūki could sense the overwhelming power of this new darkness, even though he couldn't see the outside world.
This was far stronger than anything he had experienced before.
And the aura was somewhat familiar…
"Nexus!" Gouryūki's eyes widened in shock.
Why was Nexus involved?
What had happened while he was imprisoned? Was this the work of the mastermind who had turned him into Dark Mephisto?
Gouryūki had never underestimated that hidden mastermind. The one who had given him such immense power must have been incredibly powerful themselves.
"I have to stop Nexus!" Gouryūki knew he had to act fast.
Without wasting any time, he made his move. Just like Jun earlier, he managed to escape from the TLT through teleportation and transformed!
But this time, instead of the usual purple transformation, a golden vortex surrounded him—similar to Nexus' light transformation.
It was an ironic twist. The former darkness was now light, and the former light had become darkness.
Total role reversal!
Gouryūki, now the Light Mephisto, appeared in front of the rampaging Dark Zagi!
The black indicator light on his chest had turned a brilliant blue, large parts of his black suit were now golden, and his once-dark eyes had turned red.
As soon as Light Mephisto appeared, Dark Zagi launched a ferocious attack.
While Mephisto wasn't weak, he was clearly outmatched by Dark Zagi.
Whether it was physical strength or combat experience, Dark Zagi—powered by Saijo's fighting skills—was far superior to Light Mephisto.
Plus, Gouryūki hadn't fully recovered from his injuries.
The experiments had already worsened his condition during the battle against the second Mephisto, and even though he had rested for a while, his injuries had left a permanent weakness.
One devastating attack from Dark Zagi's Hellfire sent him crashing down, forcing him to revert to his human form.
"Nexus' dark transformation is really something!" Daniel commented, impressed.
But just then, the scene shifted again.
Ishibori appeared, standing atop a tall building, gazing at the destruction caused by Dark Zagi. A wicked smile played on his lips as he spoke to himself.
"Humans are such fragile creatures. Their inner fears never disappear, making them an endless source of prey."
As he spoke, Ishibori spread his arms wide. From all over the city, dark energy began to pour out from people, their faces contorting in fear.
"Finally... I've waited so long for this day!" Ishibori declared.
It turned out that Ishibori had been manipulating Gouryūki all along, turning him into Dark Mephisto, and creating Faust, just to strengthen Ultraman's light powers.
He had done all of this for one purpose—to turn Nexus' light into the purest darkness, maximizing its power and then transforming it into even stronger darkness, making his own power grow!
On top of that, Ishibori allowed Dark Zagi to wreak havoc in the city, feeding off the terror of the people and absorbing their fear.
"Your power now belongs to me, Dark Lucifer!" Ishibori proclaimed.
As his words echoed, dark energy surged from Dark Zagi's body and flowed into Ishibori!
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