Chapter 1297
Professor: Remembering Storm 1
The Star Guides' fleet is assembling in orbit.
They were a dense array of metallic behemoths, motherships, cruisers, and frigates stacked one on top of another, like a school of sharks that had caught the scent of blood. They could no longer turn back time, so they could only use the most primitive method—number—to overwhelm their enemy.
"Good timing!"
Belial charged into the enemy ranks, laughing maniacally. His warhammer swung, and the armor of the first escort ship dented, tore, and exploded like paper. The fragments scattered silently in the vacuum, reflecting the light of a distant star.
"That hammer is powerful!"
He shouted, his voice transmitted directly to the EDF base's communication channel via energy fluctuations. The professor sat in front of the screen, watching the live feed, his lips twitching.
He promised to be gentle.
The warhammer fell again, splitting a cruiser in two. The energy core went out of control, turning into a blazing fireball. Belial steadied himself amidst the shockwave of the explosion; the hammerhead was already red-hot, but he paid no heed.
"It's so much better than using light!"
He charged into the heart of the fleet, his warhammer transforming into a whirlwind of death. Each swing unleashed a storm of metal, each impact triggering a chain reaction of explosions. The Star Guides' ships attempted to surround him, to bombard him with artillery fire, but those attacks struck Ultraman's body, only igniting faint sparks.
"To the left! Three motherships are charging!"
The voice of an EDF soldier came through the communicator. Belial turned his head and saw the main cannons of the three giant motherships gathering a blinding white light.
Come on!
Instead of retreating, he advanced, his warhammer held horizontally in front of him, its energy patterns fully activated, forming a massive shield. The three beams struck simultaneously, the impact sending him back several kilometers, but the shield remained intact.
"Is that all you've got?!"
Belial roared as he charged out of the beam's embrace, his warhammer raised high above his head, and then—
boom!
The command tower of the first mothership was smashed into scrap metal.
boom!
The energy core of the second mothership was pierced and exploded from the inside out.
boom!
The third mothership attempted to escape, but Belial hurled his warhammer, the weapon spinning through the air like a silver meteor, cleaving the ship in two.
"Hahaha! That was so awesome!"
He recalled the warhammer; the handle was smoking hot, and the energy patterns had dimmed. The hammerhead was riddled with cracks; the metal had reached its fatigue limit.
"Professor! How many more ships can this hammer hold up?!"
"Mr. Beria! It has reached its limit! Please withdraw immediately!"
"Withdraw my ass!"
Belial charged toward the next wave of enemy ships, laughing maniacally. His warhammer swung again, smashing the flank of a frigate, but this time, an ominous cracking sound came from the hammerhead. A crack spread from the center, and the energy patterns completely extinguished.
"The final blow!"
He leaped towards the largest mothership, raising his warhammer high, channeling all his energy into it. The hammerhead emitted a blinding light, and then—
boom!!!
The mothership's armor was dented, crumbled, and pierced. Belial rushed into the ship's interior and emerged from the other end, leaving behind a chain of explosions and a sea of fire.
He floated in the void, looking down at the warhammer in his hand. The hammerhead was shattered into several pieces, and the handle was twisted and deformed, completely unusable.
"They really got carried away with the game."
He muttered to himself, but a satisfied smile played on his lips. Behind him, the Star Guide's fleet had been reduced to floating wreckage, slowly rotating in the starlight.
"Professor, the hammer is broken."
He reported through the communicator, but there was no apology in his tone, only a sense of exhilarating satisfaction. "I understand."
The professor's voice was weary and helpless. "Mr. Belial, please return to the base immediately to replenish your energy. The Star Guides' reinforcements may arrive at any moment."
"Ah."
Belial took one last look at the wreckage in his hand, then released it. The broken warhammer floated in the void, becoming yet another monument to the battlefield.
He turned and flew back to the base, his silver-red body standing out conspicuously in the starlight.
On the tarmac, EDF warriors lined up to greet him. They watched Belial land, watched him revert to his human form, and watched him toss a fragment of his hammer to the Professor.
"Make a sturdier one next time."
He said that, then grabbed a canteen handed to him by a soldier and tilted his head back to gulp it down.
"Mr. Beria"
The soldier hesitated for a moment, then said, "You...you're really strong. We..."
"Stop talking nonsense."
Belial tossed the water bottle back, but a barely perceptible smile played on his lips. "You guys aren't bad either. Without your energy support, I wouldn't have lasted this long."
The warriors were stunned, then broke into bright smiles. In this cruel world, recognition from Ultraman is more precious than anything else.
Belial walked toward the rest area, his black hair disheveled, his eyes defiant, but his steps light. He recalled the feel of that hammer, the thrill of smashing enemy ships, and the flash of the explosion.
“Next time,” he muttered to himself, “let the professor make an even bigger one.”
In the distance, the wreckage of the Star Guide floated in orbit, witnessing yet another victory.
And yet another "toy" that has been scrapped.
The professor felt a pang of heartache seeing this scene.
Holy crap! I knew it!!!
Belial is even more troublesome than Storm One!
There was nothing that could be done about Cui Ming's Storm One weapon becoming unusable; after all, those enemies were just too tough, and it was normal for weapons not to withstand the strain. Every time Cui Ming returned with the damaged equipment, the professor felt a pang of heartache, but at least he could understand—the combat logs showed that the weapons only broke down under extreme conditions.
But Beria.
He just absolutely loves brute force!
The professor picked up the hammer fragment from the ground, his fingers tracing the metallic texture of the broken piece. He had spent three months designing this warhammer, using the latest energy-conducting alloy, theoretically strong enough to withstand fifty full-force strikes. Belial, however, used it less than twenty times, and the last few were clearly deliberately overloaded.
"Be gentle, perhaps."
The professor gritted his teeth and repeated Beria's parting words, "I don't believe a damn thing!"
He thought of Cui Ming—the man known as "Storm One." Cui Ming used weapons just as brutally, and his equipment was just as frequently destroyed, but the difference was that Cui Ming did it for efficiency, to eliminate the enemy in the shortest time, and to protect his comrades. As for Belial...
Belial was simply enjoying the exhilarating feeling of that power release.
"Make a sturdier one next time."
The professor tossed the shards into the recycling bin and sighed. More durable? Even the sturdier thing, in that guy's hands, would only last a few more minutes. He began to consider whether to equip the next hammer with a self-destruct mechanism, automatically locking itself if it detected violent handling.
But then I thought, Belial would probably smash the self-destruct mechanism as well.
"never mind."
The professor rubbed his temples as he walked towards the laboratory. Outside the window, the wreckage of the Star Guide still floated in orbit, a stark reminder of the war's brutality. In times like these, to have such a powerful warrior standing on humanity's side, even if he was somewhat special, was something to be grateful for.
I'm just upset about the equipment.
I'm really just heartbroken about the equipment. (End of Chapter)