"BOOOOOM!!!"
Countless energy orbs struck Tiga, blasting him through the air.
As he crashed to the ground, writhing in pain, Tiga quickly summoned his Dino Device and released the Guren Knight Beast for backup.
"Elysium Purge!!"
The moment the Guren Knight Beast appeared, it raised its shield and fired a beam of light at Kayako.
But just inches away from hitting her, the beam vanished—only to reappear directly above the Guren Knight Beast, slamming into its head and knocking it straight down to the ground.
Kayako then swung her arm and sent the Guren Knight Beast flying.
"Cha!!"
By now, Tiga had already gotten back to his feet, staring at Kayako with wariness.
He never expected that after their last battle, she would have become this powerful.
Unless he could find a way to break through the space distortion, he wouldn't be able to land a single hit!
As Tiga was deep in thought, Kayako moved. But just a few steps forward—her body suddenly vanished!
Tiga blinked in surprise.
In the next moment, a powerful blow struck him from behind, sending him crashing face-first into the dirt.
Kayako had somehow teleported right behind him.
Tiga instinctively fired a laser behind him, but it veered off mid-air—warped by the spatial distortion.
She vanished again and appeared at Tiga's side, slapping him hard in the waist and launching him skyward.
A second later, Kayako appeared on the ground where Tiga was about to land—setting up for another sneak attack.
Just as she raised both arms to strike—
Tiga unleashed his Timer Beam!
This time, it wasn't distorted by space—it hit her head-on!
BZZZZZZTT!!!
An unearthly, bone-chilling shriek tore from Kayako's throat.
"AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
It didn't sound like anything a living being should be able to make. It was the cry of something born from the deepest, darkest pit of hell.
As the light faded, Tiga landed steadily.
But Kayako had vanished again.
He spun around—and there she was, reappearing just behind him, now billowing black smoke and gasping heavily.
That hit had definitely done damage.
"So when she's attacking me—I can hit her back!" Daigo realized, excitement flaring in his chest.
"ROOOAAARRRR!!"
Furious at having taken damage when she thought herself invincible, Kayako raised her long hair like a tidal wave.
The countless Gazote souls embedded in her strands began launching light spheres in unison!
"Watch out!"
The Guren Knight Beast rushed forward, raising its shield to block the barrage of energy blasts.
But due to the spatial distortion, the blasts came from every direction, overwhelming them. Both Tiga and the Guren Knight Beast were struck again and again.
Tiga quickly expanded a spherical shield to defend against the attack.
Just then—Kayako's hair twitched unnaturally.
Suddenly, inside the protective shield, hair began sprouting out of nowhere!
Before Tiga and the Guren Knight Beast could react, they were bound tightly by the strands, their movements stopped cold and the shield canceled.
The sheer force of the hair caused immense pain.
Then came the barrage.
Hundreds of light orbs slammed into them, detonating violently.
Kayako then used her hair to drag Tiga and the Guren Knight Beast high into the air, pelting them like living target dummies.
In the distance, Rena and the others could only watch in helpless horror.
"There's got to be something we can do!!" Rena shouted, tears brimming.
"There's no way… her space-distorting ability is way beyond what we can handle," Hoshikawa said, shaking his head grimly. But then, something clicked.
"Kayako is essentially a very specific kind of electromagnetic signal. Which means all her abilities are derived from electromagnetic waves. If we can generate an equivalent signal to counteract hers—then we can disrupt her powers!"
Hoshikawa's eyes lit up as he spoke. The more he considered it, the more feasible it seemed.
"But how do we even create that kind of wave?" Munakata asked.
"The solar energy satellite!"
Hoshikawa instantly had a solution.
Scientists had developed a satellite capable of collecting solar energy and converting it into electromagnetic waves, transmitting that power back to Earth.
It was designed to provide infinite, clean energy for humanity.
Hoshikawa immediately contacted Norui.
"Norui! Do you have a read on Kayako's electromagnetic signature?"
"Yes—I've never seen anything so chaotic!" Norui responded, frantically typing on his console. The screen displayed Kayako's wildly fluctuating signal, so intense it looked like it might leap off the monitor.
"Perfect. We're close to a station that receives electromagnetic feedback from the satellite. We need the captain to contact them and point the transmitter straight at Kayako!"
"Then we hit her with maximum output—let stable electromagnetic waves cancel out her corrupted ones!"
It was their best—and only—chance.
"Understood. I'll contact them right away," Rena said, ready to act.
"I'll do it," Zei suddenly stepped forward. "If I handle it personally, it'll go faster."
He understood how urgent this was. If they didn't move quickly, it could be too late.
He picked up the phone and began making calls.
Meanwhile, Tiga and the Guren Knight Beast were still being tortured by Kayako.
"Rrghh—HAAA!!"
Tiga roared through the pain, releasing a surge of energy that shattered the hair binding him.
"Elysium Purge!!" shouted the Guren Knight Beast, perfectly in sync.
As soon as it broke free, it unleashed a sweeping energy blast that destroyed all the incoming orbs.
But the fight wasn't over.
Kayako gathered her hair once more, this time lashing it down like a waterfall to entangle them both again.
This wasn't just a restraint—
Within those strands were countless Gazote souls, now gnawing greedily at their bodies.
Combined with the monstrous physical force of her hair—
Tiga and the Guren Knight Beast were wracked with pain as their energy was slowly devoured.
DING DING DING DING!!!
Tiga's timer was flashing wildly.
His energy was reaching its limit.
(End of Chapter)