Chapter 151: The Ten Blades (Requesting Subscriptions and Rewards)

“Who can help Tiga? Please, I beg you, anyone—save Tiga!” Watching Tiga, helpless and battered by five monsters as he defended the Earth, everyone fell into silent prayer at that moment.

Not far from Dumb Bear Island, in a cave on a deserted little island, one of Xiao Xie’s shadow clones watched the live broadcast showing Tiga being pummeled by the monsters. Shaking his head, he muttered to himself, “How miserable. But now it’s my turn. Reverse Summoning!”

With a series of muffled pops, the remaining ninety-eight shadow clones, who had been meditating in Xiao Xie’s villa, were instantly summoned to the cave.

Looking at the newly arrived clones, the first shadow clone to have arrived grinned and said, “Once I’ve performed, it’ll be your turn to appear. I’ll go on ahead!” With that, he summoned the Iron Man suit, donned it, and soared toward Dumb Bear Island.

As Tiga continued to be beset by the five horned-wing beasts, five flaming white skull-shaped missiles roared in from the distant sky, exploding among the monsters and forcing them back.

“Tiga Ultraman, I’m here to help you!” A figure in a suit of red and gold flew in from afar, shouting as he came. Those five micro-missiles had been modified with the Hellfire, which explained their tremendous power.

“It’s Iron Man!” People everywhere cried out in amazement when they recognized the figure.

With the monsters momentarily driven off, Tiga finally caught his breath. With a powerful shout, he crossed his arms before him, then unfolded them to channel energy and unleashed a white beam, blasting one horned-wing beast into fragments.

Three of the remaining monsters roared angrily and lunged at Tiga, while the last one beat its wings and charged at Iron Man in the sky.

“Hello, everyone! I am Iron Man!” Instantly, a small video appeared in the lower right quarter of every TV screen, showing Iron Man dodging the monster’s attacks.

“Chief, our satellites have been hacked—should we counterattack?”

“Not for now. Let’s see what Iron Man has to say.”

Everyone’s attention was fixed on Iron Man. At such a moment, what could he possibly want to say?

“Gifted people of Earth, I know you’re watching this war. Revealing yourselves in public may bring trouble to your future lives, but this is a war for all humanity. I hope you will step forward and help defend our shared home—Earth. I beg of you!” Iron Man spoke quickly as he dodged the monster’s laser blasts.

As soon as Iron Man finished, the leader of China immediately joined the live broadcast. Another video appeared in the lower left corner of the TV screen, showing him solemnly declaring, “I guarantee this: after the battle, if any Chinese citizen seeks trouble with these gifted individuals, it will be treated as treason!”

The feed then cut to the President of the United States. “On behalf of my government, I also guarantee: anyone who harasses these heroes after the war will be treated as an enemy of America—and indeed, an enemy of all humankind!”

Other nations quickly issued similar statements. Regardless of their true intentions, such assurances had become necessary. Without them, those with special powers would never dare to come forward.

With Iron Man’s support, Tiga unleashed his full might, destroying two more horned-wing beasts. But after defeating three of them, the energy crystal on Tiga’s chest began to flash red, a sign that his power was nearly exhausted.

“Tiga, withdraw for now. Leave the remaining two to me!” Noticing the warning light, Iron Man called out.

Tiga nodded, shifted into his purple form, and flew toward the cosmos.

“Trying to escape? Naive!” Yuuqi sneered as he watched Tiga soar skyward.

Suddenly, five red laser beams shot down from the clouds, blasting Tiga back to earth. Out of the clouds emerged five more horned-wing beasts, making seven in total, encircling both Tiga and Iron Man.

“This is getting out of hand,” Iron Man said with a wry smile as he faced the seven monsters.

Viewers around the world felt their hearts clench. Five had already forced Tiga into a desperate struggle; now there were seven, and the red glow on Tiga’s chest warned that his energy was nearly spent.

With a savage roar, the seven horned-wing beasts attacked Tiga and Iron Man.

Suddenly, ten beams of crimson light, each ten meters in diameter, shot from the distant sky, blasting the monsters away.

“Who’s there?”

The TV cameras swung toward the source of the beams. In the previously empty sky, ten figures suddenly appeared, each draped in a white cloak.

“Iron Man, Tiga, you two are in quite a state. Leave the Earth to us, the Ten Blades, now.” The leading man among the ten declared loudly.

These ten were Xiao Xie’s shadow clones, transformed into the likenesses of the Espada from the anime Bleach—some male, some female. The ten crimson beams just now were Cero blasts.

The seven horned-wing beasts shook their heads and retaliated, firing seven lasers from the horns on their heads at the Ten Blades.

“Hmph, ants ought to know their place,” the leader of the Ten Blades sniffed disdainfully. Raising his right hand, he unleashed a crimson beam a hundred meters wide, shattering the monsters’ lasers and blasting the seven creatures hundreds of meters away.

A collective gasp swept through the onlookers. Five had nearly overwhelmed Tiga, but now seven were flung away by a single casual strike from the Ten Blades’ leader. His power was awe-inspiring.

“Tiga, now that the Ten Blades are here, leave this to us,” Iron Man said to Ultraman Tiga.

Tiga nodded, raised his hands, and flew into space.

“Damn it!” Enraged at Tiga’s retreat, Yuuqi shouted, “Send out all remaining horned-wing beasts! If Tiga has fled, then I’ll capture these others as test subjects!”

“At once!”

At Yuuqi’s order, the remaining thirty-nine horned-wing beasts all set out for Dumb Bear Island.

“Hmph.” The Ten Blades’ leader glanced at the seven monsters staggering to their feet and snorted. But this was just for show; in truth, he was well aware of his own limits. That previous attack, which seemed so casual, had actually consumed a third of his spiritual energy.

Though it looked as though he’d effortlessly flung the seven beasts aside, they had only suffered minor injuries and were far from crippled. Still, the display was effective—after all, a single move to hurl seven monsters aside looked spectacular, and already many people were becoming fans of this apparently laid-back figure.

The other nine Ten Blades each raised their right hands, conjuring a dark green Cero. Nine ten-meter-wide emerald beams shot toward the seven horned-wing beasts, as swift as lightning. These green Ceros were more advanced and destructive than the red ones, consuming all of the wielders’ spiritual energy, but with greater penetration and power. The beams shattered the seven monsters into fragments.

“With this matter resolved, we’ll take our leave.” The leader of the Ten Blades spoke calmly after witnessing the scene.

Iron Man, seeing this, gave him a silent nod of approval. Were it not for the unique perspective of the shadow clones, he would not have known that, aside from the leader, the other nine Ten Blades had barely enough spiritual energy left to maintain their existence.

No one would have guessed that, at this moment, only the leader retained any real fighting strength; the other nine were now nothing more than empty shells. Being shadow clones, they were destined to be unable to engage in close combat with the horned-wing beasts. Even if a single monster appeared now, without spiritual energy, they would be powerless to fight.