Absorbing the Power of Light

Everyone was quite heavily injured, but none of the wounds were life-threatening. Hozer chose not to show himself. Instead, he pulled out his phone and called Tetsuya Sawaki.

"Sawaki, do you remember what we agreed on earlier?"

"Is it absolutely necessary to take this step?"

"You know this isn't something you or I can decide."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line before the voice spoke again.

"Alright, I understand."

Hozer hung up, went to the market to buy some of Minori Godai's favorite ingredients, and then went home to personally cook a lavish dinner.

Hozer had cooked before, so Minori Godai didn't find it unusual.

After dinner, Hozer and Minori snuggled on the sofa, watching television together.

"Minori, I'll take you back to the kindergarten tomorrow, okay?"

Minori froze, turning her head to look at Hozer in surprise.

"Mr. Hozer, why so suddenly...? Didn't the news say those unidentified lifeforms are still..."

"Those unidentified lifeforms only attack special people, so you are safe, Minori."

With that, Hozer patted Minori's head, offering a gentle smile.

"Oh."

Minori sensed something, but being sensible, she didn't ask. She simply leaned clingily against Hozer's chest.

Early the next morning, Hozer drove Minori back to the Chishima district. After having lunch that day, he returned to Tokyo to meet Tetsuya Sawaki.

"Sawaki, let's begin."

"Hozer, have you decided?"

"Yes, my resolve has never wavered."

Entering the temporary base, Hozer found Katsuhiko Sagara.

"Sagara, do you remember what I promised you?"

Katsuhiko Sagara understood. His expression faltered for a moment before turning firm.

"Please."

The three of them entered the room. Tetsuya Sawaki raised his hand, the crest on the back of his hand pointing at Katsuhiko Sagara, emitting a dim black light.

Katsuhiko Sagara gritted his teeth, his body trembling as he knelt on the ground. A boy in white, radiating white light, emerged from his body.

"Prometheus..."

Without waiting for the boy in white to make a move, Hozer swiftly thrust his hand into the boy's chest.

In an instant, the boy in white dissolved into a sphere of white light. A blinding flash erupted, causing Katsuhiko Sagara and Tetsuya Sawaki to instinctively shield their eyes.

Just a breath later, the white light dissipated, and the boy in white was nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, Hozer's entire body radiated white light, while gold and black arcs of electricity crackled wildly across his form.

However, judging by Hozer's expression, the process of absorbing Prometheus's power of light did not seem to be going very smoothly.

"Hozer, how do you feel?"

Tetsuya Sawaki had originally assumed Hozer was a human created by Prometheus, but upon hearing Hozer's request to help transfer the power of light, he realized his assumption was wrong.

Hozer had also confessed to him that he was from another world, which had left Tetsuya Sawaki in shock for a long time.

Now, seeing that the fusion of the power of light was not going smoothly, he immediately grew anxious.

Hozer shook his head slightly.

"It's nothing. You two head out first. Do not disturb me until I come out."

With that, Hozer sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.

Seeing this, Tetsuya Sawaki knew he couldn't help. He left together with Katsuhiko Sagara.

Inside the room, the gold and black arcs of electricity on Hozer's body surged violently, and the white light grew increasingly blinding.

Perhaps because he was not a human of this world, Prometheus's power of light rejected him intensely.

However, Hozer then recalled that God had mentioned he wasn't a human either.

So there was another possibility: because his body was not human, the power of light rejected him.

However, ever since he had absorbed the Amadam in the beginning, the seed of evolution in his body had completely converted it into his own power. Hozer believed the power of light would be no exception.

Furthermore, after fully mastering this power over the years, Hozer had also discovered the drawback of absorbing the Amadam's power.

That was, his strength had reached its limit; he could not naturally grow stronger without absorbing other forces.

Unlike Yusuke Godai, he was more like a being who purely relied on quantity to stack ultimate power.

The power of light was said to possess the ability to evolve naturally, which was precisely the trait he needed most right now.

While Hozer was making his final preparations, on the other side, God, after reclaiming the El of the Wind and the El of the Ground, felt shocked and enraged by the fall of the El of the Water.

Even without the interference of Hozer and Yusuke Godai, the El of the Water had been enhanced once, yet it was still slain by humans allied with Agito.

For the first time, God felt a threat from Agito, recalling his immense fury during the ultra-ancient era.

When Prometheus was defeated, before his death, he not only bestowed the power of light within his body upon all of humanity but also uttered the first prophecy:

"In the distant future, my power will awaken within human bodies. When that time comes, humanity will no longer be your possession."

When telling Hozer about the war between light and darkness, God had omitted this first prophecy.

This prophecy had enraged God to the point of standing by as the angels unleashed the Great Flood to destroy the world.

If the power of light awakened and humanity was no longer his possession, it meant that those who awakened the power of light would gain the strength to oppose, or even surpass, his own power.

In the beginning, all matter was born from the power of darkness. The power of light was a force he had separated from his own body, and in essence, they were equal.

Therefore, among the El Lords, though the power of light was named the El of the Fire, it was actually his brother.

The other El Lords, such as the El of the Water, El of the Wind, El of the Ground, and other Lords, were merely creations made by him. He was the master of all Lords.

God decided to take action personally to reclaim the power of light within Agito.

The White Tiger Lord manifested once more, but this time, it did not unleash a slaughter. Instead, it stood in place, waiting for something.

In the previous great battle, the Orca Lord and the Mantis Lord had been instantly killed by Katsuhiko Sagara's Flame Fist. Seeing that things were unfavorable, it had fled immediately.

The Orca Lord and Mantis Lord were guardians of the El of the Water, so naturally, they fought to the death without retreating.

However, it was originally the guardian of the El of the Fire, Prometheus, though God was its ultimate master.

After the El of the Fire betrayed God, it ceased to be the El of the Fire's guardian, simply obeying the orders of the El Lords and God.

Before long, Kaoru Kino and Koji Majima arrived. Both transformed simultaneously to confront the White Tiger Lord.

In the short term, the White Tiger Lord held its own against both of them, not falling into a disadvantage at all.

Meanwhile, the young man in black on the side, seeing that the target had arrived, silently fired a beam of pitch-black light toward Koji Majima.

Kaoru Kino was the first to spot the danger. He reached out and shoved Koji Majima aside, but was unable to dodge in time himself. The Alter Ring on his waist was pierced, and he collapsed.

A boy in white, radiating light, flew out of Kaoru Kino's body, turned into a sphere of light, and entered the body of the young man in black.

In an instant, the young man in black staggered, a look of agony appearing on his face.

"Kino-sensei!"

Koji Majima rushed forward like mad, delivering a Rider Kick that knocked back the White Tiger Lord, and propped up Kaoru Kino, who had reverted to human form.

"Kino-sensei, what's wrong?"

Kaoru Kino's expression changed drastically. He reached out to touch his abdomen in disbelief, murmuring in shock, "The power of Agito... is gone."