Gotham, downtown.
"Look, a shooting star!"
A girl in a backless tank top holding a cup of milk tea snuggled in the boy's arms, pointing at a streak of shooting star in the night sky.
"Really, make a wish quickly."
The two closed their eyes and silently made their wishes.
Boy: God bless, please let me meet a young and beautiful sugar mama this year.
Girl: I want a rich and handsome man who treats me well, preferably someone like Bruce Wayne, please...
The couple opened their eyes and smiled at each other.
"What did you wish for?" the girl asked.
"What else could it be?" The boy lovingly kissed her, "Of course, I wished for us to grow old together and never be apart."
The girl giggled, "Really? Not wishing for a sugar mama or something?"
The boy's heart skipped a beat and he hurriedly swore, "I swear to God, if there's a single lie in what I just said, let the shooting star hit me!"
The girl blushed and lowered her head, "Well, I wished the same thing."
"Baby..."
"Sweetheart..."
Just as their heads were about to come together like magnets, a sudden whooshing sound approached, and the burning shooting star...
It came straight for them.
Boom!
With a huge impact, it created a massive crater in the ground, dirt and debris flying everywhere.
The couple sat down on the ground, pale-faced, staring blankly at the huge crater in front of them, unable to move. Both were thinking the same thing.
Oh my God, was the vow really that effective!?
Then, a charred claw emerged from the crater.
A completely gray, charred, roasted chicken-like demon spirit struggled out of the pit, smoke rising from its body.
Must escape, quickly...
No mistake, it was that "Ultraman." Although this time he wasn't as large as before, and he wore some kind of man-made armor...
But that light, it was unmistakable!
That extremely strange energy, like some kind of destructive light magic, had left an indelible mark in the demons' minds, like a business card with the Ultra signature, absolutely unmistakable.
The entire squad of demon spirits that had infiltrated the Sanctuary had been annihilated, even higher-level spirits like Pitas were crushed like mosquitoes.
That despairing image was transmitted back to the remaining demon spirits through surveillance magic. Seeing the suffocating scene, all the demon spirits fell silent.
It was as if the despair of their teammates in the Sanctuary could be felt through the magical image.
Therefore, when this demon spirit sensed that kind of light wave, it turned and fled without looking back.
Because it had absolute confidence.
It couldn't win against this opponent.
As long as... it could escape to that place...
Unfortunately, running away seemed difficult.
The airborne performance of the mechanized armor left its flying ability in the dust. After about ten seconds of intense aerial combat, the demon spirit was directly blasted out of the sky by a palm cannon, crashing headfirst.
The boy was already terrified by the hideous monster, hurriedly saying, "I was wrong! I confess, what I just said was a lie, but it's not my fault! The doctor said my intestines and stomach are weak, so I can only eat soft food..."
Before he could finish, there was a buzzing sound of energy in the air. A blue energy beam shot down from the night sky like a sharp spear, piercing through the demon spirit's chest, causing another explosion of dust and debris.
The demon spirit howled in pain, collapsed to the ground, and its body quickly dissipated into black smoke, blown away by the wind.
A fully armored Ultraman floated in mid-air, the blue glow of the energy cannon in his palm just fading.
"Sorry for the disturbance, please continue."
With that, the armor accelerated and shot into the night sky, creating a sonic boom and quickly disappearing without a trace.
The couple sat on the ground, staring dumbfounded at the crater in front of them, looking at each other, speechless.
In a pitch-black space, dark currents flowed in from the outside. They surged and formed a bizarre figure, resembling a standing scorpion with eerie green eyes.
It stood on a stone pillar. Around the dark space were several similar pillars, each with another grotesque figure standing on top.
After the scorpion appeared, a humanoid figure with an owl's head spoke up.
"Is everyone here?"
They were demon spirits.
They were the leaders among the currently awakened demon spirits. This was a space for their gatherings, located in an underground facility in Gotham, specially reinforced with a barrier.
The barrier was a joint creation of several leaders. Each demon spirit had its own area of expertise, some were good at concealment spells, some excelled at hiding their presence, and others specialized in spatial shielding.
They found that Gotham was a natural magical hotspot, with a significant amount of magic hidden in the sewer areas, even for reasons unknown to them. They found a magic node and enhanced the barrier's effect. This made it difficult for both humans and weak wizards to discover their hideout.
"Another comrade has been eliminated," the owl-headed demon spirit said gravely. "It's still that guy."
The demon spirits fell silent.
Of course, they knew who "that guy" was. The strange creature suddenly appeared, called "Ultraman." With ridiculously powerful strength, it had thwarted their meticulously planned attack on the Rock of Eternity.
All the demon spirits involved in the operation were annihilated, even their strongest, Pitas, was instantly killed.
The scorpion demon spirit gritted its teeth, "After all these years, finally at the wizard's weakest moment, where did such a monster come from..."
"Too arrogant!" A demon spirit cursed, "Does he really think we have no way to deal with him?"
A nearby demon spirit gave it a sidelong glance, "Do we?"
The demon spirit immediately fell silent.
"This can't go on," a demon spirit said solemnly. "If that lord arrives and finds out we've been ineffective, losing so many subordinates..."
The demon spirits nodded one after another.
"That's reasonable."
"Indeed."
"Give him a taste of his own medicine!"
"Let him feel despair!"
"Drag him into the abyss!"
The demon spirits quickly reached a consensus, each filled with a shared hatred, eager to immediately go and crush that detestable enemy into the ground.
The owl-headed demon spirit nodded slightly, "Very well. The main purpose of this gathering was to organize an operation to eliminate that enemy, codenamed 'Ultraman Must Die' plan.
Now, who among the cadres is willing to lead the charge and execute this plan?"
The demon spirits all fell silent, not saying a word.
After a moment, a demon spirit said, "I think Yusak is the strongest among us, the most suitable for this task."
The demon spirit named Yusak immediately bristled, "Are you trying to get me killed?"
Realizing its outburst, it quickly cleared its throat and said, "This opponent is extraordinary, with obvious strength. I believe we need to use our wits rather than brute force, and I think Yurick is very smart, the strategist among us. Yurick is more suitable than me."
"Nonsense! My intelligence is just petty tricks, how can I take on such a responsibility? I think Pisas is better."
After a noisy argument, the demon spirits looked at each other again, once more at an impasse.
The owl-headed demon spirit pondered for a moment and suddenly said, "I sense that Amonhotep has arrived. Yusak, go and open the door."
Amonhotep was another high-level demon spirit, elusive and rarely seen.
Their demon barrier, when activated, was like a locked door that could only be opened from the inside. Even their own people needed someone to temporarily disable the entrance.
Yusak was immediately displeased, "Why me..."
The owl-headed demon spirit stared at him expressionlessly.
"...Fine, I'll go."
Yusak grumbled and turned into a black mist, flowing into the darkness below, quickly disappearing from the pillar.
After about a minute, the black mist returned, and Yusak reappeared on the pillar.
"I just checked, there's no one outside."
"Hmm, maybe I was mistaken."
The owl-headed demon spirit nodded slightly, then said.
"But just now, the organization has decided through discussion that you will lead the 'Ultraman Must Die' plan. The vote passed unanimously."
Yusak: "Damn it! @#%&"