Standing fifty meters tall, the giant before him didn't strike fear into Verethragna's heart.
Back in the Age of Gods, when he roamed the earth as the God of War, he had faced more giants than he could count. Even Melqart, the God-King he had previously encountered, was a towering giant himself.
In truth, many divine beings could grow their forms to a hundred meters or more—some even to several kilometers—if they wished. Compared to that, a height of fifty meters was modest.
But such size rarely mattered in battles between gods. Larger forms brought more drawbacks than advantages. Most giants, in fact, maintained a height of only a dozen or so meters—more than enough in most circumstances.
And while the size of the glowing giant before him was unexpected, it wasn't what truly caught Verethragna's attention.
What mattered was the power within.
He could feel it clearly—this giant of light held within him an overwhelming, nearly inexhaustible force. Most of it still slumbered, waiting to be awakened, but even the portion already unleashed was enough to place him above the realm of gods.
Not just above him. Perhaps even the combined power of the God-King and several other deities wouldn't equal a tenth of what this warrior held within.
And then he remembered what Su Mo had said earlier.
Verethragna began to question reality.
"This… is the strength of a Warrior of Light?"
He glanced up at the radiant titan—so majestic and awe-inspiring, he seemed more divine than any god.
Then he looked down at himself—a mere boy's height, holding nothing more than a translucent golden sword.
He could feel it. The gap in their power—both in quality and quantity—was astronomical.
Gone was the arrogance he'd carried as a god, the assumption that victory was his to claim. That certainty began to crack.
Raising his eyes to the blazing sun above, he murmured softly:
"Lord Mithra… if he's a Warrior of Light, then what does that make me?"
As the war god of Zoroastrianism, a divine protector who served the light, Verethragna was subordinate to the Sun God Mithra.
He had always believed the light granted to him by Mithra was powerful beyond compare. But now, faced with the sheer magnitude of the energy inside this giant, that belief shattered. His divine light felt like a candle beside a raging star.
If not for the absurd power surpassing gods radiating from Su Mo's transformed form, Verethragna might have mistaken him for some foreign incarnation of the Sun God himself.
Both were Warriors of Light, yes. But only one could stand tall.
And it was painfully clear who the weaker one was.
"So… we're both warriors of the light…"
"But I merely serve the light. He—he commands it."
That realization struck deeper than any sword. Somehow, this god found himself a step below the mortal.
While Verethragna stood frozen in thought, Su Mo didn't waste a second.
He had no idea what the god was pondering, but he knew one thing for certain—he had to move fast.
Thanks to the blessings from the Danmachi world, Su Mo could now maintain his Ultraman form for longer periods. But against a god, even this extended duration wasn't nearly enough.
Fights between gods and god-slayers often spanned days—sometimes even a week—filled with feints, testing blows, and long battles of attrition.
But Su Mo didn't have that kind of time.
He needed to end this quickly.
Without hesitation, he raised his hand—and called upon a familiar move, one that had once brought down the monster Melba.
"Rampart Beam!"
After a brief charge, a blue-and-white burst of pure light launched from his hand, cutting through the air with terrifying speed and accuracy. It roared toward Verethragna like a holy spear of judgment.
Among Ultraman Tiga's arsenal, the Rampart Beam traded raw power for reliability and speed—a high-precision light attack, ideal against less durable opponents.
And now, that same beam surged forward, aiming straight at the god.
Against monsters with slightly higher defence, the Rampart Beam rarely made much of an impact.
But in Verethragna's eyes—this was something else entirely.
"So strong…!"
The moment the divine god of war saw that beam of light, his face twisted with shock.
The torrent of light tore through the sky like a divine arrow, its sheer force so immense that even space itself trembled in its path.
It had been fired casually, with only a slight charge—as if Su Mo hadn't even taken the fight seriously.
And yet, its power was nearly on par with the Sun God Mithra's full-strength attacks.
It was vast. Blazing. Terrifying.
An unstoppable force.
Feeling the dreadful energy surging toward him, Verethragna instinctively understood—
He couldn't block this.
Not just him. Even gods known for their defences likely wouldn't survive a direct hit.
That radiant beam, though seemingly elegant and swift, had gathered and compressed an overwhelming concentration of light—its destructive power capable of annihilating a god in a single instant.
Faced with that kind of power, Verethragna had no intention of taking it head-on.
Fortunately, he had already prepared for battle in advance.
[Raptor] Form—Activate.
Divine speed awakened from within, flooding his limbs with godlike agility.
"Fear the one with wings! Whether wicked or mighty, all tremble before me!"
"My wings bring a curse upon you! Evil shall never land a blow on me!"
With that incantation—a Word of Power—his form blurred and became light itself. Wings of light carried him across the battlefield in a flash, accelerating his movements beyond the reach of mortal eyes.
It was close. Far too close.
But with that divine speed, he managed—barely—to dodge the Rampart Beam.
As the roaring light surged past him, brushing his side with its burning heat, Verethragna felt a chill crawl down his spine.
Even a god like him couldn't stop the cold sweat from trickling down his back.
That attack… was terrifying.