Isadora and I stood at the edge of one of the massive craters that had appeared within the jurisdiction of the 7th Squad. Looking down at the Shuuki swarming below, I flipped a Core Medal into the air before catching it again, already knowing this would be another long fight.
"That's a lot," Isadora said beside me.
"You tell me," I replied as I grabbed my belt and fastened it around my waist.
The area resembled a breeding ground, considering the overwhelming number of Shuuki gathering in this single location.
"Time to do my job. Better thin their numbers now."
"Good luck," Isadora said, waving lightly.
Inserting the three Core Medals, I grabbed the scanner.
[𝕂𝕦𝕨𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕥𝕒]
[𝕂𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕣𝕚]
[ℂ𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕙]
I leapt straight downward.
The moment I landed, I felt their gazes lock onto me. Power gathered in my legs as I burst forward, moving so fast I became nothing more than a blur in their vision.
Raising my hand, I tore through them—slicing the Shuuki apart in a single sweeping motion.
Upon arriving at the center of the swarm, green lightning began gathering around the beetle crown on my head before striking the surrounding area indiscriminately. Bolts rained down without mercy, hitting the Shuuki and burning them to a crisp.
Continuing my rampage, I dashed forward from my position, mercilessly attacking everything within the crater, refusing to let them roam freely any longer.
"Let's dance, my Mama Sitas," I said with a grin.
I flipped forward, spinning into motion. Performing a flare, I rotated across the battlefield, moving like a breakdancer auditioning for a hip-hop battle amid pure chaos.
That Red Bull and Beer I drank earlier must've given me extra energy.
Perfect.
These Shuuki were nothing more than punching bags to burn off the excess rushing through my body.
Panicking as they watched me mercilessly slaughter their kind, their numbers rapidly dwindling, the remaining Shuuki began colliding with one another—their bodies merging into a single massive form.
"Thanks for making my job easier, you guys," I said.
Just as I was about to crank up the heat, a fast streak of energy shot toward my back.
Sensing the attack at the last second, I twisted away. I managed to dodge—but only barely saving my skin.
The beam shot past me and struck the fused Shuuki instead, killing it instantly before the creature even realized what had happened. Its massive body collapsed backward, lifeless.
But before it could hit the ground, something caught it.
Hair.
Long strands of hair.
They wrapped around the corpse, tightening relentlessly until the body crumpled inward. Flesh compressed under overwhelming force, the Shuuki's upper body crushed into a single dense sphere—leaving only its legs hanging beneath it.
Something descended from above, landing exactly where the now-dead Giant Shuuki once stood.
"Thanks for the free meal," a woman's voice chuckled.
She looked straight at me, licking something from her fingers while the crushed sphere of Shuuki flesh, still wrapped in her hair, was being fed to the creature she rode atop.
A Peach rested in her hand.
I wouldn't have been shocked—if she wasn't casually eating several of them as if they were nothing more than breakfast.
It was common knowledge: consuming multiple Peaches meant certain death.
Yet the woman before me devoured them without hesitation, without consequence—like the rule simply didn't apply to her.
The woman possessed a face that could easily pass as human, but the rest of her features were anything but.
Her teeth were unnaturally sharp, visible whenever she smiled. A dark marking ran beneath her cheek, contrasting against her pale skin. Her hands ended in long sharp nails resembling claws—far too sharp to belong to any human being.
My gaze shifted toward the massive creature beneath her. The way it looked different while munching on the Shuuki remains suggested only one thing.
A Unique Shuuki.
The strangest part wasn't its appearance—it was how it listened to her… like she was its master.
"Who are you?" I asked, every instinct screaming as I raised my guard to its limit.
She merely grinned before gulping down the peach in a single bite.
"Me?" she said, tilting her head slightly. "If I were to describe myself… I'm someone who will defy and fight the Defense Force itself."
Hearing that, a realization struck me, prompting another question.
"Are you one of the Thunder Gods?" I asked.
At that, she stared at me with a puzzled expression.
"Thunder Gods?" she repeated. "Who are they?"
She shrugged lightly.
"I don't know anyone or anything belonging to the group you're talking about."
Wait...if she isn't one of them, then what is she?
Despite not knowing the answer, I remained vigilant.
This was my first time encountering a humanoid Shuuki. I had no way of gauging her true strength or how dangerous she really was.
Staying alert was the only logical choice.
For now, caution was my best weapon.
"I was just curious about what was happening here, but look where that curiosity brought me," she said, speaking again. "Someone in a suit slaughtering Shuuki… that's a first."
She hopped down from the Unique Shuuki and tapped its massive body.
"Stay put, Kidoumaru."
The creature obediently settled as she began walking toward me.
I slowly stepped back and raised my guard, squaring my stance. Yet she paid no attention to my caution and continued approaching without hesitation.
"You…" she muttered, studying me closely. "You're not human. Not like the people from the Defense Force."
Her gaze traveled up and down my body while she held her chin thoughtfully.
What is she talking about?
I'm one hundred percent human.
"Why do you say that?" I asked.
"You don't smell or feel like one," she replied, tapping her chest lightly. "In fact, you don't resemble a Shuuki either. That's why I'm curious about what you really are."
Crossing her arms, she stared at me with open interest, as if examining something completely unfamiliar.
Now that she was saying all this ridiculous stuff… or maybe not.
If I were being honest with myself, there were still far too many things I didn't understand about my current condition.
Was this related to my body being enhanced after connecting with a Greeed like Isadora? Or was it something else entirely—something I had no knowledge of?
Isadora said it was connected to the former, so I chose to believe her.
"You and your partner really aren't normal," she said, her hair shifting on its own to scratch her forehead.
"My partner?"
"That woman watching us right now," she replied casually. "I was about to join the party earlier, but she stopped me."
She spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"You're a mystery," she continued. "But that woman with you? She's one million percent not human. The air around her screams fire… and her scent feels metallic."
So she had already encountered Isadora.
Just like the Thunder Gods, this humanoid Shuuki didn't seem to know what Isadora truly was. But then—
Why the hell am I included in that?
I'm just a guy using the power of the Core Medals. That had to be the reason.
Yeah… that must be it.
"I'm satisfied and done for now," she said, nodding and laughing.
"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.
She just smiled and turned her back to me.
"Oh, right—before I go, what should I call you?" she asked out of nowhere.
Deciding to humor her, I answered, "You can just call me Kamen Rider."
At that, she let out an amused snort.
Stepping back, she climbed onto her Shuuki and looked over her shoulder at me.
"I'm saying this in advance," she said, her tone innocent but her words ominous. "Next time we meet, Kamen Rider, it won't be as civil as this."
And with that, she ran off, disappearing into the distance.
I just stood there, staring at the fading figure, unsure what to make of it. She had called herself an enemy of the Defense Force… which meant it was inevitable we would meet again.
"That was… quite something," Isadora commented, appearing beside me and resting a hand on my shoulder.
"What was that woman?" I asked, still unsettled.
"A Half-Shuuki," Isadora said, studying the spot where the humanoid had vanished. "Judging by her physical structure, she may have been human once… but she became like that."
"Now that is the real concerning thing," I muttered.
I had no idea humans could be turned into Half-Shuuki.
"I didn't get her name either," I said to Isadora, scratching the back of my head. "Oh well… we'll find out eventually, if she even has one. Well, she probably does—considering she was once human."
Even with my curiosity tempered by caution, there were still questions I needed answered.
What had happened to her? And why was she standing against the Defense Force?
I may have mercilessly killed Shuuki before. But this time… it was different. This wasn't just another monster. It was a human being trapped inside a monster's body.
And that didn't sit well with me. I couldn't just charge in recklessly against someone like that. What if she was being controlled? Brainwashed? Forced into it by something beyond her will?
I needed the truth.
Too bad she left before I had the chance to say anything.
"Another one to put on our list… again," Isadora said, opening a portal behind us to send us back home.
"You got that right," I replied.
That humanoid Shuuki may have been a mystery—second only to the Thunder Gods, of course.
That said, being a magnet for trouble was something I had long since grown used to, so nothing had really changed.