[𝕂𝕦𝕨𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕥𝕒]
[𝕂𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕣𝕚]
[𝔹𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕒]
[𝔾𝕒𝕥𝕒-𝔾𝕒𝕥𝕒-𝔾𝕒𝕥𝕒𝕂𝕚𝕣𝕚𝔹𝕒! 𝔾𝕒𝕥𝕒𝕂𝕚𝕣𝕚𝔹𝕒!]
As the emblems of the Core Medals merged and flew toward me, my current suit shifted and transformed, accompanied by an unfamiliar jingle that echoed through the air.
I looked down at my green suit. The color was bright and solid across my body, lined with darker patterns that followed the shape of an insect's segmented form. My helmet carried a pair of long stag beetle horns rising from the forehead, with a small green crystal set between them and wide orange compound eyes curving along the sides.
My arms ended in sharp mantis-like blades that extended along my forearms—thin and curved like the edge of a scythe. My legs were built for powerful jumps, thicker around the thighs and shaped like those of a grasshopper.
Power surged through my veins and bones. Compared to what I had used before, my previous suits felt like nothing next to what I was experiencing now. I looked toward the sky, clenched my fist, and raised it to shoulder height.
I opened my mouth and roared.
"MUWAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
My scream tore through the battlefield. The already ruined ground around me cracked further under the pressure of the energy bursting out of my body. Isadora and the third unit Vice Chief instinctively raised their arms to shield their faces from the sudden blast. The wind generated by my roar slammed into them like a raging hurricane.
"What is that?!" the Third Unit Vice Chief immediately asked Isadora. A chill ran down her spine as she felt the dangerous pressure radiating from the Kamen Rider.
"A big boost in power, you could say," Isadora replied casually.
But inside, her thoughts were in complete disarray. Using three Core Medals from the same Greeed was no joke.
Despite transforming into this form for the first time, I could already tell that it possessed a useful ability. Eager to test it, I turned my gaze toward Shikoku and the three-headed Unique Shuuki. They were staring back at me. The Shuuki still wore that disgusting smile, but Shikoku's expression had turned serious.
"You," Shikoku said to the Shuuki beside her. "Make them move."
The Unique Shuuki didn't understand why her previously cheerful tone had suddenly shifted into something far more cautious.
When the Shuuki hesitated, Shikoku slowly turned her eyes toward it.
Her gaze changed.
"Are you defying me?"
The Shuuki immediately panicked and nodded in submission. Following her command, it slammed its chest repeatedly with one hand and let out a howl. At the same time, the two faces beside it stopped laughing and began shrieking instead.
I looked around.
The frozen horde slowly began to move. Muscles twitched, joints shifted, and within seconds they regained control of their bodies. Their voices rose as the horde came back to life.
"Go!" Shikoku shouted.
They charged toward me in a frenzy. The Unique Shuuki joined the advance, moving even faster than the rest.
"Quite unfair, you know," I muttered. "I'm only one person."
Let's even the odds.
I dashed forward to meet them, heading straight for the Unique Shuuki. A green aura flared around my body. Then something split away from me.
A clone.
It looked exactly like my suit with every detail perfectly replicated.
But it didn't stop there.
More bodies separated from mine, multiplying again and again until their number approached multiple dozens. Without needing a single command from me, they spread out and rushed the ordinary Shuuki and the others to Shikoku to engage in combat. With only a few remaining at my side, they would face the three-headed abomination with me.
"Seiyahhhh!!!"
"Haaaaaa!"
"Oraa!!!!!"
"Take this, you bastard!!!"
"Beat him up!!!"
My clones started shouting over one another as they charged the Shuuki.
It still tried to resist but unfortunately for it, this wasn't a fight with high odds on its side. It would have been one thing if my clones were weaker. They weren't. Each one was just as strong as I was, with no drop in power.
"Clone One and Two!" I shouted. "Hold him down!"
"Aye, boss!" Clone One saluted.
"DEMACIA!!" Clone Two yelled as he caught the Shuuki's incoming punch. In one swift motion he grabbed its arm, and Clone One immediately seized the other.
I skidded to a stop in front of them, cracking my knuckles. I started punching the absolute hell out of it. Every hit carried the anger boiling inside me. My fists slammed into its torso again and again. My other clones didn't just stand around either—they piled on from behind, raining blows across its back and every part of its body. When the Shuuki tried to kick, two more clones immediately noticed.
They dove down and grabbed its legs.
"Just let us do our thing, you ugly bastard," Clone Six said while wrapping himself around the creature's leg.
The Unique Shuuki couldn't move.
Even though the other heads were still laughing, we never loosened our grip. The beatdown continued nonstop—an all-you-can-eat buffet of fists.
"Will you shut up already?"
Annoyed by the constant cackling, two clones climbed onto another clone's back. Using him as a platform, they jumped forward and drove their knees straight into the laughing faces.
Once.
Twice.
Then repeatedly.
They kept hammering the heads over and over until the faces were barely recognizable anymore. The Unique Shuuki's expression twisted into one of pure desperation. All three of its face opened their mouths and released a furious roar that echoed. The sound barely finished leaving its throat before some of my clones casually bent down, grabbed a large rock from the cracked ground, and walked straight up to the monster.
"Yeah, yeah, we hear you," one of the clones muttered.
Then they shoved the rock straight into the creature's mouth.
"Now chew."
The Shuuki gagged as the stone jammed between its teeth, muffling whatever roar it was trying to make.
Meanwhile, the clones pinning it down loosened their grips for only a split second—just enough to lift the monster's upper body before slamming it back down onto the ground. Seeing the perfect opening, the rest of us didn't hesitate.
We started kicking it.
Hard.
Boots slammed into its body, stomach, face. Anywhere we could reach. To anyone watching, it probably looked less like a battle and more like a group of delinquents jumping some poor idiot in an alley.
Except the "poor idiot" in question happened to be a three-headed Shuuki.
"Is that all you've got, punk?" one clone shouted as he stomped on its chest. "Where's that confidence you had earlier?!"
"Hit it harder!" another clone yelled while winding up another kick. "It's still moving!"
"Yeah, aim for the ugly face!"
"Which one?!"
"Good point!"
Our kicks kept raining down like a storm.
But then something strange started happening. The two faces on the sides of its body began to blur. At first I thought they were simply fading. But the longer I looked, the clearer it became.
They weren't disappearing.
They were being absorbed.
The flesh around the faces twisted and pulled inward, slowly merging back into the creature's main body. At the same time, its muscles began to swell unnaturally, bulging under its skin like something was inflating it from the inside.
"Uh… guys?" Clone Ten said, pausing mid-kick.
He pointed down at the monster.
"It's doing something."
Everyone stopped.
Dozens of identical green helmets turned toward each other. Then we all looked back down at the Shuuki. The creature's body continued expanding, its muscles twitching and stretching. For a moment, none of us moved.
"So…" I said. "We gonna let it finish?"
Clone Two crossed his arms and tilted his head as he watched the transformation.
"…For now only," he replied.
With that silent agreement made, we all jumped back at once, scattering away from the monster. Within seconds, identical versions of me spread out, forming a loose circle around the creature.
The Shuuki's body continued growing at an alarming rate. Its frame stretched taller and taller, its muscles swelling to ridiculous proportions. Veins bulged along its arms as its entire body thickened with raw strength.
Cracks spread through the ground beneath its expanding weight.
Then, with a sudden violent motion.
It roared.
The sound was far deeper and louder than before, rumbling through the air like thunder. Slowly, the monstrous creature pushed itself upright, rising onto its two feet as its newly enlarged body finished its transformation.
Earlier, I had actually been afraid of what might happen to me.
But now that I was using a Combo… that fear had completely vanished.
In its place was something else.
An uncontrollable urge to play with the Shuuki crept into my mind.
I felt strangely at ease, almost relaxed, even while my clones rampaged across the battlefield. All around me, identical versions of myself were tearing through the remaining Shuuki—slashing, punching, and kicking them apart as their numbers rapidly dwindled. What had once been a horde was now barely anything at all.
"Nin nin. The enemy has become stronger, de gozaru," Clone Thirteen said while raising his index and middle finger in a ninja hand sign.
"Mhm mhm, de gozaru," Clone Five nodded thoughtfully before turning toward me. "Hideo-dono, what do we do?"
I couldn't help it.
I laughed.
"We beat it, my fellow me!"
"Osu!" they answered in perfect unison.
Immediately, dozens of my clones began running in a wide circle around the Unique Shuuki. As we moved, we stretched both arms behind our backs in exaggerated ninja fashion, leaning forward as if we were sprinting through some overdramatic ninja anime. The creature's massive head turned left.
Then right.
Then left again.
It couldn't keep track of us.
Using its confusion against it, we suddenly broke formation and dashed inward from every direction at once. Our forearm blades lit up with a sharp green glow.
Then the slicing began. We carved into its body with clean, controlled strikes which were precise and deliberate. Like a master chef preparing sushi, every cut was quick and efficient.
The Shuuki raised its massive arms in an attempt to block, but even that only earned it more wounds as our blades scraped and sliced across its defenses. Whenever it tried to retaliate, whenever its massive arm twitched or its muscles tensed to strike, we were already gone.
One of the slashes finally went deep enough.
With a sharp, tearing sound, the blade cut clean through flesh and bone. The Shuuki's arm separated from its body and spun through the air before crashing heavily onto the ruined ground.
For a brief moment, even the monster seemed stunned by what had just happened.
But my attention didn't stay on it for long.
At that exact moment, I felt something else—an abrupt, faint disconnect in my senses.
Several of my clones had just been destroyed.
My head snapped toward the direction where a massive cloud of dust and smoke was rising into the air, the aftershock of a violent explosion spreading.
A quick mental check confirmed it.
Clone Sixty-Seven.
Clone Sixty-Nine.
Clone Twenty-One.
Clone Forty-Two.
Gone.
The connection between us had vanished completely.
"Shikoku really is strong."
Whether she was a real god or not, her strength was no joke.
I hadn't personally met the other gods yet, but one thing was already clear to me: if Shikoku was this powerful, there was a very real chance the others were even worse.
Which meant I couldn't afford to get careless.
Not even for a moment.
And yet I had been doing exactly that.
Playing around.
The overwhelming power of the Combo form had made me far too relaxed. I had been enjoying myself a little too much while my clones ran wild across the battlefield.
I had almost forgotten something important.
My quota.
The Third Unit still needed help.
"Alright," I muttered to myself. "Playtime's over."
I reached down to my belt and grabbed the scanner.
The moment I stopped moving, my clones did the same. One by one, dozens of identical versions of me halted in place and pulled out their own scanners as well, perfectly mirroring my actions.
Then the belt responded.
[𝕊ℂ𝔸ℕℕ𝕀ℕ𝔾 ℝ𝔼ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝔾𝔼]
Without another word, we all jumped at the exact same time. Many identical green figures shot upward into the sky, rising above the ruined battlefield in perfect synchronization.
From above, we looked down. The Shuuki stood below us in a miserable state. Its body was covered in deep cuts and wounds from our earlier assault. One of its arms was gone entirely, leaving behind a jagged stump.
It had transformed.
It had grown stronger.
And yet even with all that power, it still hadn't managed to properly fight back against us. Still, it had served its purpose. Now it was time to send it to its final resting place. Whether that meant a grave… or whatever twisted purgatory monsters like it ended up in. If they even had one.
"SEIYAHHHHHH!"
Our voices roared together as one when gravity pulled us downward. Our bodies angled forward as we descended, sliding through the air like a rain of falling comets.
According to Isadora.
As the old Rider saying goes—
Every jump to the sky.
Turns into a Rider Kick.
"GRAAAARRRRRR!"
The Shuuki let out one last desperate roar.
Despite having only a single arm left, it bent its legs and leapt upward to meet us head-on, refusing to die without resistance.
For a brief moment, we collided in midair. My foot slammed straight into its chest. Its force alone was enough to send the monster hurtling back toward the ground like a cannonball. But we didn't stop there. Not even close because my clones followed right behind me one after another.
Kicks rained down upon the creature as it fell, each strike smashing into its body before the previous one had even finished landing. The sky itself seemed to rain green streaks of destruction. By the time the final kick landed. There was nothing left of the monster's resistance.
Then—
As if on cue—
A massive explosion erupted from the impact point.
Bright.
Loud.
And ridiculously dramatic.
========
========
Shikoku POV
I caught sight of a massive explosion in the distance. The exact spot where the fused form of Arges, Brontes, and Steropes had been fighting.
Even while noticing it, I was busy weaving through the air, dodging attack after attack from these irritating bugs that had been swarming around me for the past several minutes. Their constant interference was starting to grind down what little patience I had left. The place had already turned into a complete mess. The normal Shuuki I had summoned earlier were gone as well.
All of them.
Wiped out.
I let out a slow sigh.
I could have continued fighting if I really wanted to. But honestly, I had already lost interest.
My purpose had been simple. To test the humans and see how capable they really were. Unfortunately, the interference from those two had ruined the flow of that testing completely. Even if I continued now, the results wouldn't be very meaningful. This particular unit was far too weak. And their chief wasn't even present on the battlefield.
Still.
One thing continued to bother me.
That man in the suit.
Why did he suddenly become so strong? When I first appeared, he could barely keep up with me. When the fused Shuuki joined in, the two of us had nearly cornered him. We should have finished him. Yet the moment he changed into that strange new form, everything flipped. The difference in power was huge.
It irritated me.
"Nice attempt," I said casually as I looked down at the clones circling me. "But you all need to be punished properly."
Lightning blasts began firing from their horns again. Individually, the attacks were only decent—nothing compared to the full output Rairen could produce. But their numbers made up for it. With dozens of them firing simultaneously, the barrage became dangerous enough that even I couldn't afford to take it lightly.
Fine.
If they insisted on continuing this farce. Then I would give them a treatment worthy of their efforts. I raised both of my hands in front of me and pressed my palms together.
Dark energy gathered instantly between them.
I slowly pulled my hands apart as a swirling black sphere formed in the space between my palms, spinning faster and faster as it absorbed the surrounding air.
The clones immediately reacted. Their movements stopped and every single one of them shifted into a guarded stance.
"She's doing something!" one clone shouted.
"Brace for impact!" another yelled.
Their alarm only made me smile wider.
I let out a quiet, ominous laugh.
"Your resistance is futile," I mocked as I poured more power into the sphere.
≋B≋L≋A≋C≋K≋ ≋E≋D≋D≋Y≋
The dark sphere exploded outward with gravitational force. Instantly, the clones felt their bodies being pulled toward it. Dust, broken debris, and loose stones from the battlefield were dragged into the swirling force.
Surprisingly, the clones resisted.
Their feet dug into the ground as they fought against the pull.
For a moment, they actually managed to hold their ground outside the range of my control.
"…Impressive," I muttered.
So I increased the power.
The gravitational pull intensified.
This time, their resistance failed.
One by one, the clones were dragged toward the center of the vortex.
As soon as they crossed into my area of control, dozens of my strongest snakes erupted from the darkness surrounding the sphere. They lunged forward and sank their fangs into the trapped clones. Normally, victims bitten by these snakes would suffer a slow and painful death from the venom.
Instead of collapsing from poison, they vanished the instant the fangs pierced them. Their bodies dissolved into nothingness. Yet before I could finish wiping them out, I felt something again. More of them with dozens of presences rushing toward me from every direction. The remaining clones were already closing in.
"…Time to bail out," I gathered another mass of dark energy in my hand and threw it toward the group of humans in the distance.
If nothing else, I could at least leave them with a parting gift.
The black projectile shot forward.
But just before it could reach that arrogant woman and the wounded soldiers around her—
Something interfered.
A sudden vortex of wind tore across the battlefield and swallowed the attack whole. The dark energy was ripped apart and scattered by the violent currents. Then, from within the swirling wind, two figures appeared.
A woman with purple hair stepped out first. Behind her was another woman with black hair, who immediately rushed toward the injured soldiers to check their condition. The purple-haired woman, meanwhile, floated lightly above the battlefield. She looked around at the destruction with an amused grin.
"Quite a rowdy mess you've made here for someone as cute as you~~," she said casually, though the air around her carried a quiet seriousness that didn't match her tone. Her voice sounded relaxed, almost teasing, yet there was a clear weight behind her words. "Too bad Yakumo-chan showed up late to the party."
Her gaze drifted across the area.
Then it stopped.
Locked directly onto me.
"The Fifth Unit Chief has now arrived for backup."
She lifted two fingers in a cheerful peace sign.
And then she winked.
…Bad news.
Not because of her combat ability.
But the way she was looking at me—
It made my skin crawl.
There was something invasive about it, like being stripped bare naked under a spotlight. As if she could see straight through me, straight through the calm expression I forced myself to keep. Standing there beneath that gaze felt wrong.
I felt violated.
And I absolutely hated it.
"Tsk."
With the fused Shuuki already gone, there was no longer any reason for me to stay here. The fight had already played out, and whatever came next had nothing to do with me.
I've seen more than enough for today.
Without another thought, I slipped back into the shadows. Darkness folded around my body like a curtain closing over a stage. My form dissolved into the gloom just as one of the approaching clones cut through where I had been standing moments earlier, its blade slicing through nothing but empty air.