Kou was incredibly fast, which meant that very few monsters could keep up with him. Streaks of crimson light flashed across the battlefield, and before many of the monsters could react, their vision went dark and their thoughts ceased.
"Great! It's the new S-Class Hero, Kamen Rider Kabuto!"
The remaining heroes who were still struggling to hold the line immediately regained their morale when they saw Kou appear. Their faces filled with relief.
Farther behind them, the C-Class Heroes and several B-Class Heroes who were evacuating civilians and directing them toward the shelters also breathed sighs of relief when they noticed what was happening at the front.
The Deep Sea monsters had arrived too quickly, and many civilians had not had enough time to take shelter. The A-Class Heroes had barely managed to hold them back. Had the new S-Class Hero not arrived, countless ordinary people would likely have died in the attack.
Flames suddenly surged across the battlefield.
A metallic figure charged forward through the fire and kicked a monster to pieces. The sight of him raised the heroes' morale even further.
"It's the S-Class Hero Demon Cyborg! Great, there are two S-Class Heroes here! This disaster should be resolved soon!"
The heroes cheered.
At that moment, the Deep Sea King, who had been standing near the coast, silently raised his head and looked toward the sky.
At some point, the sky above had turned pitch-black, and thick storm clouds had gathered overhead.
A figure wearing a haori suddenly appeared in the distance.
He stood far enough away to avoid every technological surveillance system, and no one noticed his arrival.
"The Deep Sea King should already be close to Dragon-level. Once this heavy rain begins, he will reach true Dragon-level strength. It was worth spending those resources to strengthen him."
Ren Kanzaki muttered to himself.
He had no other choice. If he had not strengthened the Deep Sea King, the creature would likely have been defeated almost immediately after confronting Kou, the imitation Kamen Rider.
Now, after Ren's investment, the Deep Sea King's strength on land had already approached Dragon-level. All he needed was heavy rain to display his full Dragon-level power outside the ocean.
"Kou will die here. The person hiding behind him will definitely realize that I arranged this. Then I'll step forward to recover Kou's body and pretend I've been investigating this entire time. I'll confidently tell the Hero Association that I'm close to uncovering some clues."
"No matter what happens, the person behind him will be forced to make a move."
Ren had originally planned to remain friends with Kou for a while.
However, when faced with Kou's pure smile and his sincere desire to become a hero and help others, Ren found that he no longer wanted to be around him.
There was no particular reason.
Perhaps he simply disliked someone so foolish.
Ren changed his plan and decided to force the hidden enemy into action.
He did not believe that the person lurking in the shadows could remain completely concealed under these circumstances.
Over the past several days, Ren had secretly traveled through many areas and placed spells and familiars throughout the city. Although they could not cover every residential district perfectly, they were enough to detect any unusual activity and narrow down its source.
At that moment, a single raindrop fell from the sky.
Ren extended his hand and caught it.
Looking at the crimson figure still fighting relentlessly on the battlefield, he said,
"I suppose this counts as a rainy-day Kamen Rider scene."
Kou was using his extreme speed to defeat one enemy after another when he suddenly felt a powerful gust of wind strike his face.
Then something hit him with overwhelming force.
It was the first time he had been directly struck since awakening without his memories.
Kou was thrown nearly thirty meters before rolling across the ground several times.
He climbed back to his feet and looked toward the place where he had been standing.
The creature calling itself the Deep Sea King stood there, still holding the posture of a completed punch.
"Your speed is impressive, and your strength isn't bad either... But there is something strange about you."
The Deep Sea King stared at Kou after knocking him away.
The armor covering Kou's body did not resemble human technology. It looked more like a natural carapace growing directly from his flesh.
Kou said nothing.
He entered high-speed mode again, charged toward the Deep Sea King at the fastest speed he could currently reach, and threw a punch.
However, the lightning-fast strike was caught with ease.
The Deep Sea King grinned viciously, exposing rows of needle-like teeth. He tightened his grip around Kou's arm and repeatedly slammed him into the ground like a rag doll.
Every impact shattered a large section of the pavement.
With each blow, Kou felt the shock tear through his internal organs, forcing screams from his throat.
Genos rushed toward them from a distance and attempted to stop the attack, but a large number of Deep Sea monsters immediately surrounded him.
His anxiety caused him to leave an opening.
A mantis shrimp monster seized that brief opportunity and struck Genos with a thunderous punch, sending him flying and tearing several components from his body.
After slamming Kou into the ground an unknown number of times, the Deep Sea King hurled him into a distant building.
Kou smashed through several walls, including multiple support columns, before rolling across the floor.
He tried to stand, but after several violent coughs, the armor covering his body faded away.
Then he collapsed.
The Deep Sea King walked forward at an unhurried pace.
Rainwater poured over his body as power surged through him. An unfamiliar mark seemed to appear within his eyes, but no one paid attention to it at that moment.
The Deep Sea King did not approach Kou to finish him.
Instead, he turned toward the large number of civilians who had not yet been evacuated.
Every hero watching him showed an expression of horror.
Several A-Class Heroes gritted their teeth and stepped forward, trying to block his path.
The Deep Sea King swatted them aside as easily as flies.
The B-Class and C-Class Heroes refused to retreat, but their efforts were equally useless.
They could not even force the Deep Sea King to stop walking or turn his head before being effortlessly thrown aside.
At that moment, the ringing of a bicycle bell echoed across the battlefield.
The C-Class Rank 1 Hero, Mumen Rider, charged forward and rammed his bicycle directly into the Deep Sea King.
The Deep Sea King actually stopped.
Had the attack somehow hurt him?
No.
His back had merely begun to itch, so he paused to scratch it.
He turned around and saw a weak human standing before him.
This man was weaker than any human he had fought so far.
"Monster! Stop right there!"
The young man wore a cycling suit, helmet, and goggles.
He gritted his teeth and threw a punch at the insurmountable wall before him.
Naturally, it had no effect.
The Deep Sea King looked down at the fist pressed against his abdomen. The strike felt like nothing more than a faint tickle.
"What are you doing? Even for a massage, that was far too weak."
"Ahhh!"
Mumen Rider continued swinging his fists again and again.
He knew his attacks would accomplish nothing.
He knew the monster before him was completely beyond his ability to defeat.
He knew his life might end in the next second.
But this was the only thing he could do.
Even if he could buy only one second, it might give more civilians time to escape.
It might give the fallen heroes a chance to stand again.
It might give reinforcements enough time to arrive.
As long as he could delay the Deep Sea King, even for a single second, it would be enough.
"I know I'm weak! I know I look ridiculous standing in front of you, but this is the only thing I can do!"
He roared, trying to release all the fear and frustration trapped inside him.
Then he threw the strongest punch of his life.
But it was still useless.
The Deep Sea King seemed to grow tired of the pointless display.
He casually raised one hand and slapped Mumen Rider away.
Mumen Rider flew through the air and crashed heavily into a roadside shop.
No one knew whether he was still alive.
Ren watched from a distance, his gaze completely calm.
Saitama should have arrived around this time, but Ren had deliberately lured him away.
All it had taken was arranging for Saitama to stumble across supermarket discount coupons for a distant city, then blocking the news from reaching that area.
The Deep Sea King stretched his body and continued walking toward the civilians.
The people who had briefly placed their hopes in Mumen Rider now collapsed into complete despair.
"Help! Is there anyone else who can save us?"
"Mommy! Daddy! Where are you?"
"Where are the heroes? Where did they all go?"
"It's over. We're going to die!"
"What a shame. I'm afraid I won't be able to keep our final promise."
Inside the ruins of the distant building, Kou's body had suffered catastrophic damage.
At that moment, a power hidden within him began rapidly healing his wounds.
In doing so, it awakened something that had been buried deep inside him.
The Deep Sea King approached a young girl and prepared to kill the human child.
The girl cried loudly and called for her parents.
Just as the Deep Sea King extended his hand, time seemed to freeze.
Even the falling rain became countless individual droplets suspended in midair.
"Henshin."
A low voice sounded.
Then a pitch-black insectoid silhouette appeared.
The Deep Sea King heard a strange sound, and everything around him suddenly seemed to slow down.
He saw a hideous, pitch-black figure resembling a humanoid insect standing with its back to him.
The figure stood between him and the child.
Then it raised one leg, spun around, and kicked.
An irresistible force struck the Deep Sea King.
He was sent flying across the battlefield and crashed heavily into the distant ocean.
Time began moving again.
The suspended raindrops resumed falling.
Everyone saw the pitch-black humanoid insect monster.
The creature crouched down and tried to touch the girl with its sharp, pointed claws.
Its mandibles opened as though it wanted to devour her, or perhaps say something.
"Monster! Get away from her!"
A wounded hero who had barely managed to stand threw his weapon.
It struck the pitch-black insectoid figure.
The hero shouted loudly, trying to draw its attention away from the child.
The creature froze.
It looked down at its sharp claws covered in black carapace.
Then it silently stood and raised its head toward the sky.
Raindrops struck its compound eyes and slid down the sides of its face.
It looked as though it were silently crying.
(To be continued.)