Over the past few days, Kou had felt a mysterious irritability growing inside him. Whenever he saw something neat and orderly on the street, he felt an urge to tear it apart.
However, he had always managed to suppress this inexplicable desire. Whenever the agitation became particularly intense, he would run into the wilderness, not to vent his anger, but to calm himself amid the quiet mountains and natural scenery. Occasionally, he would find a waterfall and stand beneath it, allowing the heavy current to crash against his body and help him regain his peace of mind.
Kou suspected that this impulse had been planted inside him by whoever modified his body. He had already decided that if it ever became truly uncontrollable, he would ask the other S-Class Heroes to kill him.
He did not want his hands to be stained with the blood of his own kind.
During the short time he had lived in this world, he had seen many beautiful things.
The smiles of children, friends laughing and playing together, couples in love, husbands and wives supporting one another, and families caring for each other.
There were so many things worth cherishing, including the beauty created by human hands and the delicious food Kou knew he would never forget.
At first, he had wanted to protect others and become a hero because of an impulse buried deep within him. But after living through these past few days, he genuinely wanted to protect all those precious things.
While unconscious, he heard children crying and people calling for help. He thought of those young lives and the people who should have been allowed to live happy and fulfilling lives.
I don't want to fall here.
I want to help more people.
I want to see more people smile with genuine happiness.
I want to see those beautiful, ordinary days continue, one after another.
I want to save more people.
I want more people to live truly happy lives.
Relying on his powerful will, Kou forced his broken body off the ground.
At the same time, he felt the desire for slaughter and destruction surging violently within him.
This time, he did not suppress it.
He embraced it.
Kou looked toward the Deep Sea King in the distance. A sudden realization flashed through his mind, and he whispered,
"Henshin."
His skin began to writhe.
His bones began to mutate.
Waves of tearing pain spread throughout his body.
Then his form changed completely, transforming into a true monster.
Previously, his crimson insect armor had looked like a suit. Now, his entire body resembled a pitch-black insect twisted into a humanoid shape.
He was hideous and terrifying. Even his mandibles were fully exposed, creating a horrifying sight for anyone who looked at him.
Rain poured over his body.
He turned his head and saw the civilians staring at him in terror, along with the girl collapsed on the ground, too frightened even to cry.
Then he glanced at the hero who had tried to risk his own life to draw Kou's attention away and give the girl a chance to escape.
So, I've become a monster too.
Kou felt the violent urge for slaughter and destruction raging within him.
He understood now that he had never truly been a hero. He was a biological weapon created by some scientist or secret organization.
The impulses surging through him were the clearest proof.
The reason he had appeared without any memories was probably because whoever operated behind the scenes wanted to test the combat ability of their biological weapon.
The Deep Sea King burst from the water and charged onto the shore like a raging storm.
He cracked his neck, looked toward the motionless pitch-black figure in the distance, and shouted,
"Hey, you over there! Why did you stop me from attacking those humans?"
Kou stared at the Deep Sea King through his pitch-black compound eyes.
The desire for slaughter and destruction inside him was becoming almost impossible to control.
He knew he had to release it.
Several crimson lines appeared across his pitch-black carapace.
Before the Deep Sea King could react, the insectoid monster had already appeared in front of him.
Sharp claws tore into his body again and again.
Blood sprayed through the air.
Flesh was ripped away.
Even bone was torn apart with ease.
The Deep Sea King managed only a few agonized screams before being reduced to mangled flesh scattered across the ground.
Kou's previously pitch-black compound eyes had turned crimson.
He looked down at the blood and flesh coating his hands.
His mandibles slowly opened.
A long, bright red tongue stretched out and licked the blood and fragments of flesh from his claws.
The invading Deep Sea monsters stood frozen in shock.
Before they had even realized what was happening, their king had been torn apart.
Then they watched the insectoid monster lick the blood and meat from his hands, bend down, pick up several pieces, and place them into his mandibles.
A sickening chewing sound followed.
Then the crimson compound eyes turned toward them.
"Run!"
One of the Deep Sea monsters realized something was wrong and tried to dive back into the ocean.
Before it could even leap, its body was torn apart.
The pitch-black figure was already standing where it had been.
"Screech!"
The dark insectoid figure released a piercing cry.
The terrifying sound seemed to announce the arrival of death itself, destroying the last remaining courage within the monsters.
They scattered in every direction.
But at their speed, how could they possibly escape?
Like the arrival of the Grim Reaper, a pitch-black storm swept across the entire area.
The powerful Deep Sea monsters that had invaded the shore were torn apart one after another.
Not a single one left behind a complete body.
All of them were reduced to fragments of various shapes and sizes.
Amid the monsters' agonized wails and terrified screams, the surviving humans and heroes watched in horror.
They saw the powerful invaders slaughtered with ease by the insectoid monster who had once been Kamen Rider Kabuto.
The scene was so bloody and violent that merely looking at it made people tremble.
Some collapsed to the ground in terror.
Others vomited at the gruesome sight.
When the pitch-black storm finally faded, every invading Deep Sea monster had been reduced to pieces scattered across the ground.
The dark insectoid creature stood at the center, drenched in blood of many different colours.
Its crimson compound eyes slowly turned toward the civilians, who were now too terrified even to run.
The heroes were equally frightened.
Even so, they forced themselves to stand between the creature and the crowd.
Of course they were afraid.
Of course they did not want to die like this.
But there were innocent people behind them.
If they simply stood aside and watched those people die in such a brutal manner, how could they ever call themselves heroes again?
Heroes could not run away from the battlefield.
Kou looked at the heroes whose bodies trembled with fear, yet whose eyes remained determined as they faced him.
The pitch-black insectoid monster suddenly disappeared.
A tremendous splash erupted from the distant ocean.
He had leapt into the sea.
Far away, Ren stared at everything that had just happened in stunned disbelief.
He even has a dark Kamen Rider form!
Beneath the shadow of a bridge, a man in tattered clothes leaned against a concrete support and stared blankly at his hands.
In the past, Kou had felt almost nothing when killing monsters. He had simply wanted to save people and protect their happiness.
But when he entered that pitch-black state, he had felt genuine pleasure from the bottom of his heart.
Killing his enemies.
Tearing apart their bodies.
Listening to their screams.
The pleasure he experienced was unlike anything he had ever known.
It was even greater than the joy of eating delicious food.
It was an overwhelming thrill, as though he had become the ultimate predator, standing above every other living being in the world.
During the battle, he had even torn flesh from his enemies and stuffed it into his mouth.
The heavy scent and taste of raw meat had seemed like the finest seasoning, making him even more excited.
What frightened Kou most was that after killing those monsters, he had almost attacked ordinary people.
Had he not seen those heroes standing firmly between him and the civilians despite their fear, something within him might not have been stirred in time.
He might already have committed something unforgivable.
"Perhaps my dream of becoming a hero was nothing more than something implanted inside me by whoever created me, just so they could observe my combat ability."
"I am a monster."
"A monster through and through."
(To be continued.)