Above the battlefield, the colossus still roared across the sky. But its voice, once thunderous, now rang hollow. Without its agent as a stabilizing core, it had become unstable—no longer the incarnation of a beast called "Sui," but a weakened echo of a fractured age. A projection. A ghost of something that once was.
"Still... that thing's not coming down any time soon," Talulah muttered, watching it circle overhead. Even with the wings gifted by the Falcon Driver, aerial combat had never been her domain. She was a dragon of the earth and flame, not of sky and shadow.
"Then we'll bring it down," Amiya said firmly.
At her side, the crimson-blue Device on her belt pulsed. A whisper began to thread through the air, a haunting cry that every fighter heard—not with their ears, but deep in their bones. The banshee was singing again.
Logos, lend me your strength.
"Tickaz—Banshee."
"Rider Time: Kamen Rider Zi-O. Armor Time: Tickaz. Kazimierz. Soul-Rending Elegy."
A cloak of black silk fell from her shoulders, and twin golden lenses gleamed beneath her helmet like the wings of a night bat. Her armor, sleek as formalwear, shimmered with eerie grace. And at the heart of it, engraved across her chestplate, was the crest of the Kazimierz Banshee Court.
Unlike its original variant, this version of the Banshee Armor cast a dark veil across Amiya's face. A subtle shadow, like a theater curtain, half-lifted, hinting at some terrible sorrow underneath.
If Wendigo was the body of Kazimierz…
If Ifrit was its inferno…
Then the Banshee was its voice—its most elegant hunter, its final song.
The Originium was their orchestra. Catastrophes were their instruments. And all living things were their audience.
The Banshee's song was death.
Amiya raised the Pen of Time, now glowing with gold filigree under the Banshee's influence. Three notches gleamed faintly on its stem—Originium capacitors filling slowly as she moved.
With a sweeping gesture, she wrote a single word into the air:
Gravity.
"I declare this place tenfold heavier!"
Soft, somber music spilled from the pen. Notes materialized in the air, weaving into the void between worlds.
BOOM.
The monster jerked mid-flight. An invisible hand crushed down on its back, pinning it toward the earth. It shrieked, fighting the pressure, refusing to bow.
The energy gauge on the pen ticked up—one bar became two.
"I declare this place one hundred times heavier!"
BOOOOOOOM!
The sky split open as gravity slammed the beast into the ground like a meteor. The entire plain shook.
"Now!" Amiya called. "Talulah! Officer Chen! Doctor Kal'tsit!"
"Got it!"
"Let's move."
Twin dragons soared—one gold, one crimson. Flames and sunlight struck the beast's snout at the same time. It staggered. From behind, Kal'tsit leapt forward, her strength amplified by synchronized memory systems. Her punch cracked into the creature's brow with seismic force, nearly popping one of its massive eyes from its socket.
"RAAAH!"
It screamed in agony, still thrashing under the weight of its own falling sky. Even as it buckled, it swung a claw upward and smashed Talulah across the chest.
She folded her wings just in time. Golden sparks showered the battlefield as claw met feathered steel. The blow hurled her backwards—but before she could crash, a warm wind cradled her like a giant hand.
Behind her, Amiya's pen was writing again. One word—Wind.
She'd changed the battlefield's breeze.
"…Okay, this Banshee form is ridiculously versatile," Talulah muttered, brushing soot off her shoulder.
Then her eyes lit up. "Hold on. You've got upgrades now? I want one too. Huijie! Gimme your dragon!"
"Wait, what?"
Chen Huijie braced herself against the monster's swinging tail, slicing through it with a burst of blade-light. She turned, confused. "Why do you want my Driver?"
"Because mine's not cool enough. Yours feels way more powerful!"
Despite her bewilderment, Huijie trusted her completely. With a quick motion, she tossed her Driver to Talulah.
"Thanks!" Talulah grinned.
The moment she held it, a rush of wild energy surged through her veins. She had felt this before—but never so intense. Never so… right.
This was her dragon.
She ripped off her Falcon Driver and slammed the new core into her belt.
"Lung."
"Rider Time: Kamen Rider Dragon. Armor Time: Imperial Throne—Lung!"
A blaze of gold and cobalt swept over her armor, wrapping around her like flame-wrought silk. The crimson dragon knight reemerged—stronger, bolder, more majestic than ever.
"Ohhh yes. That's it..."
Her heartbeat thundered. Every fiber in her body felt electrified. She clenched her fists.
"I'm invincible now!"
With a roar, she charged. Her first steps gouged trenches in the earth. By the time she reached the monster, she was a volcanic eruption, crashing into it like a freight train. The creature reeled backward, plowing through the wasteland for hundreds of meters before skidding to a stop.
But Talulah wasn't done.
The power in her veins burned like wildfire. She had to release it or be consumed.
The monster roared, its body shifting. What once resembled a dragon was now mutating—bulking up, swelling into something brutish and grotesque. It lifted one colossal arm, trying to swat her away, but a sudden crimson barrier stopped its punch mid-air. Cracks formed. The barrier shattered—but it had bought her time to retreat.
Kal'tsit stood behind her, hands on the earth. She whispered a single word:
"Queen."
"Officer Chen, Talulah—attack with everything you've got. Leave your defenses to us," Amiya called out.
"Then let's go!" Huijie shouted, sprinting.
Talulah had already scaled the monster's arm, running up its sinew and bone, heading straight for the head.
The beast tried to slap her off. She dug in her heels, braced her fists with blue fire, and punched upward—once, twice, three times. Each impact sent shockwaves rolling through the sky.
Blue fire exploded at her ankles. With a twist, she launched a kick straight into the monster's wrist, sending its claw flying.
At the same time—slash. Slash. Slash.
Golden light flashed overhead. Chen Huijie soared through the air, blade drawn. Three consecutive cuts severed a horn, sliced off its leonine mane, and drove it backward with surgical precision.
The beast snarled, summoning one last surge of power. A vortex of chaotic force erupted from its mouth, smashing into Huijie mid-air.
She crossed her arms, shielding herself from the blast as she plummeted.
On the ground, Amiya acted fast. Her pen streaked through the air.
"Thunderclap."
Two energy bars lit up.
At her side, Kal'tsit raised her hands skyward. The earth responded. Her memory systems linked with the storm.
"Weather."
BOOM.
The sky turned black.
Lightning fell—pure gold, divine. A bolt struck the beast's spine with a bone-rattling crack. It howled, writhing in agony.
Talulah dodged the lightning and landed below. Now was the moment.
She pressed both hands on her Driver and twisted.
"Lung."
"Tenchu Time Break!"
Lightning burst around her right leg. The ancient symbol for "dragon" burned into the air, wrapped around her like a living wyrm. Fire surged. Thunder rolled.
"Rider Kick!"
Not a flying leap—but an uppercut kick, from earth to sky. The beast was launched, screaming, back into the heavens.
"Huijie!"
"Tornado!"
"Cyclone!"
Wind spiraled upward, lifting Huijie like a golden missile. All the power of the Sui-Beast converged at her feet.
She kicked off the whirlwind and shot upward—directly at the airborne beast.
It sensed something was wrong. It flailed, tried to retreat.
But it was too late.
Huijie pressed the Driver's trigger. It spun once. Behind her, a phantom shape emerged—the image of the original Sui-Beast, its prideful head low in silence.
"Sui… Sovereign of Light. End of Time."
(Translator's note: This line is from the custom Chinese version of Sui's finisher. Don't blame me for the poetic phrasing—it's intentional.)
Her blade was unsheathed.
Draw. Mourning Edge. Falling Night. Lifted Brow. Shadow Sever.
With each cut, memories flooded Huijie's eyes—her childhood, her training, the path that brought her here. And with each memory, the eyes of the phantom Sui-Beast opened wider.
Sky Splitter.
One final arc slashed the monster clean through. But it wasn't enough. Its wounds began to drink the Originium dust from the air, healing itself.
She needed one more strike.
She took a breath, steadying herself. All her memories—all her weight—collapsed into this moment.
Behind her, the Sui-Beast opened its eyes fully.
"Heaven Pierces."
A whisper.
A flash of white.
Silence.
The beast hung in the air, frozen.
Then—ash. Nothing but ash, scattered across the wind.
Huijie landed. In the distance, a fading roar of resentment echoed in her ears.
Amiya and Talulah ran to her, grinning.
They never made it.
Electric arcs danced around Huijie's body. She clutched her chest, eyes wide. Then fell to her knees.
"Officer Chen?!"
"Huijie!"
They rushed forward—but an invisible shockwave hurled them back. They skidded to a halt, stunned.
"What's happening?!"
A sound rose behind them. A long, low howl.
Wuuuuuuuu…
It wasn't human.
It wasn't from this world.
The cry tore through space and memory alike, carrying them back across a thousand years, to an ancient, burning land.
Behind Huijie, the small figure of Nian stood frozen. Her eyes wide. Terrified.
"That sound…"
No mistake. She recognized it.
That was the real one.
"The real what?" Talulah asked sharply.
Kal'tsit's expression twisted into something complicated—pain, exasperation, dread.
"That… is Sui."
WUUUUUUUUUUU…
The cry rose again.
This time, they all saw it—briefly, terribly:
A vast, unknowable presence stirred behind Huijie.
And its gaze swept across the city of Lungmen.
Across the land called Yan.