A man named Jagura was observing the building from a distance. "Looks like it's started," he muttered to himself.
He couldn't see what was happening inside, but the sand familiars climbing the building's walls gave him a good idea. As he watched, a giant sphinx scaled the building and settled on the top floor, where he knew the most important meeting was taking place—and where the target was.
Soon after, the sphinx flew away from the building. Jagura's incredible eyesight caught a glimpse of pink twin-tails clutched in its hand. "That was easier than I thought. Guess I'm not needed after all?" he said nonchalantly.
A few minutes later, two figures took flight from the building. One was his colleague, Tatenashi Sarashiki, with a Mysterious Lady. The other was an unfamiliar powered armor.
The man, Shouta Jagura,'s lips twisted into a smile that spread throughout his body, transforming him into a monstrous figure with a crescent-shaped scar on his chest—Juggler.
"Well, no helping it. Guess I'll start my final job now," he said, and the Dark Ring in his hand glowed ominously, illuminating his face.
Unlike the road, the sky has no fixed path, allowing you to go in any direction you please, but it also has no obstacles. The sphinx was an immense mass of magical power, so tracking it was easy. We flew straight ahead and found our target.
"There it is...!!"
"You know what the objective is!"
"Of course!"
Aria, who was clutched in the sphinx's forelegs, appeared to be unconscious. The sphinx was holding her carefully with both forelegs, as if she were very precious.
"Take this!!" I fired a barrage of beams from my GN Sword Rifle Mode as a feint. They hit the sphinx's large head, but seemed to do no damage.
Still, it had registered us.
"GRAAAAAAA!!!" Its roar shook the air.
It now saw us as enemies and, instead of fleeing, chose to attack, charging at us with its large mouth open.
"Gah!"
"Whoa!"
Perhaps because it was holding Aria, its speed wasn't that great, and we easily dodged.
"We don't have time to waste," Tatenashi said.
"I'll use my 'right hand.'"
"Your right hand... that ability. Understood."
She seemed to realize what I was about to do just from those two words.
"I'll create an opening. You strike then."
"Got it."
We split up. I did nothing while Tatenashi drew the sphinx's attention by firing her vulcan cannons. But she still couldn't cause any damage. The sphinx, seemingly annoyed by the peashooter fire, tried to bite Tatenashi even as the bullets hit its face.
From a distance, it looked like a close call, but she had a relaxed expression, a testament to her excellent flying skills. She parried its bite with her spear, not even getting a scratch.
"It doesn't have much power in the air, but..."
I noticed the Mysterious Lady's water veil was thinning.
"That's...!"
It was a technique where she scatters water, made of nanomachines, onto the target in a mist. The nanomachines then heat up, instantly vaporizing the water to cause a steam explosion. The shock and heat from the explosion are meant to destroy the opponent.
"Clear Passion!!"
An explosion erupted around the sphinx. She had scattered the nanomachines while dodging.
"H-hey! Don't hit Aria!" I yelled.
"Oh, I'm not that clumsy, you know."
Indeed, she had not hit Aria. Perhaps because the sphinx was shielding her with its forelegs, Aria was unharmed. Even if the sphinx had used her as a human shield, the Mysterious Lady probably wouldn't have involved Aria.
"But it didn't do any damage. This is our only chance! Go!"
"Right!!"
My Exia accelerated in an instant. No matter how strong the sphinx was, it was still just a mass of magical power. It was no match for my "right hand."
"UOOOOOHHH!!"
"—!!"
I punched the sphinx with my right hand, which had become the Imagine Breaker. I felt the sensation of the spell that composed the sphinx cracking.
The moment I touched it, the sphinx stopped moving and its magical power began to dissipate. Aria fell from its forelegs, but...
"Whoa, gotcha."
Tatenashi, who was below, easily caught her.
"Good work. Your right hand's ability is still a cheat. To be able to erase a powerful familiar in one hit..."
"The downside is that I can't use any of my own abilities when this is active."
"But with a powered suit, that's not a problem, right?" she replied.
I guess it really is a cheat. I've always thought the original Kamijou should have at least had a powered suit.
"Anyway, let's head back. The fight over there must be over, a--gh...!"
"Eh...?"
Tatenashi's body twisted unnaturally. A delayed gunshot followed. Her IS lost its levitation function, and she and the unconscious Aria she was holding began to fall.
"Dammit!!"
I didn't know what had happened. I heard a gunshot, but it shouldn't have been powerful enough to pierce an IS's defenses. But there was no time to think. I had to save them.
I accelerated toward the falling Tatenashi...
"Gah!"
A tremendous impact hit my GN Shield. It was the same gunshot as before, but it now had enough power to blow me away.
"D-dammit...!!"
I was trying to go straight down but was now falling at an angle. At this rate, both Aria and Tatenashi would hit the ground. My eyes followed their descent.
"Huh?"
Just as they were about to hit the ground, a woman appeared with incredible speed, catching both of them. I recovered and landed in front of her.
I wish she was just a kind stranger who had helped them out of the goodness of her heart. Unfortunately, I knew this woman well. She was the one I least wanted to see but was most likely to show up right now.
"Kana...!"
"Oh, you know me. I'm not surprised, I suppose."
She was a beautiful woman with long brown hair in a braid. Her appearance confirmed that this attack was orchestrated by Patra. However, her attire was a bit odd. She wore a hat, a neckerchief, and a holster with a gun hanging from her waist, like a stereotypical "gunman." Still, it suited Kana.
Aria was lying on the ground at her feet. Behind me, Tatenashi was lying face down. Her IS armor had been released, leaving her in just her inner suit.
"Ugh...!"
"A-ah..."
The bodysuit-like IS suit, made of a swimsuit-like top and supporters from her ankles to above her knees, had a discolored patch on the side of her abdomen. The stain was spreading, and at its center, the suit was torn. The gunshot I heard earlier must have done this.
"If you take her to the hospital right now, she'll survive," Kana said coldly. "But if you fight me to get Aria back, you won't make it in time."
"You...!"
I glared at Kana. She took a step forward, as if to say, "If you want to fight, then let's go."
"..."
I silently prepared my Tusk Stand.
"Gah!!"
"—!!"
Gagagagagagaga!!
Sparks flew between us.
"It's useless. I know about your Stand. A Stand that fires fingernails like bullets. But it has a physical form, so it can be countered even without a Stand. That was some fast draw, though."
"I know...!"
Her specialty was the Invisible Bullet, a technique she could also use, which made it so fast that the opponent couldn't even perceive her drawing her gun. She'd countered all of my attacks with it. I couldn't see it either, even though I knew what was coming. Her speed was abnormal.
"You understand, don't you? What would have happened if I were serious?"
She was implying that she could have finished off Tatenashi.
"Yotsuki-kun...!"
"Tatenashi-san!!"
"Oh?"
Tatenashi weakly stirred.
"I'm surprised. I was certain I shot her."
She gestured to the holster on her hip. Could she have shot her with that? It looked like an ordinary handgun, but it had pierced the IS's defenses.
"It's not just a handgun. This is the Noble Phantasm of this Heroic Spirit. The King of Quickdraws," she said.
A Heroic Spirit?! The King of Quickdraws?! Could it be...?!
"I've used Heroic Spirit Summoning, 'Billy the Kid.' Don't think you can escape my bullets."
Billy the Kid, a famous outlaw and a legendary quickdraw artist from the American Wild West. A fusion of a quickdraw artist and a quickdraw artist. This was an incredibly compatible combination. In that case, the reason it bypassed our detection and the IS's defenses must be his Noble Phantasm.
"Don't... don't let her have Aria-san..." Tatenashi said, spitting up blood.
"Tatenashi-san...!"
"Absolutely not. Something terrible... will happen..."
"But if you don't, you won't survive," Kana said.
"That's my duty as Tatenashi. To protect Japan, to protect the world. If that's what it takes, then...!"
"Hmm, that's admirable. But it's Sho Yotsuki's decision, not yours."
"Yotsuki-kun...!"
I couldn't give up on either of them. Wasn't there a way to save both?
"Then I shall take over this situation," a new voice said.
"Woz... is that you?!"
It was Woz, a person whose strong personality had stuck in my memory even though I'd only met him a few times. I felt like he had appeared out of nowhere like this before.
"Who are you? You don't seem to be an ally of Sho Yotsuki," Kana asked.
"A sharp observation. Indeed, I am the loyal vassal of my great overlord, Sho Yotsuki. To be put in the same category as a mere 'ally' is unacceptable."
"..."
Kana gave me a look that seemed to say, You should choose your friends more carefully. I didn't know much about this guy either; he just shows up and says a bunch of weird stuff.
"Woz, I appreciate you coming to help, but we're seriously running out of time. If you're going to joke around, just step aside," I said.
Aria was unconscious at Kana's feet, and Tatenashi, shot in the stomach by a Noble Phantasm, was behind me. I had to defeat Kana immediately, retrieve Aria, and get Tatenashi to a hospital. I also had to get back to the building to help Yukina and the others.
"My overlord, that is impossible," Woz said.
"What?"
"Even you cannot handle this task right now."
I knew it was difficult, but this wasn't the time to complain. I had to do it.
"That's a very overlord-like way of thinking, but it doesn't change the difficulty."
"Then—"
"Because," Woz said, raising a finger, "the tasks have just increased."
Just then, an explosion echoed behind me. I turned to see fires erupting all over the island.
"No way...!"
I thought Kana might have started something to stall for time, but she said, "That wasn't me."
"The culprit is someone you don't know, for now. The monster he unleashed is rampaging across the island," Woz said.
Kana's expression shifted slightly. Could it be another member of I-WU that I don't know? But Woz specifically used the word "monster," which suggested it might be related to the Zetton that appeared before.
"Furthermore, Another OOO will appear at the Inter-Middle tournament venue. To be precise, the desires cultivated at the Inter-Middle venue have blossomed elsewhere and returned, but that's a minor detail."
"Another OOO..."
So that's why there have been so many Yummies on the island lately. I had a feeling this was the case, but it's finally confirmed. Another Rider... the same kind as the Another Build I fought before. He...
"Yes, just as you're thinking, my overlord, he can only be defeated by using the power of the same Rider. In other words, only you can defeat him. No... this book says that at this time, Tsukasa Kadoya is on this island. If he's here, that may not be the case... but will your personality allow it? Your acquaintances should be at the Inter-Middle venue, right?"
He was right. Today was the final between Elemia and Victoria. Team Nakajima and the members of Yagami Dojo should be watching. And since it's the final, the stands would be packed. If a monster that can't be defeated runs rampant there, who knows how many people would die.
"The island is a living hell. Countless monsters and Yummies are appearing, and you are the only one who can deal with one of them. Now do you understand why I said there's no time to waste here?"
"..."
What he was saying was true, and I had no reason to deny it. But if I let Kana go, I'd lose track of Aria's location.
"That's why I said I'll handle this," Woz said.
"Beyondriver!"
"A belt...?!"
It was a belt I didn't recognize. Could it be...?!
"WOZ!"
"ACTION!"
It looked a bit like the Ride Watch I use to transform into Zi-O, but it was different. He activated it and placed it in the belt. A standby sound began to play.
"Henshin."
"PROJECTION!"
"FUTURE TIME!"
"SUGOI! JIDAI! MIRAI! Kamen Rider Woz! WOZ!!"
"Rejoice! The prophet who reads the past and the future and records the correct history. His name is Kamen Rider Woz! The moment a new history is born has arrived!!"
I'd never seen this Kamen Rider before. So his name is Kamen Rider Woz... his own name is the Rider's name.
"You... you say that for yourself too...?" I muttered to myself.
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