"Impossible!"
It wasn't just Kusaka who was stunned; everyone was. The belt in Raven's hands—wasn't that the Kaixa Gear? So what was the Kaixa that Kusaka was currently transformed into?
"Does that mean there's more than one Kaixa Gear?" Mari wondered.
"That bastard Kusaka deserves a good beating," Kaido was thrilled, watching the spectacle unfold.
Raven's lips curled into a slight smile as he skillfully entered the transformation code: 913.
"Standing By."
He then closed the phone, placed it on the driver in the center of the belt, pressed down, and calmly declared: "Henshin."
"Complete!"
With the belt successfully activated, golden-yellow Photon Blood formed the Photon Frames over Raven's body, and in a dazzling flash of light, the suit was complete. Kamen Rider Kaixa (Raven's version) had successfully debuted!
"N-no… this can't be! How do you have another Kaixa Gear!" Kusaka cried out in shock.
"There are many things you won't be able to accept, like your imminent death."
"Are you kidding me? The only one who's going to die is you!"
Kusaka flew into a rage, snatching the Kaixa Blaygun from his hip, inserting the Mission Memory to switch it into blade mode, and slashing at Raven.
Raven dodged left and right, casually punching Kusaka in the side of the face. Then, he grabbed Kusaka's shoulders and slammed him into a nearby structure.
BANG!
CRASH!
The single remaining wall of a derelict building collapsed under Kusaka's impact. The falling masonry raised a thick cloud of smoke. Kusaka remained motionless inside.
Raven let out a scornful laugh. He walked in without caution, only for Kusaka to immediately spring from an ambush. He was clearly waiting for this moment!
But even with the surprise attack, Raven quickly parried the blow and then completely overwhelmed him.
BANG!
Punch after punch, he relentlessly hammered Kusaka's chest armor. When the smoke cleared, the onlookers saw Raven lifting Kusaka and brutally smashing him into the ruins. Though they wore the same belt, the disparity in their power was stark! Kusaka had no room to fight back.
"Ugh… No!"
Kusaka was now completely insane. He was being utterly humiliated again!
Raven sneered, not stopping his assault, continuing to torture Kusaka in a humiliating manner. He intended to completely break Masato Kusaka's spirit!
In the original series, Masato Kusaka's actions frequently drove up the blood pressure of the audience. He was often dubbed "The Master Actor." Furthermore, the movie version of Kusaka—the one in this world's timeline—had an even more detestable character than his TV counterpart. Because of a misunderstanding that Mihara also liked Mari, he had orchestrated the death of his "rival," Mihara (though he wasn't the one who personally killed him, Mihara was murdered by Kyouji Murakami because of Kusaka's actions). His moral depravity was evident.
Raven continued to press Kusaka's head down, dragging him along the ground for a distance. Finally, he ruthlessly tossed him away, discarding him into a pile of scrapped car metal like trash.
The onlookers watched the incredibly cruel spectacle in silence. The few resistance members who had sided with Mizuhara earlier all swallowed hard, cold sweat running down their foreheads.
"That's… that's too cruel…" Keitaro couldn't bear to watch.
Takumi's emotions were complicated; the opponent was a former comrade-in-arms, yet he knew this was a fate Kusaka had brought upon himself.
Mari was completely speechless. Even Kiba turned away, unable to watch.
"You call that cruel?" Yuka pouted slightly. She had seen much more brutal things from Raven when dealing with enemies; what he was doing now was nothing compared to before.
Just as everyone thought Kusaka was finished, he burst forth with his last ounce of strength, leaping high out of the scrap heap. He locked onto Raven with the installed Faiz Pointer and launched a Gold Smash (the Kaixa version of the Exceed Charge) kick in mid-air! This was his final, desperate gambit! It's either you die or I die!
Facing the attack, Raven became slightly serious. Just as Kusaka was about to connect, Raven broke the lock, switched his Kaixa Blaygun to blade mode, and immediately pressed the Exceed Charge button on the phone. The rapidly charging blade, now a Blade Storm, slashed out toward the Gold Smash in mid-air.
They exchanged positions.
Kusaka's figure landed exactly where Raven had been standing. His transformation was immediately forced to release. He stood rigidly for a moment, his eyes hollow, before collapsing to his knees, then falling forward.
Following that, his body burst into blue flames.
He slowly turned to sand.
It's a pity the beach is still far away; this "Sand-on-the-Beach-Dead Guy" is not to be.
Raven stood untouched on the other side. He then voluntarily canceled his transformation.
Mari and the others ran to the spot where Kusaka had turned to sand. They watched as his remains completely vanished.
"Masato…"
Mari said nothing more, simply scooping up the sand on the ground, her heart heavy. Takumi and Keitaro remained silent, knowing Kusaka was the last surviving student from the Ryusei School Mari knew.
"Y-you killed Kusaka!"
Mizuhara shouted from a distance, trying to incite the others to condemn Raven. After all, despite how much of a pest Kusaka was, he was still human and a major fighting force with a belt. Now he'd been killed by this unknown man.
However, just as he was about to continue stirring up trouble, no one around him dared to join in. Everyone was utterly terrified by Raven's viciousness. Besides, it was clearly Kusaka who had tried to kill Raven first and brought his own demise upon himself, everyone could see that.
Raven looked at Mizuhara, a meaningful smile playing on his lips. This man was obviously not someone he could allow to live. Mizuhara, feeling a chill run down his spine, immediately fled the scene, afraid Raven would come after him next.
Subsequently, Yuka ran to Raven's side, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Mr. Raven, you're so strong!"
Yuka was full of admiration, like a true fangirl. Raven's image in her heart had become even more dependable; he was the only man she felt worthy of relying on.
———————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my patreon ——— patreon(.)com/JuanFiction [remove the parentheses ( )]
There are over 100 advance chapters available for you!