Super God Academy: Kabuto

Hua Ye's retreat did not ease the atmosphere on the battlefield; instead, it made it even more tense. Lan Cang seemed to have judged that Kadoya Tsukasa was with Angel Chase (or at least was hindering it). After briefly "staring" at Kadoya Tsukasa, his three pairs of cold compound eyes suddenly turned their attack on him!

Several more condensed, almost solidified, spiritual spikes silently shot towards Tsukasa Kadoya. Simultaneously, the temperature around him plummeted, conjuring countless gleaming ice crystal spears that rained down like a storm as he swung his flippers. The biomass platform beneath his feet churned violently, extending even more and thicker tentacles, like the fully awakened lair of a deep-sea monster, sealing off all of Tsukasa Kadoya's possible escape routes.

"Oh? Changed targets?" Tsukasa Kadoya raised an eyebrow, showing no sign of panic despite the combined attack that could instantly cripple a warship. He didn't even transform immediately; he simply tapped his foot lightly, and crimson dimensional walls flashed and flowed around him like the most agile fish.

A bizarre scene unfolded: the incredibly fast psychic spikes and ice crystal spears, upon touching the dimensional barrier, seemed to pierce through chaotic spatial folds; some deflected, some vanished, and some even shot back into the triangular array, causing a small-scale disturbance. Meanwhile, the surging tentacles were easily severed by a strangely shaped, magenta-colored longsword that suddenly appeared in Tsukasa Kadoya's hand. The severed ends burned with a strange energy not belonging to this universe, preventing their regeneration.

"Is that all?" Tsukasa Kadoya's figure suddenly appeared above Lancang, his tone calm, and a card had appeared in his hand at some point.

"Kamen Ride... Decade!"

A crimson glow shot into the sky, instantly enveloping his entire body! As the glow faded, Kamen Rider Decade's iconic crimson armor was complete. With a wave of his hand, the Card Box Sword gleamed coldly, while his other hand held a skill card.

"Attack Ride... Slash!"

A massive crimson sword aura, far more refined than Angel Chase's fiery slash and seemingly capable of cleaving through space, slashed down towards Lan Cang! Wherever the sword aura passed, even the viscous mental energy field created by the triangular prism was forcibly torn apart!

Lancang let out a low roar, a mixture of pain and rage. The multi-layered ice crystal shield in front of it shattered layer by layer under the sword energy, forcing its massive body to slide backward for the first time. A deep, magenta-colored burn mark was left on its dark blue scales. Its near-perfect defense and home-field advantage had become glaringly obvious in the face of Kadoya Tsukasa's completely unconventional, environmentally ignoring, and fundamentally offensive attack.

The ensuing battle was almost entirely one-sided. Tsukasa Kadoya's figure appeared and disappeared on the battlefield unpredictably, the dimensional barrier allowing him to completely ignore the energy field blockade and tentacle encirclement set up by the Triangle Fleet. He would sometimes launch a powerful sword attack, and at other times switch forms to use various ranged, melee, and even special abilities with rules-interfering effects. Lancang's proud mental attacks were greatly reduced in effectiveness against Tsukasa Kadoya, who seemed to possess extremely strong willpower protection (or was simply another form of existence), while his physical attacks and ice manipulation were always neutralized and countered by the opponent's bizarre spatial abilities and endless stream of moves.

In just a few minutes, Lan Cang had several more wounds, and Kadoya Tsukasa had also easily cleared out a significant portion of the surrounding Triangular Fleet. Angel, watching from the sidelines, was alarmed. She discovered that this guy, who called himself "a passing Kamen Rider," fought in a style completely different from any known Divine River Entity, Triangular Entity, or even Void Creature. He was powerful, efficient, and possessed an indescribable "independence," as if he were a self-contained entity, completely unrestrained by the many laws of this world.

With defeat seemingly inevitable, a hint of retreat and deliberation, characteristic of highly intelligent beings, finally flashed in Lancang's three pairs of complex eyes. It let out a sharp shriek at a peculiar frequency, and the surrounding triangular fleet simultaneously began to retreat. It also gathered its last strength, attempting to break through space for a strategic escape.

"Trying to leave?" Tsukasa Kadoya saw through its intentions, his voice coming through the mask with a hint of coldness, "I didn't agree to that."

He flashed forward, instantly appearing before the spatial rift that Lan Cang was trying to open. Astonishing energy gathered on the Card Box Sword, preparing to deliver the final blow and block its retreat. If this sword strike landed, Lan Cang would suffer severe injuries, even if he didn't die, and lose the ability to move.

However, just as Tsukasa Kadoya swung his sword, something unexpected happened!

Behind Lan Cang, in the depths of that star field polluted by the Triangular Sphere's spiritual power and biomass, space violently distorted and collapsed without warning! A gigantic, suffocating phantom instantly appeared!

It was not a physical entity, but an image formed purely from "nothingness," "devouring," and "ancient malice." It vaguely resembled the basic outline of a triangle, magnified a million times, its entire body as black as the deepest night, with black mist constantly rising from its edges as if it could absorb light. At the center of the phantom, two faint crimson lights shone, like the eyes of a sleeping behemoth opening, indifferent, cold, devoid of any emotion, only an absolute pressure as if looking down on ants.

The moment this phantom appeared, time seemed to freeze across the entire battlefield. Angel Chase felt a chill run down his spine, and a sharp alarm sounded from the sacred treasury—a terrifying energy reaction far exceeding Lancang's, approaching or even partially reaching the level of a "Void God" had been detected!

The phantom made no sound and made no actual attack. It simply "existed" there, and then, its pitch-black "body" rippled like the surface of water, and an indescribable black ripple, somewhere between matter and energy, swept across and precisely enveloped the heavily injured Lan Cang.

The moment Lancang's body was touched by the black ripples, it became transparent and ethereal, like ice crystals infused with ink. Kadoya Tsukasa's sword, which should have struck, ultimately only left behind a fading afterimage and a lingering, extremely unsettling echo in the void.

The next second, the black phantom, along with Lancang who was enveloped by it, disappeared as abruptly as it had appeared. The collapsed space quickly recovered, leaving only a mess on the battlefield and the lingering, chilling aura of oppression.

Tsukasa Kadoya slowly lowered his sword, his gaze beneath his mask fixed intently on the direction where the phantom had vanished. He did not pursue it, for the way the phantom appeared and disappeared had gone beyond the realm of conventional spatial movement, resembling more of a high-dimensional "interference" and "recovery."

Angel Chase flapped her wings and flew to a spot not far from Kadoya Tsukasa. Her wariness hadn't subsided, but her tone had softened considerably: "That was just now..."

"It seems the real culprit is a bit more impatient than we thought." Tsukasa Kadoya deactivated his transformation, reverted to his casual clothes, and fiddled with the camera in his hand, his eyes deep. "Or rather, this 'Lancang' is more important than we thought. At least, it's worth it for some 'big fish' hiding deeper in the shadows to personally take it out."

He glanced at the angelic pursuer, wounded yet still standing, then looked at the devastated planet revealed after the triangular fleet's retreat, and said calmly, "Clean up the battlefield and inform your queen. Tell Keisha... the water is much deeper than it appears. The real storm is yet to come."

After saying that, a magenta dimensional barrier unfolded in front of him again, and he stepped into it and disappeared.

Angel Chase remained alone on the now-silent battlefield, sensing the lingering, strange energy fluctuations emanating from Tsukasa Kadoya in the air, and the chilling, piercing void emanating from the deeper, black phantom. She knew this skirmish was over, but the prelude to a war involving broader dimensions and more ancient beings had perhaps only just begun. She had to immediately relay all of this, especially the information about the terrifying black phantom that had taken Lancang, back to the Heavenly Court of Merlo.