I want to become a Kamen Rider

"Let's go and witness the end of the fallen."

Chapter 57 The Outcast: Dragon Fang [2/5]

Although he had fantasized more than once in his youth about how cool and powerful it would be to have a Kamen Rider who gathered the power of all the Riders and could become that Rider himself, when Fan Kang actually started fighting, he realized that the decisive factor was not how many powers he possessed, but the person behind the mask.

He was able to stand against the chaos of the era single-handedly, not because Kuuga was the strongest Kamen Rider, but because before becoming Kuuga, he had already fought for thirty years in a fake form. He lost everything he should have lost, and he also lost everything he shouldn't have lost. It would be strange if what he finally forged wasn't so sharp.

He neither intentionally nor would he deliberately collect the powers of other Riders. Even when using the power of Kalis, it was only because he happened to have the Different Rider Driver and the corresponding card. After all, using Kuuga's form, even just the white one, would be too much for Sakuta Azusagawa.

As for why he, who had no motive to acquire the powers of other Riders, obtained the power of Kamen Rider Blade, we have to go back to that desperate card game half a day ago.

Under the overpass arch, Fan Kang wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the thick stack of cards in front of him.

"Finally, I've collected them all."

Despite having stolen it from Shocker in the Deep Sea, he shamelessly acted as if he had worked very hard, looking at the symbols on the card that resembled playing cards, with a highly intelligent white alien creature in front of him.

A strange thought occurred to me.

He casually drew three club cards and also picked up a 3 of spades:

"Three belts and one."

"bomb!"

Sitting opposite, Kyubey curled up four cards that shone with a dangerous red light with its fluffy tail.

"Pass." Fan Kang calmly put the remaining cards in his hand together.

“One against four.” Cupid threw down two small cards.

"Seven to seven!" Fan Kang easily placed his bet.

Holding cards of extraordinary power, he and Cupid played poker under the bridge.

Another round of poker ended, and he naturally placed the stone, which was the stake, on his side.

"I've won again. All these monster seeds and fallen knight seeds are mine."

"Kang Jun, you must have so many stones that your warehouse can't hold them all."

"It can't be helped."

Unlike the previous life, the Contract Knight did not experience a large-scale tragedy of death and a wave of despair. Besides the fact that he shouldered everything, the main reason was that he did not need to use the Monster Seed to purify his Knight Seed.

He didn't have any knight seeds at all; the huge surplus of monster seeds and fallen knight seeds ensured that the other contracted knights didn't have to worry about falling even if they didn't fight.

"Alright, shuffle the cards, let's play another round."

Fan Kang spontaneously started shuffling the cards. He habitually picked up the shuffled deck and prepared to deal the cards.

Just as he raised his hand, and the deck of cards inadvertently approached his waist, the belt inlaid with spirit stones appeared without his call.

Then, a sudden change occurred.

There was no earth-shattering sound, no dazzling burst of light. The spirit stone at his waist—the Yaguru spirit stone containing ultimate power—simply and naturally emitted a faint, almost imperceptible crimson glow for a fleeting moment.

It's as natural as breathing, as natural as a magnet attracting iron filings.

The priceless and extraordinary "Undying Beast Card" that Fan Kang was clutching tightly in his hand vanished into thin air in that instant of a flash of light.

It wasn't falling, it wasn't shattering, it was being completely "swallowed up." It was as if they had never existed, leaving only the sudden lightness in Fan Kang's hands and the cold air lingering on his fingertips after the deck of cards disappeared.

"Kangjun, where are the cards?"

"I did a magic trick, hahaha, the weather is so nice today, let's not play cards for now."

Looking at the overcast sky outside the bridge arch, Fan Kang began to ramble on.

Having already developed the power of the Void to its limit, and being able to control even spirit stones with extreme precision, and being able to easily accomplish the feat of treading on ice in the vast ocean by mastering basic particles, he should not have been able to let the card be "devoured" by the spirit stone in such a careless situation, even though this was a spontaneous action for the spirit stone as natural as eating and drinking.

Unless, for Ling Shi, this is an even more instinctive action than eating and drinking—breathing.

Upon closer reflection, it seems that when the contract was initially made with Kyubey, the red light symbolizing the contract was also consumed by the spirit stone. Perhaps there is something in common between the two?

However, this wasn't a question that could be answered quickly; the numerous troubles caused by the card being consumed by the spirit stone were what he urgently needed to resolve and face. Explaining where the card went to Kyubey took a lot of effort, and in the subsequent test, he also gained the power of the Kamen Rider Blade, which he didn't need at the moment.

It's worth mentioning that he could originally use those cards to borrow Tina Hiiragi's Anomalous Rider Driver to transform into various monsters, but now, without relying on the Anomalous Rider Driver, he can transform into Kamen Rider Blade using only the Spirit Stone Belt.

It sounds convenient, but it's completely pointless.

If he could obtain the full power of Kamen Rider Blade by consuming all the cards, that would be one thing. However, since he can only use the power of the sword's initial form thanks to the Spirit Stone Belt, he can only rely on it. It's vaguely clear that he needs to hone himself little by little to obtain the full power of Kamen Rider Blade, which will be a rather lengthy process, at most shortened by his own abilities.

But if he has already developed the power of Kuuga to its limit or even beyond, what is the point of turning it into a sword?

What he most wanted to complain about when he tried to buy spirit stones was:

"Give me back my super handsome Kalis! Give me back my Awakening Bow!"

Because of a single deck of cards, they even lost the Ace of Hearts card that could have transformed into the incredibly cool Kalis. It's not just meaningless; it's a huge loss.

Now that things have come to this, can he really say to the belt, "I don't want to become Kamen Rider Blade, please spit out the card you ate and give it back to me"?

Wu Tina has been pestering him for a long time to become Kalis. He had already promised to let her transform next time. Now, how is he going to explain this to Wu Tina?

Back to the present, the torrential rain lashed down on my shoulders. As expected, Azusagawa Sakuta behind me couldn't help but ask a question, but what I got in return was a tone that was even more heartbreaking than when Fan Kang failed to draw a card earlier.

"Senior, is that the way you're behaving?"

"An accident, an accident I don't want to mention or recall again."

"I understand, senior. I won't ask again."

The sensible Sakuta Azusagawa nodded, probably thinking that this was another matter related to the heavy fate he bore as a Kamen Rider.

But now, he can't bring himself to say that all his cards were eaten by spirit stones because of playing cards. He became Kamen Rider Blade instead of Kuuga because he figured that since all his cards were gone, he might as well make good use of this power that came at a heavy price.

It seems like nothing good ever comes of it once he starts playing cards. He should probably quit playing cards altogether.

"Let's go in."

"it is good."

He slowly raised his right arm, covered in armor, and pointed it toward the dark entrance that seemed ready to devour anyone who might enter.

……

……

Go up the abandoned stairwell.

They successfully encountered the fallen knight, now a monster.

The other party showed no intention of hiding, just as they had no intention of specifically searching for them.

He stood with his back to them, before a huge, broken window at the end of the corridor. Outside, a gray sky and torrential rain outlined a twisted, grotesque silhouette. It was no longer a human form, but a completely armored monster.

"The one who came... wasn't Kuuga..."

It seemed to have sensed their arrival long ago. It did not hide, but waited quietly, like a venomous dragon lurking in its lair, exuding a chilling sense of oppression.

Sakuta Azusagawa watched as his senior took a step forward and stood in front of him:

"Just one question: if it were Kuuga who came, what would you do?"

"Kneel down and beg for mercy."

"what about now?"

The Alien Knight, Dragon Fang, looked at the two newcomers without saying a word, and then drew his scimitar.

"You have already stepped into the abyss. At least, die as a human being."

"I just want to live."

"But if you do something wrong, you have to pay the price."

"...The price... Ha, there are so many people in the world who have done far more vile and wicked things than I have! They still hold high positions with impunity, enjoying wealth, power, and the praise of the world. Why? Why am I the only one who should be punished? This is not fair!"

Its roar echoed through the empty floors, filled with resentment towards the entire world.

The swordsman was silent for a moment.

Rain dripped from the hole in the ceiling, pattering against the cold armor.

He offered no rousing rebuttal, nor any empty preaching. He simply raised the longsword in his hand; its blade hummed, shimmering with blue light. His voice was not loud, yet it pierced through all resentment and injustice:

“I will not say things like ‘retribution is delayed, but the time has not come yet,’ nor will I say things like ‘justice may be delayed, but it will eventually arrive. Justice delayed is justice denied.’”

He paused, his tone as cold as a frost star.

The knight lowered his center of gravity slightly, his long sword pointing diagonally forward—a standard combat stance. His armor left a trail of afterimages in the dim light, like blue lightning cleaving through a rainy night, hurtling straight towards Dragon Fang.

"All I want to say is—" His voice suddenly turned sharp, like a blade being drawn, "I will deal with whatever I see!"

Kamen Rider Blade clashed with the curved sword in his hand, sparks illuminating the dark corridor.

"As fellow contracted knights, do you really think you'll never see this day?"

"I will end my own life before that day comes."

"..."

The monster wielding the scimitar was speechless, not because it was refuted, but simply because it was shocked.

Because he was used to lies and falsehoods, he couldn't detect any falsehood in that casual remark; it was a way of life he couldn't even imagine.

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang—!"

The clanging of metal drowned out the torrential rain outside the window, tearing apart the silence of the rainy night.

A thoughtless remark can be more terrifying than a thunderclap.

This applies to both him and to him.

Only one person took it for granted.

Chapter 58 Sword and Bow [3/5]

Cold raindrops pounded against the tin roof of the abandoned building, producing a dull drumbeat. The echoes of the battle inside the stairwell lingered, dust mingling with the damp air. Sakuta Azusagawa, transformed into Kamen Rider Kaiser, found his eyes beneath the helmet not fully focused on the fierce battle before him.

Just to clarify, Sakuta Azusagawa doesn't like men.

Even though he didn't like men, he was always shocked whenever he looked at the figure standing in front of him.

This wasn't the first time he'd learned that person, that senior, was burning himself like firewood. He never bothered to hide the fact that he trained other knights and nurtured younger generations for the same purpose—to ignite more firewood.

However, that statement was still a bit too carefree.

So much so that even though it was during a battle, and he should have rushed forward to help, he still... froze in place.

A few days ago, at the celebration banquet where he finally managed to break through the suppression of one-tenth of Kalis's power and enter the challenge of three-tenths of his power, a classmate named Hiiragi Tina, perhaps drunk on carbonated drinks while eating barbecue, began to slander and defame the senior he admired and trusted.

Unexpectedly, Tina Hiiragi used a word that would probably never have anything to do with that senior: weak.

"The minister is incredibly weak."

He was furious and stepped forward to argue his case, but the disciple, whose intentions towards his senior were obvious to anyone, did not side with him but instead expressed his approval.

"By his very nature, Master is indeed quite weak. He fears battle more than anyone else; he simply doesn't want to fight."

But as Kuuga, as a warrior who uses ultimate power, isn't it a good thing that he hates violence and loves peace?

Whether it's Godai or Riku, wasn't it precisely because they possessed a gentle heart that they became great warriors?

The seniors I learned about from others were not what I had imagined.

"My master isn't that noble."

"He doesn't hate violence, nor does he love peace; he's just weak and cowardly. Master is simply terrified of fighting and afraid of conflict."

It's incomprehensible and feels contradictory. How could a weak person do such a thing, save so many lives, and then say such things in such a manner?

To be fair, when faced with the Fallen Knight's question, "As fellow contracted knights, do you really think you'll never have this day?", he couldn't answer. Without reaching that point, no one dares to confidently say that they are definitely different, or that they will definitely be able to do this or that.

But his predecessor, his proud predecessor, ended the question with just one sentence, as if he had answered it a long, long time ago.

What exactly do you have to go through, what kind of people do you have to meet, and what kind of stories do you have to go through to become like that?

"clang--!!"