I want to become a Kamen Rider

Using the word "stronger" to describe Kuuga is not quite accurate. At least, compared to Contract Knights who already possess power that surpasses worldly strength, the traditional distinction between strong and weak has lost its meaning for Kuuga.

Those are arrogant people who, despite having the power to rule the world and make it a better place, choose not to act.

That person was unwilling to bear the guilt, only willing to raise the butcher's knife against inhuman beings, doing only what could not be wrong in the name of salvation. The European Knights Council gathered together because they feared Kuuga's power and felt that Kuuga was too radical, but she, the head of the European Knights Council and the representative of the conservative faction of contract knights, felt that Kuuga was too conservative.

It's clear that if we simply direct that boundless power at humanity and slaughter them until rivers of blood flow, we can easily solve countless problems.

The world has enough resources to provide a very good life for everyone, yet 700 million people are still suffering from hunger, and 2.2 billion people lack clean and safe drinking water. Is it true, as the rich say, that the poor have fallen into such a state because they are not hardworking enough? Are the 700 million people simply unlucky and unable to eat? Are the 2.2 billion people, as those powerful and wealthy who have taken away their resources and then imposed their responsibilities on them, really unable to drink clean water because they lack the "hard-working and diligent" virtues of the rich?

The answer is obviously nonsense; that's not true at all.

But that's just how the world is: the oppressed sing praises of the oppressors, pigs glorify the butchers, and Kuuga saved tens of thousands of lives from so many dark organizations, yet he probably killed far fewer than humans have harmed themselves and started wars.

That's why she wanted to rule the world.

She became what Kuuga called the super-duper deluxe high-end version of chuunibyou, although she didn't quite understand what chuunibyou really meant.

Rather than waiting for humanity to eliminate its divisions and endure countless hardships and casualties before finally uniting in an uncertain tomorrow, she decided to light a fire. However, her grand aspirations and journey were interrupted before they even began.

I asked her three questions, and she couldn't answer any of them.

"Even assuming you genuinely want to rule the world for the good of humanity, what if someone opposes your rule? Shouldn't they be considered enemies, obstacles to your dominance, and eliminated? Before fewer lives are lost due to oppression, you'd probably have to take many more lives first."

【“…”】

"And what guarantees do you have that you, and your successor, will remain true to your original aspirations and dedicate yourselves to the cause once the world's rule loses its checks and balances?"

【“…”】

"Using killing to stop killing, using force to stop force—in the end, will others still have the right to object or resist you? If so, how can you ensure it? If not, how are you any different from Shocker?"

The boy stood in the wind that day and told her in a tone he already knew well.

"These words are not mine; they come from many years in the future, and are given to you as a gift."

[“They think they are saviors, wanting to protect others and uphold the justice they believe in, and then they become increasingly extreme. In the name of justice, humanity can become incredibly cruel.”]

"Determining who is right and who is wrong is very difficult. Many people claim to be righteous, as if they cannot survive without this title. If one believes oneself to be just and correct, one can disregard others and act recklessly to achieve one's own justice. Wars are caused by this. Even so, we cannot allow evil to run rampant. Therefore, we can only do our best in the present and protect the small happiness. Everyone's abilities are limited; we can only try to bring happiness to those around us first."

The person who said those words must be a very gentle person, but it couldn't be the boy in front of me.

He was so certain that he wouldn't utter such sentiments; she was just that convinced.

"What insightful opinion do you have?"

"My priority is to ensure everyone survives."

"And then what happens after you survive?"

"That's a problem for you survivors to consider."

Strangely, the boy smiled as he said this.

That's not the expression of someone contemplating suicide, nor is it the smile of someone who doesn't want to live. So, what kind of mood would someone who wants to live have when they smile while sentencing themselves to death?

Eleanor Anderbel was very curious.

A hypothesis naturally arose: perhaps Kuuga was the hero who could change something even without resorting to extreme measures like world domination.

Time returns to the present.

The elegant young lady from a prominent European family sat in the second seat of the conference room on Qinglan Island.

She watched the boy banging his head against the pillar, muttering to himself, and her lips twitched.

Generally speaking, people of her background and status should have a good command of manners and composure, and be able to remain calm even when faced with a collapsing mountain. It's not that she lacks self-cultivation, but the scene before her was indeed quite outrageous.

The boy who was her hero, who could laugh and say such cruel things, was now banging his head against a pillar and complaining endlessly, completely unlike what a handsome hero should look like.

"Why... can't we rest yet..."

"Why must we fight..."

"Why am I so unlucky...?"

"Why can't I become stronger just by falling in love, like everyone else...?"

It was a grumbling filled with resentment, quite different from the image of a heroic figure she had imagined, one who would tirelessly carry the weight of the entire world and fight to the very end.

She looked at the girl next to her who was patting Sora's back to comfort her.

"Your name is Mizutani Migen, right? You're Kuuga's disciple?"

"Correct."

"What am I like now?"

The girl, with her cool and aloof appearance, thoughtfully wiped away Sora's sweat and fed him water. She was very attentive and meticulous. I had thought that with her appearance, she should be much more indifferent.

"Master usually becomes like this after intense continuous combat or working for more than forty hours. After all, he just returned from the western Indian Ocean and converted so many Orphnoch Awakeners. Now he has to come to a meeting with you, the chairman of the European Knights Council. It's normal for him to be a little out of his mind."

The girl tapped the boy's head twice, just like she would when repairing an old television set.

Given that Kuuga has an unseemly habit of using hand chop on girls, it's hard to say whether she genuinely wanted to awaken her master or take the opportunity to seek revenge.

"How about I take the master back to his room to rest first, and then we can have a strategic discussion later?"

"Wait, let's stay here. Let me sober up a bit. I can wait that long."

"Tsk."

Did that guy just click his tongue?

In his delirious state, Sora was still muttering to himself, this time with even more resentment than before, and even less like what a hero should say.

"I want a vacation...I want to rest...I want to find a rich woman to take care of me...I want to be a useless person..."

"Why isn't there a beautiful girl who can punch an entire planet to save me?! Aaaaaah..."

"[Beep] The Japanese police, all they do is bother me with stuff about Beika Town every day..."

Eleanor: "..."

Did this guy reveal something truly extraordinary?

Looking at the unsuspecting boy so close to her, she reached out her finger, wanting to touch his face, but was stopped by the disciple beside her.

Before her fingertips could even touch her, a faster hand stopped her. Kuuga's disciple stared directly at her with cold eyes, his posture one of unquestionable protection:

"Please have some self-respect."

"..."

Although she was somewhat annoyed, out of self-restraint and self-control, she did not stoop to the level of the disciple before her.

Let's not even mention that she was just an ordinary disciple. Even if she really had something going on with Kuga, given her status, she wouldn't even be a royal maid in Europe, and in the East, she would at most be considered a concubine.

"It's true, whenever I think of you as the hero who can change the world, you always manage to show a completely different side that doesn't fit the name of a hero."

Looking at the boy in front of her, she sighed.

The disciple standing nearby offered a defense without much desire to argue.

"No matter how far your master is from the hero of your dreams, he has already changed the world and is a genuine Kamen Rider who has saved many people."

Eleanor smiled noncommittally.

"It was my fault for arbitrarily placing my own desires on the empty self."

I waited for about five minutes.

The boy leaning against the wall shifted slightly, his unfocused gaze gradually sharpening.

Despite not having had a proper rest, he still looked exhausted. Considering what his disciple said, it must have been more than forty hours of intense fighting to look like this, he probably hadn't had a proper rest since the phone call a day ago.

The first thing the boy did after waking up was to accuse his disciple.

"Yuyan, you attacked my head while I was out of my mind, didn't you?"

You still had memories even when you were delirious, huh?

Without much hesitation, Kuuga's disciple readily offered her head. The boy showed no mercy, tapping the girl's smooth forehead twice with considerable force.

In the past, Eleanor would have thought that her female disciple's previous actions were an attempt to take revenge, but now it felt more like she was deliberately showing affection in front of her.

But just as the young man before her would likely be liked by many girls but would never have the chance to fall in love, she didn't have the luxury of competing with a disciple for his affections.

Although she carries far less than I do, if she carries a little more, I can carry a little less.

Eleanor clapped her hands lightly, interrupting the little interaction between master and apprentice.

hum-

In the center of the conference room, an ingenious device was activated, projecting a soft beam of light onto the table. Instantly, an extremely detailed, real-time updated global 3D holographic projection map appeared before everyone, with mountains, rivers, city skylines, and even light spots representing energy fluctuations and anomalies clearly visible.

However, the boy's first reaction was neither amazement at the technology that far surpassed the original level of Qinglan Island, nor did he immediately focus on the situation on the map. He stared at the obviously brand-new projection device, his brow furrowed, with an almost instinctive wariness:

"When did you install this thing in the meeting room of the Azure Island Knights Council? You didn't cheat Katagiri out of his loan, did you?"

The tone was as if he were worried that his poor relative had been tricked into signing a loan with exorbitant interest rates.

"I don't have any, don't worry, it's free, I'll give it to you!"

Eleanor found it quite amazing that he said it out loud, word by word, in a rather irritable tone.

They are beings who could rule this planet by force alone, yet they always seem to be worried about money. If they weren't so stubborn, we chosen people could have as much money as we want.

She forcefully suppressed the urge to complain and brought her attention back to the main topic. Her slender fingers traced across the holographic map, highlighting several key areas, especially the location of North America:

"Specifically, there might be some unrest in North America. There are undercurrents within the Knights Council, and several factions supported by large financial groups are making frequent moves. They seem very interested in 'independence' and gaining more 'dominance'. For the sake of attacking their weaknesses, the remnants and die-hards hiding in the shadows should stage a big show in North America, just like those 'small fish' you defeated in the Indian Ocean."

She glanced at the weary-looking boy and felt a pang of sympathy.

"Rather than going to fight again in a distant place, I suggest you prioritize recovering your strength. I will try to mediate and suppress the situation in North America."

"My record is 144 hours of continuous fighting, with only rest on the 'Golem'."

The boy stood up and said in a trivial tone.

"Even though I can't be the hero in your heart, I'll be happy as long as I can save one more life."

This guy can remember what others say so clearly even when he's not in his right mind. Could he fight even when he's unconscious?

The hero, on whom she had placed her hopes and fantasies, raised his hand, and divine machines descended from the heavens.

boom--! !

The sturdy alloy dome of the conference room groaned under the strain, then caved in and deformed. Immediately afterward, accompanied by a deafening roar of engines and a piercing shriek that tore through the air, a huge, ferocious mechanical figure covered in crimson and black reinforced armor—the Golem—slammed through the top of the conference room with incredible brutality and hovered in mid-air.

Metal fragments and dust fell in a flurry.

His clothes fluttered in the wind, a strong gust of air ruffling the stray hairs on his forehead. He turned back one last time, his gaze seemingly piercing through the buildings, fixed on a distant horizon:

"Remember to prepare for evacuation in the Tokyo Bay area in advance."

After speaking, he leaped into the air. The divine machine roared to life, its engines blazing, transforming into a crimson meteor that tore through the sky, carrying him wildly toward the North American continent, leaving behind only a huge hole in the conference room ceiling and a scene of utter devastation.

Eleanor stood there, gazing up at the azure sky beyond the hole, the roar of the golem engines still seeming to linger in her ears. She gently smoothed the strands of hair tousled by the gusts of wind, and a subtle, enigmatic smile slowly curved her lips.

"Renovation expenses will not be reimbursed."

Chapter 89 (3455 words) [4K]

The divine machine "Golem" tore through the sky, sweeping across the vast blue waves of the Pacific Ocean at a terrifying speed far exceeding the speed of sound, leaving a long sonic boom cloud in its wake. The gale, like a giant hammer, violently pounded the figure standing on the Golem's back.

The wind was as sharp as a knife or a hammer, making his clothes flutter loudly, but his figure remained upright, and his pupils began to dilate.

Fan Kang became somewhat delirious again, but he had already begun to get used to it.

From the moment I first woke up in the hospital bed, it was a never-ending battle, a never-ending battle, a never-ending battle, and it has never stopped until now.

For him, battle was like a perpetually moving gear, grinding away at time and crushing peace. The occasional, fleeting moments he managed to catch, like fireflies, when he could exchange a few words with a girl, would be exaggerated by that suspicious white alien creature into the story of "saying he doesn't want to date but then acting hypocritically."

But he didn't feel sad at all; in fact, he was quite happy.

At least people still care about this kind of thing, which means the world hasn't gotten too bad yet. When the name of Kongwo becomes like Bian Que's "divine doctor" and "healing," reduced to nothing more than symbolic "greatness" and "sacrifice," with no room for any discussion about human affairs, that will be the beginning of a real and heartbreaking tragedy.

'Still want to fight?'

"I don't want to fight anymore."

'Should we continue fighting?'

"We must continue fighting."

Is liberation at the end of this long road?