I want to become a Kamen Rider

It should be a monster that appears in "Kamen Rider Hibiki". Fan Kang doesn't know anything else.

If he were a native of Japan, he should be able to identify what kind of ghosts those three distorted silhouettes were from folklore, but he couldn't, and didn't want to dwell on it.

He's a busy guy like Kuga, who "eats three meals a day and drinks two weirdos' heads with each meal." He doesn't have that much time to research countermeasures against his opponents.

So far, Fan Kang has hunted quite a few demonic monsters. All he knows is that these creatures have the ability to split and should be eliminated by playing sounds. They belong to the category of mechanical monsters.

Faced with such a strange mechanism, Fan Kang, who couldn't play any instruments or sing, could only use the same method as dealing with other similar entities—I don't care about this or that, crushing it into basic particles is enough to solve the problem.

Some people have asked, what if the enemy still can't be defeated even if it's crushed into basic particles?

His answer was that he had not encountered such an enemy so far, and if he had, he felt it was probably because he hadn't crushed them thoroughly enough, rather than because his approach was flawed.

Under the moonlight, as the rice stalks swayed in the breeze, the tires of the Kawasaki ZII rolled over the gravel on the paddy field ridges.

The boy twisted the throttle hard, and the motorcycle soared into the air as it leaped over the irrigation canal. In that instant, the spirit stone at his waist had already transformed into a celestial horse.

The first crossbow bolt created a swirling shockwave as it left the bowstring. The arrow pierced the compound eye of a demon, and azure flames erupted from its mouthparts.

The surviving demonic monsters emitted high-frequency hisses, their scythe-like forelimbs slicing through the air, and their swung vacuum blades cleaved through the rice paddies.

Before the monster's greenish-blue blood could even splatter, the knight, transformed into a pegasus, leaped up on the wheat stalks, dodging the vacuum blades while simultaneously piercing the centipede-like demonic mouthpiece that was peeking out from the burrow with a second arrow.

The crushed demons turned into particles of light, scattering in the night like a reversed shower of stars.

But the real threat is only now beginning to emerge.

If not purified using the correct methods, the demon will split, and there will be more than one.

The weeds rippled violently as three demonic monsters emerged from behind during the battle, extending their scythes to within half a foot of the knight's throat.

"Not stupid."

In a brief commentary, the pupils contract beneath the mask, the form shifts, and the Pegasus Crossbow in the hand instantly disintegrates and reassembles into a long staff, the sparks from the clashing metal illuminating the monster's twisted mandibles.

The moonlight was dim.

The long staff was swung like the wind, smashing the monster's entire body.

The spirit stone on the belt turned a sky-blue color, and the flames of rebirth spread along the waves of rice. These burning grains did not emit the fragrance of rice, but instead exuded the stench of burning corpses.

After standing amidst the sea of ​​fire, the spirit stone at his waist gradually returned to calm.

The entire combat and incineration process took 2 minutes and 17 seconds, an extremely efficient process.

Just when Fan Kang thought the night was over, a woman's voice came from behind him.

The woman's voice was cold and clear, but when she turned around, she saw a lithe and agile warrior.

"I'm sorry for stealing your prey."

Fan Kang turned around, and there stood warriors in black robes and red armor on the edge of the scorched earth.

Her armor gleamed with a lacquer-like sheen, and most striking of all was her faceplate—unlike the compound eye design of Kuuga insects, her faceplate resembled a Noh mask.

There seems to be no apology in your words.

Fan Kang shrugged.

"After all... if we leave it to you to handle, there might be more casualties."

He conceded first: "You can take the Demonic Seed of the Demon."

The other party, however, became somewhat aggressive: "That's not my target tonight."

"Oh?"

"My target tonight is you, the strongest Kamen Rider in this area, Kuuga."

The burning rice stalks were swept up by the night wind, and the golden-red embers blended with the crimson patterns on the enemy's armor. The deep red heavy armor was walking over the scorched earth, carrying hostility.

He stepped back, and the burning rice stalks collapsed into ashes between them.

"There's no need for that. I don't want to hurt humans."

Kamen Riders who have made a contract with Kyubey need to purify their own Rider Seed by defeating monsters, demons, or other fallen Riders and collecting their Monster Seeds, Demon Seeds, or Fallen Rider Seeds. This is their way of life, determined by their birth form.

Therefore, Fan Kang basically doesn't take the dropped items when hunting, since he doesn't need them.

Occasionally, they would collect some particularly powerful monster seeds, which they would store up to later hand over to contract knights on the verge of going berserk for rescue.

It's fair to say that in this era that should have been a chaotic mess, the fact that there haven't been a single decent casualty or contract knight rampage so far is all thanks to him.

But he really didn't expect that there would actually be someone who disliked him because he had finished all the work.

"I'm going to challenge you."

"Give me a reason."

"Pursue the strongest, challenge the strongest, and become the strongest."

The clang of a long sword being drawn cut off the words.

The knight in front of them had somehow switched to the "Armored Hibiki" form, and his long sword was blazing with fire, casting elongated shadows of the two of them on the blade.

"Tomorrow at midnight, the hour of the Demon King." The woman's cool voice was tinged with excitement. "Still in this place..."

The moonlight was swallowed up by the dark clouds.

Kuuga burst into laughter:

"No need for midnight tomorrow, start fighting now, right here, thirty seconds will suffice."

Chapter Nine: The Strongest Mortal

From the day Mizutani Migen chose to become a martial artist, her master told her this—

"Yuyan, you must become the strongest..."

The aging seeker, who had spent half his life searching for the Way, placed his hopes on his disciple.

"He must be the strongest, and can only be the strongest. Only the name of the strongest deserves to be remembered by everyone. Yu Yan... Martial arts have never been different!"

The girl listened and then ran towards the goal of becoming the strongest.

This era did not belong to martial artists. Iron and fire ended the system that had lasted for thousands of years, and also eradicated the foundation of everything that had taken root and grown in that soil.

Killing techniques are unacceptable to the world, and sharp blades and scimitars are subject to regulation. It should be known that even the fastest martial artist cannot outrun a cannonball, and even the strongest fist technique cannot be as powerful as explosives. Martial arts will inevitably decline.

This is progress of the times, the end of the road for martial artists, and also the most natural and common sense.

But the girl still strives to become the strongest.

She abandoned unnecessary distractions and worldly desires, came from the rural soil, and traversed deep mountains and valleys, yet she achieved nothing.

She has no talent.

Yes, she carried the burden of her mentor's long-cherished wish to become the strongest, but she lacked talent.

Having staked their lives, spent their time, and exhausted their years, the meager progress they found in martial arts was still far, far away from the title of "strongest."

No matter how hard a fist is, it can't be harder than a sword or spear; no matter how fast a leg is, it can't be faster than a cannon. No matter how much a martial artist hones their skills, even if they reach a level of proficiency in all kinds of weapons, they can't defeat a single musket.

Even among martial artists who have lost their purpose, she could not be considered outstanding.

She had no dojo to inherit, no marriage prospects, no complicated entanglements, and no complicated stories; she simply lacked talent.

He is one of the millions of failures in this world, forever unable to glimpse the peak reached by geniuses and those destined for greatness.

Having wasted her life and squandered her time, she idly deceived herself until one day, at a street corner, she encountered an opportunity that would change her life forever.

That was a figure I glimpsed on television by chance when I was a child, accompanied by my mentor. That was something called Kamen Rider, a power that transcended nature and approached the extraordinary.

No matter the cost, no matter how much risk she had to take, she finally saw... the possibility of becoming the strongest.

My dear teacher, can your spirit in heaven see that fists can become harder than swords and spears, and legs can become faster than cannons? A single martial artist, empowered by that extraordinary power, can be as strong as an army of thousands.

She wants to become the strongest Kamen Rider.

She wants to become the strongest martial artist.

She wanted to fulfill her long-cherished wish.

With her martial arts background, she naturally stood out among the many contracted knights who had signed contracts with Kyubey. Despite lacking talent, she could finally move forward...

—Let's start by defeating the strongest Kamen Rider in this area, Kuro.

Holding such a self-evident view, she never imagined that she would see the strongest person she had been searching for for so long at the most inopportune time.

.........

……

The ashes of burning barnyard grass formed a spiral curtain between the two.

Fan Kang stood with his hands at his sides. Before the particles from the disintegration of the long staff had completely dissipated, the armored ghost's swords had already cleaved through the gray curtain.

When the blade was three inches from my forehead, Kongwo moved.

He turned to the side so that the blade grazed the faceplate, and then slammed his right elbow into the seam of the opponent's breastplate.

"Varied……!"

The female warrior's shock lingered in her throat as the knight's knee strike shattered the armor on her side.

Metal fragments flew alongside fireflies, and moonlight shattered into silver scales on the burning rice stalks.

The rice paddies suddenly became eerily quiet.

Fan Kang spun around and kicked his opponent's wrist, sending the blade flying into the night sky. The moment he caught the blade, the resistance from the hilt made him frown—

"You didn't even know how to control the distance." Kuuga's voice was tinged with disappointment, the phantom of the Azure Dragon Staff solidifying in his left hand. "You only know how to rely on the tools in your hand, who taught you to fight like this?"

The shadows of the sticks fell like a torrential downpour.

Each shot precisely struck the armor rivets, causing a continuous burst of metallic sparks to erupt in the rice paddy. The female warrior attempted to retreat and regroup, only to discover that her foot armor had been stepped on by her opponent.

The final blow struck a crack in the visor, shattering the Noh mask-like armor. Amidst the falling fragments, Fan Kang saw the pale face of a young girl, contorted with pain. Her black hair cascaded down, her navy blue school uniform skirt brushed against the scorched earth, and the "Haneoka Girls' Academy" badge on her chest was smoking.

“Thirty seconds.” Kuuga stood with his staff, the tip of which held the half-melted school badge. Hibiki's armor, its core shattered, peeled away piece by piece in the moonlight like a cicada molting its shell.

The girl slumped down on the cracked ridge of the field, blood seeping from the tear in her over-the-knee socks.

There was no complaint that the person who challenged him was actually a high school girl. It had been two months, and he should have gotten used to Cupid's way of choosing hosts.

Without turning his head, he walked toward the motorcycles parked in the distance.

A cold female voice came from behind again, but this time it was weak and fervent.

"It's twenty-seven seconds."

"..."

"Please accept me as your disciple!"

The girl knelt in the scorched earth, her fingers, covered in black ash, gripping the shattered knight's armor tightly. The moonlight outlined her slender shoulders, and her sweat-soaked shirt clung to her back, revealing the bandages wrapped around her.

“I counted the heartbeats.” She looked up. “From the moment you turned around until the core was shattered, there were three seconds left.”

Fan Kang was shocked.

"If you can't beat them, you become their apprentice? Don't you have any dignity?"

Normally, shouldn't he say something tough, like "I'll definitely come back," then flee in a sorry state, and after a while, thinking he's become much stronger, come back to get a beating?

Of course, even though he was internally complaining, he still had to appear nonchalant and as if it were all expected.

It wasn't that he wanted to put on an act; he had simply gotten used to rejecting others with indifference.

The outwardly calm boy, inwardly scoffing, turned around, the motorcycle keychain spinning a silver arc on his fingertip. In the distance, the sound of an owl swooping low in the sky drifted by, and ashes from burning weeds fell into the girl's hair like scattered stardust.

"so?"

"So please accept me as your apprentice!"

Fan Kang couldn't hold back any longer:

"You just lost a match, don't you feel embarrassed?"

"Those who have mastered the art of martial arts are my teachers!"

The girl spoke loudly.