Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

After a scene resembling a cross-dimensional intersection, she arrived inside the barrier.

A distorted world, as always.

The paintings on the walls depict various signs and characteristics of the witch in her past life, and countless familiars are blocking the way.

But Homura Akemi didn't have the energy to care about any of that.

Next, she placed her hand directly on the circular wheel on her left arm.

The gem that shimmered with a bright purple light was the source of his power.

It is also the source of one's own life.

If the gem is shattered, or its power is overused and completely corrupted, then Homura Akemi will face an irreversible fate.

and so.

Faced with countless enemies, she decisively spun the roulette wheel.

A crisp click—that sound changed the world.

What was the result?

Time stood still.

The world was a gray-white expanse, except for Homura Akemi, who remained in this world with a faint purple glow emanating from her body.

She continued to rapidly approach the deepest part of the space.

Upon arrival, what came into view was some kind of enormous creature.

"This is..."

Its deep black body seems to have stepped out of an oil painting and into reality.

Judging from its appearance, it's probably a goat.

Even disregarding her witch identity, the black goat, in the real world, represents a demonic entity.

I don't have time to worry about these things.

Homura Akemi reached into the wheel on her left arm and took out all sorts of weapons.

There are grenades.

There are rocket launchers.

Even... there are things like armored vehicles.

Some of the weapons were so large that they couldn't be contained no matter what, thanks to the silver wheel on Homura Akemi's left arm, which could hold an unlimited number of weapons.

We must defeat this witch as soon as possible.

Homura Akemi swiftly aimed both the rocket launcher and the armored vehicle at the witch.

Boom—an explosive sound erupted.

However, the sound lasted for less than a second. After moving a certain distance away from Homura Akemi, the shells all stopped in mid-air not far from her.

In this static world, only one's own time is in motion.

Everything is ready.

The magical girl placed her hand back on the roulette wheel.

Time resumed its flow.

Boom boom boom boom—!!!

The series of explosions completely engulfed the Goat Witch, and not only that, the surrounding familiars were also swept up in the flames.

Before the main body could even let out a scream, everything was over under Homura Akemi's overwhelming firepower.

The girl's face showed signs of fatigue.

She couldn't help but look at her left arm, remaining still for a long time; the Soul Gem had also been largely eroded.

"It's alright... just defeat the enemy."

As the goat witch was completely defeated, the entire witch's barrier slowly dissipated.

From Homura Akemi's perspective, all the security guards standing in the guardhouse in the distance have fallen down, which means that the witch's control has failed.

In that case, there shouldn't be any problems with the students and teachers.

...Very good.

Homura Akemi breathed a sigh of relief, feeling utterly exhausted, fearing that something fatal might happen to the person she wanted to protect most.

Then she.

Before they could even turn around, they were blasted away by the force of the explosion.

"Whoaaaaaah—!!"

The magical girl screamed as the shockwave sent her plummeting toward the ground like a rolling wheel.

"What... happened?!"

A series of mocking laughs followed.

She believed she had completely destroyed the witch, and that a familiar couldn't possibly exist alone without the witch's presence.

What exactly happened?

When Homura Akemi raised her head and looked ahead, she couldn't help but freeze in astonishment.

The person who appeared behind him was not a witch at all.

Those were a group of monsters.

Its body is a blend of black and purple, and its eyes are a deep blue, like those of an ice cave.

Its entire body was wrapped in something like flames.

"What...is this?"

These monsters varied in size. There were twenty small monsters, and the last one was the largest among them, probably about two meters tall.

But whatever these things are, Homura Akemi had never seen such creatures before.

The monsters kept emitting meaningless laughter.

The girl stood up from the ground with a pain in her eyes. Even if she could block out the pain, she wouldn't do so for now.

The monsters slowly approached her.

They continued to mock her and charged straight towards Homura Akemi.

The second battle.

Homura Akemi stepped onto the grass on campus with her left foot and quickly leaped to the right side of the area.

The monster's body fell, the impact shaking the ground like a boulder falling.

The two-meter-tall monster landed on Homura Akemi's original spot. Although she dodged the attack, the twenty smaller monsters turned and chased after her again.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the girl quickly took out a Magnum pistol from the roulette wheel.

She raised the gun with one hand and pulled the trigger the instant one of the monsters lunged at her.

Boom! The impact blasted the monster away without mercy.

However… it didn’t work.

"You're not injured...?"

The impact of the Magnum pistol did have an effect, but it wasn't enough to break through the monster's defenses.

The small monster twisted its eyes, locking onto the girl in front of it.

They continued to rapidly approach Homura Akemi's direction.

In this critical moment, the girl quickly began to think.

A pistol is of little use.

Immediately deploying weapons such as grenades or rocket launchers might be effective, but...

'If I used those weapons of mass destruction here, the school would definitely be affected!'

Therefore, we must not act rashly.

This experienced magical girl chose to evade the situation in time.

Using her superhuman mobility, Homura Akemi leaped directly onto a distant street lamp.

But those demons were relentlessly pursuing us.

Even when Homura Akemi reached the balcony on the second floor in the distance, the monsters could still attack with exaggerated leaping power, even biting tightly behind her.

In a split second, she jumped off the building and immediately stopped time.

If we can escape now, we might still be able to, but—the monsters might attack the school.

What should I do?

hum! !

"how…?"

I stopped time for about three seconds and then felt a pain in my left arm.

It is the Soul Gem.

Because too much magic power has been consumed previously, if we continue to ignore the consumption and forcibly stop time for an extended period of time...

…The purity of the Soul Gem will be completely depleted.

At that point, it will truly be the end for Homura Akemi.

She gritted her teeth and forcibly lifted the time stop in mid-air.

The monsters then tore at their own bodies.

"—!"

With her legs bitten by the monster, Homura Akemi quickly took out an iron rod from the roulette wheel and swung it down with all her might.

Clang! The sound, like something hitting steel, rang out.

Although the monsters were smashed open, they were unharmed, as expected.

The girl's body fell to the ground, and she endured the pain as she looked up at the street in the distance.

A black gem, as small as a needle, had fallen there.

That thing is called the Seed of Lamentation; it can be obtained by defeating a witch.

Then, if used, it can directly purify the magical girl's soul gem.

If we use that, we can gain a long time to stop, and then we can find a way to perfectly defeat them.

but.

The monsters fell from the sky and crashed down on her.

Under such circumstances, it would be impossible to directly cross the street to the other side.

"Waaah...!"

She is a magical girl, and as long as the Soul Gem is not damaged, she will not die.

However... the pain coming from all parts of her body kept stimulating Homura Akemi's nerves.

Turn off the sensation of pain.

A voice seemed to echo in her mind, but she knew that if she did that... she would lose even her last remaining human nature.

That will more or less pollute one's soul and cause one to have some negative emotions.

The Soul Gem was already on the verge of collapse; if it were to become completely corrupted because of this situation, Homura Akemi would absolutely not accept it, even if it meant death.

Not to mention, she absolutely cannot despair in a place like this!

"They've survived so many...reincarnations!!"

The girl clenched her teeth, feeling as if even her spirit was beginning to go numb.