Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

Then, in some corner of Academy City.

From within the silvery curtain, a man dressed in white burst forth.

"Where should we run to?"

Boom—!!

He raised the navy blue gun in his hand and fired continuously at the dark figure that flew out with him.

After the shadowy figure used some strange power to block his light blast, it then dashed into a deserted alley.

The men followed closely behind.

He spun the pistol rapidly, pulled out a strange card, and loaded it into the gun.

"Transform!"

"KamenRide! Diend!"

Cards flew out instantly, like bullets.

Black armor covered his entire body, and the cards bounced back onto his head after knocking away the shadowy figure.

A masked figure in black and blue appeared directly within Academy City.

The opponent has become stronger.

Realizing this, the shadowy figure roared, seemingly intending to flee immediately—

But the masked man wouldn't give it any chance at all.

"Attack Ride! Blast!"

Insert a new card, and countless blue missiles with homing capabilities will be fired from the muzzle.

The light bullet pierced through the shadowy figure's body, engulfing it in the flames of the explosion.

The masked man looked around, but there wasn't a single piece of debris left.

"It's just a clone... Never mind."

He sighed, then deactivated his transformation and walked out of the alley.

And so I looked down at this technological metropolis at sunset.

"I never expected to accidentally end up in a world where that Demon King is also here... Oh well, I might as well go and meet that Demon King."

"I heard that Lian Shidu was really badly treated by him? That's interesting. I hope he can bring me some good treasures."

Swinging the gun around, the man slowly walked towards the end of the street, attracting the attention of countless male and female students...

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Volume 5 of A Certain Magical Index: Chapter 164 The Watcher and the Watched

Shadows in the darkness clung to the city's building facades like flowing water.

Following the planes of several buildings, the shadows moved at a speed imperceptible to anyone before entering an abandoned building.

A figure stretched out a hand.

He looked tattered and wore a similar hooded garment. His outstretched finger retracted the shadow he had previously sent out.

"Someone is following us."

Upon hearing his words, the other people in the abandoned building all became more attentive.

There are three people at the deepest part of the room.

A boy, a girl, and a man in his thirties.

After hearing what he said, the three people each looked at him with different expressions.

"He's a guy who wanders around in other worlds, carrying a gun. Is he the Kamen Rider you're talking about?"

"Holding a gun... is that Hai Dong Daiki?"

"How annoying! Why are these guys always trying to get in our way?!"

The boy's name was Ur, and the girl's name was Aura.

The two of them originally existed in completely different times and spaces, but for some reason they had to come here to help the person in front of them.

Even the person behind them was the same.

"Please rest assured, it's just a big tree in Haidong, so it's not really a problem."

"Is that right?"

The man in purple clothes—Swartz—slowly walked up to the other person.

"I don't know much about Kamen Rider and stuff like that, so you'd better not try to fool me."

"How could that be... Even if I had a million times the courage, how could I dare to deceive such noble beings as you?"

Swartz tried his best to please the other party, speaking with a smile.

"You want to rule over all sorts of worlds as much as possible, and there will be many guys who will stand in your way. Kamen Rider is one of them."

"What we need to do is to provide you with the greatest assistance in this regard. After all, the people who are in your way are a real hindrance, and the best option is to resolve them as quickly and effectively as possible, isn't that right?"

The person on the other end didn't speak.

Swartz then slowly took something resembling a watch face out of his pocket and handed it to Ul.

"This is for you. After receiving the latest power upgrade, the Other Riders no longer need contractors to transform on their own."

"Why does it have to be me...?"

Swartz smiled without saying a word, while Ul felt a chill run down his spine and didn't say anything more.

"Then you can leave things here to us for now. You can continue with your work. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to come to us... How about that?"

"You'd better show that you're useful."

The shadowy figure's voice was very deep, clearly not a human voice.

"Furthermore, our goal is not to conquer the world; that is merely something we achieve along the way to our ultimate objective."

"The real purpose is to break free from the control of that demon king."

"The Demon King...?"

Upon hearing this, all three people, including Swartz, showed expressions of surprise.

The word "Demon King" is a very special term for them, given their experiences.

This word completely awakened their long-buried, terrible memories.

"Excuse my bluntness, but may I ask... which demon king are you referring to?"

"We demons have existed for far longer than you can imagine."

It turned its back to the three of them and spoke slowly.

"We existed here long before the creation of heaven and earth, before the human world was created, and before the great flood washed the world away. However, no one could escape the clutches of that deserving demon king..."

"He lived in a history that predates ancient Egypt and in a world that predates even the most ancient civilizations. His history was fabricated by later generations... We can't even say his name."

“From that time on, that demon king has ruled us, or rather, time has no meaning for him, because he has transcended time... He is such a terrifying demon king, and the mark he has placed on us is one that we can never escape for all eternity.”

"So... what is your purpose...?"

Swartz was still trying his best to get something out of the other person.

However, the dark figure was clearly tired of talking to them anymore.

A gust of wind blew by, and his body vanished like a falling leaf in front of the window.

Swartz only showed an angry expression after confirming that the other party had really left.

"Damn bastard... You're talking to me so vaguely. What demon king? Just tell me the guy's name! Who can understand this useless, riddle-like nonsense?!"

"Hey, didn't that guy just say they couldn't even pronounce that Demon King's name..."

"Um?!"

Swartz stared at Ul behind him, and was immediately startled by the aura emanating from him.

"Ul, don't forget who pulled you back from the vanished time! Do you want to experience the feeling of being killed by Oma Zi-O again?!"

“This… I do admit that you helped me with this, Swartz.”

Although he knew perfectly well that killing him would be an easy task for the other party, but—

Ul sighed again, speaking with a hint of fear in his voice.

"...Even if it's you, we're just grasshoppers tied to the same rope now. It won't do any good if you sulk over me."

Upon hearing this, Swartz, who had been quite imposing, suddenly deflated.

Aura, who was standing to the side, also fell silent.

"I say... why do those guys called demons want our help? Aren't they already very strong? Can't they handle these small things themselves?"

Who knows…

"Based on my guess, although those guys possess theoretically greater power than Kamen Riders, they are currently unable to unleash that power."

Walking through the room, Swartz began to think slowly.

"It seems to be related to that Demon King. They seem to have just broken through some kind of seal, and their strength has greatly declined... Anyway, this kind of thing has nothing to do with us. We just need to do what they tell us to do."

"This time, we shouldn't die again, right?!"

“We are Time Jackers, Ur. Even if we die again, we will only reappear in the lost time. We will never die again.”

Once upon a time, a certain Oma Zi-O created a very strange world. In order to fulfill his own selfish wishes, he summoned many Tokiwa Sougos to that world and conducted a great selection.

At that time, Ur died because of Oma Zi-O. Afterwards, Swartz and Aura left that world together and then found Ur's existence in the vanished timeline.

But right after that... they were targeted by these guys.

That is a being called a demon.

Their origins and ethnicity are unknown, and the reason why they were targeted is equally unclear.

Even Swartz, the strongest among the Time Jackers, was unable to defeat this formidable foe.

Thus, the three were captured by the demons and became their partners... in reality, just their subordinates.

The demons tasked these three Time Jackers with helping them plunge their respective worlds into crisis, while also tasking them with eliminating obstacles known as Kamen Riders.

Although Swartz didn't know why these powerful demons needed their help to deal with mere Kamen Riders, the current situation was that they had to do whatever these guys told them to do.

Swartz could only plot a rebellion while simultaneously submitting to them.

"If we have a chance to escape, or to deal with these demons... Swartz, what do you think we should do?"

"I don't care what I do. I used to want to be the king of my world... but I've come to understand that as time robbers, we are best suited to wander through different timelines, do whatever we want, and deal with anyone who gets in our way."

In short, for the sake of freedom, Swartz had no choice but to continue living in this precarious state.

Ur lowered his head and looked at the watch face in his hand.

That was an alien knight with red and blue stripes.

"This is just an alternate build, right? Its base combat power is so weak, is it really going to work?"

"That was just a test subject."

Swartz then took out several other Another Rider dials from his pocket.

"For some unknown reason, the watches of these Another Riders that we possess seem to have become stronger than before... Although I don't know why this is happening, we need an opportunity to conduct experiments now."

The experimental site is this world.

A city called Academy City, composed of scientific institutions... and a world made up of various kinds of magic.

This place is the perfect testing ground.

“Go test it, Ur. We’ve only been here a few days. It’s time to greet the people here in a friendly manner.”

"Stop ordering me around."

As Swartz watched Ur slowly walk away with the watch face in his hand, a sinister smile appeared on his face.

Demons? Kamen Riders? Whatever you are... I'm going to make good use of you all.