Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

"Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?!"

Immediately afterward, Touma Kamijou stared wide-eyed in shock, looking incredulously at the distant Shogi Gunha.

He can't move.

To be precise, a layer of iridescent color surrounded him, and the now-powerful Slicer General was like a statue, unable to move an inch in that frozen time.

Yan Ming held the Zi-O II watch face in one hand and the Decade Ride watch face in the other.

He then activated another aurora curtain, teleporting the time-stopped Blademaster behind them through the curtain, and then—

An unbelievable scene unfolded.

Misaka Mikoto, who had already sensed the presence of the three and was planning to attack them—

She suddenly reversed course.

"W-What happened? What's wrong?"

No… to be precise, it was gradually reversed back to its original state.

The reinforced concrete surrounding Misaka Mikoto, her own condition, and even the damaged earth around her all began to heal.

The steel and concrete that had been flying through the air instantly returned to their original positions, the ripped-out ground was stitched back together, and even the gloomy sky, with its swirling dark clouds, began to dissipate.

The most important thing is still Misaka Mikoto herself.

Now, the power binding her is rapidly receding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"No, impossible! What on earth happened?!"

Kihara Gensei, who was watching all this, suddenly opened his eyes wide and shouted in disbelief.

"This situation is completely inexplicable from a physics perspective. What exactly is this force that's acting up everywhere? Could it be—time reversal? Impossible! There shouldn't be anyone with this ability in Academy City. Besides, if time could be reversed, that would be something that shouldn't exist in academia. It doesn't fit into any discussion of space science or time that we know!"

No one paid any attention to Kihara Gensei's explanations.

Then, Kihara Gensei was stunned again, because he realized that it wasn't just Misaka Mikoto whose time had been reversed...

"Huh—?"

The thoughts in his mind were constantly swirling.

Originally, the abilities, power, and effects he gained through the external brain were all rapidly draining from his body in an incredibly bizarre manner.

"My abilities and my external brain are all disappearing! Oh my god?!"

Everything is flowing backwards.

Everything connected to Misaka Mikoto is being rewound at an extreme speed, including her external brain and Kihara Gensei.

In just a few seconds, everything around the girl had returned to normal.

Only Misaka Mikoto, with a blank expression, remained standing there.

"Misaka!"

Touma Kamijou quickly ran to her side and looked at her.

The weather is clear now, and not only that, the surrounding houses are undamaged, but the streets are also safe and sound.

There have been no changes to the entire Second School District.

"...Huh? What are you doing standing here?"

Misaka Mikoto looked at Kamijou Touma with a surprised expression, while Kamijou Touma quickly asked her a question.

"Are you alright? No...you don't remember...what happened just now?"

"What's wrong? I wasn't just taking a walk... By the way, why did you come to a place like this?"

"It hurts... I feel like I've been through something terrible. Wait, aren't you the third one? Who's the other person?"

"A cutting board? You don't even remember that?"

Neither Shogi Gunba nor Misaka Mikoto had any idea what had happened.

The surrounding streets became peaceful and serene, with some people walking around, just like any other daytime street scene.

"So, does this mean—Mr. Yan Ming! It really was you who did this…?"

When Touma Kamijou turned around and looked behind him, there was no one there.

He blinked, then stood there, seemingly a little confused.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? You seem really strange today."

"Although I don't know who you are, you seem rather spineless. Why don't you come and run a few laps with me?"

"...I, I'm fine."

Kamijou Touma wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Did Yan Ming resolve these issues? Or... was it all just my own illusion?

Could it be that what just happened was all just my imagination...?

------------------

"Impossible...it's absolutely impossible for such a thing to happen..."

Kihara Gensei is currently lying inside the building.

He looked ahead in disbelief. There, a man who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere was slowly approaching Kihara Gensei, completely ignoring any security measures.

"Who exactly are you?!"

Yan Ming stared at the old man in front of him and blinked mercilessly.

"Hello... Ah, it's Gates."

"It's nothing important, just a small matter, I've already taken care of it."

While making a phone call, Yan Ming casually left the building.

…leaving only the remnants, weathered beyond recognition by accelerated weathering, in the same spot, as if they were something older than fossils, something that would only appear hundreds of millions of years from now.

Volume 5 of A Certain Magical Index: Chapter 187 A Secret Deal

So Gates made a special trip to the scene afterward, but unfortunately it was all for nothing.

As for what exactly happened, Yan Ming wasn't quite sure. However, after dealing with Kihara Gensei, he seemed to see the twin-tailed girl named Shirai Kuroko walk out of the building.

"As a member of the Disciplinary Committee, I will arrest you and take you back!"

Shirai Kuroko handcuffed a purple-haired girl and took her away. The two looked rather disheveled, suggesting that a fierce struggle had taken place beforehand.

Yan Ming wasn't quite sure why, but he didn't bother to find out.

Kihara Gensei's grand dream will vanish with his demise, and as for Misaka Mikoto and Shogi Gunha, they will completely forget the events of today... which is a good thing for them.

The only one who remembers this is Touma Kamijou, but... it doesn't really matter whether he remembers it or not.

It seems there were other guys who broke in from outside Academy City causing trouble during the Daihasei Festival, but it doesn't matter. Thanks to the efforts of Touma Kamijou, Tsuchimikado, and the others, it's all over now.

In just two days, so many things have happened.

"I feel like I'm getting busier and busier lately."

"Isn't this good? You kept saying you had nothing to do before, but now you have something to do every day. Isn't this exactly what you wanted?"

Gates and Wozniak stood together in the street, mingling with the crowd, and the whole street was bustling with activity.

It's a little past 8 p.m. now.

All the sporting events at the Daihasei Festival have ended, and now all that remains is time for people to enjoy the evening banquet.

Countless people were enjoying the upcoming celebrations on the streets.

There are vendors selling local delicacies on the street, and people dressed in kimonos are out having fun with their boyfriends or girlfriends. Students from different schools who used to compete with each other are now all mixed together.

"Ah! It's the two of you!"

Not long after they left, Gates and Wozniak spotted a figure they vaguely recognized.

A girl with chestnut hair... and a boy with spiky hair walking nearby.

The spiky-haired boy was instantly recognizable as Touma Kamijou, but this girl…

"I feel like I've seen this girl somewhere before...?"

"Don't worry about feelings, Gates-kun. She came to see my Demon King before."

"What are you two talking about? By the way, you seem to be Shilun Yanming's companions, right?"

Although she couldn't quite understand what the two were saying, Misaka Mikoto still asked them a few more questions.

"Sorry for the rushed meeting last time. Um... where is that guy now?"

"...What do you want with him?"

"It's nothing serious, it's just..."

"This guy definitely wants to fight Mr. Yan Ming! I can guess that without him saying a word!"

"You, you're so long-winded!!"

Because of Touma Kamijou's interruption from behind, Misaka Mikoto immediately emitted a series of electric currents around her in displeasure.

This feels so dangerous... So these are the espers from Academy City?

"Anyway, it's not like what this guy said. I just wanted to talk to him unilaterally."

"So... what do you plan to talk to my Demon King about?"

"It's probably just some martial arts stuff! Uh, my Demon King...? Is that what you usually call that guy?"

In short, regardless of the specifics, things are completely in chaos below.

So where exactly is Yan Ming now?

The scene shifts abruptly, now showing the top of a distant skyscraper—

Dressed in black, standing on the rooftop, hidden in the dark shadows.

Yan Ming simply watched everything below calmly, neither going down to enjoy the rest of the Daihasei Festival with Gates and the others, but merely observing the city in a serene manner.

Another incident has been resolved.

For him, what he needs to do in this city now is to constantly eliminate all the potential dangers that may arise.

But is that really what I want to do?

He fell silent, gazing at the moonlight.

Yan Ming knew very well that he had a clear conscience about using all his strength to protect others.

But then he started thinking about other things.

Previously, he had simply stayed in his original world from beginning to end.

Although he had witnessed many things and met many people, those people had all left because of the misfortunes that had happened to them, and Yan Ming had never seen any emotions other than "negative" ones.

But this time it's different.

They gained power, followers, and partners.

Yan Ming was able to travel to different worlds, learn more knowledge, and meet more people.

And in all of this, almost everyone he saw had their own life and the motivation to live it.

It was this series of learning activities that led him to begin to have entirely new thoughts.

—Besides the desire to protect others that I've always held, what else is there that I truly want to do?

To learn new knowledge? To explore different worlds?

Perhaps this is indeed one of the things Yan Ming really wants to do, but... there's just something I can't quite put my finger on.

Although Yan Ming had doubts, he was not confused by them.

If something is unclear for the time being, then leave it for later.

At least for now, all Yan Ming needs to do is continue his journey and resolve the tragic events that are happening to him.

That's always been his thought.

In the evening breeze of Academy City, the Demon King, harboring his own thoughts, pondered everything that had happened so far, all by himself.