Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

He witnessed himself being deceived by the researchers, witnessed his companions whom he met in the research institute being used as experimental subjects and died, and witnessed himself killing countless innocent children due to his powers going berserk.

And I heard the only words spoken by those researchers.

"What fools! From the first day you were sent here, your fate was sealed as guinea pigs!"

"What future do you have, living like experimental animals? If you can't become superpowered, then death is the only thing waiting for you!"

"Hehe! It's good for venting anger sometimes, but he's too young, only a teenager, so he's not tough enough to take a beating. He dies after just a few kicks to the head. It's really boring."

Countless images flashed through Yan Ming's eyes.

"You saw it, didn't you?"

The boy stepped out of the world that should have been recorded and looked at Yan Ming.

"This is the city you live in, this is what it really looks like."

"Dark, chaotic, ridiculous, dilapidated, this is the world beneath the glamorous exterior... Do you understand now?"

"I've been fighting this long and hard to completely destroy this disgusting city. Now do you understand just how disgusting this city is?!"

Kakine Teitoku, the second-ranked Level 5 Level 5 esper in Academy City, vented his frustration on him in the manner of a child.

"I see."

After witnessing such an exaggerated experience—

Yan Ming's expression remained thoughtful for a few moments.

"To reproduce my past experiences almost perfectly in front of me? Attacking someone's mindset in this way is just a petty trick."

"Eh...?"

The young Kakine Teitoku looked at the man before him in disbelief.

Why?

They had already witnessed such hell, and they had already seen so many terrible things.

Why is this man so emotionally unmoved?!

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Volume 5 of A Certain Magical Index: Chapter 194 The Dark Space from which there is no escape

"Don't you feel any hatred at all?"

The boy stared at Yan Ming, and then voiced the question that had been on his mind.

"Aren't you dissatisfied with this city? Aren't you supposed to hate evil? Don't you enjoy fighting against those who specialize in doing bad things? If so, why can you tolerate the behavior of this city?"

"Shouldn't you angrily destroy this city? Wipe out all the evildoers hiding here, then drag out the chairman of Academy City, grab him by the neck and kill him in front of everyone, and then liberate the city? Shouldn't you let this city perish in a sea of ​​fire in front of everyone, completely destroy this evil, and save people's most basic future?!"

His voice trembled with excitement as he repeatedly tried to provoke Yan Ming's heart with these words.

Yes, riot! Punish them! This is the kind of city that deserves to end up like this.

Kakine Teitoku knew that Yan Ming possessed the genuine power to destroy the entire Academy City, and that if he wanted to, even the chairman of the board couldn't stop it from happening.

He could tear apart the thick foundations of the city, he could sacrifice all those scientists in front of everyone, that's what he should do, let everyone know how dark and treacherous this city is, and then let everyone cheer for killing these people.

but.

"You seem to have misunderstood something."

The man in front of him remained completely unaffected by his words from beginning to end.

"Do you think it would do any good to destroy this city, kill all the culprits in front of so many people, and let them witness such a bloody scene?"

"That only satisfied your own desires, your desire to take revenge on them."

"What…"

The other party's words once again surprised Kakine Teitoku.

"Then...do you have any better ideas?!"

"No."

Yan Ming gave his answer without hesitation.

"Things like 'human nature is dark' or 'dark things are only done when humans are driven by instinct' are irrelevant to me."

"All I can do is help those I see who need help, and resolve the issues I see who need to be resolved. It's that simple. I'm not as great as you think."

"Hypocrite, you're nothing but a selfish person in the guise of a hero. You never thought about saving everyone. What about those people buried in the darkness, unknown to anyone, living lives as miserable as mine, or even worse?!"

"At least I wouldn't say things like 'In order to destroy the darkness, we should completely destroy the city from the beginning.'"

"—!!"

Kakine Teitoku felt an immense heaviness in his heart.

"What you're going to do is actually no different from what you're telling me. You're destroying this city because of your past experiences, killing the culprits in front of everyone. It's just satisfying your own desire for revenge."

"Isn't this also a form of selfishness on your part?"

I can't understand it.

Why does this man think like this? Doesn't he have even the slightest bit of human emotion?

"If it were you... after experiencing the same tragic past as me, you would definitely do the same thing as me."

"...Perhaps."

Unfortunately, Kakine Teitoku, who stood before him, had no idea what Yan Ming had gone through in the past.

and so--

"However, what my future will be like is entirely up to me."

"..."

"Moreover, you are not Kakine Teitoku himself at all, but merely a phantom born from his memories."

The boy said no more.

At the same time, the surrounding world also began to develop huge cracks.

The cracks continued to spread to every corner: on the face of the young Kakine Teitoku, inside the research institute, and everywhere else…

This unreal world then vanished forever into the darkness.

boom! !

Countless fragments fell in response, and Yan Ming stepped out of the world he had just been in, returning to the dark void.

This time, he saw a figure in the darkness in the distance again.

That's Kakine Teitoku.

Unlike the phantom image that had just been created from this space, Kakine Teitoku maintained his youthful appearance and was clearly the real person.

The other person also realized his presence in this space and walked directly to his side.

"You met them too?"

"If you mean seeing your past, then I did see it."

His expression changed slightly, but Kakine Teitoku managed to control his emotions for the time being.

"So what are your thoughts? After reading about my past, is there anything you'd like to say?"

"I just feel that you are quite different from when you were a child."

"That's it?"

He didn't know how to respond to Yan Ming's answer, but...

"I'm more curious, since what I saw was your past, what did you see?"

Yan Ming's question left Kakine Teitoku speechless.

However, Yan Ming noticed that the young man's gaze towards him was gradually becoming very strange.

It was as if he had a certain... look of fear.

"what happened?"

"No, it's nothing, there's nothing to talk about."

Since Kakine Teitoku had already said so, Yan Ming decided not to press the matter further.

Seeing Yan Ming's indifferent reaction, Kakine Teitoku's heart remained in turmoil.

He did indeed see Yan Ming's past.

He saw what Yan Ming had experienced as a child: being verbally abused, the death of his parents, the changes in the world around him, and countless misfortunes befalling him.

Nevertheless—for him, it had absolutely no effect.

Even though he has witnessed countless life-and-death situations, and has encountered countless negative treatments and various tragic events, he still maintains a calm and peaceful state of mind.

Even with such a tragic childhood, he was still able to maximize his learning ability and learn everything that could help him.

This remains true even today.

'This guy... has had experiences like this before... can he really be considered a normal person?'

It was this unique past that truly terrified Kakine Teitoku.

Even he himself had difficulty controlling his emotions when he immersed himself in such a past, but Shi Lun Yan Ming, this man, endured it with ease.

Everything was fleeting to him, like flowing water.

Who exactly is he?

When Kakine Teitoku turned to look at the other person again, Yan Ming was already standing in the darkness not far away.

"what happened?"

"You should think carefully about why we ended up in a place like this."

Then Kakine Teitoku began to recall.

Could it be...?

“That’s right, Swartz sent us here to kill us. You don’t really think the effect of this place is just to replay our past memories, do you?”

Accompanied by Yan Ming's voice.

The pitch-black space then began to tremble.

"They're here..."

Both Yan Ming and Kakine Teitoku adopted a wary stance.

For an instant.

Countless spikes shot out directly from the ground beneath their feet.

Kakine Teitoku grabbed Yan Ming's hand and created pure white wings from behind, allowing the two to escape the danger on the ground.

"What...what kind of ability is this?"

"I don't know."

While holding Kakine Teitoku's hand, Yan Ming took out the Decade Ridewatch from behind him and pressed its button.

The aurora curtain did indeed appear in mid-air.

But in the next brief moment, it shattered on the spot.

In other words, the structural strength of the entire space... even surpasses the aurora curtain that Decade can create!

"Something else is approaching us!"

Kakine Teitoku could clearly sense that something with a life force was rapidly approaching from the darkness.

The dark shadow flew towards the area between the two of them like a blade.

Kakine Teitoku threw Yan Ming's body out in one breath, while Yan Ming took out his belt in mid-air and quickly put on his watch face.

"Transform!"

"Kamen Rider! Rider! Zi-O·Zi-O·Zi-OⅡ!"

No matter how chaotic the time and space, it is impossible for anyone to take away Yan Ming's transformation ability.