Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

—Zi-O III is a special form that combines the powers of the three Kamen Riders, Zi-O, Geiz, and Woz, and integrates their souls and personalities into one body, symbolizing the unbreakable bond between the three.

"...No wonder you were so scared, but it's not a big deal, is it?"

"No, it's nothing serious. You've never experienced it, so you have no idea what it feels like to be in this damn form!"

"Stop your nonsense, Gates-kun. Isn't the most important thing right now to make my Demon King even more powerful?"

"Even so! Wouldn't it be better to honestly acquire the power of the Heisei Kamen Riders? What's the point of taking such crooked paths?"

"Actually, you're just saying that because you're afraid of merging, right?"

"So what if I say that?! I just don't want to do that disgusting thing again, I'd rather die than do it!"

"You should let go of your prejudices and look at this powerful force objectively..."

"Objective my foot! I don't want to gain power this way!"

Although a direct description of this form might seem a bit strange, well…

Yan Ming had a vague feeling that things weren't as bad as the two of them made them out to be.

Why is that? I've never even seen this form before.

Zi-O III... or so?

Yan Ming put the book back on the table. At this moment—

"…Hello."

He directly called out to the two people who were still arguing next to him.

"Let's talk about these things later."

Both of them stopped what they were doing because of Yan Ming's words, and then looked at the television in front of them together.

On the television screen, the reporter who was broadcasting the news suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Not just him, but everyone in the streets of Academy City was the same.

Outside, under a dark sky, it was raining heavily.

Although it's unclear exactly what happened, however...

Just by seeing this situation, one can tell that this is definitely not an ordinary event.

"Looks like we've got work assigned to us again."

Without thinking, Yan Ming got up.

Because he already knew what was left for them to do next.

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Volume 5 of A Certain Magical Index: Chapter 202 The Attack of the Wind Ahead

Academy City.

A beautiful and fantastical city, a vast metropolis with 2.3 million inhabitants, occupying a large part of Japan and holding an unparalleled position in the world.

Today, however, the city is paralyzed.

First and foremost, she is a woman.

She was wearing an outfit that leaned towards a yellowish-green color, and her face was made up with a very strange makeup style, probably the kind that makes people feel uncomfortable just looking at her.

In the woman's mouth, or more precisely at the base of her tongue, was a chain that extended vertically outwards, pulling at a small object resembling a cross pendant.

She held a huge, hammer-like steel object, longer than her own height, which she wielded with ease.

Wherever the woman went, everyone fell to the ground.

Security guards, disciplinary committee members, ordinary passersby... it doesn't matter who they are.

Fine raindrops pattered against her body as the woman walked over to one of the unconscious security guards and picked up a walkie-talkie that had fallen to the ground.

"Hello... This is security personnel from Team B! How's it going on your end? What's the situation? Hello!!"

“You can hear me, right, Aleister?”

The person on the other end of the walkie-talkie appeared to be another member of the security team, but the woman ignored his voice and instead called out to someone who wasn't there.

The call switching sound immediately came from the walkie-talkie.

"What brings you here?"

"I've already destroyed so much that 60%... no, 70% of Academy City's basic functions are completely paralyzed."

Wherever the woman went, staff who maintained basic functions in Academy City, electronic circuit operators, or ordinary passersby all collapsed to the ground.

"What should you do? You don't seem worried at all. Do you think this is a small matter? Do you even understand the state of your city right now?"

"I don't need to worry at all."

The entire city's functions were disrupted, and most of the population fell victim to the attack by a woman whose true identity was unknown.

But there was no trace of panic in Kearesta's voice.

"The moment you prepared to step into this Academy City and commit such an act of 'harming the innocent,' your fate was already sealed as a tragedy, mage."

"...Hey? What do you mean?"

"You have no idea who you've angered in this Academy City."

The magician lightly tapped the walkie-talkie in his hand, revealing a disdainful smile.

Are you bluffing at me?

"You don't only have powerful secret weapons on your magic side, do you? I have many trump cards at my disposal, but even if I don't use the ones I can control, I still have another trump card that far surpasses all the ones I have, and he will still target you."

"Anyone can talk big, Aleister. Take a good look at your city now! How many people can actually stand up against me? And where is your so-called trump card?"

The woman did not believe that anyone in this academy city could stop her.

"My name is the Wind Ahead, the ultimate weapon hidden among the two billion people of the Roman Catholic Church."

"I don't know what makes you so confident. Is it a superpowered person? Academy City's defense technology? Or a self-defense device? Whatever it is, they can't stop me!"

"Then, I will personally walk into the building where you live, pull you out of there, then take the Index, kill Imagine Breaker, and I will take care of everything here in one night!"

"...I see."

And so, in an instant.

Aleister's voice seemed to be filled with a hint of pity.

"Then try your best."

"Tsk..."

Displeased with the other party's tone, the mage named Wind Ahead gritted his teeth and crushed the walkie-talkie in his hand.

Do you think her actions can continue?

“Aivas, you should know the outcome better than anyone else. Neither the darkest quarters of the Roman Catholic Church nor the Winds of the Front have any chance... as long as they are in this city.”

"I see, but it seems there's a large army waiting to be deployed outside your city. Are you sure you can ignore their threat?"

Do you think numbers have any meaning in front of that person?

"Hehe, you're right."

That's it.

In the darkest corners, completely unknown to those ahead, the chairman of Academy City secretly orchestrated a series of plans.

But he will not actively use someone to carry out his plans.

Instead, it was a natural progression that led the invaders to confront the strongest trump card hidden within the city.

…that ruthless demon king who came from another world.

"The wind ahead, is it? I hope you can survive in the end."

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

So when Yan Ming and the others took action, they witnessed the situation before them.

Many people were lying on the ground in the streets of Academy City.

This includes security guards, ordinary passersby, and all sorts of people.

It appears to be an indiscriminate attack.

Yan Ming, Gates, and Wozniak were all walking in the rain without umbrellas, and went to check on the current situation.

"Any clues?"

"No... I can't figure out what's going on at all."

Gates and Wozniak tried to wake them up, but it was obviously no use; they weren't dead, but they just couldn't wake up either.

Seeing this, Yan Ming walked directly to the side of these people.

"...What are you planning to do?"

Gates looked at Yan Ming with some surprise. He knew that these people would not wake up, but he still touched the bodies of some of them.

“Let’s see what they’ve been through.”

The moment Yan Ming's hand touched one of the people's bodies, a scene that only he could see appeared.

That is a record of history.

Through his powerful ability to manipulate time, he transforms the foreseen future into the past, thereby directly observing what this person has experienced in the past.

From Yan Ming's perspective, he saw a woman.

…A woman with a strange appearance and attire, who inexplicably aroused hostility in this person as they passed by.

The passerby he observed seemed to find her strange because of her attire, and thus developed some feelings of rejection towards her. However, these feelings then escalated into a kind of hostility.

When this hostility was directed at the woman, an unknown force was directly injected into the passerby's body.

At the same time, Yan Ming also experienced the same thing.

"—!!"

"Hey...what's wrong?!"

Gates and Wozniak, who were standing to the side, saw Yan Ming suddenly shudder and then rushed over.

However, Yan Ming's expression only turned slightly serious upon hearing this.

The moment Gates touched him, he manipulated time, causing his own time to rapidly rewind, thus avoiding the anomaly he had just witnessed.

"Are you alright? What happened just now?"

"...is an unknown ability."

Yan Ming stood up immediately. Despite being attacked by an unknown force, he still seemed completely unaffected.

“I observed this person’s past experiences and then I discovered that he had seen a woman before he fell into a coma. Because the woman was dressed very strangely, he developed some feelings of aversion towards her.”

"and then?"

"Then he was struck by some kind of invisible force, and it seemed that all the oxygen in his body was sucked out, and his body suddenly became like a state of suspended animation or shock."

This is also the phenomenon that Yan Ming just encountered.

Because he had observed this person's past experiences, Yan Ming essentially assimilated with his feelings and directly developed the same sense of rejection towards the woman.

It was this sense of rejection... or rather, hostility, that led to Yan Ming also suffering from this unknown force attacking his body.

Gates and Wozniak quickly analyzed the situation.

"So you're saying that woman was behind everything? Would defeating her stop it all?"

“I don’t know… Woz, do you have any relevant information?”

"Please wait patiently, my Demon King."

Yan Ming asked a question, and Woz quickly flipped through the book to meet Yan Ming's needs.

"Please describe the woman's physical characteristics."

"Wearing a yellow-green outfit, holding a large hammer, with intricate graffiti on his face... and seemingly holding a cross necklace in his mouth."

"In the realm of magic, there is the world's largest Christian sect, called the Orthodox Church of Magic."