Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

And at this moment.

Only Yan Mingyi, who could see into the future, could see what had actually happened.

"What's going on...? Why has the world I painstakingly modified turned into this?!"

"No, that's not right... After you modified the original world, someone else took away everything you had changed!"

Yan Ming quickly looked up at the sky.

In the very center of the sky, where cracks were beginning to appear, a dark shadow hovered.

That was the demon they had encountered before, the one who had accompanied Swartz and the others.

"Finally got it..."

The demon, feeling the things it was gradually assimilating, proclaimed loudly.

"Such immense power... I'll accept all the other-dimensional entities belonging to this world, those called 'Phase', without hesitation!"

Click, click, click—!

At the demon's words, the golden sky instantly shattered.

Instead.

It was a black sky, deeper than the dead of night, like the void.

Volume 5 of A Certain Magical Index: Chapter 223 The Demon's True Identity is—

The scene became extremely chaotic.

Right Flame believes that by absorbing Imagine Breaker and unleashing all the power within him, he can change the world and bring things called "phases" into human reality, thus saving the world.

But can the current situation really be called success?

The golden sky lasted only a short time before the completely dark sky replaced the entire world.

He stood there, unable to feel even a trace of the "phase" that had pulled him into this world by his own power.

…No, the so-called "phase" still exists.

It was simply eroded from the root by another force.

"It's you guys..."

After realizing what was happening, Right Flame looked directly at the group of people in front of him, specifically at Swartz and the other Time Jackers.

"This is your doing...? What exactly did you do? Were you planning to set a trap for me the moment I regained my power?"

However, the fire on the right clearly saw that Swartz and the others also had the same surprised expression on their faces.

This means that what is happening now is not something they did at all.

So, what exactly happened?

The fire on the right stared wide-eyed at the sky, where the black world spread out in all directions like black mist, swallowing everything in its path.

And that dark, black power.

In an instant, it swallowed up Yan Ming, Gates, and the others in front of it.

Just as if deliberately isolating the Right Fire and the others, the black sky seemed to have only Yan Ming and Gates as its targets.

"Hey Swartz! What on earth is going on?!"

"Could it be that the demon lied to us? This... this doesn't seem like an ideal situation at all!"

Ur and Aura couldn't help but shout, while Swartz narrowed his eyes, trying his best to think about the current situation.

"...No, what that demon is doing now is indeed helping us, it's just that we didn't realize it from the beginning."

He should have thought of that sooner.

How could a race as arrogant as demons possibly join forces with insignificant humans, or even the native inhabitants of this world, to fight against an enemy?

Together with Swartz, it learned a great deal about this world, the status of the scientific and magical sides, the power of Academy City, the strength of the Right Flame, and the concept of the so-called "phase" of another dimension.

Just as he was hurriedly thinking about this matter, suddenly—

These time-travelers felt it directly around them.

Suddenly, an unparalleled, even greater power was generated.

"Varied--?!"

Ur and Aura were the first to exclaim in shock.

Because, Touma Kamijou, who already had his arm severed.

Now, a profound light is emanating from the site of the severed right arm…

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

boom--!!!

Yan Ming and Gates were instantly pulled into this dark world.

Standing here feels like standing on top of the clouds; you can see dark clouds below and dark clouds above.

Black lightning bolts darted back and forth around them, and the black figure took the opportunity to stand directly in front of the two of them.

"What on earth happened? What on earth is this guy up to?!"

Gates still looked like he didn't understand the situation, while Yan Ming looked directly at the demon in front of him.

The tattered black clothes that had been draped over the other person finally began to slowly dissipate like fragments.

Then, the human body gradually became distorted.

Ultimately, the 'human body' is not its true form; it is merely a form of imitation and theft.

Then the human body, like the clothes, turned into fragments and dissipated, gradually revealing the demon's true form.

puff-

Arms burst forth from it, and the body then became thick, long, and greasy.

Its enormous, worm-like body instantly stretched to a length of over twenty meters.

Compared to its fat and thick body, the arms that sprang from the branches appeared incredibly slender, and there were far more than one pair of arms, instantly creating an illogical body structure.

The monster's head transformed into a human male head twisted into a snake.

Red eyes locked onto the two, while a black world continued to spread in all directions.

"...I see."

Upon seeing the other party's true form, Yan Ming analyzed everything he had encountered so far and finally understood the identity of the monster standing in front of them.

He has figured out who the so-called demon really is.

“I’ve figured out who this guy is, Gates.”

"Wha...wasn't it supposed to be Lucifer? You know, that weird angel with chicken wings on his back—"

"That's just a disguise for this guy in front of me, a power he stole, not his true identity."

Gates stared blankly at the demon before him, whose crimson eyes grew even more ferocious.

"You have never shown any signs of fighting in your true form until now. Whether it's Baal or Phoenix, those demons have to reveal their true forms when they want to fight with their full strength, but you... only now have you revealed your true form."

"So what?"

The demon asked him in a muffled, half-mocking voice.

"Now that you are in your true form, your previous appearance was definitely not your true form. However, it was indeed the image of the fallen angel Lucifer. But upon closer inspection, Lucifer's image is vastly different from your current appearance, not to mention that you also absorbed the 'phase' that the Right Flame pulled over into your own possession. It seems that you and the Child of the Morning Star should have no connection whatsoever."

The image of the fallen angel Lucifer was merely a facade initially created to deceive Yan Ming and the others.

The human form that facilitates movement, the image of Lucifer, seizing... no, stealing the "phase" brought by the right-hand fire.

All of this, combined with the seemingly distorted yet clearly symmetric posture of a human and a snake, immediately made Yan Ming understand the other party's true identity.

And most importantly—

"I should have made sure of one thing from the very beginning."

Yan Ming uttered the most crucial sentence.

"So far, all the demons we've encountered have been among the so-called 'Seventy-Two Demons,' yet you've been using the identity of the fallen angel Lucifer to mislead us. This is likely to prevent us from discovering your true identity among the 'Seventy-Two Demons,' and instead draw our attention to unrelated characters."

"Among the 'Seventy-Two Demons,' the one associated with theft and whose true form is related to snakes... I can only think of one."

"The demon ranked seventy-second at the end of the 'Seventy-Two Demons,' the Hell Serpent who commands twenty-six legions, is named... Andromalius."

Andumari is the last of the seventy-two demons under Solomon's rule.

However, this statement presents a significant disagreement with Yan Ming's account.

The book claims that the demon named Andumari is not a demon that steals other people's things, but rather an entity that judges thieves.

"...Are you really sure that I am this kind of person? Human, according to your so-called mysticism and the records in your books, the seventy-second demon—Andumari—is a being specifically responsible for judging thieves, not a thief demon who steals other people's things."

"That's what the book says, but it's your actions that have made me realize that what's in the book isn't necessarily correct."

The records in books or history, or even the contents of legends, are not necessarily accurate.

“The fallen angel Lucifer does not exist in the Bible or related books, yet you did use his power, proving that he does exist.”

The myths in the book are completely opposite to the reality.

"Since Lucifer is said to be a fictional character, but is actually a real fallen angel, then... I don't think the claim that Anduma is a demon who judges thieves rather than those who steal others' things is necessarily true, is it?"

goo—

Right after he finished speaking, Yan Ming and Gates both saw that several delicate little holes appeared one after another on the demon's thick, snake-like body.

The small hole continuously spewed out a foul-smelling gas from the inside, while the demon's head grinned and laughed.

"Hahahaha, hahahahahaha!!"

Such a phenomenon, which evokes physiological aversion in humans, is actually a way for it to express pleasure.

"You're right, you're absolutely right... Human, you're probably the only one who has ever been able to clearly recognize my existence!"

Although Gates was still kept in the dark, Yan Ming had already figured everything out.

“I am the seventy-second-ranked being among the seventy-two demons, Andumari. Just as you said, your ridiculous history and myths are nothing but crude fabrications made up for us demons!”

The real demons or gods are vastly different from those described in the book.

Just as in the human world, people once mocked Lucifer for not existing in the book and for being a fabrication, but he actually exists, Andumari was identified as the judge of thieves, but in reality, he is the true demon of thievery.

The reason it's described as a trial of thieves is probably just something humans added to enhance the aesthetic appeal.

But none of that matters anymore.

"I still don't quite understand what you're saying... Could you explain it to me in simpler terms?"

"That means the guy standing in front of us has the ability to steal from others, whether it's their abilities or their image, theoretically it can steal them all."

Yan Ming looked directly at the other person, and at the same time looked at the black sky above their head.

"Andumari possesses the ability to steal other people's images. He stole Lucifer's image and power, making us mistakenly believe that he was the real Lucifer. Then he stole human images to avoid being discovered in Academy City. Now... he has stolen the power of the Right Flame!"

"You've got one thing wrong, human. I didn't steal his power; I only stole this other dimension he pulled in, called a 'phase.'"

Andumari… the demon with that true name stared intently at them.

"My power is not what it used to be. Although I am not a demon in the form of combat, the weakening of my power makes it impossible for me to completely steal the power of so many people."

If he wanted, he could steal the power of Yan Ming and Gates at any time... but at present, he cannot steal the image and power of so many people at once.

However, even so—

Even at the cost of exhausting all the power he had stolen so far, he still managed to steal the "phase" world that the Right Fire had brought forth.

"Although it cost me the good stuff I stole before, I can take it back whenever I want once I regain my strength!"

before that.

The demon fixed its blood-red eyes directly on the two of them.

"Before that... let me first eliminate you two greatest enemies of this world right here!"

Black thunder transformed into a winged nightmare that attacked them.

Before the enemy could act, and before Geiz could react, Yan Ming had already transformed into Zi-O II.