Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

"...The taste was a bit off."

"Hmm...it's alright. Have you ever had anything better?"

"I've drunk the ones I made myself."

Yan Ming's casual remark sparked a simple curiosity in Akemi Homura's heart—this guy already made very good black tea before, could he really make any kind of food?

"Getting back to the main topic, let's talk about magical girls."

"So what do you want to know?"

"Basic information: where magical girls came from, what exactly are magical girls, and what exactly are witches."

The reason this information was needed was not only so that Woz's book could record it, but also because Yan Ming wanted to verify whether what Homura Akemi said was the same as what he knew.

"First of all, what I do know is that magical girls like you consume certain powers when using your abilities, and to recover, you must rely on that black stone called the Grief Seed to purify your Soul Gem... What else?"

"...That gem is a product that only appears after the witch is defeated."

After taking a sip of coffee, Homura Akemi stared at the table and slowly spoke.

"The mission of a magical girl is to fight witches and obtain an item called the Grief Seed from the defeated witches. This item is used to purify the soul gems that have become tainted by the use of abilities or other reasons. Each Grief Seed can only be used a few times, so we must keep fighting witches."

"You've already seen witches, those monsters that sacrifice innocent bystanders. And... there are many magical girls in this world, and I'm not the only one in Mitakihara."

"Where did magical girls come from? Why do humans with superhuman abilities exist?"

"...It's because I made a contract with a certain being that I ended up like this."

As Yan Ming continued asking questions, he noticed that Homura Akemi's expression began to change.

But he didn't stop.

"Can you tell me why you became a magical girl?"

"..."

She stopped talking and lowered her head slightly so that Yan Ming wouldn't see the expression on her face.

"I'm leaving."

"I see. Shall we discuss the rest another day?"

"No... I don't want to talk about it anymore. Don't bother me anymore. I also advise you not to continue discussing these things."

After finishing the last bit of coffee, Homura Akemi got up.

Finally, she looked at Yan Ming with a complicated expression.

"...Don't try to get too involved. No matter what power you have, just do your own thing."

"Thank you very much for helping me resolve the Witch's Night incident, but... I think it's better if our friendship ends here."

Without giving Yan Ming a chance to react, Akemi Homura took the money for her coffee out of her pocket, put it on the table, and left.

Yan Ming calmly watched the other person's departing figure while sipping his coffee.

"As expected, it turned out this way."

He had actually guessed that Homura Akemi would react this way.

Although some information was obtained from Homura Akemi, it was mostly basic and essentially useless.

…But in reality, Yan Ming never expected Akemi Homura to tell him these things herself.

He put the coffee cup back on the table and then... carefully recalled what he had just seen.

Just as he was handing the seed of lamentation to the other person, he saw it.

I witnessed an ordinary girl who, influenced by her own illness, embarked on a path that transcended ordinary people.

I witnessed how the girl's companions left her one by one.

I saw an apocalyptic, unchangeable future of death.

I witnessed a fate that could not be changed no matter what, and experienced more than tens of thousands of reincarnations.

And... magical girls, witches, the mastermind behind it all, all the connections and truths that link them together.

He saw everything.

The power of Zi-O's second form allows him to become a demon king who can freely manipulate time. Therefore, Yan Ming already knew about the past records that Akemi Homura knew from the moment he came into contact with her.

The reason I asked her these questions was simply to confirm Homura Akemi's reaction to them.

"That way I'll know what I should and shouldn't do..."

So Yan Ming got up, paid the bill, and left the coffee shop.

There was still some time before midnight, so Yan Ming planned to take care of some things first.

"Looks like I need to deal with some things I just found out about..."

————————————————————

Yan Ming walked alone into the deserted chemical plant.

Whether it was because it was late at night or because the place was not operating, the entire chemical plant was deserted, but that was exactly the place Yan Ming needed.

He took out his phone and called his apartment.

"Is that Zi-O?"

"Woz should be over there too, so you two don't need to worry. I've already obtained the basic information about this world."

By reading Homura Akemi's records, Yan Ming managed to obtain the information he needed and also learned what he should do next.

"That's good. By the way, when are you planning to come back?"

"In a bit, I need to take care of some things first."

"Get some things done...? What else needs to be done by you?"

"You don't need to worry about that. I'm enough on my own anyway."

"I see. Well... just remember to come back early, and contact me and Woz if you need anything."

After finishing his conversation with Gatesworth, Yan Ming hung up the phone immediately.

At that moment, he instantly sensed the unusual atmosphere in the surrounding environment.

"Hmph...just as I expected."

In an instant, the chemical plant began to twist and become chaotic.

Yan Ming calmly looked around, and in an instant, the surrounding space transformed into a strange space that did not exist in the three-dimensional world.

Five incredibly eerie shadows suddenly appeared before him.

She's a witch.

Five witches appeared in front of him... Could this be a coincidence?

Whether it was a coincidence or not, this suited Yan Ming's wishes even better.

He calmly observed the monsters before him, and casually took out the Time Driver and a brand new watch face from his pocket.

"We'll start by using you as the first targets of our new forces."

"Zi-O!"

"Ryuki!"

Wearing the two watch faces at his waist, Yan Ming deliberately did not use his strongest Zi-O II power to fight these witches, but instead chose to fight in his armor form.

"Transformation."

"Rider Time! Kamen Rider! Zi-O!"

The witches unleashed a barrage of shockwave-like attacks at Yan Ming simultaneously, but Yan Ming managed to defend against all of them the instant he transformed.

At the same time, a mechanical dragon, resembling armor, appeared out of thin air and instantly transformed its body into several armor components, which were then fitted onto Yan Ming's entire body.

"Armor Time! Advent! Ryuki!"

Its body is red and silver, and its face, like the dragon fangs of the knight in the mirror that once appeared, features deep red three-dimensional characters.

The spacetime coordinates displayed by the spacetime driver are "2002".

A fire warrior possessing the power of the Dragon Knight, Kamen Rider Zi-O Ryuki Armor.

If Wozniak were here, he would surely be singing praises right now, but this is not the time for that.

Faced with the witches attacking him again, Yan Ming took the opportunity to leap into the air.

boom!!

In an instant, flames, like flying missiles, struck the five witches directly.

That was the Peerless Dragon hovering in mid-air, roaring. Yan Ming used the power of the Dragon Rider to summon it, and at the same time, he rode on the Peerless Dragon's back.

With near-subsonic speed, it instantly smashed through the bodies of the surrounding familiars.

For a typical magical girl, fighting against five witches by herself would be quite difficult.

But that meant nothing to Yan Ming, who possessed the power of Kamen Rider.

He took out a knife that resembled a dragon's tail and conjured a dragon's head that resembled a cannon's muzzle with his other hand.

The two were directly intertwined with a temperature of 5,000 degrees Celsius, and instantly launched an attack towards the enemy.

Bang——! !

The fireball pierced through the body of one of the witches, while the dragon blade, wreathed in flames, sliced ​​through the bodies of three other witches.

The last witch was struck by the speeding Peerless Dragon and was thrown away by its tail.

"Finish Time! Ryuki!"

Pressing the button on the dial, Yan Ming leaped into the air, using the power of flames to levitate in mid-air, ignoring gravity.

The Peerless Dragon opened its mouth wide at the remaining witches, spewing out flames exceeding five thousand degrees, and then merged Yan Ming's body into them.

The two combine into one, instantly transforming into a deadly technique capable of piercing and burning everything.

"Final Time Break!"

Boom—!!

The massive explosion, powerful enough to shatter the bodies of all the witches, instantly destroyed everything around them. Yan Ming's body pierced through all the witches, and as their bodies dissipated, the entire space vanished as well.

With a few flames still clinging to his feet, Yan Ming landed steadily and immediately looked at the chemical plant behind him.

It was exactly the same as before; it was as if five witches had visited this place.

However... Homura Akemi told him that witches do not team up with each other.

Yan Ming doesn't possess any qualities that could attract them, which means...

The reason these five witches appeared here was entirely due to being guided by someone else.

And coincidentally, Yan Ming knew exactly who had done all of this.

Yan Ming deactivated his transformation and looked directly into the shadowy area not far away.

"You can fool most people, but you can't fool me. Come out."

"...That really surprised me."

It was a voice as innocent as a child's.

Accompanying this sound, a white creature, resembling a small animal, emerged from the darkness.

With red eyes and a white body, she has an adorable appearance that makes her very endearing... yet Yan Ming stares at her with a cold and indifferent gaze.

"How exactly did you find me? A normal person shouldn't be able to see my body at all, right?"

"Enough with the unnecessary nonsense. You sent five witches to attack me while I was alone, just to make me stop interfering with your plans...right?"

Yan Ming then revealed the other party's true identity.

"The Incubator, Cupid, is the most notorious scoundrel in the universe."

The creature opposite, named Cupid, merely blinked after Yan Ming revealed his identity.

"I never expected... that you actually saw through 'our' identities."

Volume 6, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Chapter 236 Did Kyubey die again today?