Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

"..."

Gates, who was about to speak, froze on the spot. He met Woz's eyes, and at that moment—

The other person's gaze was the same as he had seen before, yet it felt unfamiliar to him.

"I've had the same thought as you, but unfortunately those guys' problems are far from being so easy to handle."

"What... exactly do you know?"

"I'm just drawing conclusions from what I've seen of those guys before."

Wozniak stood in front of Gates, his expression seemingly returning to its usual, normal state.

"You remember that demon named Valak, right? Geiz-kun, judging from her strength back then, even if my Demon King were to face her again now with the power of Zi-O III, I would probably have little chance of winning. And a demon as powerful as her must not be at the very top of the demon horde."

"The current state of this world is already giving us a lot of headaches, let alone something on a higher level?"

"In our current state, even if we do find the demon's lair and go straight there... what can you, me, or even my demon king do?"

Despite Wozniak's words, Gates was ultimately unable to utter a single response.

Under such circumstances, the atmosphere in the room began to become dull.

"In any case, everyone shouldn't take this kind of thing so seriously!"

Seeing this, Dian Si quickly tried to smooth things over, running between the two of them as if to ease the tension.

“Mr. Gates, I think Mr. Woz’s words make a lot of sense. Constant dripping wears away a stone… We can’t be too hasty. At least we do need to maintain our own situation in order to deal with those demons, right?”

"...That's indeed the case."

However, Gates turned his attention to the heir.

In reality, his reason for having such thoughts was not simply because he wanted to eliminate those demons.

It was because of the heir...

The world that Dian Si originally belonged to was destroyed because it was invaded by those demons. All of his relatives died in front of him because of the demons.

That's why Gates went on to find an opportunity for Dian Si to get revenge.

However… now Dian Si seems to be doing nothing wrong, and even has the time to smooth things over for the two of them.

But Gates could tell that this was definitely not what Dian Si meant.

…He was merely concealing himself, using this mask-like thing to hide his resentment and thoughts towards the demons.

click-

At that moment, the apartment door was suddenly opened.

The three looked towards the door, where a familiar person walked in.

The first person to walk in was Shilun Yanming.

…Then, the person who followed her in was a young girl.

She has long, straight black hair and is very beautiful, exuding an aura that keeps strangers at bay.

"What's wrong."

Faced with the somewhat complicated gazes of the three people in the room, Yan Ming looked at them with a very calm expression.

"It's just bringing someone back to the apartment, is it really necessary to make such a fuss?"

Volume 6, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Chapter 284 Let's Cry Out Loud

Inside Yan Ming's apartment, they gathered together, considering what to say next.

“…My Demon King.”

Looking at Homura Akemi standing in the living room, Woz couldn't help but ask Yan Ming a question.

"What's going on here? Why is Homura Akemi here again? Wasn't our cooperation over?"

"The cooperation has indeed ended, but there's no rule that says she can't come to my place after the cooperation ends."

"That's true... but judging from her appearance, did you two talk about something... rather serious?"

"She already knows where we're going next."

What…?!

Woz looked surprised, and after adjusting himself, he asked Yan Ming in a low voice.

"Are you...are you sure this is true? How could she possibly know about us—"

"It's not difficult to deduce it. You and I have used powerful abilities far beyond the scope of ordinary human understanding many times. During this time, she has also encountered many enemies from other worlds. At the same time, she already knows that both the Time Jackers and the demons are opponents we need to deal with."

Yan Ming looked at him and continued.

"Having already known so many prerequisites and understood that there is more than one world, do you think she still can't guess what we usually do? And what we're going to do next?"

"...So you mean..."

"If possible, I hope to have a proper talk with her about some things."

After sensing the weight of Yan Ming's words, Woz stopped talking.

He nodded, and then walked towards the living room with Yan Ming.

It's worth mentioning that... right now, only Gates is facing Homura Akemi in the living room.

"...You've finally arrived!"

Back in the living room, the two noticed that Gates and Homura Akemi were quite far apart, and that Gates had been standing there with a bowl of cold tea.

Upon seeing the two return, Gates quickly put down his tea and went to them.

"Hey... what's wrong with this girl? You guys never said she was this difficult to deal with!"

"What's wrong, Gates? Is there something about that girl that you find strange?"

"The main problem is that I have absolutely no idea what to talk about when I'm with her. She just won't respond to anything I say, or rather, we're just not on the same wavelength..."

"That's just how she is, there's no need to take it too seriously."

Seeing this, Yan Ming walked directly ahead of the two.

"Leave the main tasks to me."

After returning to the living room, Yan Ming looked at Akemi Homura sitting at the dining table.

She simply folded her hands together and sat quietly in the chair, doing nothing.

The tea and snacks I had prepared for her earlier remained untouched, and the hot tea had gone cold.

"Aren't you going to eat something?"

"...Not needed for now."

"You must really like this tea. Even though it's a bit cold, I still think it tastes pretty good after just one sip."

"I don't remember... when I told you that I had any hobbies like drinking tea."

"It was just something I read while reading your past history."

Homura Akemi couldn't help but look at Yan Ming standing in front of her.

Then she slowly shifted her gaze to the tea and snacks on the table... She slowly picked up the teacup and took a sip.

This taste…

The moment the slightly sweet liquid seeped onto her tongue, Homura Akemi's own memories were awakened.

Yes... she recognized the taste.

This is the smell of the tea he brewed for himself when he first arrived at Yan Ming's apartment and the two officially met.

"What's wrong? Don't you like the taste?"

"…No."

She pursed her lips slightly and spoke with a trembling look in her eyes.

"I really like...this flavor."

Gates and Woz stood to the side, watching Homura Akemi who seemed to be turning her gaze away... and couldn't help but sneak up together.

"...Is that girl about to cry?"

"Are you kidding? That's a girl who can fight alongside my Demon King. How could she possibly cry over something like that?"

"What do you mean by fighting side by side? I don't think I've ever seen these two fight together with anyone, have I? And don't change the subject, you look like you're about to cry!"

"No, no, in the end, Gates-kun, you really underestimate my Demon King's powerful control."

"What does this have to do with control?"

"That is to say, even when it comes to matters of the heart, my Demon King can still easily control them... that's the point."

"Stop spouting this nonsense! If you keep talking this drivel, I'll tell Zi-O that you used your Galaxy End ability to spy on his private life!"

"You bastard! This is the one thing I absolutely cannot tolerate. Under no circumstances should you tell my Demon King that I did such a thing. No, I have never spied on anyone. This is just framing someone!"

"Well, so you've finally shown your true colors!"

After a series of arguments, the two finally realized that the two people in the living room were turning their attention to them.

Now you have no choice but to know, even if you didn't want to.

"Uh... I, my Demon King, please let me explain! I really didn't—"

"...Your matter will be postponed for now."

After seeing Yan Ming wave his hand, Woz fully understood what the consequences would be.

Completely ignoring Woz, who was almost petrified behind him, Yan Ming continued to look at Homura Akemi in front of him.

"Do you usually work with these kinds of people?"

"almost."

"So, what you told me about these people being new friends... it was all a lie, wasn't it?"

Now that things have come to this, even if Yan Ming doesn't say anything, Homura Akemi already knows the truth.

Realizing the current situation, she sighed softly and stared intently into Yan Ming's eyes.

"Do you know... how I figured these things out?"

"As time goes on, will we get more intelligence about us?"

"No... After you went back to school, I found that you were very different from when I first met you."

"So what's different?"

"…Feel."

Upon hearing this word, Yan Ming couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"Although you look exactly the same as when I left, the feeling you give me, and the feeling I have for you, is very different... I don't know what it is."

This so-called feeling is not the kind of mysterious woman's sixth sense or anything like that.

Considering Homura Akemi's unique abilities and the power she possesses, Yan Ming could roughly guess the specific situation.

"Is it because we both possess abilities related to space and time...?"

"Ok?"

"It's nothing, I was just talking to myself."

Akemi Homura tilted her head in confusion, but Yan Ming didn't explain it to her in detail.

That's not the main point we're going to discuss today.

"...You already know about me, those two, and the others. I think you should understand just how dangerous those guys really are, right?"

Homura Akemi was well aware of those guys who were trying to harm Madoka and the people around her.

The Time Robbers, demons... and those unknown creatures she initially fought were probably one of those demons.

Even dealing with that kind of demon was already very difficult for Homura Akemi at the time, let alone dealing with a more powerful one.

So, he... has been fighting such dangerous enemies all along?

"Why would those demons do such a thing..."