Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

"Whoa...?"

A violent impact jolted Gates right out of bed.

"What's going on? An earthquake...?"

So Gates quickly ran to the next room to find Yan Ming and Woz.

Of course, neither of them was seriously injured.

However, the television broadcast some noteworthy content.

"A gigantic Demon-level monster suddenly appeared near City B! However, shortly after its appearance, it was seemingly defeated by a mysterious figure. But due to the monster's enormous size, its fall destroyed the entire City B. Therefore, the Hero Association officially reclassified it as a Dragon-level threat..."

The group looked at the television together, and this was the news being reported.

"What the heck..."

Gates immediately pursed his lips, feeling utterly bored.

"I thought it was something serious, but it turns out he's just a weirdo."

"Don't underestimate them, this time the monster has been classified as a Dragon-level threat."

"It doesn't matter what level it is, and besides, wasn't this guy already defeated? So there's even less to worry about."

However… before leaving the room, Gates couldn’t help but glance at the two of them.

He first glanced at Yan Ming, and then... stared intently at Woz for a while.

"What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing."

Upon noticing the gaze, Woz turned his head, and Gates quickly looked away as well.

"...I'm going to wash up now."

After closing the door and leaving, Wozniak was also somewhat puzzled by Gates' situation, but—

He soon noticed something.

Yan Ming still seems to be staring intently at the television.

"What's wrong? Is there anything I should be aware of, my Demon King?"

"Yes, it was just in the news."

Yan Ming paused the video with the remote control, freezing the image back to the previous position.

"Look at this."

Then, he pointed to the giant monster lying in the center of B city in the image.

If you look closely, you can see that there is a very deep notch on its face.

"Although it's just a superficial analysis, this one gap alone shows that whoever dealt with this guy must have killed it in one strike."

"...So that means..."

"Like that guy called Vaccine Man before, this guy is also a Dragon-level monster, and in terms of sheer scale of destruction, he is even stronger, but the heroes who came to fight him were still able to kill him with a single blow... no."

Having said that, Yan Ming's mind was now completely made up.

"The person who can do this must be just like, or even stronger than, the Ascended Ultimate Kuuga that I summoned yesterday."

Woz's expression also became slightly serious.

That means that in this world... not everyone has the same combat strength as the Fubuki Group they encountered yesterday.

Are there any stronger beings in this world?

"It might be even more powerful than we thought. In any case, we shouldn't let our guard down. But given the situation, I think that since the other party is a hero, they probably won't do anything too outrageous."

"Um…"

Woz nodded, intending to second Yan Ming's statement as well.

—A faint touch came from my own chest.

He was immediately taken aback, then quickly took out the book and opened it.

"what happened?"

But when Yan Ming looked over, the faint light emanating from the book vanished.

However, just as it was about to dissipate, Woz managed to confirm the exact color of the radiance.

That was... a faint reddish-gold color.

Realizing this, Wozniak's thoughts gradually became complicated.

"No, even I... can't really explain it clearly."

————————————————————

This happened not long ago.

The bald man stood there, looking at his smoking fist with a satisfied expression.

—And the giant brother lying directly in front of him.

"Finally... finally we defeated one!"

The man hadn't defeated a single monster in the past two days.

So he'd been glued to the TV since he woke up this morning... Just now, after confirming that a strange person had appeared near City B, he immediately jumped from City Z to City B at top speed... and instantly killed the strange person.

"Hmm...it seems like there's nothing special after defeating them."

The man's expression returned to that... nonchalant calm once again.

"Let's go back. I remember the supermarket nearby should have discounted eggs."

He walked back slowly along the same route as if nothing had happened, unaware of something.

On the ruins not far away.

There were two men holding dark purple watch faces... who were also glancing at him unintentionally.

"I see."

Two men, both wearing trench coats, spoke with remarkable calm.

"Is this the world that Zi-O just arrived in...? Indeed, it has the potential to be a battlefield."

Volume 10, One-Punch Man: Chapter 456 - Just Wipe Them All Out

"What's the status of the monster that caused the Demon-level disaster in City B... which was later reclassified as a Dragon-level monster?"

"Yes, all relevant results have been reported, and efforts are being made to expedite the repair process in City B."

"How's the investigation into the disaster in City A that happened not long ago? That was a Dragon-level disaster!"

"Regarding this... there has been no progress in the on-site investigation to date."

"...Because there are absolutely no signs of damage, right?"

The Hero Association, a group of people who are busy investigating monsters and heroes every day, is always busy with this, and today is no exception.

The association members stared at the large screen in front of them.

No matter how many times you watch it—all that appears on the screen is the destruction of City A being restored to its original state in an instant.

It was like video editing; in an instant, the destroyed city was completely restored, without any transition between scenes.

"How did they manage to do that...?"

"There are also other reports that Fubuki, the B-ranked monster, and her Fubuki Group were attacked by a Demon-level monster in the vicinity of City A not long after that."

"What? Such a thing happened? Why didn't she report it?"

"this…"

At this point, the staff member's expression seemed somewhat complicated.

"...When we confirmed this and tried to ask Ms. Fubuki for details, she refused to answer with a very resistant attitude. She even attacked our people at one point. In any case, she refused to answer any questions."

"What's going on..."

"We don't know either, but Ms. Fubuki seems to have said something like, 'Anyway, it wasn't the Fubuki Group that defeated the monster themselves.'"

"Based on the intelligence gathered, the monster that was defeated at the time was most likely a Demon-level Hedgehog Monster, but its overall strength... was probably extremely high among Demon-level monsters, and should not have been something that the Fubuki Group could have fought against at the time."

The association members all paused, as various circumstances seemed to point to the same conclusion.

"...This matter will be investigated thoroughly, and all relevant information will be confirmed as much as possible."

"I understand!"

"Also, what's the situation regarding that mysterious dragon-level disaster that's been erupting so frequently lately...?"

"Well... neither eyewitness accounts nor video transmissions provide much information about the other party, and most eyewitness accounts involve the other party suddenly disappearing from the spot just as they were about to cause damage."

The expressions on the faces of the association members became extremely complicated.

Although this happened only recently, it has already had a very serious impact on the nearby cities.

No matter what, we must resolve this as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable.

"The Silver Masked Man, a Dragon-level threat?"

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

Z City, around 10:00 AM.

The weather was sunny and bright all morning.

"oops."

Yan Ming and Woz stood together in the middle of the street, gazing at the distant sky.

There... a murky, overcast sky completely enveloped nearly half of the city not far away.

"The weather has suddenly changed, my Demon King. It doesn't look like a good sign."

"No, you should be able to tell too."

As the weather gradually approached the vicinity, Yan Ming narrowed his eyes slightly.

"That's not a natural weather phenomenon, but rather caused by human activity; some enormous energy is constantly gathering over there—"

He had just finished speaking.

An incredibly intense burst of fire shot straight up into the dim sky.

boom!!

That was a fiery tornado formed by flames whipping up air at high speed.

The intense flames shot up in a spiral, illuminating the dark sky above the street in just a few seconds, making it clearly visible even several kilometers away.

Is it just unusual weather? Or a natural phenomenon?

The scorching air and flames before our eyes speak volumes—this is not simply a matter of bad weather.

"Speaking of which, where did Gates go?"

"It seems he went to investigate other information. After all, there are many cities in this world, and we don't know much about the Hero Association and monsters."

"I see."

The two of them continued their conversation casually.

They completely ignored the figures walking slowly towards them from the front of the street.

"...Scan complete."

That was a massive body that was over two meters tall.

There must have been at least a dozen such bodies in total, and the figure standing directly in front of them was an even more enormous and exaggerated figure—

"I thought there wouldn't be any other life forms nearby, but I didn't expect there to be two humans around here..."

Thump—A steel body that can make the earth tremble slightly just by walking.

This was a helmet completely covered in iron armor, with only a faint glimmer of light visible through the slight gaps.

"In that case, according to the doctor's request, we can only exclude all irrelevant personnel... and eliminate you here."