Kamen Rider, but with a wild start.

The demon knights, who had just completed their transformation, hadn't even had time to react before there were no targets left in the square, leaving the two monsters staring at each other in bewilderment.

"A new round has begun, let's assemble first."

Kino naturally suppressed the fact that they had run away.

Ukiyo Hidetoshi looked at him and chuckled.

Just then, the spider-shaped cell phones on the two of them rang. As expected, DGP had issued a rallying order. Upon receiving the message, the participants' figures instantly transformed into digital specks of light and were teleported.

The meeting point is the participants' login plaza.

Besides the two of them, the other three contestants were already in place.

They were indeed the only ones attacked by the evil spirits.

"Your belts have all been stolen? You really have no sense of caution at all~" Kino said as he stepped forward.

"Aren't you the same!"

Upon hearing this, Abatsuma Mikoto frowned and turned to look at him, his gaze sweeping over Ukiyo Hidetoshi. After saying that, he chuckled and said, "And he looks quite disheveled!"

"Because we received preferential treatment from the game administrators, the Desire Grand Prix specially summoned a group of demonic followers to welcome our arrival," Kino said with a smile, without any hesitation.

"..."

My wife, the Taoist priest, suddenly had a strange look in her eyes.

Standing on the stage, Tsumuri's eyes flickered slightly as she looked at the two of them. Her eyes met those of Ukiyo Hidetoshi, who was looking at her with a hint of accusation that she couldn't understand. So she quickly looked away.

"Everyone—you have all met the requirements to participate. From now on, the second round of the Desire Grand Prix, the 'Musical Chairs' game, will officially begin!"

A screen appeared in the space behind Tsumuri, with a pentagonal three-dimensional pattern rotating, displaying five desire drivers without core IDs.

She continued her explanation: "This is a competition for the Kamen Rider seats. The drivers of the five Kamen Riders have been stolen by a mysterious girl, and two seats have already been occupied by demons. The contestants who successfully retrieve their drivers will advance until the 'hide-and-seek demons' lurking in the demon realm are defeated. However, contestants who do not yet have their drivers will be eliminated!"

"The driver has been taken over by demons?!" Master Azuma noticed the strangeness in the words.

“That’s right, the Demons have undergone changes we don’t know about. They can use the Desire Driver to become ‘Demon Riders,’ so all contestants must be careful when retrieving the Driver!” Tsumuri warned.

She opened another screen in the space next to her, which showed two demon knights who had transformed using the belt in the square.

"A demon knight? How could this be..."

Sakurai Keikazu stared at the screen in astonishment.

Kurama Nene suddenly said, "Now that two Desire Drivers have been taken over by demons, that means we only have three Drivers left out of the five of us..."

Two people will be eliminated!

The atmosphere on the field instantly became tense.

The contestants exchanged ambiguous glances. Despite having often fought side by side and gotten along well with each other, none of them wanted to be the last one eliminated.

Then the only option is to eliminate the opponent.

The most hostile of all was Azuma Michonji. He swept his gaze over everyone present, his only thought being to be the first to retrieve the driver.

"Don't worry!"

A cheerful voice broke the silence.

Kino walked over and put his hand on Azuma Michinaga's shoulder, smiling broadly as he said, "I already know where that hide-and-seek demon is. There's absolutely no need to worry about not having enough drivers!"

Master Azuma looked at him defiantly: "But why should you help us?"

Kino Yuu said softly, "Because that rebellious son is just too weak. Little Bull, I suddenly find you quite pleasing to the eye~"

Upon hearing this, Azuma Michonji immediately looked disgusted. He didn't respond, but instead turned to look at Ukiyo Hidetoshi, who was standing on the other side.

Ukiyo Hidetoshi, who was directly abandoned by someone, was a little stunned at first, but after glancing at Sakurai Kagekazu not far away, and then looking at Azuma Michinaga, who was being enthusiastically put his arm around Kino's shoulder, a trace of sympathy appeared in his eyes.

Given Kino's past record, Hidetoshi Ukiyo really didn't think that guy was after Azuma Michinaga; rather, he was after the identity of "Kamen Rider Bull".

"that……"

At this moment, Sakurai Kagekazu spoke up.

He looked at Kino with a conflicted expression, unsure whether to use a respectful term to address an elder or to use a normal one. After thinking for a while, he simply skipped the prefix.

"The Hide-and-Seek Demon, do you already know its location?" Sakurai Kagekazu asked tentatively.

“Yeah, once I’ve touched something, it can’t escape again. If we’re fast enough, we might be able to get the driver back before the other three Demon Riders are born,” Kino laughed.

Upon hearing this, Sakurai Keikazu was overjoyed: "In that case, let's act together now!"

"enough!"

However, at this moment, Azuma Michinaga suddenly spoke up in a fit of anger. He shook off Kino's arm that was draped over his shoulder and looked at the people opposite him with disgust.

"I don't need your sympathy. Get a clear picture, we're competitors. What kind of behavior is this!" Master Azuma's tone was very irritated.

“But it’s hard for one person to do everything. No one can live alone in this world. Wouldn’t it be better to help each other when we encounter difficulties?” Sakurai Kageka looked at him with puzzlement.

"Regardless of who wins in the end, it's never wrong to fight side by side at this time. Our real enemy is the demon who stole the Driver," Kurama Nene said upon seeing this.

Don't compare me to you—

At this moment, Daoist Azuma couldn't describe her feelings; she only felt weary and bored.

His wish is to eliminate all Kamen Riders in the world, but now these Kamen Riders, who are originally his "enemies," are saying that they want to help him.

It's utterly absurd and laughable!

He can retrieve the drive himself.

"Since that's the case~"

Kino smiled without the slightest displeasure: "Then I'll go with Tali and Nako to retrieve the remaining three drivers. As for Kyo and Bakyu, we can just get rid of those two useless guys!"

Kurama Neon remained silent.

Sakurai Keikazu let out a bewildered "Ah".

Hidetoshi Ukiyo: "??? Wait... I didn't say anything, why did you leave me behind?!"

"Stop wasting time, let's go!"

But Kino had already urged Sakurai Keikazu and Kurama Nene to set off without saying a word. The two, who had been inexplicably chosen, exchanged a glance, looked at Ukiyo Hidetoshi and Azuma Michinaga with sympathy, and then left the login plaza together.

The remaining two stood there, seemingly having exchanged glances many times before Master Azuma finally let out a cold snort and left.

What puzzled Hidetoshi Ukiyo was that Kino had clearly set his sights on Kamen Rider Bull, but then immediately abandoned him the next second.

"Hidetoshi, aren't you going to start making your move?" Izuri's voice rang out at that moment.

"Huh? Sister?"

Ukiyo Hidetoshi subconsciously responded.

As soon as he finished speaking, both of them were stunned.

After a moment of stunned silence, Izuri suddenly remembered the scene of delivering the core ID to Kino on the beach that day, while Ukiyo Hidetoshi was the first to react, and his usual casual and frivolous smile reappeared on his face.

"Then I'll set off now!"

He waved and left the login square without explaining his slip of the tongue.

Tsumuri stood there with a fluctuating expression, then turned on the screen and looked at the newly created Demon Knight.

She was unaware that "the game administrator was also unaware of the Demon Knight," but felt that the game administrator's actions of handing over the Desire Driver to the Demon Knight and sending the Demon Knight to attack the other two contestants were increasingly violating the principles of fairness and impartiality of the DGP operators.

They shouldn't interfere with the fairness of the competition.

……

The three appeared on the back mountain of a shrine.

After leaving the square, a tank with a gear shift kept monitoring the little girl in the red hat's movements and eventually followed her to this place.

"you--"

Kino sized up the pampered rich girl and the frail office worker, and asked tactfully, "How many punches from the demon thugs can your bodies withstand?"

Sakurai Kagekazu was peeking around, and when he heard this, he didn't react yet, and even thought about it for a moment.

Kurama Nene clenched her fist and said, "We don't necessarily have to get punched, right? We can fight even without the belt!"

Sakurai Kagekazu then chimed in, "That's right!"

The two have been Kamen Riders for some time now, and Kurama Nene has spent the first half of her life fighting wits with her inseparable bodyguards. She is actually more adept at avoiding danger than Sakurai Keikazu.

Kino nodded: "In that case, let's get right to it!"

After saying this, he rushed straight into the woods behind the mountain like an arrow. The other two, dumbfounded, came to their senses and quickly followed, only to find a group of demonic followers.

This area has been shrouded in the realm of demons and has become the game map of DGP. All the demon followers can only move within the map's boundaries.

This place was the temporary hideout of the evil cultists.

After rushing out, Kino kicked the little girl in the red hat who was handing out Desire Drivers to the demons, showing no regard for the fact that she was a human child.

Because in his eyes, no matter how the image of a weirdo changes, its core remains that of a weirdo.

Similarly, no matter how terrifying the image of Kamen Rider may be, the core of Kamen Rider is still Kamen Rider.

"Oh!"

However, Kino's attack sent the soldier demon flying.

Sensing danger, the little girl dropped the Desire Driver and ran back. Then she stopped and turned around, her face half-hidden by the huge red hat facing Kino. A strange smile appeared on her lips before she disappeared into a fog.

A secluded shrine, a forest in the mountains behind the village, and the disappearing little girl in a red hat—it's practically screaming horror movie vibes.

The two people following behind shivered.

Kino temporarily stopped chasing the girl in the red hat. After quickly picking up the Desire Driver that had fallen to the ground, he saw that two demons not far away had already obtained the driver.

They were about to put the driver on their waists when, in the next moment, Sakurai Keikazu suddenly pounced and grabbed the arm of one of the demons.

Kurama Nene didn't just sit and wait to die. She picked up a stone from the ground and smashed it on the head of another demon. Then, while the demon staggered back, she quickly ran over and picked up the Desire Driver that the other party had accidentally dropped.

Perhaps he had learned something from his previous fight with Kino over the buckle, because Sakurai Keikazu was determined not to let go of the driver.

Two demons pounced from the side, so he pulled Driver along and ducked to avoid their attack. Then he raised his foot and kicked the demon in front of him, successfully snatching Driver from his hands!

Kino, who hadn't offered any help, watched the two men's efficient actions and raised an eyebrow with interest: "Not bad~"

They are clearly lucky players and players with money to burn.

But it takes some skill to have been able to keep playing this game until now.

"Then, let the real battle begin!"

Kino smiled as he put on the Desire Driver.

Sakurai Kagekazu and Kurama Nene exchanged a glance and nodded. The two quickly put on their drivers and then clipped their Rider Core IDs into them.

'ENTRY——'

The two of them also seemed to be transforming. Although they had been in a bit of a mess fighting over the driver earlier, it didn't stop them from striking elegant or cool poses now.

"Henshin (Transformation)!"

"Hen~~shin (transform)!"

The dazzling light effects of the ninja buckle and the beat buckle, which were surrounded by the forest green aura, flashed. The two people standing in place were covered with armor, and the fighting spirit of the Kamen Riders rose steadily!

Without belts, they might be ordinary people.

But with the Rider Belt, they become brave and fearless Kamen Riders!

Kamen Rider Tali picked up his ninja twin blades, ready to start the battle, when he suddenly noticed something and looked to the side.

SET!

Zombie!

Ready to Fight!

A dense, venom-like light effect spread out, revealing a Kamen Rider with buffalo-shaped horns and X-shaped compound eyes, wearing a zombie belt buckle, and displaying a slightly ferocious appearance before Tali and Namako.

This is basically a unique head armor with a buffalo element, and the pattern of the core ID on the Desire Driver is undoubtedly—Kamen Rider Bull!

Sakurai Kagekazu: "...Eh?"

Kurama Nene: "Eh—?!!"

……