Temporary Partner (3)

Under the pitch-black night sky, the knight wielded her drill, battling numerous enemies, including several familiar monsters she had previously defeated. Meanwhile, mechanical soldiers and mechs provided suppressive fire from a distance, forcing her into a near retreat.

With injuries and a severe decline in her condition, even rapid switching Fullbottles was insufficient to counteract the damage.

The Death Weaver raised its forepaws high and slammed them down on the knight's chest. The sparks from the impact and the girl's screams mingled in the night sky, like a mournful symphony.

After being hit hard in succession, the knight was sent flying far away. Her armor collapsed the moment she landed, revealing the seriously injured girl, along with her Disguise Bracelet.

To make matters worse, the wound that had been barely stopped with medication torn open again, and blood gushed out, staining her dress red.

Kane stared blankly at everything. In the blink of an eye, the powerful and reliable Luming had been defeated. It wasn't until the Jackal's maniacal laughter echoed in his ears that the boy suddenly snapped out of his daze and rushed towards her in a panic, "Luming!"

Yuki knelt on the ground, pressing on her wound to stop the bleeding again. Strangely, even in such a desperate situation, there was no sign of worry on her face. She simply took out a blue driver with a wrench handle and thought, "Phew, I've gone a bit too far."

Seeing that Xing had been defeated, the Jackal did not order his men to continue the pursuit, nor did he react to Xing's appearance after she removed her disguise. He simply watched the two of them quietly, waiting to see what would happen next.

'Sclash Driver!'

The girl staggered to her feet, blood dripping from her fingertips onto the ground. She took out a jelly-like jar with a dragon head logo, twisted the cap, and inserted it into her belt, accompanied by a sound effect.

"Dragon Jelly!"

Under Kane's hopeful gaze, he pressed the wrench-shaped drive mechanism, and the linkage on the belt squeezed the dragon jelly. The gel-like liquid was injected into the Grip Driver, and the test tube next to him gradually filled up.

But the next second, a strong electric current surged from the belt, ravaging the girl's already severely injured body. Her crisp screams echoed in the air, adding accompaniment to this moving melody.

The electric current lasted only a few seconds before she lost all strength to resist and fell backward helplessly. Fortunately, Kane, who rushed over, caught her in time. Looking at the injured girl in his arms, he was furious and had only one thought in his mind: to give that hateful Dog-headed Woman a good beating!

To hell with all that bullshit chivalry! All I want now is to beat that guy to death!

But Kane didn't completely lose his mind in his anger. Instead, he reached for the helpless girl... the Grip Driver on her waist. "Excuse me, could I borrow this for a moment? Huh, that's strange, why can't I take it off?"

"Where are you touching?!" The soft flesh on her waist was touched, and luckily, she didn't know where the strength came from, but she slapped him across the face.

P. S.: Don't get me wrong, Kane just found that he couldn't pull the Grip Driver off, so he was trying to pull off the strap. Luckily, he's ticklish and overreacted.

Kane: "..." The force of that slap reminded him of Julia.

"This is very dangerous to use, you'd better not try it," Xing advised.

"But is there any other way right now? Please, Luming, lend me this power for now." Kane was extremely sincere, and his barely suppressed anger was palpable.

That's about it, we can start the second phase of the experiment now...

The girl's lips curled into a slight smile as she took the Build Driver from her pocket and handed it to him. "Indeed, there's no other way. Well then, you can borrow this for now~"

Kane placed his hand on the Build driver, which still carried blood and warmth, and felt incredibly conflicted. He had longed for this thing before, but now that he had it, he felt no joy at all.

"Give me Dragon Lock! The form you used to save me last time. I'll use it to smash that pile of junk to pieces!" Recalling the power of Build in that form, Kane chose the best combination without hesitation.

"Hmm, no—" Although she took out the Dragon Lock Bottle, she managed to pull her hand back just before giving it to Kane, a sly smile appearing on her pale face. "Build is my exclusive form, I can't let you use it~"

"Then why did you give me this belt? Luming, now is not the time to be temperamental!" Kane was almost in tears. Hey, if you're going to transform, can't you just let him transform already? This playing hard to get is like going to a hotel with your girlfriend and lingering outside for ages without being able to find the entrance—it's infuriating!

"I didn't say that using it would only turn you into a Build. Are you ready, young man?" Sachi whistled softly, and a small, exquisite mechanical dragon flew into her hand.

"What is this?" Kane looked at the Cross-Z Dragon that would be with him for a long time with curiosity, completely unaware that his tragic fate was about to befall him.

"The Dragon Fullbottles is incredibly powerful, so powerful that it cannot be combined with other energy bottles. Only by using a Fullbottles can suppress Honkai Energy, to suppress its power can it be barely controlled. How powerful do you think it would be without any suppression?" Sachi tucked the head and tail of the Cross-Z Dragon into its body and inserted the Dragon Fullbottle into the center of its body.

"Wake up!"

"Put it in your belt, then crank the joystick like I did." The girl pushed him away, stumbled back a few steps, and collapsed to the ground, but her face held an expectant expression. "So, what are you waiting for?"

Kane glanced hesitantly at the blood-soaked girl, then at the driver in his hand. The Jackal's mocking laughter rang in his ears. The boy took a deep breath and resolutely put on the belt. "It's like a dream..."

'Build Driver!'

A crisp sound rang in his ears, Kane had a premonition that from the moment he put on the belt, some kind of responsibility that he had to bear had been placed on his shoulders.

If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. Kamen Rider is not an easy job.

Without much thought, he quickly inserted the dragon-shaped device into the drive.

Cross-Z Dragon!

Then, shake the joystick.

Two conduits extended from his belt, forming a transformation area similar to a model stand in front of and behind him. The two Build dragon-shaped half-body armors were completed, but some extra parts appeared around Kane.

Are you ready?

He had imagined how excited he would be to hear the sound effect, but now Kane felt calm instead.

He slowly recited the incantation to summon the knight—

"Transform!"

"Wake up burning!" Get CROSS-Z DRAGON! Yeah!"

The two halves of armor suddenly merged, and the moment they formed the Build body, two shoulder guards resembling Dragon Wings wrapped around his upper body from both sides, and a golden dragon head was embedded in his head, adding a touch of domineering aura.

He stared blankly at his hands encased in armor, the blue armor adorned with dancing golden flame-shaped decorations. The design of the armor perfectly captured his aesthetic sense, but what he cared about at the moment was not that, but the power surging continuously within his body.

It felt as if every cell in his body was cheering; this was a pleasure a hundred times greater than releasing his physical urges. He couldn't describe his feelings at that moment in words.

Since that's the case, let's pour all our overflowing emotions into the battle!

"Kamen Rider Cross-Z, that's your name now," the girl said softly, looking at the retreating figure.

"Oh!" Kane's fists slammed together, the force of which filled him with incredible excitement, an overwhelming sense of exhilaration.

"I am now invincible!"

Behind her, Xing silently covered her face. Damn, it can even affect people across a Branch World. Luckily, she hadn't used this to transform. Thank goodness.

Unaware that he had just uttered a classic line from a defeated dragon, Kane was now filled with excitement. He excitedly clenched his fist, and blue dragon flames burned in his hand, forming a dragon shape around him.

"Secret Technique: Supreme Dragon Ascension Fist!"

The girl behind him silently lowered her head and covered her ears.

The teenager, suffering from chuunibyou (middle school syndrome), threw a punch from a distance, and a fire dragon flew out, blasting away a large number of mechanical soldiers.

"Great!" Kane exclaimed in approval.

"You're kidding me! Which one should we attack first in a team fight? Don't you even know this basic common sense? Why are you farming minions first? Go after the ranged units!" Xing was so angry that she almost rushed up and slapped him across the face.

"Huh?" Kane turned around, bewildered. "What did you just say?"

"Why are you looking at me? Do I have words on my face? Focus on the enemy!!!"

The mechs in the distance didn't miss this golden opportunity. They set up their guns and unleashed a barrage of fire at the distracted Kane. The bombardment left the newly transformed boy dizzy and disoriented. After somersaulting in the air, he landed in front of Sachi.

"This newbie protection period seems a bit short..." The girl's lips twitched as she looked at Kane, who was lying on the ground spread-eagled. Hey, are you even capable?

(Be confident, remove the "seems like" part. By the way, You Hui, shouldn't you return the Grand Time King you stole from me last time?)

(Ahem, don't you want as much of that stuff as you want? Why are you being so stingy?)

(Then, could you please top up my Genshin Impact account with a few 648 RMB purchases? I can't connect to the Main Branch World's signal.)

(...OK!)

(Also, I need narration and a preview for the next episode!)

(OK!)

Kane sat up groggily, rubbing his head, which was still dazed from the explosion. Noticing the girl's disappointed look, his previously low spirits instantly turned into excitement. "They're just a bunch of broken metal pieces, right? Watch me smash them all to pieces!"

"Here, this is Cross-Z's exclusive weapon, the Beat Closer." Sachi drew the sword and handed it to him, encouraging him, "Go for it, believe in yourself, only then can you truly unleash the power of this armor."

"Yes!" Kane nodded vigorously, took the weapon, and charged forward again.

You've been enhanced, hurry up and deliver... cough, hurry up!

At this moment, the enraged Kane finally revealed his true strength. He easily dodged the incoming bullets with a turn, and then swung his sword, causing the missiles that were still flying in mid-air to explode on the spot.

"Huh, an instruction popped up on the mask... Oh, I see, I know how to use it now."

Kane quickly pulled the lever at the hilt of the sword, and the energy indicator on the Beat Closer sword rapidly rose to the red position.

"Smash Hit!" Million Hit! Mega Hit!"

Watching the Honkai Beast and mechanical soldiers trying to charge forward, the boy smiled slightly and unleashed a sword strike—

The deep blue sword energy pierced through the entire battlefield, and wherever it went, enemies fell.

The sparks from the explosion illuminated the blue-gold knight's armor, making it look incredibly dazzling.

Author's Note—

Ahem, take a close look at these chapters, how many layers can you see?