Cosmo: "..."

In the pitch-black night, the cool moonlight pierced through the clouds and shone on the Wolf Knight who was transforming for the first time. Cosmo picked up the Chainsaw -shaped weapon, glanced at the left arm armor equipped with claws and capable of releasing venom, and became increasingly excited.

"(This scene is just like something out of a comic book.)"

The two little girls behind stared blankly at the domineering and terrifying Wolf Knight, not knowing what to say for a moment. Wendy was the first to react and pulled the Ninja Buckle again to transform a second time.

Cosmo glanced back at Griseo, a hint of gentleness appearing in his sharp orange compound eyes. "Please stay here and protect her. I... I'll be right back."

Just like the ending sound effect of the transformation, get ready—

Fighting!

Mechanical soldiers swarmed forward, Cosmo forced his way forward despite the bullets and artillery fire. He raised his left claw to protect his face and, following the instructions on his mask, pulled the pressure device on the Zombie Breaker's saw face to the top to charge his venom.

Poison Charge!

Pulling the trigger on the Zombie Breaker's handle, Cosmo quickly stepped forward and swung his Chainsaw to deliver a powerful blow to the enemy.

Tactical Break!

The crimson corrosive venom spread widely with each strike, corroding and melting any mechanical soldiers it touched. The Jackal, intrigued, shouted, "Charge! Bring the people and the Knight System back with me!"

Without being told, Cocolia rushed out first. She wouldn't let that guy who was with her get away with her!

The boy's eyes were cold as he wound up the Zombie Buckle. The Wild Claw on his left hand glowed eerily. As he plunged the claw into the ground, countless claws like the one on his left hand emerged from the ground, quickly spreading to the enemy and grabbing their legs to restrict their movement.

Wendy was stunned. That was the Zombie Buckle's control skill. He picked it up way too fast!

Zombie Strike!

As the sound effect faded, the fear-inducing Wolf Knight strode forward and casually inserted the drill bit buckle into the empty left slot of the driver (Cosmo's perspective).

'Set! Dual On! Zombie & Armed Drill!'

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He now has knee pads and armor on his left leg, a drill-shaped weapon mounted on his right hand, and the Zombie Breaker has moved to his left claw.

"Ready—Fight!"

It wasn't over yet. Cosmo wound up the Zombie Buckle again, then pressed the drill buckle for a second finishing blow!

Zombie & Drill Victory!

The high-speed rotating drill came hurtling towards them. Cocolia dared not be careless and inserted a diamond-filled bottle to create a shield. No matter how hard the drill tried, it could not break through even a little. Seeing this, Cosmo swung his saw at the bewildered Raven, knocking it back several meters.

"Get out of the way!" Wendy shouted urgently. Cosmo lowered his head without thinking, and an arrow whistled past his ear.

Ninja & Arrow Victory!

Wendy had also activated her dual armor at some point, and the arrows carrying the power of a gust of wind slammed into the diamond shield. Wendy's furious attack sent Cocolia and her shield flying several meters away, carving two deep furrows in the grass.

Refer to Figure 1

Refer to Figure 2

Even so, it couldn't break her shield.

Review On! (Armor Replacement!)

Cosmo pressed the rotation button on the Desire Driver, flipping the belt 180 degrees. Intriguingly, even after the ID Core was turned upside down, the pattern was still facing forward.

The Zombie Armor and drill weapon separated and disappeared, and then the corresponding upper and lower body armor appeared in the opposite direction. Cosmo did not delay and launched his ultimate attack three times.

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As a graveyard-like area unfolded, Cosmo stomped on the Wild Claw that had been transferred to his left foot, strode forward, and slammed his heavy foot into the diamond shield. The surrounding graveyard scene transformed into energy and all flowed into this strike, causing cracks to appear on the surface of the shield.

"Don't get too cocky!" Cocolia roared, and suddenly removed the nearly broken shield, grabbing Cosmo's leg with her bare hands.

The boy was shocked, but it was too late. Enraged, Cocolia pressed the starter of the Grip Driver, and powerful force gathered in her right fist.

"After so many hits, it's my turn!"

Cocolia punched Cosmo's now vulnerable upper body. Faced with the reality of the huge data gap, even the user's strong combat awareness was powerless to turn the tide.

The Wolf Knight was sent flying by a punch, landing directly in front of Griseo. The little girl froze, then cried out as she rushed towards the badly injured boy, "Cosmo, Cosmo! Are you alright?!"

"... It's alright." Cosmo barely managed to pull off the drill clip, and used his free right hand to stroke Griseo's head to comfort her. "I'm sorry, even in my transformed state, I'm no match for them... You and she run, I'll handle things here... Ugh!"

Cosmo tried to stand up again, but the red warnings that kept popping up on his mask reminded him that the armor's protection had reached its limit.

"What's so special about that... A true hero is one who can turn the tide and create unimaginable miracles in the most dangerous moments!"

Cosmo roared and flipped the drive back up, its heavy left claw protecting the weeping Griseo. "I won't let you touch a single toe of hers!"

"Something seems off... Hey! I should be the one staying behind, the Zombie Buckle has zero escape ability!" Wendy panicked, giving Cosmo a hard knock on the back of the head. "I can unleash even greater power, but I can't do so with you guys here!"

"Huh? ×2" Cosmo and Griseo were both a little embarrassed. The opposing team was very impatient. Were they putting on a comedy show? Get them!

Just as the two World Serpent Knights, who had been attacked by the scraping technique, were about to launch another attack, our knights prepared to respond. But at that moment, a dark wormhole suddenly opened up above the battlefield, attracting everyone's attention.

"Ready—Go!"

The familiar sound effect of a finishing blow emanated from the wormhole. Wendy was overjoyed, while the Jackal instinctively showed a look of terror.

A parabola composed of white cubes rapidly extended from the black hole, hitting Cocolia precisely and restricting her movements.

Just as the Raven next to it was preparing to grab its smoke bomb and run away to avoid being ganged up on by the righteous mob, its parabola forked out.

The Raven, whose movements were also restricted, said, "..."

"Vortex/Drangonic Finsh!"

The Rabbit Dragon Rider 2, made a dazzling appearance from the wormhole, each unleashing a Knight Kick, barely managing to repel them while the parabolic trajectory temporarily restricted their movements.

There's no way around it, what kind of damage can you expect from two basic attacks? Cosmo and the others were just doing minor scraping.

"Yay! Now there's nothing to worry about!" Wendy happily raised her hands high, Griseo, not understanding why, joined in the cheer. Cosmo's fighting spirit also increased when he saw that two more teammates had arrived.

Xing, who had landed steadily, turned around and saw Wendy. She was a little surprised. What was this Qingtuan doing here? And didn't she get the Tai Li Core? How did it become Zhiyin?

Um, shouldn't the point be that you can recognize Wendy just by looking at the armor?

"(The little girl Wendy is holding looks familiar. Who is the person next to her?)" Xing temporarily suppressed her doubts and waved to the three of them. "You've worked hard before. Leave the rest to us."

Not long ago—

"LaLa!"

"What? You're saying you accidentally bumped into someone when you came to Earth?"

"LaLa!"

"It fell in that direction, right? Stardust, please teleport us there."

"Luming, how did you manage to have a normal conversation with her...?"

—Back to the present

Kane pulled the Beat Closer from the driver. "Even though we didn't find the alien, it's not bad to settle accounts with that guy!"

Sachiya pulled the Drill Crusher from his belt and pushed aside his partner who was blocking his way, saying, "Get out of the way, don't steal my spotlight."

Jackal, gritting his teeth in anger, shouted, "It's you again! Why is it you again? Do you follow me everywhere? All of you, get her and bring her back to my lab!"

Kane was about to step forward for a thrilling two-on-two match when he suddenly noticed that the temperature around him had dropped. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the source of the chill was Luming.

The red and blue rabbit-shaped eye shield reflected a cold light. "Hey, don't remind me of bad memories, Dog-headed Strategist..."

Kane was taken aback. He read the hidden message in his partner's words, and for the second time since birth, Kane had the urge to kill.

A phantom dragon body appeared around Cross-Z, forcibly meeting the conditions for activating Burst Mode with its surging rage, but it was stopped by a hand just as it was about to wreak havoc.

The girl gently pressed his shoulder, her voice soft. "This power will also cause you great harm. Save your anger for when you use the Grip Driver."

"...Um."

Prepare for battle!

The basic Rabbit Tank Creator, combining agility and strength, faced off against Crocodile Overlord, while the all-around combat-capable Crocodile faced off against Gris.

With their fists clashing, Cocolia clearly felt that her opponent's strength was significantly weaker than before. Excited after easily defeating the Rabbit Tank Build Rider, she prepared to press her advantage, but a flash of orange and black light appeared, and the Hunter Build Rider unleashed a powerful barrage, delivering a devastating blow to Cocolia unexpectedly.

On the other side, Kane changed his usual reckless fighting style and started playing guerrilla warfare with Raven. He inserted the Tiger Bottle into his weapon and unleashed the Tiger Claw Heavy Slash that had previously killed the Death Weaver. Raven was naturally not broken by this attack. He inserted the Wolf Bottle into the driver and generated a wolf claw weapon on his hand, easily cutting through the sword's edge.

Just as they were about to step forward and teach this brat a lesson, he appeared at just the right time and took Kane into the sky.

Cocolia fills her belt with a full bottle of falcon Raven with a full bottle of bat, generating wings on her back, ready to begin aerial combat.

"Come on, here we come."

OK~

After the exchange, Xing threw Kane down and then switched to Ninja Rider in mid-air, wielding Four-Panel Ninja Sword that multiplied into several. The enemy was instantly dumbfounded. Another clone?

"Brush, submit to me!" Fortunately, he used his Four-Panel Ninja Sword to quickly draw a prison in the air, briefly trapping the two enemy knights. Kane had already taken out the dual crusher cannon mode when he was falling, filling the Great Dragon Full Bottle and Phoenix Bottle. The two mythical beast-type bottles combined to unleash a powerful force, and the red and blue flames knocked the enemy knights down from the air.

Griseo, who was watching from the sidelines, was a little confused. Had that woman stolen her lines?

The Wise Wolf Rider deployed a software ring, trapping the two newly landed riders inside, and transformed into wolf-shaped phantoms to pursue and pounce. Kane filled Camera Full Bottle to the hilt of his sword, saying, "Come on, say cheese!"

The two, frozen in place, silently took the full force of the Wolf Rider's ultimate attack, thankfully without breaking their defenses.

The pirate chariot rider, wielding a bow-blade weapon, seemed poised for close combat. Just as Pirate Train complaining Raven yet another archer wasn't playing ranged combat, Kane, who was filling his sword hilt with a Ghostly Bottle, delivered a righteous backstab from behind in his ethereal form.

The two who were ambushed were caught off guard and took the hit of the Pirate Train. They were caught in the rhythm and took turns being hit. Finally, they broke out and were about to use their ultimate moves to teach these two little brats a lesson when the enemy switched forms again.

The key-shaped weapon on Dragon Lock Build Rider's left hand extended a chain that jammed the wrench component of the Grip Driver, preventing them from unleashing their ultimate moves, while he himself continued to unleash his ultimate attacks without restraint.

The Rabbit Dragon Duo worked together, and their shared power resonated, creating a fire dragon twice the size of Kane's single ultimate attack. Following their will, the dragon charged towards the tragic enemy knight, causing a massive explosion.

Cosmo witnessed all this, fell into deep thought. Who was the real villain? Was it really okay for you to use underhanded tactics to suppress the enemy?

A wormhole opened behind the three of them, and the excited Stardust Baby called out "LaLa" to Wendy and the others to evacuate with her.

Wendy wondered if this was Brother Xing's new love interest. Griseo was amazed by the unique color of the stardust. Cosmo's inner chuunibyou soul burned fiercely. A girl with superpowers. I really did encounter a mysterious organization!

Cocolia and Raven, their rage at its peak, broke through the smoke and charged toward Sachi, who was explaining the "no harm from smoke" principle to Kane.

Fortunately, he switched back to RabbitTank Form, pulled out the red full bottle from the driver and threw it to Kane, who in turn pulled out the blue full bottle from the driver and threw it to Luming.

Red Rabbit and Blue Dragon drew two intersecting parabolas in mid-air before being caught by their respective partners.

"Phew, are you ready?"

"It's been prepared for a long time!"

"Rabbit & Dragon! Twin Break!" The special sound effects were added on the spot by the Little Te special device connected to the Ex-Aid System.

The Drill Crusher ignited with blue dragonfire, while the Beat Closer was enveloped in a red vibrating layer; the two combined their attacks into a single strike—

"How is this possible?!" Jackal stared in disbelief as his two knights retreated several steps. Although the other knight retreated more, they were only using their basic form!

"That's because—" Xing switched the Drill Crusher to gun mode and filled the bottle with light bulbs, "The Law of Victory have long been established."

A blinding light enveloped everyone's vision. Under the dazzling white light, Bubble Rabbit Tank Rider and Jelly Dragon Croz slowly emerged, indicating that the real battle had just begun.

The battlefield was filled with elastic bubbles that could release shockwaves, and warriors in red and blue intertwined moved nimbly around the purple knight. Since they were no match for strength, they would outsmart him.

Raven filled the robot's bottle to the brim, Kane filled the Lion's bottle that Lucky had thrown, and the robot gauntlets clashed with the Lion's Armor. The result was that the Lion's Fist, with its explosive power, prevailed.

Pirate Train rubbed against the smoke sword. Enemies meeting again were filled with hatred. Cocolia pressed down on Sachi and kept chasing her. Sachi could only switch between various weapons to deal with the situation. How come this crazy woman's power is even stronger than in the last battle?

"Much better than last time, kid." The wolf's claws clashed with the tiger's, Raven brushed the dust off himself, pulled out the Wolf Bottle, and clapped his hands with satisfaction. Kane, however, was unimpressed, switching to the Rhino Bottle that Luck had just tossed him to generate a rhino horn weapon.

"Just how much equipment did the Jackal send you...?"

Her weapon was Drop Off from her hand, but fortunately, she was severely suppressed by Cocolia's strategy of trading blows. Just as the crocodile was holding down the poor little rabbit and preparing to finish her off with a special move, the little dragon who was fighting nearby noticed that his partner was being bullied. He kicked out with a kick filled with Rabbit Full Bottle to enhance the kicking Cocolia, sending Cocolia flying.

"Are you alright, Luming!" Kane said with concern, supporting his model partner who, even in the midst of a tough battle, had always kept an eye on him and promptly provided him with the necessary full bottles for the fight. Damn it, I'm going to beat that wicked woman to a pulp!

Raven caught Cocolia, who had been kicked away, but Cocolia shoved Raven away forcefully as soon as she regained her footing, showing no gratitude whatsoever. The poor Raven looked at the two well-connected partners and sighed silently. How was she supposed to fight this?

"Huff, huff, get ready, it's time for the final blow."

"Bring it on!"

Both sides simultaneously activated their belts to unleash their ultimate moves. The four knights used knight kicks to collide with each other, and the blue dragon head phantom and the purple crocodile head phantom bit each other in mid-air, resulting in a stalemate.

The boy could clearly sense the girl's increasingly weakened state. His anxiety and anger amplified the power of the Knight System, making the dragon head phantom more solid and subtly suppressing the crocodile.

A red, rabbit-shaped phantom appeared and merged into the dragon's body, instantly boosting its power and tipping the scales of victory in its favor.

Bang!!!

Cocolia was knocked to the ground and forced to de-transform, stared blankly at Raven, who was pretending to roll around on the ground a few times without de-transforming. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Oh dear, they're too strong, we can't beat them, let's run away~" Raven quickly pulled out a new type of smoke machine and led Jackal and Cocolia in a strategic retreat, leaving only the Rabbit Dragon duo who won in the end.

Kane removed the new Dragon Gel and deactivated his transformation, exclaiming, "Although the newly made one doesn't output as much as the previous Dragon Gel, its energy is more stable, and it doesn't have a 24-hour usage limit. That doctor is truly amazing... Luming, are you alright? Why aren't you saying anything?"

As the boy stared in astonishment, the red and blue Build Rider armor shattered with a crash, and the girl, severely exhausted and unconscious, collapsed before his eyes. Kane quickly caught her and let her lean against him.

"Luming said she couldn't handle high-intensity combat. Damn it, how could I forget that?" Kane felt extremely guilty. He looked at the pale-faced girl with both pity and heartache. "Quickly, take Luming back to rest, hmm..."

Luming is unconscious now, which means she won't know anything I do...

Kane cautiously reached out and pinched the girl's delicate skin. "Serves you right for always hitting me. Now we're even."

Kane summoned the Mechanical Creator, took out a rope, tied his partner to his back, and sped away in his car.

Unbeknownst to Kane, the instant Luming lost consciousness, Yae Sakura's phantom materialized behind him. If he harbored even the slightest improper thoughts towards his partner, the demonic sword in the shroud of the Miko would sever his head.

Author's Note—

How was the impression of this temporary partnership? It's setting the stage for the rabbit-dragon fusion later on—can you accept it?

Also, since I didn't think much about it when I wrote the Lunar New Year special, you can just treat that as a real "special episode".

Because I calculated the time, it would be too rushed to cover all the major events in Sky Dome City in two or three months, so we'll take it slow.

Ahem, the next episode, which the author is too lazy to go back and look at the titles of, is titled "A Genius Meets a Soulmate, Phantom Thief Luming Makes Her Debut!"

"Um... can I have you as my leading lady?"

"Hmph~ My reward is very expensive~"

Afterwards, the director classmate looked at the ridiculously low salary and fell into deep thought. Rumor had it that Luming regarded money as dirt, and it was indeed true.