Storm Clouds Gather

As the Fire Moth squad joined forces with Kamen Rider OOO to defeat the bird-type Greeed, Durandal was also fighting elsewhere in the city.

The Black Abyss lance clashed with a blade, throwing off fierce sparks as Durandal once again engaged King OOO, who had successfully connected to a host. But clearly, the knight was at a disadvantage.

She had yet to recover the stamina she had spent using Star Kai. Durandal knew that if this continued, defeat was inevitable. Doesn't this guy ever get tired? He's no weaker than last time—he's even stronger. What's going on? Feeling the force pressing down on her lance steadily grow heavier, the girl gritted her teeth and held on.

Seeming to notice Durandal's confusion, King OOO spoke leisurely. "Does it feel strange? After our last battle, it's only natural for you to think I couldn't possibly have emerged unscathed. But that assumption rests on one premise—"

Now! Seizing the instant her opponent let his guard down, Durandal activated Bright Knight: Moonshadow's burst mode. "Awaken, defender of glory!" Two humanoid Phantom Spirits attacked alongside the knight, knocking away the enemy's blade. "And now—"

Durandal pushed Star Kai by overdrawing her stamina. She had not yet fully mastered this power, and could only sustain it for a short time, but one second was enough!

"This strike shall pierce the stars!"

Golden armor formed over her body as the girl hurled her lance with all her might, piercing straight through King OOO's body.

Did she win?

The girl stared fixedly at her opponent, still on guard.

Unexpectedly, the impaled King OOO clapped his hands and praised her. "Quite impressive. For a human to possess such strength... if it were you, you would surely be able to fully wield my power." The belt around his waist fell away, and his armor disengaged with it, revealing the wearer's true appearance—a plain man in a suit.

The man's face was ashen, his body thin and frail. With a thud, he collapsed to the ground, looking close to death as large numbers of ordinary coins continuously spilled from his body.

Shock filled the girl's eyes. In that instant, she understood why her opponent had remained completely unharmed, understood the meaning behind his words, and also realized that she was now in grave danger.

Like a ghost, the belt flew toward Durandal. The knight hurriedly raised her weapon, intending to destroy it, but how could she stop it with her strength exhausted? The belt automatically wrapped itself around her waist.

Panic filled Durandal's face as she desperately tugged at the belt tightly bound around her. "Get off me!"

Ten purple coins burst out of the fallen man's body and rushed toward Durandal. The girl swept her lance with all her strength, its tip striking one of the coins exactly.

"Clang!" The coin struck by Black Abyss slowly shattered. Of the remaining nine, four seemed drawn away by something and flew into the distance, while the other five all sank into the girl's body.

King OOO's roar rang out in her mind. "You bastard!" A faint smile rose at the corner of the girl's lips. Before her body completely lost control, she threw Black Abyss away with all her strength. Receiving its master's command, the Divine Key automatically flew toward where its other half was.

At least I caused him a little trouble. This is all I can do. The light gradually faded from her pure blue eyes. Unable to control herself, the girl removed the disc on the right side of the belt. The main body of the belt automatically tilted, preparing to scan it.

I'll leave the rest to you, Rita... and K.K...

The disc swept across the belt. Red, yellow, and green rings of light burst forth, and a soaring announcement rang out alongside the overlapping hawk, tiger, and grasshopper discs: "Taka, Tora, Batta! TaToBa, Taka Tora Batta, TaToBa!"

King OOO, having chosen a new body, rolled his neck. "This body truly is excellent. But you actually destroyed one of my Dinosaur Medals and drove away four!" Furious beyond measure, he waved a hand, and countless ordinary coins gathered around him, forming into a towering spire.

"My servants! It will take three days to adapt to this new body. During those three days, defend this tower to the death! Do not let anyone reach the top!"

Inside the shelter, Xing was using White Flower to treat Wendy's injuries. Pure white flowers sprouted from the floor, their fragrant scent spreading through the air and refreshing everyone's spirits. (P.S.: He was currently in Kallen form.)

Kiana stared at White Flower with blazing eyes. "This thing is amazing! With it, we'll never have to fear getting hurt again!"

Xing knocked her on the head. "Don't get any ideas. Durandal only lent it to me temporarily."

The white-haired dumpling blinked. "Who?"

A passing Valkyrie grabbed her shoulders in disbelief and demanded, "You don't even know the captain's name?!"

The white-haired dumpling looked thoroughly confused. "Is Durandal very strong?"

Xing, Mei, and Bronya suddenly wanted to stuff this idiot into a crack in the ground. This was too embarrassing for Fire Moth! Why had they chosen her as captain in the first place?!

Wendy, who had been resting, opened her eyes. "I've heard of her before. Schicksal's strongest S-Rank Valkyrie, captain of the Immortal Blades, and wielder of the Divine Key Black Abyss White Flower—Bianca Durandal Ataegina, right?"

"That's right!" The passing Valkyrie looked proud. "The captain is just that incredible!"

At the words Schicksal's strongest, Kiana perked up. "So she's this young lady's rival, huh? You should know that becoming Schicksal's strongest S-Rank Valkyrie is my goal!"

"Bang!" With black lines across his face, Xing decisively punched her on the head. "Pass the A-Rank Valkyrie exam first, then talk!" The passing Valkyrie looked at her with disdain. This girl really loved boasting.

Nearby, Eiji leaned against the wall, staring at the shattered red coin in his hand with sorrow-filled eyes. "When will I see you again, Ankh?"

Suddenly, four purple Core Medals flew in through the gymnasium skylight, heading straight for Hino Eiji and merging into his body.

Xing, who happened to see it, was startled. "Those are Dinosaur Medals?!"

The passing Valkyrie was startled by the sudden situation and prepared to examine Eiji, but Xing stopped her. "Leave him to me. Go take care of your own business."

Eiji looked utterly baffled. Didn't he remember there being only three of these lousy coins left? Why was there another one now? And why had they come looking for him again?! He did not notice that, at the moment the Dinosaur Medals entered his body, Ankh's shattered coin twitched slightly.

Still, this was pretty good. When Xing had told him that all the Greeed had fully revived, he had nearly lost it. Now that the Dinosaur Medals had returned, Hino Eiji would use the Dinosaur Axe to chop up their Core Medals all over again!

Just as Xing was about to check Eiji's condition, something else smashed through the skylight and flew inside. To everyone's surprise, it was the Black Abyss lance.

Black Abyss automatically flew into Xing's hand and merged with White Flower. The complete Key of Creation appeared once more.

The Valkyries of the Immortal Blades stared blankly at the Black Abyss White Flower in Xing's hand. Why? Why was Black Abyss here?

A bad feeling rose in Xing's heart. "Something may have happened to Durandal!"

One Valkyrie loudly refuted him. "Nonsense! The captain is so strong—how could anything happen to her?!"

Xing asked in return, "Then why did she send Black Abyss back?"

The other woman was left speechless. She wanted to argue, but could not find any reason to do so.

At that moment, a Valkyrie who had been standing guard outside ran in, panic-stricken. "Something's wrong! Come look outside!"

Everyone hurried outside. From afar, they could see a towering spire that had appeared out of nowhere in the center of the city, reaching into the clouds!

"W-What is going on? I remember there wasn't anything there ten minutes ago! Even with Schicksal's technology, it would be impossible to build such a tall tower in such a short time!"

Xing looked at the Black Abyss White Flower in her hand and recalled that cold-hearted King OOO. The left side of her body began to ache again. After hesitating for a moment, she summoned the Red Cross and flew into the air.

"I'm going to investigate near that tower. You all stay here!"

Kiana stomped her feet in anger. "That guy wants to go show off alone again! Mei, let's go!" Mei grabbed her friend with a headache. "Kiana, we still haven't recovered. Let's rest first. Besides, even if we wanted to follow her, we couldn't. Only Xing can open the barrier she left behind."

"Who says so?" Kiana punched the Cherry Blossom Barrier in a huff. The feeling reminded her of when Theresa used Judah to beat her.

Rita knelt on one knee, leaning against Frosty Skadi to keep herself from collapsing. The Moon Soul Armor was covered in damage. "Damn it." Though her body had already reached its limit, she still persisted in fighting, because she knew Durandal was under even greater pressure.

The four Greeed across from her watched mockingly. Just as they were about to deliver the final blow, King OOO's command came through. Looking at the towering structure forged from ordinary coins, they sighed helplessly. "You got lucky, human."

Several beams of light shone down upon them as King OOO forcibly transferred them into the tower. "Strange. Why can't I sense Ankh? Was he taken out? Useless fool. Now I have to recover his coins too." At the top of the tower, King OOO canceled his transformation and controlled Durandal, making her sit upon the throne he had created.

"Your will really is tenacious. But you can only hold out for three more days at most. After three days, I'll possess your body completely. Then this world will be mine for the taking." A trace of clarity struggled within Durandal's purpled eyes.

Rita stared blankly at the tower. If their leader was unharmed, that meant...

"Bang!" The scythe clenched in Rita's hand fell to the ground. Her whole body went limp as she collapsed, two streams of tears running down the maid's face.

Otto placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. Durandal's vital signs are still normal. She may have merely been imprisoned by them. Pull yourself together—we should discuss a rescue plan. But before that—" The blond man turned his gaze toward the fox-eared warrior who had helped them earlier. "I should properly thank this Fox Lady for drawing her blade to help when she saw injustice."

Yae Sakura, clad in True Flame Lucky Soul armor, looked at him coldly. She recognized at a glance the bastard who had dared to get all lovey-dovey with Kallen in that game. Sheathed Crimson Cherry Blossom, turned, and left. "I appreciate your goodwill, but I have urgent matters to attend to. Please forgive me for not keeping you company."

"Don't be in such a hurry to leave, Fox Lady." The man's frivolous voice sounded beside her ear.

When did he—?! Yae Sakura turned and slashed. Crimson Cherry Blossom's scarlet blade stopped just short of his neck.

Otto sighed and patted Yae Sakura's pretty cheek. "I told you not to be in such a hurry to leave, Fox Lady." Several golden feathers floated beside them. The True Flame Lucky Soul armor dissipated, reverting her to the Miko of the Divine Punishment. Yae Sakura's eyes turned vacant and lifeless, like a puppet's.

Void Archives' Eighth Mimicry: Feather Crossing Dust

Although he dearly wanted to use a mimicked Heavenly Fire to blow this stinking fox apart with one shot, Otto decided to inspect her memories first and figure out what was going on with that "Kallen." Activating the power of Simulated Feather Crossing Dust, Otto entered Yae Sakura's memory world.

The man opened his eyes and found himself in an underground cavern. Beside him was Yae Sakura, still sealed by Judah, though the golden chains had already become illusory and could shatter at any moment. "Memories from when she first awoke? They don't seem very useful. Let's see how she met that K.K instead."

Just as Otto was about to fast-forward, he noticed that there seemed to be something in the distance.

Raven took off Xing's panties from when she had first transformed into God's Blessing Anthem and had been unable to control her body. "Mm, a pure young girl, huh? Oh, and she's such a fair, tender little thing too. Hehe~"

Otto's expression darkened. If he remembered correctly, wasn't this the woman who had pinned K.K against the wall in the clothing store?

I'll kill you the moment I get out!

Feeling a weight on top of his head, he suppressed his fury and was about to continue watching when, suddenly, the connection to Simulated Feather Crossing Dust was severed.

"Get out of the way! I can't stop again!"

Amid Xing's cry, the tip of the Red Cross slammed into Otto's Soul Steel face, sending him crashing into a nearby building.

Xing jumped down from the cross and happily grabbed Yae Sakura. "Sakura, I finally found you! Why were you standing so close to him? Be careful, or he'll sell you off! Eh, Sakura, what's wrong? Can you hear me, Sakura?!"

The shrine maiden gradually regained her senses amid Xing's tugging. "Xing? What happened to me? What just happened? Right, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" Though she was still a little confused, seeing Xing safe and sound made her forget everything else.

Otto, who had been sent flying, climbed up from the ground. Looking at the two of them nestled together, his face turned green.

(PS: Otto was far away here, and Rita was still crying, so no one heard what Sakura called her.)

Author's Note—

PS: Those who can accept Bonded Weaponry must be intelligent lifeforms, but if Xing uses it voluntarily, that restriction does not apply~

For readers who haven't watched OOO, here's an explanation for why, after Clumsy Goose destroyed one coin, the remaining nine went out of control. You can think of it this way: with all ten coins, they were in perfect balance. Clumsy Goose broke that balance.