Seeing the Water Gun Buckle, Ace Ukiyo felt a momentary flicker of disappointment, but it was quickly replaced by complete confidence.
Besides, in a place like this, a water gun could indeed display considerable power. Ace glanced toward the nearby shore. If they made it over there...
It was just a little inconvenient to use.
Still, as long as they completed the hidden mission, they could obtain better Buckles.
"Just what I'd expect from Geats."
Even with only a water gun, he was still so confident. Nene Arakawa had to admit that he was strong.
Aside from Nene Arakawa and Ace Ukiyo's team, everyone else had also received their starting Buckles. Other than Keiwa Sakurai, everyone's Buckles were fairly ordinary.
Although Keiwa Sakurai had not received the top-tier Booster Buckle this time, he had gotten the Magnum Buckle, which suited Geats perfectly.
Seeing the Buckle Keiwa Sakurai had received, Azuma Michinaga gave it a glance but ultimately chose not to snatch it. Magnum was powerful, but it did not suit him.
It was more suitable for Geats.
What he needed was a power-type Buckle.
Although the starting Buckle before him was rather average—nothing more than an Armed Shield—it was still barely usable.
Still, he could not understand why this guy always started with such good Buckles. Was he really some child of destiny?
"Let's get started already! Keiwa Sakurai, let me see how much you've grown."
Among the viewers watching the DGP Grand Prix, Keiwa Sakurai's Top Supporter, the frog-like Guaguala, was eagerly anticipating what came next.
Compared to the other Top Supporters, Guaguala's wealth was far more obvious. If not for the Game Master's restrictions, he could have showered the Rider he supported with better Buckles.
Of course, all of that was merely to satisfy the amusement he pursued, and he would spare no expense for it.
So he was no good person either.
"..."
"Hey! Where are you going?"
Keiwa Sakurai had just picked up his Buckle when he noticed Azuma Michinaga silently turning and walking off in another direction.
Keiwa hurriedly called after him. This game required them to work in teams.
"Don't follow me. I don't need to team up with anyone."
Azuma Michinaga said coldly without looking back.
Even if the rules demanded cooperation, he did not care. After what had happened that time, he had decided from the very beginning that he would never team up with anyone again.
"But..."
Keiwa Sakurai wanted to say more, but Azuma Michinaga had already charged toward a Poker Jyamato that had appeared nearby, completely ignoring him.
"Ugh..."
Having a teammate like that was seriously frustrating!
But when Keiwa Sakurai noticed a couple nearby still passionately kissing, completely oblivious to the Poker Jyamato that had appeared beside them, he immediately grew tense.
The Jyamato became enraged the moment it saw the intimate couple. It punched the man away, grabbed the woman by the shoulders, hoisted her up, and turned to leave.
The woman struggled desperately and cried for help, but she could not break free from the Jyamato's strength.
Keiwa Sakurai no longer hesitated. He rushed forward, strapped on his Desire Driver, and grabbed the Magnum Buckle.
"Transform!"
Magnum!
While running, Keiwa Sakurai completed his transformation in an instant. He then punched the Jyamato, snatching the woman back.
Geats Loses All Confidence
"Get out of here. Find somewhere safe to hide," Keiwa Sakurai hurriedly told the woman after saving her.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
The woman thanked Keiwa in a hurry, then did not even spare a glance for her boyfriend lying on the ground. She turned and ran in panic toward what she thought was a safe place.
After watching her leave, Keiwa Sakurai turned to face the Jyamato. It was completely unharmed, and two more had appeared beside it, all charging straight at him.
Keiwa Sakurai's expression changed. He quickly raised the Magnum Shooter in his hand and unleashed a barrage at them.
Under Magnum's firepower, one Jyamato was successfully knocked to the ground.
But then, a phantom club symbol floated into the air, and the downed Poker Jyamato climbed back up full of vigor.
"What's going on?"
Keiwa Sakurai could not understand what was happening. He hastily pulled back, then attacked again out of sheer disbelief, switching Magnum into sniper mode and setting its power to maximum.
Energy erupted in an instant, enough to pierce through rock and steel.
The Jyamato approaching him was blasted more than ten meters away in the next second.
Yet even so, when the phantom club symbol floated up again, it quickly stood back up.
"How is this possible?"
Keiwa frowned deeply, completely at a loss!
An attack with that much power should not have left the Jyamato unscathed.
Why was this happening?
It was not just Keiwa Sakurai. Azuma Michinaga in the distance was the same, defeating the Jyamato before him again and again, only to watch it rise back up completely unharmed every time.
The other groups of Kamen Riders were the same. They found it difficult to successfully kill even a single Jyamato.
Still, compared to the others, Ace Ukiyo and Nene Arakawa were cooperating fairly well.
Because Geats's Buckles were so terrible, they could only lure the monsters toward the water.
"...Come on!"
Water Strike!
Watching the Poker Jyamato approach, Ace Ukiyo immediately connected the Armed Water Gun in his hand to the water.
When he twisted the faucet on the Water Gun Buckle, the sound effect rang out, and the water gun immediately unleashed an incredibly powerful stream of water, blasting the approaching Jyamato away in a single hit.
"Just what I'd expect from Geats!"
"Even a water gun can be this powerful in his hands."
Watching Ace Ukiyo's performance, Nene Arakawa could not help but marvel.
They had received water guns before, but in other people's hands, they were practically toys for kindergarteners, utterly useless.
They could only be used to hit people, and even then they barely hurt.
Yet Ace Ukiyo had managed to bring out such immense power from it!
No wonder he had once been a consecutive champion.
"Of course. Every Buckle has its purpose."
Ace Ukiyo coolly lowered the water gun in his hand. He was not like the others; his thousand years of experience were not for nothing.
If he could not even bring out the true power of these Buckles, then he would have lived all those years for nothing. He would never have been able to keep winning so easily.
But Ace Ukiyo's expression soon changed. The attack, which should have been enough to kill an elite monster, had failed to destroy the Poker Jyamato. It rose again without a scratch and pounced toward Nene Arakawa.
"Neko!"
Noticing this, Ace Ukiyo hurriedly warned her.
Nene Arakawa reacted at once. She quickly raised the Beat Axe in her hands and struck it repeatedly, but the blows only forced the Jyamato back and could not truly harm it.
Seeing that, Nene Arakawa hurriedly adjusted the Beat Axe's tuning device and selected a track with the ice element.
After the "Funk Blizzard" sound effect played, she pulled the trigger. Along with the sound of "Tactical Blizzard!", she immediately unleashed her finishing move!
Strategic Snow Burst!
Nene Arakawa played the Beat Axe, and in the next moment, incredibly hyped funk music rang out around them. The Jyamato at the front was instantly frozen into an ice sculpture.
Nene then turned, gripping the Beat Axe, and charged toward the Jyamato in front of her and those at her side, delivering a fluid chain of slashes as icy air curled around the axe blade in her hand.
Every strike froze them completely with ease.
But it was not over yet. Freezing sound waves formed across the ground and gathered them together, and Nene Arakawa switched the music once more.
"Strategic Flame!"
Tactical Fire!
The ice on the Beat Axe instantly transformed into flames. Nene Arakawa wielded the flaming axe and slashed toward the Jyamato.
Multiple firestorms struck the Poker Jyamato, destroying the Jyamato there along with the surrounding buildings and even the ground.
The sight was utterly spectacular!
"Hehe, we won!"
Nene Arakawa laughed happily. Just when she thought they had won a complete victory, she waited for the flames to fade... only to discover that the Jyamato before her had perfectly recovered once again.
"How could this be?!"
Nene Arakawa was dumbfounded by the sight.
Even attacks like that could not destroy them? These Jyamato were way too hard to kill!
"Wait. We must be doing it wrong."
Ace Ukiyo stared at the phantom playing cards that appeared whenever the Jyamato recovered. He seemed to have an idea, though he was not certain.
"What method?"
"I don't know. I can't be sure yet."
Ace Ukiyo answered honestly. He had only caught a flash of inspiration, but he had not fully grasped it.
"Then what do we do now? We can't kill them no matter how much we hit them!"
Nene Arakawa knocked the Jyamato back again, but faced with monsters they could not permanently defeat, all her fighting spirit vanished, along with her original motivation.
"Let's leave this place first. We need to think it through properly."
They could not deal with these Poker Jyamato directly, and more Jyamato were approaching from all around them. They could not stay here any longer, or they would be completely surrounded.
"Okay! That's all we can do."
Nene Arakawa did not dwell on it any further after hearing that.
Just as the two were preparing to retreat for the moment, a familiar figure descended from the sky and crashed down onto the Poker Jyamato before them.
The surrounding Jyamato were knocked sprawling by the sudden arrival, but due to the special rules, they quickly returned to normal.
The sudden figure made Nene Arakawa and Ace Ukiyo, who had been about to retreat, stop in their tracks.
"You again."
"Stellaron Hunter Sam."
Looking at the familiar armored Rider before him, Ace Ukiyo's expression turned slightly unnatural.
He had already lost to this Stellaron Hunter twice.
For the ever-confident Geats, that was indeed a major blow.
It was only because he had lived so long that he remained rational and did not act impulsively like Buffa. Otherwise, he would have lost his patience long ago.
But this time, facing Stellaron Hunter Sam, he had absolutely no desire to fight him. Leaving aside the fact that he was weaker than during the previous round and only had a Water Gun Buckle—
Their last battle had also made him understand that the gap between their current combat strength was simply too great.
The Game Master Enters the Field
Before you continue