Awakening

In a dim, shadowy space, Gu Yu slowly opened his eyes.

"Where... is this...?"

The swelling pain in his body from absorbing too much Honkai Energy had long since vanished.

However, after the pain faded and Gu Yu woke up, he realized that something about his current situation seemed a little off.

"Ahh, an unfamiliar place, and not even an unfamiliar ceiling."

After scrambling up from the ground, Gu Yu looked at the Knight Emblem on his right hand.

Mm, it was still there.

After confirming that his greatest trump card was still usable, Gu Yu felt a little more assured.

However, just as he was about to move, the magenta Decade Driver suddenly appeared around his waist on its own.

"Huh, what is this?!"

Seeing the belt suddenly hanging from his waist, Gu Yu looked around in confusion.

The surrounding space was exactly the same as before, without the slightest change.

Yet countless cards suddenly floated out of the Rider Card Holder at Gu Yu's waist, surrounding him directly.

"Guh... it hurts...!"

After those cards appeared, Gu Yu looked at the Knight Emblem on his right hand, which was radiating intense pain.

Although the emblem's appearance had not changed at all, Gu Yu vaguely sensed that its connection with him had become even closer.

"These cards are..."

"G3, Knight, Kaixa, Garren, Ibuki, Gatack, Zeronos, Ixa..."

Looking at the words inscribed on those Rider Cards, Gu Yu gently caught one of them and casually tossed it into the Driver.

[KamenRideAccel]

After the card finished being read, Gu Yu looked at the arm now covered in crimson armor and confirmed something.

He could use these non-primary Rider Cards normally as well.

"Strange. These cards weren't in the Rider Card Holder before."

"Did they awaken because I absorbed too much Honkai Energy?"

After canceling his transformation, Gu Yu watched as the cards returned to the Rider Card Holder on their own and fell into deep thought.

When he had just counted through the cards, he had not found any terrifyingly powerful Rider Cards like Odin, Cronus, or Genm among them.

Even so, gaining KamenRide forms for these supporting Riders had greatly increased Gu Yu's combat power.

As everyone knew, Kamen Rider Decade possessed such formidable combat ability not only because Tsukasa Kadoya himself was powerful, but also because of the versatility brought by switching Rider forms.

If he could use these cards properly, then...

Still, whenever he thought about how these cards had awakened because of excessive Honkai Energy absorption, Gu Yu found it hard to feel happy about it.

Even though Gu Yu had not encountered any problems from absorbing Honkai Energy so far, he had not forgotten that Honkai Energy was no different from poison to the human body.

Ordinary people who absorbed Honkai Energy would turn into Meele on the spot.

Even Valkyries who had undergone training and used Honkai Energy in battle would have their lifespans drastically shortened.

Himeko Murata from the original Honkai Impact 3rd was the best example.

After suffering the erosion of the Honkai Energy within her artificial Stigmata, even an A-rank Valkyrie like Himeko Murata had a life as frail as a candle flickering in the wind, liable to vanish at any moment.

Gu Yu had not turned into a Meele from absorbing excessive Honkai Energy, but...

—Who could guarantee that the next time would not be the last?

"Tch. This Stigmata passively absorbing Honkai Energy is troublesome enough, and I even absorbed it on purpose before."

Clenching his hand, Gu Yu threw a punch straight at the space before him.

"I'd better be more careful from now on. Now..."

"It's time to get out of here!"

The real world. Changkong City.

After bringing the unconscious Gu Yu and Bronya to a safe location, both Raiden Mei and Kiana felt somewhat exhausted.

Although the two of them had physical abilities far beyond ordinary people, they had barely had time to rest that night before being woken up.

Yesterday's fatigue had yet to fade, and during the night, they had rushed about everywhere to prevent that group of strange people from attacking again.

Once the two finally confirmed that they were safe, endless exhaustion immediately consumed both body and mind.

"Ahh, this guy obviously isn't that heavy."

After unusually carefully placing Gu Yu on the bed, Kiana wiped the sweat from her brow and let out a soft breath.

"Seriously, I'm this tired just from carrying someone. Could it be that I really slacked off on training after coming to Senba Academy?"

"Get some proper rest, Kiana."

After setting Bronya down, Raiden Mei took out a bottle of mineral water and handed it to Kiana.

"Everyone is tired today. Let's recover a little, then decide what to do once Gu Yu wakes up."

However, just as the two were about to close their eyes and rest for a while, Bronya, whom Raiden Mei had placed on the sofa, suddenly made rustling noises like a kitten waking from sleep.

"Mmm... my head hurts..."

Then, under the two's extremely wary gazes, Bronya opened her bleary eyes and immediately shrank back two steps just as cautiously.

"Bronya does not know either of you."

"Who exactly are you two?!"