The Crimson Dragon

If they had been somewhere else, Raiden Mei might have chatted with the dear friend before her.

But where the three of them stood now was clearly no place for idle conversation.

Not to mention the Meeles scattered throughout the streets below and across Changkong City, Kiana could feel that this battered rooftop was probably about to give out.

"Ahaha, sorry, just pretend I didn't say anything."

Seeing Raiden Mei on the ground, Kiana immediately rushed over and helped her to her feet.

"Ah, thank you, Kiana..."

After being helped up, Raiden Mei felt some of her strength finally return.

Though it was nowhere near enough for her to move as swiftly as usual, at least Raiden Mei was no longer unable to take a single step.

Still, as she looked at Gu Yu lying on the ground, she frowned slightly.

"But how are we supposed to get him out of here...?"

Never mind that the boy before her had saved her life—even if an ordinary passerby had been lying there, Raiden Mei's kindness would never have allowed her to simply abandon Gu Yu.

But Raiden Mei clearly did not have the strength to carry Gu Yu off the rooftop.

"Mm, what a headache..."

After helping Raiden Mei up, Kiana looked at Gu Yu lying on the floor and sighed as though giving up.

"Fine. You're lucky you ran into me."

Then, under Raiden Mei's astonished gaze, Kiana easily slung Gu Yu over her shoulder like a construction worker hauling a sack of cement.

"Mm, he's not that heavy."

Feeling her body sink slightly, Kiana spoke to the dumbfounded Raiden Mei.

"Let's go, Mei. This isn't a place for chatting."

After charging down from the rooftop with Gu Yu over her shoulder, Kiana's usually lively and mischievous voice carried a rare trace of seriousness that Raiden Mei could hear.

"Mm... Honkai Beasts, Honkai Energy... Meeles..."

As she raced down the stairs, Kiana looked at the several Honkai Beasts that had appeared on the school field. Though she showed no worry on her face, she clearly understood that dealing with those things was nearly impossible for the three of them right now.

In Kiana's eyes, Raiden Mei was just a sheltered young lady, and Kiana could tell that Raiden Mei's physical condition did not seem good.

As for the boy slung over her shoulder, there was even less reason to count on him.

No matter how airheaded Kiana was, she would not expect an unconscious boy to suddenly erupt with power and wipe out all the enemies before them.

"Sigh, this is my first time encountering the things Dad mentioned, and now it looks like his whole 'there's nothing to fear from these guys, just smack them away with a baseball bat' line was complete nonsense."

At the thought of her unreliable father, Siegfried Kaslana, who had been missing for some time, a visible vein throbbed on Kiana's forehead.

"Stupid Dad. I really can't expect your advice to be useful."

"Um, although I'm grateful that you saved me from the rooftop..."

Gu Yu, who should have remained unconscious on Kiana's shoulder, suddenly spoke to her.

"I'm fine now. Could you put me down?"

Although the girl's soft body felt rather comfortable to Gu Yu, being carried around on a girl's shoulder like this...

No, this was just too embarrassing.

Besides, Gu Yu could feel that the Knight Emblem engraved in his hand clearly had more abilities than merely allowing him to transform.

In the final moment before he lost consciousness, he had distinctly felt the Honkai Energy unleashed from the Herrscher of Thunder's awakening on the rooftop being absorbed in large amounts by the Knight Emblem in his hand after the Herrscher of Thunder reverted to Raiden Mei.

His recent unconsciousness had not simply been caused by exhaustion. More than that, Gu Yu's body had been unable to immediately process all that Honkai Energy.

Rather than saying his stamina had been depleted, it was more accurate to say that he had been like a balloon filled with air, nearly burst apart by the gas known as "Honkai Energy."

"Okay."

Hearing Gu Yu's request, Kiana straightforwardly let go.

Caught completely off guard, Gu Yu immediately fell from Kiana's shoulder and slammed into the ground.

"Ow, ow, ow... Huh, that didn't hurt?"

Feeling the impact on his body, Gu Yu instinctively cried out in pain.

But a second later, he suddenly realized that he felt no pain at all, despite landing headfirst.

"Strange. Did one minute of sleep turn my head into iron?"

Rubbing his head, Gu Yu turned his gaze toward the Knight Emblem in his hand.

At that moment, the Knight Emblem was emitting a pale magenta glow.

The glow itself looked perfectly ordinary, yet Gu Yu, standing closest to it, somehow felt that there was something off about it.

"Forget it. This isn't the time to worry about that."

Glancing at Raiden Mei limping down from the rooftop and Kiana, who had no reliable weapon in hand, Gu Yu sighed softly.

"Everyone else gets such an easy life after transmigrating. Why do I have to fight for the second time in such a short span of time?"

"Whoever wrote this script must be sick. Don't they know tormenting the protagonist makes a story flop?"

After finishing his complaints, Gu Yu raised his right hand, which bore the engraved emblem.

"Fine. Complaining won't help."

Driven by his will, Gu Yu materialized the Decade Driver around his waist and grabbed a card that automatically popped out.

"Kaslana, sorry for the trouble, but step back."

"Huh? Oh, okay. But what are you planning to do..."

"Henshin!"

[KamenRideDecade (Kamen Ride Decade)]

Before Kiana could finish speaking, she saw Gu Yu leap straight out of the window.

Under Kiana's shocked gaze, armor suddenly covered Gu Yu's body, bursting forth with a magenta light.

"If I'm dealing with large monsters, this is the right one."

As he fell toward the ground, Gu Yu drew two cards from the card case.

[KamenRideRyuki (Kamen Ride Ryuki)]

"I'll use a monster's power to fight monsters!"

[AttackRideAdvent (Attack Ride Advent)]

After switching into the crimson Kamen Rider Ryuki form, Gu Yu immediately flung the other card into the Driver.

Then, beneath Raiden Mei and Kiana's watchful eyes...

A crimson Crimson Dragon suddenly tore through space. It caught Gu Yu just before he hit the ground, then stared menacingly at the several Honkai Beasts before it.