Ash seemed to understand now why the system had asked Taro to deliver that belt belonging to Inferno Rider. A belt that had never truly existed was perfect for concealing some truth.
"Why would I know!?" Kaller, confronted so directly, grew even more furious and jealous. "There's no memory of this belt at all!"
"I see."
Such a precious memory—the first friend he had met, the first product they had created together with sweat and wisdom, something that surpassed the wisdom of the world itself—was indeed something he, who had inherited nothing but all the pain, would never know.
"No wonder I could never find it back then. You took it, didn't you... and now, at a time like this, you gave it back to me?"
Leaving behind the pink World Kaiser that had lost its fighting strength, the remaining four World Kaisers strode toward the Kamen Rider facing them, their heavy, synchronized steps brimming with frustration and rage that demanded release.
In a battle that could decide the fates of countless universes and worlds, the collision of their gazes nearly sparked tangible bolts of electricity in the air. Yet as they looked into Ash's compound eyes, the Kallers felt that this guy... didn't seem to be looking at them at all.
Kaller's realization was correct. Ash's gaze was indeed not on them, but on something that seemed to have been written inside the mask before He became "Histrum"...
An apology letter?
"[My existence is the sum of countless victims, so I can roughly understand. Perhaps this plan itself is an impossible delusion, and everything I seek is merely greed without end.]"
"[Besides, this Dark Echo was something you and I sought together... If I alone were to use it as I pleased, that would be somewhat unfair, wouldn't it?]"