Eri, Nozomi, Nico: "Even when cold rain falls, let's open our umbrellas, so when the cold rain comes, we'll open our umbrellas."
Honoka, Umi, Kotori: "There's no map to guide us through life, but that means we're free,"
"to go wherever we want. You, too."
The spirit wielding the Steel Fang Blade was surrounded by flames and a tornado, forming a fiery whirlwind that struck Hastur. Divine gathered energy in both hands, formed a fireball before his chest, and hurled it at Hastur. (Like Red Tiga's finishing move.) Faced with the attacks, Hastur could no longer afford to take it easy and had no choice but to defend himself. After the attacks, his body was covered in scorch marks, and many of his tentacles had been blown apart.
"Damn it!" Hastur roared in fury, but all that greeted him was—
"Wind-Water Ice Blade!" The flames turned into ice crystals, gathering along the blade and forming an icy edge. The attack coated Hastur in a layer of ice. Divine leaped straight down from the sky. Friction with the air ignited flames around Divine's claws, and he tore into Hastur from above. (It was more or less like WereGarurumon's Big Bang in Digimon.) Several enormous flaming claw marks were carved into Hastur's body.
"Armor Change—Armed—Azure Dragon!"
"Weapon Finisher—Power of Wood and Fire—Candle Dragon Devours the Sun!"
The spirit changed into Azure Dragon form, removed the red and blue crystals from the belt, and inserted them into the Beast Soul Driver, followed by the Finisher Card. As the finisher activated, enormous wood and fire elements formed the shape of an Eastern dragon. The giant dragon breathed flames that scorched Hastur, then roared toward the sky, took flight, and crashed into him. The tremendous explosion left Hastur sprawled on the ground, struggling to rise.
Everyone: "Run! Faster than the wind—charge!!"
"Reach! Farther than the sky—go!!"
"You'll meet a brand-new you."
"When you notice the unknown courage sleeping in your heart,"
"even the downpour inside your chest"
"will surely stop."
"Show me your brave heart."
"It's time to finish this!" Divine and the spirit nodded to each other. Divine leaped up, grabbed Hastur, and flew high into the air. Then Divine gathered his right fist, rapidly compressing the raging flames around it, and slammed it into Hastur. Hastur plummeted from the sky like a meteor.
Everyone: "Seize! A dazzling tomorrow!"
"Protect! The people you love!"
"You'll become stronger."
"Break! The timid you!"
"Smash! The walls in your way!"
"Your burning heartbeat will become a weapon."
"Believe in your heart."
"Armor Change—White Tiger!"
"Weapon Manifestation—Steel Fang Blade!"
"Weapon Finisher—Golden Mystery—Fierce Tiger Descends the Mountain!"
"Weapon Finisher—Mystery of Wood—Dragon Fights in the Wild!"
They set the golden crystal into the Beast Soul Driver and the blue crystal into the Steel Fang Blade. As the finisher activated, the roar of a tiger and the cry of a dragon rang out. A giant Azure Dragon and White Tiger appeared around them. The spirit planted the Steel Fang Blade into the ground, and streaks of blue lightning coiled around it. Then the spirit took several steps back and crouched as if ready to charge. As Hastur fell, the spirit rushed at him and swung the lightning-wreathed Steel Fang Blade. When the spirit vanished, several slashes appeared around Hastur. (Just like Kenshin's Dog Head Dragon Flash in the Three Hundred Heroes.) At the same time, the White Tiger and Azure Dragon pounced on Hastur amid thunder and raging winds. When everything disappeared, Hastur's body exploded and vanished.
"That's great! We won!"
"Fantastic!"
People cheered, celebrating the joy of being alive.
"Did we do it?"
"I think so," Divine said uncertainly.
"Even if he comes back, we'll defeat him again," the spirit said firmly.
"Just the two of you can't kill me." The sudden voice silenced the cheering crowd. A violent black wind gathered in the air, forming a gigantic Hastur. A terrifying aura swept over them.
"Struggle! Fear! Despair!" The terrifying aura seemed to convey those words.
"We won't give up hope! How can we know whether we'll fail if we haven't given it our all?" Honoka shouted when she saw Hastur appear again.
"We became idols to stop our school from closing, even though nobody believed in us. But we worked hard and succeeded in saving it. We put in the effort, and we succeeded, so I believe the future will be even brighter! We won't give up!"
"That's right! Everything we have now came from our own efforts. I started as a lowly waitress and worked my way up to become a manager. I still have so many wonderful things ahead of me. How could I just give up? Keep going, Kamen Riders! Defeat him again!"
"Exactly! We won't give up, so keep going! Defeat him again!"
Faced with Hastur, the people around them refused to give up hope. They cheered on their heroes. Rays of spiritual light shone brilliantly.
"If we defeated you once, we can defeat you again—and again."
Divine and the spirit got back to their feet and unleashed their finishers against Hastur, but this time they barely had any effect.
"Your attacks are feeble."
"What if we join in?" A sudden voice drew everyone's attention. One after another, figures leaped into the area from all directions. They were the 33 Kamen Riders, from Showa's Kamen Rider Number One to Heisei's Kamen Rider Drive. (About that many, I guess. If there are too many, just assume some were absent; if there are too few, fill in with secondary Riders.) Phantom and Cangqiong had also arrived.
"Master, with the help of our senior Riders, the monsters in every area have been wiped out."
"Senpai!" Divine and the spirit were thrilled to see the senior Riders arrive.
"You worked so hard to protect everyone. We couldn't live up to who we are if we didn't come," Number One, the oldest among them, told Divine.
"Everyone, let's carry the hopes people have placed in us and destroy him once and for all, in the name of protection!"
The Riders leaped into the air and unleashed their strongest Rider Kicks. Their combined power formed a tremendous force that clashed with Hastur.
"Keep going, Kamen Riders!" At the people's fervent hopes, a blinding white light formed in their spiritual worlds. It became tangible, burst from their bodies, and surged toward the Kamen Riders, carrying their hopes and their longing for a brighter future.
With the light joining them, the evenly matched clash turned into an overwhelming attack that struck Hastur. The powerful assault tore open a rift in space, and Hastur's shattered body was sucked into it, disappearing from this world.
"It's really over this time." Sunlight fell upon the earth, shining on the cheering faces.
"We have our own duties to attend to, so we'll take our leave."
"Let's fight together again sometime!"
The Riders said their goodbyes and left.
"It really is over this time," Divine and the spirit said with relief.
Then they looked toward the stage, where the nine girls looked a little disheveled amid everyone's cheers.
"They really are full of charm!" the spirit said with feeling.
"Yeah, they are! They're not even especially cute, yet we have to cheer them on! Don't you think?" After saying that, they both burst out laughing.
"Help! Somebody save me! I don't want tentacle play!" A cry for help rang out. A chubby little man ran toward them, pursued closely by two Ithaquas, who kept whipping his backside with their tentacles. It was none other than this book's sole author, Bored Weather.
"We still have some loose ends to take care of. Geki, one each."
"No way. I'm taking both!"
"What? You're not getting either of them!"
"Ahhh! Ahhh!"
The two bickering men charged at the two Ithaquas!
In a rift between dimensions, Hastur slowly re-formed his body. At the same time, a voice rang out.
"I'll be back!"
As the words fell, a streak of light shot in at faster than light speed. On impact, Hastur vanished completely. The streak of light came to a stop, revealing a gigantic body with twin blades on its head and blue, red, and white armor: Zero.
"Did I hit something? Never mind. I've got more important things to do."
Muttering to himself, Zero turned back into a streak of light and disappeared. And so our big boss, Hastur, died to Zero's supersonic flight, with no chance of coming back. At the same time, the monsters left in the Kamen Rider world lost their power when Hastur died and all perished.
The song in the story, "You gave me wings when I couldn't fly," comes from the second ending theme of the Nexus TV series.
"Flower of Hope"
"Brave Heart" is the iconic evolution song from Digimon.
And with that, the bonus chapter comes to an end.
The Rider's Hunter? The Kamen Riders' Doomsday!
—Bang!
"Ugh..."
Inside an abandoned factory, a figure in red armor lay weakly on the ground. A black tire hung diagonally across his upper body, and his overall appearance brought a car to mind. His gaze remained fixed ahead.
—Clack—clack—clack—clack
At the same time, a dull series of footsteps grew louder and drew nearer. A figure holding a blood-red double-edged sword with sharp serrations approached at an unhurried pace. His armor was dark red all over and looked like living flesh.
But in the next instant, he stopped and raised the blood-red serrated sword in his hand. Then something unexpected happened: the sword began to writhe like flesh, and the next moment it had turned into a blood-red Gatling gun.
—Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!
He lifted the Gatling gun with both hands and aimed it at the "prey" before him. Its many barrels spun rapidly, and a dense stream of gunfire poured from the muzzle. The thunderous gunshots roared like a beast.
"Gaaaaah!"
—Bang!—Bang!—Bang!...
Every merciless burst of gunfire struck the figure before him, and the fiery explosions obscured his form. Amid the beast's roar and the repeated flashes of explosions, the "hunter" showed no change in expression. He continued to raise the blood-red "beast," letting it roar and fire without mercy.
After a while, he lowered the Gatling gun. The flames from the explosions faded, and his "prey" was reduced to a smoking red fragment.
His green compound eyes flashed as a series of green data scrolled across them.
[Life signs at zero. Kamen Rider Drive: confirmed eliminated!]
The cold, emotionless voice echoed through the abandoned factory, where an intense battle had just taken place.
Then the "hunter" turned and left. He had to hunt his next "prey"!
But only seconds after he left, a silver barrier like a sheet of water appeared before the smoking red fragment.
A figure supporting someone covered in wounds of all shapes and sizes slowly emerged from the barrier.
He looked thoughtfully in the direction the "hunter" had gone, then at his badly wounded companion beside him. He couldn't help feeling afraid when he thought about it. If he hadn't arrived in time, the outcome would have been unthinkable.
"I didn't think those guys could make something this terrifying. I'd better warn the others to be careful."
When he finished speaking, he and the companion he was supporting disappeared into the silver barrier once more.
—Time skip—
One month earlier—
[The boss told me to give you this "bargaining chip."]
Inside a dim chemical factory, Medusa, in human form, handed a blood-red Seed of Original Sin to a man dressed entirely in white, then quickly pulled her hand back. She seemed terrified of the Seed of Original Sin, afraid it might do something horrifying to her.
"Oh? This is Shub-Niggurath's Seed of Original Sin, isn't it? Such a beautiful color. Heh heh heh..."
Unlike Medusa, the man wasn't wary of the Seed of Original Sin. He held it in his palm and examined it carefully like a priceless treasure, occasionally letting out several particularly chilling laughs.
[What a nauseating laugh.] Medusa frowned slightly, making no attempt to hide her disgust.
"Nauseating? Perhaps."
The man wasn't angered by Medusa's words. Instead, he kept the smile on his face—the one she found so repulsive—and said calmly, "As far as I can remember, people have called me crazy, disgusting, selfish, greedy, and so on. But they could never know that these are what truly lie in the human heart.
"Humans recklessly research biological weapons. Even when an accident occurs, they ban the research publicly, but who knows whether someone is secretly continuing it behind the scenes? That's madness.
"To improve their reputations, humans will do anything to erase their past 'stains' and build a grand image of themselves in the eyes of the public. But who knows how much of their fellow humans' blood stains their hands behind closed doors? That's disgusting.
"To create a perfect environment for themselves to live in, humans recklessly destroy ecosystems and drive away the native inhabitants. They think only of their own survival and ignore other forms of life. That's selfishness.
"But greed is the one thing humans will never change. Every human is greedy; there isn't a single one who isn't. Greed is humanity's most primitive sin. And now..."
Looking at the Seed of Original Sin in his hand, wreathed in blood-red energy, and the mechanical, wheel-shaped belt before him, a trace of greed flashed in his eyes. Then he slowly placed the Seed of Original Sin into the wheel at the belt's center.
—Click.
With a click, the Seed of Original Sin was secured in the innermost part of the belt. Then strands of blood-red flesh began to emerge from inside it, slowly wrapping around and modifying the belt.
Before long, the belt had been completely transformed into a wheel-shaped device, entirely blood-red and covered in flesh-like material.
"Finally..." The man excitedly lifted the belt in both hands, his eyes filled with madness. "It's finally finished! Hahahahahaha..."
Laughing maniacally like a lunatic, the man tremblingly put the belt around his waist. Then horrifying, disgusting chunks of bloody flesh writhed out of it and gradually wrapped around his body.
Before you continue