Love Live and Kamen Rider 22

The hall then began to shake violently, cracks spreading across the walls. The seven stone statues also began to fissure, revealing faces and bodies identical to the statues themselves, before they all turned around. The grotesque face within the original statue then let out a strange screech.

"Roar! Come forth, my servants! Revel in the slaughter!!!!"

A cloud of black mist erupted within the hall, slowly coalescing into individual pitch-black, humanoid monkey-monsters with hideous faces, scarlet eyes, and razor-sharp claws.

"Screeeech!!!" The monkey-monsters let out shrill cries and began charging toward Senba Ryo and his son.

"Damn it! Senba Gari! Run with me!!" Senba Ryo had been staring blankly at the scene, but upon seeing the monkey-monsters charging toward them, he hurriedly shouted at his son and bolted toward the exit.

Senba Gari, still clutching the Stone Belt and staring blankly at everything unfolding before him, snapped to his senses upon hearing his father's voice and scrambled to catch up.

"Hey! This is Senba Ryo! Do you copy! Hey! Respond if you can hear me! Mamoru! Fatty! Li!" Senba Ryo shouted into his walkie-talkie, but the only response was the static of interference.

"Damn it! Please, don't let anything happen to you all." Senba Ryo prayed anxiously that his companions on the surface were safe.

"Screeeech!" Suddenly, a monkey-monster lunged from the side, raising its sharp claws to strike at Senba Ryo's head.

"Bang!" A gunshot rang out, followed by a bullet wreathed in azure light that struck the monkey-monster's head, sparking upon impact.

Taking advantage of the moment the monster was hit, Senba Ryo sprinted to his son, who was holding the Stone Belt in one hand and a gray pistol engraved with glowing runes and wisps of white smoke in the other.

"Phew~ scared the life out of me. Thanks, son." Senba Ryo patted his chest, thanking his son while still shaken.

"Cut the talk, let's go!" Senba Gari ran to his father's side, shoved the pistol into his father's hand, and grabbed his other arm to run toward the exit, only to find a swarm of monkey-monsters blocking the way, forcing the pair to stop and hide.

"I'm sorry, Dad. It's my fault you're all in this." Senba Gari clenched his fists, apologizing to his father with deep self-reproach.

Senba Ryo placed a hand on his son's head and ruffled his hair. "You idiot, what's the point of apologizing now? You'd be better off thinking of a way for us to escape."

"How could we possibly escape? The exit is blocked." Senba Gari looked at the blocked exit in despair.

"No, there is a way," Senba Ryo said to his son.

"Since when? Tell me, quick." Senba Gari looked at his father with hopeful eyes.

"I have a Teleportation Talisman here that can send someone to another Location Talisman. I placed the other one on the surface earlier, but it can only transport one person."

"So, Gari! You have to live on, you hear me?" Senba Ryo looked at his son's face with tenderness, as if trying to etch it deep into his mind.

"W-wait, Dad, you're joking, right? You've got to be joking! Didn't we say we'd get out of here together?! So! Don't you go making decisions on your own!" Senba Gari looked at his father with a pained expression, praying that he had just misheard.

"But..." "Enough talk! Even if you send me out, I'll just run back in, so get that idea out of your head." Senba Gari interrupted his father with a firm tone.

"This... Sigh, alright. Let's think of another way to get back then." Senba Ryo looked at his son's determined eyes with a helpless expression.

"That's more like it. Let's go, let's see if there's another ex... uh." Senba Gari had just turned around when he was knocked unconscious by Senba Ryo.

Senba Ryo patted his son's head. "I'm sorry, Gari. Forgive your old man for being selfish." He then pressed a paper talisman onto Senba Gari's chest, recited an unknown incantation, and Senba Gari's figure vanished.

Scene change--

In a forest, a figure suddenly appeared in the grass.

"Ugh." Opening his eyes slowly and seeing that he was no longer in the temple hall, Senba Gari immediately stood up and shouted in all directions, "Dad! You bastard! Where are you!"

He walked out of the forest while shouting, but the scene he saw left him stunned.

Before him were no longer their tents, but many corpses—bloody, mangled corpses—among which were many people he recognized.

"Uncle Mamoru! Fatty! Sister Li! Where are you? Answer me! Quick... ugh."

Senba Gari was shouting for his companions, only to be met with their cold, lifeless bodies.

"Dad, Uncle Mamoru, Fatty, Sister Li, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!! I'm sorry!!! It's all because of me! If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have died, sob, you wouldn't have died, sob, ahhhhhhhhh!" Senba Gari wept in deep sorrow over his companions' bodies.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man's voice rang out, "Hey! There's one over here, come quick!"

Scene change-

"Ring-ring, ring-ring." A phone rang in a room at the Sky Court Kanda Apartments. A girl with golden hair tied in a ponytail picked up the receiver.

"Hello, is that Arisa?" the girl's melodious voice echoed in the room.

"Yeah, it's me. Big sister, I'm coming over to your place for summer vacation next month, make sure to pick me up then." A crisp, loli-like voice replied from the other end of the line.

Chapter Preview--

"Is that guy's target this place this time?"

"BOOM!!!!"

"Arisa! Where are you! Arisa!!!"

"Roar, roar, roar."

"Help, someone save me, help, big sister!!!"

"Bang!"

The Turmoil in Akihabara

Nighttime. In a corner booth of a cafe in Akihabara sat a young man wearing a flaxen-colored baseball cap, a white short-sleeved shirt under a black sleeveless jacket, and dark jeans.

Beneath the brim of his cap, a pair of deep, black, and somewhat lazy eyes were visible, along with messy black hair. This youth was none other than Senba Gari.

Beside Senba Gari lay a long, gray cloth bag, and he was currently watching the people coming and going outside the window.

"Is that guy's target this place this time?"

He also unzipped the cloth bag, revealing the items kept inside: a wooden sword covered in strange, carved runes and the Stone Belt retrieved from the ruins that day.

"This time, I absolutely won't let it get away." His lazy eyes revealed a sense of determination.

However, why was Senba Gari here? To understand that, we have to go back a few months.

Time Divider-

A few months ago, a few days after Senba Gari was rescued from the ruins by a search and rescue team, he was in an interrogation room at the police department.

"Bang!" He slammed his hands against the table.

"Damn it! Everything I said is true! Why won't any of you believe me!" Senba Gari's agitated voice echoed from the interrogation room.

Shortly after, another voice came from inside the room, "Sir, please calm down."

"Sigh, here we go again. It seems that kid really has something wrong with his head." This was said by a middle-aged man standing in the corridor outside the interrogation room, one of two people, a man and a woman.

"Don't say that. Seeing the people around you suddenly die, and then not being able to find your own father's body—not knowing if he's dead or alive—you'd be the same if it were you." The young woman beside the man looked toward the interrogation room with pity.

Inside the interrogation room, two police officers sat across from the highly agitated Senba Gari.

"I've already told you, all of this was done by those monsters! Why won't you believe me!" Senba Gari looked at them, his face full of agitation.

"Sir, please calm down. Don't get excited. Please listen to us finish, okay?" The young police officer sitting opposite tried to soothe the clearly agitated Senba Gari.

"Yes, he's right. Sir, please calm down a little and listen to what we have to say." A police captain in his twenties sitting next to the young officer spoke up once he saw Senba Gari beginning to settle down.

"Tch, go ahead then. I'll listen." Senba Gari also felt that nothing would come of continuing like this, so he calmed down.

"Good." Seeing Senba Gari beginning to cooperate, the young officer looked at the police captain beside him. Seeing the captain nod, he began to speak.

"Ahem, here is the situation. We previously went down into the ruins, but we didn't find your so-called temple hall, those seven monsters, or..." The young officer paused here, then said with a sorrowful tone, "your father's body. Which means your father's fate is currently unknown."

Silence. A deathly silence. Senba Gari lowered his head and clenched his fists.

A hoarse voice gradually sounded, "Then... did you find anything else?"

"Yes, we found a handgun. It seemed to have very strange runes carved onto it." The young officer seemed to recall something.

"Is that so? That's mine. Can you return it to me? And can I leave now?" Senba Gari loosened his clenched fists and lifted his head to look at them.

"Yes, you may. If we discover anything in the future, we will definitely notify you immediately." This time, it was the police captain who spoke.

"I see. Thank you. Goodbye then." Having said that, Senba Gari stood up and walked toward the door.

"You should think carefully. Once you walk out of here, your life might never be normal again," the police captain suddenly warned Senba Gari.

The hand on the doorknob paused slightly, then gripped it and opened the door, "I can't go back anyway." His figure slowly disappeared.

"Shinnosuke-senpai, why did you..." "Why did you let him leave, right?" The young officer's words were interrupted by the police captain named Shinnosuke before he could finish.

"Yes." The young officer nodded.

"Because a more important mission is waiting for him next." Shinnosuke looked at the spot where Senba Gari had just disappeared with a look of nostalgia and relief.

"Eh???" The young officer looked at his senior in confusion.

A few days later, Senba Gari began his world travels, searching for clues about what happened in the ruins that day, and eventually, he found his way here.

Chapter Preview

--Time, oh time---

"This time, I absolutely cannot let it go."

"Boom!"

"Oh no, there are still many people there." Senba Gari was just about to stand up and leave when a sudden loud explosion reminded him that there were many people in Akihabara at night. He quickly grabbed the long cloth bag and hurried toward the door.

Scene Switch---

While Senba Gari was rushing toward the scene, Akihabara was in complete chaos.

The panicked screams of people, the wailing sirens of police cars and ambulances, the voices of police officers using megaphones to maintain order, the sound of doctors carrying stretchers, the wails of the wounded, and the cries of a blonde girl.

"Arisa! Where are you! Arisa!" Eli Ayase called out her younger sister's name while asking the passersby who were fleeing.

"Sir, excuse me, have you seen a little girl of Russian descent? She has soft golden hair, is about as tall as my chest, and is wearing a white dress."

"No, don't block the way!" The passerby heartlessly threw those words back and ran off.

"Ma'am..." "Get lost, don't block the way!" Facing the same situation, Eli Ayase realized the heartlessness of this world.

"Arisa! Where are you! Arisa!" But Eli Ayase did not give up calling out.

"Miss, please leave this area. It's dangerous here." A police officer came over, grabbed Eli Ayase's arm, and pulled her aside.

"No! I'm not leaving! My sister hasn't escaped yet!" Eli Ayase shouted agitatedly at the officer.

"Sorry, Miss, this is our duty. Please cooperate." Having said that, the officer ignored her resistance and dragged her toward the safety zone.

"Let go of me! Let go! I have to go find Arisa!" Because she was too weak to break free, she could only let the officer drag her away.

Second Scene Switch

Somewhere in Akihabara, the surrounding buildings had turned into ruins. The once bustling Akihabara had become a ruin in the midst of the chaos.

"Wuwuwu, sister, where are you? Arisa is so scared."

In a certain part of the ruins, a little girl with soft golden hair and a white dress was crying, calling out for her older sister.

Before her lay the corpses of many people, along with a monster. Yes, this monster was a Mlortha, possessing the appearance of a lion with a human body, pitch-black mane, and two sharp, exposed saber-teeth. Its hideous claws still gripped a severed human hand, and its scarlet eyes radiated a cruel and tyrannical aura at every moment.

"Roar!" the lion Mlortha let out a loud, thunderous growl.

Now, it was walking toward Arisa step by step.

Seeing the lion Mlortha approaching her, Arisa wanted to flee, but her legs were too weak to move.

"Help, someone save me, help, sister!!!" Arisa prayed for someone to appear, yet she didn't want anyone to come here and die, so she could only cry out for her sister, hoping to find some sense of comfort.

At this moment, the lion Mlortha raised its claw high, preparing to strike down at Arisa.

Seeing this movement, Arisa slowly closed her eyes.

"Sister," she murmured, still whispering for her sister.

"Goodbye."

"Bang!" A gunshot rang out, and a cerulean bullet struck the lion monster.

Fierce battle! Escape! A desperate fight to the death!

"Bang!" A gunshot rang out, and a cerulean bullet struck the lion Mlortha, sending sparks flying from its body.

Immediately, a voice came from behind Arisa, "Oh my, oh my, it seems I've arrived just in time, you stinking lion." Gradually, the sound of footsteps approached from the distance, drawing closer to the scene.

Hearing another voice, Arisa opened her eyes and looked behind her, and the image in the distance was deeply etched into her heart, remaining vivid in her memory long after.

Accompanied by the footsteps, a young man with black hair and black eyes, wearing a flaxen baseball cap, a white short-sleeved shirt under a black sleeveless jacket, and dark jeans, walked toward them step by step. His right hand held a gray handgun engraved with strange runes, with white smoke rising from the muzzle, while his left hand held a wooden sword also engraved with strange runes. The newcomer was Senba Gari.

Walking to Arisa's side, Senba Gari's expression remained unchanged, as if he were already accustomed to this. He calmly observed his surroundings, then turned his head to look at Arisa beside him, frowning slightly as he muttered to himself, "Looks like this one is going to be a bit of a hassle."

"Roar!!!!" Seeing that Senba Gari dared to interrupt it from killing the little girl, the lion Mlortha felt extremely enraged and charged rapidly toward Senba Gari.

"Watch out! Big brother!" Although Arisa did not know why Senba Gari had appeared here, she still shouted at him.

"Heh, so impatient. As expected, a monster mutated and blackened from a mere animal has no reason and only acts on instinct." Hearing Arisa's cry, Senba Gari looked up and chuckled as he watched the lion Mlortha charge toward him.