"Phantom, did you finish what I asked you to do?"
At that moment, Silver Phantom was outside the Department Store. Hearing its master's voice, it spoke through the earpiece.
"Don't worry, master. I've sent With birds (Flame Sparrow) to keep an eye on Ainosuke. I'll notify you as soon as anything happens."
"Is that so? Good. Where is he now?"
Hearing Silver Phantom's reply, Senba Gari relaxed a little, then asked through his earpiece.
"He's in his office. Nothing unusual so far."
"Good. Let me know if anything happens."
"Understood, master."
After ending the call with Silver Phantom, Senba Gari headed forward. Just as he passed a women's clothing store, Eli Ayase and the others entered it. They passed each other without noticing.
Inside a drink shop, Senba Gari was waiting for news from Silver Phantom, playing on his phone and sipping the milk tea he'd just ordered. Suddenly, a news article caught his eye.
<This morning, a male body was found cut in two at an abandoned factory.>
Senba Gari stared at the photo of the body. It had been cut in half at the waist. Looking at the picture gave him an indescribable feeling. He thought he'd seen a similar method before, but the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. He called Silver Phantom and spoke into his earpiece.
"Phantom, hack into the police database and find out who this body belonged to."
"Understood, master."
After hearing Silver Phantom's answer, Senba Gari continued to brood, feeling troubled.
"It seems I made this out to be too simple."
Just as he was lost in thought, Eli Ayase and the others entered the drink shop. Eli said,
"Nozomi, could you find us a place to sit? Arisa and I will order. Is there anything you want? I can get it for you."
After hearing Eli, Nozomi Tojo thought for a moment.
"Sure. Eli, could you get me a hamburger and some milk tea?"
"Okay. Come on, Arisa."
After finding out what Nozomi wanted, Eli took her sister by the hand and headed to the counter.
"Oh dear, it looks like every seat is taken."
Nozomi glanced around and realized there didn't seem to be any seats left. As she wondered what to do, she noticed Senba Gari sitting nearby, lost in thought. There were three seats at his table, so she walked over with a smile and spoke to him.
"Well, if it isn't the senpai from the other day. Fancy meeting you again."
The unexpected voice startled Senba Gari out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw Nozomi, the shrine maiden from Kanda Shrine. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Whoa! Who's there? Oh, it's you. You scared me. What is it?"
Seeing his reaction, Nozomi smiled and teased him playfully.
"Well, seeing you sitting here all alone, lonely and cold, was more than I could bear."
Senba Gari's mouth twitched as he stared at the purple-haired girl, speechless.
"What do you mean, lonely and cold? If you want to share my table, just say so."
"So, does that mean you'll let me?"
Nozomi sat down across from Senba Gari and asked with a cheerful smile.
"You've already sat down. Why bother asking? Whatever. I was about to leave anyway."
Just as Senba Gari was about to return to his thoughts, Silver Phantom's voice came through his earpiece.
"Master, I found something. The dead man's name was Jiang Zhiliu. I also found photos of the crime scenes where Inoue and the others were found. Their faces were so badly damaged they couldn't be recognized, and their clothes looked a little disheveled, as if someone had changed them. I also heard Ainosuke seemed to have come down with some kind of illness today. He's been covering his face. Oh, master, I just saw the black car you mentioned earlier. It belongs to Ainosuke. Master, are you listening? Master?"
Silver Phantom kept calling Senba Gari, but he wasn't listening anymore. His mind was racing.
Jiang Zhiliu was found dead this morning. His face was unrecognizable, and his clothes looked as though someone had tampered with them. Ainosuke has also been covering his face lately. There was something off about the scene where Inoue's body was found. The blood writing... Wait. Ainosuke. Phase of Sich. Isn't that part of Ainosuke's English name? And doesn't it feel as though someone deliberately wanted us to go after him? Besides, Jiang Zhiliu just happened to die at the perfect time.
"Of course! I know what felt wrong!"
As if he'd finally figured it out, Senba Gari cried out. Then he turned to Nozomi, who had been startled, and said,
"Sorry, something's come up. I have to go!"
With that, he hurried away, speaking to Silver Phantom through his earpiece as he went.
"Phantom, tell me where Ainosuke is right now! I know who the killer is!"
"Really, master? He's in the underground parking lot right now."
"Got it."
He hurried toward the underground parking lot, leaving Nozomi behind, staring after him in confusion.
"Nozomi, what's wrong?"
Eli came over with Arisa, carrying two hamburgers and two cups of milk tea, and asked Nozomi.
"Oh, nothing. Someone just startled me."
"I see."
Eli didn't say anything more. She set the food down on the table, then sat with Arisa in the seats Senba Gari had just occupied.
In the dim underground parking lot, a middle-aged man wearing a mask and sunglasses was walking along when Senba Gari's voice suddenly rang out.
"I finally found you, Ainosuke. No, I should say Jiang Zhiliu!"
Seven-HBrute, Hagoromo Gitsune!
"I finally found you, Ainosuke. No, I should say Jiang Zhiliu!"
At Senba Gari's words, the middle-aged man—Jiang Zhiliu—paused. He took off his mask and sunglasses, then turned back with a smile.
"What are you talking about, young man? I don't understand."
Senba Gari gave a scornful laugh.
"Hah. Still struggling to deny it? Fine. I'll explain everything, step by step."
He raised his left hand and held up three fingers.
"There are three clues that point to you as the killer! First, all the victims gathered together the night before they were killed. Starting that night, they died one after another beneath the debris. Second, though, was a mistake on your part. At the spot where Inoue's body was found, I discovered the English letters he'd written before he died. They matched Ainosuke's English name. When I learned that Inoue had been crushed in half by a falling stone pillar, something felt wrong. If the pillar had split Inoue in two, it should have been covered in blood. So why wasn't there even a trace of blood on it?"
At that, Senba Gari turned to look at Jiang Zhiliu. Shock filled his eyes, and he stammered out a rebuttal.
"B-but so what? That only proves Ainosuke did it."
At Jiang Zhiliu's words, Senba Gari grinned, flashing his white teeth.
"Oh? So you admit you're not Ainosuke?"
"So what if I'm not? I definitely wasn't the one who did it."
Hearing Senba Gari's words, Jiang Zhiliu knew he'd been exposed. All he could do was struggle in vain to deny it.
"Still refusing to admit it? Fine. Here's the third clue. At first, I thought you were the killer, but then this morning I heard that you'd died. And your death was different from the others. Then I remembered the English name Ainosuke that Inoue had left behind. But when I thought about it, the message seemed too obvious, as if someone wanted us to know who the killer was. And all those bodies had faces so badly damaged that even their own mothers wouldn't recognize them. That puzzled me. Why destroy their faces too? Eventually, I realized there was only one possibility: you, Jiang Zhiliu—or rather, the Mlortha who had been impersonating Jiang Zhiliu all along! I think another Mlortha caused the building to collapse earlier. And that Mlortha was Ainosuke!"
"Heh heh heh. I guess there's no point pretending anymore. This generation's Divine wearer is quite impressive."
After hearing Senba Gari's words, "Jiang Zhiliu" began to laugh. But the voice that came from him was female. Black smoke enveloped his body, and when it cleared, a beautiful classical girl with black hair and purple eyes stood before Senba Gari, dressed in a cherry-blossom-colored kimono.
The girl greeted Senba Gari with an elegant smile and a formal bow, then spoke.
"Pleased to meet you, the new wearer of Divine. I am Hagoromo Gitsune of the Seven-HBrute."
When Senba Gari heard the words "Seven-HBrute," his expression twisted with rage. He shouted at Hagoromo Gitsune.
"So it was you! Tell me! Where did you take my father?!"
In response to Senba Gari's demand, Hagoromo Gitsune merely lifted the wide sleeve of her kimono to cover half her face and spoke softly.
"My, my. Shouting at a young woman like that is very rude. As for your father, though... Heh."
"You won't tell me? Then I'll beat it out of you!"
Hearing Hagoromo Gitsune laugh, Senba Gari could no longer contain his anger. He pulled out the Divine Fenrir transformation card.
"Show yourself!"
As soon as Senba Gari spoke, silver light flashed at his waist, and the silver-white Beast Soul Driver appeared. He inserted the card into the right side of the Beast Soul Driver. Its LCD screen displayed a wolf in mid-run, and several synthesized mechanical voices rang out.
Vehicle armour appear
As the first mechanical voice ended, the silver-gray image of armor appeared around Senba Gari's body.
Armed
When the second mechanical voice rang out, the silver-gray armor image covered Senba Gari, armoring him.
Divine Fenrir
After transforming, Divine used the speed of his Fenrir form to rush toward Hagoromo Gitsune. As he swung his clawed hand at her, a fluffy tail knocked him into a nearby stone pillar.
"Ugh!"
Divine cried out in pain and clutched his chest. He looked up at Hagoromo Gitsune, who had just drawn one of her tails back behind her. That blow had broken one or two of his ribs.
"Oh dear, it seems I used a little too much force."
"Don't underestimate me!"
At Hagoromo Gitsune's taunt, Divine struggled to his feet and charged at her again.
But just as Divine was about to reach Hagoromo Gitsune, she revealed four more tails. Together with the tail that had attacked him earlier, they wrapped around Divine's neck and limbs, then lifted him high into the air.
"Ugh... let me go."
Divine struggled desperately, but Hagoromo Gitsune's tails held his neck and limbs fast. He could feel his spiritual power rapidly draining away.
Hagoromo Gitsune was draining Divine's spiritual power when a brown, human-shaped Mole with enormous, sharp claws on both hands spoke to her.
[I've hollowed out the foundation beneath this place. It'll collapse soon. We should go.]
Hearing this, Hagoromo Gitsune released Divine from her five tails, then vanished in a cloud of black smoke. The Mole Mlortha also burrowed underground.
"Thud."
Divine fell heavily to the ground. Hagoromo Gitsune had drained nearly all his spiritual power, leaving him extremely weak.
"Boom!!!" "Boom!!!" "Boom!!!"
Suddenly, cracks appeared in the surrounding stone pillars, and chunks of the ceiling began to fall. Divine was slowly buried beneath the falling ceiling, and the Department Store collapsed before everyone's eyes.
Outside the collapsed Department Store, Hagoromo Gitsune gave the Mole Mlortha beside her an order.
"He won't die so easily. While he's weak, go and kill him."
[Yes.]
At that moment, the Rider and the girl he had once saved met again.
"Wooo! Wooo! Wooo!"
In the ruins of the collapsed Department Store, countless sirens blared as rescue workers searched outside the rubble for possible survivors.
"Crrrk..."
"Bang!"
At the very bottom of the collapsed building, Divine struggled to push aside the stones weighing him down, then deactivated his armor.
At last, Senba Gari clutched his injured left arm and leaned weakly against a ruined wall. Silver Phantom's voice came through the earpiece in his ear.
"Master! Master! Are you all right?"
Hearing Silver Phantom's voice, Senba Gari replied weakly.
"Cough, cough... Phantom, I'm all right. I've just run out of spiritual power and been injured a little. It's nothing serious. I'll be fine after I rest."
"Okay, master. Stay where you are for now. I'll send a few helpers down to assist you."
Senba Gari clenched his fist tightly and said bitterly,
"Yeah. By the way, Phantom... do you think I'm too weak?"
Before you continue