"You're awake."
"Damn you, Gari?"
Senba Gari stood up from the chair beside him and went over to Takai Geki.
"How are you feeling? What happened to you?"
"I ran into a strange mlortha. He could control the area around him and make it freezing cold. He even turned my Black Tortoise Finisher against me. By the way, what did the doctor say?"
"It's nothing serious. Using Black Tortoise greatly boosted your defense. You just couldn't withstand the impact of the attack and got knocked out. You also suffered some internal bruising from the blows. Don't do anything strenuous for a while, and you should be fine in about half a month. Get some rest. I'll take care of things from here."
With that, Senba Gari left the room to look for clues. Takai Geki watched him go from his hospital bed, feeling as if he was getting farther and farther away. His hands clenched involuntarily, and a strong sense of helplessness welled up inside him.
"No. I can't be left behind. I can still fight. I can still get stronger."
Muttering to himself, Takai Geki struggled out of bed and left the hospital room. When a nurse came to check on him, the room was already empty.
--Switching perspectives
"Maki, what song should we sing?"
Honoka Kosaka asked excitedly.
"Don't worry, I've got one ready. Listen."
With that, Maki Nishikino took the MP3 player from her pocket and played it for the others. When the song ended,
"That was so good! It brings back memories of how things were back then. What do you think, Kotori, Umi?" Honoka Kosaka asked excitedly.
"Yeah, it's so stirring. It brings back so many memories!"
Umi Sonoda recalled those days with a wistful look. Just then, Minami Kotori spoke up.
"Um, I have a suggestion. Gari and the others are Kamen Riders, and they're always fighting to protect us. What if we made a song and dance to support them? I don't want to see them in that state again and be unable to do anything. Even just singing a song would be nice."
"Yeah, we should definitely do that. They work so hard, so we should use our own strength to support them. It's settled, Maki. Sorry to ask you to work on this again."
Nozomi Tojo looked at Maki Nishikino as she spoke.
"It's no trouble. I want to do something for Gari and the others, too."
"Yeah, let's prepare a few songs and dance until we drop! Then lots of people will notice us. Maybe we can become idols again!"
Yazawa Nico grew excited, her face full of longing at the thought of becoming an idol. Eli Ayase looked at the others with a serious expression.
"Okay. But training over the next few days is going to be tough. Can you stick with it?"
The girls smiled at one another and shouted, "No problem! Hahaha!"
"Want to go shopping together and see if we can find anything suitable for the performance?"
"Sure."
With that, the girls set off.
--Scene change
Beneath a cliff, the vanished corpse appeared. Energy and a frenzied aura poured from its body as its cells became active and multiplied. When everything finally settled, the corpse had disappeared. In its place stood a monster with a human shape, though its head was made up of writhing tentacles. Black winds swirled around it, and an aura radiated from its body. Any intelligent creature that sensed it would feel madness and fear rising within. It stood there for a while, then headed toward the city. It could feel many presences there—presences it longed for.
--Scene change
"Phantom, is this where that idiot Geki was injured?"
A motorcycle came to a stop, and Senba Gari's voice rang out.
"Yes, Master. I received the information about the incident from Cangqiong. This is the place, but he should have left by now."
"Let's look around for clues. While we're at it, see if you can find those electromagnetic waves. They're a problem, too."
"Understood."
"Master, there's a powerful energy reaction below the cliff beside the road. It matches the electromagnetic wave readings Cangqiong sent, and may even be stronger."
"Got it. Let's go down."
"Master, I recommend transforming before you go down. That energy is terrifying."
"Okay. Manifest. Transform."
The Divine Transformation Belt appeared around Senba Gari's waist. He inserted the Garuda card into the right side of the belt.
"Armor Manifestation." "Armed—Divine Garuda!"
As mechanical voices rang out, Senba Gari transformed into Kamen Rider Divine. The armor on Divine's back unfolded, and flames appeared across it, weaving together to form a pair of wings.
"Crimson Flame Wings!"
Once ready, he flew down toward the cliff, with Phantom flying alongside him. When Divine saw the monster, he froze for a moment, but quickly recovered and warily watched it. The very sight of it was indescribable, and Divine instinctively felt disgust toward it.
"What a disgusting thing. But that aura is quite something. It'd be bad if it made it into the city."
With that, he took out a weapon card.
"Weapon Manifestation—Flame Feather Blade!"
He raised the Flame Feather Blade and charged at the monster, striking it hard. The blow only sent up sparks and did nothing else. He followed with a kick, using the recoil to put some distance between them and regain his footing. Phantom raised both hands and fired laser blasts at the monster, but the physical projectiles were deflected by the black wind swirling around its body. Any damage that managed to wound it healed in the blink of an eye.
"That thing's skin is tough. But no matter how tough it is, I'll burn you to ashes."
Divine used his control over the elements to coat his blade in flames, then swept it toward the monster's neck. The monster merely raised several tentacles to block the attack, then swung another tentacle into Divine's chest. Divine was knocked back, and the battle returned to where it had begun.
"Those tentacles are a real pain. I'll just have to do this."
With that, he drew the Flood Dragon card.
"Armor Change—Armed: Divine Flood Dragon!"
The red figure vanished, replaced by a dark-blue warrior. The temperature around him began to drop.
"A new round begins."
Divine drew a weapon card.
"Weapon Manifestation—Frost Dragon Staff!"
He aimed the dragon head at the monster and blasted it with freezing air. When he stopped, a layer of frost had formed over the monster's surface. He then took out a Finisher Card.
"Weapon Finisher—Energy Charge: Frost Dragon Wave Breaker!"
The dragon heads at both ends of the Frost Dragon Staff opened their mouths and breathed out freezing air. Divine spun the staff, drawing the surrounding cold and moisture toward him. Then he swung it at the monster, releasing the energy gathered on the staff. The frigid energy took the shape of a Flood Dragon and charged at the monster, smashing it into pieces.
"All right, that takes care of one thing. I still haven't dealt with the one that attacked that idiot Geki."
"Wait, Master. It's not dead yet."
"What? How is that possible?"
He looked toward the shattered remains. Just as Phantom had said, the pieces began to join together and fuse, restoring the monster to its original form. Its aura was even stronger than before.
"Are you kidding me? It survived that?"
He tightened his grip on the Frost Dragon Staff and attacked the monster. Divine thrust the staff into its abdomen, sending freezing air surging over it, but this time the cold had no effect. As the monster regenerated, the black winds around its body grew violent. What had once been mere accompaniment became a weapon in its hands. The winds scattered the freezing air and sliced at Divine, while tentacles wrapped around him and lifted him into the air. Wind blades struck Divine's body with the sound of steel clashing, and sparks flew from his chest where they hit.
"Gaaah!"
When the wind blades stopped attacking, the monster swung its tentacles and hurled Divine into the rocks nearby.
"Boom!"
With a tremendous crash, Divine was embedded in the rock face, then buried beneath the falling stones.
"Master! Damn it!"
Phantom raised the gun on his left arm and increased the rate of fire. But the resurrected monster didn't defend itself. It simply walked toward Phantom. The attacks couldn't break through its defenses, and even those that had once been able to damage it now had no effect. When the monster drew close, Phantom raised his right hand. A laser sword appeared, and he thrust it at the monster, but a tentacle knocked him away. He crashed to the ground and lost the ability to move.
"Awakening—Soul of Flame Feather!"
A bird's cry rang through the sky. A column of fire erupted from the place where Divine lay buried beneath the rocks, sending them flying. When the flames faded, Divine appeared.
The warrior had become like Garuda from mythology. His limbs had turned into sharp eagle talons, and the armor on his back spread behind him like real wings. Faint flames flickered across his body, radiating majesty and mystery. With a long cry, Divine pushed off with both feet and soared into the sky. The monster swung its tentacles at him, but Divine spread his wings and fired flaming feathers, cutting through the tentacles. He swung his arms, engulfing them in fire until they disappeared. Then Divine dived down from the sky. Riding the force of his glide, he punched the monster and sent it flying. As it sailed through the air, Divine seized it with the talons on his feet and carried it higher into the sky. Flames danced over his body. He hurled the monster upward, then spun around, rotating from bottom to top. The flames on his body swirled with his movements, forming a vortex that became a tornado of fire and swept toward the monster. With a deafening roar, a blinding blaze burst through the air. The monster's body fell to the ground amid the flames and lay still. As the fire on its body died out, it turned to ashes. The ashes fell to the ground.
Divine reverted to his normal form and gasped for breath.
"Haha... That was too much for me. Phantom, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Master. Is that strange mlortha taken care of?"
"Yeah, it's over. There's still the one that uses ice. We need to hurry, Phantom."
"Understood, Master."
After Senba Gari and the others left, the monster's ashen remains began to writhe. Black winds formed around them, as if celebrating their master's arrival. The writhing grew more violent, and countless indescribable lumps of flesh burst forth. When they joined together again, a figure appeared in their place. A terrifying, frenzied aura flashed for an instant, then the figure vanished like the wind.
Heart of Moving Forward (4) (Submitted by reader Yuan Yi Xin Fei)
(Weather tip: The following is a parallel world created by a reader and is unrelated to the main story. Of course, the basic information was provided by me. (-`ω-)?)
"Geki?"
The girls, who were on their way to go shopping, spotted Takai Geki in the distance. He was walking with difficulty, clutching his chest. They ran over to him and asked with concern,
"Geki, you're hurt? Did you get injured fighting a monster again?"
"Oh, it's you. I'm fine. It's just a minor injury, though it does make it a bit hard to move."
"Then be careful. We'll take you home."
"No, it's okay. I can manage on my own."
Nozomi looked at Takai Geki, thought for a moment, then took out her tarot cards and said,
"Geki, would you like a reading? Just to help you relax."
With that, she held the shuffled tarot cards out in front of Geki.
"Oh, sure. What should I do?"
"Just draw one card."
"That's it?"
"Yep."
Although he wasn't sure how reliable it was, he didn't want to spoil their mood, so he drew a card at random. It was the upright Chariot. Nozomi hesitated for a moment when she saw it, then said,
"Geki, I hope you can hold on to what you believe in and not give up."
"What do you mean?"
"It's nothing. Just don't give up, okay? We'll always be behind you, cheering you on."
"I don't really understand, but thank you."
With that, he smiled and left.
Nozomi looked at the card in her hand, a little worried.
I hope he doesn't lose his way. If he does, it'll be bad.
"Nozomi, what's wrong?" Eli asked with concern.
"It's nothing. Let's keep shopping!"
"Okay, let's go."
﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉
Back at the Takai Family estate, Takai Geki sat meditating beside a lake. He used a special breathing technique to disperse the blood pooled in his chest and recover from his injuries, calming his mind. As evening fell, Takai Geki returned to the wooden cabin and swung a wooden sword. But his sense of helplessness made his technique grow increasingly chaotic, until he finally gave up and tossed the sword aside.
"What is it? Lost your focus and given up?"
"Who's there?"
The sudden voice made Geki pick up the wooden sword again and go on guard. Just then, the wooden door opened, revealing a man dressed in black robes and wearing a mask. He spoke in an aged voice.
"So this is how weak a spirit wearer is?"
"Damn it, what do you know? And who the hell are you?"
He swung the wooden sword at the black-robed man, but the man dodged with a simple sidestep to the left. He then pulled a wooden sword from the rack and knocked Takai Geki's sword from his hands.
"Can't even hold on to your sword anymore?"
"Damn it, if I had the strength, things wouldn't be like this."
Takai Geki gripped his trembling hand. It was a lingering effect from defending against the spirit's attack last time.
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