"Comedian"

Seeing Takaba straighten himself, Xuan lunged forward, clenched his hand into a fist, dropped his waist sharply, and drove a straight punch into Takaba's abdomen.

Takaba's body shot violently into the sky, then turned into a shooting star in Xuan's field of vision.

"Wasn't I punching in the other direction?"

Xuan raised a hand to shade his brow and looked toward where Takaba had flown.

"But no matter which direction you hit them from, the person who gets hit would fly into the sky, right?"

"That's true. A standard cartoon trope."

As he said this, Xuan turned and struck Takaba with his palm. The slash instantly cut Takaba to pieces—or did it?

His cursed energy had definitely affected this guy, but... the instant it entered his body, it was guided away by Takaba's cursed energy. What a strange sensation.

Takaba's clothes instantly shredded into rags, while Takaba himself struck the pose of a bashful young girl, covering his sensitive areas.

That was, if one ignored the cursed-script mosaic censoring those sensitive areas.

"What the hell is this, you bastard?!"

"Hey, hey—what are you, some bashful young girl?"

"This is a hero's uniform! Who goes after a hero's uniform first thing?"

"If there really were a Comedian, I might try specifically targeting his red briefs."

"You really are awful."

Xuan shuffled backward, and the clothes on Takaba's body had already reappeared. After touching Takaba's body three times, Xuan had finally analyzed the technique of the man before him.

This guy's innate technique resembled the Construction Technique, a technique capable of creating things out of thin air. Beyond that, the man before him possessed an unimaginable source of cursed energy.

Unlike the Construction Technique, this guy's technique had no limits. Perhaps his body was spontaneously constructing "cursed energy."

That slash just now had targeted the core of his cursed energy. Being bisected at the waist had not killed Takaba instantly, and the other party's technique was clearly still functioning normally.

Though he did not know the exact effects of "Eight" and "Release," perhaps they were technique enhancements that allowed him to catch the trajectory of slashes.

As Xuan thought this, strange formulas began passing one after another over his head—while Takaba stared at Xuan with complete concentration.

And this...

Xuan grabbed a formula and hurled it fiercely at Takaba—the attack was slapped right back at him the instant it struck Takaba.

Bang!

Xuan dashed left and swung the badminton racket in his hand, smashing the formula back with all his might.

Not to be outdone, Takaba immediately shuffled into position, lifted the formula that had already turned into a shuttlecock, then leaped high into the air and smashed it fiercely toward Xuan.

"I won't let you score!"

Xuan grinned, stepped forward to block the smash, then returned it with a smash of his own—

But the net suddenly rose higher. The shuttlecock, filled with cursed energy, was violently bounced back by the net and struck Xuan in the face, knocking his entire body backward.

"Are you okay?!"

Takaba rushed over in a few quick steps and crouched beside Xuan in concern.

"Ah—of course I'm okay, but that was cheating!!"

Only then did Xuan realize he had fallen into Takaba's technique. He froze, then looked at Takaba.

"Isn't it normal that you couldn't beat him? He's the 'King of Balls,' after all!"

"That terrible pun isn't funny."

Xuan sprang to his feet and fiercely swung the badminton racket at Takaba—

Xuan's body flipped through the air as he hit the shuttlecock away. The shuttlecock, imbued with Xuan's cursed energy, tore the net to pieces, and then Takaba suddenly rushed forward and excitedly hugged Xuan.

"You did it! You really defeated the 'King of Balls'!"

"Using the same pun twice makes it even less funny!"

Xuan broke free and drove an elbow into Takaba, knocking him back.

The surrounding badminton court vanished like melting snow. Xuan looked at the fallen Takaba and began thinking once more.

This guy's technique also came with "jokes." Those dragged into it would resonate with him for a certain period of time.

Just like before: Xuan had clearly intended to attack him, yet he ended up playing a badminton match with him—and had not even scored a point.

This badminton court was like an unfolded Domain... no, while the principle was the same, destroying something like this would not cause his technique to burn out.

...But it did have a sure-hit effect.

He did not know whether Mahoraga could adapt to this technique... He had never tried it at all.

Why had there been no movement for so long?

Xuan stepped forward a few paces, crouched down, and turned over "Takaba's" body.

It was a crudely made cloth dummy. He should have been able to tell it was fake even when it had been standing there just now.

"Sir, look this way!"

Xuan looked up to see a tank before him, its cannon aimed right at his face.

"I'm supposed to say 'cheese' now, right?"

"It wouldn't be funny if you said the audience's line!"

Boom!

Xuan shot into the sky like lightning, while the cannon he had dodged burst like a party popper, spewing countless strips of confetti—and Takaba appeared beside the barrel.

"Oops! I switched it to a confetti cannon for a friend's birthday yesterday!"

"That'd be a disaster if you were actually on a battlefield, wouldn't it?"

"You're right!"

"If people set off fireworks on the battlefield, maybe the war would end because of it."

Several bolts of lightning erupted from Xuan's body, instantly covering the area where Takaba stood and blasting the "tank" into a mass of cursed energy. Then, Xuan immediately beat his wings and dove down.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Xuan, practically transformed into lightning, was pulled away by a powerful suction force as he descended. The electricity around him was drawn to a lightning rod beside Takaba, while Xuan himself came to an abrupt stop and landed on the ground.

My technique disappeared?

No... it was only sealed temporarily?

Because the lightning rod restricted me, I couldn't use lightning?

"You know! The record for the number of times a human has been struck by lightning consecutively without dying was just broken!"

Takaba's voice came from the dust that had yet to settle, and Xuan immediately searched with his cursed energy senses.

But unfortunately, that dust was also part of the "Comedian" technique.

"It was broken just now, right before my very eyes?"

"Th-that's right! The record-breaker was me! Fumihiko Takaba!"

The smoke dispersed along with Takaba's words, revealing Takaba himself, his entire body charred black and sporting an afro blown up by the blast.

"That doesn't look like you're fine at all."

"I never said I was fine, did I?"

"The previous record holder is totally devastated right now. Some guy who cheated with a lightning rod actually broke his record. Hmm, who was the previous record holder again?"

"Yusuke Godai!"

The Takaba before him suddenly transformed into black Kuuga as a red light appeared around his waist. He raised his hand—and flames instantly ignited on Xuan's left shoulder.

"You'll get sued for copyright infringement like that! If this were on a variety show, Toei would shut it down with a lawsuit!"

As Takaba transformed, Xuan raised his hand as well—his palm had somehow become covered in white armor. Then, as heavy snow began to fall, the surrounding environment turned into snowy mountains.

"That's something to worry about after the show ends!"

Takaba shook his body, scattering the flames, and charged at Xuan.

"Don't act all righteous while just giving up! And! At least put on your mask if you're going to be a Kamen Rider!"

Xuan also shook himself in tandem with Takaba's movement and rushed toward him.