Starting with Firefly, Speedrunning the World — Part 7

"That's not necessarily true. The final Desire God can only be me."

Ukiyo Ace paid no attention to Azuma Michinaga's words. He merely interlaced his fingers, straightened up, and retorted with absolute confidence.

"What do you mean?!"

Hearing that answer and tone, Azuma Michinaga frowned. His score had clearly surpassed Ace's completely; there should have been no way for him to catch up now.

Could it be...

Azuma Michinaga suddenly thought of something. His gaze shifted to the unknown armored warrior, then to the Jyamato Fortress in the sky.

Could it have something to do with them?

The Beaten-Up Kamen Rider

"Looks like you figured it out too!"

Noticing Azuma Michinaga's reaction, Ukiyo Ace remained perfectly calm, as though he did not care at all that his objective had been exposed.

"The final clearance condition for this game is to protect this city. If we destroy the final boss, then we'll have protected the city to the greatest extent possible."

"In other words, destroying the Jyamato Fortress will directly earn us the chance to become the Goddess of Desire."

Ukiyo Ace casually revealed his objective. This had been his goal from the very beginning—he did not care in the slightest about the points for killing Pawn Jyamat or saving people.

As long as he dealt with the biggest boss, he would be the winner.

That was why he had only appeared at the very end without any rush.

He had been observing all along, waiting for the Jyamato Fortress to appear.

Nor was he worried that Buffa would learn the key to victory from what he said. Even if he knew... that bull still could not destroy the enormous Jyamato Fortress.

Destroying the Jyamato Fortress would not be easy. That was also why Ace had not acted hastily—he had been searching for its weakness.

Still, the armored warrior who had suddenly appeared caught him completely off guard.

He had no idea whether it was some Easter egg arranged by the Grand Prix or some other unforeseen development.

"You bastard..."

Hearing Ukiyo Ace admit it himself, Kamen Rider Buffa could not help raising his fist.

It was not as though he had never considered it, but destroying the massive Jyamato Fortress was simply too difficult. There was no way to do it.

But if it was Geats... he really might be able to pull it off.

Michinaga's expression instantly darkened. He had thought victory was already in his grasp.

Had all his hard work been for nothing? Was he supposed to watch Ace claim victory? No. He would never allow it.

"I won't let you complete the mission! The one who becomes the Goddess of Desire will only be me!!"

Although Azuma Michinaga had yet to find a way to destroy the Jyamato Fortress, after hearing Ukiyo Ace's plan, he could no longer worry about such things.

No matter what, he could not lose to Geats. So he had to destroy the Jyamato Fortress before Geats did. Acting on impulse, he decisively charged toward the Jyamato Fortress...

"..."

Watching Azuma Michinaga's actions, Ukiyo Ace merely smiled like a fox, with no intention of stopping him.

Then he turned his gaze toward the unknown armored rider. It seemed that his target was also the Jyamato Fortress.

Whether he was an arrangement by the Grand Prix organizers or an accident, one thing was certain... if that man destroyed the Jyamato Fortress, then this mission would surely fail.

Let that wild bull go tangle with him.

He would claim the final reward of this Desire Grand Prix once again.

That was right. This was not Ukiyo Ace's first time participating in the Desire Grand Prix. Because of a wish he had made when he previously became the Goddess of Desire, he had gained the qualification to participate in every Grand Prix.

And ever since he had become a Kamen Rider and started participating in the Desire Grand Prix, he had never lost. He was a true undefeated champion, successfully becoming the Goddess of Desire every single time.

This time would naturally be no exception.

Even though the Game Master was already extremely dissatisfied with him, as long as the rules remained unchanged, there was nothing he could do!

"The final target, the Jyamato Fortress..."

The score reward for this should not disappoint her!

After clearing out all the surrounding Jyamat, Sam fixed her sights on the Jyamato Fortress overhead once more.

Farming points was fun, but this was the real target.

Destroying this Jyamato Fortress would very likely cause the Desire Grand Prix to end anticlimactically, leaving no Goddess of Desire to emerge.

But the girl did not care. Her goal was to destroy the Desire Grand Prix. If this ended up ruining the Desire Grand Prix, that would be even better.

(Though that was simply impossible.)

So she intended to interfere with this game.

As for her changing the plot and preventing Ukiyo Ace from completing the objective and becoming the Goddess of Desire—if she did not know what happened later, she might have felt guilty about it. But now, she could not have wanted it more.

The Desire Grand Prix.

The future audience members were all a bunch of thrill-seekers. It was a shame they did not worship joy.

All the Riders, including the lead Rider Ukiyo Ace, had gone completely insane.

Hypocrisy, holier-than-thou behavior, brain damage, split personalities...

There was no telling where to even begin criticizing them.

Ukiyo Ace especially had been the perfect undefeated general in the early stages, yet after his revival, he had completely turned into that absurd fox god...

Who knew if he had been swapped out for a copy.

Without giving it further thought, Sam leaped into the air and charged straight toward Jyamato Fortress ahead.

She did not care how those Future Human spectators would react. If she were facing an unreasonable existence like Kamen Rider Ohma Zi-O, it might have been another matter.

His abilities were simply outrageous.

But these data-life Future Humans of this world... people who had chosen digital ascension after Earth ran into problems... were nothing to fear.

Their technology might indeed have been advanced, but in the Star Rail Universe, it was no more than that.

However, just as Sam was about to approach Jyamato Fortress, a purple figure suddenly appeared and attacked her.

He intended to stop Sam from getting close to Jyamato Fortress.

"The one who will destroy the fortress is me. Don't even think about getting near it!"

"The one who becomes the God of Desire will only be me."

Azuma Michinaga attacked Armored Sam with his weapon. As a Kamen Rider who already specialized in strength, the Zombie Buckle had greatly enhanced his power.

The Zombie Breaker in his hand came smashing down viciously.

Though he had no idea what this armored Rider before him was, since Jyamato Fortress was the key, he naturally could not let her steal his target.

Even though he actually had no way to destroy the fortress.

Because of Buffa's appearance, Sam paused in her approach toward Jyamato Fortress. Rather than continue forward, she first evaded the attack.

At the same time, she slammed a fist into his body.

Buffa, who excelled in strength, was sent flying by Sam's punch.

If Sam had actually put any force into it, and if Buffa had not been protected by his Kamen Rider suit, he would already have been reduced to mush.

Even so, he did not have it easy.

The punch sent him crashing into a nearby building, bringing the structure down around him.

Yet Buffa's vitality was indeed formidable. Even after that, he still crawled out of the rubble and forced himself back to his feet.

Enduring the pain wracking his body, Azuma Michinaga used the Zombie Breaker in his hand to pull himself upright.

He had not expected this unknown opponent to be so strong. A single punch had nearly crippled him. But he did not collapse because of it, nor did he have any intention of giving up.

His chance to become the God of Desire was right before him. No one could stop him.

Seeing Buffa's attitude, Sam descended from the air and landed not far away from him.

Her tall armored frame exuded a terrifying presence...

"One Kamen Rider, and a fox hiding in the shadows."

Through Sam's armor, Firefly scanned Kamen Rider Buffa before her, then swept her gaze around the area. She spotted Ukiyo Ace above and some distance away.

Sam's tone was calm. Rather than attack immediately, she issued a warning.

"Leave now, and no one will be hurt!"

"Otherwise, you will all die."

In the Desire Grand Prix, if one was merely eliminated from the game, the Kamen Riders would be fine. Once the world was remade, they would simply lose their memories of the Kamen Riders and the Desire Grand Prix.

But if they were eliminated by being killed, then because of this world's special circumstances, although it was not death in the truest sense, they would still be used by the Desire Grand Prix organizers to cultivate Jyamato or serve as nutrients.

Hearing Sam's cold, razor-sharp warning, Ukiyo Ace, hidden in the shadows, did not react much. He was not surprised that he had been discovered.

He merely gave Sam a serious look before turning his gaze toward Jyamato Fortress, seemingly lost in thought.

Azuma Michinaga, on the other hand, looked extremely grim. Her attitude of completely disregarding him made him deeply irritated.

"Don't look down on me!"

The Zombie Buckle had granted him immense strength as well as considerable vitality. Once he felt somewhat better, Azuma Michinaga immediately activated the Zombie Buckle.

As he moved, the distinctive sound effects of a Kamen Rider rang out.