Speedrunning the World Starting with Firefly — Part 8

[Zombie Strike]

At that moment, Azuma Michinaga's upper-body armor gathered energy from the BerserClaw on his left hand and struck the ground. The next instant, countless BerserClaw-shaped energy constructs burst from underground, their hunting claws lunging at Sam.

However...

Firefly looked at the many terrifying claws appearing beneath her feet and felt nothing at all. They could not break through her defenses even without her making a move.

"How is this possible?!"

Seeing his attack prove ineffective, Azuma Michinaga was completely dumbfounded.

How could it have absolutely no effect?

"Since this is your choice... Action One, execute."

As Sam's cold voice rang out, the leg armor immediately blasted flames downward.

Then, with one hand pressed toward the ground, the armor leaped. Sam rose several meters into the air as scorching flames ignited around her raised right foot, and she kicked at Azuma Michinaga like a meteor.

Azuma Michinaga's expression changed. Not daring to be careless, he hurriedly raised the Zombie Breaker in his hand, attempting to block Sam's blow.

However, he had clearly still underestimated the power of that strike. Even though Sam was still not serious, it was not something he could withstand.

Cracks immediately appeared across Azuma Michinaga's Kamen Rider armor, which shattered bit by bit, while his body was embedded in the ground once again.

His entire body looked like a charred lump of coal, yet he still retained his final breath.

Firefly no longer paid attention to him and had no intention of finishing him off. There was no need. Instead, she fixed her gaze on another Kamen Rider.

The instant Azuma Michinaga and Sam began fighting, Ukiyo Ace decisively transformed and rode his motorcycle toward the Jyamato Fortress.

He had already found a way to destroy the Jyamato Fortress. It could not be destroyed from the outside. The only way was to charge directly inside and destroy it from within.

That was also the Jyamato Fortress's only weakness.

Though it was still dangerous, it was the only chance.

That unknown Rider was very strong, and he was not completely confident he could deal with her. Therefore, completing the mission was what mattered most right now.

As long as the Jyamato Fortress was destroyed, everything would be over.

Just as Ukiyo Ace was about to charge into the Jyamato Fortress, Firefly naturally had no intention of letting him complete the challenge. How could the prey she had set her sights on be snatched away by a fox?

Flames erupted from Sam's feet as her figure shot into the sky, appearing before Geats in an instant.

Looking at Sam blocking his path, Ukiyo Ace did not slow down atop his motorcycle. Instead, he twisted the throttle to maximum power.

Like a phantom, he rammed forward at extreme speed.

He intended not only to knock away the unknown Rider before him, but also to crash directly into the Jyamato Fortress and destroy its interior as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, once he stopped, all his efforts would be wasted.

Not only were there greater numbers of Jyamato within the fortress, they were also far stronger. Moreover, it was their home territory—enough to wear down any invaders.

Seeing Geats accelerate rather than slow down, Firefly did not waver in the slightest. She merely extended Sam's arm toward his motorcycle.

The next instant, the motorcycle slammed into Sam. Yet instead of Sam being sent flying as Ukiyo Ace had imagined, its front was forcibly pinned down by that iron hand.

The terrifying strength even warped the motorcycle beneath him.

The impact made Ukiyo Ace decisively abandon the motorcycle. He leaped into the air and switched the Trigger and Buckles on his waist.

[Strike Trigger]

[Boost Throttle]

In midair, Ukiyo Ace rapidly turned the Magnum Buckle, then triggered the Boost Buckle twice before turning it once more, activating his finishing move alongside the sound effect, "Magnum Boost Grand Victory."

Noticing Geats's movements, Sam did not sit idle either. She assumed a stance as the propulsion units on her body began to exert force.

The moment Geats attacked, Sam struck as well.

At an unobservable speed, Sam's attack had already reached Geats.

[Blazing Boost!]

Flames completely engulfed Geats. The overwhelming force cracked Geats's equipment as well, exposing his true face beneath the armor.

Then he was sent flying backward like a cannonball, crashing heavily into the ruins below.

His Winning Streak Was Broken

Seeing Geats defeated, Sam did not continue with a finishing blow either.

Although Ukiyo Ace's later boomerang had indeed left her, as a viewer, quite frustrated and wanting to vent a little, now was not the time to do anything.

Destroying the DGP was not something that could be accomplished all at once. The organizers, along with those fun-seekers, would not allow her to do so. They would definitely stop her.

Right, and there were also the Game Master and the Producer.

The current Desire Riders were not particularly strong, but the Game Master's transformation device seemed to possess the power to delete data.

There was also the Jyamato power, the power of creation, and the powerful Buckles obtained by the Kamen Riders. Almost all of them had been donated by the top-ranking fun-seekers.

They were not truly as weak as they appeared now.

It was just that the current DGP was equivalent to a bronze-tier ranked match.

Geats's winning streak, on the other hand, was like an old man ranked Gold stomping noobs in a Bronze match—kind of shameless.

After all, he was a two-thousand-year-old youngster.

Who knew how many Bronze-tier fish ponds he had wrecked.

In any case, ending the DGP Grand Prix would have to be done step by step. The immediate priority was to claim the points from Jyamato Fortress and use them to strengthen herself.

With neither the organizers nor the Game Master making a move, Sam fixed her gaze on Jyamato Fortress above.

Unlike Geats, she had no need to destroy it from within. With Sam's power, that would have been completely unnecessary. She could destroy it head-on!

As the giant tentacles extended toward her once more, along with the soldier Jyamato being transported out, the thrusters on Sam's body ignited again.

A single punch shattered everything before her.

Then she leaped up and landed atop Jyamato Fortress. Standing on the massive fortress, she raised her right leg before it could react...

"Execute!"

[BBHF - Scorched Earth Operations]

Her foot came down on Jyamato Fortress. Power enough to shatter continents surged through the entire fortress, accompanied by raging flames.

Under that blow, the enormous Jyamato Fortress began to crack continuously, while terrifying flames spread through the fissures and covered its entire body.

The Jyamato inside the fortress struggled and fled in panic, but it was useless.

The merciless flames devoured their bodies.

Sam did not continue attacking. Her true opponent had been the Swarm Disaster that ravaged the cosmos.

Compared to that, these Jyamato were far too weak to make her use her true power. Even Jyamato Fortress was no exception.

This was enough!

With just that one strike, she had directly destroyed the terrifying Jyamato Fortress that others feared.

With the final boss's death, the game was declared over. Only this time, Geats had not continued his streak as the Desire God.

Instead, he had been intercepted midway by an unfamiliar Rider.

Naturally, this outcome did not satisfy the viewers watching this Rider reality show, especially the future people who enjoyed watching Geats stomp noobs.

They could not accept their beloved Rider being defeated by some random person, interrupting the Desire God's streak that should have continued.

At that moment, they were voicing their complaints to the DGP Grand Prix organizers and the Game Master, shouting, "Fuck your mother! Refund our money!"

Of course, not every viewer felt that way. Many had long grown tired of watching Geats stomp noobs and were happy to see him lose.

There were also fans of other Riders who did not want Geats to keep winning every single time.

Within the endless world composed of data, streams of light flashed past, displaying scenes of Sam's battle against Geats, Buffa, and Jyamato Fortress.

At that moment, Girori, the DGP Game Master, was studying every detail of the battle intently behind his mask, his expression unreadable.

"An unknown Rider?"

Girori's feelings were complicated. He did not know whether he should be pleased or angry.

When he saw Sam appear, he had undoubtedly been greatly surprised, because she had nothing to do with the organizers. She had come from goodness knew where.

She did not belong to the DGP at all!

How could such an unknown variable not be worrying?

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, he had not immediately stopped this Rider's actions, especially after seeing her attack Geats.

Instead, he began to look forward to a change in the outcome of this Grand Prix. Perhaps that would make the game more "entertaining."

Although it disrupted the original balance of the competition and would leave some diehard Geats fans dissatisfied, it would also draw the attention of more people.

Besides, this Rider had nothing to do with him in the first place.

It was completely worth it, and in fact... the outcome had not disappointed him.

In his eyes, entertainment and viewership were what mattered most in the DGP Grand Prix. Everything else was secondary.

After all, the DGP Grand Prix's audience consisted entirely of future people who had abandoned their physical bodies and chosen to merge their souls into data. They no longer needed food; entertainment was their sustenance.

And thus, the DGP came into being.

Ever since Geats first became the Desire God, he had monopolized that position, even earning the title of the Geats Myth.

But that was not actually a good thing. It had eliminated the uncertainty of competition. Before a match even began, nearly every viewer could already guess the outcome.

Barring any surprises, Geats would win again!

Many viewers' expectations for the show had steadily declined. Only a portion of Geats fans were happy, and if things continued like this, the DGP Grand Prix would inevitably decline into obscurity.

Aware of this, Game Master Girori had deliberately wanted Geats to lose and end his streak of dominance, thereby keeping the DGP alive.