Just as Raven was considering whether he should intervene, Kouta and Mitsuzane arrived from a distance.
Both immediately transformed and engaged in battle. After clearing a wave of smaller Inves, they next faced a Blue Dragon Inves. Judging by its defense, it was extremely high, almost approaching the level of an Over Lord.
Unfortunately, even with the three of them working together, they were unsuccessful. None of their attacks could penetrate its armor.
"Mitsuzane! Take Mai and get out through the rift while you can!" Kouta shouted to the two of them in the distance while he was still grappling with the Blue Dragon Inves.
"Got it, Kouta!"
Mitsuzane quickly took Mai and leaped into a nearby space rift. Kaito and Kouta followed them in.
But to their surprise, the Blue Dragon Inves followed them as well.
"Damn it, it came with us!"
Kamen Rider Gaim was unexpectedly struck by a claw from the Blue Dragon Inves and tumbled across the ground several times. Baron, seeing this, tried to attack, but the monster remained unphased, not even flinching, and quickly thrashed him soundly.
Gaim rushed back in from behind, repeatedly hacking away with his dual blades. Yet, he couldn't elicit any reaction whatsoever.
"This guy is too tough..." Kouta's Daidaimaru was nearly ruined from all the hacking.
After dealing with Baron, the Blue Dragon Inves turned its attention to Gaim and launched a fierce, continuous assault.
"That monster is not on the same level as the others," Mai said, extremely worried.
"Ugh!"
Gaim was sent flying by the mighty Blue Dragon Inves, temporarily incapacitated. Baron was also in bad shape; already carrying old injuries, his current condition was poor.
"What do we do now? The Watermelon Lockseed is unusable," Mitsuzane said. The Watermelon Lockseed Gaim used last time was incredibly powerful, but after that single use, it couldn't be opened again, and its color had even faded.
"I have to ask, is this the best you can do?"
Just then, a figure clad in green and white emerged from the previous rift. Everyone's gaze turned towards him.
It was an Armored Rider with white as his base suit, and his armor—mostly green and patterned like a melon—bore the motif of the Melon Arms. Although his style was different from Zangetsu's, its "Japanese" features made him look even more imposing.
"Melon?" Kouta exclaimed instantly.
"It's the café owner!"
"That guy again!" Kaito immediately recognized that the Melon Armored Rider before him was the same person as the Apple Armored Rider who had so thoroughly decimated him last time. He hadn't forgotten how he'd been beaten in the forest before. He simply couldn't resist.
"Wow, it's him..." Mai looked utterly mesmerized, her expression one of infatuation.
Mitsuzane felt a surge of jealousy.
Raven was holding a sword in one hand and a Melon Defender shield in the other, and he slowly walked toward the Blue Dragon Inves. The monster noticed Raven and immediately charged to attack.
"Hah!"
Raven gave it no chance, bringing his sword down in a frontal slash.
Bang!
Because the Driver and Lockseed he was using were unrestricted, the destructive power was overwhelming, and the Blue Dragon Inves took a solid hit, suffering significant damage. It was immediately forced to stagger backward.
Clang!
Before it could react, it was struck by another sword slash. The immense destructive power made it groan in pain and roll on the ground.
"So strong..."
Mitsuzane was completely stunned by Raven's power. The Inves that they collectively couldn't even scratch was brought to its knees after just two slashes from Raven.
He also remembered how he had secretly seen a Sengoku Driver and a Melon Lockseed in a box belonging to his brother, Takatora Kureshima. Could it be the one being used by this person?
"Raven-sama, you're amazing!" The chuunibyou girl Mai was positively thrilled, utterly captivated by Raven.
"I have to get stronger... constantly stronger." Kaito was filled with envy. If only he could be as powerful as Raven, maybe he could finally get revenge on Yggdrasill.
After two slashes that broke the Blue Dragon Inves's defense, Raven quickly pressed the Cutting Blade twice, preparing to launch his finisher. A blue-green energy slash, accompanied by Raven's swing, shot straight toward the Blue Dragon Inves in the distance.
"Melon Slash!"
Boom!
The whole scene looked as if a melon had exploded, and the Blue Dragon Inves was finally and completely annihilated.
"That was incredible, Boss!"
Kouta immediately deactivated his transformation and rushed to Raven's side.
Raven also released his transformation.
"I saw you were leaving in such a hurry, so I decided to follow and check things out," Raven explained.
"Oh, I see. Thank you so much for the trouble, then," Kouta said, scratching his head sheepishly.
"Raven-san, I'm Mai Takatsukasa, from Team Gaim. I didn't get a chance to thank you properly last time." Mai quickly came over and bowed to him.
Raven smiled faintly and said, "Don't worry about it."
His gaze then involuntarily shifted to Kaito in the distance. Kaito looked back at Raven.
"We meet again," Raven greeted him.
Kaito now understood everything. The person who had beaten him up several times recently was Raven. Once when he disrupted their performance, and once in the forest.
"I should've known it was you." Kaito felt utterly stifled. What did it matter that he knew? He understood he couldn't beat him. The weak being dominated by the strong was the eternal, unchanging truth of this world.
"I will defeat you." Kaito gave Raven a deep look, then left the area nursing his wounds.
"Another chuunibyou case." Raven shook his head.
He's a rich kid from a redeveloped property, a second-generation rich man, but he insists on acting like he has deep-seated trauma and hatred. Raven knew the obsession driving Kaito's desire for strength: it was because the Yggdrasill Corporation developed Zawame City and built their headquarters on his family's land.
But they had legally purchased the land. And judging by Kaito's current extravagant spending, they clearly paid a generous settlement at the time.
It was also somewhat ironic that Kaito's so-called quest for strength and revenge initially only involved street dancing and fighting over turf. It wasn't until Yggdrasill leaked some Lockseeds onto the market for testing that they even had the chance to get their hands on a Driver. He couldn't understand where Kaito got the mysterious confidence that he could take revenge with a belt that was intentionally given to him.
After inwardly venting his frustrations, Raven left with Kouta and the others. They talked a lot on the way.
When Mai heard that Raven's shop was in urgent need of staff, the fangirl immediately offered to work part-time. All the members of their dance crews had part-time jobs, or else they wouldn't have been able to cover their daily operational expenses. She might as well work at Raven's shop.
"That's great, Mai! We'll be colleagues then," Kouta quickly said.
Only Mitsuzane felt completely out of place with them.
Eventually, the group split up.
After another busy afternoon at the shop, Kouta returned home, carrying a piece of dessert from the shop—a gift from Raven. He knew Kouta's older sister loved sweets and specially prepared it for her.
"Kouta, your boss is too generous. I'm starting to feel bad." Akira picked up a piece of the dessert and started eating, unable to stop smiling. Having loved sweets since childhood, she had gained some weight, but it was all in the right places.
"Speaking of which, I still haven't met him," Akira said after thoroughly enjoying the dessert. "I wonder what kind of person he is. Someone who can make such delicious sweets must be a middle-aged man with plenty of experience."
In Akira's mind, a middle-aged man in a white work uniform, bustling in the kitchen, immediately popped up.
"Cough, cough. Our boss isn't as old as you think. In a couple of days, he's going to have a public dessert-making competition with the owner of Charmant. You should come watch," Kouta said.
"What?! Charmant!" Akira was astonished to hear the name. That was her favorite pastry shop! She only got to go once in a blue moon because of her empty wallet.
"Then I think your boss is definitely going to win," Akira declared without hesitation. She wasn't just saying this because she was eating his free food; as a passionate sweets lover, she genuinely believed it.
....
A few days later, Oren successfully finalized the details of the competition with great fanfare. He chose a city plaza and even built a special, elaborate stage, making it look like a major performance event. He also hung a massive banner featuring his and Raven's Armored Rider forms, as if to deliberately emphasize the duel. It was all very over-the-top.
Crowds of sweet-lovers, having received the announcement, gathered early.
"Hello, citizens of Zawame City! I am Oren Pierre Alfonzo."
"I believe you all know the purpose of today's competition. Someone actually dared to challenge my status as a world-class pastry chef!"
"It's simply... outrageous!"
"And this challenger is the owner of the Amazon café and pastry shop!"
Oren began the opening with an exaggerated introduction, adopting the attitude that if he wasn't embarrassed, his opponent would be.
"It's really Mr. Oren!"
"My first time seeing him in person!"
"His desserts were featured on TV!"
The citizens below the stage watched Oren in amazement. Hearing his words, they couldn't imagine which sweet shop in Zawame City would dare to challenge him.
"I heard this shop, called Amazon, only opened recently, and its location is terrible," someone whispered to their neighbor.
"Well, it must be someone not to be underestimated. They must be a top-tier pastry chef themselves."
In the crowd, Akira had come with her brother, eagerly anticipating Raven's appearance. She wasn't the only one; everyone else wanted to know what kind of person could stand up to Oren in a dessert competition in Zawame City.
"What's the deal? Why hasn't he shown up yet? Is he too scared to come because he knows he'll lose?" After waiting a while and with Raven still not appearing, some onlookers grew impatient.
"What are you talking about? Mr. Raven would never be afraid of that muscle-bound old man!" Kouta retorted indignantly.
"Hmph. It seems my opponent truly is frightened," Oren said triumphantly from the stage. By not showing up, his opponent would undoubtedly be admitting defeat.
"My apologies, I'm late."
Just then, Raven finally arrived from the side of the stage. He looked a bit embarrassed, having realized the sheer scale of the event when he arrived. It seemed Oren intended to announce the results of this match to the entire world.
"Huh? He's so young?"
"He's the owner of that shop?"
"No way... That's too much of a difference."
The audience was collectively stunned by Raven's youthful appearance. They had expected him to be at least thirty, but he looked barely over twenty.
Akira was the most surprised of all. Raven's image and age were completely different from what she had imagined.
Handsome and young...
The thought that she had been eating desserts and cakes personally made by him these past few days made her blush slightly. Her heart pounded in her chest, like a little deer scrambling about.
"Kouta, is your boss... married?" Akira asked.
"What are you talking about, oneechan? The boss is so young, how could he be married?" Kouta replied.
"Then does he have a girlfriend?" Akira's eyes brightened as she pressed on.
"Well... I don't think so." Kouta hesitated before answering. While Yuka and Saya were close to Raven, they always called him "Raven-san," so he hadn't thought much of it. Aside from them, he hadn't seen Raven interact with any other women.
"Wait, oneechan, why are you asking?" Kouta, truly earning his nickname "Silly Orange," still hadn't picked up on the real intention.
"Oh, nothing, just asking..." Akira quickly said. In her mind, she was thinking, I'm trying to help you find a brother-in-law. The pressure of being alone had been getting to her lately, and she was certainly at the age where she should be thinking about marriage.
But the thought that Raven was a few years younger than her made her feel a little insecure. He was young, handsome, and wealthy, why would he ever look twice at an "old woman" like her?
"Raven-san, good luck!"
At that moment, Mai arrived at the scene with the rest of her Team Gaim friends to cheer Raven on. Yuka and Saya, naturally, also came, but they were positioned on the other side. The two women were dressed beautifully today, holding Raven's support sign, attracting quite a bit of attention.
"Alright, enough chatter. Let's just start." Raven didn't want to waste another word. He walked directly to the prepared equipment on the stage and began his preparations.
"Bold move. Let's begin then." Oren also started his preparations.
A few dozen minutes passed quickly. During the long wait, the crowd of onlookers didn't thin out; instead, it grew larger. Finally, both chefs successfully completed their first dessert at almost the same time.
"Just based on presentation, it's a tie..." the dessert enthusiasts honestly commented.
It was soon time for the live, randomly selected tasting session. To ensure fairness, the audience was not told which dessert belonged to which chef, allowing them to judge purely on taste.
Oren was brimming with confidence, not worried about the possibility of losing at all.
But the results that were announced next completely stunned him. The ten randomly selected lucky participants all voted for Raven's dessert.
It was an overwhelming, crushing victory!
"Impossible!"
Oren angrily tore off his hat, revealing his shining bald head. He immediately stepped up, grabbed a spoon, and took a bite of Raven's creation.
He was ready to find fault and complain.
But instead...
He froze.
"This is... truly delicious..." As an extreme dessert lover and a world-class pastry chef himself, he was completely defeated. It was an undeniable, humble defeat.
In that instant, Oren even shed tears.
"No way..."
The crowd below the stage was also extremely surprised. How good could it possibly be to make Oren react like that?
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