"Damn it, not there yet?" Tony saw that Fuma's figure on the screen in front of him was beginning to blur. He immediately launched another attack, trying to stall Fuma, but Tony's light-cannon blasts were almost completely unable to touch him.
It was as if there were an unbreakable barrier in front of Fuma, effortlessly neutralizing all of Tony's attacks.
Seeing that his offense was ineffective, Tony couldn't help but feel anxious. If he let Fuma—someone directly connected to Foundation X—escape this time, who knew when he'd get another chance to uncover concrete clues about it?
But there was no other option. Tony could only increase the output power of his light cannons to interfere as much as possible, hoping that Li Hua and the others would arrive soon.
Victor Shaw felt the powerful energy attacks Tony was releasing against him and frowned slightly. Although the attacks couldn't break through his defenses, they were interfering with the deployment of the Game Field.
If he didn't use the Game Field to conceal himself and shake off Tony's pursuit, and instead chose to retreat directly…
Then under normal withdrawal conditions, no matter how fast he was, it would be difficult to escape the lock-on of Tony Stark's armor sensors and tracking systems.
Even though Victor didn't want to clash with Tony, at this moment, he had no choice but to act.
He swung the short blade in his hand, releasing a continuous barrage of light blades toward Tony.
Tony immediately raised his right hand and used his repulsor to intercept the incoming light blades.
However, even with the assistance of the targeting support system, while most of the blades were intercepted, several light blades autonomously changed their trajectories mid-flight, dodged the shots, and struck Tony directly.
Tony's armor was heavily damaged by the light blades. Deep gashes were carved into the chest and arm plating, erupting into brilliant sparks.
Temporarily losing his offensive capability, Tony immediately activated the power of the Machine Memory to repair and restore the armor.
Victor Shaw glanced at the armor's automatic self-repair with mild curiosity, but didn't dwell on it. His only intention was to leave.
Just as Victor interrupted Tony's attacks and prepared to use the Game Cartridge's ability to teleport away—
An unexpected attack suddenly came from the side, directly interrupting his action.
"You finally made it," Tony said with relief as he finished repairing his armor components and looked at Li Hua, Elena, and Gwen, who had arrived via teleportation array.
"You are the users of the Game Cartridges and Rider Systems selected by Genm Corp."
Seeing the similarly styled armor worn by the three, as well as the Player Drivers and Game Cartridges at their waists, Victor immediately reacted and said, "So Tony Stark's real goal from the beginning was to stall for time and wait for you to arrive?"
Knowing that the three were Kamen Rider Brave, Snipe, and Lazer—just as the Foundation had mentioned—
Li Hua, Elena, and Gwen also locked onto the Player Driver and Game Cartridge at Victor's waist.
"Tony was right. You must have an extremely close connection to Consortium B," Li Hua said.
"A Rider System capable of using the Bugster Virus—other than Dan Kuroto of Genm Corp, only that Foundation could have such technology."
As he spoke, the surrounding environment underwent a silent yet massive transformation.
Victor glanced at the suddenly altered surroundings and knew that the three had deployed their Game Field. He sighed softly.
"It seems I'll have to defeat all of you if I want to leave."
In truth, Victor had no desire to engage in a battle of such little meaning—but now, it was unavoidable.
Li Hua directly took out the Level 50 Tadle Fantasy Cartridge.
"Don't speak so confidently. Who will win this game is still uncertain."
He inserted the Cartridge into his Player Driver, elevating Brave's level to 50.
"Gachan! Dual Up! Tadoru meguru RPG! Taddle Fantasy~!"
Feeling the overwhelming aura released by the Level 50 Brave, Victor also grew serious. He once again summoned his ninja squad, gripping his short blades with both hands, ready to fight.
Level 50 Brave charged straight through the encirclement of ninjas summoned by Fuma, his sword igniting with surging energy flames as he thrust directly toward Fuma himself.
Elena and Gwen used the Drago Knight Hunter Game Cartridges to entangle the ninja squad.
Victor crossed his blades to block Brave's powerful strike.
The Hero Sword and Fuma's blades collided, instantly unleashing violent energy waves and blinding flashes of light.
In their first exchange, Brave and Fuma showed no significant difference in raw strength. After the clash, both were forced back several meters.
After sensing that Fuma's strength was in no way inferior to his own Level 50 form, Li Hua became even more cautious.
He gathered energy into his holy sword once more and condensed a massive light blade, slashing toward Fuma.
However, the attack struck nothing—Fuma instantly shifted positions, completely evading the edge of Brave's sword.
"So fast!" Li Hua muttered, estimating the speed Fuma had just displayed, his heart sinking slightly.
While their power and attack strength were comparable, Fuma's speed was clearly far superior to that of Level 50 Brave.
Realizing this, Li Hua immediately focused and took a defensive stance, preparing to respond to Fuma's next move.
When the enemy has a clear speed advantage, reckless offence often leads to being effortlessly dodged and counterattacked. A more stable approach was to defend and counter.
Defend against attacks, wait for the opponent to act, expose openings, and seize the chance to strike back.
After all, Li Hua still had two teammates—though temporarily tied down. Choosing a cautious combat strategy was only natural.
However, Victor Shaw did not immediately attack as Li Hua expected.
Instead, he leapt into the air, located a game item within the Game Field, and absorbed it.
"Shadow Clone."
The sound effect echoed.
In an instant, Fuma split into nine clones.
These clones were completely different from the ninja troops he had summoned earlier—they were perfect replicas of Fuma himself.
Li Hua felt a sense of dread. If each clone possessed combat power close to the original, then the three of them would be in serious danger.
After absorbing the item, Victor didn't give Li Hua time to think. He immediately commanded the clones to attack.
Li Hua struggled to withstand the assault of a single clone, shock flickering through his mind.
The clone's strength was actually about seventy to eighty percent of the original?!
But when he kicked the clone and it instantly burst apart like a bubble, Li Hua finally breathed a small sigh of relief.
Thankfully, these clones had extremely low—or rather, nonexistent—defensive capability. Any hit caused them to dissipate immediately. Otherwise, there would be no way to fight them at all.
Seeing one clone destroyed, Victor wasn't surprised in the least. As the original, he naturally understood their limitations.
The clone being easily eliminated was entirely expected. What mattered was what came next.
In the brief moment Li Hua spent dealing with that clone—
The remaining clones, along with the original, had already surrounded him, all charging up their finishing moves.
Although these item-created clones possessed power only slightly inferior to the original, they would collapse upon being hit.
Victor directly ordered all of them to strike simultaneously, unleashing a decisive killing blow.
(End of Chapter)