Hideo spent his time mowing down the Shuuki alongside Kyouka, seemingly unbothered by the battle. Things went surprisingly smoothly. With minimal communication between them, they moved in perfect sync, anticipating each other's strikes, covering one another's blind spots, and never once getting in the other's way.
Kyouka rode the chained Shuuki like a warhorse, driving it straight through the battlefield as she carved apart any unfortunate creature that dared stand in her path.
Not wanting to be outdone, Hideo reached to his side and pulled out two Core Medals, swapping them with the ones currently in use.
[ππ¦π¨ππππ₯π]
[πΎπ π£ππππ]
[πΉππ₯π₯π]
His form shifted instantly. Along with the gray, heavy-armed Gorilla torso, his head turned green instead of red. A massive stag beetle antler now jutted from his helmet like a crown.
"Alright," Hideo exclaimed, pounding his chest four times.
He inhaled deeply, clenched his fist, and raised it high above his head.
"ALL HAIL GRAND REGENT THRAGG!!!"
He slammed his fist downward. The earth shattered beneath him, claiming multiple Shuuki as collateral casualties from the devastating impact.
Seizing the opportunity, Hideo leapt skyward before crashing down onto two Shuuki, crushing their chests with a single devastating impact.
But more were already charging at him.
Letting out a whistle, he grabbed the weakest-looking Shuuki by the leg and swung it like a living weapon, battering the others that rushed forward. Its body tore apart with every impact, flesh ripping away until it was barely recognizable.
"Bring it on!" Hideo roared, continuing to bludgeon them with the mangled corpse.
He relentlessly slammed and battered every Shuuki that dared leap at him.
"Go to sleep!!!"
Hideo shouted as he whipped a single Shuuki into the others with tremendous force. Without slowing down, he lunged forward, relentlessly striking every living thing that moved.
Provided it wasn't Kyouka-shaped.
After a few more brutal swings, even he had to admit...
Yeah... that's enough of that.
Sorry, fella.
He didn't want to play with the poor Shuuki in his grasp anymore.
He tossed the ruined Shuuki aside and switched to using his fists, punching through chests and crushing skulls beneath his feet as the creatures swarmed him.
Every time he swung, it always resulted in an increasing body count of corpses.
They never stood a chance. Every blow tore straight through flesh as though it were paper.
That Armored Shuuki Hideo had fought last time really was insanely durable. It had actually managed to withstand the Medal's power.
Smirking, Hideo decided to follow up with one of his favorite wrestling moves.
He swept a Shuuki's legs out from under it, sending it crashing to its knees. Then he grabbed its head in a tight facelock, wrapping his arm around its neck.
Planting his feet, he leapt backward and shoutedβ
"DDT!!"
He slammed into the ground, driving the Shuuki's head into the earth with overwhelming, bone-crushing force. The impact split the soil, and the creature's body twitched for only a second before going limp.
Hideo rose immediately, scanning the battlefield.
Their numbers were thinning.
"Let's subtract a few more, shall we?"
The stag beetle antler on his helmet began to glow. A sharp green light pulsed from its edges, growing brighter with every passing second. Soon, arcs of green lightning crackled around him, snapping violently through the air and scorching the ground beneath his feet.
Energy gathered at the tip of the antler, its hum growing louder and louder, eager to be unleashed.
"Let's make Daddy Palpatine proud."
Without waiting another second, Hideo pointed a finger forward. Green lightning exploded outward in a raging torrent.
It ripped across the battlefield like nature's own executioner, tearing through bodies, burning straight through the Shuuki, and sending them to their demise as the overwhelming voltage coursed through them. The air filled with the sharp stench of charred flesh.
Some tried to shield themselves.
It didn't matter.
The lightning chained from one body to another, multiplying the destruction across the shattered ground. Hideo stood there with his arms crossed, letting Mother Nature's deadliest weapon do the rest.
When the light finally faded, only silence remained.
Hideo stood perfectly still, surrounded by the scorched remains of all Shuukis he killed.
"Should've brought some condiments for this chicken dinner."
He quipped.
***
Earlier...
During Hideo's transformation, Kyouka allowed only half of her attention to drift toward him, careful not to lose focus on the far more urgent task of holding back the horde.
"Really... he defies the common sense of this world," she thought.
Seeing him up close only deepened the mystery. The Kamen Rider was an anomalyβan existence that didn't fit into any known category. She didn't know whether to be impressed by his strength or concerned because of it.
Still, one undeniable fact remained.
Whenever he appeared, the outcome overwhelmingly favored their side.
But that did not absolve him.
He was a question mark. A variable. A mysterious book that she and the other Chiefs would have to read, page by page.
"Tsk."
Kyouka clicked her tongue as a Shuuki managed to ambush the one she was riding. The creature beneath her shrieked as it was torn apart, collapsing before she could recover her footing.
She leapt gracefully from its back.
The ground shook violently.
Her eyes shifted toward the source of the tremor.
The Kamen Rider.
He had slammed his fist into the earth, splitting it apart and leaving a massive crater in his wake. Like mindless beasts chasing bait, dozens of Shuuki swarmed toward him.
Kyouka watched for only a second.
Then she looked away.
For now, he wasn't her priority.
She raised a hand and cracked her middle finger against her thumbβa small, habitual gesture.
Of all the Peach abilities she could have been given...
Why did it have to be such a troublesome one to use?
Even so, her eyes sharpened once more.
Annoying or notβ
She wouldn't rely on it.
She would win.
Obviously.
"I don't need any Peaches to beat the crap out of you morons," Kyouka mocked, her expression never changing, not a trace of doubt crossing her face.
She slid the scabbard over her blade in one smooth motion before securing it at her waist. Then she flicked both of her ears with her fingers.
In the next instant, she vanished.
She reappeared before a single Shuuki, catching it completely off guard and leaving its defenses wide open. Kyouka steadied her breathing, locking the muscles of her upper and lower body together so none of the force from her strike would be wasted.
She drove a palm strike into the creature's chest, forcing it backward and throwing it off balance. Stepping her rear foot forward, she clenched her fist and adjusted her stance, coiling her body for the devastating rotation that would follow.
"Let's dance."
She said ominously.
πππ βπ ππ€πππ¦π₯ππ§π ππππππ ζ£ζ³ει£ηͺγ
Kyouka unleashed a swift, relentless barrage of devastating punches, each one slamming into a different vital point. Her fists tore through the Shuuki's body, blasting hole after hole into its flesh until, overwhelmed by the sheer force of her assault, it staggered backward and crashed to the ground.
Seeing no sign of it rising again, she sensed another presence closing in.
Another attacker.
Another corpse waiting to be made.
The incoming punch ripped through the air. Kyouka raised her right hand and redirected the strike with precise control, guiding its force harmlessly past her body. It was a fatal mistake on the Shuuki's part.
Its own momentum carried its masked face directly within her reach.
Her eyes locked onto the mask.
She seized the creature by the head and drove her knee upward, crushing its face with a sickening crack. Once wasn't enough. She struck again. Then a third time. Then a fourth, each impact sharper and more brutal than the last before finally releasing it.
The instant her hand opened, she drew the tachi at her waist as naturally as if it were an extension of her own body. Her fingers wrapped around the hilt without hesitation. She lunged forward, unsheathing the blade in one fluid motion and cutting through every Shuuki in her path as she advanced.
Kyouka never looked back. Her gaze remained fixed ahead, her back already turned to the Shuuki she had just passed. She broke into another sprint, already hunting the next cluster of dead meat.
Behind her, the Shuuki she had crossed stood frozen for a breathless second, as though unaware of what had happened.
They started to charge after Kyouka.
Then their bodies came apart.
Limbs slid free. Torsos split cleanly. They collapsed in piecesβlike salmon filleted by a master chefβonly realizing too late that they had already been cut down.
Watching their kin fall one after another, the remaining Shuuki grew frantic. Desperation drove them together as they began to merge.
They crawled over one another, piling into a grotesque mound of writhing flesh.
Kyouka snorted at the pitiful spectacle, thoroughly unimpressed.
"Well, this makes things easier. I can wipe you out all at once," she said coolly, lifting her chin as the grotesque mass continued to swell. "You've made my job much simpler."
A sharp crackle echoed behind her.
She glanced over her shoulder to see green lightning arcing from the Kamen Rider's position.
One of her eyebrows twitched, and she frowned.
He can use elemental basβ
...You know what? Now isn't the time to dwell on that.
Shaking her head, she dismissed the thought and turned her attention back to the fusion that was nearing completion.
It grew larger with every passing second.
Massive.
Thick.
Veins pulsed beneath its stretched skin.
A colossal, heavily muscled Shuuki towered over her, looming as though mocking her from above. Kyouka's eye twitched at the perceived insult.
Silently, she decided to put an end to the nuisance.
With a sharp motion, she raised her katana above her head, the blade spinning rapidly like a helicopter's rotor.
Myouga Style Swordsmanship: Fourth Form
βπ£π¦π€ππππ ππ π¦ππ₯πππ ε±±η ζ¬
Living up to its name, Kyouka swung the blade in a devastating horizontal arc, cleaving cleanly through both of the Shuuki's legs. The massive limbs separated from its body in a spray of mangled flesh.
By now, the gate had likely already closed. Realizing that, Kyouka decided it was time to bring this battle to an end.
The giant Shuuki toppled forward, its enormous frame collapsing toward her.
She did not move.
Not a trace of fear flickered in her eyes.
Instead, she sensed it.
Rapid footsteps closing in from behind.
"HYPER ECCENTRIC ULTRA GREAT GIGA EXTREME HYPER AGAIN!!!!"
A male voice roared in an absurd battle cry as a figure burst past her and launched himself into the air.
"AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGG RIDERRRRRRRRR PUNCH!!!!!"
Hideo drove a powerful punch into the falling giant Shuuki. The tremendous impact altered its trajectory, sending the colossal body crashing backward instead of crushing Kyouka beneath its weight.
From behind her came a vaguely familiar jingle.
[ππππ]
[ππ π£π]
[πΉππ₯π₯π]
[ππ-ππ -πΉπ! πππ₯π ππ ππ-ππ -πΉπ!]
A presence settled at her back, their shoulders lightly brushing against one another. She didn't need to turn around to know the Kamen Rider was standing behind her.
"Well? What do you say we finish this, Chief Uzen?"
Kyouka exhaled slowly.
"Whatever," she replied coolly, though her mind churned with unspoken thoughts and unanswered questions. After a brief pause, she added, "But yes. Let's clean this up."
She jumped.
He jumped.
Together, they soared into the air, looking down at the giant Shuuki sprawled across the ground, its massive arms twitching as it struggled to rise.
[πβπΈββπβπΎ ββπΈβπΎπΌ]
Circles of green, yellow, and red materialized beside Kyouka, aligning themselves into luminous rings. Behind the Kamen Rider, a blazing crimson aura erupted, unfurling into wings of radiant light.
Kyouka tightened her grip on her katana, preparing to deliver the final strike.
"SEIYAHHHH!" The Kamen Rider roared as he descended like a meteor.
"HAAAAAAAAAA!" Kyouka cried, drawing her blade back before unleashing a sweeping slash with all her might.
Below them, the giant Shuuki looked up just as the converging lights engulfed its massive body.
In the next instant, it was carved apart within a fraction of a second. Steel and energy tore through its flesh simultaneously, followed by a chain of violent explosions that ripped across its colossal form.