The Bat Gurongi's question was the textbook demand of a villain facing the unknown. Beneath the visor of his armor, Rin Kuga's lips curled into a faint, knowing smirk. Even if the monster couldn't see the change in his expression, the shift in the air was palpable.
In his previous life, this specific brand of antagonist posturing was usually accompanied by a familiar, pulse-pounding theme song. The trope was etched into his soul. Channeling the memory of a certain "Passing Through" destroyer of worlds, Rin raised his right hand, pointing a single finger toward the creature.
"I'm just a passing through Kamen Rider," he said, his voice echoing with a cold, metallic resonance through the field. "You better remember that." He always wanted to say that
The Bat Gurongi tilted its head, its primal mind struggling to process the term. "Kamen Rider? What kind of nonsense is that!"
The creature snarled, dropping back into a feral hunting stance. It tensed its legs, preparing to tear across the turf. But before its muscles could even contract for the leap, Zi-O was already gone.
In a blur of silver and charcoal, Rin closed the distance. He moved with a speed that defied the laws of inertia, appearing in the monster's personal space before it could even blink. Even for a Gurongi, a species evolved for high-speed slaughter, the movement was invisible.
Impossible! I can't track him—I can't even brace! Rin's right fist was already coiled at his waist, glowing with a concentrated, shimmering white luminescence. He didn't just punch; he unleashed a localized eruption of chronal force.
CRACK.
The blow buried itself deep into the Gurongi's midsection. The monster's abdomen buckled inward, the leathery hide deforming under a pressure that felt like the weight of a collapsing star. The sheer violence of the impact sent a sickening shudder through the air.
"Gah-HAAAA!"
The Gurongi let out a harrowing shriek of agony. It was sent hurtling backward, tumbling across the synthetic track like a ragdoll caught in a gale. It rolled once, twice, five times before finally grinding to a halt in the dirt.
The campus was eerily silent, the students long gone, leaving Rin free to unleash his power without the burden of collateral damage.
The monster tried to rise, but its body betrayed it. It collapsed back onto its knees, arms trembling as it struggled to keep its torso upright. Bilious, discolored blood leaked from its maw, staining the grass. Its waist was twisted at an unnatural angle, the internal organs likely reduced to a slurry by that single strike.
Rin walked toward it, his heavy boots crunching rhythmically on the gravel. Step. Step. Step.
"Hmph. You're still breathing? I'll admit, I'm impressed."
Even in this base form, Rin's strikes carried the latent, crushing gravity of the Ohma power. The fact that the creature hadn't disintegrated instantly was a testament to the Gurongi's unnatural resilience.
"You... you monster!" the creature wheezed, its voice cracking with genuine terror. The predator had finally realized it was the prey. It didn't care about the Gegiru or its pride anymore. It scrambled backward, dragging its broken limbs in a desperate, pathetic attempt to flee into the shadows.
Rin didn't chase. He reached down and depressed the button on the top of the Ridewatch. He gripped the Driver and gave it a violent, 360-degree spin.
FINISH TIME!
The air around the Gurongi suddenly thickened. Glowing, neon-pink katakana characters for "KICK" (キック) manifested in the air, circling the monster like a digital cage, locking its path of escape.
Rin crouched, then launched himself skyward. He soared into the moonlight, his silhouette cutting a jagged path across the stars. He tucked his body into a perfect, aerodynamic arc, his right leg extended as a corona of golden and pink energy ignited around his foot.
TIME BREAK!
He descended like a falling comet. The impact was absolute.
BOOM!
A massive, roiling fireball erupted on the athletic field, the shockwave flattening the grass for twenty meters in every direction. Rin landed gracefully on the far side of the inferno, rising from a crouch as the flames reflected off his silver armor. Behind him, the Bat Gurongi didn't just die—it was erased, leaving nothing but a scorching heat and the fading scent of ozone.
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