Centered on the Zeztz Driver, a dark crimson mist of energy surged outward in waves. Accompanied by the blazing stream of the Impact Capsule, it wrapped itself around Zhe's entire body like a living thing, cocooning him within a restless shell of power.
The bullets fired madly by the Firearm Nightmare vanished into that blood-red haze as though they had passed through a phantom, piercing straight through the body that was shifting between the tangible and the unreal without causing even the slightest harm.
The entire transformation looked like the embodiment of a nightmare itself.
The roiling crimson mist rapidly condensed, turning into countless dark energy veins like pulsating blood vessels. Roaring as they climbed and intertwined, they layered over him one after another, forming a black suit of biomorphic armor.
[Good morning! Rider! Ze Ze Zeztz! Impact!]
The instant the sound effect rang out, red and green lights flared to life across the pitch-black body like the first light of dawn. There stood a Rider clad in black armor, crimson compound eyes blazing, dangerous green light gleaming across his frame.
Kamen Rider ZZZ had officially arrived.
Zhe—or rather, ZZZ in this moment—felt an unprecedented power surging through his body. He took one step forward, and the ground trembled faintly beneath his feet. His speed was like lightning, leaving behind only a fading red afterimage where he had stood.
Before the Firearm Nightmare could even react, a punch as heavy as a mountain had already slammed straight into the center of its chest.
Boom—!
The impact exploded with a dull, crushing sound. The Nightmare's twisted body flew backward like a kite with its strings cut, crashing into the open ground dozens of meters away.
When it struggled to rise, it discovered in horror that the landscape around it had rippled and reformed like water.
It had been forcibly transported into an endless wasteland built from Zhe's own consciousness.
This was Zhe's absolute domain.
Here, the laws of space and time bent to his will alone.
"ROAR—!"
The Firearm Nightmare let out an unwilling howl and swung its metal arm with a violent rush of wind, smashing toward the approaching ZZZ.
ZZZ did not dodge.
He did not even bother to move aside.
He simply raised his black-armored left arm, opened his hand, and with a crisp smack, caught the blow effortlessly and precisely. The fist that could have shattered reinforced concrete was held perfectly still, unable to move an inch.
Feeling the feeble force the monster futilely tried to push through, ZZZ slowly pushed its fist aside. His crimson eyes locked coldly onto the target as he announced:
"The mission is now in progress."
Before the words had even fully faded, ZZZ's right fist shot out again like a fired cannon shell, crashing into the Nightmare's abdomen hard enough to double its body over and nearly shake its parts apart. In the same motion, he spun and delivered a sharp side kick that smashed into its shoulder and sent it flying again.
The Nightmare staggered, barely regaining its footing, then unleashed the multi-barreled machine gun on its arm in a frenzy. Muzzle flashes roared as bullets poured down like a storm onto ZZZ's chest armor.
Clangclangclang—!
But the barrage that could have torn steel apart did nothing more than send endless sparks flying from the tough black armor. It could not leave behind even the faintest scratch.
ZZZ advanced step by step through the bullet storm, each footfall seeming to land directly on the Nightmare's heartbeat, each one suffocatingly oppressive. Then, in an instant, he accelerated, closed the distance, seized the monster by the head with one armored hand like an iron vise, and slammed it viciously into the ground.
Boom!
Spiderweb cracks burst across the earth.
Driven into desperation, the Nightmare abandoned gunfire and smashed both arms into the ground. Countless dark chains formed from black energy shot out of the void like venomous serpents, wrapping around ZZZ's body and limbs in an instant, trying to crush him—or at the very least pin him in place.
But ZZZ, bound in chains, stood unmoving as a mountain.
He did not even struggle.
"Could you maybe," ZZZ said flatly, with a trace of weary exasperation at his opponent's futile rage, "show a little restraint?"
At his will, the chains wrapped around him suddenly received the opposite command. They recoiled instantly and wound themselves around the Nightmare instead, tighter, stronger, more intricate, binding it so thoroughly that it could not move at all.
"My dream is under my control."
ZZZ grabbed the end of the chain in one hand. With a slight flex of his arm, he swung the enormous Nightmare as though it weighed nothing at all.
He hurled it like a medieval flail toward the distant ground—
but the expected impact never came.
Along the path of the Nightmare's flight, space itself began flipping like the pages of a book.
A colossal waterfall.
The Nightmare was thrown directly into the center of the raging current, its body battered by the crushing force of the plunging torrent.
Then, burning magma.
No sooner had it broken free of the waterfall than it plunged into a rolling river of lava, its body scorched by unbearable heat.
Then, endless lightning.
Before it could rise from the molten river, thick bolts of lightning descended one after another like divine punishment, lashing its body without mercy.
This chain of catastrophic environmental attacks took place in the blink of an eye. When the final bolt of lightning faded, the Nightmare had been tormented into a tattered wreck. Then, by the precise force of warped space, it was thrown straight back in front of ZZZ, crashing to the ground with blue smoke and crackling sparks still rising from its body.
Without giving the battered and reeling Nightmare even a moment to react, ZZZ pressed the button on his belt three times in quick, rhythmic succession.
[Ze! Ze! Zeztz!]
Then he forcefully slid the blazing Impact Capsule at the center of the belt.
Vmmmmmm—!
In an instant, a terrifying flood of energy erupted from the belt's core like the breaking of a dam. It surged along the vein-like lines running across his armor, glowing brighter and brighter red.
At last, all of that power converged like rivers flowing into the sea, gathering and compressing into his right leg. The entire limb became like a red sun compressed into physical form, radiating a destructive aura.
ZZZ lowered his center of gravity slightly—
then shot forward like a crimson bolt of lightning tearing through space.
The instant he reached the Nightmare, he leapt into the air and drove a flying kick infused with all his power straight through its core, the burning red energy around his leg making the strike seem like a blade of heavenly judgment.
[Impact Vanish! Ze! Ze! Zeztz!]
BOOOOOOM—!!!
The Nightmare's body was completely pierced through.
At its core, the enormous burning phantom crest of ZZZ appeared—
and then the unbearable energy erupted from within.
"The mission is complete."
With his back to the center of the explosion, ZZZ slowly rose from his finishing stance, calm and stylish. Behind him, the Nightmare exploded into fragments amid a storm of fire and light.
As the flames and smoke dispersed, the creature's true essence was finally revealed:
a dark violet butterfly, flickering with sinister light.
It fluttered weakly through the air a few times—
and then vanished completely.
ZZZ released his transformation and became Zhe once more.
As the danger passed, dawn finally came to the dream-sky.
Yao Jiayin, dressed in red, ran toward him with gratitude and emotion shining in her eyes.
"ZZZ!"
"Jiayin, I'm just glad you're all right."
But in the very next second, Jiayin's figure dissolved like a bubble.
Zhe jerked awake in the hospital bed. Real morning sunlight was already shining through the window. A trace of disappointment passed over him.
"So in the end… it really was just a dream?"
Then suddenly, he felt something strange against his chest.
Puzzled, he pulled back the blanket—
and there, lying on top of him, were the Zeztz Driver, the Impact Capsule, and a strangely designed communicator from the dream.
Zhe's pupils contracted sharply.
He was too stunned for words.
Bzzz—
Right on cue, the communicator's screen lit up, and a familiar voice came through:
"Good morning, Kamen Rider ZZZ."
Zhe picked up the communicator and touched the belt resting against his chest, remaining frozen for a long moment.
"So… it wasn't a dream after all."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 172)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 116)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter119)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 66
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 50
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 52
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 55
The Way the Umamusume Look at 42
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 40
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 36
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 30
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 26
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