Am I a Kamen Rider or the real young master who was switched at birth?

The arena lights seemed to dim for a moment the instant Kabuto completed his transformation.

Wang Yu stood in the center of the field, holding a short sword in both hands, looking at the red armored warrior opposite him.

The rhinoceros beetle's distinctive Y-shaped horn on its helmet gleamed with a cold metallic sheen under the light, and its sky-blue compound eyes were clear and calm, quietly watching him.

Wang Yu gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on the knife, his knuckles making a fine rubbing sound as they pressed against the handle.

"Damn Ye Yang! You really think you can defeat me just by changing your armor?!"

Wang Yu roared, then pushed off with his feet, transforming into a streak of blue light as he charged straight toward Kabuto.

This time, he held nothing back, pushing his speed to the limit, the blade of his short sword leaving two thin, cyan arcs in the air.

Several speed-type trainees in the audience held their breath, thinking that this was probably Wang Yu's fastest strike of the day.

In his Kabuto form, Ye Yang watched the azure afterimage rapidly approaching him, and a slight smile curled at the corner of his mouth inside his helmet.

He reached into the card holder at his waist, pinched out a card between his index and middle fingers, and slowly inserted the card into the belt slot. Then, he violently pushed the handle with one hand.

"AttackRide—Clock Up!"

The belt erupted with a powerful, synthesized electronic sound. The next second, the entire world seemed to slow down in Kabuto's perception.

The crowd that was cheering in the stands was frozen in time, with some people holding up support signs with their mouths open and their arms still hanging in mid-air.

Dust particles floating in the air hovered one by one in front of him, and the lights from the top of the arena pierced through these still dust particles, casting countless fine beams of light.

Wang Yu's originally lightning-fast azure afterimage slowed down to the point of being like a tadpole swimming slowly in water within the realm of Ascension.

Kabuto himself remains free within this infinitely stretched timeframe.

Meanwhile, the audience on the other side only saw a scene that made them doubt their own eyes.

Wang Yu's figure, which was originally sprinting at full speed, suddenly seemed to be lifted off the ground by an invisible hand and flew into the air without warning.

Then he slammed hard onto the ground, creating a shallow crater in the alloy floor, and the impact sent dust flying in all directions.

He was then sent flying, his back slamming hard against the energy barrier at the edge of the arena. The pale blue light membrane rippled violently from the impact, and electric arcs crackled at the point of impact.

Then he flew to the center of the arena, and then to the other side.

The heads in the audience turned in unison, following Wang Yu's movements, creating a comical scene.

The students in the front row initially tried to track it with their eyes, but quickly gave up because they found that there was a delay of several seconds between what they saw and what actually happened.

A few girls in the back row were holding popcorn buckets, watching and making rhythmic gasps.

A bespectacled tactical theory class representative sitting in the corner closed his textbook and placed it on his lap, speaking in a tone as if he were researching a completely new subject:

"Wang Yu's current movement trajectory shows obvious characteristics of being passively subjected to force, which means that he is not moving on his own, but being hit. The problem is that it is impossible to see who is hitting him."

Lin Xingran stood at the front of the fence, gripping the railing with both hands. After her head followed Wang Yu's movements and spun around several times, she was completely dumbfounded.

She rubbed her eyes hard, turned to Lin Yumin and shouted in an extremely confused yet excited tone, "Lin Ying, what happened? I didn't see anything! I didn't even see Ye Yang's shadow, I just saw Wang Yu flying around in the sky, then crashing down, then flying up again, then crashing down again, what kind of attack method is that?"

Lin Yumin did not answer her, because her eyes were fixed on the heart rate monitoring data on the big screen.

The heart rate curve representing Ye Yang barely changed in those few seconds, remaining as stable as a straight line.

Wang Yu's heart rate curve fluctuated violently, with a noticeable spike each time she was hit, especially the blow to her chest, which caused her heart rate to spike to an extremely high number.

She looked at the abrupt peak on the heart rate curve, a faint smile appearing on her lips, and said calmly, "Second Sister, Ye Yang has already won."

Lin Ying stood next to her second sister, her hands folded on the railing.

Unlike the others, she didn't turn her head, but quietly watched the steady heart rate curve representing Ye Yang on the big screen.

She thought this was fine; although she couldn't see his movements, seeing his heart rate remain so steady meant he was in complete control.

In the center of the arena, Wang Yu suddenly flew out of the battle area, his body crackling with blue electric arcs.

The energy barrier automatically opened a gap the moment he passed through, and then quickly closed again.

He tumbled several times in the air before crashing heavily onto the ground below the arena, his back slamming against the hard alloy floor with a dull thud.

His armor was completely shattered, with several pieces falling from his shoulders to the ground. The energy shield generator was completely destroyed, still emitting extremely fine black smoke.

He lay there, his chest heaving violently, his pupils still reflecting the scene he had just witnessed in his ascended state.

Kabuto finally appeared before everyone.

He stood in the center of the arena, his crimson armor gleaming with a cold metallic sheen under the lights, his sky-blue compound eyes calmly watching Wang Yu, who was still smoking, below the stage.

He raised his right hand, his index finger pointing straight up to the brightest spotlight in the sky. The light from the spotlight fell down his fingertip, casting a thin layer of gold on his red armor.

He said softly, "Grandma once said—the sun shines brightly because it can even illuminate dust. You are too weak."

The arena was silent for several seconds before erupting into a deafening roar of cheers.

The boy in the front row holding the "Up from the Ground" support sign raised it above his head and started spinning around. His voice was completely hoarse, but he was still trying his best to shout Ye Yang's name along with everyone else.

The class representative in the back row, who had been calmly analyzing the data the whole time, finally lost his composure and said in a tone as if he had witnessed a miracle, "He actually completed multiple attacks in succession while accelerating, without slowing down at all. Every landing point was precise. The damage data of that last kick was off the charts."

Lin Xingran gripped the railing with both hands and shook it vigorously several times, asking in an excited tone that completely disregarded her image, "Ye Yang, who taught you that sentence you just said? Which grandma taught you that? I want to kowtow to that grandma."

Lin Yumin held her phone firmly in her hand; every frame of the scene was saved in her photo album.

Her expression remained calm, but her fingers lightly swiped across the screen several times. Then she held the phone to her chest and said in a voice only she could hear, "I'll copy this down later. It sounds so pretentious."

Lin Ying stood by the railing, her light gray eyes fixed on the dark red armored warrior below the stage who was slowly lowering his right hand.

The spotlight still lingered on his fingertips, enveloping him in a warm halo.

Several small technological spheres flew in from different directions and began taking pictures around Kabuto.

They circled his helmet several times, the lenses constantly adjusting their focus to capture every detail of the red armor from different angles.

At the same time, all the damage data that Wang Yu suffered in this battle was simultaneously displayed on four large screens.

The simulation results of the energy barrier show that if this were a real battle, Wang Yu would have died no less than ten times.

His armor withstood multiple high-intensity impacts, each of which exceeded the theoretical limit of the shield's resistance.

The most damaging blow was marked on his chest—it absorbed 19 tons of damage.

Lin Xingran excitedly pointed to the glaring number on the screen and shouted in a proud yet shocked tone, "That was kicked by her brother, 19 tons! Wang Yu is still alive thanks to the arena's protective mechanism."

Several speed-type trainees next to her looked at her with complicated expressions.

A senior student with a buzz cut patted his companion on the shoulder and said in a complicated tone, "From today onwards, the Lin family has gained another monster."

They pointed in Lin Xingran's direction and said that was the monster's second sister.

Ignoring the complicated gazes around her, Lin Xingran suddenly remembered something more important. She quickly pointed to the big screen and asked excitedly, "What exactly happened just now? I didn't see anything, and Wang Yu flew out. How did Ye Yang do that? Just how fast is he?"

The moment she finished speaking, all four large screens went dark, and then a line of eye-catching gold text appeared in the center of the screens: "Highlights Replay".

The entire arena fell silent instantly, and all the spectators held their breath.

The images on the big screen began to replay the battle at an unprecedentedly slow speed.

The process of energy fluctuations spreading from the Driver Crystal Core to the surrounding area at the moment Kabuto inserts the card is broken down frame by frame.

Then, at the instant the time-lapse begins, everything around slows down simultaneously, and dust particles floating in the air are frozen in mid-air, each one clearly visible.

The cheers from the audience were drawn out into a very low and slow hum, and Wang Yu's expression was captured in that instant.

His mouth was still in the shape of his roar, and his pupils reflected Kabuto's image, but he was clearly unaware of what had happened.

Then, in a world where everyone else is moving in slow motion, Kabuto walks alone at a normal pace.

He walked calmly toward Wang Yu, a stark contrast to Wang Yu's face, which was slowly revealing shock.

Wang Yu's pupils contracted little by little in the slow-motion footage. He finally saw Kabuto moving. Kabuto could move in the Rise Time Transformation as well, and it was even faster than him.

Kabuto casually raised his hand and slapped away Wang Yu's arm that was holding the knife. The short sword slipped from his hand and tumbled in the air at an extremely slow speed, its blade reflecting the elongated light.

Then Kabuto raised his right foot and delivered an extremely smooth upward kick that struck Wang Yu's chin, sending him flying into the air.

Wang Yu slowly flew upwards in the air. Before he could even begin to fall, Kabuto had already leaped high into the air.

His body spun once in the air, then he stretched out his hind leg and slammed it down hard from high to low.

The kick struck Wang Yu precisely in the abdomen, sending his body plummeting to the ground. The impact sent a cloud of dust flying, and the impact created a shallow crater in the alloy floor.

Kabuto landed steadily, his knees slightly bent to absorb all the impact, and then he charged towards Wang Yu, who had just bounced out of the pit.

He raised his right foot and kicked Wang Yu towards the energy barrier wall at an extremely fast speed, like kicking a soccer ball.

Wang Yu was kicked so hard that he slammed into the wall, and the pale blue light membrane rippled violently from the impact.

Before he could even slide down the wall, Kabuto had already rushed in front of him.

He reached out, grabbed him by the neck, lifted him off the wall, and then tossed him into the center of the arena.

Wang Yu flew through the air, her limbs moving unconsciously.

Then Kabuto quickly moved in front of Wang Yu, who was still flying in mid-air, and with his back to him, he took out a special move card and inserted it into his belt.

"Final Attack Ride—Ka-Ka-Ka-Kabuto!"

The rhinoceros beetle's horn on Kabuto's head began to flash with dazzling blue arcs of electricity. The arcs spread from the tip of the horn along the body to the entire helmet, and then from the helmet to the right leg.

His right foot was completely enveloped in dense blue electric light, with arcs crackling on the surface of his boot.

Wang Yu, who was still approaching Kabuto at an extremely slow speed in the air, saw the arcs of electricity and his eyes widened instantly. He frantically waved his arms in the air, trying to change his flight trajectory, but everything was too slow in the ascending state.

Then Kabuto turned around and lashed out his right foot, crackling with blue electricity, like a whip, slamming it hard into Wang Yu's chest.

The destructive force of 19 tons was fully unleashed in that instant. Wang Yu was sent flying by the kick, his body leaving a trail of blue electric arcs in the air.

At the same time, the belt emitted a deep, synthesized electronic sound—"Clock Over."

The time-up process is complete, and time returns to normal.

The playback on the big screen was also restored to normal speed.

Then everyone saw what had just happened—Wang Yu, his body crackling with electricity, was kicked away, crashing through a gap in the energy barrier, tumbling several times in the air before slamming heavily onto the ground below the arena.

The four large screens simultaneously froze on the moment Wang Yu landed, then the screens slowly dimmed, and the data panel reappeared.

The arena was quiet for a while, then a deafening roar of cheers erupted again.

The boy holding the "Up from Dry Land" support sign shouted in a completely distorted voice, "Let this video circulate. From now on, if anyone says that Kamen Rider can't fight a Speed ​​Type, slap this replay in their face."

The class representative in the back row took off his glasses, wiped them with his sleeve, then put them back on. He stared silently at the finished replay on the screen for a long time before finally saying something in an extremely serious tone that made everyone around him turn to look at him:

"I hereby officially declare that Kamen Rider Kabuto's Time-Ascended state is currently the highest level of speed-type Awakened ability known. Anyone who disagrees can go and exchange ideas with Wang Yu."

Wang Yu lay on the ground below the stage, and the spot on his chest where he had been hit by the knight's kick was still emitting extremely fine arcs of electricity.

Several medical staff had already gathered around. He opened his eyes and looked at the brightest spotlight on the ceiling, his mind replaying the scene he had just witnessed in his ascended state.

He muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear, "Too fast..."