As a weirdo, I like being a Kamen Rider

"How is this possible..." Saya had exhausted all her strength and deactivated her transformation, her hand gripping the Delta Transformation Device trembling uncontrollably. "She withstood three fatal blows..."

At the bottom of the pit, Murakami slowly raised his head, a hideous and twisted smile spreading across his lips. His body began to blur, and countless dark red rose petals escaped from his wounds, swirling and rising into the night sky.

"It's not over yet..." A hoarse voice drifted on the wind, as if it came from a great distance, "The Orphnoch... will not end here..."

Before he could finish speaking, his body completely disintegrated, turning into countless dark red petals that were swept up by the wind and eventually vanished without a trace.

All that remained was the charred crater and the mess scattered everywhere, proving that the Rose Orphnoch had once withstood the full force of three knights' attacks right here.

Takumi was also exhausted. He knelt on the ground, deactivated his transformation, and sweat mixed with dust slid down his cheeks. He stared in the direction where the petals had disappeared, his voice hoarse: "He got away..."

Seeing Murakami defeated and fleeing, Takuma Itaro knew that if he didn't leave now, he would be left behind. He immediately made a feint, whipping out a gray mist with his centipede whip to obscure his vision. He used the smoke to retreat rapidly, disappearing into the shadows of the street corner in a few leaps.

Haitang spat and wanted to give chase, but Kiba blocked his way with his arm and said in a deep voice, "Don't chase him, check this side first!"

The afternoon sun shone on the abandoned park on the outskirts of the city.

A few dark red rose petals swirled down from mid-air, struggling to gather and recombine among the wild grass.

Murakami Kyoji's figure staggered into existence. He was kneeling on the ground, his suit tattered and covered in dust and blood. The residual force of the three knight kicks was still raging within him, and every breath aggravated his shattered internal organs.

He braced himself on his knees and tried to stand up, but his legs trembled uncontrollably.

“Damn it…those humans…” Murakami cursed under his breath.

He raised his head, his pupils burning with resentment and bitterness.

As long as we're alive, there's still a chance. Lin Chen, Hanagata, and those damned human knights... as long as the King awakens, everything can be turned around.

Just then, his movements suddenly froze.

From the shadows of the abandoned slide ahead came a slow, heavy sound of footsteps.

Despite it being afternoon, a chilling aura permeated the air. Murakami's Orpheus factor trembled instinctively, yet within that trembling was a near-frenzied throbbing.

A dark-haired young man wearing an open black and white checkered shirt emerged from the shadows.

The blazing sun cast a blinding halo behind him; his eyes were lowered, his face expressionless. Before him, a translucent green, insect-shaped phantom slowly emerged, its empty eye sockets staring intently at Murakami.

Murakami's pupils contracted at first, and then, a wildly joyful smile slowly bloomed on his face, which was contorted with pain.

The smile grew wider and more manic. In the end, he couldn't help but chuckle softly, which aggravated his wounds, causing him to cough up a few mouthfuls of dark red blood, but he didn't care at all.

Despite his severe injuries, he forced himself to sit up and, instead of retreating, took two difficult steps toward the young man with an almost reverent posture.

"Your Majesty...you have finally...showed yourself."

His voice trembled with excitement, “I am Murakami Kyoji, the former president of Smart Brain, and your most loyal servant.”

“Those traitors who betrayed Orphnoch, those ants who hindered your awakening, I had intended to clear the path for you. But now… I am finished! Please accept me. Let me be the nourishment for your awakening, let me personally participate in this great moment. The future of Orphnoch will begin with my demise!”

He raised his head, opened his arms as if welcoming some kind of sacred baptism, a satisfied yet ferocious smile on his face, his eyes showing no fear of death, only a martyr-like fanaticism and piety.

The young man did not speak, and the green insect-shaped phantom in front of him silently raised its arms.

Dozens of emerald green tentacles burst forth from his fingertips, piercing directly through Murakami's chest, abdomen, and limbs.

A sharp pain swept through his entire body, but Murakami didn't utter a single scream. Instead, he tilted his head back, faced the blazing sun, and let out a hearty, unrestrained laugh.

The Orpheus energy and life essence within his body surged wildly towards the green phantom through his tentacles like a floodgate opening. He could feel his consciousness dissipating, yet within that dissipation lay a twisted sense of happiness.

“Yes…that’s it…” His voice grew softer, but his eyes grew brighter as he stared intently at the cold face before him. “Eat me…become stronger…and then…destroy those traitors…make the Orphnoch…the ruler of this world…”

The green tentacles greedily sucked up the last bit of energy.

Murakami Kyoji's laughter gradually subsided, and his body began to rapidly lose its color. The dark red rose patterns faded, and his skin took on a cold, rocky sheen, starting from his fingertips and spreading upwards inch by inch, hardening.

His expression before his death was forever frozen on that face—no fear, no resentment, only a near-sacred fervor and satisfaction born from complete acceptance by faith.

The black-haired youth retracted his tentacles, and the green phantom returned to his body. He looked down at his hands, where an even more powerful force surged.

He turned around, dragging his heavy steps, and walked step by step into the shadows deep in the woods, leaving only the stone statue in the deserted park.

The iron door to the abandoned underground laboratory was kicked open, and rust chips fell out in a flurry.

Saeko Kageyama carried in the unconscious Yuka Nagata, whose lobster Orphnoch form had not yet completely faded. She tossed the slender body aside, leaving it against the corner of the wall. Yuka slumped softly against the dusty concrete floor with a dull thud, still showing no signs of waking up.

After reverting to her original form, Saeko clapped her hands and was about to turn around when she suddenly stopped.

In the center of the laboratory, countless tiny golden particles of light emanated from the air, like fireflies being manipulated by an invisible hand, slowly rotating and converging.

The light grew brighter and brighter, eventually coalescing into a figure dressed in white with golden hair.

Saeko Kageyama stood quietly beside the simple iron table, her face bearing a complex expression that was difficult to describe.

"Something happened to Murakami." The blonde Saeko spoke first, her voice sounding particularly cold in the empty laboratory.

Saeko Kageyama frowned: "What's going on?"

Saeko, with her blonde hair, lowered her eyes and slowly said, "He sacrificed himself for the king. To help the king fully awaken, he willingly allowed the king to devour him..."

A look of surprise flashed across Saeko Kageyama's face.

"What did you say?" She took a half step forward, her voice unconsciously rising a few decibels. "Murakami Kyoji? That ambitious man, actually willingly went to his death?"

“It wasn’t about going to his death.” The blonde Saeko shook her head gently, her long golden hair gleaming softly in the dim light. “In his eyes, it was his final destination. He saw himself as a stepping stone.”

She paused, looked up at her "past," and a rare sense of emotion and solemnity appeared deep in her eyes.

"To be honest, I didn't expect him to go this far."

Saeko Kageyama fell silent, leaned against the cold wall, crossed her arms, and gave a cold laugh. But there was little sarcasm in that laugh; instead, it was tinged with an indescribable awkwardness.

"Hmph... that guy turned out to be a fanatic."

The blonde Saeko didn't reply, but just looked at the pale sunlight leaking in through the gap in the ventilation duct outside the window, her voice so soft it was as if she were talking to herself: "In the future I've experienced, Murakami Kyoji died long ago."

He didn't live to see the moment Wang awakened, let alone offer himself as food... This timeline has already deviated too far.

In the corner, Nagata Yuka let out a weak groan while unconscious, but neither of them turned around.

Gray ripples suddenly spread across the center of the laboratory, and a gray light curtain swallowed the mottled walls and rusty iron frames.

A figure stepped out. Lin Chen, impeccably dressed in a suit, his expression calm, his leather shoes clattering softly on the dusty cement floor. The sound was remarkably clear in the deathly silent laboratory.

Saeko Kageyama's pupils suddenly contracted, her body stiffened, and grayish-white energy uncontrollably overflowed from her body. She instinctively wanted to manifest her Orphnoch form.

Lin Chen's gaze slowly swept over the abandoned laboratory, which was so simple that it was almost shabby.

The walls were peeling and mottled, the steel bars were exposed and rusted, old instruments were piled up in the corner covered in dust, and there was a lingering musty smell in the air. Everything was so ordinary that even if Smart Brain's intelligence network turned the city upside down, it would never give this abandoned building a second glance.

But ironically, this is where the lucky four-leaf clover and the future witch are hiding.

"Is this your stronghold?"

Lin Chen spoke, his tone not a question, but a calm statement. His gaze eventually passed over Kageyama Saeko, and over the wary Takuma and Kitasaki, landing directly on the white-clad, blond figure.

"There's nothing special about it, yet it can't be found. It must be your power playing tricks on it."

His gaze fell directly on the blonde Saeko. This was his first official meeting with the shrine maiden Hanagata had mentioned. He had originally planned to wait and capture them all at once, but he hadn't expected that Murakami had already been devoured by the king. As for Kitasaki and Takuma, they were still unaware of their situation.

The blonde Saeko turned around. She didn't answer immediately, but just looked at Lin Chen quietly, her eyes full of scrutiny.

Lin Chen remained expressionless, letting that gaze scrutinize him.

Chapter 231 Kitasaki's End

After Keitaro made that phone call and learned that Nagata Yuka had been kidnapped, he had already pinpointed Kageyama Saeko's whereabouts with the help of Earth's consciousness.

But he didn't make a move immediately. He wanted to take the opportunity to find their hiding place. He watched as Kageyama Saeko carried Nagata Yuka through the streets and alleys, finally entering this inconspicuous abandoned building.

A blind spot that exists on the map but has never been truly "seen" by anyone.

"Who exactly are you?" the blonde Saeko finally spoke, her voice cold and clear, echoing slightly in the empty laboratory. "You're clearly the same person, even your aura is the same."

"Have you heard of parallel worlds? The world is endless, and even a small change can create a new spacetime." After listening to Hanagata's account of the prophecy, Lin Chen was also puzzled, but then he thought, "Aren't I currently traveling through one world after another?" This shrine maiden was clearly from another world.

"The endless world contains countless versions of you and me. But now, this world has no need for you to exist." As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Chen took out the Orga Belt and transformed.

Dark golden photon blood gushed out from his waist and abdomen. The thick Earth Emperor armor was spliced ​​together layer by layer, and the bone spikes on his shoulders gleamed with a cold light. The moment his scarlet compound eyes lit up, a terrifying sense of oppression swept outwards as if it were a tangible force.

The blonde Saeko's eyes narrowed, giving him no chance to attack. With a flick of her wrist, golden light, like fireflies, scattered out, enveloping Kageyama Saeko beside her. The golden light was dazzling, and both of their figures began to fade simultaneously.

"go!"

Saeko Kageyama felt herself enveloped by a warm yet irresistible force, and the laboratory in her vision rapidly distorted and blurred. Just as she felt a slight sense of relief, the gray ripples suddenly exploded at the same instant the golden light dissipated.

That familiar dimensional barrier, like a pre-woven net, precisely severed the trail of golden light. A muffled hum echoed through the space, and the two people who were about to disappear into the void were suddenly pulled back as if grabbed by the ankles by an invisible hand.

"Shh."

The golden light shattered.

The blonde Saeko and Kageyama Saeko stumbled and fell out of the dimensional barrier, crashing back onto the cold concrete floor. Kageyama Saeko's face was deathly pale, and the blonde Saeko's eyes were filled with astonishment.

Beneath the armor, Lin Chen's lips slowly curled into a smile.

"Don't waste your energy anymore, you can't escape."

He took a step forward, the dark gold sole of his boot crushing a piece of peeling wall plaster with a crisp cracking sound.

After they slipped away right under his nose last time, he came up with a plan to deal with it once he got back.

He had made preparations before he showed up.

The power of the Golden Fruit on the priestess is indeed troublesome. Although it poses no threat to me, the dimensional barrier can't directly attach itself to her.

But isn't Saeko Kageyama by her side?

Unless the priestess abandons her now and goes alone, the dimensional barrier will follow them wherever they teleport, sending them back again and again.

But he wouldn't tell the two of them any of this.

Zhuomo Yilang escaped from the apartment battlefield and wandered through the intricate back alleys until he was sure there were no pursuers behind him. Only then did he lean against the mottled wall and gasp for breath.

The centipede Orphnoch form had long since faded away. He tugged at the collar of his shirt, which was soaked with cold sweat, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

Murakami's defeat and the oppressive feeling of the three knight belts gnawed at his nerves like venomous snakes.

He turned the corner and suddenly stopped.

In the shadows by the wall, leaned a disheveled figure. Kitasaki was kneeling on the ground, his usually harmless baby face now ashen white. One hand was gripping the wall tightly, his knuckles white from the force, and his whole body was trembling uncontrollably. Clearly, he was almost exhausted, even to the point of standing.

"What are you standing there for?" Kitasaki raised his head, his eyes still blazing with violence. "Come here and help me back."

Zhuomo stood still, his pupils slightly contracting. In his memory, Kitasaki had always been someone who was at ease and looked down on everyone; when had he ever seen him like this, a stray dog?