Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

Gates couldn't help but chuckle, and then—

"You truly are worthy of being called my savior."

The sound came from all around.

No… Gates didn’t see anyone around him.

He quickly looked up, but then—the world was plunged into darkness.

In this darkness, the person he could see stood before him.

"It was you...?"

He was wearing a white-gray overcoat and a beret of the same color.

Then, he held a green book in his hands, a book that looked like a technological book from the future.

The man chuckled and looked at Gates with the same face as Wozniak.

"It's been a long time, my savior. I wonder if you've missed your most loyal subject after so long?"

"White Woz, you bastard..."

Gates looked at the other man warily; the two stood facing each other.

Within the dark space of consciousness, there were only the two of them, facing each other.

(Please vote for me! Please give me monthly tickets! Please give me your heart and a reward!)

Volume 5 of A Certain Magical Index: Chapter 162 A Monologue by "Woz"

What appeared before Gates was another Wozniak.

This is not a clone technique or an illusion. A long time ago, a Woz dressed in white appeared before them. That was Woz from another timeline.

Why are you here?

Upon seeing the long-lost person, Gates was immediately wary of White Wozniak.

"Didn't you disappear? Or do you have some new scheme in mind...?"

"Really, I wish you could trust me a little more, my savior."

White Woz shook his head helplessly.

He walked slowly toward Gates, who remained wary of him.

"Please rest assured."

Then, White Woz raised his hand.

That's a transparent state.

"I have already been destroyed. What remains here now is merely a consciousness."

You mean consciousness?

“That’s right, White Woz’s physical body has disappeared, but at the critical moment, I left my consciousness in you, so that it can be reawakened at a certain time.”

"How dare you show your face in front of me again... Have you forgotten what you did to us? And you even tried to take away all the savior power within me!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, my savior, that wasn't something I, White Woz, did."

White Woz continued.

“Swartz created countless otherworldly realms, and one of the worlds born from one of them was White Woz.”

"So, White Woz isn't just me. There's also someone like that, who would attack you for their own selfish interests... Hmph, it doesn't matter. Anyway, that imposter has already been completely eliminated by the other me."

Even if he said that, Gates still couldn't let go of his resentment towards him.

Not at least not now.

"Now that I've appeared in your heart, it means you've regained the power of the resurrected Gates, right?"

"What exactly do you want to do here?"

"No, there's nothing I can do now. All I can do is offer you a few words of advice."

For White Woz, his true desire to serve the savior before him was unwavering, regardless of any so-called plan.

"Although I don't know the specifics, I've learned some things from your perspective."

"Right now, the new Demon King is collecting Kamen Rider watches, right? You are too. Although you have regained the power of the resurrected Geiz, I have a feeling that the road ahead will be full of battles, and even more dangerous than what you are experiencing now... For this, you must obtain the strongest power."

"That's right, it's about allowing your savior power to be fully released and regaining the watch that you previously owned, which contained the power of another Heisei Kamen Rider."

The watch face that combines the power of another Heisei Kamen Rider... is it talking about King Gates?

"Even if you say that, I have only just obtained the power of the resurrected Gates."

"Don't be too nervous, take it slow, things will work themselves out."

Immediately afterwards, White Woz's expression also turned serious.

"...Then, it's about Woz, the guy next to you."

"Woz? What happened to Woz? Ah... that's right, that guy still doesn't have the power of a Kamen Rider."

Recalling Woz's current state, he not only lacks the Galaxy End Control Watch, but he can't even perform the most basic transformation.

"When will that guy regain his original power? It's annoying to say, but that guy is really strong. If only he could—"

"You don't seem to realize the problem yet, do you? My savior."

White interrupted him.

"Do you really believe that the person next to you is 'Woz'?"

"…What did you say?"

At that moment, Gates froze in place.

"What do you mean by that? Does that mean the Woz we're seeing now isn't the same Black Woz from before?"

"That certainly seems to be the case on the surface, but... haven't you thought about it carefully?"

This is what White Woz could only say to him when the two of them were alone in this space.

"According to him, Tokiwa Sougo and Oma Zi-O in all worlds have disappeared, which is indeed without any problem."

"And then, what about Woz in those worlds?"

Huh—?

"What do you mean by...Woz in those worlds?"

"There isn't just one Woz. Just like my existence, I'm one of the individuals in a parallel world. And there are countless levels of parallel worlds. Among them, there are so many Woz. Did they all disappear like the other Woz?"

"In the end, if he really was looking for traces of the vanished Tokiwa Sougo, then why didn't he take you to other worlds to ask Woz about the situation? If they really disappeared, why haven't he mentioned it to you at all until now?"

Speaking of which, those two Timekeepers seemed to know Woz from another timeline, but Woz didn't seem to have given a very detailed explanation of it.

He didn't seem to care about the other world's Woz, and it seemed... he hadn't inquired in detail about Tokiwa Sougo's whereabouts.

To simply worship a new Demon King and completely forget about the Demon King with whom he had so many ties in the past... This is really not something Woz would do, as he knew him.

"So if that's the case, are you saying that guy... isn't the Woz I know at all?"

"This is just speculation."

White Woz replied seriously.

"To be honest, I know very little about him. Although the power and essence of that guy are exactly the same as Black Woz's... something just feels off."

“My savior, I hope you will keep a close eye on him. Although I don’t think that guy is likely to be your enemy now, I don’t trust him.”

hum-

Immediately afterwards, the entire dark world began to blur.

Even White Woz's body is the same.

"It looks like the time is almost up. Even I can't exist for long after losing my physical body. But I will stay by your side and will give you more help if I have the chance in the future."

"Then, I look forward to our next meeting, my savior."

He stood calmly in the darkness.

It slowly disappeared into nothingness, following everything around it.

---------------

“Gates… Gates-kun…!”

Upon hearing the voice calling him, Gates immediately opened his eyes.

"What's wrong with me...?"

He is lying on the ground now.

After he got up, he saw Woz standing beside him, calling his name repeatedly.

He was still holding the watch face of the resurrected Gates in his hand, so it seemed that everything before was not a dream.

In that case…

'Were all those things about White Woz not just my imagination?'

After recalling what White Woz had said to him, he quickly looked at Woz beside him.

Just like always, it was Wozniak.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly looking at me with such a strange expression?"

"No...it's nothing."

He shook his head and then stood up abruptly.

"So you've actually obtained the watch face of the resurrected Geiz... And you've defeated those two Timekeeper Knights too, haven't you?"

"Ah, that's how it is."

Then Gates began to look at Woz in front of him.

"I was just thinking about something else, something more than my own problems."

"what?"

"Besides you, are there any other Woz in other worlds?"

--calm.

For a moment, Gates felt the air around him become eerily quiet.

"...What are you talking about, Gates?"

Woz held the book in his hands and spoke in his usual calm tone.

"Since my original Demon King has disappeared, then those Woz must have disappeared as well."

"Is that so...?"

"You're trying to find the whereabouts of my former Demon King through those Woz, aren't you? What a pity, I already had that idea, but no matter how hard I searched, I never found any other Woz besides myself."

"Then why didn't you tell us about this?"

"You didn't ask, so even if I did, would it change anything?"

Gates did not say anything more.

Woz waved his hand dismissively and walked forward as usual, without any apparent change.

Where are you planning to go?

"Is that even a question? Of course, we're going to check on my Demon King's situation. Now that you have new power, we should definitely go and help him as soon as possible, right?"

That's certainly true...

So Gates followed closely behind Wozniak and walked with him toward Yan Ming's location.

However, Gates has also confirmed one thing.

'Just as White Woz said, this Woz does indeed have some problems.'

Although there seemed to be nothing wrong with the overall impression, Gates could vaguely sense a slight unease.

Was it just my imagination? Or was it simply a psychological distortion resulting from listening to what White Woz said?