Kamen Rider Zi-O, Dimensional Descent

"Just wait and see, I'll prove that no one can step on my head, Swartz...!"

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then.

Whether it's Swartz or those demons.

Traces of everyone.

Everything was under that man's control.

"interesting."

Aresta Crowley, the overarching chairman of Academy City.

He squinted, taking in everything.

"Do you guys really think you can cause trouble in my city?"

"Let me see what you're capable of, visitors from another world... I'll give you a warm welcome."

Volume 5 of A Certain Magical Index: Chapter 165 The Urban Legend of Kamen Rider

The Angel Fall incident is over.

The actual situation was this: Touya Kamijou was a middle-aged man who loved collecting all sorts of superstitious gifts. In order to ward off bad luck for Touma Kamijou, he filled his house with superstitious items.

As a result, this accidental placement of the object happened to conform to various feng shui principles, which directly caused this global-level magic to be activated under his unconscious actions.

It might sound far-fetched at first, but it's the truth. Kamijou Touya, the caster, had no recollection of ever casting such magic, nor did he even know that magic existed.

In a critical moment, Tsuchimikado Motoharu used remote magic to destroy the residence of Touya Kamijou and his wife. After destroying the magic circle that caused the angel to fall, the global magic ended, and the angel naturally returned to the heavens.

Although Touma Kamijou suffered some injuries, and Tsuchimikado's body was damaged due to the forced use of magic, they were all fortunate to have Yan Ming present.

There is nothing that cannot be solved by a time rewind.

And so it all came to an end. Although there was still a mess to clean up afterward, at least they could have a good time on the beach for the rest of the day.

More than ten days have passed since then.

The people of Academy City were unaware of what had happened a dozen days ago, and everyone continued living their lives as usual.

However, some rumors began to circulate in secret.

"What? An urban legend?"

Misaka Mikoto is with her friends, Saten Ruiko and Uiharu Kazari.

The group had just bought crepes from a roadside stall and were enjoying their meal when they started talking about related topics.

"Yes, yes~ I'm an expert at collecting urban legends! So these are all very authentic rumors~!"

Saten Ruiko gets very excited when the topic of urban legends comes up.

"Let's skip the old urban legends for now, let me think..."

"Saten-san? I remember you said you had a really amazing urban legend to tell Misaka-senpai, right?"

"Oh right! There really is a pre-prepared urban legend, and it's the kind that's been circulating very widely lately!"

Seeing how excited Saten Ruiko was, Misaka Mikoto was also intrigued.

"Huh? What kind of urban legend could that be?"

"Have you ever heard of the urban legend of 'Kamen Rider'? Misaka-senpai?"

Kamen Rider?

Misaka Mikoto blinked. This name... why does it seem to evoke something else?

"Recently, there's been a rumor that there's a person in armor in Academy City who often does things to punish evil and uphold justice."

"Armor? You mean the medieval kind?"

"No, it's said to be some kind of very powerful high-tech armor. Some say it's red, others say it's purple... In short, the rumors about its appearance vary, but most of the rumors say that this mysterious person wearing armor has helped many down-on-their-luck people!"

etc--

Misaka Mikoto was vaguely stimulated by Saten Ruiko's words and recalled something.

Wearing armor... helping others everywhere...

"Although there are some rumors that this armored person is a hideous monster with red and blue stripes all over his body, who does evil everywhere, most rumors say that he often helps others, similar to a hero knight in a tokusatsu drama!"

"This feeling...is a bit unreal."

"What?! There are clearly a lot of eyewitnesses! What do you think? Misaka-senpai... huh?"

Saten Ruiko had originally intended to ask Misaka Mikoto for her opinion, but she noticed that the expression on Misaka Mikoto's face seemed a little strange.

She was clearly thinking about something.

Then, the expression on his face suddenly turned to amazement.

"Could it really be that guy—!!"

"Wh-what?"

"Huh?! Could it be that Misaka-senpai knows that Kamen Rider in real life? Please tell me!!"

"Ah... well, actually that's not it! I just misunderstood!"

"Huh? Really? But I feel like Misaka-senpai is lying..."

"Really, no! Come on, everyone's finished their crepes, right? I'll treat you to something else! Look over there, there are hot dogs! Let's go get some hot dogs!"

Misaka Mikoto had finally managed to get her two friends away, but then she saw a familiar figure walking towards her on the street not far away.

There were three people, and the one standing at the very front was someone she knew.

"What is this? Kamen Rider...? When did our identities get exposed like this?"

"No, Mr. Gates, that's just an urban legend that people in this city made up at will. In other words, it's just a title they happened to come up with in their minds."

"Were you all seen by passersby...? Didn't I tell you to be more cautious?"

"No, no, the rumors also mention the purple guy, right? That's obviously talking about you! You shouldn't have the nerve to talk about us like that!"

For more than ten days since the Angel Fall incident, Yan Ming and his group have been active in Academy City.

They resolved most of the issues, including various student tragedies, evil group plans, wicked experiments by dark scientists, and even some corrupt conspiracies by the upper echelons of Academy City.

However, this was nothing more than child's play for the knights who possessed the greatest power.

No matter what they do, it's difficult to keep increasing the content of the Omaguchi-KT calendar. Although they have indeed done a lot in the past ten days, the actions and the results are disproportionate.

In that case, when will they finally be able to leave this world?

"I'm saying, Woz... isn't there any faster way to write down that lousy book of yours?"

"Excuse my bluntness, but no... And please watch your words, Gates-kun. This is a book used to record the arrival of the great Demon King, how can you describe it as a tattered book?"

"Can you stop being so neurotic... It's just saying something, what's the big deal?"

"It is quite remarkable that you, as a retainer, would say such a thing."

"I'm not a retainer! Why are you treating me like someone else's slave again?!"

Gates and Wozniak started arguing in the street as usual.

Yan Ming had long been used to it, so he couldn't be bothered to care about them.

However... after walking for a short while, he saw a familiar figure walking towards him from across the street.

Misaka Mikoto?

"It really was you! It was you in all those rumors, wasn't it?"

"What rumor?"

"Stop playing dumb with me! Kamen Rider! This is definitely you, isn't it?!"

Compared to Misaka Mikoto's excited expression, Yan Ming maintained a blank expression throughout.

"I never imagined you'd done so much behind the scenes? And since it was clearly a good thing, why didn't you tell everyone?"

"Fine... I've already kept this secret for you. If you still intend to keep your identity hidden in the future, then I have a request: I want to have a proper showdown with you!"

"So what are you planning to compete against?"

"Needless to say, it's all about strength!"

Misaka Mikoto laughed exaggeratedly and raised a finger.

"I'm a Level 5 Level 5 Esper, ranked third in Academy City! Although you did help me a lot, my fighting spirit has never waned!"

"...I advise you to study hard; that would be more practical."

"What are you talking about! Don't try to fool me! I know you're strong, but do you think I, a level five superpowered individual, am not a match for you?"

"Misaka-senpai?"

At that moment, Saten Ruiko and Uiharu Kazari, who had already bought hot dogs, came to her side.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?"

"Uh... I just ran into someone I know."

"An acquaintance? But there's nobody here at all?"

Nobody here?! Misaka Mikoto turned around abruptly, only to find that there was indeed no one behind her.

This means—

"Are you kidding me?! When did that guy even get away?!"

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

"Why did you suddenly run away? Didn't that girl just say she wanted to spar with you?"

"Gates, you don't actually think anyone can 'spar' with my Demon King transformation, do you?"

"Uh…"

Thinking back to when Dian Si and Yan Ming had their "friendly sparring" back then, Gates suddenly didn't know what to say.

"Compared to that, haven't we done anything of any usefulness lately?"

"The limitations in this city are too great. Wouldn't it be better if I could leave this city?"

Their words gave Yan Ming a new perspective.

"...Woz, this world is indeed divided into cities of science and magic, right?"

"That's right... My Demon King, have you figured it out yet?"

"We've always stayed in this science-based Academy City, which is why we can't find any points of intervention for the incident."

Then we can try thinking about it from a different perspective.

"If we go to cities in the magic faction, will we be able to find more points of intervention?"

That's... a good idea, isn't it?

As the group pondered these questions, they headed straight for their apartment and opened the door—

A delicious aroma wafted from the house.

"What...what happened?"

The three of them went into the house and saw that the table was full of... a Manchu Han Imperial Feast.

A feast fit for the gods, featuring delicacies from land and sea, was laid out on the table, and then—

"You guys are really late."

A young man wearing an apron and with blond hair walked towards them with a smile.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Daiki Kaito, um, the partner of Tsukasa Kadoya that you met before."

"But let me make it clear beforehand, I was already a Kamen Rider who passed through before he was even breastfeeding, so just remember that~"

The three of them stared at the man in front of them with strange looks.

"...How did you get into our house?"

(A new month begins! Please vote for me! I hope you can use all your hard-earned swords and monthly tickets for me!)