"Brother Ryuga, I'm ashamed!" Mitchy lowered his head in embarrassment.
"It's fine. After all, you were up against three at once. It's commendable you even held your ground. But you need to keep training. I expect more from you," Ryuga said firmly.
"Yes, Brother Ryuga!" Encouraged by Ryuga's words, Mitchy felt a renewed surge of strength and quickly regained his composure.
"Just now it was three against one," Ryuga said, glancing sharply at the two hiding in the shadows nearby. "Now it looks like it's about to become two on one."
"Hmph! Even if it's two-on-one, you weaklings are no match for me!" Kumon Kaito sneered, raising his spear and activating his charge skill.
"Oh? Seems like you've let that one trip to the Helheim Forest go to your head," Ryuga replied flatly, unimpressed.
Effortlessly catching the incoming spear with one hand, Ryuga clenched his other hand into a palm and, with a swift motion, snapped the weapon in two.
"Split in two—Ruyi Divine Sword!" he declared dramatically, in a moment of chuuni flair.
"W-What?!" Kaito staggered back, staring in disbelief at his broken weapon—his so-called "banana gun."
How the hell did my banana break so easily?!
Before he could recover, Ryuga grabbed the broken half of the weapon and slammed him to the ground with it.
"Brother Ryuga is amazing!" Mitchy shouted, tossing aside his Grape Dragon Cannon and applauding enthusiastically.
Inspired by him, the rest of the Gaim Team erupted in cheers for Ryuga's overwhelming display of strength.
At that moment, the two figures from Team Zawame—Jounouchi and Hase—stepped out and stood in front of Kumon Kaito.
"Looks like you're no match for Gaim on your own," Jounouchi smirked.
"And we're not about to be looked down on anymore!" added Hase.
"W-What?!" Kumon Kaito, Mitchy, and the others were stunned as Jounouchi and Hase each revealed a Sengoku Driver of their own.
"I believe the phrase is, 'Behold what three days can change!'" Jounouchi laughed, strapping on his belt as Hase did the same. Together, they pulled out their Lockseeds:
B-grade Acorn LockseedC-grade Pinecone Lockseed
"Henshin!" they shouted in unison.
[Donguri!]
[Matsubokkuri!]
[Lock On!]
[Come On! Donguri Arms!] – Never give up~
**[Soiya! Matsubokkuri Arms!] – One Hit in the Shadows!
Kamen Rider Gridon and Kamen Rider Kurokage have entered the battlefield!
They may have looked like underdogs—minor knights with simple armor—but Gridon's hammer-like Acorn weapon was a devastating close-range tool. Hase, now transformed into Kurokage, wielded a long spear—not the stylized kind like Baron's banana-lance, but a standard one, practical and easily replicated.
Because of its simplicity and ease of use, the Pinecone Arms would later be standardized by Yggdrasill as the base weapon for foot soldiers, and Kurokage would be reduced from knight to rank-and-file soldier.
Of course, weapon design isn't the real issue. The truth was that Kurokage's C-rank Lockseed—barely above a D-rank—was likely the reason he was relegated to grunt status.
"The fourth and fifth Knights have arrived!" someone from the Gaim Team shouted.
In truth, these were just the riders that Yggdrasill had made public. Though their previous prototype had only been the Sengoku Driver, it was clear now that the actual number of armed riders was greater than expected.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Yggdrasill Tower, Sid—the so-called Lockseed Merchant—was reporting to his superior, Kureshima Takatora, director of the Yggdrasill Corporation.
"How's the data collection progressing?" Takatora asked.
"We've deployed six Sengoku Drivers in total. Five now have active users. I'd say the rollout is proceeding smoothly," Sid replied as he casually flipped through a report. The names—including Ryuga—were listed as belt holders.
"Hmm. But why did you tell those mice how to travel through time and space?" Takatora narrowed his eyes. It was clear the Motorcycle Lockseed, which allowed access to the Helheim Forest, had not been issued on his orders.
He originally saw this as a minor detail, but after Ryuga's earlier warnings, suspicion toward Sid was growing.
"I simply believe some of them will uncover Helheim's secrets faster than you do," Sid smiled cryptically.
And of course, he thought privately, chaos is exactly what I want.
"Anyway, would you like to see the identity reports on the belt holders?" Sid offered, smoothly changing the subject.
"No. I leave that to you. Just keep monitoring these lab rats," Takatora said dismissively as he turned and walked away.
He was already convinced that there was a problem with Ryuga's identity—and with his abnormal capabilities, there was no need to waste time reading the report.
If you haven't figured that out by now, your judgment is the real problem, he thought grimly.
"Really? You're leaving it all to me?" Sid muttered under his breath with a sly grin, flipping to the page listing Kureshima Mitsuzane—Takatora's younger brother—as one of the belt holders.
Back on the battlefield, Ryuga prepared to engage Kumon Kaito again. He shoved aside Jounouchi and Hase, stepping forward with confidence.
Mitchy stood beside him, weapon in hand, ready to support.
But in a sudden twist, Jounouchi and Hase attacked Kumon Kaito from behind, knocking him off balance.
"Huh?!" Mitchy flinched in surprise. He had no idea what just happened.
"You two—!" Kaito was furious. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Exactly what you said. We're starting a war again," Hase said flatly.
"Right! And rule number one is: take out the most annoying guy first!" Jounouchi added with a grin.
"Sure, we could've won a three-on-two fight. But four-on-one against you is much better," Hase explained, throwing a glance toward Ryuga and Mitchy. "What do you say, Gaim Team—want to team up?"
Injured and disarmed, Kaito tried to fight back, but the two overwhelmed him quickly. With a final blow, they activated their special attacks:
[Donguri Squash!]
[Matsubokkuri Squash!]
The combined assault launched Kaito into a wall, forcing his armor to dissipate as he crashed to the ground unconscious.
"Well, that's that," Ryuga muttered.
In online forums, netizens had begun to joke about Kumon Kaito's infamous track record—defeated 17 times without a single victory. The phrase "17-game losing streak, crushed bananas" had become meme-worthy.
It was no surprise, then, that this supposed Second Rider eventually spiraled into a final boss. After so many social beatdowns, even a kind-hearted Rider like Sougo Tokiwa turned into Oma Zi-O.
So really, who could blame Kaito—the man who believed in the strong devouring the weak—for eventually giving up on idealism altogether?