Later, Inside the Hotel
"Do you have him in your sights?"
Fu Hua spoke into the communicator hidden in her golden wristwatch. She and Kouga had managed to re-infiltrate the hotel, thanks to Wraith's disguise systems and a near-flawless act between the three of them. Kouga had, however, learned a bit too much about Hua's previous encounters with the Herrscher clone during their prep. But if it meant entering safely, it was a price he had to pay.
"~Yeah. Dr. Magi's limping down the hall on the fifty-fifth floor—leg injury's slowing him down. But the creep's catching up fast.~"
"Then there's no time to lose," Kouga said sharply.
Hua sighed and lowered her arm, cutting the transmission. "Wraith works at her own pace," she muttered as they sprinted through the corridors. "Thankfully, her drones will keep us updated on Magi's movements."
Moments later, they burst onto the fifty-fifth floor—just in time to see the Herrscher clone raising a hand, gathering a beam of seething light at his fingertip, aimed directly at Dr. Magi.
Without hesitation, Kouga's form flared with golden light. In a blur, he transformed into Kamen Rider Agito: Ground Form, the golden dragon crest gleaming across his armor. He launched forward in a flying kick that struck the Herrscher square in the chest, sending the clone crashing through a wall.
Dr. Magi froze where he stood, wide-eyed at the sudden sight of a glowing armored figure standing between him and death.
"Dr. Magi, I presume?" Fu Hua called as she rushed to his side. "We need you to come with us."
Whatever she was about to say next was cut short as the Herrscher clone rose from the rubble, floating back into view—its eyes blazing with fury.
Kouga turned slightly, keeping his stance low and his tone firm."Dr. Magi," he said, not taking his eyes off the clone, "please run. We'll deal with this bastard first."
A Few Minutes Later
Dr. Magi had managed to escape despite his injured leg, limping down the emergency corridor . Meanwhile, on the fifty-fifth floor, the battle between Kouga, Fu Hua, and the Herrscher clone raged on.
Every strike they landed—every kick, every chi-infused punch—was deflected by the shimmering barrier surrounding the Herrscher clone. It was as if their attacks hit an invisible wall that rippled but never broke.
Kouga, still in his Kamen Rider Agito: Ground Form, landed beside Fu Hua as both slid back, the floor beneath them cracked from the impact.
The Herrscher clone hovered above, eyes glowing with malice. When his gaze locked on Fu Hua, his grin widened unnervingly. Then came a hoarse, distorted laugh—emanating not from his mouth, but from the mechanical voice modulator at his neck. Fu Hua's previous encounter had left him without a tongue, and the device was the only thing letting him speak.
"Hahahaha! Today is my lucky day!" the synthetic voice jeered. "To think you would appear before me and give me the chance to take my sweet revenge!"
Kouga's helmeted head turned slightly toward Fu Hua. "Revenge?" he muttered, piecing it together. She had mentioned once that she'd cut this Herrscher's tongue out herself.
Fu Hua met the clone's glare with an expression of pure indifference. "That's not possible for you," she replied coolly. "If you don't want to get hurt again, surrender quietly. I don't wish to waste any more time on you."
"Don't be so full of yourself!" the Herrscher clone spat through the speaker. "I was caught off guard last time! I've killed countless A-rank Valkyries before you!"
He raised a hand, his fingers curling as dark energy crackled around them. "Come forth!"
At once, several mechanical orbs dropped from the air vents, unfolding into spider-like robots that clicked and hissed as their four metal legs pierced the floor.
'Is he planning to use those things to distract us while he lands a strike?' Kouga thought, shifting into a guarded stance.
Fu Hua smirked faintly and removed her red glasses. "Oh? After all that big talk, you still have to rely on spider mechas? What a coward."
The Herrscher clone's grin twisted. "Coward? Do you think these spiders were meant for you?"
Before either could respond, the clone clenched his fist—and every spider drone around them crumpled inward, crushed into metallic scraps under immense pressure.
Both Kouga and Fu Hua froze in surprise.
'What the hell…?' Kouga thought, eyes narrowing behind his visor.
Fu Hua voiced what they were both thinking. "Why attack your own drones?"
The Herrscher clone spread his arms dramatically, the gravity around him warping, distorting the air. "I only summoned them to demonstrate my overwhelming strength! I have the power to control gravity itself!"
He launched into an overblown monologue—boasting about the dozens of A-rank Valkyries he'd killed, how he'd evolved beyond human limits, how none could stand before him.
Kouga stood motionless, arms crossed, visibly unimpressed. The longer the clone spoke, the more tired he looked.
Finally, he sighed and turned toward Fu Hua. "Hey, just to be sure— you can handle this guy, right?"
Fu Hua blinked at the sudden question. "Yes…?"
"Good. I'll leave him to you while I go find Dr. Magi, alright?"
Fu Hua gave a brief nod. "Of course."
"Perfect."
With that settled, Kouga turned away from the fight, flames flickering across his armor as he shifted from Agito Ground Form into Agito Flame Form. The fiery crest along his chest pulsed as his enhanced senses kicked in, letting him pick up the faintest sounds through the building.
Through the chaos, he heard two things: Dr. Magi's uneven breathing—and a familiar voice calling out, helping him.
Kouga's eyes widened beneath the visor."That voice… Kiana?"
Without hesitation, he broke into a sprint.
Kouga, now in Kamen Rider Agito Flame Form, raced through the corridors, his footsteps echoing sharply. He could hear Kiana's scream—pained and panicked—calling out from somewhere below.
That was all he needed. Kouga surged forward even faster, following the sound until he reached the basement.
Inside the storage room, Dr. Magi stood beside a computer, eyes wide and trembling as he pointed toward the center of the room. Kiana, still in her short qipao, stood right before the force-field generator, her hand pressed directly against the blue Gem.
Kouga burst into the room, crossed the space in a heartbeat, and wrapped his arms around her waist. With a powerful leap, he pulled her clear of the crystals and out into the hallway. His back slammed against the wall as they landed, but he didn't care—Kiana felt weak, almost lifeless in his arms.
He turned toward the doctor, fury in his voice.
"Did you force her to do this?!"
Dr. Magi stumbled back, his leg now bandaged, before raising his hands.
"No! She did it herself—she just grabbed the Gem!"
"You idiot!" Kouga hissed, glancing down at Kiana. "What the hell made you think that was a good idea?!"
Kiana looked up weakly, her hand still clutched around the glowing Gem.
"That doctor guy said it was like… what Mei-senpai went through. I stopped it though, right?"
"That's not how it works, dammit!" Kouga snapped.
He detransformed, fumbling through his belt to find the containment box—only to realize he'd left it with Fuhua. He cursed under his breath and turned back to the scientist.
"Magi! There's gotta be a way to stop this!"
Before Magi could respond, the computer blared a sharp tone. The doctor's attention shifted immediately.
"Wait—look at this!" he said, eyes darting to the screen.
Kouga's patience was gone.
"You have negative seconds to tell me something useful before I finish what you started last night!"
"No, listen!" Magi pointed at the monitor. On it, a counter in the low thousands was rapidly decreasing. "That girl—Kiana—she's insulating the Gem from the Honkai energy with her hands! She's holding it back!"
Kiana whimpered again, gripping the Gem tighter.
"M-My head… it hurts…"
Kouga held her close, pressing her face against his shoulder.
"Hey, you're okay. You're strong, Kiana. Just hang in there."
Then a voice came from the shadows—calm and steady.
"May I be of any help?"
Kouga turned to see Fuhua stepping into view.
"You're late! Give me the container!"
Fuhua tossed him the metal case, which he caught without looking.
"You two should go ahead," she said. "I still have work to finish. I'll meet you later."
Kouga nodded and carried Kiana bridal-style out of the building.
Moments later, Agito Storm Form dashed across the rooftops, leaping from building to building. Fuhua joined him soon after; whatever business she'd had with Dr. Magi was already done.
They stopped on a nearby rooftop overlooking the hotel. Kouga set Kiana down gently.
"Where's Dr. Magi?"
Before Fuhua could answer, a purple flash erupted at the base of the hotel—a small explosion, brief but final. Fuhua's eyes lowered, her silence enough to tell Kouga what had happened.
He exhaled heavily and opened the container.
"Let's finish this."
Fuhua knelt beside Kiana, scanning her condition.
"She shouldn't suffer lasting damage—if we remove the Gem in time."
"I know—"
Kouga's words cut short as Kiana suddenly swung a punch at his face. He barely dodged in time, only to have her follow up with a spinning sweep kick that forced both him and Fuhua back.
When she rose, her once-sky-blue eyes glowed golden.
Kouga tensed.
"Fuhua—can a Gem just fuse with someone and make a Herrscher? The last one I met needed a whole city to die first!"
"No!" Fuhua answered sharply, stance ready. "It's more likely that the Honkai energy in that room reawakened the original Herrscher of the Void—Sirin."
A new voice, mocking and confident, echoed from Kiana's lips.
"You know, it's rather rude to talk about someone who's right in front of you."
Kouga lowered his guard slightly, speaking with a forced calm.
"Ms. Sirin, you're currently controlling a friend of mine. So if you could kindly go back to sleep, that'd be great."
Sirin's eyes narrowed, then curved into a grin.
"Oh, you must be her little boyfriend. Too bad for you—this body is mine now."
Fuhua didn't waste a second. She dashed forward, aiming a strike at Sirin's neck. Sirin twisted aside at the last moment, her arm slicing through the air and releasing a wave of black mist. Fuhua slid backward under it, stopping beside Kouga.
When Sirin turned back toward them with a smirk—she suddenly froze. Kouga had vanished.
He reappeared behind her, bringing his hand down for a disabling chop—only for it to be stopped by a shimmering golden barrier, the same kind the Herrscher clones had used.
The Herrscher swung a heavy punch toward Kouga's chest, her fist wreathed in black mist. The impact sent him sliding back across the ground, boots scraping against the stone.
Sirin—the Herrscher possessing Kiana's body—smiled darkly, confident in her strike.Fuhua's expression shifted to worry.
"Kouga!" she called out.
But the reaction they got wasn't what either expected.
Kouga looked down at his chest, brushing away the black haze like it was dust on his jacket.He blinked.
"Uh… was that black mist supposed to do something?"
Both Sirin and Fuhua's eyes widened.
Sirin stared in disbelief while Fuhua quickly regained her composure, analyzing what she'd just seen.
"That power… it resembles the Herrscher of Death's authority—decay and regeneration. She can disassemble and reconstruct matter at will," Fuhua explained.
Kouga tilted his head thoughtfully.
"Oh. Well, that's not really going to work on me."
"And why is that?" Sirin asked sharply, her tone half fury, half curiosity.
"Because," Kouga said simply, "I'm basically a demi-god right now."
Both Sirin and Fuhua froze.
"A… demi-god?" they said almost in unison.
Kouga nodded, completely serious.
"Yeah. I can evolve infinitely to counter anything that threatens me. Once fought something that could turn people into dust. I was fine."
He said it as if it were a casual fact, not the declaration of someone defying the laws of nature.
Sirin's expression twisted from disbelief into rage.
"IS THIS A JOKE?! From the host's memories, I know you're strong—but to claim that?"
The energy around her flared violently.
"You think you can defeat me? You're gravely mistaken!"
The Gem in her hand began to glow, rising into the air before embedding itself in her chest. The energy surged through her, forming layers of light that solidified into a sleek white battlesuit.
Kouga's eyes widened slightly.
"Wait… that's the Knight Moonbeam battlesuit," he muttered. He recognized it from the time he and Bronya helped Kiana with her study—and from what Theresa had told him about its incredible potential.
Now that power belonged to Sirin.
She floated into the air, examining her gloved hand as a cruel smile spread across her face.
"As I thought. This body brings out even more of my potential."
She extended her arm toward them, voice dripping with arrogance.
"As a Herrscher, there is nothing I can't do."
Her eyes glowed gold as she continued,
"While examining this armor, I found its structure amplifies Honkai energy to its limits. So, I decided to… improve it."
She spread her arms wide. The ethereal wings on her back began to glow brighter—each one pulsing with stored power.
"And now… I can even do this!"
At once, the wings fired multiple golden beams, raining down toward both Kouga and Fuhua in a storm of destruction.
Fuhua did her best to dodge the incoming beams, each shot carving into the rooftop around her with explosive bursts of light. Kouga, on the other hand, stood his ground.
In a flash of golden energy, his armor shifted — Kamen Rider Agito: Trinity Form.
As the next volley of beams rained down, Sirin smirked.
"Let's see you block this."
The attack struck dead-on—or so she thought.
When the light faded, Kouga hadn't moved an inch. Every single beam had been deflected with nothing but his bare hands.
Sirin's grin disappeared instantly.
"W–What?!"
Kouga dusted his palm as if brushing away crumbs. Then, slowly, he began walking toward her—each step deliberate, unfazed, his hand casually swatting away another beam as if it were nothing.
From below, Fuhua continued to dodge, her red glasses glinting as data streamed through the camera embedded in them.
At Schicksal Headquarters.
Inside the cathedral-like control room, Otto Apocalypse watched the footage with his usual smug intrigue.
"Fascinating…" he mused. "A form that can evolve infinitely to adapt to any situation. The claim of being a 'demi-god' may not be far from the truth."
Beside him stood a woman who looked strikingly similar to Kallen Kaslana, though she wore a dark visor across her eyes.
"I suppose I should lend Fu Hua a hand," Otto said, smirking. "Wouldn't you agree, Amber?"
"Yes, Overseer," Amber replied coolly.
Back on the battlefield.
Kouga continued blocking the storm of energy while Fuhua flipped and rolled through the gaps.
"EVEN IF YOU CAN DEFLECT THEM, THE ENERGY STORED IN THIS GEM CAN DESTROY HALF A CITY!" Sirin screamed in frustration, unleashing another barrage.
Fuhua's glasses flew from her face during a dodge, spinning through the air. Otto's voice crackled through them mid-flight.
"How are things going?"
Fuhua caught the glasses midair and put them back on, glaring.
"As you can see! Hurry up and send what I asked for—you don't want this city reduced to rubble, do you?"
"The situation does look dreadful," Otto teased, voice rich with mock concern. "But the experiment's data is complete. How can I assist?"
"Unlock the transport system," Fu Hua ordered sharply. "Send it. It's time to end this farce."
Otto sighed theatrically.
"No other choice, then."
Moments later, a glowing transport sigil formed above her. Particles of light descended, assembling into the Shadow Knight Battlesuit, its black and violet armor plating locking into place around Fu Hua.
Meanwhile, Sirin's rage reached its peak.
"WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!" she screamed, hurling another massive beam.
Kouga batted it aside effortlessly, then launched himself into the air with a single leap. He shot forward like a bullet, closing the distance before Sirin could react.
Before she could charge another blast, he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly.
"W–What are you doing?!" Sirin gasped, startled.
Kouga didn't answer. He simply clenched his right fist and punched the air behind her. The shockwave exploded, sending both of them crashing down onto the rooftop below in a plume of dust.
When the smoke cleared, Kouga was on top of Sirin, pinning her arms with his left hand.
"What are you trying to do, human?" she hissed, glaring daggers.
His helmet dissolved with a faint hiss, revealing his face. The sight left her momentarily confused.
"You said you have Kiana's memories, right?" Kouga asked.
Sirin hesitated, then nodded cautiously.
"Then you already know how I defeated Mei's Herrscher form."
Her eyes went wide as she realized what he meant—her face flushed crimson.
"Unhand me, you pervert! Degenerate! Enemy of women! Release me this instant!"
Kouga ignored her struggling, holding her steady as his face drew closer.
Just then, a wave of dark energy burst across the rooftop as Fuhua's Shadow Knight armor fully materialized—black hairpiece, high-heeled boots, and violet gauntlets glinting under the night sky.
She turned toward Kouga, ready to issue orders—
"Kouga, we need to—"
—but stopped mid-sentence when she saw the scene before her.
Kouga froze.Sirin froze.Fuhua stared.
The awkward silence stretched before Fuhua sighed deeply.
Fuhua stood frozen, eyes wide. "Uhm… Kouga, what exactly are you doing?" she asked, half-covering her face, her voice caught between confusion and disbelief.
"Oh, I already caught Sirin," Kouga said as if explaining the weather. "Just about to… knock her out."
"You do realize you could simply knock her out physically, right?" Fuhua said flatly, though her cheeks betrayed her composure with a faint blush.
"Yeah, but knowing Kiana," Kouga replied, "if she remembers any of this later, she'll complain I didn't handle her Herrscher side like I did Mei's."
Fuhua sighed, muttering, "…I see," before turning her head away, one hand still half-covering her eyes. "Fine, just… get it over with."
"WAIT, AREN'T YOU GUY SUPPOSE TO BE DEFENDER OF THE HELPLESS OR SOMETHING WHY DON'T YOU HELP ME" Sirin scream—then a faint sound, one that made Fuhua's face redden even more.Sirin's muffled protest faded into an incoherent noise, followed by silence. A minute later, the noise stopped entirely.
Fuhua peeked through her fingers. Sirin lay motionless, unconscious, the golden light around her fading. Kouga stood up calmly, dusting himself off as if nothing unusual had happened.
"Well, that's that," he said with a casual grin, checking to make sure Kiana's body was unharmed. Then he turned and gave Fuhua a thumbs-up.
Fuhua lowered her hands, blinking. "I don't even want to know what just happened," she said quietly.
"Probably for the best," Kouga answered.
Hua looked up and spotted a helicopter approaching fast, the insignia of Schicksal gleaming on its side."Well," she said, exhaling. "I'm sure you'll be happy to know our exit is coming to us right now."
Kouga simply nodded.
Inside the Helicopter
Kouga sat across from Hua, Kiana's unconscious form resting safely in his arms."You know," he began, "I never asked—how did Kiana end up there in the first place?"
Hua replied without looking up from checking her communicator."Wraith told me she saw Kiana knock out the men guarding the hotel entrance and head upstairs. That's where she found Dr. Magi and helped him escape."
Kouga nodded silently, accepting the answer.
St. Freya — Medical Wing
"Well, you guys've been messed up."
Kouga groaned at Himeko's blunt assessment. Theresa stood in the doorway, arms crossed, the expression on her face just as hard.
"Honestly," Theresa sighed. "I let you two go out to help Hua, and you both end up getting caught in a Honkai shockwave."
"Don't worry about it too much," Kouga replied, playing along with Hua's request to keep details vague. "Anyway—how's Kiana?"
"Still asleep," Himeko said. "She must've taken a harder hit than you did if you're already awake."
"Blame the Kaslana in her," Kouga muttered with a faint grin. "And Hua? She's not being dragged through endless checkups, is she?"
Theresa shook her head. "No. She's debriefing with Otto. Out of everyone, she took the least damage."
Kouga nodded, starting to rise from the bed—only to pause when Himeko raised a hand to stop him.
"There's something else," she said, exchanging a quick look with Theresa. The principal gave a small nod."The mission Kiana and I were on—it wasn't just reconnaissance. We were searching for signs of a long-lost Honkai Beast: Chiyou."
Kouga frowned. "Okay… and this matters because?"
"We're still in the research phase," Himeko continued, her tone firm. "But we've found evidence pointing to a location known as the Nine Realms. Once preparations are complete, all five of us will be going in. Understood?"
Kouga gave a crisp salute."Understood."