Before we get into the mist of things, addressing a few reviews from the last two chapters:
Guest / DCDGojira (Chapters 17/18): Thanks! I'm honestly surprised that you've stuck around for this long! And to your first review, I say yeah! I wanted to change it from canon quite a good deal, since Kuen's around. He'd probably say something that could change it. And to your second review, you'll have to wait and see! This three-parter will feature the three-book Wonder Rider form at the end!
Anyways, onto the story!
Kamen Rider Saber: Tale of Two Worlds
仮面ライダーセイバー：二つの世界の物語
Kamen Raidā Seibā: Futatsu no Sekai no Monogatari
First Book: Beacon of Hope
初の書籍：希望の烽火
Hatsu no Shoseki: Kibō no Hōka
Chapter Eighteen: Lost Within the Wonder World, a Stolen Child.
第十八章：不思議な世界の中で失われた、盗まれた子供。
Dai Jūhasshō: Fushigina Sekai no Naka de Ushinawareta, Nusuma Reta Kodomo.
A father and a swordsman, trembling within the ruins of earth.
地球の廃墟の中で震えている父と剣士。
Chikyū no haikyo no naka de furuete iru chichi to kenshi.
"Bonne lecture!" Tassel spoke, pacing around in his house. "My name is Tassel. It's been a while!"
As he stood in front of his table, a few books sprawled all over it, he continued. "I'm currently very worried about the huntsman-in-training, Kuen Akegata. Why, you ask?"
"During the war over the Great Book that created the world, an incident caused the worlds to switch. This mysterious alternate world... we call it the Wonder World. Caught up in the incident, Kuen wielded the Sacred Sword of Flames, and found himself thrown into the midst."
Taking a deep breath, Tassel panted a bit in excitement.
"Oh, and by the way, he decided to fight alongside the secret guild protecting the book. Isn't that exciting?!"
And Tassel finally stopped, taking another deep breath.
"Anyways, a conflict is about to brew...! What will happen next?!"
It's been roughly a few weeks since the incident regarding Team CRDL. For the most part, any animosity that's formed between Jaune and Cardin has seemed to disappear. However, Kuen suspected it was less from Cardin deciding to stop bullying Cardin, and more the fact that he was frightened of both Nora and Kuen breaking his legs. Cardin did get his legs actually broken, after all.
Though Kuen did find out Cardin tried to leak Jaune's secret to Professor Goodwitch. For all good that that guy was worth, it was a good thing that Professor Goodwitch waved it off. Kuen also suspected that Ozpin must have told her something about that whole kerfuffle. Which was good, because he heard that Professor Goodwitch also must have done something that terrified Cardin so much he never ever brought up Jaune's secret again.
In these few weeks, a lot of things had happened, though none of them were related to the Megid. He remembered Nora having a hunch that they were preparing for something. Kuen decided that it was the best explanation for why they hadn't had any Megid attacks. Even when Sophia sent out some of the swordsman to scout, they also had not spotted anything.
Said peace allowed Kuen to calm down for the most part. Then again, he was still slightly on guard at all times, mainly because he was worried for when the next Megid attacked.
He'd also taken these few weeks to think about a few things, but he decided that it was best unsaid to his teammates until the time came. He didn't want to scare them too much, even though he's gotten most of the parts involving his duties as Kamen Rider Saber out of the way by now.
Currently, he was in training class once more, absentmindedly watching the duels taking place. There were starting to be changes in the line-ups, as Jaune was much more competent than he last remembered. Hell, Jaune' s progress surprised Kuen, though he wasn't too surprised. His team leader of Team JNPR did train with Pyrrha, of all people.
So far, things were remaining relatively peaceful.
"Eh, Ogami-san? You need me to take care of Sora for a day?" Kuen asked, confused.
The rest of Teams RWBY and JNPR were listening intently to what Kuen was talking about. They were intrigued, simply by the fact that Kuen had suddenly received a call from Ogami-san about something. Especially considering he'd never received calls from any of the members of the Sword of Logos.
"You need to assist Sophia with something?""
"Couldn't you just leave him with his mom for the day? Why are you bringing him around anyways, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Yeah, I get that you're the strongest swordsman. But what if he suddenly gets injured? You do realize that Beacon Academy has a bit too many threats lurking around anywhere, right?"
"Right, right. Fine. I'll get him quickly. It's fine if I bring along my teammates, right?"
"Alright."
Kuen ended the call, as Ruby perked up.
"What was that about?"
"Ogami-san wants us to take care of Sora for a day. Because of something mysterious that he needs to do, but is not telling me about, for some reason."
Weiss then chimed in. "Yeah. We figured that out from your conversation anyways."
Kuen paused for a moment. "...why am I not surprised that y'all are listening so intently?"
And he sighed. "Regardless, let's go. Don't want to take too long and disturb whatever he needs to do, after all."
And he could only simply lament further, "I'm just worried that the Megid is suddenly going to attack at this time. They have a tendency to do that whenever we're in the middle of something important, after all."
Ruby then piped in, "We'll just beat their ass!"
Kuen softly chuckled. "Yeah, you're right."
And he pulled out the Book Gate Wonder Ride Book, opening it. And it linked to the door to the dorm room they were in, as the Wonder Ride Book whirred to life once more.
BOOK GATE! OPEN GATE!
ブックゲート！オープンゲート！
Bukku Gēto! Ōpun Gēto!
"Seriously, I can't get used to this at all." Jaune commented, as the door would then open. The purple vortex revealed itself once more, the walls of the tunnel lined with bookshelves.
And so the nine travelled, entering the vortex. Thankfully, by now, all of them were used to it, enough that it wasn't like last time. Or rather, the first time they entered the tunnel and Jaune spun around a lot.
Entering the Sword of Logos base, Kuen quickly greeted all of the residents present within the building, as he would approach Sora.
"So, only for today, right?" Kuen asked.
"Yep!" Ogami piped up, as Sora looked cheerful.
And Kuen spoke in a soft voice, enough that only Ryo could hear it. And Blake too, for whatever reason.
"If Sora suddenly gets into trouble, I'll obviously help. But it's indirectly on you."
Ryo glared at Kuen enough for the latter to take psychic damage. But as much as it sounded disrespectful, Kuen did have a point. Why was Ogami constantly bringing his son into battle? As much as he claimed he was the strongest swordsman; that would mean nothing in the event that the Megid used his son as hostage against him.
Regardless, taking Sora with them, the nine headed back through the entrance of the Sword of Logos, heading back to their dorm room. Kuen was hopeful that they didn't have to deal with the headache of 'why was there a child in their dorm room out of nowhere'.
Zooous stood in the middle of the room, contemplating on what Megid to pull out this time. It's been a few weeks since any of them even summoned one, and he was itching for a fight. Sure, Storious claimed that this long period was because they needed to prepare, since it was a new world. But Zooous was not one for patient idling.
Grabbing a random Alter Ride Book he thought looked cool, he was then stopped by Legeiel.
"What do you want?" Zooous asked impatiently, his entire body itching for chaos.
"If you're going to summon one, I might as well join in." Legeiel responded, smiling a little.
And Storious stepped out from the shadows.
"Besides, the two Riders have noticeably struggled whenever they fought two Megid. I'd imagine it'd be much more difficult if it was three monsters, but we do not have enough energy to maintain that many monsters at once right now."
And all three generals smirked, as Calibur remained in the shadows, observing.
The two Megid generals stepping out onto the balcony that overlooked Beacon Academy, they pulled out their Alter Ride Books.
HANZAKI SANSHOUOU!
ハンザキサンショウ王！
Hanzaki Sanshouou!
ONRYOU NO IKARI!
怨霊の怒り！
Onryō no Ikari!
The day had been going well for the most part. For the most part, the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR had been piled within their dorm room, since there wasn't going to be classes in the afternoon. Thankfully, this meant they could watch over Sora, who seemed to be content with the space he even had.
"Are you sure you don't want to be with your dad, Sora?" Ruby curiously inquired.
"The Northern Base is boring. There's only books in that place." Sora responded, completely bluntly.
"Really?" Weiss perked up.
"I figured." Kuen added, as he chuckled a little. "That place is all books, seriously. Normally I'd say something about how books are wonderful, but I'm not that kind of person."
That caused Sora to laugh cheekily.
"Honestly, I'm tempted to go on a walk. I'd really like some ice cream too, considering this dorm room does not have much of that." Kuen stated.
"I'm in." Blake stated.
And slowly, everyone stated their agreement to their plan. All that was going to be an issue would be Sora's safety. Kuen did not want to compromise that.
With so, they headed out, as they headed to the main compound outside of Beacon Academy. Maybe they could even go into Vale since it was a Friday.
As the books flipped open, two stacks of black books would emerge, slightly towering over Zooous and Legeiel, before red lines would form between the stacks of books. Immediately afterwards, the books would shatter, revealing monstrous figures that stood amidst the Beacon sun. In the case of the first creature, its purple scales shined under the light, as its body was decorated with silver and black.
This was the Hanzaki Megid.
In the second case, the figure was more ghost-like in nature. Trails of cloth came out from parts of its body, as its red pupil stared into the distance.
This was... the Onryou Megid.
The two generals simply grinned. It was time. And the Hanzaki Megid would hold a blank Wonder Ride Book in his hand, opening it after a moment of thought.
As the nine huntsmen-in-training, plus Sora, would get ice cream, they sat in the middle of the city center. Thankfully, they found some benches, as they could only simply enjoy their frozen treat. A cold dessert on a hot day, it was a match made in heaven. Or whatever the equivalent was to heaven in Remnant, anyways.
Sora's reactions consisted mostly of awe, having never been in this world before. He was used to Earth, after all, so Remnant was a new place for him. Thankfully, there was less issues that Kuen had even anticipated, so they could enjoy their moment of peace.
Until, they heard screaming from afar. Or rather, Blake heard screaming from afar. And a low growling noise that was definitely not Grimm-like. Blake immediately alerted Kuen to the issue.
"Damn it... the Megid is here already." Kuen noted, as everyone readied themselves.
They'd just finished their dessert too.
And they rushed towards the source, as Ruby carried Sora in tow. Kuen trusted Ruby to take care of Sora for the time being, seeing as she had the ability to run faster than most of the group. It'd come in useful at times like this, according to Kuen, anyways.
Arriving at the source of the attack, they would notice two figures attacking the surroundings, as people were running away. This was bad, because Kuen knew if they kept this up, the panic from the city square would generate negative emotions.
And that was prime Grimm estate.
SEIKEN SWORDRIVER!
聖剣ソードライバー！
Seiken Sōdoraibā!
Kuen and Nora quickly readied themselves, pulling out their respective Wonder Ride Books.
BRAVE DRAGON!
ブレイブドラゴン！
Bureibu Doragon!
JACKUN-TO-DOMAMENOKI!
ジャッ君と土豆の木！
Jakkun to Domameno Ki!
LAMP DO ALANGINA!
ランプドアランジーナ！
Ranpu do Aranjīna!
There was once a God Beast who had the ability to obliterate anything in its path...
かつて全てを滅ぼすほどの偉大な力を手にした神獣がいた...
Katsute subete o horobosu hodo no idaina-chikara o te ni shita shinjuu ga ita...
A mysterious story about a boy suddenly getting a bean that turns into a huge tree...
とある少年がふと手に入れたお豆が巨大な木となる不思議な話...
Toaru shōnen ga futo teni ireta o mame ga kyodaina ki to naru fushigi na hanashi...
There was a lamp in a foreign land with a mysterious power that has been handed down since ancient times...
とある異国の地に古から伝わる不思議な力を持つランプがあった...
Toaru ikoku no ji ni inishie kara tsutawaru fushigi na chikara o motsu ranpu ga atta...
And as quickly as they pulled out their Ride Books, the two of them transformed into Saber and Espada respectively.
"Henshin!"
Rekka Battō! Ni-satsu no hon o kasaneshi toki seinaru tsurugi chikara ga yadoru! Wonder Rider! Dragon! Jack-to-Mamenoki!
烈火抜刀！二冊の本を重ねし時聖なる剣こ力が宿る！ワンダーライダー！ドラゴン！ジャッ君と豆の木！
Rekka Battō! Ni-satsu no hon o kasaneshi toki seinaru tsurugi chikara ga yadoru! Wandā Raidā! Doragon! Jakkun to Mameno Ki!
Futatsu no zokusei o sonaeshi yaiba ga togi sumasa reru!
ニっの属性た備えし刃が研き澄まされる！
Futatsu no zokusei o sonaeshi yaiba ga togi sumasa reru!
Ikazuchi Battō! Lamp do Alangina!
黄雷抜刀！ランプドアランジーナ！
Rekka Battō! Ranpu do Aranjīna!
Ikazuchi Issatsu! Lamp no sei to Raimeiken Ikazuchi ga majiwaru toki inadzuma no tsurugi ga hikari kagayaku!
黄雷一冊！ランプの精と雷鳴剣雷が交わる時稲妻の剣が光り輝く！
Ikazuchi issatsu! Ranpu no sei to Raimeiken Ikazuchi ga majiwaru toku inadzuma no tsurugi ga hikari kagayaku!
And the two charged into battle, wielding their respective weapons against the two Megid. The other seven would assist by getting the civilians in the vicinity to safety, as Ruby continued to make sure Sora was safe. They needed to alert Ogami as quickly as possible so that he'd be able to get his own son to safety.
That, and they needed extra firepower. Kuen knew that with the amount of training they'd received in their respective forms, the two Riders would be possibly able to combat the Megid, However, there was the concern that the Megid might have gotten stronger, but Kuen was unable to focus on the matter at hand.
Nora immediately rushed towards the Hanzaki Megid, as Kuen handled the Onryou Megid. And... it was going to be a struggle for Kuen. There was something odd about this Megid, compared to the previous ones that Kuen had fought. This one could turn invisible at will. And that was causing Kuen to miss a lot of his attacks.
That began to get on Kuen's nerves, as he would use his left arm to fire multiple seeds at the ground. He did so in an attempt to maybe trap the Megid with the vines, but it seemed to do nothing, as he was constantly knocked around.
Nora seemed to be having issues as well. Not like the ones Kuen were having, but instead, she was having issues hitting the damn Megid's skin. Its skin was so slimy that none of Nora's attack with Ikazuchi could connect at all, simply sliding over its skin. Even when Nora switched to Magnhild, the Megid was too slimy that none of her attacks were connecting.
The two Riders' blood were boiling, as they roared in frustration.
"Oh, come on!" Kuen screamed, trying to trap the Onryou Megid.
"Why the hell are my attacks not hitting?!" Nora also screamed, swinging at the Hanzaki Megid.
Those screams were immediately quenched when the two Megid managed to draw Kuen and Nora nearby each other. Said move caused the two swordsmen to accidentally strike at the other, as they both winced.
"Mou~! This is getting annoying!"
"I could say the same thing about that!"
Kuen and Nora both quickly scanned their Wonder Ride Books on Rekka and Ikazuchi respectively. Readying themselves, they prepared finishers, hoping that they'd connect this time.
DRAGON! MM-HM! JACK-TO-MAMENOKI! MM-HM!
ドラゴン！うーん！うーん！ジャッ君と豆の木！うーん！うーん！
Doragon! Un! Un! Jakkun to Mameno Ki! Un! Un!
"Kaen~ Karamiauzan!"
火
炎
絡
み
合
う
斬
ALANGINA! MM-HM!
アランジーナ！うーん！うーん！
Aranjīna! Un! Un!
"Ilektriki Apergia!"
Η
λ
ε
κ
τ
ρ
ι
κ
ή
α
π
ε
ρ
γ
ί
α
Waves of fire and lightning were sent from Rekka and Ikazuchi respectively, as they clashed with the two Megid. However, the combined attack seemed to be parried by the Hanzaki Megid, before the jaws of the Onryou Megid would then widen. Its jaws would then crunch on the attack, consuming the two waves. With said move, the Onryou Megid would be surrounded by a white Aura, as it seemed to be growing stronger.
"What the hell?!" The two Riders screamed in frustration.
In that moment, the Hanzaki Megid suddenly opened the blank Ride Book multiple white book projections would appear above the city, descending onto the ground. Kuen and Nora looked in panic, as they realized something. The book projections in the distance were beginning to consume some of the civilians that were running.
This was bad!
To make things even worse, a book projection was above them, fastly descending... in Ruby's and Sora's location. As Kuen and Nora continued to hold off the two Megid, the former screamed to Pyrrha.
"Pyrrha! The book is going to consume Ruby and Sora!"
At the same time, Ryo had also arrived onto the scene, witnessing the commotion going on. And he was the first one who'd notice the white book above Ruby and Sora consuming them. To make things worse, because of how big the book was, it also managed to consume both Jaune and Yang at the same time.
Left in shock and panic, Kuen would rush towards the Megid, trying to get a hit. Unfortunately for him, however, the two Megid would easily parry the attack, before disappearing.
Kuen dropped to the ground, as his transformation dissipated. This was not a good day.
Kuen sat on of the benches in the Sword of Logos base, unsure of what to do next.
Not only was he pretty sure that Ryo was mad at him for losing Sora, but three of his teammates were also consumed by the attack. He wasn't sure where they were, which was going to be the biggest issue.
Nora stared at Kuen's somber expression, unsure of how to respond herself. Even her usual hyper energy wasn't there, seeing as the situation drained her of it. Weiss, Blake, Pyrrha and Ren had similar reactions.
Uncertainty.
Kuen stood up, preparing to travel to the Wonder World. He had no doubts that this was where the Megid were potentially going to hide at. And Ryo stopped him. Kuen could only sigh, knowing that there was only option to even take at this point.
"I'm sorry. But I'll go find that Megid. It's my fault we were in the city center anyways."
Kuen endured the glare he received from Ryo.
"That was my promise to Sora."
And he headed out, towards the Wonder World. Nora followed in tow, before the remaining members of Teams WB and PR followed.
Stepping into the Wonder World, Kuen called out Sora's name.
"Sora?! Sora!" Kuen screamed, before the five other members stepped out as well, interrupting him.
"What were you thinking, going alone?!" Weiss wondered.
"Wouldn't it have been better if there were more people searching for him at once?" Blake added.
"...yeah, you're right. Sorry." Kuen apologized.
Suddenly, their moment was interrupted by a roar coming from behind them. They would turn, only to see the Hanzaki Megid standing opposite them.
"I won't let you get in the way of the birth of our king!" The Megid screamed, as Kuen was took aback. He had almost forgotten that the Megid could speak, considering the past few ones he'd dealt with had almost no coherent speech patterns.
"The Megid..." Ren stated.
Nora looked at it, confused.
"What are you honestly? A lizard?" She asked.
The Megid snapped.
"How dare you! I'm no lizard!" It retorted back.
Regardless, the two Riders knew that it was best to fight against the Megid. Maybe it had the answers they wanted, and the Onryou Megid wasn't with it as well.
Kuen turned to the other four. "You four search for the others. We'll handle the Megid."
BRAVE DRAGON!
ブレイブドラゴン！
Bureibu Doragon!
LAMP DO ALANGINA!
ランプドアランジーナ！
Ranpu do Aranjīna!
There was once a God Beast who had the ability to obliterate anything in its path...
かつて全てを滅ぼすほどの偉大な力を手にした神獣がいた...
Katsute subete o horobosu hodo no idaina-chikara o te ni shita shinjuu ga ita...
There was a lamp in a foreign land with a mysterious power that has been handed down since ancient times...
とある異国の地に古から伝わる不思議な力を持つランプがあった...
Toaru ikoku no ji ni inishie kara tsutawaru fushigi na chikara o motsu ranpu ga atta...
And as the four took their leave, heading into the forest in the distance, Kuen and Nora transformed.
Rekka Battō! Brave Dragon!
烈火抜刀！ブレイブドラゴン！
Rekka Battō! Bureibu Doragon!
Rekka Issatsu! Yūki no ryū to Kaenken Rekka ga majiwaru toki, shinku no tsurugi ga aku o tsuranuku!
烈火一冊！勇気の竜と火炎剣烈火が交わる時、真紅の剣が悪を貫く！
Rekka issatsu! Yūki no ryū to Kaenken Rekka ga majiwaru toki, shinku no tsurugi ga aku o tsuranuku!
Ikazuchi Battō! Lamp do Alangina!
黄雷抜刀！ランプドアランジーナ！
Rekka Battō! Ranpu do Aranjīna!
Ikazuchi Issatsu! Lamp no sei to Raimeiken Ikazuchi ga majiwaru toki inadzuma no tsurugi ga hikari kagayaku!
黄雷一冊！ランプの精と雷鳴剣雷が交わる時稲妻の剣が光り輝く！
Ikazuchi issatsu! Ranpu no sei to Raimeiken Ikazuchi ga majiwaru toku inadzuma no tsurugi ga hikari kagayaku!
"Let's finish this quickly." Kuen bluntly stated.
"Yeah!" Nora screamed.
The two swordsmen who fight, with everything to lose.
すべてを失うことで戦う二人の剣士。
Subete o ushinau koto de tatakau futari no kenshi.