One week later

Kuoh Academy

"So this is Kuoh Academy…" Hiiro muttered in front of the school gate of the Kuoh Academy.

"Hiiro-sensei, thank you for coming today."

Koneko who had come to pick her up spoke to Hiiro.

"Sorry, but I have an operation at 6 o'clock, and I want to finish it as soon as possible, so please show me the way."

"Okay, this way, sensei."

Hiiro was led into the school.

Then…

"Hey, who is he? He's so cool and handsome, right?"

"You're right, who is he?"

The girls began muttering among themselves excitedly at the sight of Hiiro.

"Sorry, sensei, this school recently changed from an all-girls school to a co-ed school, so…"

"I understand what you mean." Hiiro nodded in understanding.

Old School Building

"This is the Occult Research Club's building."

"I see."

Hiiro walked without hesitation, not having any particular impression of the old school building before him. He then saw Rias and her peerage inside, as well as Asia and Eito, who were not devils but belonged to the ORC.

"Welcome to the Occult Research Club, you must be Hiiro Kagami?"

"Yes, sorry, but I don't have as much time as you students, so if you need to talk, just get it over with."

Then…

"Oi, asshole! Show some respect to Rias-buchou!"

"Yeah!"

Both Ryoichi and Eito shouted. Then…

"Me? Rude? It is I who should say that to you. You should be ashamed of yourself for calling me out of blue without prior notice."

"Why you! A mere human—"

"Ryoichi, enough."

"But, buchou!"

"JUST STOP!" Rias glared to Eito, who was about to attack Hiiro.

"…Okay."

"I'm sorry, as his master, I apologize for the rudeness of my peerage."

"Heh."

Hiiro sat down on the sofa without saying anything in response to Rias' apology.

"Well, I think I know what this is about, so let's get it over with."

"…Okay, the reason why I contacted you this time is because you are that knight, or Brave according to Eito, and I want you to tell me why you have been using your power to operate here in Kuoh without my permission."

"It's simple, as a doctor, I treated a stray devil, problem?"

"Of course it's a problem, I am entrusted with this land from the Demon Lord, and I can't let a wildcard like you, with your ability to separate Evil Pieces, ruin the order of this world."

"Yeah!"

"Buchou's absolutely right!"

Eito and Ryoichi shouted after Rias.

"…Well, come to think of it…"

"You know, buchou has a point…"

Toma and Issei spoke in favor of Rias on this matter.

"Reasons, huh? Hmph, what a stupid question. Hey, devil, you know what I do for a living."

"What…? You're a surgeon at a national university…"

"That's right, I'm a doctor, and I'm authorized by the Japanese government to practice treatment in this country, and since this land is officially Japanese land and not yours, I'm legally authorized to practice treatment as a surgeon at a Japanese national university hospital, regardless of who owns this land. In other words, when I treat stray devils in this city, I'm only doing so on legal grounds as a doctor recognized by the Japanese government."

"B-but, wouldn't it make sense for you to explain the reason for your activities to me, the ruler, beforehand?"

"Ruler? Don't make me laugh, you're not legally the head of this city's government, and as such, I'm under no obligation to ask your permission for any medical treatment in this city."

"That's…"

'Buchou is being pushed to negotiate…'

Rias was silenced when she was given a legal argument to let Hiiro fighting stray devils as Brave in this city.

'Oh no… I'm going to lose this… I was hoping that we could talk peacefully and not threaten each other, but it can't be helped…'

Rias spoke with that thought. "I see… but I still can't overlook you having the power to destroy the balance between three factions."

"I see, so you're going to kill me here?"

"I'm not going to go that far."

"What are you going to do, then?"

"I want you to operate in this city under our watch or transfer to Kuoh's hospital."

"Don't be ridiculous. I can't do that."

"If you don't want to do this, t-then I have an idea…"

"What's that?"

Hiiro asked, and Rias continued.

"I'm announcing to the world that you are Kamen Rider Brave, and that the Seito University Hospital hiding the fact that they possess the power of Kamen Riders." She said, but inwardly she didn't feel good about such a petty threat, even if it was to protect the devils and Kuoh that she was in charge of.

Then…

"So… that's your choice… very foolish…"

"What did you say?"

"Well… it's about time…"

Hiiro looked at his watch and muttered, then took his phone out of his pocket and selected a video from a site that showed an emergency announcement from the Ministry of Health.

And then…

"Breaking news, the Ministry of Health and WHO are going to issue a joint statement to the Japanese people, and it will be broadcast uncensored, so please pay attention."

After the announcer, the image changed to the press conference hall, showing the Minister of Health, Hinata.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the media, thank you for your time out of your busy schedules to participate in today's press conference. And to those of you who live in Japan, this is a very important announcement regarding the future of our country, so I hope that all of you will listen to this broadcast."

"A press conference from the Ministry of Health… why are you showing me this?"

"Just watch it until the end." Hiiro told Rias.

Meanwhile

Abandoned building

Now the Bugsters were also watching the press conference.

"The reason why we, the Ministry of Health, and the World Health Organization have issued this statement is to inform all the people of the new crisis that is currently threatening Japan."

After Minister Hinata's words, a Bugster appeared on the monitor.

"This is the Bugster Virus, a new type of computer virus capable of infecting human body discovered by the Ministry of Health two years ago. When a human becomes infected with this virus, it becomes a parasite in the host's brain and multiplies due to the host's stress, causing a disease called game disease, which looks like any other disease, but is completely untreatable by modern medicine, eventually creating a monster called a Bugster, which, if left unchecked, will physically wipe out the infected person from the world."

"So the Ministry of Health is taking drastic measures…"

"I'm sure they're just trying to keep us in line… well, no matter what the Ministry of Health tries to do, we'll do our mission." Genm said to Saki.

But the Ministry of Health's announcement wasn't just about the Bugster Virus.

"In addition, there's another new disease that's being discovered not only in Japan, but all over the world."

As soon as Minister Hinata said that, another image appeared on the monitor.

"That's… a stray devil…"

The monitor showed the images of the stray devils that the Kamen Riders had defeated so far.

"This is a video of a patient who has been mutated by a disease called devil disease, which is caused by infection with a new virus that we discovered at the same time as the Bugster Virus, which we have named the Devil Virus. The details of the devil disease and the Devil Virus are unknown, but those who are infected with this virus are able to gain power and vitality beyond that of humans. However, this is short-lived, and if left unchecked, the enormous life force of the Devil Virus will run rampant and mutate into a monster like this. The person who becomes a monster will have an abnormal urge to eat humans, which means that their mind and body will be controlled by the urge to kill and eat people."

"Oh, so they're going to go so far as to publicly announce the existence of devils to the world, even though with a bit twisting of the truth…?"

"I guess the humans are finally starting to come to their senses…"

"Well, given the circumstances, yes."

Redyue and Kazu muttered as they looked at the images.

Meanwhile

Zawame City, Yggdrasill Tower, CEO's office

In this room, Takatora, Mitsuzane, Ryoma, and Dr. Maki were currently watching the broadcast.

"But please rest assured, citizens. We have established a department called the Cyber Rescue Center, or CR, which is a medical institution specializing in the treatment of game and devil diseases, led by the Seito National University Hospital, which has the latest medical technology and excellent staff to treat these two diseases called Kamen Riders in collaboration with the Genm Corporation. In addition, Yggdrasill Corporation has informed that a treatment method for devil disease is being established. If we can detect the disease in its early stages and take swift action, these two diseases can certainly be cured, and we are counting on the cooperation of the people."

After that, Takatora turned off the TV.

"The time has finally come…"

"Looks like it… it's finally time to fight the supernatural beings in earnest…"

Takatora and Ryoma muttered.

"I wonder if the fight will get tougher from here on out…"

"Perhaps, but certainly, the struggle between the devils and us humans will intensify."

At Mitsuzane's muttering, Maki commented while looking at Kiyo-chan as usual.

"In any case, we need to make our plans even more urgent than they already are, don't we Ryoma?"

"Yeah, well, so far the research is progressing slowly but surely, but…"

"I've almost decided to double the budget for the R&D. I'm sorry to rush you, but I need you to complete your research as quickly as possible, Ryoma."

"Hmm, I won't disappoint, Takatora."