Chapter 9: HOW ANNOYING
I DON'T OWN ANKOKU KISHI MONOGATARI OR KAMEN RIDER AND THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
"Hmmmm... What to do next?"
Kuroki is currently in a bit of a pinch. Although he successfully infiltrated Lenaria, his plan to integrate as a freelance freedom fighter isn't going well. To put it briefly, the arrogant guildmaster considered him "highborn-like" and immediately shot down his chance to join. Afterward, when Dozumi and he were brainstorming alternatives, Dozumi's boss and the guildmaster of the Black Fang, Gendor, approached them and began bullying Dozumi. Kuroki attempted to join them, but Gendor demanded Nut as an entrance fee. Just as Kuroki was about to decline, Dozumi immediately answered for him. The boss grew annoyed and left them both, hinting at a threat to Kuroki.
"Dozumi sure is kind; he even risked his neck for me. Oh well. Nut, wake up now; we've got to deal with the trash outside."
Kuroki knew that at this moment, the inn he was staying in was being surrounded, likely by those ruffians from the Black Fang. He also had a bad feeling that Dozumi was in big trouble. Kuroki knew that people like Gendor are petty and won't just let Dozumi's defiance go unanswered.
"Haaa… I just want to rest, goddammit."
After neutralizing the lackeys by either smashing them into the walls or rendering them unconscious, Kuroki then confronted the last one, who seemed somewhat familiar. This was the same individual who had attempted to attack him and Dozumi earlier when Gendor was issuing his threats.
"Hey, you're the only one left, so spill the beans. I want to rest already," Kuroki boredly stated as he stared down the lone adversary.
"Hah! As if I'll do that!" The man reached into his pocket and produced a stone, displaying it to Kuroki. "You may be physically strong, but to a magician like me, you're nothing more than an insect! LEONDUS!"
The stone glowed and immediately took effect, causing Nut to collapse face-first onto the ground.
"Nut! What happened?"
"Kuroki-samaaa... I can't moveeee..."
Kuroki surveyed his surroundings and realized that he could still move his body. Meanwhile, the magician appeared bewildered that his target was still mobile and was approaching him.
"IMPOSSIBLE! HOW CAN YOU MOVE!? YOUR BODY WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AS HEAVY AS IRON!"
Kuroki didn't respond and instead dashed in front of the magician, grabbing his neck and slamming him to the ground. The spell immediately dissipated, and Nut regained his mobility.
"Hey, if you want to live, show me where your base is right now. Do you hear me?" Kuroki threatened, tightening his grip.
"Y-yes! Sure! Just don't hurt me! I'll lead you to our base!"
"Dozumi, just hang in there."
"Haa... Haa..."
A man wielding a sword was attempting to defend a woman behind him. In front of him stood a Manticore, its drool dripping from its mouth due to hunger.
"WhAT's tHE mAtTerR, HuMAn? TiRed nOw?" The Manticore taunted Dozumi as he fought for his life. Gendor, who was looking down from his seat above the makeshift arena, was cackling.
"Oi, Douzumi, you traitor! Why did you stop moving? Get your ass moving, or my cute pet Negul is going to eat you for real!"
The jeers of his subordinates resounded with frenzy, and the muffled laughter of Gendor's upper echelon friends echoed. Douzumi gritted his teeth and gathered his resolve.
"Damn you, Gendor! The rumors are true, then! I know we are bastards here, but what you have done is plain unforgivable and a betrayal to humanity!"
"Ha! Like I care about such small details. You see, my cute Negul here was wounded by that Hero and his women. I stumbled upon him, and my poor bleeding heart can't stand such brutality from those merciless assholes. I took care of him, and when Negul told me that human flesh is a delicacy for him, I was more than happy to provide it!"
The woman behind him, Rinea, Gendor's former lover, sobbed as she continued to hide behind Dozumi. Dozumi could only grit his teeth at such a sight.
Dozumi had been a failure throughout his whole life, but in this moment, at least, he would try to protect the woman behind him as a final good deed in his pathetic life. But... Dozumi wanted to live.
(I don't care who saves me, whether it's a god, a goddess, or even the Devil himself! Whoever saves me shall be my god from now on!)
"Oh, gods! Please help me! I don't care if you're from Elios or Nargol! If you really exist, then I beg for my life, or at least drag Gendor to hell!"
"Hahaha! Dozumi got mad! Well then, Negul, do your thing then!"
The Manticore leapt toward the two with its jaws wide open, ready to devour Dozumi and Rinea, but...
CRASH!
Someone had destroyed the wall and dashed straight toward the Manticore, delivering a skull-crushing punch to its face!
"HUH!? WHO IS THAT?"
Gendor and his audience were surprised by the sudden intrusion, and when the dust settled...
"Yo, Dozumi, what's up? I think you're in a pinch."
Kuroki stood between Dozumi and Rinea with a bored look on his face.
"...GRrRrr YoU bAsTRaD! hOW DaRe PuNCh mE LiKe ThaT!" Negul snarled as he stood up from Kuroki's fist.
"Kuroki-sama, that's a Manticore! It's supposed to be in the western part of the continent! Eww, those creatures really stink!"
"Kind of agree with that," Kuroki replied as he tried to wave the stench away, then he stared at Negul with a bored look.
"Hey, you, I really want to sleep now; this day is kind of stressful. So, I am giving you a chance to run away and scurry back to wherever you came from."
"Humph, what are you yapping about? The one who won't let you escape is me! YOU just another one of my dinner!" Negul snarled back.
"Normally, I would finish your kind without batting an eye, but I am really exhausted, you see. Well, I guess we are going to do this the hard way then." Kuroki drew out his sword.
"Bastard! You might be stronger than an average human, but Negul will surely put you in your place!"
Kuroki looked up at the owner of that voice, who turned out to be Dozumi's boss and his main enemy, Gendor.
Kuroki frowned as he wondered how this weak moron managed to tame this stinky beast in front of him, dodging sideways to evade Negul.
"Ok, that's it; you're pissing me off. Time to die then."
Kuroki stepped forward without hesitation, and Negul suddenly felt an intimidating aura emanating from him.
"Ha! SuCH bIG wOrDS fRoM A sMalL PrEy! O coMe Ye FlaMe!"
Casting that domineering aura, Negul cast a big Fireball toward Kuroki, who raised his feet and stomped the ground hard, causing the shockwave to raise the ground and block the Fireball.
"Ha! CaUgHt yoU!"
Negul anticipated that Kuroki would block his magic and used his stinger to perform a sneak attack against him.
Kuroki parried the stinger with his sword successfully, but due to his strength and the force of the tail, the sword broke. This did not deter Kuroki, as he simply kicked the remaining raised ground toward the Manticore with great force, causing Negul to be thrown back.
"YoU bAStaRd! HOw dArE yOU HuRT mE!? NoW I WilL MaKe sUrR yoU SUfFer!"
The beast decided to use its ultimate trump card. Its body gradually swelled up, and its eyes shone a crimson red color. It now looked like a beast ready for a rampage.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The beast roared as it let its base instincts take over its mind, but for Kuroki...
"Ha... How annoying. Playtime is over, I guess. Dozumi, get away from here now."
"Ye-yes!"
Dozumi grabbed Rinea's hand and ran away from Kuroki.
"Good job, Negul! KILL THEM ALL!"
Gendor bellowed in glee at the spectacle in front of him. All those who had crossed him would die today, eaten by his pet. The other people above started vehemently cheering for the Manticore.
Kuroki summoned a portal and grabbed the Build Driver inside, placing it on his waist. The belt secured itself and lit up. Kuroki inserted the Cross Z Dragon with the Dragon Full Bottle into the slot.
"ARE YOU READY?"
"Henshin."
Dozumi couldn't believe his eyes; his savior had transformed into the very figure of the rumors he had heard.
The Dark Knight.
The one who had nearly killed the Hero of Light and caused his party to flee Nargol. To think that this young man was the rumored knight.
The crowd was astonished by his transformation, feeling an immense pressure radiating from the now-transformed intruder.
The Manticore, consumed by its base instincts, charged at the Dark Knight. However, the knight simply grabbed its jaws and exerted more force than necessary, breaking them, and threw the Manticore onto the upper deck of the arena. Panic swept through the crowd as they scrambled to dodge the incoming Manticore.
"GURUAAAAAAAA!"
Flinging through the air and thrown like a pile of trash, the Manticore roared in anger. It spread its bat-like wings and took flight, its scorpion tail shooting a strange substance haphazardly all around.
UWAAAAAA!
Several spectators screamed in agony upon contact with the eerie substance. Upon closer examination, one could see that their skin had started to melt, as if acid had been thrown at them.
Kuroki had to act immediately to minimize the damage. Even though the arena was filled with deviants who enjoyed this sadistic show, they didn't deserve to die like that. Summoning a portal again, he pulled out two weapons.
"TRANSBLAZE GUN!"
"BLAZE BLADE!"
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Then, he heard a more conspicuous voice among the other agonizing screams in the room. Kuroki turned to look in the direction of that somewhat familiar voice and immediately recognized the people involved.
There was a woman, and Dozumi stood by her side. Like Kuroki, the Manticore also reacted to that scream and charged towards the woman. Kuroki leaped towards their position and faced the charging beast. He inserted the Dragon Full Bottle into the Transblaze Gun and aimed it at the Manticore.
"BLAZE BREAK! DRAGON!"
The fireball was fired from the gun, but Kuroki wasn't done yet. Using his Blaze Blade, he sliced the fireball and turned it into a sharp blade of fire.
SHINK!
The fire blade bisected Nergul, instantly killing the foul beast. However, even in death, the Manticore brought destruction. Due to its poisonous nature, the ground where the beast's body lay and where its blood oozed began to be enveloped by rising white smoke, accompanied by a sizzling sound, melting the ground in the process. Silence dominated the entire place.
The crowd was stunned, not only by the instant death of the Manticore but also by the quick and easy manner in which it had been dispatched. No human could achieve this unless...
(I'm going to need to wrap this up. Now, where the hell is that bastard... Ha!)
Kuroki stared at the frozen Gendor in his seat above.
Gendor couldn't believe the scene unfolding right in front of his eyes. His pet, Negul, was cleaved right in half. Yes, it was split RIGHT IN HALF by that seemingly weak man named Kuro.
That man had suddenly summoned something from the ground, enclosed himself inside, and was engulfed in black flames. Before anyone knew it, he was already clad in jet-black armor. Everything happened in a flash.
Gendor recalled his first meeting with the man called Kuro. When he first saw him, his initial impression was that he was a scrawny and feeble-looking man. The only thing that had caught his eye was the rare animal he was carrying. That's why he ordered his subordinates to kidnap him — he only wanted to snatch that rare creature.
It should have been an easy job, perhaps one of the easiest tasks he had ever assigned to his lackeys, but his regret came too late.
The man was the Devil himself.
The Devil, standing below in jet-black armor, stared at him, and its eyes suddenly glowed red. Then, he disappeared from sight.
"Where is he!?"
The sound of heavy steps echoed from his left side. He slowly turned in the direction of the sound and saw the Dark Knight walking toward him. Gendor was about to run, but the Dark Knight disappeared from his sight and reappeared, this time a bit closer.
He approached Gendor as if he were the Grim Reaper coming to claim his next soul.
The Dark Knight's aura terrified Gendor, who felt death looming over him. The armored man finally arrived in front of Gendor, his black armor darker than the darkest of nights, and engulfed in black flames. This scene alone was enough to make anyone quiver with fear.
"N-Nargol's D-Dark Knight... No... NOOOO... SOMEONE SAVE MEEEEE!"
His teeth incessantly chattered, preventing him from speaking properly and asking for help again; all he could do in the end was scream. He turned around to signal his subordinates to help him, only to find them also trembling in fear.
Then, the Dark Knight was in front of Gendor. It felt like time moved slowly. What should have been mere seconds felt like hours to Gendor. The Dark Knight finally appeared before him, his body clad in black flames, shining crimson eyes seeping through his helmet. The Dark Knight was the perfect depiction of Hell's envoy itself. And this terrifying man now fixed his gaze upon Gendor's shivering figure.
"No... I-I don't want to go to Nargol... Hic... Hic..."
Gendor muttered something between his sobs. His body refused to move, no matter how much he wanted to escape from this place.
The Dark Knight slowly but surely moved his hand and grabbed Gendor's face.
"GIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Gendor let out an inhuman shriek, like a man's final death wail.
Kuroki dropped Gendor to the ground.
To ensure that the man would face the full consequences, he first terrified him before secretly casting a spell to make sure Gendor would suffer for the things he had done.
While he had also used Fear magic to instill terror in Gendor and the people in the room a while ago, he found that the effects of his Fear magic were stronger than normal, causing the people here to tremble non-stop like newborn foals. It was probably due to his immense power, he thought.
Kuroki turned around to look at Dozumi, who still appeared dumbfounded from the arena below. His magic hadn't targeted Dozumi or the woman beside him. However, after seeing their expressions, Kuroki was well aware that they feared him. Kuroki descended toward their location.
"A-Are you Kuro?"
Dozumi was currently sitting on the ground, looking up at Kuroki. He was obviously frightened.
(Even though he wasn't supposed to be among the targets of my Fear magic...)
This meant that Dozumi's fear was real, not simply the result of his magic.
"Yes, it's Kuro, Dozumi," Kuroki replied to Dozumi, speaking softly.
"I-Is... Are you a Devil?"
Kuroki pondered this question, considering his origins and the circumstances. He had been brought about by Evolt, the alien lifeform who sought to consume everything in his quest to stop his even more sinister brother, Killbus, whose idea of a good time involved ending everything in existence. Kuroki could say...
"You're right and wrong. I'm worse than a Devil."
"I-I see now. Come to think of it, could it be that the Dark Knight who defeated Hero-sama is..."
"Yeah, that's me."
Kuroki told Dozumi the truth since there was no point in hiding it anyway.
Dozumi was clearly shaken by this revelation, his body trembling uncontrollably. Kuroki felt rather a little saddened by his reaction. The rumors about the Dark Knight's atrocity had spread far and wide because he had defeated the Hero of Light, humanity's hope. It showed how much hope had been placed on Reiji's shoulders. This was why defeating Reiji had turned Kuroki into humanity's number one enemy.
"Are you going to take me to Nargol too?"
Kuroki was baffled; he couldn't answer that question. He didn't understand why Dozumi thought so because he had no intention of taking Dozumi, nor did he want to harm him. But he knew that Dozumi was looking at him as if he were the Grim Reaper. Dozumi's reaction was the typical response of any ordinary human when faced with the Dark Knight.
"Why would I bring someone who, even at the end of his life, tried to do the right thing? You were protecting her from that Manticore, right?"
Dozumi was touched by the Dark Knight's praise, with kind words he had never received in his life. With a grateful heart and warm tears in his eyes, Dozumi suddenly prostrated himself in front of Kuroki.
"Let me pledge my allegiance to you, Master!"
Seeing this, the woman beside Dozumi did the same, prostrating herself in front of Kuroki. It was a peculiar sight to behold. Kuroki then heard some rustling from above. He looked up and saw numerous individuals, all kowtowing to him one by one. Some were trembling in fear, while others were in awe of his mercy. In the once-quiet room, they all pledged their allegiance to Kuroki in unison.
(Huh? What the hell, what's with the bowing? This is even MORE annoying!)
Kuroki was left perplexed and troubled by their gestures of loyalty.
CHAPTER 9 END
A/N
Oh hey, guys! What's up? It's been almost a year since I last posted, and I'm sorry about that. I've been busy with my new job and some light novel translations.
Well, I didn't abandon this story. I mean, like you guys, I really want to see how many arrogant assholes Kuroki is going to bash to the ground. Believe me, the other readers who've viewed "Ankoku Kishi" will tell you there are lots of them.
If you've noticed that Kuroki is a bit indifferent toward the civilians, it's because I want to portray him like Evolt, who basically also treats other humans differently because if you think of him, he also got isekai'd, but to be fair the guy is a genuine asshole. Also, the reason why Kuroki is a bit cruel is because the absence of his family (Team Build), the presence of his hated past, and a job that he needs to do are affecting him bit by bit. Remember how Banjo was kind of an asshole at the start of Build? That's what's happening right now.
By the way, I am working on the next chapter now, so stay tuned for it! If you have questions or just want to talks about Kamen Rider or Ankoku Kishi feel free to PM me!
P.S. Gotchard's FMC acts flat, unlike Neon or Reika.