Across The Kaleidoscope

by Fireblitz113

Two and a half years ago, he awoke without any memories except one: his name. Now, he has to embark on a journey after the destruction of the world. With few allies and 19 worlds' worth of enemies, Fujimaru Ritsuka has to travel through the Rider Worlds to understand the meaning of his journey and figure out the greatest enemy waiting at the end of everyone's story.

26. Going Beyond All Resolution

Previously on Across the Kaleidoscope...

"Don't you agree? The reason stories— and life itself —are beautiful is because you know that one day they'll end? That's how someone could appreciate what they have now, realising that one day they'll disappear."

'Forgive me, everyone… I have to do everything that I need to do to reach that ending…'

"Kamen Rider Saber, the second Reiwa Rider. In proper history— if you could call it that —he was the one who stopped Falchion when he was unsealed. Saber even managed to stop Falchion from reviving too."

"Disappear… In the end, everything disappears… and there would be no one left to remember."

---

A story, like life, is beautiful because it'll end. No matter how long a story lasts, it has to have an ending, a good one or otherwise. But their stories will be immortalised forever; they are irreplaceable… to an extent. Like any story, they change with every retelling. Details become lost or added or even altered.

Maskless heroes… whose true identities were never known to the world at large. Or was it that they never knew the world as a whole? Constantly caught in their own little journeys…

Regardless, their cores remained the same; all of their stories carried the hopes of all those they touched and will continue to do so as long as people remember them. But was it better that they're remembered forever? That their stories be repeated for eternity so that they could continue to give people hope?

It was a difficult question to answer but Fujimaru believed the answer was clear. He hoped from the bottom of his heart, however warped and jaded it was after all this time, that the path he chose was the right one.

And with everything he has seen from the beginning to the end, he wished that Ritsuka was right.

---

Chapter 26: Going Beyond All Resolutions, the Masked Promise

---

"The World of Saber…" Ritsuka muttered as he and Kazuma stared at the broken landscape.

"What happened here…." He heard Kazuma mutter. "This World is…"

"…Come on." "Eh? Wait—" Kazuma turned to see Ritsuka already making his way down the nearby stairs.

"Don't forget we don't have the time to stand around gawking," Ritsuka reminded him without looking back. "We have to find Saber and get back as soon as possible."

"Right, wait for me!"

And so, the two began the long trek towards the city where they'd hopefully find a lead to their mission.

---

"They're there…" Swartz muttered to himself as he sat at a large round table in a dimly lit room. There was no real reason why it was so dark; it just was.

In any case, he sensed that two new souls had arrived in Saber's World. How did he know that? It was best left unknown. In any case, he had already dispatched a small squad to make things harder for those two Riders. No sense in making things easy for them.

His plan was, for the most part, actually going to plan. The only part that was thrown into a loop was the surprise revelation (to him) that the blue woman from the World of Agito— and presumably also her World of Kiva's counterpart —had the ability to instil a final death on her enemies. While it didn't matter to his Another World servants, it was still something to look out for.

"Her story… is fascinating…." The Time Jacker mused to himself before standing up. He should continue what he was doing and investigate further into that woman's past while everybody was busy preventing the end of Blade's World.

Opening an Aurora Curtain to the World of Agito's past— or perhaps, its present —Swartz stepped through it just as the large door to the meeting room opened.

"Swartz, pardon my interruption, I'm here to remind you to go to—" Bishop paused as he realised the room was empty. "That man…really does whatever he wants…."

In this case, he'll go in his superior's place to that World and speak to the commanders in charge.

---

"What happened here…" Kazuma muttered/questioned for the umpteenth time as he and Ritsuka walked down the ruined and debris-filled road. All around them were deteriorating buildings that were void of life. There was very little plant life as well; only a few weeds were growing out from the cracks in the pavement. "Did Bacht—"

"That's doubtful," answered Ritsuka, who already knew what Kazuma was going to ask. "The Book of Ruin would reduce everything to nothing; if it was him who destroyed this World, then there would've been nothing left."

"Oh…" That's right; the vortex was sucking up everything it could while they were fighting. "So there's something else that could destroy an entire World?"

Kazuma assumed that it was the entire World, anyway.

Ritsuka, however, just shrugged and said, "Probably."

"…By the way."

"Yeah?"

"What are you wearing?" Kazuma just noticed that Ritsuka's clothes had changed; he was now wearing a blue uniform with a sword in its sheath on the side of his waist.

After glancing down at his new attire for a few seconds, Ritsuka said, "Dunno, this keeps happening." While it wasn't the first time he felt this way, he thought he had worn this uniform before.

Another thing he felt was that something was stalking them— several somethings.

"Hey, Kazuma."

"Yeah?"

"Get your Driver ready," Ritsuka advised/basically ordered him. However, Kazuma was confused by the request.

"Driver?" He repeated. "What's that?"

Stopping and turning around, Ritsuka told him, "Your buckle," which cleared things up neatly enough.

"Oh!" Kazuma reached into his pocket and pulled out the Blay Buckle and Change Beetle Rouze Card. "But why?"

"Because of the Makamou."

"The… what?"

"The Makamou," Ritsuka said again before pointing to something behind Kazuma. "You know, that thing right behind you."

"Huh?" Kazuma slowly turned around… and was greeted with the ugly and salivating grimace of a green monster. "AH!" He not-so-manly screamed as he stumbled backwards, which also shocked the so-called Makamou.

"A monster from Hibiki's World, huh…". Ritsuka, utterly unperturbed by the Makamou's appearance, muttered to himself. "What's it doing here?"

The Makamou just made a strange noise as it stepped back a bit and took a fighting stance.

"But… you're not alone, are you?" Ritsuka glanced up at a nearby building, where he saw a humanoid figure standing on the rooftop. The figure then jumped down and landed on the pavement. As it rose back up, Ritsuka quickly deduced its identity. "A Yummy…right?"

More specifically, it was the Blue Oumu Yummy.

"Two of them… Well, it's nothing we can't handle," Kazuma confidently said. As he was about to put on his buckle though, he heard Ritsuka say something. "What did you say?"

"I said three. Look out." With what barely counted as a warning, Ritsuka pushed Kazuma away and leapt back a bit. Just then, something came crashing down right where they were standing.

Covering his mouth and squinting, Ritsuka tried to see what the third threat was. As soon as the dust settled— and Kazuma returned to his side —he realised that it was an Undead.

Kazuma recognised it too and was quick to point that out. "That's—!" He fished through his jacket and pulled out another one of his Rouze Cards. "How?!"

His shock was understandable since the Undead before them was the Category-2 of Spades, the Lizard Undead. The very same Undead that was already sealed in the card in Kazuma's hand.

"Guess there's another World of Blade out there," Ritsuka guessed after glancing at Kazuma's hand. 'But… that doesn't sound right…."

Regardless of whether he believed in his own suggestion, Ritsuka buried that thought and took out his Driver. "Let's wrap this up quickly."

"Got it!" Kazuma nodded before the two simultaneously put on their buckles.

"Henshin!" They both shouted, Ritsuka being quieter than Kazuma.

TURN UP!

KAMENRIDE: DECADE

The two transformed just as the monsters began their attack; Decade stepped aside as the Kappa jumped at him while Blade used his sword to block the Lizard Undead's own sword. The Yummy, meanwhile, took to the skies and waited for an opening to attack.

Decade couldn't help but mentally complain about the attack as he retaliated with a swift kick to the head. 'Seriously… why can't I go a couple of hours without getting into a fight….'

---

D̸̛͍͑̃̎͛̓̃̾͝͝ê̶͐͂̄͌̋̐̂͜ć̷̨̤̮̤̟̰͍̥ả̶̧̼̼̻͖͈̤̭̠͆̂̽̏͗̍̀d̷̨̬̞͍͔̠̳̋͂̀̈́̆̐̃̐è̸͖̊͐̅̃͋̿̐͘̚'̴̪͉̎͒͒̉̽̌̈́͠ş̸̂̄͋͐͌̓̕ World, the past…

He should be angry. He had every right to be angry. The person before him outright confessed that he had unleashed a void-obsessed maniac onto his World just to get to him.

But… something about what Merlin said erased those feelings from his heart. As well as what Ritsuka said next: "I guess you're right… Tell me… I'm too far gone at this point, right?"

Something told him Ritsuka was lying about something, which Merlin also realised.

"You know, if you were trying to lie to yourself, you should do a better job about it." The mage didn't lose that large grin as he spoke. "As if someone like you could become so heartless. Even now, I can see it in your eyes that you don't believe what you're doing is right."

"I guess you're right again, Merlin," Ritsuka let out a short sigh in acceptance. "I don't want to do this, far from it. But it's the only road I can walk on and I have to accept that. It's taken me years to finally understand that."

"Oh, is that how long it has been since you've left Chaldea?" Merlin quickly honed in on the 'years' part of his speech. "That has to have quite a toll to be travelling alone for that long. In any case, you've accepted that your future is set?"

"...Yes, for now. What I'm doing now is to change that," Ritsuka turned his gaze towards Touma. "But for that to happen, he has to die— either now or in the future."

"…Fujimaru…san," Touma said as he returned his gaze. "I just want to ask you something. Answer me honestly, please."

"What is it then?"

"If you kill me, my World, and anyone else that you see fit to reach whatever goal you have in mind… will you be able to live with yourself?" What Touma does next would be heavily dependent on his answer.

"What kind of question is that?" Ritsuka laughed quietly, "Of course, I can't. That's the whole point of breaking free of the fate set for us— so that all of you could live for real."

"I… see…" Honestly, Touma did not understand that at all… but he did understand one thing. "You're… not really that bad of a guy, aren't you?"

"Eh?" What he said completely took Ritsuka off guard.

"Here I was thinking you were some inhumane monster trying to destroy my World for selfish reasons but it looks like I was wrong," Touma smirked. "Plus, how bad could you be when someone as great as Merlin is vouching for you."

"I knew I liked you for a reason!"

"Damn it, you're another Merlin fanboy again…" Ritsuka quietly sighed before his mouth tipped up in a small smile. "However, Merlin likes you. And I can't also take one of his only two fans away from him."

"How rude. I have more fans than him and Bradamante!" Merlin feigned getting heartbroken by his former and current Master's remark. Ritsuka's following remark further exacerbated his fake pain.

"No, your followers on the internet don't count."

"Ack! You haven't changed at all, have you?!" Merlin shouted, causing Ritsuka to laugh a bit more.

"Seems that way," he wryly smiled. "Looks like I couldn't do it in the end…". Ritsuka sighed while shaking his head. "Of course, I couldn't. Why did I think I could?"

"…So all is forgiven? I admit I didn't expect him to forgive you so easily," Merlin said, "Then again, I didn't know what to expect from this whole interaction so it doesn't count."

"No," Touma denied Merlin's assertion, "I haven't forgiven him just yet. He still has a lot more to do to earn my forgiveness."

"That's fair enough, I suppose," Ritsuka chuckled at Touma's declaration. "And the first thing I have to do is clean up my own mess, right?"

"Of course, it's your fault after all," Touma replied without a hint of malice in his voice.

However, a small, sad smile appeared on Ritsuka's face as he said, "Yeah… It's all my fault."

---

Present, Wonder World…

Touma didn't know at the time, but he would eventually regret saying that. In hindsight, it made sense that Ritsuka was close to his breaking point; joking that it was his fault, however accurate it was, was the last thing he should be hearing.

While nothing wrong came out of it immediately, Touma felt terrible for what he said now that he knew about Ritsuka's story. That's why he had to make it somehow, and the opportunity is coming up sooner rather than later.

'Just a bit more…'.

---

Blade's World…

While Ritsuka and Kazuma were busy fighting in Saber's World, back in Blade's World, everyone was trying their best to hold off the end of the world.

The storm sucking everything up has since evolved into a tornado with the park they were battling as its centre. The horde of Shimi that was surrounding the park had also gotten larger though the strong winds quickly sucked up some.

MIGHTY!

MIGHTY!

A small group of Shimis exploded after being hit by Larc and Lance's finishers. However, the grunts were quickly replaced with another new group within seconds.

"Alright, I like a good fight, but how long is this gonna last?!" Larc shouted before continuing to shoot more of the grunts.

"As long as we need to," Garren cooly answered before joining her in headshotting several Shimis. "Until Kazuma returns, we have to keep fighting as long as possible."

After the first skirmish with Bacht, Ciel, Hajime, and the new guy rejoined them and told them about what Kazuma and Ritsuka were doing.

That was a day ago.

Under the direction of Karasuma, BOARD set up a base camp on the city's outskirts to coordinate evacuation attempts. Meanwhile, the Riders' jobs were split between helping evacuate the civilians and dealing with the hoards of grunts.

"Operative Yumisaki, focus on your mission," a voice said through her helmet's intercom. "Clear out as much as you can so Operatives Koyama, Jindai, and Tsunogai can escort the citizens to safer zones."

Safer since the entire city was a battlezone now, but that was beside the point.

"Why couldn't I join those three? They're having much more fun than what we're doing…" Larc quietly grumbled— "Ow!" —to which Lance slapped her in the back of her head.

"This isn't about fun, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's about protecting the people," the red-and-black Rider replied before she continued shooting the Shimis.

---

As it turned out, to no one's surprise, the three fighting Falchion were not having a fun time. They had safely entered the tornado thanks to Takaragi's Aurora Curtain and had been fighting for a couple of hours now.

However, they were no longer fighting within the park; instead, a white wasteland was in its place. However, that was the least of their concerns; they wholly directed their focus toward stopping Bacht.

And it was going… not well.

Towa no Fushichō!

Mugen Ittotsu!

Ciel barely avoided the finishing slash by sliding under it. She quickly returned fire with her assault rifle but did little damage against Falchion.

"It's useless," Falchion repeated for the umpteenth time. "It's already too late to save this world. Just look around you; this is all the proof you need."

"Just shut up already." A shot ricocheted off Falchion's helmet courtesy of DiEnd. "We get it. Find something new to proselytise about."

FINALATTACK RIDE: DI-DI-DIEND

"Hmph, how many times do I have to prove it to you?" The Dark Rider didn't move as DiEnd unleashed his finisher. The beam hit him in the chest— KABOOM! —and killed him.

While all of them knew that it was only temporary, Falchion's death gave them the few moments of respite they needed to continue fighting in the desolate and white terrain.

---

Saber's World…

"Take this!" Blade cried as he slashed his two foes in a single swing. The swordsman Rider was fighting the Yummy and the Makamou while, nearby, Decade was countering each and every one of the Lizard Undead's attacks with ease.

ATTACKRIDE: SLASH

Multiple slashes tore through the Undead's chest, forcing it to stumble backwards a few steps before Decade followed up with a kick. It was only a Category-2 so the magenta Rider was barely breaking a sweat against it.

Blade, meanwhile, wasn't struggling per se but it wasn't a breeze either. The two monsters quickly recovered from his attack and the Makamou was deceptively agile and jumping around him. Meanwhile, the Yummy had taken to the skies and divebombing him whenever it got the chance.

"Stop! Moving! Already!" Shouted Blade as he tried to hit them again. Obviously, he kept missing and the monsters took advantage of an opening, sending Blade flying back into a wall.

"Ow…" He groaned as he tried to push himself to his feet. It was then that he remembered about the "gift" Takaragi gave him before they came to this World. "Where did I…."

Blade reached behind him and pulled out the black box. "This is…" Somehow, he felt like he knew how to use it and put it on his left arm; a strap came out of the box and fastened it to Blade's armour.

He pulled the tab on its side, revealing the card holders. However, only two of the three were filled with Spade Suit cards, cards that surprised Blade. However, he couldn't react as the two monsters tried to attack him again.

This time, Blade managed to roll out of the way. "Right, now's not the time for thinking!" He took out the two cards before inserting one of them into the central case— ABSORB QUEEN! —and slid the other through a slot next to it.

FUSION JACK!

A red and gold panel with a spade symbol materialised on top of the glass. Within the spade was an eagle with spread-out wings. A mirage of the eagle also appeared in front of Blade, merging with him. His armour changed colours— most of his chestplate turned into a bronze hue with the eagle symbol front and centre. His shoulderpads gained a red streak on their top while his horned mask also turned bronze. Most importantly, red and silver wings appeared on his back.

With his transformation into Jack Form complete, Blade felt a renewed sense of energy within him. "Alright! Let's do this!" He unsheathed his sword, which was also upgraded to be longer, and resumed fighting.

The Makamou let out a warble before it attempted to attack Blade again. However, the newly-powered up Blade easily sidestepped the jump and slashed across its body, forcing it to crash to the ground. However, he couldn't follow up on it as the Yummy tried to swoop down on him again.

It barely missed and flew back up but Blade wasn't going to let it go this time. He unfolded his wings before taking off to chase after the Yummy and quickly catching up to it. The following skirmish in the skies lasted all of one minute before Blade got the upper hand. With one last slash, the Yummy fell back to earth and crashed on top of the Makamou.

"Now then, the final strike!" Still in the sky, Blade took the Slash and Thunder Rouze Cards out of his sword and scanned them.

SLASH!

THUNDER!

LIGHTNING SLASH!

Blue lightning imbued the Blay Rouzer before Blade flew down. He gave a final shout before cutting down both Yummy and Makamou.

KABOOM!

The two monsters exploded simultaneously, leaving a small crater behind where Blade was standing.

"Phew," he sighed as the surge of adrenaline left his body. That was the third battle he had that day, and exhaustion quickly caught up to him. However, he couldn't rest yet as there was one more monster left.

Blade stumbled out of the crater just in time to see Decade finishing up his own battle.

FINAL ATTACKRIDE: DE-DE-DECADE

The magenta Rider turned his weapon into its gun mode and aimed for the Lizard Undead. Multiple holographic cards appeared between them before Decade pulled the trigger. A magenta blast flew through the cards, tore through the Undead and just like the two others— KABOOM! —it exploded.

"Phew." Like Blade, Decade let out a relieved sigh before detransforming. "Now then," Ritsuka said as he turned around while dusting off his uniform, "Let's get going."

Blade, however, was more stuck on one thing; the Lizard Undead's remains. More specifically, the lack of them. "Wait, how did you do that?"

"Do what?" Ritsuka glanced back and, seeing nothing, just shrugged and walked past Kazuma, who had detransformed too.

"Did… did you just kill an Undead?" Kazuma stared at him in disbelief, "One of God's immortal creations… did you kill it?!"

"...Probably," shrugged Ritsuka again, not really seeing why that would be a big deal. "Come on, we're wasting time."

"Hang on, don't just walk away!" Despite Kazuma's shouting, Ritsuka continued walking away.

---

The past, D̸̛͍͑̃̎͛̓̃̾͝͝ê̶͐͂̄͌̋̐̂͜ć̷̨̤̮̤̟̰͍̥ả̶̧̼̼̻͖͈̤̭̠͆̂̽̏͗̍̀d̷̨̬̞͍͔̠̳̋͂̀̈́̆̐̃̐è̸͖̊͐̅̃͋̿̐͘̚'̴̪͉̎͒͒̉̽̌̈́͠ş̸̂̄͋͐͌̓̕ World…

"Well then," Ritsuka inhaled deeply before exhaling in preparation. "It's time you… we head back."

He opened another Aurora Curtain behind himself, raising his hand in a mock presentation. "If you trust that this isn't a trap, of course."

Touma took one step towards the wall before he felt himself hesitating. Was he really going to take the plunge? 'Yes, this isn't time to hesitate.' The author answered himself a moment later and took another step forward.

Ritsuka's and Touma's eyes met for a few seconds as the latter walked past the former before entering the portal.

Ritsuka, meanwhile, took a few moments to glance at Merlin. "He…" The former Master of Chaldea tried to say but his voice was caught in his throat.

"Yes?" Merlin encouraged him to finish what he was trying to say.

"He… He should be in Olympus, right?" Ritsuka asked, "The me that should be here, the present me. He should just be entering Olympus."

"Last I checked in, you were about to," answered Merlin. It did not escape his notice that the Ritsuka before him called his past self "he" and not "I". "If I may ask, Master, what happened to you after Chaldea?"

Ritsuka had a sad smile on his face as he said, "Without spoiling too much… I got way in over my head and must walk this path until the very end."

"And what is that end?"

"It's… not a good one," Ritsuka sighed wistfully, "But it's the only one I have so I have no choice but to go for it."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I know," he replied with a slight smirk for a moment before it disappeared. "...Thanks, Merlin."

"For what?"

"Stopping me. There's not many left who could do that." With a last smile, Ritsuka turned around and followed after Touma, leaving Merlin to contemplate his Master's future alone.

---

When Touma emerged on the other side of the portal, he had to quickly snatch his fedora before it flew off due to the strong winds. A moment later, he realised that fighting just ahead of him were the rest of his allies: Blades, Buster, Slash, Kenzan, and Saikou. They must have been fighting Falchion, who Touma could see further ahead, but were losing the battle of attrition as evident by their tired stances.

The author heard footsteps behind him before, from the corner of his eye, seeing Ritsuka walking up next to him.

"Fighting Bacht a second time, do you think you can do it?" Ritsuka asked him. 'You barely eeked out a victory last time, I'm assuming."

"I can do this. I know I can," Touma answered confidently, ignoring the odd way Ritsuka said his second sentence. Without waiting for him, the author dashed ahead and left Ritsuka behind.

Ritsuka quietly sighed at his bravery before chasing after Touma. Silently, he thought, 'You really are the same no matter what…'.

---

Present…

"Do you know where we're going?"

"Nope," Ritsuka plainly answered, much to Kazuma's exasperation. "But I get the feeling we're going the right way."

"Easy for you to say. You're the one not in a rush," Kazuma quietly mumbled. It wasn't clear if Ritsuka overheard him but the two continued walking through the empty city regardless.

Kazuma eventually built up the courage to ask him something as they continued exploring. "Hey, Ritsuka."

"Yeah?"

"Why did you decide to help my world?" Kazuma asked, "You don't have anything to do with it yet you're getting involved anyway."

"Because I feel like it and it's what I'm supposed to do." That was the best way Ritsuka could explain it. He was helping out because he had to do it. And also… he didn't know if he could leave Blade's World to fend for itself.

Silence fell on them again as they continued briskly walking. It wasn't too long before Ritsuka felt a sense of familiarity with the area they were in. "This place is…"

"What's up?"

"...Follow me." "Hey, wait!" Without waiting for a reply, Ritsuka went at a faster pace down the street.

After turning around several corners and running down streets, they stopped at a short bridge over a small river. Kazuma was slightly out of breath while Ritsuka was completely focused on the small building on the other side of the river. "That's…"

It was a small western-style house but, judging from the worn sign hanging on the front, it was actually a bookstore. The paint had turned dull while time had worn out the wood like the sign.

"Is this the place?" Kazuma asked while panting. "A bookshop?"

"Yes… I think so…." Ritsuka muttered as he unconsciously began walking towards the bookstore. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the door with his hand on the doorknob. He slowly opened the door, which squeaked due to the rust, and entered the building.

Ritsuka cautiously walked around the moderately-sized room, taking note of what was inside.

Or rather… what wasn't inside, which Kazuma also noticed when he entered the room. "Why are all the bookshelves empty?"

Despite being a bookstore, every single shelf was bare of any books. There was also a large, empty counter in the middle of the room that felt like something should be on top. In the back of the room, next to a desk and counter, was another door. "That's it. Go through that."

Ritsuka followed the voice in his head and made his way towards the door, ignoring Kazuma's questions. He opened the door…and was greeted with an endless, spiral corridor that defied all logic.

Over his shoulders, he could hear Kazuma voice his confusion at the sight but ignored it. "Come on," Ritsuka told him before he stepped inside.

Instead of falling down onto the wall/floor, he began floating through the hallway. Behind him, he heard Kazuma screaming as the swordsman Rider tried swimming through the air. Ritsuka turned around to see that somehow, Kazuma had turned upside down with his arms flailing around.

The two fell through the hallway for about a minute before they reached the end of the corridor. The door opened up on its own and they flew right through it. Ritsuka gracefully landed on his feet while Kazuma… didn't.

"Ow…" He groaned on the marble floor for a few seconds before he got to his feet. "Where are we now?"

They were now in a long and cold hallway. There was some dust and some of the wallpaper was peeling off but what struck them first was how cold it was, despite what they were wearing was quite warm. Ritsuka, however, mostly ignored how freezing it was.

"Kazuma—"

"Let me guess, let's just keep moving?"

"Yup," Ritsuka curtly nodded before moving down the hall, much to Kazuma's annoyance and frustration. Regardless, he went along with it since there was nothing else they could do but keep moving.

A short walk through the halls later, they came across a large wooden door. It took a bit of force, but the two managed to push one of the doors open. What was on the other side was a circular meeting room of sorts with a small round table with another set of doors beyond it. Next to it, there were two staircases leading up to a landing and several bookcases.

Actually, scratch that, one glance upwards and they could see the tall bookshelves packed to the brim with all sorts of books.

"Well, if there's any place where we can find any information, this is most likely the place," Ritsuka said before turning to Kazuma. "Better get to reading, we're gonna be here for a while."

"We're reading all of those?" Kazuma asked incredulously, eyes wide at the number of books there were.

"Of course not," answered Ritsuka, "We're only reading what we need to know."

"And that is?" Kazuma grimaced.

"The Reverse Side of the World and Saber," Ritsuka told him before walking towards the round table. Acting as if he's done this a thousand times before, he started pressing some buttons that activated one of the computers. It took a few seconds (and pounding the monitor a couple of times) before the computer turned on.

"Please tell me that it has a search function," pleaded Kazuma as he looked at the screen over Ritsuka's shoulder. "...What is that language?"

Instead of Japanese or even English, the text on the screen was made out of a strange language.

"Just go find some books to read, I'll tell you how to read them later," Ritsuka shooed Kazuma away while typing on the computer. "Saber, Saber, Saber…"

---

Sometime later…

"...Nothing!" Kazuma whined as he closed the next book he was reading. Around his spot on the ground were stacks and stacks of books that he finished skimming through. "I can't even find the 'R' of 'Reverse'!"

"Just keep powering through," Ritsuka told him, turning the page in the book he was reading while in front of the computer. "We'll find something soon."

"I did find something. It's just that something has nothing to do with the Reverse Side at all," sighed Kazuma. He then stood up and stretched his legs before walking over the stacks to pick out some new ones.

He grabbed a couple, went back to his spot, and cracked one open. "...Hey, did you find anything interesting?"

"Like?"

"I don't know… a prophecy or something? Like this one." Kazuma grabbed one of the books he read earlier and passed it to Ritsuka. "Should be page… 59?"

Despite them having more pressing problems, Ritsuka decided to take the book and turn to that page. "'When he who shall light the fire appears. In front of the first sacred sword forged by humans, the stars themselves will align their powers, and the sacred sword that will lead this story to its finale shall be born.'"

"Sounds interesting, right?" Kazuma asked.

"I guess so…" Ritsuka shrugged before putting the book away. Turning back to the computer, he began typing some more keywords.

'Reverse Side and the Inner Sea gave nothing. Saber was too general. So were Wonder World and alternate Worlds or dimensions….' The number of books containing those three phrases was absurd yet completely understandable. This place had a seemingly endless collection of books.

A few seconds later, a light bulb lit over his head and he quickly began typing. "Ka…men… Ri…der…. Sa…ber…."

He hit ENTER and above them, several shelves glowed before they disconnected from the wall and floated down. "That narrowed it down a lot."

"Still a lot though," Kazuma sighed before returning to (skimming through) his book. Ritsuka ignored him and took one of the books off the shelf.

He only glanced at the title before opening the book and reading the middle. "Holy Grail… Heroic Spirits… Wishes… What?"

"Found something?"

"I… don't know." Why did this come up? It didn't seem to be relevant to what he was searching for. He gave the book a minute read and learned why.

"Saber—" And a few lines later. "Rider." So it was like an internet search; similar enough phrases would pop up in the result.

"Hmm… Wasn't expecting something like that to appear here."

'Quiet, I don't wanna hear from you,' Ritsuka replied near-automatically.

"You sure? I'm sure you'd want a hint in the right direction."

'…'

"I'll take that as a yes," the voice snickered in Ritsuka's head. "Honestly, I don't believe that what we're doing here matters and following whatever Swartz has planned is a bad idea."

'Just get to it.'

"The place where the King of Knights slumber, where only the pure of heart may enter. That place has many names. Or rather, where it's located has many names."

'The Reverse Side of the World.'

"Right, but it can be called the world's chasm due to it being located beneath the surface of the planet. There's even a deep labyrinth in Britain that nearly reaches the inner sea."

'Then why are we here instead of there?' Ritsuka couldn't help but snarkily question the voice in his head. The other voice ignored his snarky response and continued.

"There's a forbidden book here that you'd have to find yourself. That book contains details of a ritual one can perform to reach the legendary king's resting place. Now that's all I'm going to say. The rest is mostly up to you."

As suddenly as the voice appeared, Ritsuka felt his presence disappear.

"The legendary king…" Ritsuka muttered, his eyes flickering towards the book he was still holding. "The legendary King of Knights…" The King's resting place… "Kazuma?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you read anything about the world's chasm?"

Kazuma thought about it for a few moments before recalling something like that. "Hang on a second… Ah, this one." He flipped to the page he recalled reading about half an hour ago. "When the world unravels, a bright light and two dragons will come together, revealing the path to a chasm in the world's midst."

That had sounded close enough to what they were looking for but there was nothing else about it that made sense.

"...That's it."

"What? This?!" Kazuma excitedly asked, quickly standing up.

"No. But we have a lead," Ritsuka said as he returned to the computer and quickly typed in the keyword. However, instead of a bookshelf coming down, several messages popped up on the screen.

Oshima-san? Which were the books that summons the book about Avalon? I'm interested to read it — Tamogami R.

The next message contained a list of titles, presumably book titles, that do not summon the book, that they could not be found on the upper floor shelves, and that he should not push them into their shelves. However, the message ended with the receiver telling whoever Tamogami was to put the book about Avalon back where it belongs afterwards.

"Avalon?" Kazuma said, reading the message too. "I feel like I've read that somewhere before." It wasn't in the books he was reading, but he knew he came across that phrase in the past.

"The legend of King Arthur," Ritsuka told him. The book he had just found easily helped him remember the story's ending. "When he was nearing the end of his life, he was taken to a place called Avalon where it's said he still resides today."

"Alright, but what does that have to do with anything?" Kazuma was struggling to understand the connection between Avalon and what they were searching for.

Ritsuka, typically, didn't answer him and went to go up the stairs to check out the bookshelves. "It should be… this, this…" It took him nearly a minute to locate all the books that were listed in the message. He followed the message's instruction— well, disobeyed it really —and pushed the books into their shelves like buttons.

On cue, a glittering light shined high above them before something flew down fast. It was a single book with a simple black cover. The book floated in front of the entrance, waiting to be plucked out of the air.

Kazuma, being the closer of the two, went to grab it before cracking it open to a page with illustrations of thirteen circles with symbols arranged in a snowflake-like pattern. Below was a passage that reads: When the 13 stories are connected by sword, the world's rift shall be reached. Kazuma read it aloud as Ritsuka walked down the stairs.

"The world's rift?" Ritsuka muttered. "Bring that here with the other book."

Kazuma followed his order and put the book about Avalon and the book mentioning the world's chasm on the table.

"The world's rift and the world's chasm. Chances are they are the same thing," Ritsuka theorised while staring at the two pages. "But we're missing something."

'13 stories connected by sword…' That should be the last clue they need to put the pieces together. "Connected by sword…" It clicked in his head a moment later and reached for the nearby stack of books he was reading earlier and pick one out. Ritsuka recalled seeing this specific book had illustrations of a swordsman. "An ancient art passed down through time… This is it."

"You've said that five times now." Kazuma was exaggerating a bit but he meant it in good faith. "But can you explain why we've shifted gears to going to Avalon?"

"Simple. Avalon is part of the Reverse Side of the World. That means that we can use this—" Ritsuka pointed to the three books in front of them "—to get there. And from Avalon, we can look for Wonder World and Saber."

They now had a plan set but there was just one problem; Ritsuka had no idea what the 13 stories were…

---

Blade's World…

Takaragi gulped down the drink before exhaling loudly in the tent he was given. He had essentially become the ferryman for BOARD, bringing the Riders to and from the week-long fight with Falchion. While it was nice being called essential since he was the only one who could take people across the wall of wind, which has now grown to the city's limits.

"Welp, better move the next team…" Takaragi stretched his arms and legs, preparing to leave his tent when he felt a presence behind him. "…It's you, isn't it?"

There was a small hint of fear in his voice but the thief believed he hid it well enough. Turning around, he saw Fujimaru Ritsuka sitting in his chair.

However, he knew that it wasn't the real Ritsuka but is instead the true Fujimaru.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with your real self?" Takaragi interrogated him, which just caused Fujimaru to smirk.

"Unfortunately, he needs a helping hand with one more thing," answered Fujimaru, "They're with you, aren't they? The Wonder RideBooks that remained after the World of Saber's destruction."

"I recovered a decent amount, yes." It was clear to Takaragi why he was here now. "You're here for this then?"

The thief pulled out a red and black RideWatch that the year 2020 imprinted on the bottom part of its watch face.

"Yup, now don't be annoying and toss it over. Or do I have to take it off you like last time?" Fujimaru smirked, knowing he had the upper hand in that regard which Takaragi also knew.

With a defeated and annoyed sigh, Takaragi tossed the RideWatch at him, who easily caught it.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Now that he had what he needed, Fujimaru didn't fancy sticking around much longer. He waved his hand and summoned an Aurora Curtain to return to Saber's World.

"Tsk, annoying asshole." Takaragi exited the tent with a huff…

---

Saber's World, the past…

Hisatsu Mokudoku! Battou!

Nagare Battou! King Lion Hissatsu Giri!

KABOOM!

Two slashes, one fire while the other water, collided in midair and caused an explosion between the two fighters. When the flames and smoke cleared, Blades was down to his knees and using Nagare as support. Meanwhile, Falchion stood without a scratch on him.

"So that's all the strength this version of you could muster." Falchion sounded disappointed as he stared at Blades. He then turned his gaze towards another Rider behind the lion-themed swordsman. "Even you, Yuri. I expected you to put up more of a fight than that."

"Bacht… You…" The colourful-looking Rider said through gritted teeth but couldn't finish what he wanted to say due to exhaustion.

"So? Where is this World's Saber? If he's anything like the one I knew, he should've been here from the beginning. Or has he abandoned all of you?" Falchion taunted them as he slowly walked towards the kneeling Blades. "The one who shall light the fire leaving his dear comrades to die. How disappointing."

Falchion raised Kyouma above his head and prepared to bring it down on Blades. The blue Kamen Rider couldn't do anything but kneel there.

Luckily for him, he got to live another day.

"Stop right there!" Falchion barely had time to react before a flaming sword struck him in the chest. The orange Rider stumbled back as the Sword of Flames stuck into the ground.

"Rekka?!" Blades cried in relief before he and the other tired Riders looked back to see Touma running up to them through the strong winds. They could also see someone else running behind him but their attention was directed toward Touma.

"You're late, kid!" Buster shouted but he couldn't hide the relief in his voice and let out a hearty laugh.

"Sorry!" Touma apologised as he ran past them to reach his sword which was in front of Blades. "But I'm here now and I'll make up for being late!" He declared, pulling Rekka out of the ground and inserting it into his Swordriver.

Falchion, however, was not scared by his display of bravery at all.

"Finally, you've came Saber," Falchion laughed lowly, raising Kyomu and pointing it pointing at Touma. "You look different like the others but you're the same as the Saber from my World, aren't you? Now I can finally fulfil the role I've been tasked with."

"And you…" Touma looked up at the sky where multiple dark clouds were converging, "…you're the same as the Bacht I fought before, aren't you?"

"That's just a constant between versions of myself," Falchion defended his actions. It was then that the person chasing after Touma arrived at his side. "Oh, so that's why you're late… It's been a while, Decade."

"It has, Falchion," replied Ritsuka, "This time, I'm gonna destroy you instead of letting you be sealed again."

"I see… then my death is assured." Despite how dark what he said was, Falchion still let out a laugh. "But I'm not just going to lie down and let you kill me, Decade. I'll erase as much of everything as I could until then!"

"...Touma, use this." Ritsuka took something out of his jacket and showed it to the author.

"This is…" He recognised it, of course. "Did the other Saber give you this?"

Ritsuka made a noise that could be described as a yes but not exactly. Touma found the answer acceptable enough though and took the large Wonder RideBook. "Alright. Let's do this." Touma flipped open the cover of the RideBook with his other hand, revealing the image of three different coloured dragon heads.

Emotional Dragon!

Yuuki! Ai! Hokori! Mitsu no chikara o motsu shinjuu ga ima kokoni...!

Closing the cover, Touma inserted the Emotional Dragon Wonder RideBook into the rightmost slot of his Driver. At the same time, Ritsuka took out his transformation card.

Rekka Battou!

"Henshin!" The two shouted simultaneously as Touma unsheathed his sword.

KAMENRIDE: DECADE

Aijou no dragon! Yuuki no dragon! Hokoritakaki dragon! Emotional Dragon! Shinjuu gappei! Kanjou ga afuredasu!

A larger version of the Wonder RideBook appeared behind Touma before its cover opened with three dragons flying out. One was the normal red dragon from before; meanwhile, the other two were white and black respectively. One by one, the dragons flew into Touma's body, transforming him into his Rider form with additional armour.

The previously empty white strip going down the centre of his body was upgraded to have a dragon head as a chestplate with golden accents. He also got a similarly coloured cape on his back. Meanwhile, his right arm had a new shoulderpad along with a new black shield. Finally, his mask now had white and black flames on the appropriate sides.

"Now then!" Saber cried, raising Rekka in preparation for battle. Next to him, Decade also stood transform. "The one who'll determine the end of this story will be us!"

---

Present…

"...Nope, didn't work." Blade sighed, lowering his sword. He had tried copying the sword techniques in the book but nothing happened.

"Then we do need them…" muttered Ritsuka as he leaned against the table. It was clear that they needed the 13 stories mentioned in the book but where were they supposed to be? They didn't have the time to go on another journey to find them.

"Lucky for you, we don't need to." Ritsuka felt something dropping into his pants pocket. He reached inside and took it out. "This is…"

"The Saber RideWatch, freshly taken from the hands of an annoying thief. You know what to do with it."

"Hmm… Maybe I did it wrong?" Ritsuka heard Blade mutter before the latter tried copying the illustrations again.

As he did that, Ritsuka spun the dial on the RideWatch— completing the image of Saber's face —before pressing the button on top.

Saber!

"Huh? Ack!" Blade turned around just in time to be blinded by a bright light. A moment later after the light died down, several small multi-coloured books were now on the table. "Huh? What are those?"

Ritsuka didn't immediately answer. He instead picked one up, a red one titled Storm Eagle. "Wonder RideBooks…"

"Wonder RideBooks?" Blade parroted as he walked towards the table and picked up one as well. It was a yellow book titled Tri Cerberus. "Are these the stories we need?"

For some reason, Ritsuka believed they were. Additionally, it was easy to tell from a glance that there were more than 13 books in the stacks so there was a good chance they were there. He picked out another book; it was another red one with the title Saiyuu Journey. Ritsuka glanced at the piles looking for another red book and, while there were some, he didn't feel like they were the ones he was looking for.

Regardless, they have all they need now.

"Kazuma, try doing it again."

"Got it," Blade saluted before stepping away from the table. He turned to face the entrance before following the images again.

This time, there was an immediate effect from the beginning. The room darkened with light beaming in through the cracks on the doors. The Blay Rouzer's blade also began glowing as its wielder swung it around. As Blade continued with the technique, several of the Wonder RideBooks began glowing too before rising into the air.

They flew around the room for a few seconds before, just as Blade completed the first part of the technique, forming a circle in front of him. The blue Rider continued on with the ritual though, and the books started moving again. As he finished up, the books ended up in a pattern identical to the image in the book.

Blade's sword glowed again as he thrust it at the central book. Golden lines materialised around the 13 WonderRide Books, connecting them to each other before Blade finished the ritual with a stomp of his foot.

The 13 books and lines turned white before turning into glowing particles that dispersed through the room. The double doors before them opened on their own, causing light to pour into the dark room. Ritsuka had to raise his arm in response before slowly lowering it as his eyes adjusted to the light.

"The path to Avalon and the Reverse Side…" Ritsuka muttered, staring at the doors.

"Well? Don't just stand there." 'Shut it.' The voice had a point though, Ritsuka begrudgingly admitted.

"Kazuma, let's go," he said as he walked past Blade, who was entranced by the light.

"Oh, right," nodded Blades before he and Ritsuka stepped through the doors and entered the light.

---

The past…

Falchion, who had previously been easily fighting the five Riders by himself, found that the tables have turned on him. Now, he was the one being beaten back with ease.

"You both are strong, I'll give you that," the Dark Rider complimented his opponents with a laugh after stumbling back from an attack. He then quickly inserted Kyomu into his Driver to initiate his finisher.

Battou! Fushichō Musou Giri!

Falchion sent a burning slash at them but Saber quickly stepped forward and blocked it with his shield. The attack still exploded but both Saber and Decade were unharmed by it.

ATTACKRIDE: BLAST

The magenta Rider quickly inserted the Attack card into his Driver and turned his weapon into its gun mode. He then aimed and fired several shots at Falchion. Sparks flew off the Dark Rider's body and making him stumble further back.

Silently, Saber couldn't help but notice that Falchion was different. His general fighting style and omnicidal demeanour were the same but felt… forced or, at the very least, he was playing it up. He claimed that he'd try bringing down as much as he could but he wasn't following up on that.

Of course, they were completely on the offensive and not letting Falchion have enough breathing room to do anything.

There was also something odd with what Ritsuka said before the battle: "I'm gonna destroy you instead of letting you be sealed again."

He wasn't surprised that Ritsuka and Bacht had fought before. However, the former's proclamation hinted at something; did Ritsuka have a way to kill Bacht permanently? Saber— "Ow!"

"Don't go dazing off in the middle of a battle," Decade reprimanded him with a slap to the back of the head. "Let's finish this off already."

"Already?" Sure, they had beaten Falchion back but Saber expected the battle to last longer than five minutes.

Decade, however, ignored what he said and took out a golden Rider Card. Seeing that, Saber sheathed Rekka and pressed the trigger twice.

Hissatsu Dokuha!

FINAL ATTACKRIDE: DE-DE-DECADE

Densetsu no Shinjuu! Hissatsu Geki! Fire!

Both Riders jumped into the air simultaneously and initiated their finishers. For Decade, larger Final AttackRide Cards appeared between him and Falchion. On the other hand, the Emotional Dragon Wonder RideBook materialised behind Saber again. The cover opened and released the three dragons. They flew alongside their master as Saber and Decade aimed their feet at Falchion.

The immortal swordsman bravely stared down the two Riders coming at him… and lowered his sword. "Now… I've completed your will, my lord."

Falchion took the finishers to the chest and, after a moment, Saber and Decade tore through his body as the Swordsman of Nothingness died in a fiery explosion that through Kyomu into the air.

The two Riders landed gracefully on the ground but Saber quickly stood straight and turned around. He expected that Falchion would revive again but instead, Kyomu fell and stabbed into the ground. He saw that the Eternal Phoenix Wonder RideBook laid on the charred soil where Bacht stood moments later and soon realised that the swordsman was dead for real.

"He…" Saber trailed off and turned his head towards Decade, who was dusting off his gloves. "You—"

"Don't you have something better to do?" He interrupted him, pointing up at the sky. "Like that?"

Despite Bacht's death, the Book of Ruin still remained and continued consuming the world… again.

"Don't go anywhere. I still need to talk to you!" With those parting words, Saber flew off to close or at least contain the Book of Ruin.

Decade watched him go before opening his Driver, detransformation. Ritsuka slowly stepped towards the Sword of Nothingness, resting his hand on the end of the handle.

"Sorry, Bacht…" Ritsuka apologised, "In the end, you were just like the rest of us; stuck following the path set in front of you, powerless to change your fate."

He pulled Kyomu out of the ground and went to pick up the accompanying Wonder RideBook. Ritsuka looked at the dark sky before disappearing into an Aurora Curtain…

---

Present…

Ritsuka felt like he was trying to swim through oil. He could barely move his arm, let alone take a step towards the light. All around him and Kazuma were flashes of various landscapes.

Orange oceans, a field of shining blue flowers, and vast mountain ranges. But beyond them, in front of the two humans, was a shining bright light.

The light acted as a beacon, guiding them towards it to get out of their rift even though it might not have been their intended destination.

Both of them pushed themselves to get closer to the light, with Kazuma having an easier time walking towards it.

As Ritsuka pushed himself, a voice different from his own resonated in his head. "Where do you think you're going. Fujimaru-kun? You're heading the wrong way."

'Your voice… Who are you?' A part of Ritsuka recognised the smooth and charming voice.

"That's right, you no longer remember me. How sad." Despite saying that, the man didn't lose his cheerfulness as he spoke. "In any case, you're headed for Wonder World, aren't you? You and your friend are going the wrong way. And even if you reach the light, I'm afraid you'd be unable to enter Avalon for you… well, I'm sure you understand why deep down."

"…Kazuma!" Ritsuka shouted with all his will. His voice managed to reach the swordsman, who turned around.

"What?!"

"We're going the wrong way!" He repeated what the other voice in his head said.

"You'd want to go… right."

Ritsuka turned in that direction and saw a porta in the distance with a sword visible on the other side.

'That's…' A name came to Ritsuka's mind. 'The Xross Saber…'

"That way!" He led the way towards the sword, finding moving much easier than before. Kazuma followed after him and, unknown to them, the light faded out.

Before either of them realised, they were right before the portal and stepped through it. A flash of light blinded them and, a moment later, they found themselves falling through the sky.

They crashed to the ground, landing on the soft grass with a thud.

"Ow…" Ritsuka heard Kazuma groaning nearby. He, meanwhile, sat up and rubbed the back of his head to soothe his pain.

"You're finally here, Ritsuka," somebody said as a man stepped in front of Ritsuka, his silhouette illuminated by the sun. "You sure took your time, didn't you?"

The man reached out his hand to help Ritsuka up, which he took gratefully. Now, he could see the man's face and recognised him. "You're… Saber."

The other man let out a relieved laugh and said, "I am. Kamen Rider Saber, Kozaki Touma, at your service." Touma playfully bowed to him before straightening up. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Have we… met before?" Ritsuka felt like they had, despite it being impossible.

Touma, however, smiled and nodded. "We have, but we can talk about it later. After all—" He walked over to Kazuma and helped him to his feet. "—you, Kazuma, and I need to go back to his World to stop Bacht."

"You already know what's going on?" asked Kazuma.

"Of course, I've been waiting for this day for nearly 3 years now," replied Touma. "Your name is Tsururgi Kazuma, right? I've read your story several times already. Yours is one of my favourites among all of the others."

"Uh… my story?"

"Oh, never mind that," Touma shook his hand, telling him not to worry about it. He then turned to Ritsuka and said, "In any case, you two finished your part in this leg of your journey. Now it's my turn to fulfil my role."

"You're taking everything pretty well," Ritsuka noted/snarked at Touma's carefree attitude.

"What can I say? I've known what I need to do for three years and accepted it for a long time. So let's get it over with and end this."

"About that," Kazuma nervously laughed. "We were—"

"—hoping that I had a way to get us back to your World," Touma finished his sentence. "Luckily for you, I do."

He reached into his vest and took out a Wonder RideBook. It was bigger than the ones used for the ritual and both Ritsuka and Kazuma could feel a great power radiating from it.

"You know, this place was basically my prison for the last few years," Touma admitted to them, "I only had books as my companions, and that's not to say I didn't find them enjoyable, but I'm still a bit sad to leave this place for good."

Kazuma looked around for the first time, taking in the beautiful scenery which he admitted to Touma.

"You're not wrong; this place is beautiful. But it's time I leave it all behind," said the Swordsman of Flames. He looked up at the large sword in the distance and reached his hands towards it.

Amazingly, the sword shook for a few moments before it dislodged itself from the ground. It then shrunk down to the size of a normal sword and flew towards the three.

Touma caught the galaxy-coloured sword with ease without a hint of pain. "Alright, let's leave this place."

Ritsuka was about to comment that they just got there but decided against it. He instead watched as Touma's book and sword shined brightly before he made a cross slash in the air. A glittering X travelled through the air before it morphed into the familiar sight of an Aurora Curtain.

"Let's go!" Touma declared before he dashed for the portal, the other two following his orders.

They passed through the silver wall without issues, and the Aurora Curtain disappeared behind them once they reached the other side. What greeted them was the sight of Falchion standing some distance ahead in a white wasteland. Far behind him, miles away, was a wall of wind that circled the wasteland.

"Eh…" Falchion hummed upon seeing the three. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Ritsuka didn't know how long they were gone from Blade's World but their surroundings told them it was a while.

"Fujimaru!" "Tsurugi!" Two voices behind them called out. Ritsuka and Kazuma glanced back to see most of this World's Riders detransformed (and Ciel). It was clear from how tired they looked that they'd been fighting Falchion up to that arrival. However, Shirahara was conspicuously missing.

"Sorry for being late!" Kazuma apologised before he and Ritsuka turned back to their immortal enemy.

Touma stepped forward and bravely shouted at Falchion, "It's over, Bacht. Let it rest now. You've done enough damage to this World!"

Falchion, however, gave him an amused scoff. "Do you think you can beat me, Saber?! You know I'm immortal. And even if you do kill me, that man will just revive me again."

"No… he won't," Touma replied. "He already got what he wanted. Swartz no longer has a use for you."

"What?" Falchion spoke Ritsuka's (well, everybody's) thoughts.

"All we were doing was playing along with his game, and that game is coming to an end here. Now…" The Swordriver appeared around Touma's waist before he sheathed his sword in it. "Let's finish this, and bring our story to its end."

Touma took out another Wonder RideBook from his vest, this one being a normal size. With a single hand, he flipped it open.

Brave Dragon!

Katsute subete wo horobosu hodo no idaina chikara wo tenishita shinjuu ga ita…

He closed the Brave Dragon Wonder RideBook and inserted it into the right slot of his Driver, causing triumphant music to play.

Finally, he unsheathed his sword with a cry, a rainbow light flashing from it.

Seiba Battou!

Large silhouettes of 10 swords of all shapes materialised around Touma, circling him as his Wonder RideBook appeared behind him. The cover flipped open, releasing his dragon, who circled around him with the swords.

"Henshin!" Touma shouted before cutting an X with his sword.

Haouken Xross Saber! Sōsei no jūji! Kirameku hoshi-tachi no kiseki to tomoni! Kedakaki chikara yo yūki no honō! Xross Saber! Xross Saber! Xross Saber! Majiwaru jū-pon no Ken!

The red dragon turned light blue and glittery before he, and the ten silhouettes, entered his body and created his armour. As the last silhouette fused with his body, the X he made flew back into his helmet and became his visor. A cloud of blue glitter and sparks of light radiated from his body, replicating the visage of a galaxy as his visor and the yellow dragon eye in his shoulderpad glowed.

The cloud disappeared, revealing Saber in his Final Form in all its glory. It looked identical to his standard form except for his colour scheme. Instead of the red, white, and black, his suit was a glittery blue.

"That's…" muttered Ritsuka, staring at both the sparkling Rider and sacred sword.

"The sacred sword that will bring this story to its finale," Falchion finished, realising what the Xross Saber was. "I was right. You were the chosen one."

"I was," Saber nodded slightly before raising his sword. "But that no longer matters. What matters now is what's happening in this moment."

He pressed the large red button on the guard of the Xross Saber before sliding it up to the first and bottommost circle on his sword. Three symbols, one of which was Saber's, lit up.

Haou Hisatsu Read! Kidoku San Seiken!

He then brought the guard back to its default position and pulled the trigger.

Sei Retsuzan!

Saber swiped with his sword across the air and above Ritsuka and Kazuma, who were standing behind him, multiple swords flashed into existence. They were mostly identical to each other, with only the emblems on their guards being different.

"Haa!" Before Falchion could react, Saber thrust his sword and sent the summoned copies flying at him.

While the Dark Rider was stuck inside the shower of blades, Saber looked up at the dark clouds— and the Book of Ruin within. He slid the guard of his sword up again, and pressed the trigger once before pulling the guard down.

Rekka! Kidoku!

Finally, he pulled the trigger again.

Rekka! Xross Giri!

Saber swiped the air again and another copy of Rekka appeared above him with a flash of his symbol.

Once again, he thrust the Xross Saber at his target and sent the Rekka copy at the clouds. As the sword flew, it grew larger and larger before stabbing through the clouds and the Book of Ruins.

A large explosion ripped through the skies as the sword faded away. A few moments later, the dark clouds and the wall of wind disappeared, letting sunlight beam down on them.

"The Book of Ruin!" Falchion, who finished reviving himself, cried upon seeing Saber destroying it. He clicked his tongue derisively, angrily swinging Kyomu at nothing. The Dark Rider quickly calmed himself though. "That doesn't matter, I've already made my mark on this World. Nothing could fix what's been done."

"That's where you're wrong," Saber calmly shot back. "Right now, I'm carrying the hopes and dreams of not only my World but this World's as well."

He sheathed the Xross Saber into his Driver, pressed the trigger, and pulled the galaxy sword out.

Haou Hissatsu Dokuha! Seiba Battou! Haou Issatsu Giri! Saber!

Ten emblems glowed on the Xross Saber as magenta energy coated the blade. "With all of those wishes, I'll create the present!"

Saber swung his sword, creating a slash of rainbow energy that flew through the air. He continued swinging, creating, and sending rainbow slashes flying all around.

That's when a miracle was brought forth.

The white ground beneath their feet transformed— or rather, they reverted to what they were before: the paved square in the middle of the city. All around them, buildings materialised into existence from the ground up. The revitalisation of the city was not limited to their general vicity; the entire city that had been reduced to nothing reappeared as if nothing had happened.

Miles from the city, the people at the temporary base camp/refuge watched in awe as their city rebuilt itself like magic.

"That has to be…"

"It has to," Ryoko nodded next to Tetsuya as they stood outside the main tent set up by BOARD. Not too far behind them, Takaragi— who had to return to the camp shortly before Ritsuka's return —stared at the recreated city with an unreadable expression.

'He found Saber…' The thief thought. 'But… What was Swartz planning? Why did he want Saber to be found?'

It would be an understatement to say that Swartz's hidden intentions were worrying. However, whatever they were, it was now too late to prevent it from happening.

With a wave of a hand, Takaragi disappeared without anyone noticing.

---

One last slash and the city's restoration was complete. Everyone stood and looked amazed at the miracle Saber created.

"The city…" Hayami muttered, spinning around to make sure what he's seeing was real.

"That sacred sword!" Falchion glared at the glittering blade, "It has the power of creation?!"

"That's right!" Saber shouted back, his grip tightening. "So no matter how much you erase and destroy, I'll just recreate it from scratch!"

With the stage now set for a proper fight, the two Riders stared each other down for a few moments before— finally —their battle began.

In the blink of an eye, they met in the middle and both opened with a powerful slash with their swords. A shockwave exploded from the swords making contact, nearly sending everyone watching close by flying just from the force coming from their blows.

Saber quickly made a follow-up attack: another slash that managed to get past Falchion's defences and force him back. Taking advantage of the opening he made, Saber pulled the guard of his sword.

Kurayami! Kidoku! Saikou! Kidoku!

Kurayami, Saikou! Xross Giri!

He put his main weapon away as two more swords appeared in front of him— a larger claymore with a golden blade and purple handle, and a smaller sword that had a Wonder RideBook in its centre. Saber then sent two slashes, a deep purple one after a bright golden, at Falchion.

The Dark Rider barely had time to block the attack and resulting explosion before he heard Saber summoning more swords.

Gekido, Hayate, Suzune! Kidoku!

Suzune! Xross Giri!

When the flames dissipated, Falchion was greeted by the sight of a wall of purple sword-guns behind Saber.

"Eat this!" With that cry, the guns let loose a barrage of music blasts at Falchion. The music assault lasted about ten seconds before the guns disappeared and were replaced with a single, larger version that overshadowed Saber. Instead of shooting multiple blasts, the giant-sized sword-gun shot a continuous pink beam at its target.

The finisher managed to kill Falchion again, sending Kyomu flying into the air from the explosion.

"Hey, you two!" Saber called out to Ritsuka and Kazuma, "Hurry up and transform! I'll be needing your help!"

"What?" Kazuma snapped out of his awe at Saber's display of power. He wondered why he'd need their help when it was clear he can handle Falchion with no issues.

"Alright." However, before Kazuma could ask why Saber needed them, Ritsuka already agreed and gave Kazuma a look that said, 'Just go along with it.'

"Henshin!" "Henshin."

TURN UP!

KAMENRIDE: DECADE

Falchion just finished reviving when he was slashed across the waist by both Decade and Blade before Saber came in with a slash going down his body. The galaxy-themed swordsman then kicked him back, giving the other two to go to his sides.

"Ritsuka, for us to end this, you have to be the one to finish him off," Saber quickly told the magenta Rider. "It's the only way Bacht can die permanently now."

Decade was about to question what he meant about that but decided against it, justifying that it wasn't the time.

Towa no Fushichō!

The announcement from Kyomu alerted them to Falchion initiating his finisher. Saber stepped forward, shouting, "Get behind me!"

Haou Hisatsu Read! Kidoku Juu Seiken!

Hisatsu Mukoduko!

Falchion sent a burning X at them— more specifically, Saber. However, just as it was about to hit him, the attack struck something else and exploded. The fire swiftly disappeared and revealed what protected them: a collection of ten different swords that fanned out above him. They were made of the swords Saber previously summoned along with a few more.

Haou Xross Sei Retsuzan!

With a wave of the Xross Saber, the swordsman sent the ten swords at Falchion. Unlike him, the Dark Rider wasn't able to defend himself from the flying blades that seemingly had minds of their own. The swords flew all around him, leaving glowing trails in the air as they cut and slashed Falchion without anybody wielding them.

"Kazuma! Change forms!"

"Got it!" Blade followed Saber's orders and pulled out the tab on his Rouze Absorber.

ABSORB QUEEN!

FUSION JACK!

Blade's armour evolved into his bronze Jack Form and he wasted no time in taking flight. Once again, Falchion barely recovered— the ten swords implanting in the ground around him —before Blade swooped in and slashed him across the chest.

The flying Rider quickly spun around in the air and was about to come back down when he heard Saber shout, "Use this!"

One of the swords— a silver-bladed one with a yellow, lightning-shaped emblem and guard—flew out of the ground and up towards Blade. He easily caught it and gave it a quick inspection before nodding.

"Ritsuka. You use this." Another sword flew out of the ground and into the magenta Rider's hands. The one he was given was a similar sword with a blue guard.

"Nagare…" The Sword of Currents, while Blade got the Sword of Thunders, Ikazuchi. He couldn't think much about it as Saber went ahead to engage Falchion again. "Whatever…"

Decade followed closely behind him as they closed the distance— Saber hitting Falchion with another slash before strafing to the side so that the other Rider followed up with a water-imbued with Nagare. Blade then flew in and used both swords to strike the Dark Rider down with both his own sword and Ikazuchi, the latter powering up the former and itself with yellow lightning.

After that, Blade landed next to them with a soft thud. Neither he nor Decade stood still long before they resumed attacking Falchion with their borrowed swords. However, Falchion was able to parry their blows and retaliated with a long horizontal slash, forcing them to jump back out of his attack range.

While Falchion was busy fighting off those two, however, Saber pulled one of his summoned swords out of the ground and separated the blade from the handle.

Kaiji Masshou! Sai Kaiji!

In an instant, Saber appeared behind Falchion and slashed him in the back with his trident. Falchion quickly spun around, swinging Kyomu wildly, but was too late as Saber had detached the blade of Kaiji again.

Kaiji Masshou! Sai Kaiji!

The Sword of Nothingness cut through empty air before Saber reappeared in the same spot. He took advantage of the opening and stabbed Falchion right in the chest. Falchion staggered backwards but that left him open to being attacked by Decade and Blade— the two slashing him through the waist as they ran past him.

"You bastards…" Falchion growled as he angrily tightened his grip. "Tell me! What's the point of trying to save the world when it won't matter in the end?!"

Blade was about to answer him, about to tell him that everything did matter. However…

"You're right, there's no point to us fighting here." Saber answered with a hint of sadness in his voice, surprising nearly everyone— including Falchion. "All we're doing now is just delaying the inevitable; that day when Kazuma would have to fight…" He glanced over at the Rider to his left. "Bacht, neither of us should have any business here. Our roles in this story should've ended long ago. So please, just let this end."

"…What happened to you, Saber?" Falchion asked, now sounding amused and curious. "I thought you'd try fighting fate no matter what."

"…Let's finish this. Ritsuka! Kazuma!"

"Huh? Oh, right!" Blade nodded before pulling out two Rouze Cards. Decade, on the other, quietly took out his finisher card; his mind was occupied with what Saber and Falchion were talking about.

"Very well, let's end." Agreeing with his sentiment, Falchion sheathed Kyomu in his Driver as the other three initiated their own finishers.

Hissatsu Mokudoku! Battou! Fushicho Musou Giri!

SLASH! THUNDER! LIGHTNING SLASH!

FINAL ATTACKRDE: DE-DE-DECADE

Haou Hissatsu Dokuha! Seiba Battou! Haou Issatsu Giri! Saber!

"Haou Souseizan!" Saber shouted before he, Decade, and Blade released their finishers. Three different coloured energy slashes were sent flying at Falchion as he sent his own finishers at them— a long horizontal, orange slash.

The finishers met in the middle— trying to push each other back to reach their target. For a brief moment, it looked like Falchion's attack would win the collision but in the end, it was the three heroes' finisher that broke through.

Falchion couldn't do anything but let out a shout that was cut short by the three slashes hitting him.

KABOOM!

The Dark Rider was blown back by the explosion and sent rolling on the ground. His armour disappeared in a flash of orange light, leaving the immortal swordsman huffing.

"Ah… ah…" Bacht wheezed as he push himself to his knees. "So this is the end of me…" Orange particles and black mist came off his body as he used Kyomu to support himself. "Once again, I'm a pawn for another mastermind…?"

A flash of light came from Saber as his armour also disappeared. "Bacht…" Touma muttered. "You—"

"I'm fine with that!" The dying man suddenly shouted with a grin. "Even if I was just following someone else, I got to live how I wanted."

"Destroying everything because you don't believe anything matters?" Kazuma accused him; he and Ritsuka also detransformed.

"Oh, you can hate me for it all you want," laughed Bacht. "I did what I believed was right." He then tiredly eyed Ritsuka. "What about you, Decade? Do you hate me for trying to destroy this World?"

"I…" Ritsuka didn't know what to say. He wanted to say he does but the words got caught in his throat.

That was all Bacht needed to laugh madly again. "You really haven't changed since we met, Decade… I'm happy… that you remain as broken as I am…"

"Broken…"

"And you, Saber?" Bacht was now taking deeper breaths. It was obvious he was trying to hold on a bit longer to talk to them. "What made you, the one who never gave up in the face of death, so hopeless?"

Touma didn't answer either, which made Bacht cackle more.

"How sad… I wanted to see the future you created in the proper history…" With that final wish, Bacht disappeared along with Kyomu, ending his threat once and for all…

---

Saber's World, past…

Touma let out a long sigh as he walked through the park. He was taking a shortcut after meeting up with his publishers again after their meeting was cut short by Bacht's reappearance.

It had been a week since that day and everything had gone back to normal. The other Sword of Logos members had questioned him about the pink Kamen Rider (although Oshima came to his defence, saying that he was magenta while calling himself pink) but Touma couldn't answer them.

"Even though I told him to stay around…" Touma sighed again. However, he noticed someone sitting on a bench a bit ahead. "Isn't that…?"

Sure enough, when he got closer, Touma knew for sure who it was that was sitting there. "Touma!" Ritsuka waved at him with a small smile.

"Ritsuka…san?" Touma walked up to him, completely surprised to see him again.

"Sorry for disappearing on you like that. I thought it'd be better to leave the clean-up to you guys," Ritsuka apologised to Touma. "You said you have more questions for me, right? "

"I do… I have to know," Touma started to say as he sat down next to Ritsuka, "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm just a passing-through… No, that's a lie. I wasn't just passing through, was I?" Ritsuka quietly laughed before saying, "As I said, my name is Fujimaru Ritsuka. I'm also known as Kamen Rider Decade, formally the Master of Chaldea before I had to leave my World."

Touma recalled hearing Merlin calling Ritsuka "former Master" several times but, while he was curious about that, the budding author decided to talk about something else. "After I sealed the Book of Ruin, it disappeared. And the Wonder RideBook you lent me disappeared too."

"Yeah, I expected that," sighed Ritsuka. "I had the feeling that it had enough power for one more use. That's why I couldn't use it to restore my cards with it."

He reached into his own jacket and took out a KamenRide Card; specifically, the greyed-out Kamen Rider Saber card. "Looks like cleaning my mess was not enough for us to form a good enough bond."

"…Can you tell me why you wanted my powers?" It was the whole reason they met, after all.

"It was to fight someone. I was hoping to use it to confront him early before he regains enough power," Ritsuka revealed to Touma. "Your powers— No, Saber's powers were once used to fight and defeat him. Not permanently obviously but I thought I could've done something with it."

"And this enemy you're trying to defeat, how strong is he?" Touma cautiously asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

Luckily for him, Ritsuka only vaguely answered him. "He's strong enough that even I have a tough time finding and defeating him. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised all this happened because he wished it did."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, for now," he replied to Touma's question before standing up and walking away. "Now then, I should be on my way. I have a lot of stuff to do again."

'Again?' Touma stood up too and shouted after him. "Will we meet again?!"

Ritsuka paused, and stood still for a few seconds, before looking back with a smile. "Of course, I still need to take your powers!" He raised his hand and summoned another portal behind him. Before he stepped through it, though, Ritsuka shouted something at Touma. "Be careful of the guild! Not everything is what it seems!"

"Huh?" What caught Touma off guard about his warning was not that it came out of nowhere but that he got a similar warning before.

"And if you want to reunite with Espada again, you need to find Kurayami!" Ritsuka further added. "When you do meet him again, you'd need to be as strong as you possibly could to pull him from the darkness!"

"The darkness?! What do you mean by that?!" Touma wanted to run after him and try to get more answers but he knew that he wouldn't reach Ritsuka in time.

"Goodbye, Saber! We'd meet again one day, you can count on it!" Ritsuka bid farewell and turned back around. However, before he disappeared through the silver wall, Touma watched him reach into his jacket and take out a handful of cards. All of them were greyed-out like his was but that was all Touma could note before Ritsuka stepped through the Aurora Curtain.

Touma stood there as the wind gently blew through the park. "Ritsuka-san… What are after…" He pondered to himself before continuing on his way home.

---

Present, Blade's World…

Touma stared wistfully at the Xross Saber slowly disintegrated into blue particles in his hands.

"That's…?" He heard Ritsuka mutter next to him.

Without missing a beat, Touma put on a smile and said to him, "Don't worry about it. I expected this to happen. It should've had enough energy for one more battle."

"Is that so?" Kazuma sighed, "That's too bad. I was hoping to see what you could do with it."

"Tsurugi!" "Fujimaru-kun!" They heard the others call out to them, having finally regained enough energy to move again.

"Hey! Everyone!" Kazuma perked up and waved as he ran towards them. Ritsuka also followed after him, although he noted that Touma stood where he was.

"Hang on, hang on! One question at a time! Ow! I'm sorry!" Kazuma yelped as he was interrogated by the others about what happened while he was gone.

Ritsuka, on the other hand, thankfully only had to deal with one person. "You took your time, didn't you?" Ciel playfully called him out with a tired smirk. "We've been holding him back for an entire week."

"It could've been worse, you know," Ritsuka retorted, "We could've been gone for a month."

"As if you'd abandon us like that," Ciel scoffed with a wave of her hand. "In any case, why don't you introduce me to your new friend?"

"Actually, I'm an old friend of Ritsuka's," Touma corrected her as he walked towards them. "Ah, where are my manners? It's nice to finally meet you, Ciel. I am Kozaki Touma."

"I see you've already told him about me," Ciel smirked slightly at that knowledge. However, Touma quickly corrected her again.

"No, I've actually read about you in Ritsuka's book. Your relationship with him was fun to read."

"Book?" Both Ritsuka and Ciel said in confusion at the same time. The latter, however, quickly added, "Hang on, what do you mean relationship?!"

Touma didn't answer her. Instead, he turned to Ritsuka. "Do you understand, Ritsuka? I've read everything: what had happened, what's currently happening, and everything that will happen. I know everything."

He stepped backwards.

"Because of that, you know what has to happen, right?" Touma smiled as he asked.

"What are you talking about?" However, Ritsuka had the sinking feeling that he knew what Touma was going on about. "Touma, why are you—"

"I'm sorry. I know I told you I'd explain everything after we deal with Bacht but I lied to you." By this point, the other group of Riders noticed Touma walking backwards away from there.

With a cheerful smile, Touma said, "For you to ultimately win and complete your journey… I can't be allowed to live."

"What are you talking about?" Ritsuka asked again, his voice cracking slightly.

"Don't be sad, Ritsuka, I've known about this day for nearly three years. I've been ready for what has to happen for a long time. But…" Touma turned around and smiled at the Aurora Curtain that just appeared, "That doesn't mean I'm going to go without a fight, Ritsuka."

The silver wall as someone stepped out from it: a young man with a blue shirt with a black jacket and matching dark pants…and his face was a perfect mirror of Ritsuka's.

"Ah… I thought you'd make it easier on the both of us," the other Ritsuka complained. However, a smirk swiftly appeared on his face. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Another… Fujimaru?" Ritsuka heard someone from Kazuma's group, probably Hayami, mutter.

"Fujimaru-kun… that's—" "I know." He didn't need Ciel to tell him who his doppelganger was. Both of them knew that the other Ritsuka was the one who impersonated him in Fourze's World.

"You guys!" Fujimaru glanced behind Touma at them. "I'll only say this once; stay out of what's going to happen. None of you are even in the shape to interfere anyway."

That was all that needed to be said for everyone to know what was going to happen: one more battle.

Fujimaru then turned his eyes towards Touma and asked, "Touma… Did you really read everything about all of us?"

"Yes, you know I won't lie about something as big as this," nodded the author. "From the very beginning to the very end."

"Then answer, what's Swartz's intention with doing all this? Creating an Another World for Bacht, and making me search for someone I thought died years ago?"

"Simple, to obtain the forbidden knowledge; the books containing our stories." That answer visibly distressed Fujimaru, if his eyes widening was proof. Touma quickly calmed him down, however, "Don't worry, he won't be reading the new ones just yet. But… soon he'll know everything about you and your journeys."

"Is that so…" Fujimaru sighed. "And I'm guessing it's too late to do anything about it."

"Yes, he already took everything from Wonder World while we were fighting Bacht," Touma confirmed with a short nod.

"Then… the only thing I can do now is to finish what I started three years ago."

'Three years ago…' Ritsuka thought as he listened to what his other self said.

"Ritsuka, I know you believe that you killed us. And in a way, you're not wrong in thinking so. But—!" Touma suddenly raised his voice. "You're beating yourself up for nothing. Both of you."

He glanced back at the real Fujimaru Ritsuka, his smile never disappearing.

"Even if you don't remember, you need to know that none of us blame you for what happened. Nor did the ones that came before us." Touma returned to facing Fujimaru. "Even now, I don't blame you for what you have to do."

"To be honest, Touma, I'm not sure if that makes it any better," Fujimaru replied. "Now then, let's end this for real, Saber!"

The other Ritsuka reached into his jacket and pulled something out. Something that the real Ritsuka recognised from a glance. It was the Decadriver but different. Instead of the white casing, it had a deep dark one and a blue glass in its centre. 18 white symbols uncircled the glass but there was something off about it.

"That's…" A name came to Ritsuka's mind as his other self put on the black Decadriver, causing the belt to wrap around him. On his right side, the normal coloured RideBooker appeared too.

Fujimaru pulled open his Decadriver before sliding out a card from the RideBooker without looking as if he's done it a thousand times before. As he did, the true Ritsuka glanced at his real self… and grinned.

"It's time I finally show it to you; Decade's true power." A hardened look replaced his grin as he said it— "Henshin."

KAMENRIDE: DECADE

Multiple grey silhouettes of Decade appeared in front of him along with several Riders' symbols. However, instead of the nine symbols of the Riders before Decade, it was the nine after him. However, that fact didn't matter as much as what happened next.

The silhouettes converged on Fujimaru, forming his armour as blocks flew out of the black buckle and into his mask. Instead of turning magenta, however, the suit was dyed various shades of black while the bands on his wrists and ankles as well as the X on the right side of his chest turned gold. Finally, his bug-eyed lens was blue like the glass in his Driver.

"A black Decade…?" Ritsuka faintly heard Ciel mutter but he barely focused on it. Many thoughts flashed through his mind, all of them too fast for Ritsuka to properly analyse. However, one thing was clear; the appearance of the black Decade shook him to his very core.

And it was not just him— everyone present felt a sense of fear, however mute it was, as they stared at the new Rider.

"Fujimaru-kun!" Ritsuka ignored Ciel's cry as he dashed forward to Touma's side, Decadriver in hand already. He didn't know what he was thinking— all he knew was that he couldn't let Touma face the darker him alone. The author, undisturbed by the black Decade's appearance, turned his head to Ritsuka and continued smiling.

"Ritsuka, I want you to remember—" He said, making Ritsuka look at him. "—that you can do it. You've never given up all this time and I know you never will, the books be damned."

Before Ritsuka could say anything, he felt pain shoot through his abdomen. A moment later, he realised that Touma had punched him hard as his vision started darkening.

"There's something that goes beyond all resolution." Ritsuka faintly heard Touma say as he slipped into unconsciousness. "And you'll forever hold onto it— until the day you reach the ending you wished for."

As the darkness finally overtook him, Ritsuka only heard one more thing…

Wonder Almighty!

"Let's finish this… Decade!"

---

A crisp breeze blew in through the opened window, causing the unconscious boy in bed to slowly open his eyes. A splitting headache quickly made itself known, making Ritsuka groan as he sat up.

"What…?" He glanced around his room to see nobody. Against his better judgement, he forced himself out of his bed and stumbled out into the hallway.

Ritsuka slowly made his way downstairs. When he reached the lower level of his house, he heard voices coming from the sitting room.

"—surugi's still depressed." He overheard Ryoko's voice as he stood outside the door. "I saw him moping around the building earlier like a ghost."

"Why shouldn't he be?" Ritsuka heard Ciel's voice this time. However, he noted she sounded a bit down. "That Fujimaru used him to kill Kozaki. How is he supposed to get over that so soon?"

"The other Ritsuka, he defeated all of you, right?" Tetsuya queried.

Ciel must have nodded as she said, "And truth be told, even if all of us were at full strength, I don't think we could've done much. The other Fujimaru…he was just that powerful."

When he heard that, Ritsuka knew he couldn't just listen in anymore. He opened the door and entered the room, much to the surprise of the three inside.

"Ritsu!" Ryoko cried, standing up from her seat. "You shouldn't be up so soon!"

"I'm fine," Ritsuka waved off hers and the others' concern as he walked toward them. "What happened? How long was I out?"

"Just a couple of days," Ciel answered him, her worry evident on her face. "We thought that something was wrong but Tsurugi told us that everything happened in a single day for you."

Right… Everything happened so fast and he didn't get a chance to rest the entire time. Even now, Ritsuka still feels exhausted.

"And… Touma?" Despite knowing the answer, Ritsuka wanted them to confirm it.

A cold silence filled the room, the other three looking at each other with unreadable expressions. Eventually, Ciel was the one to break the silence. "I'm sorry, Fujimaru-kun. We tried our best to fight the other you but… we couldn't do anything to help him."

"…" Ritsuka couldn't reply. 'Why? I didn't even know him for an entire hour…'

"And…" Ciel glanced towards the coffee table and Ritsuka followed her gaze. Laid on it was the Sword of Flames, Rekka, and next to it was the Brave Dragon Wonder RideBook and… the KamenRide: Saber card. "That's all that was left of him.

Ritsuka glanced down, unable to look at the sacred sword. To get his mind off the sword, he reached into his pocket and pulled out another KamenRide Card; the only one he expected to gain through this part of his journey. Luckily, the KamenRide: Blade card was restored…

"Ritsuka?" Tetsuya tried to call out to his friend, putting his hand on his shoulders. "You—"

"Alright then, let's move on." Ritsuka brushed Tetsuya's friend off and walked past all of them.

"What?" Needless to say, his callous disregard of the news took them off guard. "Wait a minute, Ritsuka. You should—"

"Moping around isn't going to do anything," Ritsuka cut him off as he stopped next to the chains in the back of the room. "Our job here in Blade's World is done. It's time to head into the next World."

"Fujimaru-kun, you're not giving yourself time to breathe. Sit down and—"

A bright light prevented Ciel from finishing what she wanted to say as the backdrop was replaced. A few seconds later, the light faded, revealing the new image— a metallic red Chinese dragon flying in the foreground while in the background was a large red bridge over a wide river separating a city.

Ritsuka stepped back from the pillar to look at the backdrop and, as always, found a sense of familiarity with the picture. He recognised the dragon easily as he had used Ryuki's powers during the invasion in the first World. But the bridge in the backdrop…

"That's…" He knew it. He's seen that bridge before. He's seen it and the city engulfed in everlasting flames.

"Hehehe… We're back to where our journey began…"

Two words escaped Ritsuka's lips as his glazed eyes stared at the backdrop. "Singularity… F?"

---

Next Time on Across the Kaleidoscope…

"Fight…"

"In this World, every Kamen Rider is an enemy…"

"Fight…"

"You're… I've met you before… Emi—"

"Fight…"

"Now then! Let's see who the victor will be!"

"Fight… If you don't fight, you won't survive."

Chapter 27: The Fuyuki Rider War

---

In a distant realm…

The observer opened his eyes as he let out a wistful sigh. "How sad… I was fond of him."

Not only was he a fan of him, but Kozaki Touma was also in a similar position as him for a long time. However, the observer was content with his current predicament and was fine with continuing to watch his former Master's journey.

Still, he wished that Ritsuka's journey, and his suffering, would end soon. He didn't want to say he was saddened by what Ritsuka was going through— every journey has its share of sorrow —but at this point, it was no longer punishment but torture for the former Master of Chaldea.

But he won't intervene quite yet. It still wasn't time for him to appear before Fujimaru Ritsuka again and for now, Merlin would be remaining in his tower and watching his journey as always…

---

A/N: And after a whole month, I'm finally done with this chapter! And I deeply apologise for the cop-out ending with Ritsuka Alter's (or whatever you want to call him) debut fight as Dark Decade being off-screen but this is my story and I feel like keeping him in the dark would work more. Although that wasn't the original plan for the chapter, but I feel that it's been dragging on for longer than it should. Don't worry though, next chapter will have a true fight (read: curbstomp) with Dark Decade.

Anywho, lots of stuff happened and I'll leave it all for you to understand and decipher what exactly happened three years ago. Mainly cause dumbass me dunno what else to say cause my mind's basically mush by now. What I will say though is that there's a whole lot of things that happened in Ritsuka's past before he lost his memories *wink*.

As always, leave a review and all that stuff, follow me on Twitter where I might talk about updates to my fics if you want, and I'll see you all next time!