Chapter 12: Gears of Fate Starts To Spin
I DON'T OWN ANKOKU KISHI MONOGATARI OR KAMEN RIDER AND THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
"This... This is a nightmare!"
The lone, still-standing member of the Holy Knight Order can't believe that this abomination, who desecrated the Holy Temple of Alrena in Lenaria, had single-handedly eliminated them with nothing more than an unknown fighting style using only his fists.
At first, he and his comrades thought that the Dark Knight would be easy pickings because he hadn't drawn his sword, but they didn't realize that he didn't need one. When they were about to attack him, he disappeared in a blur and started to punch and kick them while simultaneously dodging their attacks.
As he was contemplating falling back to call more reinforcements…
"One left."
The lone survivor heard a man's voice before his vision faded to black, the Dark Knight heading straight towards him with his foot set on black fire aimed to kick.
Rena had now returned to Elios' Heavenly Palace and was on her way back to her own palace.
"That was close, huh, Rena."
Just as she arrived at the palace's gate, a voice called out to her. Rena paused and looked back at the direction of the voice. There stood a male God. Once she saw who had spoken, Rena immediately frowned.
The man who stood before her was the God of Song and Arts, Alphos. Rena was always quite reluctant to admit it, but no matter how much she wanted to deny it, this God was still her older twin brother.
"Do you have any business with me, Alphos?" Rena asked for Alphos's reason behind his visit with a pout on her face; she really didn't want to converse with him. She simply hated that elder brother of hers. Despite bearing a striking resemblance to each other, Rena knew that their personalities were different by leaps and bounds, almost clashing like mortal enemies.
"I heard the Dark Knight is aiming for your life, Rena."
"And from where did you hear that?" Rena asked, displeased, her irritability increasing yet again.
"Well, the thing is, the Dark Knight just caused a somewhat of a problem."
"Ah, I might have an idea of what you're talking about." Alphos shook his head as if to tell her that things weren't as simple as she presumed, and his beautiful face suddenly turned a bit serious, which Rena knew is rare from her brother.
"Just a moment ago, he nearly annihilated the entire Holy Knight Order."
"Pardon?" Rena couldn't hide her surprise upon hearing the news. The Holy Knight Order was a group of hand-picked elites composed of angels and heroes of the human race. They were the strongest Knight Order in this world, the cream of the crop who served directly under Oudith, the God of Light. The only one who could rival them was the Dark Knight Order, its soldiers all serving under Modes. That's why Rena couldn't hide her shock upon hearing that the very same Holy Knight Order was almost annihilated by a single person.
"Since the airspace around Elios is under their jurisdiction, it's only natural for them to patrol around the sky of the Holy Republic of Lenaria. However, this time they encountered the Dark Knight, passing by that area using flight magic."
It was understandable that they stopped him; those Holy Knights wouldn't allow anyone to fly in Elios's airspace without a permit, which is why they would always patrol this space 24/7. It was therefore normal for them to try arresting him, who was clearly flying there without a permit.
"As a result, the Holy Knights were brought close to annihilation in their attempt to arrest the Dark Knight. Well, I expected that he could do this much since he was the one who defeated the hero, who also almost brought the Dark Knight Order to the brink of annihilation as well. But there is something that caught my attention. The one who wasn't critical who awakened noted that he didn't have any weapons yet he took them down like it was nothing," Alphos uttered while expressing his grim reflection.
Listening to her brother's summary of the events, Rena started to recall the short conversation she shared with the Dark Knight. She couldn't help but remember his striking appearance: his stoic and fearless demeanor with a hint of somber melancholy in it, his night-colored hair, but what left her a deep impression is his impressive almond-shaped eyes; for some reason, whenever she looks at them, she can feel that she would fall and feel a deep loneliness inside. Though his features were more subdued compared to flashy men like Alphos and Reiji, upon a closer look, she could clearly see that he was no less handsome than them. Other than that, Rena also remembers the sheer disrespect that the Dark Knight showed her; for some reason, instead of getting mad, she was happy?
"Oh? You seem to be glad, Rena." Alphos called out to his sister, who was standing there in a daze, a slight smile almost threatening to show.
"Eh?! What?" Noticing her blunder, Rena quickly pressed her fingers on top of her lips, covering the crack in her demeanor.
"So, what will Oudith-sama do now?"
"Nothing. He doesn't want to antagonize Modes." Rena instantly frowned at that reply.
The king of the Gods of Light, Oudith, had always wished for peace with the Gods of Darkness. If it weren't for Rena's enmity with Modes, he would've never even started a battle with them. Of course, this matter had always annoyed Rena, so the current situation was not the least bit amusing to her. In the first place, the Gods of Light were split into two factions: one that wanted to live in peace with the Gods of Darkness, and another that wanted to antagonize them. Sadly for Odith, the majority of the Gods of Light lay in the antagonizing faction, Rena being among those members. It could be said that she was one of its main supporters.
"The Gods of Darkness… are really dangerous, especially right now, and Modes is the most dangerous one of all. He's the God of Destruction's inheritor, the one who had once tried to destroy the world."
"I agree with you Rena, but don't you think the same could be said about those people from the Spirit World? They're as dangerous as the God of Destruction and your hated Modes; they could even be considered to be more threatening. It's for this reason that Oudith-sama decided to make a pact with Modes."
"What kind of pact is it?"
"Both sides mustn't summon another person from the Spirit World ever again. That should be enough to tell you that the Dark Knight and Hero are a more dangerous threat to Oudith-sama compared to Modes. They single-handedly annihilated both Gods' greatest Knight Orders after all."
"I see…" The Gods of Light's council had decided to ban the summoning of other people from the Spirit World after witnessing their immense power that rivaled their strongest soldiers. However, this decision had definitely made the Gods of Light's side the one at a disadvantage since there was no law stopping Modes from summoning others from the Spirit World on the Gods of Darkness's side.
"Also, Oudith-sama wants you to restrain those warriors from the Spirit World who are already here; you're the one who summoned them, after all, Rena."
That order poked at Rena's sore spot. At first, it seemed like a simple matter. She would've sent those chess pieces back to the Spirit World after they had defeated Modes. But, her plan was foiled at the very last step by the sudden appearance of the Dark Knight—he had destroyed the summoning assistant devices needed for that process. Both the prohibition of the summoning ritual and the creation of summoning assistant devices were decided just the other day. The hero and his companions would be monitored from now on.
"Wait a minute, I'm not the one who summoned the Dark Knight!"
"That's true, but Modes said that the Dark Knight's actions will heavily depend on the hero and his party's movements. In short, they are your responsibility, Rena."
The demand was only natural since the hero was the biggest threat to Modes as opposed to Oudith.
"I only came here today to tell you about the council's decision, Rena. You must be careful to prevent the hero's actions from negatively affecting us."
Hearing his retorts, Rena was at a complete loss for words. She had to both control the hero and his party's popularity from rising and prevent them from subjugating Modes? The demands were too outrageous. However, she knew that she had no other choice since letting them do as they please would make her lose her standing as one of the Gods of Light.
"I understand. I'll do something about it. You may leave now; you've said all that needed to be said after all." Rena's voice was now extremely irritated as she spoke to her brother.
"Sorry, I want to confirm another matter before leaving."
"What is it now?!" Rena asked with a glare. However, her enraged glare did not affect her elder brother in the slightest; her threat could not even make him flinch.
"When will you marry, Rena?"
"Haah? What are you talking about? Is that another message from Oudith too?"
"Nope, just an older brother worrying about his single little sister." Rena grumbled as she thought to herself, "It's none of your business."
"I'll think about this matter if I ever find a suitable man. I'm different from you, Alphos."
Rena flatly replied as she threw a disgusted gaze at her elder brother. As the most handsome man in the world, Alphos was a natural playboy, the number of his wives now reaching over two thousand—Rena never wanted to act as frivolously as her older brother.
"Does that apply to your Hero-kun too?"
"Haah? You mean, Reiji? Why did you suddenly mention him?"
Rena wondered why he would suddenly mention Reiji; it was so unlike him.
"Well, that hero of yours has become the latest hot topic amongst the goddesses of Elios, you see. He's handsome, and extremely powerful too. That's why I can't help but worry about it."
Alphos glanced at his sister after uttering those words, trying to gauge her reaction. She was now even more surprised upon hearing his remark.
（I never expected Reiji to become such a hot topic in the place.）
True enough, Reiji was handsome and powerful. He was so powerful that there was barely anyone in Elios who could beat him. It was for that very reason that he became so popular amongst the Light Goddesses. This situation gave Rena a dull headache, making her massage her temple.
"Reiji isn't suited for me. I did tell you before that I'll send him back to the Spirit World once he accomplishes his duty, right?" Reiji was nothing more than a tool for Rena. Moreover, Rena pretty much hated Reiji due to his similar personality with Alphos. He had made a move on many women after coming to this world. At this point, he was literally the second Alphos. She had also noticed that there were a number of Valkyrie warriors among those women, which was why she stopped bringing Valkyrie warriors with her to the Holy Republic of Lenaria.
（As if I'm going to let him woo my precious subordinates.）
Reiji was in fact a thorn for Rena.
"I see, so it's not him too, huh. As expected of you, the aloof heavenly maiden who can never be touched by anyone…" Alphos happily laughed at the results of his inquiries.
Rena was well aware of her supreme beauty. There were an infinite number of men who had tried to court her; however, none of them were suitable, they couldn't possibly measure up to her. Even if all the men in the world professed their love to her, she wouldn't even spare one of them a glance. For her, all men were just tools. Rena then tried to recall the men who had tried to court her up until now.
However, she couldn't remember any of them. Since there were too many to count, she had simply scrapped them from her memories. Yet when she thought about those men, for some inexplicable reason, the face of a certain man appeared. Rena was bewildered.
（Why did his face suddenly appear in my mind?...hmm?）
"..."
Rena noticed something was amiss. Normally Alphos will continually tease her, but her brother right now seems unsettled as if something was bothering him.
"Alphos, is there something wrong?"
"Rena, since you are my sister, I hope we can keep this thing between us on the thing I am about to tell you. Please swear on it." Alphos suddenly whispered.
Rena knew that Alphos is not joking this time, and enough to be considered as very serious.
"I swear as the Goddess of Wisdom and War, that I will never tell what I ever hear now."
"Good, the truth is, that pact was made because there are some unwanted visitors who barged into our world." Alphos revealed.
"What!?"
"It was just a normal day at that time; then suddenly a huge surge of power burst in the palace. Two white armored figures appeared. They slowly approached the throne room where Oudith-sama was located. I…we tried to fight them off, but all of us there were suddenly tangled by these strange vines and dragged inside a strange barrier made from light. For some reason, I can't use my power while being bound, and my strength isn't enough to break the barrier."
Rena's eyes widened, to think that her brother who was known as the strongest knight of the Elios Pantheon was just easily disabled…
"When they approached Oudith-sama, their armor vanished, and what I saw were two men. One had white hair and was wearing a strange white cloak with a vest mail, and the other one was wearing black strange clothing with a strange scarf. I wasn't able to hear what they talked about, but both of them were just conversing with Oudith-sama like a friend before the black-clothed man shook Oudith-sama's hand as if they made an agreement, and they just vanished; Then we are all released from the bindings.
Rena was stunned, to think that someone from the Spirit world without any assistance can enter their world without using summoning tools, immediately subdued all the gods present and casually made a deal with the supreme God of Light.
"Rena I advise you, please try to stay away from that Dark Knight, not only as your brother but as a fellow god, I had a bad feeling that Dark Knight had a connection with those two beings. Well excuse me for now."
Alphos retreated and left Reina alone in the corridor. She somewhat regretted her decision that she summoned Reiji and his harem into this world because if not for them, Modes will not summon the Dark Knight to counter her. Now Rena is getting more interested in the Dark Knight, not only his beauty but his mysterious power.
"Dark Knight… who really are you?"
"I see, Kuroki-dono prevented another hero from being summoned, huh… splendid. I will thank him for that deed later."
"Yesh."
Nut replied to Modes. Until just a while ago, Modes was receiving Nut's report, who was perched on Loughas's shoulder.
"So, how's Kuroki-dono's current situation?"
"Mmm, he seems to be fine on the surface, but.."
"But?"
"It seems that he is now more withdrawn. I usually see him staring from afar or just plain staring at the sky. I think he misses his friends and his home.
"I see…"
At Nut's words, Modes started recalling the time when he had just been exiled from Elios. At the time, he had cried until there were no tears left to cry. He had wondered why those Gods of Light hated him so much. All because of his appearance? The only reason he could regain his footing was because he finally came up with the idea of creating Mona.
To create Mona, aside from using Rena's hair as a medium, he also used the secret art of Life Creation, his own magical power. He had combined these components in a tool Heibos had created; his only friend in Elios.
He could persevere in this life only because he had managed to create a Goddess whose beauty could rival Elios's Goddesses—he had her all by himself.
From a certain point he could understand Kuroki's loneliness, he was dragged from his world to meet people who made his past a living hell.
"Then I will give the best Goddess to Kuroki-dono. That'll be the best present from this Modes."
"A Goddess? Like Mona-sama"
Modes nodded to Loughas. If possible, Modes wanted Kuroki to stay in Nargol. Fortunately it seems that Kuroki could understand their plight, promising as long as he was in this world, he will protect Modes and Mona against Reiji and his party. This reason is enough for him to grant him a reward by creating a Goddess for him. Not to mention, this might help him combat the loneliness that Kuroki has been experiencing right now.
Nevertheless, the Gods of Elios had banned the creation of fake Goddesses. If it was known to the public that Kuroki had created a fake Goddess, he would become the enemy of the Gods of Elios too, which would result in Kuroki not having any other option but to stay in Nargol, but for some reason, Modes believes that Kuroki can handle anyone or anything that would stand against his way.
Moreover, since the news of Kuroki bringing the Holy Knight Order almost to the brink of annihilation on his way back to Nargol spread far and wide, no one would dare to look down on him anymore
Modes couldn't help but rub his palms and smile, he had just figured out a way to hit three birds with one stone.
"GUFUFUFUFU!"
"Uhm, Your Majesty?"
Though Loughas was trying to voice his anxiety, it was set aside upon seeing Modes laughing non-stop.
Kuroki is currently drinking tea in the Demon Lord's garden. He asked Mona-san for the same cake and tea that she brought to him when he first arrived in this world. For some reason the garden and the snacks gave him a calming effect.
Kuroki then recalled what he did when he raided Rena's temple. It's been a while since he became angry, the last time he can recall being very mad was when Evolto used Yui to piss him off to escalate his Hazard Level so he can defeat that megalomaniac brother of his. To think that Rena's beauty is equal to her selfishness and Shirone's fanatical belief that Reiji can defeat anything is astounding.
"I can't believe this world, is this some kind of bad Light Novel plot that Gen-san had been reading? The ugliest being that I have ever seen is the most gentle and kind being that I have ever known while the most beautiful goddess…well plainly speaking she is a rude bitch."Kuroki grumbled while eating a piece of cake.
Modes and Mona-san made sure that he was comfortable even though the resources were a bit scarce. Kuroki volunteered to help with anything they wanted in addition to his main mission. Needless to say, even Runefield was slowly warming up to him, because due to Reiji almost eliminating the Dark Knight Order, they were kind of short of hands, and Kuroki helping them is a huge boon for them right now.
Kuroki then thought of Shirone and Reiji's band of idiots. Honestly Kuroki is now kind of pitying them because of the disparity of their power that he seems to be nothing more than a adult intruding in a school yard brawl. He was fine to leave them alone but because of Kuroki's gratitude towards Shirone's family, he can't leave her running towards her death.
"If not for Uncle and Aunt, I would not give a damn about those morons but here we are, I just saved them from being thrown into some random world. This is why I prefer leaving the hard thinking to Sento and Sawa. Well, it's a good thing that the Summoning spell is now banned. Who knows who might they get next time, considering not all of the Riders are good."
Kuroki in some way was relieved that the Summoning is now banned, luckily for Modes and Rena, they were able to pull Kuroki and Reiji instead lets say… any bastard from Foundation X or that delusional idiot with a God Complex that used to be the CEO of Genm Corp.
"...Now that I think of it, Maybe I will ask for a Goddess. It wouldn't be so bad…Right?"
Kuroki remembered that Modes promised him that a Goddess would be made for him. Kuroki for the most part misses his family in the Nascita Cafe but he has to make do with what is available for him right now. To stave off the loneliness that he was feeling for a long time this might be a good solution for him.
"Well time to get a cute Goddess of my own."
CHAPTER 12 END
A/N Well, hi guys! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Now we have approached the end of Arc 1 of Ankoku Kishi. Well, again, I just skipped the Hero party parts because they are annoying and tedious to read and repurpose their dialogue. Arc 2 will be on its way, and I can tell you that Arc will have a massive change that honestly all the OG Ankoku Kishi Monogatari readers really want to happen. Well, advance happy year!- oh wait.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Somewhere in the North Pole.
Inside a magnificent castle, a giant book the size of a door appeared from nowhere and opened its pages, and six people came out of it.
"This is a very weird experience. To think there is a castle in the North Pole."
"And I thought I had seen everything."
Sawa and Misora commented after they experienced traveling using magic. Meanwhile…
"See, Potato! Told you magic does exist!
"Dammit, Beardo, I get it! How many times have you told me right now? But still, that trashy plot of your books isn't gonna happen!"
"NO, IT WILL HAPPEN! I SHALL ACHIEVE MY DREAM OF HAVING ANOTHER WORLD ADVENTURE. I WILL BE THE FIRST PROTAGONIST TO INTRODUCE THE WONDERS OF HAVING MAGNIFICENT FASHION AND MAKE A BOOM OUT OF IT!"
"KEEP DREAMING. YOU WILL BE THE EQUIVALENT OF A DEMON LORD IN TERMS OF SHITTY FASHION!"
Kazumi and Gentoku are jabbing at each other, causing Sento to look at Touma apologetically.
"Please excuse these two idiots. Normally they are sane, but I think the cold must have done something to their brains.
"Ahhhh..hahaha. It's alright. Well then, follow me." Touma awkwardly stated.
The group walked inside until they reached a large gathering hall. In front of them, four figures were standing on the stage.
One man is wearing a white poncho, a woman is dressed like a princess from a fairy tale, another man is wearing red clothes with a stern look on his face, and another in blue who has a soft smile.
"Welcome to the Sword of Logos base, North Pole Division. Touma told us that you need help." The princess-looking woman welcomed the group.
Sento suddenly moved forward and asked in an urgent manner.
"PLEASE HELP-"
"Sento."
Sentou was held back by Gentoku, who had a serious look on his face, and looked him straight in the eye.
"Let me handle this."
"But-"
"This is a negotiation, and I believe this will be my responsibility. Being emotional will certainly not help."
"Trust Gen-san Sento. You know he can do this, right?" Sawa assured.
"Fine. It's up to you, Gen-san." Sento said as he stepped back, leaving the negotiation to Gentoku.
"I would like to apologize for that and thank you for your patience. First of all, I would like to thank you for listening to our plea. My name is Gentoku Himuro, but I'm also known as Kamen Rider Rogue. We are here with my friends to ask for your help our precious comrade." Gentoku then slightly bowed.
"Wow, can't believe that Beardo was that eloquent…If you just ignore his crappy hobbies." Kazumi whispered.
"Kazumin, you know that Gen-san was a government official and in a quite high position right?" Misora replied back. "Though his fashion sense in a normal setting still needs a lot of work."
"Yesss, my Miitan~ That's why I am trying to convince Beardo to get his stuff together because I don't want my Miitan to be worried ~." Kazumin suddenly gushed.
"Shhh. stop flirting and stay focused." Sawa hushed the couple.
"Asking for help? But why us? There are more Kamen Riders out there that could help you." The man in red questioned Gentoku.
"According to Sento here, our friend, Kuroki Ryuuga, suddenly disappeared. He tried to investigate it as a scientist, but unfortunately, it seems the cause of Kuroki's disappearance is magical in nature. Here, this is the appearance of what seems like a magical circle that was left in the scene. We are on our wits' end, and we think the Sword of Logos might help us."
Gentoku produced a piece of paper and gave it to the man in white.
"Hmmm..What!?"
"Yuri? What's wrong, is there a problem?" The man in blue known as Rintaro Shindo curiously asked.
"This… Sento, is it? Are you sure that this is the pattern you have seen on the ground?" Yuri worriedly asks Sento.
"Yeah, I was able to record it before it disappeared."
Sophia and the man in red known as Ryoga Shindai also approached Yuri and took a look at the paper. Sophia frowned, and Ryoga's expression softened and somewhat looked at Team Build's in pity for a while before returning into a stern look again.
"Yuri, do you think…?"
"Yes, because of Megid and Isaac, it seemed that the barrier protecting our world had weakened." Yuri grimly confirmed.
"Wait! What do you mean by that!?" Kazumi, who couldn't hold himself any longer, asked the four leaders. They looked at each other, and then Rintaro stepped forward to answer Kazumi's question.
"Normally, we can't reveal this information, but since your friend's life is in jeopardy, this will be permissible. The primary task of the Sword of Logos is to protect the world from Megid and protect the Almighty Book, but another task that we have is to protect the Earth from outside forces that are magical in nature by maintaining a barrier that surrounds the world. But recently, due to the problems of our organization, we aren't able to oversee the barrier, so it might have been weakened."
"No… You mean…"
"Your friend is summoned to another world and probably we can't take him back."
The room suddenly became cold like the outside. The Team Build's faces were a mixture of shock and horror.
"But Yuri, don't we have any way to save their friend?" Touma asked.
"I have seen this pattern; it is a summoning circle with enchantments to chain the summoned one into that world. Bahato and I back then managed to stop that magic circle one time when they tried to summon one of our comrades, and Viktor was able to study it. He confirmed back then that the purpose of the summoning circle is to ensure that the existence of that person will be locked on that world as long as they live."
Silence reigned, then Sento asked Yuri.
"You say that his existence is chained in that world right? So it means if we have the means to detect him, when can we find whenever Kuroki is right?
"I believe yes."
"Then… if we can't pull him back from there, WE WILL BE THE ONE TO GIVE THOSE BASTARDS A HOUSE VISIT!"
"Hello? Hey, hey, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEEEEY! Build-senpai! What's up? Oh? What!? What, that really happened? I thought it exists only in webnovels. Cross-Z-senpai got isekai'd? Oh, I pity the bastards who will face him. So, you need help? Sure, why not! We're gonna teach them not to mess with Riders from our world~!"
ARC 1 END