"That's..." Tsukuyomi stared in disbelief at Sougo, who was calmly walking toward the Demon King.
"Zi-O?!" Gates exclaimed, just as stunned.
But regardless of their shock, this confrontation was no longer about them. The spotlight had shifted.
"Young me, you've come again," the old Demon King spoke, hands clasped behind his back, his eyes steady on Sougo. "But why don't I recall you appearing at this moment in time?"
"History has changed," Sougo replied firmly. "It's only natural you wouldn't know."
"For you, this is the past. For me, it's the future."
"Interesting... but ultimately meaningless."
"We won't know unless we try!"
With that, Sougo surged forward, sword in hand, launching an attack.
But the old Demon King, unbothered, raised a single arm. A force field shimmered around him, effortlessly blocking the strike. Sougo couldn't even breach the surface layer, let alone touch his true body.
"Can this really work...?" Sougo gritted his teeth, shaken back by the king's palm strike. He hesitated, then pulled out the third-tier Ridewatch.
[Zi-O Trinity!]
[RiderTime!]
[KamenRider Zi-O!]
[TrinityTime!]
[The Power of Three!]
[KamenRider Zi-O! Geiz! Woz!]
[Tri-ni-ty~]
[Trinity!]
Just moments before Sougo activated the Trinity Watch...
Woz and Gates were each focused on their mission. Woz was protecting Tsukuyomi and evacuating civilians. Gates and Tsukasa were keeping Swartz occupied, trying to delay his advance.
"You're only delaying the inevitable!" Swartz mocked, laughing as they fought. "This world is finished—and you can't change that!"
"We won't let your twisted world overwrite ours!" Gates shouted. "And you're not the one meant to save anything!"
"What are you saying? No... it can't be—"
"Yes. Tsukuyomi is the key," Tsukasa declared coldly.
"She can save the world. You? You can only destroy it."
"Shut your mouths!" Swartz roared, transforming into an Another Decade, and lunged at them with brutal speed.
Gates and Tsukasa were no match for him in this state. Tsukasa, wielding only half his power, was flung aside first. Swartz then unleashed his corrupted Decade finisher—several purple-black energy cards appeared midair, surrounding Gates. In an instant, he launched a devastating flying kick toward him—
—but Gates vanished just before impact, turning into a watch and disappearing.
"What?!" Swartz landed, baffled, his attack missing entirely.
"It's time to settle this," Tsukasa growled, raising his Ride Booker sword. "We're both Decades. This fight is even!"
"Even?" Swartz sneered. "You're just borrowing Decade's power—I wield the full strength of our power!"
With a snarl, he froze time around Tsukasa.
But before he could finish him off—
A gunshot shattered the silence.
"I gave you that power, remember?" Diend—Daiki Kaitou—stepped out from behind, breaking the time freeze and saving Tsukasa.
"You—!" Swartz growled.
"Now the tables have turned," Tsukasa smirked, casually wiping his sword again.
(Seriously, does he have to polish that sword every time?)
"Let's go, Shii-san!" Haidou called.
And so, the two joined forces for a chaotic, destructive tag-team assault.
Back on Woz and Tsukuyomi's side, the situation was deteriorating.
Sougo, now in his third-tier form, had just summoned Woz into battle as a watch. That left Tsukuyomi—powerless and vulnerable—alone with enemy reinforcements.
"..."
Tsukuyomi stood frozen. So did the enemies. A brief moment of awkward silence passed as everyone realized: she was completely defenseless.
Without hesitation, Tsukuyomi turned and ran, mentally cursing Sougo for abandoning her.
All the while, she imagined herself drawing angry circles in the air, screaming his name.
2068.
Sougo—now as Trinity Zi-O—engaged the old Demon King in a battle that shattered the ground around them. After three hundred blows exchanged, the tide shifted.
The old king played a clever trick, but Sougo retaliated, drawing his Time Limit Sword and driving it into the king's chest.
[Trinity!]
[Time Break! Burst! Explosion!]
Caught off guard, the old Demon King was sent flying, crashing into the rock wall behind him, leaving a massive crater.
"You've become quite powerful," the king chuckled from where he lay, bruised but amused. "Impressive."
After all, he was praising himself.
"This isn't my power alone," Sougo said proudly. "It's the strength of my companions."
"You may be my future self—but we're different in one way: I fight with friends by my side!"
Hearing this, Gates smiled faintly. Woz, rolling his eyes, chose to feign ignorance.
(You're the Demon King. Whatever makes you happy, Your Majesty.)
"So... will you sacrifice yourself for your companions?" the old king asked, brushing dust off his cape as he stood.
"What?!" Gates froze in shock.
"We never agreed to that!" Woz exclaimed. "That wasn't in the plan!"
Sougo remained silent. He removed his Ridewatch, disengaging his transformation.
Gates and Woz stood speechless as he stepped forward.
"You didn't plan to kill me," Sougo finally said. "We don't need to fight."
"Of course not," the old king replied. "You are me, after all."
(Do you see the Milky Way in the sky? That's all the water I've poured into this game.)
"Then tell me—what is the true power of Ohma Zi-O?"
The old Demon King's gaze sharpened.
"It's the power to destroy time, space, and entire worlds."
"A mere Swartz doesn't have that power. That's why he needs you to do it for him," the king scoffed. "He's nothing."
"But I will never become you," Sougo declared firmly.
"We'll see. I look forward to what you choose."
With that, the old king opened a portal, sending Sougo back to his time.
"Even if it's meaningless... I've decided to help you," the old king muttered, understanding Sougo's intentions thanks to their shared memories in the King of Every Devil Chatroom.
Raising a hand, he released a burst of golden energy into the sky.
Back at the rebel camp, Gates looked up and saw the light.
"I didn't expect him to save us," he muttered.
"The young King of Every Devil who traveled through time?" Tsukuyomi wondered aloud.
"Wait a minute... If we also go back in time, maybe we can stop him from becoming the Demon King!"
Time was reaching its loop's end. According to the king's own history, Gates and Tsukuyomi should soon journey back in time too.
As if on cue, a golden light fell from the sky—landing right on Tsukuyomi.
"Ah!" she yelped, clutching her waist. She quickly pulled something from her pocket—a blank Ridewatch, now glowing faintly.
"This is...?!"
Gates and Tsukuyomi stared at it, realization dawning.