"No... How is this possible!"
No matter how Kamen Rider Glare tried to attack after transforming, he couldn't inflict any damage on Raven's Kiwami Form clone. Yet, every single one of the opponent's attacks broke through his defenses.
"You are too weak. Is this the power of your people from the future?"
Raven effortlessly lifted the completely overpowered Kamen Rider Glare with one hand. Then, he flung him into the distance.
Bang!!
Glare smashed into a thick wall. The wall immediately buckled inwards, spiderwebbing with cracks.
This scene was witnessed by Win Hareruya and Tsumuri, who had been separated from the others.
"That's... the Game Master?" Tsumuri's eyes widened as she watched the figure collapse before her.
"What on earth is going on?" Win was utterly bewildered.
He then spotted the magnificent Kiwami Raven in the distance.
"A Kamen Rider?" Win stared in disbelief at the dazzling and incredibly cool Kiwami Form.
"Why... why?"
Glare was still in a state of complete stupefaction, unable to comprehend being utterly helpless. This shouldn't be possible. Seeing the Kiwami Form approach again, he immediately used his own powers to teleport away from the scene.
He reappeared in the DGP staff lounge. In his mind, this place was safe; outsiders without authorization could never follow him here.
Raven paused, slightly surprised that Glare had simply fled. However, he had no intention of chasing him. His original goal was simply to give the Game Master a good beating.
The warning shot had been fired. Now, it was time to see how the DGP management would react.
To make the game even more unpredictable, Raven decided to take the place of the management and bestow some 'cheats' upon the players. With his divine power, crafting a few Buckles was effortlessly easy.
With that thought, Raven's clone vanished from the sight of Win and Tsumuri.
…
Meanwhile, inside the manor.
Raven, holding Sara Sakurai's soft hand, strolled leisurely through the other floors. Compared to the stress and tension of the others, they looked as relaxed as if they were on a date.
This was because the areas Raven passed through had already been secured by his Inves, creating a safe zone where no Jyamato could approach.
In this round of the game, the Inves had clearly become a third faction, separate from the Jyamato and the Kamen Riders. A fissure to the Helheim Forest could open in any corner, spilling out hordes of Inves.
Under Raven's instructions, these Inves' only targets were the Kamen Riders and the Jyamato. The challenge of the Jyamato Riders alone was enough to test the contestants, and now there was a constant stream of Inves appearing. It was safe to say the difficulty of the game had increased by more than just one level.
Just then, the rest of the players converged with Raven and Sara in a large hall on one of the upper floors. This spot was temporarily safe, though the vines of the Helheim vegetation had already begun to cover this area as well.
"Seriously, what is this fruit?" Keiwa Sakurai asked with great curiosity, assuming it was just another part of the Desire Grand Prix game.
"I'm a bit hungry after all that running."
With that, he reached out and picked one.
The fruit of the Helheim Forest holds a fatal temptation for ordinary people. They are instinctively driven to eat it upon sight.
Seeing this, Raven secretly deployed his divine power.
Just as Keiwa, tempted by the fruit, opened his mouth to take a bite, the fruit in his hand transformed into a large Fruit Buckle. Judging by the image, it was clearly a Lime.
"Eh?"
Keiwa was completely dumbfounded, staring blankly at the Buckle in his hand.
The others all looked over.
"What happened?" Ace Ukiyo was the first to ask.
"I just picked this fruit, and it turned into a Buckle," Keiwa explained, pointing at the fruit on the vine and then at the Buckle in his hand, utterly bewildered.
"Something like that can happen?" Ace also casually picked a fruit.
Everyone watched intently.
The fruit quickly underwent a change, transforming into a large Buckle with an Orange motif.
"It really is true!" Neon's eyes lit up. She quickly selected a fruit, plucked it, and claimed it. In the end, Neon acquired a Strawberry Buckle.
"I love strawberries the most!" She smiled happily.
"Could this be the emergency plan the Game Master mentioned on the phone earlier?" Michinaga thought these fruit-turned-Buckles were there to help them defeat the Jyamato. He too picked one.
It immediately transformed in his hand into a Banana Buckle.
This was one of Raven's little malicious jokes. He always felt that the tsundere Michinaga and the arrogant Kaito Kumon had a few things in common. First, their personalities were somewhat similar, and second, they both had two horns when transformed.
"Raven-san, you should try it too!" Neon immediately grabbed Raven, urging him to pick a fruit and see what kind of fruit Buckle would appear for him.
Raven smiled faintly and stepped forward. He would, of course, arrange the best one for himself. This would give him a justification later to use power exceeding that of most others, all under the pretense of fighting the DGP management.
With a special enhancement from his own divine power, a single fruit instantly transformed in Raven's hand into a large Kachidoki Melon Form Buckle.
"That one looks a little different from ours."
The Kachidoki Buckle looked fundamentally distinct when compared to the others. After all, it was a Super Form.
While the other fruit Buckles were far stronger than the ones currently provided by the DGP, they could only be considered Intermediate Forms. However, they were still sufficient for dealing with the Jyamato Riders.
"Watch out! Those Jyamato Riders are coming for us again!" Neon shouted as she noticed the vines around a protected civilian's neck tightening.
"Prepare to fight." Ace was eager to test out what was so special about this Orange Buckle.
He immediately inserted it into the side of his Desire Driver.
"Set!"
"Orange!"
"Orange Rotate?"
As Ace wondered, a giant orange dropped from the sky and slammed down onto his body!
"Ehhh—!!??"
Everyone turned to look at Geats, who was now sporting a gigantic orange helmet.
This was simply too hilarious!