After realizing his reactions mirrored Youlan’s, Lu Xun let out a heavy snort and turned his head away.
Not having met Legend first thing today, he had thought maybe Legend was delayed by something, and that he was already ready to fight the Chimera alone.
If he could handle the Chimera by himself, wouldn’t Epic think he was very reliable?
Then Epic would gradually trust him, often invite him to join in fighting monsters.
At that point, he could casually bring up the incident ten years ago at the mall, prove to Epic that he hadn’t misjudged him, that he had grown into a powerful Kamen Rider, and that from now on, Epic could confidently watch his back!
Fighting monsters alone is tough, but don’t worry, your Xun is here!
In a montage of flickering images, Epic’s hand landed on his head with a reassuring pat, while his face shifted between his young, naive self and his current mature, resolute expression, all set to a stirring soundtrack—nostalgia!
Legacy!
Passion!
Hope!
All conveyed without words!
…That was the storyboard Lu Xun had drawn in his notebook.
There were several similar sketches; although he was an average student, his doodling on textbooks had honed his drawing skills to a vivid level, especially when sketching armor suits.
Occasionally, he took on small commissions to earn some pocket money to support his hobby.
Who knew Legend would arrive so quickly, leaving those storyboards to be saved for next time… or the time after that… or even later.
Interrupted, Youlan finally noticed Yun You and cleared her throat awkwardly.
Great, now there was one more person who had seen her lose composure.
Was she really clashing with these Kamen Riders?
Come to think of it, she was sure Legend had just called her Youlan, right?
Unlike Glory, who was a complete stranger to her, Legend calling her by the codename Youlan felt so natural and caring, almost familiar.
Had they met before?
Or was Legend just someone with a strong sense of protectiveness and responsibility?
Before she could ponder further, a deafening roar came from not far off—that bull-headed Chimera they had been suppressing for a long time.
It howled towards the sky, the volume piercing and ear-splitting, making everyone wince.
The ground even trembled faintly… but wait, the tremor wasn’t caused by the roar!
The scene before Youlan twisted and wavered as endless ochre-colored walls shot up on either side of her, rising from the ground in an instant and blocking her view, obscuring the school she knew.
Instinctively, she cast magic to fly upwards, but it was too late.
The walls, made of an indistinguishable material, rose faster than her flight and closed off above her.
From her last view above, high walls were simultaneously rising from all directions, interconnected into countless paths.
They seemed trapped inside a labyrinth formed by the walls; no matter which way—front, back, left, or right—endless walls surrounded them.
Yun You exchanged a glance with Lu Xun.
Both were very familiar with this scene, but for Youlan, it was her first time seeing it.
“You just said you couldn’t truly defeat it, right? That’s correct. Although the reasons are unclear… it’s probably only us who can truly eliminate the Chimera.”
Yun You stepped to the wall and tapped it with his finger.
The dull thud revealed it was much thicker than expected.
“I guess the condition to defeat a Chimera is to first inflict a certain amount of damage. Then they sense the crisis and activate their unique Domain, pulling nearby people inside. Only by defeating them within this Domain and taking the Power Core can the Chimera truly vanish… Hmm, have you ever played an RPG game?”
Youlan slowly landed, but didn’t stop trying.
Tentatively, she released magic orbs, her usual cannon-like magic that always dealt devastating damage to monsters.
Yet, on the wall, it only left faint white marks—no way to break through.
She furrowed her brows slightly.
“I’ve played. From what you’re saying, I think I get it—it’s like I was facing its first phase. After depleting the first health bar, it switches to the second phase and changes the map?”
“Right. We’re currently inside the Chimera’s Domain.”
Seeing Yun You nod, Youlan still looked puzzled.
“But I should’ve depleted more than one health bar. Why was it stuck at the first phase until you arrived? No wonder you said only you can clear them. Could it be only you can trigger the second phase?”
“At least for now, yes. They only activate the Domain when facing me and Glory,”
Yun You explained.
Youlan caught on quickly and teased, glancing at the silent Lu Xun, “If this were a game, that would make you two the keys to starting the dungeon.”
“Yeah, you could say that. If you can’t open the Domain, you can’t take the core. The result is like what you experienced: even if you can hurt them with attacks, they keep resurrecting after being knocked down. In other words, people other than us either have to suppress the Chimera like you just did and wait for us to arrive, or rely on overwhelming power to keep defeating it until it realizes the difference and temporarily retreats…”
Yun You said, somewhat helplessly averting his gaze.
The latter method had been tried by someone—the undefeated King.
Well, actually it was King cooperating on an experiment.
The Chimera was nearly pulverized but kept reviving.
Even King could only sadly give up.
When Yun You got the news and arrived, he saw the formidable monster, underfoot by the much smaller humanoid King, not trying to fight back but desperately fleeing—a comical sight.
Even if it could revive infinitely, the terror of being torn apart was likely ingrained deep in the Chimera’s DNA.
If even King, the embodiment of strength and invincibility, gave up brute force, others need not try.
Listening to Yun You’s explanation, Youlan’s thoughts briefly wandered—his tone seemed familiar somehow.
But she quickly dismissed the absurd idea.
Ha, Camellia was a cute but steady little sister type; there was no way she was this ironclad brute.
Their voices were completely different!
Besides, Camellia rarely talked; even when discussing tactics, she was concise and wouldn’t explain this much.
As for Legend’s familiarity with Youlan, she was currently one of the most popular Top-ranked Magical Girls; it would be odd if he didn’t know her.
Yes, the one clad in blue armor!
…Wait?
She was also in blue?
A blue-clad beauty and a blue-clad tin can?
No way they were comparable!
“This kind of situation isn’t unique to us. It was the same with our predecessors. Most of the time, we can’t defeat the enemies belonging to them, and they can’t defeat ours. They can only assist. It’s just that we need to enter the Domain and take the core, while the predecessors had other ways to manifest. Otherwise, if all Kamen Riders acted together, any crisis could be quickly resolved.”
Since the first Kamen Rider appeared twenty years ago, even discounting those who died or lost power, the number of existing Riders must be double digits.
Facing tough enemies, wouldn’t everyone want to gang up on them?
If Yun Li were here, he’d jump in—
“We Kamen Riders don’t play by those chivalrous rules! We only don’t do it because we can’t!”
Seeing neither responded, Yun You tilted his head,
“That’s probably how it is. Anything unclear?”
Lu Xun’s mind was racing, almost overheating.
Forgetting his self-imposed rule not to acknowledge Legend, he straightened up like a student suddenly called on in class and blurted,
“So that’s how it is.”
His shock was well hidden behind the mask, but his voice betrayed him.
“No wonder, no wonder…”
Youlan looked down in embarrassment.
She had really thought everyone played by fair rules.
Turns out it was just official titles?
Well, that settled it—she’d been naïve.
Suddenly realizing something, she glanced sideways at Lu Xun.
“Wait, aren’t you a Kamen Rider too? Why are you so surprised?”
Uh oh, she’d been exposed.
“B-because nobody told me! Legend, where do you get your info from… never mind, don’t answer that.”
To avoid being annoyed by his answer, Lu Xun stopped him before he could speak, his thoughts drifting.
“But if that’s the case, why does Epic always come to help? He shouldn’t be able to trigger the Domain either, right? Even before?”
Epic had been very active over the years.
As Lu Xun’s favorite Rider, he always saw fresh materials and was excited and happy, never thinking about the reasons behind it.
Yun You had actually gotten an answer from Yun Li and, facing his comrade, felt no need to hide anything. Yun Li would probably tell him anyway.
“Yeah. Epic knows his attacks are almost useless, but he can weaken the enemy’s stamina before this generation of Riders arrive, or suppress them outright. That way, the current Riders have less pressure. Even if he can’t do much, he at least prevents the enemy from causing more damage.”
“So what if it’s just scratching the surface? Better some than none!”
Those were Yun Li’s exact words.
Epic had been active for twenty years, and he had failed and lost before.
In fact, setbacks were part of being a Kamen Rider… ahem.
Some say Epic’s primitive method is outdated and he should retire.
Others say he’s too attached to his hero role and status, lost in cheers and praise, unwilling to make way for successors.
But at least in Yun You’s view, such criticism meant nothing to Yun Li.
Yun Li never did what he did for others’ gratitude or applause.
—He didn’t want those who came after to experience the helplessness he once did.
That’s what he said.
This statement left Lu Xun and Youlan silent.
Youlan had just felt what it was like for all efforts to be wasted.
The monsters she defeated kept rising again, as if she had struggled to run 800 meters, crossed the finish line, thinking she could finally rest, only to face another 800 meters starting line—and she couldn’t even see how many more 800-meter laps awaited her…
This endless feeling was dreadful!
She had firmly decided not to waste her energy and time challenging these Chimera monsters anymore.
Of course, if she happened to encounter them like this time, she’d still try her best to use ribbons to bind them until the “tin cans” arrived.
So it wasn’t hard to imagine how much pressure that Rider named Epic must have been under.
Even though she didn’t know Epic well, she couldn’t help but feel he was admirable, like her idol Crimson Maple—or rather, if it were Crimson Maple, she would do what Epic did too, right?
Hmm.
Speaking of which, the few times she had met Crimson Maple, she seemed to have been assisting them all along.
Could Crimson Maple be facing the same predicament?
Was this some kind of title specific to Rider succession?
Only, unlike Youlan, Lu Xun’s silence had a different reason.
“Wait a minute, none of this about Epic has appeared in any interviews or media. How do you know?”
…Besides, in his impression, Epic was always strong and reliable, as if his presence alone solved every problem.
No need to worry anymore.
Could this Epic also have moments of helplessness?
Yun You, talking tirelessly, didn’t sense the looming crisis and explained matter-of-factly,
“Oh, Epic told me that himself.”
“Glory, calm down, you won’t strangle me like that… I’m not saying you’re starving, wait, the Chimera should be at the end of this labyrinth. I think we should go look for it first, cough…”