In the center of the battlefield, a bizarre sight unfolded.
The human soldiers and the Blood Clan Legion had both retreated, leaving a circular clearing with a radius of nearly 100 meters.
Only two figures remained facing each other in the empty space: Luke, who was breathing heavily, and the monsterized Leon, who was growling incessantly.
Luke was a little confused.
The face beneath his visor was filled with bewilderment.
He looked around at the empty perimeter, then at the two massive armies in the distance—clearly demarcated, yet both temporarily calling a truce.
‘How did this turn into a one-on-one duel between me and this monster? Why are there so many spectators?’
A feeling of being put on the spot surged within him.
“Leon… he actually turned into such a terrifying monster…”
Emma was shielded from behind by Swan and Sara. Her face was pale, and her voice carried an uncontrollable fear.
She looked at Leon, who had completely lost his human form, and then at the solitary Luke.
She couldn’t help but whisper, “Should we go help Luke? He’s all alone… it’s too dangerous.”
Though her expression of concern was faint, it reached Luke’s ears clearly. His heart warmed instantly. ‘In the end, Senior Sister Emma is the most compassionate one.’
However, the sense of swelling pride fueled by the armor’s power had not yet faded. Combined with his refusal to look weak in front of everyone, he hardened his resolve. His voice rang out across the quiet battlefield.
“It’s fine! Senior Sister Emma, don’t worry!” He even puffed out his chest plate for emphasis.
“Hmph! Just keep an eye on the vampires. Watch those three insidious guys closely. Don’t let them take the chance to ambush us!”
The words “putting on a brave face” were practically written into his every movement. However, his cool display didn’t last three seconds.
Before the sound of his last word could even fade, the monsterized Leon seemed to be provoked once more by his loud voice.
Without warning, that thick dragon tail tore through the air again.
This time, it was even faster and its angle more cunning.
Carrying a foul wind of destruction, it whipped upward from below, strike Luke ruthlessly!
“Holy crap! You bastard! You have no honor at all! I wasn’t even finished talking—”
In his haste, Luke only had time to press his arms down to block. The sound of his swearing and the impact rang out almost simultaneously.
Crash!
The silver figure was knocked off the ground uncontrollably, drawing a pathetic arc as he flew straight into the air!
Beneath the visor, Luke spat out a mouthful of blood, his internal organs feeling as if they were being turned upside down.
He forced himself to endure the dizziness and sharp pain, desperately adjusting his posture.
He finally managed to stabilize his body about 15 meters above the ground, narrowly avoiding a head-first crash.
“Bastard!”
His anger and the embarrassment of being ambushed dispersed some of his fear. Luke let out a roar, and his entire body turned into a slightly slanted streak of silver light. He dove head-first toward Leon on the ground!
The two figures—one silver and one blackish-red—collided violently once more, locked in a relentless struggle.
But unlike the previous fight with Bart, where they had traded blows and he had even held a slight advantage, this time it was nearly a one-sided suppression.
Every claw strike and tail sweep from the monsterized Leon made Luke’s armor vibrate violently, causing cracks to spread.
A 10-minute battle. Luke felt as if time had never been so excruciating.
The scars on his silver armor grew more numerous, and he had suffered significant internal injuries.
In contrast, the monsterized Leon became increasingly frenzied and “full of life” as the fight progressed.
He remained deathly locked onto Luke, his gaze making his intention absolutely clear — he wanted to kill him!
Finally, with another head-on collision, Luke was violently shaken. He staggered back more than 10 steps after landing before he could barely steady himself.
Luke panted heavily. Through the gaps in his damaged visor, he could see Leon’s hideous and terrifying appearance more clearly.
A cold fear, accompanied by the weakness following the depletion of his strength, slowly swept through his body.
‘I’m finished. I’m really screwed.’
He licked his dry lips and felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.
Looking at Leon, who still maintained an offensive stance and let out threatening low growls, he tentatively tried to negotiate.
“Uh… look, we’ve been fighting for so long. Everyone’s tired… how about we take a half-time break? Just like they are?” He pointed toward the two armies facing off in the distance.
There was a brief silence.
The monsterized Leon tilted his hideous dragon head. A very brief flash of confusion belonging to the human Leon seemed to flicker in his vertical pupils, but it was instantly replaced by an even more violent rage.
A gurgling sound came from his throat, and from the dragon’s maw filled with jagged teeth, he managed to squeeze out several muddy syllables with extreme clarity:
“Kill… you!”
Before his voice even faded, he suddenly threw his head back, opening his dragon mouth to the limit. Deep within his throat, a dark red and pitch-black energy, far more intense than any previous attempt, began to gather frantically!
The fluctuation of energy this time caused even Laura and No. 3, who were watching from a distance, to change their expressions simultaneously!
“Not good!”
Scared out of his wits, Luke poured all the remaining energy of the armor into the defensive modules of his arms and chest, crossing them in front of him.
A destructive beam of energy nearly 2 meters in diameter slammed ruthlessly against Luke’s crossed arms!
There was no stalemate, no cancellation.
The light of the silver armor flickered violently the moment they touched, then shattered and dissolved!
That [Kamen Rider Transformation Device] armor, which had given Luke great power and confidence, finally reached its breaking point under this Dragon Strike that exceeded its limits. It completely disintegrated!
Countless silver-grey metal fragments and energy light guides scattered in all directions. The dust from the explosion slowly cleared.
Luke stood blankly on the spot.
The night wind blew past, bringing a piercing chill that snapped him back to reality.
Belatedly, he lowered his head and looked at his empty, slightly trembling hands, then felt his body.
The hard, cold sensation was gone, replaced by the reality of fabric and skin, along with pervasive, sharp pain.
“It’s… it’s gone?” he muttered blankly, his voice dry and raspy.
The tide of power had receded, leaving behind only naked weakness and bone-deep fear.
Amidst the dust, the silhouette of the monsterized Leon slowly emerged. He shook his head, his golden vertical pupils firmly locked onto Luke, who was now like a lamb to the slaughter without his armor.
Luke’s breathing suddenly became rapid, and his legs began to shake uncontrollably, fluttering like a butterfly’s wings.
The shadow of death had never been so clear; it felt as if it were choking him.
He suddenly turned his head, his face no longer showing his previous bravado. With a voice on the verge of tears, he shouted toward the human camp behind him:
“Could someone… please come save me?!”
“I feel like… this time… I might really die soon!!”
Almost the instant his words fell and Leon was about to pounce again, a fierce and peerless blue sword light, like a meteor piercing the night sky, arrived first.
It cut between Luke and Leon with extreme precision. With a clanh, it pierced into the ground between them!
The blade hummed as a sharp Sword Qi spread out, temporarily forcing back Leon’s pouncing attack.
Immediately after, Laura appeared in front of Luke. With her back to him, she made a single-handed motion, and the sword stuck in the ground flew back into her hand.
She stood with her sword held high, her eyes firmly locked onto the dragonoid before her that exuded a terrifying aura. Beneath her calm face was an unprecedented gravity.
“Move back. Go to Sara and the others.” She did not turn around, her voice steady but carrying an unquestionable tone of command. “Leave this to me for now.”
Luke felt as if he had been granted a divine reprieve.
The joy of surviving a disaster nearly made his legs give out. He scrambled away, not caring about his image anymore.
Using his last bit of strength, he practically crawled on all fours toward Sara and the others in an extremely pathetic manner.
It wasn’t until he was supported by Emma and Swan that Luke’s wildly beating heart began to settle slightly, though his body continued to tremble.
“Luke! Your head!” Emma cried out in alarm while supporting him, pointing at his head.
Luke was dazed and instinctively reached up to feel the top of his head.
The sensation… was very strange. It was no longer the bloated, round head caused by the potion’s side effects, but it was definitely not a normal head shape either.
Where his hand touched, it was angular and perfectly square, as if… as if he had been fitted with an invisible box mold and forcibly squeezed into a cube?!
“What… what the hell is going on?!”
Luke felt his “cube head,” and his voice changed pitch. His despair was laced with an absurd sense of the ridiculous.
‘Could it be because I mistakenly stuck the [Kamen Rider Transformation Device] on my head to transform?’
No one could give him an answer.
At this moment, everyone’s attention was quickly pulled back to the even more critical situation on the battlefield.
Laura had already engaged the monsterized Leon. Sword light flashed like silk, and Aura surged wildly. Laura pushed everything she had learned to the limit.
Every sword strike contained exquisite technique and majestic power, trying to use skill to break brute force and speed to overcome the slow.
However, reality was cruel.
The monsterized Leon’s strength, speed, Defense, and his reckless way of fighting completely exceeded conventional boundaries.
He almost never defended, enduring Laura’s Sword Qi to trade injuries.
His pounces, tail, and teeth, and even the occasional jet of pitch-black breath, were all lethal weapons.