Honkai: Star Rail — Kamen Rider! [22]

Ouja still held the melted remains of her rifle in one hand—the barrel warped and useless, no longer any threat.

But even unarmed, even staring down two fearsome fire demons, she felt no fear.

Because standing in front of her now… was a figure clad in deep violet.

"Then count your sins in hell!"

"[JOKER Maximum Drive]!"

"[Rider Punch]!"

The punch, wrapped in surging energy, rocketed forward like an artillery shell.

The force of it compressed the air itself, shrieking through the battlefield as it tore past.

Sora didn't hesitate in the slightest.

He had studied Hidari Shotaro's habits down to the detail—especially the art of deceiving with the right hand. And he'd refined it further.

If I'm lying with one hand… why not sneak in something extra with the other?

Like a little something learned from his Heisei Rider senpai, Kuuga—the king of finishing moves passed off as normal attacks.

Why, in the TV series, did the Gurongi always seem to stand around waiting for Kuuga's [Rider Kick] to land?

The charge-up was so obvious—how could they never dodge?

Were they secretly frozen in time like that guy with Heaven's Door?

Wait, no. That guy didn't freeze people—he just made them stop with sheer nonsense.

The answer was simple.

Because with Kuuga, every attack could be a finisher.

No one knew when they'd walked into his trap.

"Truly despicable, Kuuga…" (–In Gurongi-speak)

And thus, the philosophy of treating every strike like a finisher—was one Sora had proudly adopted.

If future Riders all followed the senpai's fine example, maybe the difficulty curve of their shows would go way down.

Sora had now perfected this noble art.

He turned hidden finishers into habit. So when faced with those two monsters just now, he didn't hold back—he opened with his strongest move.

The punch, roaring with power, struck dead center on its target—and exploded like a warhead on impact.

Boom.

A heavy thud echoed out. Violet energy detonated across the demon's chest, golden blood spraying to the sides, dyeing the earth an unnatural hue.

The fire demon collapsed, body torn open, expression frozen in mocking disbelief.

It had never expected to lose—to a sneak attack, no less.

"You bastard!!"

Beckir snapped back from the shock and launched an attack of his own.

Flames surged wildly across his arms, then gathered into a beam that blasted toward Sora.

But Sora raised a hand, smothering the fire on contact. It fizzled into steam. He didn't slow down—he charged.

Beckir recoiled. He's not afraid of my fire?!

This same flame had just melted a gun barrel! The heat should've been enough to incinerate anything short of specialized thermal armor.

Ordinary gear would've either liquified into molten slag or shorted out completely.

But this guy—this shadowy figure in black and violet—had just blocked it with his bare hand.

Who the hell was he?

No one knew. And no one understood how he'd ignored the flames—or how he'd even gotten here.

And Beckir had no time to find answers.

Because right now, he was doing the one thing instinct screamed at him to do:

Run.

Fire jetted beneath his feet like a flamethrower, propelling him backward faster than most people could think.

But even then—he looked up just in time to see the violet devil leap.

Sora flew high into the air—and came crashing down at a terrifying speed.

"[Rider Kick]!"

He plummeted like a meteor.

And the moment his foot struck, it pierced clean through the fire demon's chest.

Beckir felt something surge through him—a force, raw and overwhelming, that coursed through his entire being.

It glowed purple. It devoured him.

"You… what even are y—"

BOOM.

He never finished the question.

Suspended for a split second in the air—then he erupted into a firework of flame and gold.

Sparks burst in every direction. If the sky had been dark, it might've looked beautiful.

Sora landed quietly, flicking his hand. "If you end up in hell, tell them my name."

Maybe the seniors grinding for a resurrection will go easy on you.

With one fire demon dead and the other in ruins, the battle near the War Foundry had come to a close.

Clink.

A metallic shard fell to the ground, making a soft sound as it hit the dirt.

Sora glanced down, curious. What kind of thing survives a JOKER finisher?

But before he could get a better look, a hand yanked him off-balance.

"Move! The bombs are about to blow!"

Ouja shouted as she grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the site.

The explosives were seconds from going off—if they didn't clear the area now, they'd be caught in the blast zone.

Ouja knew just how powerful the ship-core bombs were. She didn't hesitate.

And just as they sprinted from the Foundry perimeter—

—a brilliant blue light burst to life behind them.

A titanic wave of energy detonated all at once, triggering the Foundry's self-defense protocols.

An orange shield shimmered into existence.

But this time, it saved nothing.

The shield lasted less than a second before it was swallowed whole by the eruption.

A mushroom cloud, spiraling in hues of blue and orange, exploded skyward.

The shockwave blasted outward like a volcanic eruption, carrying smoke and dust across the entire battlefield.

Buildings were devoured. The ground vanished beneath waves of debris.

And Sora and Ouja disappeared within the cloud.

The explosion stretched outward for miles before it began to fade.

When the dust finally started to settle... the land was bare. Nothing left. Nothing survived.

"Cough, cough!"

A ragged cough broke the silence.

A figure rose from the ashen earth—Ouja, her body protected beneath the armor of another.

Sora stood, his breath heavy.

Ouja was unconscious.

He took in everything.

The once-glorious War Foundry—once shining like a newborn star—was now rubble.

Limbs of Voidrangers lay scattered, dissolving into golden motes of dust.

But none of that was the real problem.

Sora lifted his head.

In the thinning haze, a massive shape loomed.

The corpse of the Doomsday Beast.

Or what remained of it.

Half its body was gone—burned away, scorched to nothing. Flesh vaporized, bones exposed.

But something felt... off.

Then Sora saw it.

A single claw split the beast's corpse in half.

Crack… crack… crack...

Bones shattered. And from within, a scarlet eye flared to life.

Sora's skin broke out in goosebumps, every nerve firing at once.

With JOKER's senses, he knew one thing beyond all doubt.

It had locked onto him.