At the very moment Rize prepared to place the call, Hiro was already in the midst of a chaotic melee.
Ghouls, investigators, and police. These groups that had originally been enemies were now, because of his indiscriminate attacks, rarely joining forces, vowing to eliminate this mad common enemy first.
Faced with encirclement from all directions, Hiro appeared calm and unhurried. He had not even used kakuja. Just a few tentacles wove a net of death, each strike precisely taking a life.
"Whoosh-"
A grenade suddenly flew straight toward his face.
Hiro merely tilted his head slightly. The grenade brushed past his ear and exploded on the face of a ghoul behind him. It was a ghoul-suppression grenade specially made by the CCG.
After the blast, the ghoul's upper body had become scattered flesh and blood.
"You damn doves, you definitely did that on purpose!" Witnessing a companion's gruesome death, the ghouls were furious.
"Sorry, didn't expect him to dodge," the investigator replied lightly, with not a trace of sincerity in his tone.
To put it bluntly, he had done it deliberately. They were all ghouls anyway, and sooner or later they would have to be exterminated.
Hiro was indifferent to this farce. He harvested lives mechanically. Each kill absorbed another portion of energy. The circulating warmth within his body made him narrow his eyes slightly in comfort.
Just as the attackers finally realized that nearly half their number had fallen without harming him in the slightest and began to think of retreat, an abrupt ringtone cut through the battlefield's clamor.
Wake Up!
The aurora of light shines on your body,
You, who became a person of fighting...
The theme song of Kamen Rider Black RX rang out in stirring intensity.
Hiro flicked his tentacles to block all incoming attacks and calmly pulled out his phone. The moment it connected, Rize's urgent cry for help came through.
The situation changed abruptly.
A fierce red light flared in Hiro's eyes. "Carnage" instantly enveloped his entire body, and the enormous dark red monster fully manifested.
"It's a kakuja!"
"Retreat!"
Amid terrified shouts, countless tentacles burst from his body, transforming into a sky full of sharp spears stabbing in all directions.
The piercing sound of tearing air ripped through the space. With a single strike, the previously crowded battlefield was emptied. Few survivors remained.
Hiro had no time to concern himself with the remnants. He slammed his legs into the ground and, with a thunderous crash, smashed through two layers of ceiling and leapt onto the roof.
His gaze swept the surrounding buildings, locked onto the direction of the parking structure, and his massive wings snapped open, carrying him forward as a streaking dark red afterimage.
....
As the smoke dispersed, the enormous dark red figure was fully revealed before everyone.
A nearly three-meter body covered in crimson armor like exposed muscle.
A pair of broad dark red wings spread to either side, their edges sharp as blades with a cold metallic sheen.
An irregular giant eye rimmed in white gazed down indifferently. Exposed fangs were arranged in a grim row. The right arm had become two pointed spikes, and the left hand a ferocious claw.
The monster let out a low growl and shielded Rize behind him. The sound carried warning and intimidation.
Yukinori Shinohara's expression was grave as he shouted, "All personnel on guard. Do not be careless!"
He turned his head slightly and murmured to his partner beside him, "Iwao, this is a kakuja we've never seen before."
A bead of cold sweat slid down Iwao Kuroiwa's temple as he stared at the figure ahead. "Yes... this pressure is even beyond the Owl. We're in trouble."
Inside the temporary command vehicle, Kureo Mado stared at the image transmitted from Shinohara's body camera and immediately connected the line. "Shinohara, do not engage head-on. Withdraw immediately!"
Shinohara's voice came through the communicator with a hint of bitterness. "If we could withdraw, that would be ideal... but this time, I'm afraid it isn't our choice."
Kuroiwa exchanged a glance with him and said in a low voice, "Looks like we have no choice but to go all out. Use that."
The two nodded simultaneously and raised their hands to press the buttons at the backs of their necks. Red flesh spread instantly over their upper bodies and, amid crackling sounds, transformed into two sets of hard black armor.
"Hirako," Shinohara said without turning his head, his tone leaving no doubt, "the moment we engage, you lead the team and withdraw immediately. That's an order."
"Understood!" Hirako knew well that remaining here would not help and would instead become a burden. Obedience now was the best choice.
Hiro tilted his head slightly and looked back at Rize. "Are you badly hurt?"
"No fatal wounds," Rize forced herself upright. "I'll recover quickly."
Hiro's gaze returned to the investigators before him.
Yukinori Shinohara and Iwao Kuroiwa. These were characters he had admired even back when he watched the anime. Upright without being rigid, gentle yet decisive, completely different from those extreme investigators.
"Ready, Special-Class Investigator Shinohara?" he spoke.
Shinohara paused briefly, then pulled a wry smile. "I never imagined an existence like you would know my name... I don't know whether to call that honor or misfortune."
"Heh... I admire you." Beneath the covering of Carnage, Hiro's voice had become extremely deep.
Yukinori Shinohara roared, "Move!"
He and Kuroiwa burst forward simultaneously like arrows loosed from a bow, attacking Hiro from left and right.
Hirako and the others moved at the command, immediately executing the withdrawal order and turning toward the rooftop entrance.
However, Hiro merely snapped his enormous dark red wings once. An unimaginably violent gale instantly formed, pressing forward like an invisible wall.
Shinohara and Kuroiwa reacted with extreme speed, immediately driving their quinques hard into the ground and leaning forward, barely stabilizing themselves in the gale.
Hirako's group was not so fortunate. Before they could even touch the door handle, the terrible airflow swept them up and hurled them screaming off the roof's edge.
"Iwao..." Shinohara forced the words through clenched teeth, cold sweat soaking his temples. "Too strong. That was just a flap of wings... if we truly clash, we might be killed instantly."
Kuroiwa gritted his teeth. "At this point, there's no other way. Activate the New at maximum output. At worst, we die!"
The two no longer hesitated and simultaneously activated New's hidden function.
In an instant, the black armor on their bodies seemed to gain life, beginning to pulse violently, greedily devouring the users' flesh.
At the same time, a power far beyond normal, carrying a destructive aura, flooded their entire bodies.
"Graaah-!"
Amid agonized roars and a surge of power, the two collided with Hiro once more.
Violent wind howled across the field. Sparks from metal striking metal flew everywhere.
The movements of all three were so fast that only afterimages remained. Ordinary eyes could not capture them at all.
Hiro calmly blocked every attack and thought to himself: Special-Class Investigators do have some skill. Compared to most ghouls they are far stronger. Even so, in his eyes, this power was still insufficient.
"Ugh...!"
During the sustained high-intensity clash, Yukinori Shinohara was the first to grunt. His body staggered, nearly dropping to one knee.
Yet before Hiro could press further, Shinohara and Kuroiwa themselves reached their limit.
The horrific backlash of New surged like a tide. The armor was using their lives as fuel. If they did not disengage now, the armor itself would devour them completely without any enemy needing to act.