Honkai: Star Rail — Kamen Rider!

The ground began to tremble violently. Robin's gaze immediately darted outside.

Countless silvery-white figures soared through the sky, flames bursting from their forms as they glittered like fireflies illuminating the heavens.

Their target was this planet's true master—Zieltworth's ruler, Serus.

The very enemy who had performed countless horrific experiments on them for centuries.

Yet Serus, as an inorganic lifeform whose consciousness had long been uploaded, had hidden his data somewhere unknown on this planet.

Thus, he responded mercilessly to these rebellious creations.

The violent tremors felt powerful enough to shatter the planet itself.

Zieltworth's urban layout was instantly thrown into chaos.

Buildings shifted, roads elevated, and weapons emerged from deep beneath the planetary surface.

Every spectacle announced to all present that this planet itself was an enormous mechanical construct.

Weapons sprouted like the awakening of the planet's self-defense system, displaying their lethal edges.

Immediately, these weapons aimed toward the gleaming silver-white "SAM" armors dancing in the sky.

Then, in unison, the weapons opened fire!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Destructive beams and missiles streaked skyward with piercing howls, tearing the atmosphere apart.

But the SAMs' response was beyond imagination.

They twisted gracefully in midair, executed sharp turns, and some even reversed their trajectories in ways seemingly defying physics.

Missiles were deftly dodged.

Some SAMs gently nudged missiles with their thrusters, altering their flight paths.

Some missiles exploded harmlessly after midair collisions, while others drifted into empty space.

Laser beams cut through nothing but empty air, leaving fleeting trails of light, unable to graze these silver-white warriors.

Quickly, the planet's defensive arsenal was destroyed entirely, smoke billowing through the city.

That acute sense for danger and lightning-fast evasions...

"They're practically born for warfare," Robin murmured.

With reflexes and predictive abilities like this, combined with such maneuverability, they became unstoppable battlefield weapons.

Thus, the defenses posed no threat to the SAMs, annihilated before they could even become dangerous.

Explosions shattered the tranquility of the medical planet, engulfing it in flames and chaos.

Just then, Robin's ears picked up a faint signal.

Inside the room, medical assistance robots had collapsed. The life-support chamber screen holding Hoshigaki Sora flashed a completion message.

Robin reacted instantly, rushing toward the healing pod and pressing the emergency release.

"Sora! Sora!" Robin urgently called, awakening him from his deep slumber.

He appeared slightly dazed at first, but the thunderous explosions quickly brought him fully awake.

"What's happening?"

Robin immediately recounted everything—the disappearance of Hotaru into flames, Serus' demise, Nokiribi's declaration…

Everything had unfolded in mere moments.

Such sudden, explosive developments went beyond anything Sora could have imagined.

He knew Serus had secrets but never expected experiments as monstrous as this.

Reverse-genetic equations, soul-stripping experiments, Void Submersion…

Just hearing their names was horrifying. Even worse ones had only come up before when Sora reconstructed Promia and scanned through bounty warrants.

Many had warrants of tens of millions of credits placed upon them for committing just one of these atrocities.

But Serus?

He'd committed them all, as if fearing the reward on his eventual bounty wouldn't be large enough.

BOOM!

Another explosion rattled the outside, snapping Sora back to reality.

"Sora, we have to leave now."

Since treatment was complete, Robin was determined to take Sora away from here.

This planet, already plunged into warfare, was definitely not safe.

Sora nodded, climbing out of the medical pod and preparing to leave alongside Robin.

But just as the door slid open, both immediately froze at the sight ahead.

A towering figure encased in dark crimson armor stood there, crimson flames burning silently across its form.

The harbinger who'd declared the planet's doomsday, Nokiribi, was directly before them.

Only then did Robin and Sora realize Serus' office was at the very top of this building.

Noticing the door opening, Nokiribi instantly focused on Sora and Robin.

Sora instinctively pushed Robin behind him, his eyes fixed on the imposing figure ahead.

Despite having heard Robin's descriptions, seeing this massive armor in person still left him shocked.

Yet despite this, there was one question he had to ask immediately.

"Are you…Hotaru?"

Indeed, Sora needed an answer.

Hearing how Hotaru had vanished into flames resonated strongly with certain memories from before.

Though this towering armor was warped and battered, it still clearly resembled Hotaru's Iron Cavalry armor.

Hotaru had been Iron Cavalry too, and now she was missing. Everything seemed to align.

"No... We're connected, but only through sacrifice," Nokiribi answered from the far end of the hallway. "She discovered everything and chose to sacrifice herself, summoning me forth."

"She was a genetically flawed construct, not even able to fully handle the SAM armor. She was utterly powerless."

"Therefore, I'll replace her. I'll save our people in her stead, and erase this vile planet on her behalf."

"Her flaws have nothing to do with me. In my eyes, she was whole," Sora said firmly, the [Ixa Knuckle] materializing in his hand, the [Ixa Belt] appearing around his waist.

His gaze sharpened as he asked again, "Then tell me clearly—where is Hotaru now?"

"She's dead. She offered herself as sacrifice, calling me forth from nothingness."

Nokiribi shifted their massive body, their presence like an impenetrable fortress that filled the entire corridor.

"Stop with the riddles!" Sora snapped irritably.

He knew this enemy was deliberately feigning ignorance. "Fine, I'll beat you down and find out who's really under that mask myself!"

[Ready]!

"[Henshin]!"

[Fist On]!

For an instant, the radiance of the sun banished those dark crimson flames.

Silver-White Ixa and Dark-Red Nokiribi now stood in direct opposition.

The Iron Cavalry and the Kamen Rider faced off within the burning building.