Daybreak Town, Though named Daybreak, it seemed this place would never see dawn again.
The founder of the Hiden Corporation, Hiden Korenosuke, had personally named this super factory Daybreak Town, hoping it would herald a new leap forward in the development of artificial intelligence and humanity. But looking back now, there was no longer a place for humanity in that vision.
Towering laser defense grids loomed all around, guarding a scorched earth within. The shattered ruins hidden within the steel jungle still held shadows of the past—but no signs of life.
Night had fallen. And in this dead zone, bathed in pale moonlight, a solitary figure stepped through the darkness. The beam of her flashlight pierced the gloom like a lone ship in a vast, black ocean.
"Yaiba Yua reporting. I've reached the designated location. No signs of activity so far."
"Received. Proceed toward the direction of MetsubouJinrai.net's headquarters."
A new instruction came through the Risephone. Yaiba frowned slightly and let out a quiet sigh. She knew all too well how dangerous the nights in Daybreak Town could be. She feared becoming a lost lamb, wandering without direction.
Over the past few weeks, AIMS had received multiple alerts from the area. Surveillance systems picked up what appeared to be a human male conducting suspicious activity near the abandoned base of MetsubouJinrai.net. Yet the higher-ups dismissed every warning. Most believed it was nothing — stray animals, malfunctioning sensors, or Humagear wreckage causing false alarms.
But Yaiba didn't buy it.
Three months ago, news broke worldwide: the last member of MetsubouJinrai.net — Kamen Rider Horobi — had been eliminated by DAIM's elite Hawk Squad. With that, humanity's greatest threat was declared neutralized. The rogue Magia were leaderless and scattered — the danger was over, or so they claimed.
Still, Yaiba couldn't shake her doubts. With Hiden Aruto arrested and DAIM Minister Utamon Ishin personally spearheading the purge, her efforts to negotiate peace with Horobi had fallen apart. And now… this shadow lurking in Daybreak Town might be her last chance to uncover the truth.
A shrill groan echoed as Yaiba forced open the factory's long-sealed gates. Darkness and wreckage lay ahead—scraps, parts, and severed limbs scattered everywhere. She could barely distinguish what once belonged to Humagears… or even human.
The cold concrete floor was slick with stale coolant; each step she took echoed with the splash of stagnant water.
A chill of unease ran down her spine. Yaiba quickly raised her ShotRiser.
"Fuwa, do you see anything on radar?"
"No good, Yaiba. Once you went inside, the signal dropped completely."
"Visuals from the recorder?"
"Blurry at best… but don't worry. I'll let you know the moment something's off"
She smiled. Just hearing his voice brought comfort.
Though this operation was her own doing, Fuwa Isamu had offered his help without hesitation.
Maybe, it wasn't just about his reliability anymore—but something deeper, something like fate.
"Thanks, Fuwa. Really... I'm glad you're here."
"I… heh. Don't worry. I'll always be here when you need me."
"Yeah… thank you." Yaiba lowered her gaze slightly, a touch of softness passed through her eyes..
But there was no time to linger. Gun loaded, she pressed deeper into the dark, leaving that warmth behind in the ruins.
Suddenly, illuminated by the flashlight's pale beam, she recognized the space she had entered—the labyrinthine corridors, the coiling pipes like vipers, and at the end of the path… a familiar, long-unseen banner hung—the flag of MetsubouJinrai.net.
"Fuwa, I've reached the target site. Fuwa? Fuwa?"
No matter how she called, only static and interference came through her earpiece.
"Damn it!"
She'd anticipated this—MetsubouJinrai.net's base would've been built in a signal-dead zone. But AIMS had already installed relay nodes across the perimeter. Unless—
"Did someone install a new signal jammer?"
Someone had reactivated the MetsubouJinrai.net base.
Yaiba cautiously surveyed her surroundings. In the darkness, it felt as if countless unseen eyes were fixated on her, watching like a predator stalking prey. She was exposed—they were hidden. And if the Magia in this place had been reawakened…
Suddenly—a faint splash. In this dead-silent factory, the sound pierced her eardrums like a needle.
Yaiba instantly turned, gun raised, eyes locked on the direction of the sound.
"Who's there?! Show yourself!" Her voice rang out, firm and unwavering.
"I am Captain Yaiba Yua of AIMS, here under direct orders to investigate anomalies in Daybreak Town. This area is a Class 1 restricted zone under the Artificial Intelligence Special Act. By trespassing and engaging in suspicious activity, you are in serious violation. Cooperate with the investigation immediately, or I will use force to detain you."
"Valkyrie… or should I say, Yaiba Yua?"
A calm voice echoed as a cloaked figure appeared at the far end of the corridor.
"Don't move! Identify yourself now!"
"I am…"
"Remove your cloak, raise your hands, and slowly approach me. Any sudden movements and I will open fire." Yaiba swallowed hard. "Are you alone?"
"Sigh… Yes. Just me."
The figure lowered his hood — revealing a strikingly familiar face. Sharp brows, gaunt cheeks, and eyes like deep spring water. She froze. That face— it was Horobi.
No… not quite. The golden hair, the sharp gaze… but something was off. He looked younger. Similar, but different.
"Who… who are you? Why do you look exactly like Horobi?! Identify yourself!"
"Valkyrie, I am Horobi." the man said.
"That's impossible! You were killed — Hawk Squad eliminated you!"
"Yes. And yet, I survived. I've been hiding here ever since. Until now."
"Unbelievable…"
Unbelievable. He had escaped the Hawk Squad — DAIM's most feared unit. They said each of them could take on ten Kamen Riders Ark. Monsters in human skin.
If they couldn't kill Horobi… could she?
"Damn it, not now…" Yaiba steadied herself. "You've violated the AI Special Act. I'm placing you under arrest. Once I reestablish contact, your fate will be decided."
She reached for the handcuffs — but a flash of white streaked through the air. The reinforced shackles snapped in two, as clean as a blade through paper.
"I'm sorry. I won't go with you."
His voice turned cold.
"Yaiba Yua, you know this as well as I do—if I go with you now, I'm walking into death. I won't let that happen."
"As you see—there's no signal here, no mission log. Just turn back and pretend you didn't see me. Please."
Though she couldn't see his expression clearly, there was a desperate sincerity in his voice that stirred guilt in her heart.
Originally, after defeating the Ark, AIMS and MetsubouJinrai.net had planned to cooperate—mutual oversight to prevent the Ark's revival. It could've redeemed MetsubouJinrai.net from its past. But DAIM had chosen the harshest path—extermination.
Seeing her hesitation, Horobi added softly:
"Miss Yaiba… please, go back."
Was this truly the Horobi she once knew?
That arrogant, ruthless Horobi—now speaking with unexpected gentleness and resignation?
But then she saw it — a wound. A clean slash across his forearm, blood trickling down pale skin.
A human wound.
"You… you're not Horobi! Horobi was a Humagear—he couldn't bleed like this!"
She activated infrared scan. Human body temperature—36°C.
She raised her gun.
"You're a human pretending to be Horobi! What's your goal?"
"Will this prove it?"
He pulled out the Forceriser and locked it to his waist.
Two silver belts stabbed into his sides. He winced in pain, drawing out the Sting Scorpion Progrisekey.
"Henshin."
The scorpion burst forth. Gray armor appeared and attached itself to him.
He transformed into Kamen Rider Horobi.
"Now do you believe me, Miss Yaiba?"
A human… using a Forceriser?
Yaiba stared in disbelief. This man—whether he was Horobi or not—was no ordinary human.
While most drivers, like the Zero-One Driver, unlocked the Progrisekey with satellite signals, the Forceriser ripped it open by brute force. It flooded the user with raw, unfiltered energy — dangerous and often fatal for humans. For Humagears, it was the opposite: the more advanced their programming, the stronger they became.
"Is this your way of resisting arrest?"
Their eyes locked.
Horobi noticed the determination in hers—the same look she'd had when facing MetsubouJinrai.net, the Magia, Thouser, even the Ark, just like the waves crashing against a cliff, the force that would never back down.
Horobi exhaled quietly, there was no avoiding this battle.
"Username: Yaiba Yua. Initiating emergency authorization. Code: EC00258635."
She attached her ShotRiser to her waist. With the signal jammed, emergency protocol was her only option.
"Henshin!"
She fired the trigger. The bullet exploded beside her, bursting into orange and white armor shaped like a cheetah.
She became Kamen Rider Valkyrie.
Lightweight, agile, and deadly accurate—her form specialized in rapid, high-speed combat.
"I don't want to fight you," Horobi said. "Truly. This was never what I wanted."
"How many things in life do go the way we want?"
"…Yeah. Guess I learned that the hard way… as a human."
"Then come, let's end this."
Horobi thrust his left arm forward—the scorpion-tail chain shot out like a black serpent, coiling through the air in a deadly arc. Just as it was about to strike, Yaiba Yua concentrated all her energy into speed. Her body flickered and vanished from its path, narrowly dodging the attack. In the same breath, she drew her ShotRiser and fired at high velocity. Bullets rained down like streaks of light in the night sky, crashing into Horobi's armor with relentless force.
Caught off guard, Horobi stumbled slightly. The rapid barrage forced him into defense.
"Tch." The high-speed rounds weren't especially powerful, but they were annoyingly hard to deflect. He steadied himself, summoned energy into his arm guards to generate a shield, and charged forward. The barrage sparked against his shield, illuminating the corridor like a storm of fireworks.
Yaiba immediately increased her firepower, but what had once easily shredded Magia armor—the Valkyrie's signature shots—now barely scratched Horobi's defenses.
"Damn it!" Gritting her teeth, she retreated step by step as Horobi advanced, closing the distance. In a sudden lunge, the tail-chain shot out again. Yaiba instinctively ducked, the chain grazing the edge of her helmet before spearing through the wall behind her. The roar of the chain cutting air at nearly sonic speed echoed in her headset. Her heart nearly stopped—by the time she realized what had happened, cold sweat was already sliding down her temple.
That thin line between life and death—she felt it vividly now. There was no room for error. The instant Horobi began retracting the chain, she grabbed it.
"What?" Horobi blinked. She looked like a fish on a hook, reeling herself in. He wasn't sure what she was planning, but didn't dare to underestimate her. Power surged to his right hand, forming a dense shield, while his right leg shimmered with poisonous scorpion energy. As his left arm yanked the chain back, he lashed out with a brutal kick.
"Got you!" Yaiba's eyes lit up. Just as the attack came in, she detached the ShotRiser and fired at the ground. The recoil launched her skyward like a butterfly mid-flip, narrowly evading the strike. She twisted through the air and landed behind him.
Hearing the gunshot, Horobi instinctively raised his shield—but in doing so, left his back wide open.
No hesitation, she immediately activated the finishing move.
"Rushing Blast!"
Orange digital energy erupted around her. As the bullet flew, it morphed into a blazing cheetah of pure force, barreling down on its target with ferocious speed.
Impact, explosion, fire and shockwaves tore through the tunnel. Yaiba shielded herself, but even through her armor, the raw energy was overwhelming.
"This time, he's done for..." she whispered, exhaling a breath of relief.
But when the smoke cleared, her heart sank.
There, guarding Horobi, was a monstrous energy scorpion. Its hulking purple shell bristled with spikes, radiating lethal energy like a beast reborn in hellfire. Horobi, safely nestled within its core, had barely suffered a scratch.
The venomous scorpion lunged at Yaiba Yua the moment it laid eyes on her, massive pincers clashing and its savage stinger poised to strike—eager to end her life and present the kill to its master.
"That last move wasn't bad, Miss Yaiba." Horobi approached her slowly, unfazed despite taking a direct hit from her finisher. Instead of anger, there was a trace of admiration in his voice.
"You've grown stronger. But unfortunately… so have I."
Yaiba said nothing. Her gaze scanned the beast, analyzing its energy. That thing must have drained a massive amount of Horobi's reserves just to withstand the blast. The gap between them was wide... but maybe not insurmountable.
Still, this corridor was too narrow—barely two people wide. Her speed was being choked off.
I need backup. I need to get out of here. I need to contact Fuwa.
After a moment's silence, she replied, "Of course I'm not done."
Horobi sighed. "So stubborn…" A quick glance backward—and the terrifying scorpion shrank into submission, curling behind him like a trained hound.
Then, without warning, Horobi struck again.
Chains lashed out in all directions while he darted forward, aiming directly for her belt.
Trying to force a de-henshin? In the confined space, Yaiba switched tactics. She fired several rounds to form an energy web behind Horobi—then launched another volley.
The bullets rebounded off the web, slamming into him from behind.
It worked. He flinched, forced to turn and break the net, buying Yaiba the upper hand.
"Dash—Shooting Blast!"
The Rider Kick activated. Power surged to her right foot, forming a piercing energy spike. She pushed her armor's speed to the limit, igniting the energy trail behind her like a meteor. She rocketed forward.
Horobi didn't flinch. He summoned the giant scorpion again—its massive stinger thrust like a missile.
The two forces collided. Her Rider Kick slammed into the stinger, but the beast twisted mid-air, knocking her trajectory upward. Yaiba crashed through the ceiling.
A thunderclap echoed across Daybreak Lake.
Yaiba landed hard on the shore, transformed energy crackling off her armor. She groaned, canceled her transformation, and collapsed onto the sand.
"...Damn..." she panted, reaching for her Rise Phone. "AIMS HQ, this is Yaiba! Requesting emergency backup! I repeat, emergency!"
But only silence answered her.
"It's useless."
She froze.
Out of the darkness, Horobi emerged like a deathly wraith.
"Legacy of Naki's tech—any intercepted Rise Phone gets hit with a virus. Communications disabled. Permanently."
"What?!" She hurled the device to the ground. "No... damn it!"
Horobi shook his head. "Still trusting your teammates, Yaiba? By now, they should've come for you."
Then he paused, eyes narrowing.
"...Don't tell me—you came alone?"
No. Not alone.
Fuwa. Fuwa will come.
Clinging to that hope, Yaiba rose to her feet.
"I acted without AIMS approval. You should go, Horobi. I won't report this. Even if I did, no one would believe me."
"It's no use," he cut her off coldly. "You're a priority combat asset marked by the Ark. We've studied your every move—your voice, your body language, your lies. You can't fool me."
Yaiba froze.
"You're just buying time, aren't you?" Horobi said. "Then let your backup come. I'll eliminate every last threat."
She felt like a fish on a cutting board—stripped bare, no secrets left.
I'm so weak right now… If it were Fuwa—what would he do?
Eyes shut, memories of AIMS flickered by. Fuwa, Izu, Aruto—all of them smiling. Warm, human moments. From the prodigy at Hokkaido University to AIMS' lead strategist—she had faced trials and triumphs, yet kept walking.
In her mind, she asked them, What should I do now?
"Charge ahead, with courage and dreams! That's the Aruto way!!" Aruto's signature joke rang out.
Fuwa snorted. Izu politely chimed in, "The punchline is that all three words begin with 'yu' in Japanese…"
"Don't explain, Izu!" Aruto pouted.
Time rewound—those precious moments returning.
"Yaiba," Fuwa said firmly. "When you're lost, look at how far you've come. You're the captain of AIMS."
That's right. I am.
She stood tall again. Fastened the ShotRiser to her waist.
"You sure about this? Forcerising again could wreck your body."
"It's my duty… Henshin!"
The bullet fired, exploded, and reassembled—cheetah-striped armor enveloped her once more. Yaiba Yua, Valkyrie, returned to the battlefield.
Horobi sighed. "Forgive me. This time… I won't hold back."
"You shouldn't," she replied quietly, praying: Find me, Fuwa…
The calm lakeside once more erupted into steel and flame.