The only thought remaining in Hummingbird’s mind was to kill this man!
It no longer cared what Li Qianqiao was planning to do.
Being repeatedly mocked and humiliated by a human had pushed its mood to the absolute worst extreme.
“Go to hell!”
Facing the deadly blade right before his eyes, Li Qianqiao pressed the starter switch on the Faiz Axel watch.
START UP!
The next moment, Hummingbird’s attack completely struck thin air!
It frantically stood up and scanned its surroundings, but there was absolutely no trace of Li Qianqiao.
Even his presence had become entirely ethereal.
“I-Impossible. How is even his presence disappearing? Could it be… he vanished?!”
Hummingbird felt a deep sense of unease.
This completely silent disappearance terrified it to its core.
No, he couldn’t have just vanished!
He’s not a chameleon, and even if he was, how could his presence just fade away like that?
Unless…
The next second, Hummingbird suffered a devastating, bone-shattering blow to the side of its waist!
Under the immense kinetic force, Hummingbird’s entire body was bent into a violent ‘C’ shape.
Before it could even hit the ground, it was struck by an absolutely merciless combo.
Under the relentless barrage of attacks, even touching the ground became an unattainable luxury!
Amidst this hurricane of strikes, Hummingbird finally realized the truth.
Just as I thought, he didn’t vanish!
It’s just… his speed is so incomprehensibly fast that his presence can’t even keep up with him!!
“ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!”
From Li Qianqiao’s perspective, he was frantically delivering an absolute ‘Ora Beatdown’ upon Hummingbird!
He hadn’t used his Ultimate Attack, the Grand Impact.
After all, he promised he would beat this guy to a pulp.
He wasn’t going to let him die that easily!
“ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!”
“Ahhhh! L-Let me go…”
Hummingbird desperately tried to escape the barrage, but Li Qianqiao absolutely refused to give it the chance!
…3
“Too late, you’re not getting away! MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA! HINJAKU! HINJAKU!”
…2
“Eight seconds have passed! WRYYYYYYYY! I’m going to crush you flat!”
…1
“BANG—!!”
With the final punch, Hummingbird was knocked completely unconscious, collapsing to the ground covered in its own blood.
Its body looked as if it had been literally run over by a road roller; not a single inch of it was left intact.
TIME OUT!
Reverting to his base Faiz form, Li Qianqiao walked over to the unconscious Hummingbird and carefully inspected the piece of trash playing dead on the pavement.
“Tsk! You’re ugly as sin, but your mouth sure needed a good beating!”
To prevent any sudden jumpscare resurrections, Li Qianqiao ruthlessly stomped on Hummingbird’s head a few times.
Sparks flew with every stomp.
Seeing no reaction, Li Qianqiao felt it still wasn’t safe enough, so he aimed directly for the monster’s groin and delivered a few more vicious kicks.
Having witnessed everything from the sidelines, Astra Yao was still sitting on the ground.
Under her continuous healing, Evelyn’s condition had improved enough that she could slowly walk over to Li Qianqiao with Astra’s support.
“Yo. How are you holding up? Are your injuries severe?”
Hearing their footsteps, Li Qianqiao turned around to ask, though his feet didn’t stop ruthlessly stomping the monster.
Seeing such a brutal and cruel scene, Evelyn felt a chill run down her spine.
She decided it was probably best not to ask what he was doing.
Astra’s eyes were practically shining with little stars.
She circled Li Qianqiao, observing him up and down, her face brimming with pure curiosity.
“Wow~ How did you do that just now? With a swish, swish, swish, that bad guy just dropped to the ground! Also, also! Your armor can actually change forms! How come I never saw you use that on TV? And what about your robot? Why didn’t it come with you?”
The young girl’s expression was filled with absolute amazement and curiosity.
If it were anyone else, they would probably be feeling pretty smug right about now.
But Li Qianqiao didn’t feel a hint of joy.
Within Astra’s bright eyes, he noticed a barely imperceptible layer of mist.
He frowned slightly, his gaze falling on her shimmering eyes.
She was firing questions at him like a machine gun, but he didn’t answer right away.
This girl’s heart was far stronger than he imagined.
But not everything should just be bottled up inside; letting it out appropriately was much healthier.
He let out a soft sigh and gently placed his armored hand on top of her head.
Even through the metal gloves, Li Qianqiao could still feel how soft and smooth her hair was.
It’s just… why is Miss Yao so tall?
She’s gotta be almost 1.8 meters (5 feet and 11 inches), right?
She’s practically eye-level with me, and I’m barely 1.8 meters tall myself—and that’s WITH insoles!
Li Qianqiao couldn’t help but glance at Astra’s fair, long legs…
Good lord, did she eat hormones growing up?
I feel like her legs are longer than my entire lifespan.
Are older-sister types in this world universally this tall?!
Seeing this strange man save them but remain completely silent, Astra tilted her head in confusion.
He just said he liked me a minute ago, so why is he ignoring me now?
Sensing the slightly awkward atmosphere, Evelyn spoke up, “We don’t know your name, sir.”
Li Qianqiao shifted his gaze to Evelyn.
Yeah… you too!
Why are you all so tall?!
This is going to give me a complex, you know?!
“You should have seen the wanted posters by now, right?” Li Qianqiao spread his hands.
“Isn’t my name written right on them?”
“Eh? Is your name actually ‘God of War of the Lower Body’ ?” Astra said innocently.
Li Qianqiao’s expression froze instantly under his helmet, but the genuine innocence in Astra’s eyes proved she wasn’t joking.
He pulled out his phone and checked the Inter-Knot.
Whoa!
They really are calling me the God of War of the Lower Body!
But that was just a nickname the netizens came up with; the official Public Security posts still called him the ‘Mysterious Armored Man’.
“Miss Astra, please read less of that kind of stuff online from now on.”
Evelyn was genuinely worried that the degenerates on the internet would eventually corrupt her innocent Miss Astra.
Astra stubbornly turned her head and puffed out her cheeks.
“I don’t want to! The netizens this year are so interesting! Everyone there is super talented, and they speak so nicely!”
Li Qianqiao nodded in agreement.
No matter what world you were in, there were always trolls and memers, especially on the internet.
Bzzzt… click.
The surrounding streetlamps flickered on.
The afterglow of the western sun had completely faded, and the veil of night gently caressed the earth.
In the distance, the scattered starlight of New Eridu began to glow.
Everything felt so peaceful and beautiful…
However, a piercing police siren suddenly tore through the silent night.
WEE-WOO, WEE-WOO~
Li Qianqiao heard the sirens first; police cars were speeding toward them from every direction.
Realizing the situation was turning bad, Li Qianqiao prepared to bolt.
He glanced over at where Hummingbird had been playing dead—and sure enough, it was gone!
Is this thing really that tanky?!
I practically beat him into comminuted fractures, and he still managed to escape?
Whatever, let him run.
Even for an Orphnoch, he won’t be getting out of bed for at least a month!
“Wait!” Astra Yao grabbed Li Qianqiao’s wrist, her clear eyes staring intently directly into Faiz’s massive, glowing yellow visors.
“Before you leave, please tell me your real name!”
The young girl’s eyes sparkled brilliantly under the streetlights, her face filled with an unprecedented determination.
Li Qianqiao paused, a helpless smile seemingly forming under his mask.
“I’m just a passing-through Kamen Rider.” He gently slipped his hand out of Astra’s tight grip, pulled his Faiz Edge from the ground, and rested it on his shoulder.
Disappointment flooded Astra’s eyes, her mood visibly dropping.
“However…”
Li Qianqiao looked back.
“You can call me Faiz.”
Hearing that, joy blossomed across Astra’s face.
She clasped her hands tightly against her chest and asked hopefully, “Will we ever be able to meet again?”
“Do you believe in gravity?”
“Eh?”
“Destiny is just like gravity; it is a force that people cannot resist. It guides people to meet one another. Don’t you think that our so-called ‘encounter’ was the work of gravity?”
“Don’t worry. A brief separation is only for the sake of a better reunion. We will definitely meet again.”