At the same time, the accessories for the two Emperor Drivers were also designed.
This time, both the "Sky Emperor" and the "Ground Emperor" now had a drill-powered Rider Kick finisher.
Even the Kaixa Driver received an upgrade accessory: the Destroyer Mode.
This form is similar to Faiz's Axel Form, where the entire body's Photon Blood converts to silver, and the armor is shed, exposing the core to lower defense. However, while Faiz's form trades defense for speed, Kaixa's form trades speed and defense for increased attack power. Furthermore, there's a three-hour restriction on transforming after using it, which clearly shows how much of a drawback it has. After all, this was originally just a scrapped proposal.
However, to Raven, this form was unexpectedly useful. If used well, it could even surpass Faiz's Blaster Form. This is because he possesses Super Acceleration himself, compensating for the Destroyer Form's biggest weakness: having immense power but being unable to hit nimble enemies. Finally, by using the Golden Drill in this state, the power is doubled, and it's unlikely that many enemies could withstand it.
As for the Delta Driver, there simply wasn't a weapon accessory that could be developed. Its design path was already locked down when it was initially conceived. Raven didn't insist on one. With so many Drivers, he wouldn't necessarily use them often anyway.
Raven's main purpose for this visit was the Amazon Drivers, as they were his main trump card. After collecting the new Amazon Drivers, which had stronger suppression effects but also allowed for more power to be utilized, Raven was ready to leave.
However, before departing, Raven naturally wouldn't forget to spread his attention equally. He planned to pay a long-overdue visit to Saeko Kageyama. As for Yuka and Saya, he was with them almost every night because it was so convenient to travel between the two worlds. He'd work in the Gaim world during the day and return to the Faiz world to sleep at night.
He had been away from the Gaim world for nearly a full day.
Raven finally returned. He exited through the back door of the courtyard, walked around to the front of the shop, and stepped inside.
The first thing he saw this early in the morning was an exceedingly beautiful woman with an excellent temperament, wearing their shop's uniform and wiping down a table.
"You are..."
Raven had a vague impression of this woman but couldn't recall her name instantly.
Seeing this, Touka Akatsuki, with her clear, beautiful eyes, fixed her gaze on Raven.
"Are you Raven-san? I'm the new employee that Store Manager Kazuraba just interviewed, Touka. Please just call me Touka." Touka immediately bowed to Raven.
Whether intentionally or not, one of the buttons on her collar was undone, exposing a very deep cleavage. It was very fair and quite ample.
But by visual estimation, it's nowhere near Akira, Raven thought to himself.
Touka Akatsuki?
Hearing that very distinct name, he instantly remembered where he had seen her before: an Kamen Rider Gaim Gaiden. The very first appearance of the Forbidden Apple Lockseed, the one currently in his hand, was in that special, and its user was this woman right here.
"Raven-san? Is something wrong...?"
Touka naturally noticed his gaze. Men are all the same, she thought. Seeing Raven remain silent, she asked somewhat nervously.
"Ah, nothing. Keep up the good work."
Raven snapped out of his thoughts, gave her a slight smile, and walked toward the kitchen. He wondered, This woman should logically be terminally ill right now, desperate to seek revenge on the Kureshima family. Why would she be working at my shop? There must be something behind this.
That evening, as the café was preparing to close, Raven followed his custom of personally walking Akira home. However, there was no opportunity to stay this time, so he had to return. He found Touka still in the shop, not yet off work.
He said to her, "You could have clocked out a while ago. Why haven't you left yet?"
"Well, you see, I..." Touka's eyes shifted, and she began to play on his sympathy.
She explained that she had just arrived and hadn't secured an apartment for rent in Zawame City yet. In short, she hoped to be allowed to stay and live upstairs.
Raven knew it certainly wouldn't be that simple. However, he was curious to see what Touka's goal was in doing this—why she wanted to get close to him.
So, he agreed and let her move into the room upstairs that Yuka had originally occupied.
The consequence, however, was that Raven couldn't go to the Faiz world to be with Saya and Yuka for the next few days. Instead, he had to stay and observe Touka.
"Thank you so much, Raven-san." A strange light flashed in Touka's eyes, followed by a look of surprise and delight.
Later that night, just before going to sleep, Raven took his routine bath, quietly soaking in the tub.
Meanwhile, Touka, who had initially planned to observe him for a while, was suddenly hit by an accelerated backlash from the power of Helheim.
"Ugh... Ah..." She collapsed onto the floor, wracked with pain.
"I don't have much time left..."
After forcing herself to endure the worst of the pain, she suddenly made a decision.
"It has to be this way."
Touka knew she no longer had time to wait. If she kept stalling, the power of Helheim would completely erode her. If that happened, she wouldn't be able to get her revenge.
With a firm resolve, she took off her clothes, walked straight to the bathroom door, and entered naked without reservation.
Raven was immediately startled. His body instinctively sank further into the water.
"What are you doing?"
Raven couldn't help but be shocked, his eyes momentarily unsure where to look. While he was curious about Touka's intentions for approaching him, he hadn't expected her to go for something so drastic right from the start.
Touka smiled, lifted one of her fair, long, beautiful legs, and stepped into the bathtub. She sat across from Raven, soaking in the water with him. She then proceeded to wash her body right in front of him, as if she had truly just come for a bath.
"Raven-san must be quite surprised," Touka finally said, unhurriedly, after a moment.
Watching the water flow down her skin and the completely undisguised view, Raven immediately felt a stir of respect. But this was purely a natural, bodily reaction.
"You're playing with fire," Raven warned out of goodwill.
"I have no other choice. I came to you this time because I need to ask you for a favor." A hint of sadness flashed in Touka's beautiful eyes.
———————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over here ——— pa-tre-on.c-om/AlexandrusTL [remove the hyphen for normal access]
