After Danny Rand and the little dragon Ao Xing transformed into Kamen Rider W, they felt a peculiar sense of a connected consciousness, a seamless synchronization between the human and the dragon.
"Stop playing around, let's take care of this demon first!"
Danny, noticing Ao Xing's curiosity about the human body, was waving his left limbs around like a toy, posing in various strange and awkward postures. He spoke with a sense of helplessness.
Although Ao Xing possessed a self-consciousness completely on par with a normal human, having only just been born into this world, it was naturally curious about everything. Hearing Danny's words, it gave a light cough:
"Alright, in any case, you are the inheritor of the Power of the Dragon chosen by Shou-Lao, and my partner. But I wasn't playing; I was just getting familiar with this fighting body. Furthermore, that dark thing over there indeed gives off a smell that makes me feel nauseous. Let's get rid of this ugly creature that dragons dislike first."
A golden light ignited on his body. The left side of the body, controlled by Ao Xing, was engulfed in golden-yellow, sky-high flames of chi, faintly taking the shape of a soaring giant dragon.
Ao Xing was born from the Fang Memory absorbing the power of the Dragon Bone, and then received the gift of the source of the Power of the Dragon—Shou-Lao—giving it true, complete spiritual intelligence. In the terminology of Xianxia (Cultivation Fantasy), it was a magical artifact achieving sentience and cultivating a self. Thus, it could naturally unleash the powerful Power of the Dragon.
However, although Danny had developed part of his physical potential with the Joker Memory, his control over the Power of the Dragon remained very limited. Therefore, the two sides of W were very unbalanced at this moment.
Ao Xing's entire body was enveloped in the Power of the Dragon, while Danny Rand's side, though able to unleash more Power of the Dragon than before, still only covered his fist.
"You're not good enough. You can't keep up with my power at all. The power on both sides is unbalanced; how are we supposed to move?" Ao Xing complained, comparing the Power of the Dragon unleashed on both sides, feeling obvious physical incoordination when attempting to move.
Danny was slightly embarrassed: "I'm not quite the same as you."
"Forget it, we are connected as one consciousness now. Let me help you out."
The Power of the Dragon transformed into a dragon shadow, spiraling from the left fist to cover the entire body, finally turning into dragon scale patterns imprinted on the armor.
"Is this the true power of the Power of the Dragon?" Danny felt the circulating, ceaseless Power of the Dragon was on a completely different level from when he used it before. He couldn't help but clench his fists.
"We are far from it, but it's enough to deal with that ugly creature in front of us," Ao Xing said contemptuously.
"Die, demon!" Danny Rand confidently swung his fist toward "The Beast." A terrifying, dragon-shaped chi blast flew from his fist. Where it passed, the concrete ground was directly plowed into a deep gully by the overflow of power.
Sensing the power of this punch, The Beast ignored the Hand ninjas it was devouring and focused all its black chi to block the attack. However, the black chi energy rapidly crumbled and dissipated before the abundant Power of the Dragon.
"What?! This power..."
The Beast was astonished, watching its black chi being effortlessly burned away like paper meeting fire, filled with shock and uncertainty. The unknown consciousness that descended earlier must also be a powerful extraterrestrial deity? Was this power also granted by that deity?
After dodging the dragon chi blast, black light flickered in The Beast's eyes. Although the existence behind this power was likely far stronger than itself, completely crushing it on a power level, it was its consciousness that had descended personally. Even if the source of the Power of the Dragon was powerful, it only granted some power to the human before it. How much power could a mere human truly unleash?
"I won't be defeated so easily!" The Beast turned its head to the five Hand leaders. "The vessel you prepared for me is still not strong enough to bear too much power and will. Now is the time for you to contribute to the great 'Beast'."
The five felt a sense of dread and cautiously asked, "How should we serve you?"
The Beast grinned: "It's simple. Offer your bodies and souls, and fuse with the great 'Beast,' gaining eternal and immortal life and power over all things."
"Damn it, he's planning to devour the five of us!"
The instant they heard The Beast's statement, the five Hand leaders immediately reacted and turned to flee. However, The Beast was prepared, and the black chi had already blocked their retreat. Only Madame Gao and Murakami, two of the five, instantly unleashed centuries of chi to escape through the weak points in the black chi chains. The other three were caught by the black chi chains. All this happened in the blink of an eye.
"This was an opportunity to fuse with a great and supreme being. Why refuse? Such short-sighted humans."
The Beast shook its head regretfully, looking at the three Hand leaders bound by the black chi. It chose the body it preferred, and the black marks all over its current body glowed black, receding entirely to its brow, before transferring into the new body.
Elektra's body lost control and fell directly to the ground. The other two unchosen Hand leaders were instantly devoured by the black chi, only managing to let out a miserable scream before vanishing.
"This body is indeed much stronger, capable of bearing a portion of my true power."
The Beast moved its limbs and nodded with satisfaction.
Then, a malicious, unknown power descended from the void. The Beast's body began to change: bizarre long horns grew on its head, sharp spikes appeared on its body, and wings sprouted from its back... Finally, it transformed completely into a non-human creature, just like the legendary demon.
"Come, I can't wait to devour you and the power inside your body," The Beast extended its long tongue and grinned at Danny.
The Beast could feel the extremely high quality of the Power of the Dragon. If it could devour it, it might gain a chance to break through to a higher level. That's why it took the risk of transmitting a portion of its true essence, effectively making the current form a clone. Although the amount of essence contained was not large, losing it would still be a genuine and painful injury.
"Disgusting creature, you don't know your own limits!"
Ao Xing roared angrily: "Danny, let's show him the might of the Power of the Dragon!"
"Alright."
W's entire body glowed fiercely. He leaped up, flying directly in front of The Beast. He delivered a punch, and a faint dragon roar echoed.
The Beast was sent flying backward. The spikes on its right arm, used to block the punch, shattered, the bones snapped, and the arm hung limp. The black mark containing the essential power on the arm was also violently erased by the Power of the Dragon.
"How?! How could he be this strong? He can directly erase my essential power?!" The Beast's voice was full of disbelief, tinged with panic.
However, Danny and Ao Xing wouldn't stop because of The Beast's surprise. Under the augmentation of the Power of the Dragon, they continued their fierce assault. Every punch and kick was incredibly powerful, like a humanoid monster. The Beast was beaten helplessly. The essential power it had transmitted was scorched and annihilated by the Power of the Dragon, and its strength grew weaker and weaker.
"Damn it..." Finally, it could only let out an unwilling roar, its physical form being dispersed by the powerful Power of the Dragon.
Losing a clone was already a huge loss, requiring at least a century of recovery to regain the lost essential power. Therefore, even as it was beaten to death, it did not continue to transmit power.
Now, the only thought the original "Beast" entity from the other dimension had was: Earth is too dangerous, and it must never carelessly venture there again.
"The demon is finally dealt with. Danny, your Power of the Dragon is truly incredible," Jessica said with a light laugh.
"It might be best not to approach him right now," Dan warned with a cryptic tone.
"Why?" Jessica was slightly confused. Then she saw Danny let out a high-pitched yell and punch toward her.
"Danny Rand, are you crazy! Jessica, you've killed her!" Luke Cage and Matt shouted in horror, seeing Jessica shattered by the punch.
However, they were also slightly puzzled. Why was she shattered into pieces? And why was there no blood at all? It was as if a clay doll had been smashed?
"She's not dead yet," Dan pointed at the fragments on the ground.
Like a broken clay doll, the fragments scattered on the ground quickly reassembled, and Jessica reappeared, fully restored.
"Did I resurrect?" Jessica touched her body, speaking with a sense of surviving a disaster.
"You weren't resurrected; you were never dead. When you transform using the Clay Doll Memory, unless the Memory's information is destroyed, you can instantly restore yourself even if you are shattered into pieces."
"That's immortality, isn't it?!"
"In a sense, you could interpret it that way."
"But what's wrong with Danny?" Jessica snapped back to reality, looking at Danny Rand, who was wildly destroying everything around him.
"Isn't it obvious? He can't control the power within him, and he's gone berserk," Dan said in an obvious tone.