Chapter 54: New Banner!?

The Byakko Inves jumped at us and began attacking. Brook and Siegfria ran to cover. Draff and Olaf tried to shoot at it with their arrows but they didn’t even make a dent on the armor.

“What is this…” said Draff

Lumine and Xiangling tried to intercept the Inves but were having a hard time damaging it due to its armor. The Inves swiped his claws on to them but they managed to block the attack with their weapons and were pushed back

“It’s so strong…” said Lumine

“What is that!? Paimon has never seen such a thing. It is very scary!” Paimon was panicking

Letting the situation not get worse. I got the Zero-One driver.

[Jump!]

[Authorise]

[Progrise]  

[To-bia ga rise!]  

[Rising Hopper!] 

[A jump to the sky turns to a Rider Kick]

I held the Attache Calibur and attacked the Inves. Each slash created a spark damaging the Inves. The Inves tried to attack and managed to hit me a few times. I retaliated back and grabbed onto it.

“I got this! Everyone run!” The Inves escaped my grasp and hit me with his claw sending my back a good distance.

“Agh!” I rolled hitting the ground making all the air in my lungs escape.

“Jun!” Lumine called out to me worried.

The Byakko Inves started glowing and sent beams toward me.

*BOOOM*

“AAGH!”

The explosion knocked me back and felt painful. I felt my skin burning but my armor still held on. Lumine could not see my injured and attacked the Inves.

She slashed at it multiple times but the Inves managed to block and dodge her sword. Seeing her fight by herself, I ignored my pain and got up to fight it. The battle now was two on one and Lumine and I are managing to push the Inves back little by little. The Inves tries to hold its ground but every time it attacks one of us. The other attacks its blind spot staggering it.

Lumine gathered anemo energy in her palm and sent it toward the Byakko Inves. It got launched away and hit a tree. It tried to get up but was in a lot of pain. Seeing this chance, it was time to finish this. I got the Flaming Tiger progrisekey and inserted it into the Attache Calibur

[Progrisekey confirmed]

[Ready to utilize. Tiger's ability]

My sword’s blade caught on fire and I ran toward the Inves. It saw me approaching but could not dodge. I past it and slashed through its torso

フ

レ

イ

ミ

ン

グ

カ

バ

ン

ス

ト

ラ

ッ

シ

ュ

[Flaming Kaban Strash!]

The Byakko Inves was bisected before exploding in flames. With the Inves now dealt with I sat on the ground exhausted. My transformation was canceled on its own.

Lumine ran to me to check if I was okay. “Jun, are you okay?” she said worriedly

“Yeah… a bit banged up, but I’ll recover.”

“That’s good… When I saw those explosions I thought I lost you…”

“Hehehe… sorry for worrying you.”

The rest of the group came to check on us.

“Hey! Are you two okay? Paimon thought Jun was gone for a moment.”

“Do any of you need treatment or a snack?” said Xiangling

“No, we’re both fine.”

“What was that monster? I have been hunting in these woods all my life but have never seen anything like it.” said Draff

“Yes… it did not look natural and was strong.” said Olaf

“That was an Inves.” I said

“Inves?” Lumine asked

“Yeah, I have personally never met one before now but I have heard of them before. They are supposed to live in a different world but how did one get here…”

“A different world!?” Paimon did not expect it to be from a different world.

“They live in a forest called Helheim where all of its kind reside and if one is here… I better check the forest.”

“Why do you need to check the forest?” asked Xiangling

“Because their diet is different from ours or any other animal. And I’m right… We need to warn everyone. Draff can you guide me around the forest?”

“Sure, if what you said is true. This needs an investigation.”

“Thank you.”

We all went to investigate the forest. After 30 minutes of searching, we found an unusual fruit growing in the area.

“What is this fruit? Paimon has never seen these before.” *sniff**sniff* “It sure does smell delicious…” Paimon reached out to grab one with her mouth drooling.

“PAIMON STOP!”

Paimon snapped out of her trance. “Uagh! What is wrong Jun? I was trying to get one of these fruits.”

“This is a warning. Whatever you do, no matter how delicious-looking that fruit is. Don’t ever eat it.”

Paimon was feeling scared about how serious I was. *gulp* “Why should I not eat?”

“Those fruits are the Inves’s staple food. But if anything else eats them… they will be turned into an Inves.”

“Hieh!”

“You turn into an Inves!?” Xiangling and the rest were horrified.

“Yeah… The Inves that Lumine and I fought was also not the normal kind… It was most likely a person who ate one of the fruits.”

“What!?” said Draff

“Once you turn into an Inves, there is no going back. You will turn into a monster with no reason and will act on instinct.”

“I can’t believe it…” said Olaf

Everyone was horrified by the information. “That is why these fruits need to be gathered and disposed of. They are called Helheim fruits. Draff can go back to Springvale and gather hunters to gather these fruits. They need to be disposed of. Not only will they attract more Inves someone else might eat them without knowing what they are.”

“Okay, I’ll gather a team.”

I plucked a Helheim fruit as a sample and stored it. “Sorry that the competition would end like this. Xiangling, what are you going to do next?’

“Hmm… I should probably start heading back to Liyue. I’ll spread the information about these fruits.”

“Thank you.”

“No, I should thank you. You helped me with my cooking and saved us when the Inves attacked.”

“I could not have stood around and done nothing when you all were in danger.”

“Hee-hee thank you, We’ll meet again. Who knows you might just find me out in the wild.”

“Must be nice to be so carefree.” said Paimon

“Hee-hee, come and visit me at the Wanmin Restaurant some time. I did promise I'd cook for you! And if you want, I'll teach you how to cook some of my latest inventions too.”

“I’ll look forward to it.” I said

“It’s a deal.” said Lumine

“Hee-hee, see you all again soon!

Everyone went there separate ways. Xiangling went back to Liyue, and Draff with Olaf, Broof, and Siegfria went back to Springvale.

“Lumine we should go to Jean to inform her of this matter. I fear only more Inves will be appearing soon.” Lumine nodded and we headed to the Knights of Favonius headquarters.

…

As we were heading back to Mondstadt I noticed a notification in my system.

‘Hmm? What is this?’

I opened the notification and saw new banners.

[Rate-up banner: Kamen Rider Vulcan - 3 weeks]

[Rate-up banner: Kamen Rider Gaim - 3 weeks]

[Standard banner: Kamen Rider Zero-One world]

[Standard banner: Kamen Rider Gaim world]

‘Gaim!? The banner for Gaim is available? How? Was it because I defeated an Inves? That is the only possible explanation…’

I also noticed another notification. ‘Another one?’ I opened and saw I gain 800 primogems.

‘800 primogems!? From where did I get these?’ I checked the notification and it said I defeated an advanced Inves.

‘So killing Inves or maybe Kaijus will get me primogems… That is good to know. Defeating them will not only save more people but also gives me more chances to pull.’

Elated by the new I checked my primogems.

[Primogems: 4000]

Deciding I have enough, I pulled on Gaim’s banner.

‘Please give me something good!’ I closed my eyes and heard the animation. I slowly opened them to see what I got.

• Lock Vehicle (Sakura Hurricane) 4*

• Gaim CD 3*

• CD player 3*

• Charmant cake set 3*

• Helemt 3*

• Speakers 3*

• Karaage 3*

• 5x oranges 3*

• 10x Cola 3*

• 20x Fries 3*

‘A Loch Vehicle! Yes! Travelling is gonna be easier now. Although the roads here are not paved well. It still beats walking.’

On the side Lumine and Paimon were looking at me strangely.

“Why is he smiling like that?” said Paimon

“I don’t know. It is like he is looking at something but nothing is there.” said Lumine

‘Okay, let’s do this one more time. I can feel it! I’m going to get something good.’

I pulled again but did not looke away. I saw the Rider coming down like a shooting star and saw the golden glow.

“Yes!”

• Kamen Rider Gaim (Orange, Strawberry, Pine, Watermelon lock seeds)

• Helmet 3*

• Pork Katsu

• Bowl of grapes

• 3 sets of banana

• 5x apples

• Durian

• Chicken Skewers

• Miso soup

• Pork Ramen

“Uwah! Why did you suddenly scream like that!” said Paimon surprised

“Ah, sorry I just got something new.”

“Something new?” Lumine was curious

I smirked and took out the lock vehicle and showed it to her.

“What is this?

It looked like a white lock with a sakra symbol in the center. Surrounding the symbol was a tire and a text on the bottom that says LV-01.

“What is that? A lock? Why were you happy with this.” Paimon was confused

“Because Paimon with this we can get to Mondstadt faster amd less tiring now.”

“How do we do that?”

“Huh-Huh watch this.”

I pressed the button on the side of the lock vehicle and it started floating in the air. It expanded and turned into a motorbike. It has a white body with pink highlights. Lumine and Paimon were amazed and excited when it transformed into a bike.

“Wow! What is this?” said Paimon

“It is called a lock vehicle. We can ride this instead of walking.”

“Really! Yay! How do we ride it?”

I began to explain how it works briefly and we all rode on the Sakura Hurricane. I would be the one controlling it since I did learn how to ride a bike when I was on Earth. Lumine sat behind me wearing the spare helmet I gave her and Paimon sat in front of me. Due to her small body she did not obstruct my view.

“Hold on tight everyone. Don’t want to see anyone fall off the bike.”

*Vroom*

We sped off toward Mondstadt feeling the wind pass us.

“Weee!” Paimon was having fun riding on the bike

“The speed is amazing… Traveling will be easier with this.” said Lumine with a smile on her face enjoying the ride.

*Vroom*

We arrived back in Mondstadt in 10 minutes. Everyone neaby was looking at the lock vehicle strangely not knowing what it is. I turned it back into a lock and ignored the stares as we went to the headquarters. We arrived in front of Jean’s office and knocked

*knock**knock**knock* “Jean, this is Jun I have something that needs your attention.”

“Come in.”

We went in and saw Jean with stacks of paper on her desk.

“Sorry for the mess. I have been going through reports after Dvalin settled down. Is their something wrong.”

“Yes, I’m afraid so.”

I showed her the Helheim fruit and told her about the Inves and when we were attacked. As I continued to explain Jean’s face started to get stiff and thoughts began running through her mind.

“This is grave news. I will notify the knights to watch out for these ‘Inves’ and the new discovered fruit.”

“Make sure to also notify the citizens to never eat the fruit and give it to the knights. They needed to be disposed off. If people are found keeping of hiding them, they need to be arrested. These fruits are more dangerous than they seem.”

“Okay, thank you for the info. Thankfully we know before things spiral out of control.”

“No problem. Oh, if they are any Inves spotted please contact me, I can deal with them. Regular people can’t fight an Inves and most likely the regular knights won’t be able to beat them. If an advanced one appears there will be wide spread damages.”

“Are you sure? From what I’ve heard Inves are tough.”

“I’m sure because I got this.” I pulled out the sengoku driver and the orange lock seed.

The driver was rectangular with a small sword on its right and a side image of Gaim’s helmet on the right. In the center was a space to insert a lock seed into. It was shaped like a lock with a sliver body and a orange design face with the text ‘L.S.-07’ on it.” 

Jean, Lumine, and Paimon saw them and were surprised.

“A new driver? Ooo~ are you going to have a new form.” said Paimon excitedly

“Yeah, this driver was made to combat Inves. It is entirely different when I am Zero-One. With this I can become Gaim.”

“Gaim?” asked Lumine

“Yes, Kamen Rider Gaim.”