Tachihara found himself overwhelmed having now become Garren.
The power he gained was just like what he saw in his dreams, if not even greater.
Both his speed and strength were superhuman. A simple swing of his right arm sent the Undead at his right flying, and likewise, his left arm showed no difficulty in mowing down the Undead at his left.
Why was I even granted this power?
And why did the source of this power, the belt and the cards, appear in that castle a hundred years ago?
He couldn’t understand a single thing.
That voice that simply shouted “Fight, Garren!” continued to repeat itself again and again inside his head without ever elaborating any further.
“Watch out, Tachihara!”
Saeko’s voice brought Tachihara back to his senses, allowing him to dodge the Undead that came crashing down through the skylight at the last second and to counter attack with a kick.
The Undead split into two pieces and flew up into the ceiling, causing it to drop down along with the chandelier right before perishing and disappearing.
“…Again?!”
There was one thing that differed from his dreams, and that was that he wasn’t able to seal the defeated Undead with his cards.
And that made the line between dream and reality grow vague.
Garren stood dumbfoundedly as the card he threw returned back to him in a U-turn.
“Are you all right, Tachihara?”
Saeko was cautiously looking out from the shadows.
“Stay hidden!”
As if reinforcing his warning, a new Undead came attacking from the fireplace.
And then yet another Undead jumped down through the broken skylight.
“Damn it! There’s no end to them!”
The Undead continued to swarm in seemingly endlessly. Their numbers easily surpassed fifty. Defeating them one by one would get him nowhere.
“We’re going to have to head further down. Let’s go back to the ropeway!”
Saeko shouted out and ran out from her hiding place.
“Wait!”
There were probably still plenty of Undead behind the half-broken door.
“No, I think it should be around here…”
Saeko was knocking along a wall and listening to the reverberations.
“It’s right here, I can tell. Help me out, Tachihara!”
She was pointing to a large closet that nearly reached the ceiling.
When Garren pushed it aside, a large dark hole revealed itself on the wall behind it. A stone staircase stretched down from it into the darkness, and there was the distinctive wet stench of a culvert rising out from it.
“There’s often escape routes hidden in the throne room in case of the worst-case scenario. I don’t know where this passageway leads to, but it’s at least better than staying here.”
Saeko made an impish smile and headed into the culvert.
Garren followed after, sealing the path from the inside by moving the closet back, effectively preventing the pursuit of the still-invading Undead.
They were in complete darkness.
Garren undid his transformation, returning to his form as Tachihara.
Saeko stretched her hand out, looking for Tachihara’s, and squeezed it. Tachihara silently squeezed back. He couldn’t see her face, but he could tell that she was relieved judging from the sigh she made.
They slowly descended one step at a time.
They could tell from their feet that some of the steps had crumbled apart, causing them to draw close to each other in fear of falling.
Little by little, heat was returning to Saeko’s cold hand.
“I’m… going to leave this island again. I’ll try to start over, somewhere far from here.”
Tachihara nodded to the words that trickled out of Saeko’s mouth.
“Me too… Although, I don’t know what to start over with. Maybe I’ll be a pirate again. I’m pretty much invincible now.”
Saeko burst out into laughter, and Tachihara chuckled as well.
They had no idea what was going on, and they had solved nothing, but at the very least, they could feel each other at their side. And they were happy about that.
After finally coming to the end of the seemingly endless stone staircase, they found themselves in a sewer-like passageway. That made them realize they had descended about four stories worth.
The darkness was tinged with grey. There was light nearby.
“I think it’s this way… I’m pretty sure there was a drainage ditch near the ropeway platform!”
They ran towards the direction of the water flow.
Suddenly, the roars of the Undead could be heard from above them. There was no doubt they had destroyed the closet and were now crawling into the culvert. Soon afterwards, an avalanche of roars could be heard descending. They were racing down the stone steps.
Saeko screamed, and Tachihara shouted.
“Don’t turn around!”
Tachihara ran forward while still holding onto her hand.
They continued to run as far as they could.
Suddenly the three moons could be seen in front of them.
“Look!”
“The exit!”
The moonlight began to illuminate them as they picked up the pace.
At the same time, the roars of the Undead, which had momentarily stopped, once again could be heard.
They had likely reached the sewer passageway by now. It sounded like there were three or four of them. The heavy footsteps racing down the sewer grew louder and louder.
“They’re going to catch up!”
“It’ll be fine! You go on ahead!”
Tachihara let go of Saeko’s hand and turned around, readying himself to transform into Garren again.
“No!”
If they separated, they would never see each other again. That’s what Saeko’s eyes desperately screamed.
Tachihara nodded, and once again grabbed Saeko’s hand and resumed running.
The exit was covered with iron bars, but they were able to manage slipping past them. It likely wouldn’t take much time at all for the Undead to destroy them, but it at least bought them some time.
After running down for another thirty meters or so, they reached the familiar ropeway platform.
“It’s… it’s not here!”
Saeko shouted in astonishment.
The gondola they had used to cross the ropeway was missing.
“I don’t ever remember sending it back down, what’s going on?!”
There wasn’t any time to think about it.
“Let’s bring it back up, then.”
Tachihara urged Saeko and they headed to the control panel at the platform.
“Right there.”
Saeko pointed at the lever, which Tachihara began to operate.
The motor started running, and the cables began to wind back along with the squeaking sound of the old pulleys. It was much too slow.
“Hurry… Hurry up!”
Saeko’s gripped hand was sweating. Tachihara desperately held down his desire to start shouting as he waited.
Clouds were passing through the three moons.
Suddenly, the gondola revealed itself from the thick forest.
“It’s here!”
“Let’s go!”
They ran to the end of the platform and waited for the gondola’s arrival.
It swung wildly with a thunk upon reaching a stop.
When they tried to open the door, it opened up by itself from the inside, revealing a gun pointing at them. Tachihara and Saeko found themselves stepping back.
“Hey, Tachihara. Oh, the doctor’s here, too. You guys sure are friendly, I’m honestly jealous.”
The small man leading a group of three giants had a crude smile on his face.
That’s one of Sumio’s underlings, Gita, I think.
“I heard from the boss, Tachihara. You’ve got some sort of treasure from your pirate days, right? It’s only natural that I get it in place of my dead boss.”
“If you want it that badly, I’ll give it to you. But this isn’t the time to be talking about that…”
“Don’t change the subject. I’m not gonna get tricked like my boss.”
“The monsters will reach here any second now! We’re all going to get slaughtered!”
“Think you could shut up for a second, doctor? Tachihara and I are trying to have a little chat.”
He motioned to one of the giants with his chin, causing him to lift Saeko up by the neck with one hand. Saeko’s face was visibly growing pale from the lack of oxygen.
“Stop! Make him stop!”
“Then tell me where the treasure’s hidden! I’m sure it’s on some island, right?! Which island is it?! Tell me!”
His gun dug into Tachihara’s stomach.
The Ark was slowly heading backwards towards the open sea.
The captain and chief engineer explained that it would eventually change direction and start moving directly forward.
And if that happened, they wouldn’t be able to catch up to it anymore on their current boat.
“What the heck’s going on?! Why are we being left behind?!”
Rikiya was shouting exactly what everyone else was thinking as well.
Takuho and Ren held close Dai and Mei, who were about to cry at any second, while Kojirou and the rest of the island’s residents huddled together with looks of unease.
Right then, the captain and chief engineers’ portable terminals received a call.
“I’ve got a message!”
“Same here!”
They were from their subordinates in the Ark’s Steering Room and Engine Room.
Tougo and the others watched the two of them with wide eyes as they read the messages they received.
“I knew it!”
“I had a feeling that’s what happened!”
The captain and chief engineer’s angry voices roared out as they explained what happened.
“The Ark’s been taken over!”
“It’s the work of the Guest Cabin Area!”
Thirty minutes after Tougo and the others got off the Ark, a few dozen armed men from the Guest Cabin Area, who had likely planned their operation beforehand, managed to occupy both the Steering Room and the Engine Room, put everyone else under house arrest, and demand that the ship set sail. The captain and chief engineer’s subordinates had apparently found a chance to send their messages while still being held under gunpoint.
“Those damn rich bastards!”
Rikiya cursed while Tougo and the rest watched the Ark with looks of defeat on their faces as it slowly separated from them.
“So what do we do now?”
The captain and chief engineer nodded together in response to Takuho’s question.
“Once it changes direction, its speed will drop by a certain degree.”
“That’s when we’ll board it.”
Tougo and the others exchanged looks of surprise with each other.
“We can do that?”
“It’s not about whether or not we can, we will do it. That’s our damn ship!”
“Right. We’re not gonna let them do whatever they want with it!”
The faces on the captain and chief engineer were like nothing they had ever seen before. It was their spirit as a sailor. That’s how Tougo thought of it.
They immediately began to message their subordinates about their plan.
Right then, Dai and Mei’s faces lit up with joyous cheers.
“Kenzaki!”
“Kenzaki!”
Blade and the Mother Undead could be seen fighting to the death at the pier, constantly rising up into the sky and falling back to the ground, seemingly entangled with each other.
“Kenzaki!”
“Blade!”
Takuho and Ren shouted as well, and Tougo and Kojirou wildly waved their arms.
A reply then came from the Ark.
“It’s going to fall in speed in three minutes!”
“Let’s hurry!”
In accordance with the captain and chief engineer’s instructions, they began to paddle faster.
“Blade! Hurry!”
“Kenzaki!”
“Hurry up!”
Tougo and the rest shouted at the top of their lungs as they waved to Blade.
“Just keep going! Don’t worry about me!”
That was clearly what he was saying.
The Mother Undead was overcome with rage from her slaughtered children and was absolutely relentless. No matter how many times she fell and staggered from Blade’s attacks, she always immediately regained her footing and struck back.
“Blade!”
“Kenzaki!”
Tougo and the rest once again shouted out, but Blade wouldn’t respond anymore. He was completely focused on battling the Mother Undead.
“Now!”
“Let’s go!”
The captain and chief engineer shouted.
The Ark had decreased in speed and was changing direction.
Their boat headed straight towards the Ark as it pushed against the advancing waves.
The winch that was used to lower their boat could still be seen left untouched on the starboard rear side. The hook at the end of the wire was making loud metal sounds as it clanged against the ship.
The captain and chief engineers’ subordinates were looking down from the deck and trying to signal something with their hands all while being cautious about their rear.
It seemed that they’d be able to pull up their boat if they attached the hook to it.
“Get the boat close!”
“Grab the hook!”
The idea of a small boat approaching such an enormous vessel while it was changing directions sounded like complete madness. If they failed, they could either get knocked away, trapped underneath, or shattered to pieces.
“Seriously?!”
Right after Rikiya shouted, an enormous sound rang out as the boat slammed into the Ark.
For just a second, Tougo thought he was going to die, but instead the boat had stuck to the direction-shifting Ark as if it had become a part of it.
“Awesome!”
“We did it!”
Tougo and the others cheered, while the captain and chief engineer wasted no time in grabbing the hook and quickly affixing the boat to it.
The winch immediately began winding, bringing the boat up.
Three minutes later, they stepped foot onto the deck.
Their actions afterwards were already all planned beforehand.
Takuho guided the captain and his subordinates, while Tougo and Rikiya guided the chief engineer’s group, and they crawled into the ducts to reach the various Areas.
They were planning on taking the men from the Guest Cabin Area by surprise.
Ren, Dai, Mei, Kojioru and the villagers were to all hide while this happened.
The operation had begun.
Tougo and the others entered the ducts with familiar movements as they led the adults.
The Brown Rat Gang had reunited.
Takuho and the captain’s group were heading towards the Steering Area, and Tougo and Rikiya’s group split off midway to head for the Engine Area.
It wasn’t that much of a distance for Tougo and the rest of his gang, but the route was a bit tough for the adults. Their sweaty bodies only served to further dampen the already damp ducts.
“Hey, are we still not there yet?”
“Just a little more.”
Tougo replied while Rikiya held back his laughter.
“You guys are hopeless, this is nothing…”
The chief engineer and the rest glared at him, but it seemed like they didn’t have the energy to yell.
They arrived at the ripped section of the duct they usually used and dropped down into the Engine Area.
While the chief engineer and the others caught their breaths and stretched their bodies, Tougo and Rikiya ran straight for the Engine Room.
“Wait!”
“Something’s not right here.”
Tougo and Rikiya noticed as well.
There wasn’t a single person on lookout, and not a single voice could be heard among the usual mechanical noises.
Tougo and Rikiya stuck close to the Engine Room’s door and tried to listen in, but the mechanical noises were too loud to hear anything.
Rikiya reached for the doorknob, but the chief engineer that had finally caught up stopped him, and slowly and cautiously opened the door.
“Whoa!”
They reflexively stepped back from the horrible stench that wafted out.
“Don’t look!”
“Stay back!”
The chief engineer and the others quickly stepped in front of Tougo and Rikiya to block their vision, but it was too late.
Tougo and Rikiya already saw it, clear as day.
A disorderly pile of corpses.
They consisted of some of the chief engineer’s subordinates, as well as the representatives from the Guest Cabin Area that had opposed Kenzaki’s rescue back when they first found him.
Rikiya let out a low groan and vomited.
As Tougo rubbed his back, he found himself filled with suspicion.
Then who else from the Guest Cabin Area could’ve taken over the Ark?
“What the hell is going on here…?”
Thinking the same thing after closing the door, the chief engineer sent a message to the captain via his portable terminal.
Three minutes passed, but there was no response.
Unable to wait any longer, he finally made up his mind and directly called him.
It seemed like the call was picked up immediately, as the chief engineer lowered his voice.
“Where are you right now, captain? Is anyone over there?”
Following the subordinates’ example, Tougo listened carefully as he nursed Rikiya, and then he remembered.
The Imposter Undeads.
They were Undeads in Kojirou’s story who disguised themselves as humans.
Maybe they’re the ones behind this.
Suddenly a cry could be heard from the portable terminal.
“What’s wrong, captain? Captain!”
The call ended right there.
“Is… Is Takuho all right? If anything happens to Takuho… Ren’s gonna cry!”
Rikiya stood up as he roughly wiped his mouth.
“Let’s go!”
Tougo nodded, and the two of them ran for the duct.
“Wait! Calm down! It’s dangerous!”
The chief engineer shouted, but they ignored him and crawled into the duct.
They could tell the chief engineer and the rest were chasing after them.
It was a long, long path.
Tougo and Rikiya, drenched in sweat, continued to crawl.
Their legs were bleeding from getting scratched, but they didn’t feel any pain.
In the end they started to slow down upon getting close to the Steering Area, but the chief engineer’s group was still so far behind that they couldn’t even see them.
They continued to move forward, careful not to make any sound, and exited from a tear in the duct.
They were now in a narrow passageway that led to the Steering Room, and the cabins they used to always steal from were on their right.
After hesitating for a moment whether or not to wait for the chief engineer’s group to catch up, Tougo noticed that Rikiya had taken a fire extinguisher from the wall to defend himself, so he grabbed a extinguisher stick with claws attached to it.
Their memories of fighting the Undead resurfaced, and they steeled themselves.
“Let’s go!”
“Right!”
They headed down the passageway and came to a stop at the third corner.
Peeking past it, a single person could be seen standing in front of the Steering Room on lookout duty.
It pained Tougo to remember, but he had the same face as one of the Guest Cabin Area representatives that was found dead in the Engine Room.
There was no doubt he was an Undead.
They half-opened the door to one of the cabins, and then entered a cabin right next to it.
After stretching the extinguisher stick from the gap in the door, Tougo knocked on the half-opened door.
The lookout must have reacted to it, as footsteps could be heard approaching.
He passed by Tougo and Rikiya’s cabin and came to a stop and the next one over.
Upon peeking through the gap in the door, they saw the lookout standing in front of the cabin with a puzzled look on his face.
Tougo and Rikiya were quick to act.
Rikiya jumped out with a hop step and slammed his fire extinguisher into the back of the lookout’s head, followed by Tougo kicking him into the cabin as he was about to faint right before shutting the door.
They then headed back to the Steering Room and charged in by tackling the door. Rikiya released the seal on the fire extinguisher and began spraying the extinguishing agent, while Tougo haphazardly swung his extinguisher stick around.
“Die, Undeads!”
“Where are you, Takuho?! Takuho!”
As the extinguisher agent filled the room, the faces of the Guest Cabin Area men hardened and cracked as they gradually transfigured into Undeads.
At their feet, the captain, his subordinates, and Takuho looked up with surprise.
“So they were Undeads?!”
“I knew something was off!”
Thank goodness, they’re all okay.
“Takuho! Captain!”
“Get the deck! Hurry!”
Rikiya sprayed at the Undeads, aiming for their eyes, while Tougo swung his extinguisher stick at their legs while they were blinded.
“Rikiya! Tougo!”
“You guys!”
Takuho and the captain raised voices of surprise as they ran towards the exit to the deck, and Tougo and Rikiya followed.
Right then, the large window in front of the steering wheel that was facing the bow shattered into pieces, and the Mother Undead came crashing in.
She let out a powerful surge that knocked Tougo and the others against the wall.
“No way… Blade got defeated? Kenzaki!”
“That can’t be!”
Tougo and Rikiya shouted.
Kamen Rider Novel Translations 
Will the project still continue?
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