The mist curled like fingers from the mouths of a hundred dead gods. It coiled through the air, curling around Li Wei ankles, his arms, brushing past his cheeks like unseen ghosts. He opened his eyes slowly, breath catching in his throat. There was no sound. No birds. No wind. No Shrek companions nearby.
Only silence.
The world had become a vast mirror forest. Towering trees rose all around him, but their trunks shimmered like glass—reflecting not only his image but countless versions of himself. Some younger, some bloodied, some hollow-eyed.
"Where…?" His voice was swallowed by the stillness.
Alone. Again.
A chill crept through his spine—not from fear, but familiarity. This loneliness, this silence, reminded him of the moment the system vanished after his spirit awakened. Left to survive in a world that shouldn't have accepted him.
He clenched his fists. Tang San quiet strength. Xiao Wu laughter. Zhu Zhuqing silent watch. Oscar awkward jokes. Dai Mubai prideful boost. Ma Hongjun perverted joke. Zhao Wuji stern lessons. They echoed in his mind like a soft lanterns in the fog.
They were real. They grounded me.
Suddenly, the glass forest rippled. The reflections shimmered, and from them emerged his past—the twisted phantoms of beasts and battles. The mantis king he had once felled, its serrated limbs now lined with blood. The shadow howler, reborn in black flame. And from the deepest reflection, a cloaked crimson assassin with a mocking smile—
—himself, twisted.
"You don't belong," the assassin said in his voice. "You altered what was never yours."
They struck all at once.
Li Wei moved on instinct. He slammed a card into the Diendriver.
[AttackRide: Invisible!]
The world dimmed around him. His figure vanished, flickering just out of sight. The mantis's scythe whistled past his vanished form. Reappearing behind them, he slid another card in—
[AttackRide: CrossAttack!]
This time, two new Riders surged from portals—Kamen Rider Ghost, his body half-ethereal, blade trailing blue fire, and Kamen Rider OOO, clad in shifting medals and hungry instinct.
Ghost glided through the mantis phantom, delivering a flickering, silent cut that left behind a burning sigil. OOO leapt, shifting through Combo adaptations, and landed with a finishing slash charged with wild power.
The illusions burst apart—shards of memory crumbling like glass.
But the forest wasn't done.
The reflections warped again—becoming a storm of images: crying Xiao Wu with bloodied knees; Tang San stabbed through the shoulder; Zhu Zhuqing walking away.
Li Wei gritted his teeth. "No. This isn't real."
But even knowing that, doubt clawed at his chest.
The illusions became a tidal wave of spirit shards—razor fragments of light and fear. He had no time.
He raised the Diendriver and slid in another card:
[BuffRide: Kabuto!]
Clock Up.
The world slowed to a crawl. Every shard froze mid-air, suspended like deadly snowflakes. Li Wei moved between them with effortless precision, weaving through death like a leaf on the wind.
Still, the pressure mounted. He slammed another card:
[AttackRide: Barrier!]
A crackling dome sprang up around him. The shards struck it like furious hail, but the energy held.
From within, he summoned strength. One more.
[KamenRide: Gaim!]
Gaim burst into being, slicing through the storm with his Daidaimaru twin blades, fruit-energy flashing with every cut. He danced across the battlefield, his blows elegant and brutal.
When the last phantom crumbled, the silence returned—but it was deeper now. Reverent.
Li Wei stood, chest heaving. His body burned from the effort, but his mind… it was clear.
I fight for them.
The mist thickened. From its heart stepped a single figure.
They wore a robe darker than void, every movement trailing a shimmer like unraveling stars. Their mask bore no expression—just a smooth surface etched with arcane curves. The air bent around them, fate itself reluctant to touch their form.
"A Rider spirit among mortals… you unravel the Weave itself. You're the unnatural existence in this world."
The voice was neither male nor female. It was layered—echoing, emotionless, ancient.
Li Wei raised the Diendriver. "Who are you?"
The figure took another step. "One who observes. One who judges. You—Li Wei—are an anomaly that must be tested."
He lunged forward. The Rider cards began to glow.
But the Envoy didn't strike.
They reached out.
A single hand touched his chest.
The sensation was cold, yet immense. His entire being seemed to still. The Diendriver flickered, then dimmed. Beneath his shirt, something seared—an unseen mark, a sigil that glowed faintly with a silver light.
"The Chrono Archive has marked you."
The Envoy withdrew. "You are not yet condemned. But fate… will continue watching you."
The void cracked.
Light poured through. The mist shattered.
Li Wei gasped as he collapsed onto damp soil. The scent of moss and morning dew hit him. Birds chirped in the distance. Leaves rustled.
The forest had returned.
He clutched at his chest. The mark was fading—but it had been real.
He lay there, staring at the canopy, wondering just how deep the roots of fate went.
And whether he could truly walk this path… without breaking it.