"The law of victory is determined!"
Finally, it was Sento's turn to speak.
With a thundering roar, War Rabbit—in Tank-Tank form—charged forward like a juggernaut, fists clenched, fury unleashed.
"You're here to get beaten—and I've waited long enough!"
Each blow was fueled by bottled-up emotion and the lines he had been holding back for far too long.
"What's wrong with believing in ideals?!"
"Yes—love and peace sound weak in this world—"
"—but even so, I'll fight for them!"
"Because love and peace aren't given—they're built by people! Together! Through belief!"
As he shouted, the Build Driver spun into overdrive.
[Tank! Jet! Gatling! Rocket!]
[UltimateMatchDesu!]
[UltimateMatchBreak!]
He loaded four full bottles, reaching the maximum load capacity of the Full Bottle Destroyer.
"Let's end this!"
With the Rabbit-Tank Broken Ice bottle locked in, he slammed it into the Full Bottle Destroyer with a defiant roar.
[FullFullMatchDesu!]
His armor shifted. His legs transformed into tank treads, his shoulder armor into rotating turrets, and he stormed around Rogue, encircling him with devastating fire.
[FullFullMatchBreak!]
The onslaught was cataclysmic.
Having already endured six finishers that day, Rogue finally buckled. His transformation broke with a burst of sparks and smoke. The battle was over.
Kiryu Sento had won.
With Grease having won the first match, and Rogue now defeated, the third round—Ryuga's—was unnecessary.
East Capital had won the representative battle.
Though, as with most things in this war... victory didn't mean peace.
The Awakening of Bellnage
As East celebrated a short-lived triumph, chaos unfolded behind the scenes.
During the representative battle, Stalk had stolen both Pandora's Box and nearly all the Full Bottles kept in the East Capital government's vault. With less than ten bottles left between Sento, Ryuga, and Kazumi, the balance of power had tipped dangerously.
Stalk's next move came swiftly. At the convergence of the three capitals, he began constructing a massive tower—Pandora's Tower.
Its purpose was simple: once completed with all sixty full bottles, it would open Pandora's Box and unleash world-ending power.
And with the tower's construction came an unexpected side effect: the awakening of a soul that had slept in Misora's bracelet.
In the quiet of the café, Misora's eyes flickered with a brilliant green light.
"My name is Bellnage—Princess of Mars."
She sat up, radiating an aura of dignity and calm power.
Sayu nervously poured her a cup of coffee.
"I don't know if this suits a Martian's taste…"
Bellnage took one sip—and grimaced.
"Terrible. Out of my sight, girl."
Sayu slumped away, devastated.
"Hold on," Ryuga interjected, "You're from Mars but still speak fluent Japanese?"
"I've lived on Earth for seven years. Even idiots pick up a language by then." Bellnage pulled a dictionary from who-knows-where.
She looked toward Sento and the others, voice calm.
"My body was destroyed long ago. My soul remains—barely."
"Centuries ago, Evolto annihilated Martian civilization."
Sento blinked. "Evolto?"
"The boss," Ryuga replied flatly.
Everyone turned to him, confused.
"You know who he is?" Bellnage asked sharply.
"I do. I'm part of Evolto."
"OH?!" x3
Ryuga shrugged. "When Pandora's Tower started forming, some kind of memory got triggered. Turns out… Evolto split off part of his genes when an unmanned rover landed on Mars decades ago. Those genes hitched a ride to Earth."
"They ended up in a woman—who gave birth to me. But I didn't have memories or powers back then. Now… some of it's coming back."
Sayu's jaw dropped. "You find out you're not human and react like it's a weather report?!"
"You said it, not me."
"Ha! So you're not human after all!" Kazumi shouted. "No wonder I can never beat you!"
"Shut it. Even aliens are people—and you can't beat me because your technique's garbage!"
Sento folded his arms. "That explains how your danger level rose so fast…"
Bellnage smiled faintly, studying Ryuga.
"It seems… you'll become our hope."
Ryuga narrowed his eyes. He could feel her scanning his energy—probing deeper—but thanks to his disguise system, even Bellnage couldn't get a full read.
Eventually, her power faded. Her head slumped—straight onto Kazumi's shoulder.
"Ah! Mi-tan!" Kazumi shouted, heart racing. Without hesitation, he pulled out his wallet.
"What's the price?! Name it!"
"Two hundred thousand," Sayu said flatly, supporting Misora.
The Deal with the Devil
Just as they were getting their bearings, Sento's phone rang.
"Hello?"
"The Prime Minister of East Capital has been captured by Western forces."
Sento's expression darkened. "What?!"
Before he could respond, another call came—this time from the one man he least wanted to hear from.
"Enjoying your little win, Kiryu?"
"Stalk," Sento growled. "What do you want?"
"Let's make a trade. Give us the Evol Driver, and we'll give you Prime Minister Higashiyama back."
"What the hell is the Evol Driver?"
"The prototype of the Build Driver. The only device in the world of its kind."
"It was badly damaged. Your father repaired it. But then the old you, Katsuragi, hid it."
"You've got 24 hours. Bring it to Dock A9, or the Prime Minister dies."
The call cut off.
Sento stood frozen, phone still in hand.
"Damn it… what does Katsuragi's handiwork have to do with me? Where the hell do I even look?!"
"I might know," Ryuga said.
Sento looked up, surprised. "How? That was Katsuragi's secret, not Evolto's. You wouldn't have known."
Ryuga waved him off. "Wasn't from my memory. Remember when Sayu was still spying? I swept the base for bugs and found something stashed deep inside the purification chamber."
"It looked like a busted Build Driver. I thought you were hiding it, so I left it alone."
Sayu laughed nervously from the corner.
"Ahem… yeah, about that…"