Kouji leads an elite team, including TRY3, on a mission to infiltrate Ryuzu's lab to retrieve both his Depend Cards and the units that he had summoned from Cray. There, the group is separated due to the efforts of Ryuzu's security robots led by a young boy named Hiroki Moriyama, a member of the "Company". Chrono and Kouji are furthered separated from Kamui, Tokoha, and Shion; those three wind up in battles against the other Company members, which consists of the enigmatic Sousuke Wakamizu, the Dark Zone branch chief Satoru Enishi, and Shouma. Meanwhile, Chrono and Kouji come face-to-face with Ryuzu. He reveals his ambition to gather specific units called the Zodiac Time Beasts to open the Stride Gate, which he believes will perfect the world. Ultimately, the Company successfully stalls for enough time to transport the Time Beasts to another location and escape. However, due to the accumulative side effects from summoning the Time Beasts, Ryuzu dies but not before giving his last words: "For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again."
