"Haa... haa... haa...! Wh-what on earth was that? That thing just now...!"
Around that same time, a young man was sprinting through the woods near the care facility.
After confirming no one was around, he leaned against a nearby tree, his mind racing as he replayed the sights he had just witnessed.
"A person turned into a Magic Armor Beast? A human clad in the power of a monster? What the hell was that...?"
The young man, Rush Winhelm, muttered in a trembling voice.
He was reeling from the shock of seeing such a thing while on the mission Zenon had given him to monitor Yugo. However, that wasn't what had truly shaken him.
It was Yugo's dignified, overwhelming display of power against that mysterious monster.
"Against a monster like that... not only did he not retreat a single step, he actually won! That Yugo... that Scum... how can he be that strong? There’s no way...!"
Faced with a mysterious creature that even Rush—who considered himself brave—had feared, Yugo had charged in gallantly. He had struck it down without a hint of fear, paying no mind to his own injuries.
Witnessing that combat style and the brilliant victory that followed, Rush’s hands shook violently. He was forced to confront the reality of Yugo’s true strength—a strength he had desperately convinced himself was nothing more than a product of foul play.
Yugo was strong. He was likely stronger than Rush himself.
Rush had seen the heroic figure of a man who displayed such power that it was a miracle Zenon had ever managed to defeat him. But his pride refused to let him admit it.
"There’s no way I... there’s no way I could lose! The only reason Scum Yugo won was because he cheated! If we fought fairly, I’d be... I would be the one...!"
He was supposed to uncover the secret of Yugo’s trickery, but instead, Rush had been backed into a corner where he had no choice but to acknowledge Yugo's raw capability. He groaned in agony, his mind a whirlwind of conflict.
Zenon’s words echoed in his head. The assurance that he was stronger than Yugo. The promise that he would surely win if the fight was fair.
Rush had been propping up his heart—which had been on the verge of shattering from the humiliation of his previous defeat—by clinging to those words and the hope that Yugo was a fraud. Now, those very same words were torturing him.
"I’m supposed to be strong. There’s no way I could lose to such Scum...!"
His misfortune lay in being captivated by the Unreasonable Charisma possessed by the Protagonist, Zenon. Because of that influence, he had become fundamentally incapable of correctly evaluating the strength of the Villain, Yugo.
If Zenon hadn't ordered him to spy on Yugo, he wouldn't have seen this battle.
Even if he had seen it, if Zenon hadn't spent so much time imprinting the idea that Yugo was cheating Scum and that Rush was the superior fighter, he might have been able to honestly acknowledge Yugo’s growth.
In a way, Rush and Marcos were very similar. They had both lost a Duel to Yugo and had both lost their way afterward.
The sole and greatest difference was the state of their hearts and the people they encountered in their moment of weakness.
At the very least, Marcos hadn't run away.
That was why, even while struggling through the pain of being confronted by the gap between himself and Yugo, Marcos had been able to gradually accept it. This incident had given him the push he needed to embrace his own weakness.
But Rush couldn't do that.
He didn't harbor the negative emotion of jealousy—which is born from at least acknowledging the other person's worth—but rather a pure, toxic mixture of condescension and hatred. He simply could not recognize Yugo as someone stronger than himself.
Yet, facts were facts. The reality he had stared directly at refused to let him look away.
Unable to prepare his heart to accept the truth and given no time to process it, Rush was overtaken by intense palpitations. It felt as if everything he believed in was turning to ash.
He didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to lose. Yugo was Scum. The Protagonist, Zenon, had said so.
It was impossible for him to be inferior to a man like that...
Just as the negative emotions in Rush's heart reached a boiling point—
"I like it. You're quite good."
"Eh...!?"
Suddenly, a voice echoed through the trees.
Startled, Rush spun around and let out a strangled scream. A Hooded Figure was standing right beside him.
Their face was hidden, their height was obscured by the cloak, and even the voice was an ambiguous pitch that made it impossible to tell if the speaker was male or female.
Rush was paralyzed by the sudden appearance of this mysterious individual, but he cried out when he noticed a second person standing just behind them.
"Th-this guy is...!"
"W-wait, pleathe help me...! I’ll do better next time...! Th-tho pleathe...!!"
He recognized the face of the man who was sobbing and begging for mercy.
It was the man Yugo and the others had just defeated—the one who had transformed into that Magic Armor Beast.
Several of his teeth were missing, likely from the force of Yugo’s final kick, but his features were unmistakable.
Rush stood there in a daze, glancing back and forth between the two. The Hooded Figure spoke again.
"You really are excellent. You're exactly the kind of talent I'm looking for. Honestly, when the talent I first had my eye on underwent Purification, I wondered what I would do. I never imagined I'd stumble upon someone with even greater Aptitude. I'm quite lucky."
"W-what do you mean? Who... who are you...?"
Rush stammered, but the stranger didn't answer. Instead, they held something out to him.
It was a pair of Scissors, deep black and twisted into the shape of a crab's pincers. One look was enough to tell they were sinister. As Rush took them in a daze, the mysterious figure glided right next to him. They guided Rush's hand, forcing his fingers around the handle of the Black Crab Scissors, and then opened the blades so the begging man was framed between them.
"You saw it too, didn't you? That man is Scum who tried to kill children. I'm also a bit annoyed that my precious prototype was ruined. So... you understand, right?"
"Wait! Pleathe, thtop!!"
Rush knew exactly what was about to happen.
However, his body wouldn't obey him. He kept his arm raised, held in place by the Hooded Figure’s guiding touch.
Satisfied, the figure let out a soft sigh and touched the blades.
"And... snip."
"Aba...!?"
The figure closed the scissors with a sharp click, like a director snapping a clapperboard to start a scene.
In the next moment, the man’s muffled scream was cut short. When the blades opened again, he was gone.
The only thing remaining was a dark red pool of blood on the forest floor.
"...I'll give those to you. I'll have to start raising it again from scratch, but you're a much more promising specimen. If you keep giving it bait like you just did, it'll grow stronger and stronger."
"Wh-what happened to... that man...?"
"I told you, didn't I? I gave it bait. That's all. But don't let it bother you. He was just Scum, after all. A fitting end for a piece of trash, don't you think?"
The Hooded Figure spoke with chilling casualness as they stepped away from Rush.
Standing directly in front of him now, the figure exuded an aura that seemed to peer into his very soul.
"You are strong. I simply gave you the tool you need to prove it. There is nothing to fear. Just accept it."
"But... if it's bait, that means people...!"
"That's right. So what? Sacrifices are inherent to achieving anything great, aren't they? Besides, you've already done it once. Whether it's ten people or twenty, it's all the same, isn't it?"
"No way...! But, something this dangerous...!"
"I know, I know. But think about it. The opponent you want to defeat is using some kind of cheat-like trickery, isn't he? If that's the case, you have to use your own shortcuts. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a fair fight, would it? Am I wrong?"
"......!"
The Hooded Figure saw through Rush's heart with terrifying accuracy.
More accurately, they were intimately familiar with the Darkness of the Heart. They knew exactly which words to say and how to exploit the negative emotions that humans harbor.
Manipulating someone like Rush was child's play for them.
"Well, how you use it is up to you. If you can't make up your mind, why don't you ask that hero you Trust so much? I'm sure he'll give you the push you need. Now, if you'll excuse me."
"Ah...!"
With those final words, the Hooded Figure vanished in the blink of an eye.
Left alone, Rush stared down at the Black Crab Scissors in his hand and swallowed hard.
"Power...! With this, I can... Scum Yugo...!"
As he stared into the sinister depths of the weapon, the first flickers of madness began to take root in his eyes.