"Gah!?"
A heavy thud rang out. However, it wasn't the sound of Yugo's chest being pierced by Rush.
Rush, who had been lunging for the kill, let out a pathetic squawk as the impact caught him full in the face, sending him skidding across the ground.
Why? How? He was the one on the offensive, so how was he the one who had been hit? No, more importantly—
"W-why am I taking this much damage? Scum Yugo’s attacks weren’t supposed to work on me...!"
The fact that Yugo had landed a perfect counter certainly played a part. But even accounting for that, there was no way he should be reeling like this.
Even a fist infused with maximum Magic Power hadn't caused him a flicker of pain earlier. Why, then, had Yugo just blown him away? As Rush stood there in a daze, unable to grasp the situation, Yugo spoke while flicking his right hand.
"...You're light, you know. No matter how hard you hit, your punches have no weight. That’s why I’m not scared. That's why I don't feel like I'll lose. Me knocking you on your ass just now is proof enough."
"Don't... screw with me! Don't get cocky just because you landed one lucky shot! I'll finish you off for sure this time!!"
Rush didn't know what trick Yugo had pulled, but it didn't matter.
As long as he didn't let his guard down, as long as he landed that one final strike, the fight would be over.
The Blaster was already in pieces. There was no way Yugo could keep fighting like that.
Determined to end Yugo once and for all, Rush lunged again. But the moment his strike met the fist of the seemingly broken boy, he was paralyzed by an agonizing pain that ground his momentum to a halt.
"Guah!? Ga... hah...?"
"Ooooooooooh!!"
Yugo dodged Rush's thrust and drove a fist into his stomach. A dull, heavy shockwave rocked Rush's entire body.
Without letting up, Yugo swung his left fist into the monster's face. The punch resonated through the hardened carapace, vibrating deep into the internal body and dealing massive damage.
"Aguh, aaah...!! What? Why? Why am I hurting?! What did you do, Yugo Clay?!"
It made no sense. He couldn't comprehend it.
It wasn't a reinforcement of Magic Power. Purely and simply... he was being physically overpowered.
But that was impossible. There was no way his carapace could lose to the metal used in the Blaster, an outdated Magic Item.
And yet, the reality was that Rush was reeling, and the damage he was taking was far from shallow.
Just what kind of magic trick was he using? In fact, Rush was the only one there who didn't understand what was happening.
"...I never imagined there was a way to fight like that!"
As Marcos watched with an expression of pure astonishment, Yugo drove another fist into Rush.
He aimed for the chest. Because Rush was overconfident in his defense, he had left himself wide open. The moment Yugo's straight punch connected, his fist became encased in a solid block of black iron.
The rest of the armor covering Yugo’s body had all but disappeared.
However, the armor hadn't simply broken. It was providing Yugo with the power to carve a path toward defeating the atrocious Magic Armor Beast.
"The Blaster is a Magic Item that uses Magic Power to fix Micro-particle Metal into the shape of armor. By concentrating that metal into an extremely compressed state at the exact moment of impact, he's transforming it into a substance with a hardness that exceeds Rush's carapace...!"
"To think of a strategy like that at the very last second...! With this, we can—!!"
"...No. It's still... not enough!"
It was a brilliant solution to bypass the invulnerable shell, found in the heat of a desperate struggle.
Melt and the others felt a surge of hope watching Yugo discard his defense to go on the ultimate offensive, but Fee, the technician, saw the hard limit approaching.
It was true that this style allowed him to damage Rush. However, it wouldn't be enough to finish him.
No matter how desperately Yugo reinforced the Micro-particle Metal, a blade will still chip if it strikes something hard enough. The metal covering Yugo's fists was shattering with every blow.
He was literally running out of material. Before Rush could be defeated, the Blaster's Micro-particle Metal would be completely depleted.
Yugo had no other way to strengthen his attacks. Even after pushing himself this far, he was still coming up short against Rush's monstrous durability.
"Big brother, I'm sorry...! If only I had improved the Blaster more...!"
If he had only provided a larger volume of Micro-particle Metal, they might have won this fight.
Fee collapsed, tears streaming down his face as he cursed his own failure to judge his brother’s true potential.
If his brother died here, it would be his fault. If he had only improved the Blaster to draw out Yugo's true strength, things never would have come to this.
As Fee was consumed by a wave of self-reproach, a voice called out to him.
"...What's with that face, Fee? It's like you think I'm going to lose."
"Eh...?"