"The sound is coming from... this way!"
To step back slightly to the moment Ryuga was preparing to engage Rielle, Yugo was also sprinting through the Insect Museum in desperate search of his brother.
In the midst of his run, the clamor of intense combat and the frantic cries of children reached his ears. He immediately changed course, dashing toward the source of the noise.
Fee might be there—but even if he wasn’t, Yugo knew he couldn't abandon people in peril. He pushed himself harder until he skidded to a halt, his breath hitching at the scene before him. There, locked in combat with a black beetle-like Magic Armor Beast, was Uno.
"Heh heh heh...! I'll grant you that you possess considerable skill. However, it's a pity. While I am unencumbered, you are saddled with an excessively heavy, oversized load. If you weren't protecting all that baggage, this might have actually been a decent match...!"
"Urgh...!"
Uno grimaced at the creature's mockery. Dark red blood pulsed steadily from a deep wound in his leg.
Yugo’s eyes shifted to the sobbing children huddled nearby. He realized instantly that Uno had been wounded while acting as their shield. Yugo’s fists tightened.
Even with student guards present, fighting while protecting such a large group from the Elementary Division must have been an agonizing struggle. Still, Yugo could see that the number of half-human, half-insect monsters surrounding the group had decreased significantly; Uno had clearly fought like a demon. Without a moment’s hesitation, Yugo charged at the monsters as they slowly tightened their circle around the children.
"Not on my watch, you bastards!"
"Vuvu!?"
With a few steps of a head start, Yugo leaped.
Having mastered the technique of reinforcing his physical body with Magic Power, Yugo used his built-up momentum to send one of the monsters flying with a powerful kick.
He didn't even deploy his Blaster. Instead, he systematically struck down the monsters that shifted their focus from the children to him. Once the immediate path was clear, he stepped in front of the Magic Armor Beast, shielding the wounded teacher.
"Teacher, are you all right!?"
"Clay! You’re a lifesaver! Get back—I’ll handle this one. You take the children to a safe—"
"You can't do anything with that leg! I'll take this guy on. Teacher, you stay here and protect the kids!!"
Uno tried to force himself up, his eyes filled with gratitude for the rescue. However, even the slightest effort caused blood to spray from the gash in his leg. Yugo held him back with a firm hand while glaring at the Magic Armor Beast.
As a teacher, Uno felt he couldn't leave such a dangerous battle to a student, but when he looked at Yugo’s profile—the face of a boy asking to be trusted—he stopped. Though his expression twisted with the agony of his own perceived inadequacy, he relented, focusing instead on treating his wound and guarding the children.
"Oh, marvelous...! To defeat my evolved underlings without even using a Magic Item... you truly are a promising specimen...!"
"That voice... No way. You're that insect maniac from earlier...!?"
"Correct. Here, let me return to a form you're familiar with."
With a mocking chuckle, the beetle-like Magic Armor Beast deactivated its transformation. Trill stood there, wearing a meaningful smile.
Yugo was visibly shaken. The man he had just become acquainted with was the mastermind behind this nightmare. Seeing his shock, Trill posed a question.
"You have potential. Not just the skill you displayed just now, but the sheer grit required to stand against me alone without flinching. Tell me, what do you say? Why not join us? You surely have the aptitude to become a Superior Species That Transcends Humans!"
Trill had clearly taken a liking to Yugo. He was genuinely inviting him to abandon his humanity and become a Magic Armor Beast like them.
Yugo didn't answer the invitation. Instead, he countered with a question of his own.
"...Why would you do something like this? When we talked earlier, you seemed a bit eccentric, but you didn't seem like the kind of person who would do something this horrific. So why—?"
"Heh, heh heh...! You’re right. I wasn't the kind of man to do something so 'outrageous.' However... I have moved beyond humanity. I have achieved evolution into a Superior Species!"
The Trill who had spoken so passionately and cheerfully about bugs had been a weirdo, but he hadn't felt evil. Now, as Yugo demanded to know why he was hurting innocent people, Trill let out a loud laugh that dissolved into a self-mocking sneer.
"It's a story from the past. My sister and I were scholars. We spent our lives researching biological evolution. We completed a thesis and presented it to the world... but those stubborn, vulgar old fossils refused to acknowledge our groundbreaking New Academic Theory! They used their authority to corner us, branded us as lunatics, and spread rumors until our reputations were in tatters. Expelled from academia and stripped of our standing, we made a vow. We would prove we were right. And then, as the strong, we would eradicate those old fossils!"
Trill’s fists shook violently as he recounted his past. The memory of the humiliation and suffering he had endured seemed to vibrate through his body. A crazed smile suddenly split his face as he looked at Yugo.
"And now, we have transcended humanity! We used that humiliation as fuel to achieve true evolution! We weren't wrong! Now, we can finally show those old fossils the magnitude of their own stupidity and sin!!"
"...That doesn't answer my question. Even if your goal is revenge, that's no reason to attack children or the people visiting this museum. If you had gone after the people who kicked you out of your field, I might not condone it, but I could at least understand it. But you attacked innocent children. Why?"
"It’s a simple matter of efficiency. By ingesting the growth hormones found in children, we may be able to achieve even further evolution. For that goal, the lives of many children are a necessary resource. The weak exist only to be fodder for the strong—that is one of the few lessons I actually learned from those old fossils. We were the weak once, and that is how they treated us. Now that we are the strong, what’s wrong with us doing the same?"
"...I see. So that’s your final answer."
Yugo groaned, a fire smoldering in his eyes. He stared directly at the man who had cast aside his humanity, his voice dripping with quiet, cold fury.
"I know a Beetle That Evolves Faster Than Light. He told me once: Children Are Treasures. He said the most sinful person in the world is the one who dares to harm those treasures. I happen to agree with him. You crossed a line that should never be crossed! Power is meant to be used to protect things, isn't it!? You keep talking about evolution and transcending humanity, but the fact that the first thing you did with that power was bully the weak proves you haven't grown at all!"
"You certainly have a mouth on you. I take it that's a 'no' to my invitation? A real shame. I'm sure you'll regret that decision very soon."
"...I won't. Not for a second."
Yugo clenched his left fist, channeling Magic Power into it as he pulled his arm back to his waist. Holding his right hand slightly open in front of his face, he issued a final declaration to the watching Trill.
"I know one more rhinoceros beetle. He was a hero who never buckled, no matter how much pain or hardship he faced. He was a man who fought to the bitter end, even when it meant sacrificing himself—a hero far stronger than you’ll ever be. And he said, 'I Fight Because I Love People'...! If you’re going to use the power of hatred to hurt others, then I’ll use my power to protect them! On behalf of everyone here who can't fight... I'm going to stop you!"
"Amusing! Give it your best shot! You'll realize how reckless you're being soon enough!"
With that roar, Trill shifted back into his Magic Armor Beast form.
Yugo watched as the creature clad itself in jet-black armor, a majestic horn protruding from its head. Then, as if revealing his own ultimate trump card, Yugo turned his right hand over. Light erupted from the bracelet on his left arm, and as he dashed toward the radiance, he screamed the command:
"Transform!!"