Jet-black armor surged around Yugo's body, enveloping him in a flash of crimson light.
He lunged head-on at Trill, shifting his right arm into a drill and driving it straight into the Magic Armor Beast’s carapace.
"Drill Arm! Hyaaah!"
"Ha! Naive—so naive!"
Trill didn't even try to dodge. He took the grinding, roaring tip of the drill point-blank.
Though the drill was composed of micro-particle metal, it couldn't bite into his transformed body. It screeched against the hardened shell before being violently repelled.
"Tch! You’ve got to be kidding me...!"
"Is that all? Then it’s my turn!"
Yugo clicked his tongue. The Drill Arm had pulverized Bull Golems, yet it hadn't left so much as a scratch on this monster.
Trill let out a mocking laugh at the reaction. Raising his straight sword, he brought the massive weapon down in a savage assault.
"Nngh! Haaah!"
"Hup! Ha!"
Yugo rhythmically evaded a series of overhead Cleaves and thrusts. The blows were powerful, but as he danced through the onslaught, he carefully analyzed his opponent’s movements to plan his next move.
(His carapace is a threat, but his speed is nothing special. Compared to Ryuga, his swordplay is purely amateur.)
Trill’s raw power was staggering; a single direct hit would be disastrous. However, perhaps because he relied too much on brute force, his movements were sluggish. He was easy to read and even easier to dodge.
Thinking back to Ryuga—the strongest swordsman, whose strikes were nearly impossible to track with the naked eye—Yugo felt a surge of confidence. He began to piece together a winning strategy.
(It’s too early to burn through the Flame Armor since it has a time limit. And rather than a head-on power struggle with the Purple Armor, the standard Blaster is better for finding openings. But still...)
The problem remained: how to break that shell?
To land a decisive blow, he had to shatter the glossy black armor Trill took such pride in. But if even the Drill Arm—the perfect tool for piercing such defenses—couldn't manage it, he was short on options.
Normally, there were ways to fight an opponent like this. Yugo decided that to break Trill’s spirit, he needed to destroy the very thing the monster placed absolute trust in. He came up with a plan and decided to bet everything on it.
"Fuuuuuuu...!"
Exhaling slowly, he narrowed his focus, channeling magic power into his left fist.
Trill noticed Yugo had stopped moving and sensed he was preparing something. However, convinced that nothing could possibly breach his shell, he relied on his absolute defense and swung his sword down.
"I’ve got you now!"
Even with the blade bearing down on him, Yugo didn't flinch.
Just as the sluggish blade was about to connect, he thrust his left fist forward, driving a twisting punch deep into Trill’s midsection.
"Ngh...!?"
A groan escaped Trill’s lips as a sudden, massive shock racked his body.
Despite the sheer weight of his armored frame, he was sent sliding backward under the force of Yugo’s straight punch. Even so, Trill managed a smug grin.
"Heh... you had something up your sleeve, but it seems it was all for nothing. No matter what you try, you can’t break my carapace!"
Yugo’s thrust had been reinforced with magic, yet it seemed to have done little damage.
Trill sneered at what he saw as a pathetic effort, but beneath his helmet, Yugo’s lips curled into a fearless smile.
"Is that right? Why don't you take a good look at your gut?"
"What...? No... how!?"
Following the cryptic prompt, Trill looked down at his abdomen. His breath hitched in a stunned gasp at the sight of the cracks spiderwebbing across the surface.
He had only been hit by a single punch. He couldn't comprehend how his armor—which could turn aside steel blades—had been damaged like this. Yugo filled in the blanks for him.
"Ever heard of a technique called a 'Backing Strike'? It’s a bit of a wild concept, but by delivering two impacts within a single thrust, you force the shockwave deeper and harder into the target's body. Normally, it’s not something a guy with my level of training could pull off... but with a little trick, it looks like this."
It was a technique straight out of a shonen manga—striking twice in an instant to create an impact powerful enough to shatter the target from the inside.
Yugo had replicated that feat, which usually required a lifetime of mastery, by using magic power.
He hadn't channeled the magic into his fist to increase the physical power of the punch. Instead, he had concentrated it so it would detonate against the enemy’s body an instant after the physical contact, creating a pseudo double strike.
"O-oh... ahh...!? M-my armor... my absolute defense...!"
The realization that his pride and joy had been breached sent a massive shock through Trill’s mind.
The physical damage was still relatively shallow, but the mental blow was devastating. His confidence crumbled. Seizing the opening, Yugo surged forward in a relentless pursuit.
"Uooooohhhhh!"
"Gugh! Nngh!?"
Seeing Yugo’s right arm shift back into a drill, Trill reflexively raised his buckler.
But Yugo had seen that coming. Using the Drill Arm as a decoy, he dropped into a low slide and kicked Trill squarely in the knee joint.
"Agh!?"
No matter how thick the armor, a joint forced the wrong way causes a pain quite different from a blunt strike.
As Trill staggered back, paralyzed by the agonizing sensation of his bones nearly snapping, Yugo finally drove his right-hand drill into the cracks in the monster's carapace.
"Gaaaaah! Guaaaaaaah!"
This time, the drill didn't bounce off. With its tip already wedged into the cracks, it exerted its full, terrible power.
The rotating bit bored deep into the Magic Armor Beast, shattering the shell and gouging a massive hole that exposed the flesh beneath. Trill let out a high-pitched scream of pure agony.
"Wh-what are you...? Just what are you? I’ve transcended humanity to become a superior being... so how can you corner me like this? Who...!?"
"I’m nothing as grand as what you’re thinking. I’m no superior species. If I had to put a label on it, I’m just—"
Trill looked up, clutching his throbbing wound. The arrogance that had defined him at the start of the fight had vanished entirely.
Breathing heavily and trembling, he growled his desperate question at the young man who had broken him. Yugo gave his answer.