"Ngh!?"
The Bat Man grunted as he caught Jinba’s slash with his forearms at the last second, then sprang backward.
Landing with the weightless grace of a bat, the creature faced Jinba’s glare and let out a short, nasal snort before speaking.
"Well, well... if it isn't Jinba. It’s been a long time since I killed your partner, hasn't it?"
"I haven't forgotten that voice for a single second! I knew you'd come crawling back to this city eventually, Regen!"
As if spurred by Jinba’s shout, the Bat Man deactivated his form.
His lithe, monstrous frame dissolved, replaced by a stout, morbidly obese man wearing a greasy smirk.
"And when did you find your way back? I thought you’d been demoted and exiled to some backwater."
"My career is none of your concern. Today, right here, I’m dragging you back to rot in a cell!"
"Hahahaha! You’ve got a lot of nerve for someone who couldn't catch me for over ten years! I’ll admit, you and your partner gave me a bitter taste of defeat back then... but none of that matters now."
As Regen spoke, he spread his arms, and the thugs who had been rampaging nearby began to gather around him.
With his subordinates flanking him, Regen looked at Jinba with a triumphant expression.
"While you and your Security Force were busy failing to find me, I rebuilt the syndicate! Not only that, I’ve gained the power to become a monster! Right now, only a handful of us have it, but once every last one of my men is transformed, the world will be mine!"
"Regen! You haven't changed a bit since the old days. You’re still the same nauseating piece of scum!"
"Say whatever you like, Jinba! I’m going to snatch up every child I can and rake in the gold just like I used to! And I’ll do it with this... Birdcage!"
Regen held up a Magic Item and slightly cracked open the door of the birdcage.
The cries of children pleading for help drifted out from within. Yugo and the others realized that an unimaginable number of victims were trapped inside that device, and their fists tightened in shared rage.
"You remember, don't you? My Magic Item’s ability to seal targets inside its own sub-space..."
"Yes... the most despicable Magic Item in existence! The one Thomas gave his life to destroy! You actually repaired it!?"
"Kuhahahaha! Which means your partner died for nothing! It’s your own fault for being part of a pathetic Security Force that couldn't catch me for a decade, Jinba!"
"Y-You bastard!"
Driven beyond his breaking point by the mockery, Jinba charged again with his sword raised.
But just as he rushed toward his nemesis, a razor-sharp blade burst from the earth beneath him, shredding his unprotected leg.
"Ngh! Gwah!?"
"Jinba-san!"
His leg mangled, Jinba collapsed forward.
Regen watched him fall, laughing loudly as he clapped his hands.
"Getting so worked up that you lose sight of your surroundings... it’s just like that day, isn't it, Jinba?"
"Guh... ugh...!"
Beside the evilly grinning Regen, something surfaced from the ground.
A humanoid shark-like Magic Armor Beast rose from the soil, its teeth glinting as it licked the blood from its fin with savage delight.
"You even have men hiding underground...!"
"That’s right. And I have more subordinates who have yet to reveal their beast forms. Once I use them and this Birdcage to make my fortune, I’ll buy even more power! If I keep that cycle going, this city will be mine in no time. I can't stop laughing! Nahahahaha!"
Regen threw his head back and roared with laughter, joined by his men.
Satisfied that he had achieved his goal of capturing the children, he gave an order to the shark-like subordinate and began to retreat.
"Geo, have some fun with them. I don't care if you carve up a few of them before you're done."
"Hihihihi! Thank you, Boss! I won't hold back!"
Splash! Geo dove headfirst into the stone-paved street as if it were water, his dorsal fin glowing with a lethal light as he sped toward Jinba.
Just before the black-scaled monster’s weapon could strike the injured man, Yugo shoved Jinba aside. While tracking the creature’s movements through the earth, Yugo shouted back to the captain.
"Jinba-san, are you okay!?"
"Yeah...! But my leg is shot. Sorry, I won't be moving for a while."
Jinba gasped, clutching his bleeding leg.
Yugo nodded. He looked at the Security Force, who were struggling against Geo, and clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked. He felt his Magic Power surge to its limit.
Detecting the shift in energy, Geo’s dorsal fin banked toward him. As the predator closed in, Yugo roared at the top of his lungs.
"Trans... form!"