With his black, soot-colored body and a thicket of needle-like spines, Gabejin was the literal image of a sea urchin, no matter the angle.
While Ryuga maintained a quiet, composed expression despite facing an opponent who looked nothing like a "Mad Dog," Gabejin chuckled darkly.
"Kukuku… I wasn’t given this name because of my looks! Besides, I only acquired this power recently!"
Gabejin stepped forward slowly, locking eyes with Ryuga.
Maintaining a safe distance, Gabejin suddenly snapped his eyes wide. He threw his arms up to eye level and bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Eat this! Needle Blast!"
With the shout, a relentless stream of black needles erupted from his fingertips.
Ryuga swept the incoming projectiles aside with Ryuo-ga, but Gabejin showed no sign of stopping, continuing the barrage without a moment's pause.
"Haha! How’s that?! Let’s see how long you can keep that up!"
"Yeah! Get him, Gabejin! Turn that brat into a pincushion!"
The spines Gabejin unleashed seemed to follow no concept of ammunition or limits. Each needle was roughly the size of a human finger, and they hissed through the air with the rapid-fire intensity of a Gatling gun.
Watching Ryuga forced into a purely defensive stance, Gimol gripped his fists in triumph. It was the first time he had seen the swordsman struggle.
As Gimol marveled at the power of a human transformed into a Magic Armor Beast—a power personally recognized by their boss, Regen—Gabejin continued to scream over the noise of the projectiles.
"The reason they call me the Mad Dog is because of what I do to the bodies! I tear them apart until they’re nothing but a bloody mess! Men, women, kids, the elderly—I leave them all looking like they were mauled by a pack of hounds! I’ll do the exact same to you and everyone hiding in that hospital!"
Boasting of his gruesome origin, Gabejin increased the firing speed even further.
The civilians watching the battle from the sidelines trembled in despair. Some covered their mouths in horror, while others squeezed their eyes shut, unable to watch the hero they relied on being driven into a corner.
"I’m going to riddle you with holes! I'll turn you into mincemeat! And then, I’ll shred what's left! I can’t wait to see what your corpse looks like when—nuguh!?"
Gabejin’s sadistic rant was cut short by the sensation of something slamming into his face. The impact forced his words back down his throat and halted his assault.
Staggering back several steps, he glanced at the ground and saw one of his own black needles rolling at his feet.
"You bastard… you reflected my own spine!?"
Gabejin stared in disbelief. While parrying the storm of needles with his katana, Ryuga had exploited a split-second opening to swat one back with pinpoint accuracy.
However, the villain quickly recovered his bravado and sneered.
"Nice try! But my defense is harder than anything! You might have been desperate enough to reflect one needle, but a little prick like that won’t be a fatal wound!"
"......"
"Besides, you’re an amateur! When I stopped my attack, you should have closed the distance. That was your only chance at winning, and you threw it away! This is why I hate dealing with brats. You don't know the first thing about real combat!"
The sea urchin-like black carapace possessed a robustness that matched its jagged appearance. Gabejin boasted that even his own needles wouldn't be enough to damage him, mocking Ryuga for remaining stationary instead of seizing the opening.
Faced with the villain's taunts, Ryuga simply replied with cold indifference.
"...The only one who understands nothing here is you. Perhaps you should trade the 'Mad Dog' moniker for 'Mongrel.'"
"Huh? What was that!?"
Gabejin’s face twisted in rage at the counter-provocation. Raising his arms again, he unleashed a fresh barrage of needles, screaming at the top of his lungs.
"I’m going to kill you! I’ll pin you to the ground and make you the biggest mess I've ever made!"
He wouldn't stop this time. No matter what happened, he would keep firing until his opponent’s heart stopped beating.
Gabejin poured everything into the rapid-fire assault, but the moment Ryuga exhaled and swept his blade in a single arc, every single needle was blown away by a sheer wall of sword pressure.
"What!?"
Stunned by the effortless neutralization of his signature move, Gabejin froze, his barrage faltering.
Ryuga began to walk toward him with measured, dignified steps. As he approached, he spoke of his companions, highlighting the villain's lack of skill.
"I have a friend who uses techniques very similar to yours. Compared to her, your attacks are nothing more than child's play."
"Wh—how—!?"
Gabejin tried to fire again at the approaching swordsman, but once more, the needles were swept into the dirt with a single flick of the blade.
To Ryuga, an attack that merely fired identical projectiles in a straight line was neither impressive nor frightening compared to the multi-directional mastery of Melt.
Closing the distance until he was within striking range, Ryuga glared at Gabejin from point-blank distance.
"You claimed your defense was the hardest in existence... but that shell doesn't even reach the feet of my friend. Your arrogance is as pathetic as your skill."
The sight of Gabejin boasting about his defensive prowess simply because he was covered in a thick shell was a joke to Ryuga. To a man who knew Marcos—who used his shield to protect not only himself but those behind him—Gabejin’s boast was not only the talk of a fool who didn't know his place, but a profound insult to his comrade.
"Nuuu… Nuaaaaaaaaaah!!"
Howling in fury after being lectured by the "brat" he had just mocked, Gabejin’s pride shattered. He lunged forward, swinging a fist encrusted with spines like a heavy morning star, intent on crushing Ryuga’s skull.
"Gaah...!?"
By the time the blow landed, Ryuga was gone.
The swordsman had drawn a blade of light, striking with invisible speed. As Gabejin tried to turn, sharp lines of pain began to web across his body.
"...Hurry up and shed that ugly armor. My partner is the only person permitted to wear black armor in my presence."
"Impos… sible…!? Gwaaaaaah!!"
The gashes in the hard carapace began to leak a brilliant golden radiance.
A split second later, a lightning strike erupted from within, triggering a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared, Gabejin had reverted to his human form, collapsed on the ground. The needles that had granted him his power bounced across the pavement a few times before crumbling into dust.
"Ga-ga-ga, Gabejin!? Y-you’re joking! No way!"
Ryuga turned his cold gaze toward the trembling Gimol.
"That makes ninety-nine… You’re the only one left."