"What...!?"
A dull, heavy impact rang out between them, the sound echoing across the shore.
Geras had envisioned goring his opponent or trampling him into the sand as the shield shattered, but the reality unfolding before him defied every expectation.
"He... he stopped it!? My full strength...? Impossible! But why!?"
It was a lethal strike fueled by his entire reservoir of Magic Power, specifically designed to sharpen his horn and bolster his leg strength to an extreme.
Anyone caught in its path should have been obliterated, yet Marcos stood his ground, forced back only a few inches as he braced against the assault.
It made no sense. This was the same boy who had been tossed around like a ragdoll moments ago. How could he now halt such a devastating, high-velocity charge so effortlessly? As Geras reeled in confusion, Marcos spoke.
"Your blood was running too hot. You forgot to pay attention to where you were fighting. Look around you."
"Ah...!?"
At Marcos's remark, Geras twisted his nearly immobile body to look around... and realized.
To the man standing there in shock, Marcos declared firmly:
"This is a sandy beach! Your vaunted charge loses all its momentum when your footing is this soft!"
"Guh... Gaaah! You... you led me here on purpose! From the very beginning!"
It was true. The stretch of coast where they now stood was the very beach where Elena and Porulu had first encountered one another.
In his growing rage at Marcos's provocations, Geras had been so focused on launching charges and blowing his opponent away that he hadn't noticed he was being led here until this very moment.
A heavy frame was a liability on shifting sands; the more weight Geras packed, the deeper his feet sank, sapping the lethality from his rushes.
So, Marcos's refusal to resist and allowing himself to be blown away had been a strategy to strip him of his strength. As Geras realized this, a question burst from him.
"But why? The terrain is the same for both of us! How can you stand firm when I can't? What kind of magic is this!?"
"Hah... to think you’d even need to ask. The answer is simple. There is a fundamental difference between someone like you, who relies on power stumbled upon by luck, and someone like me. It is the weight of everything we have built up until this moment. That is the only difference."
Strength isn't something you can just put on like a coat. Power granted by a tool isn't your own. Borrowed strength will always fall short of the real thing.
Reflecting on the words Ryuga had said to him earlier that day when he was worrying about his lack of skill, Marcos smiled, knowing the swordsman was right.
He was standing in the same spot as Geras. However, unlike Geras, who couldn't show his true strength because of the sand, Marcos stood tall on his own two legs, braving the unstable ground to stop the attack.
It wasn't magic, nor was it the work of a Magic Item. It was the simple, undeniable result of the grueling discipline he had forced upon himself day after day.
He had forged a core and legs strong enough to anchor him to any surface, no matter how unstable. He had tempered a heart brave enough to face any horror with pride, and a mind sharp enough to weave strategies even in the heat of battle.
There might not be any flashiness to it. He might still be far from reaching his ultimate goals. But he had continued to run recklessly, never stopping his stride as he chased after the back of the one who was his inspiration.
That lifetime of effort was something Geras—who relied entirely on the power of the Clear Plate—could never understand. It was the yawning chasm that separated them.
By the time Geras realized that the man before him was not an opponent to be taken lightly, it was far too late.
Marcos shoved forward with his shield, breaking Geras’s balance. As the beast stumbled back several steps, the Golden Scissors snapped shut around him.
"Gaaah!? Guh, gaaah!!"
"I neglected to mention one thing: my Giga Scissors absorb every impact and store it as Magic Power. The agony you feel now is nothing more than the pain you’ve inflicted on others, returned to you in full."
"Don't... screw with me! To think I'd be beaten by this much...!"
Geras strained every muscle to escape the restraint of the scissors made of Golden Magic Power, which were clamping down on him and sealing his movements.
However, his face contorted in a grimace as he saw a new horn beginning to sprout, scattering sparks from the center of the Giga Scissors held before his eyes.
"Rest assured, I have no intention of ending it with just this. The main event is the next strike."
"Ah, guh...!? Wa-Wait...! Stop—!!"
"It's too late. While you regret your crimes and mistakes... perish, pierced by your own horn."
"Hie...!?"
The Magic Power accumulated from taking Geras's charges was compressed to its limit, forming a single, sharp, and resilient horn.
Marcos pointed the tip at the trapped Geras. With a quiet anger burning within him, he poured the feelings of everyone Geras had hurt into his Magic Power and unleashed it.
"Golden Bunker!!"
"Goaah—!?"
A golden pile-driver erupted from the center of the scissors, punching straight through Geras’s leaden armor.
Driven by that momentum, Geras was sent flying in a long, clean arc. Marcos watched until the villain caused a massive explosion and slammed into the beach. To the unmoving figure lying spread-eagled in the sand, Marcos spoke.
"It was the fury of Porulu and Elena that pierced you. Carry the weight of their sorrow and anger in your very bones."
As Geras reverted from a Magic Armor Beast back into a human while still unconscious, Marcos made his final declaration.
He deactivated his Giga Scissors and caught his breath. As he did, Elena, who had witnessed the end of the duel, leapt at him.
"Marcos! You did it! Amazing! That was so amazing! Thank you so much!!"
"Elena..."
Marcos was visibly flustered by the sight of Elena, tears in her eyes, celebrating his victory.
Walking up to him, Yugo spoke with a prideful smile.
"You did it, Marcos. As expected of my rival."
"Yugo...! Hmph! There was no way I, Marcos Borg, would lose to an opponent of that caliber! After all, I am... your rival!"
At Yugo's words, Marcos's expression briefly filled with emotion, but he immediately reverted to his usual posturing.
Melt and Elena watched the two of them, sensing that the turmoil that had struck Shandia Island was finally coming to an end.