"Yugo's personal martial arts... Ann, were you training with Yugo in secret!?"
"Yeah, just the two of us. We had some real intimate one-on-one sessions—hand-to-hand, skin-to-skin, the works. I gave him plenty of guidance."
"No fair! You totally stole a march on me!!"
"Hah hah hah! There are no rules in a maiden in love's war!!"
"You...! Stop ignoring me and talking about that perverted crap!"
Lorence screamed at the top of his lungs at Anhel, who stood there equipped with her new Magic Item form—heavy-duty gloves that drastically amplified her physical strength.
Infuriated by her dismissive attitude, he clenched his fists and charged. He expected to catch her off guard while she chatted with Melt, but Anhel switched focus instantly, parrying his desperate lunge with effortless grace.
"What!?"
"Hah! Gotcha!!"
"Guh... haaaah!"
A follow-up right hook slammed into Lorence's torso. He let out a strangled cry as the sheer weight and destructive power of the blow sent him skidding backward.
The agonizing impact resonated deep within his core, despite his body being supposedly as hard as concrete. He struggled back to his feet, groaning as his breathing grew ragged and uneven.
"Damn it...! To think I'd be knocked back by a girl like this...!"
"You're a noisy one, rambling on about men and women. Though, I guess 'noisy' isn't the right word. You're just pathetic."
"What did you say...!?"
"Sorry, I just don't know how else to describe a guy who preys on the weak. It’s eating you alive, isn't it? Getting your ass handed to you by the very woman you were just looking down on? Come on, bring it."
"You... you bitch!!"
Lorence was currently transformed into a Magic Armor Beast, but every passenger watching could easily imagine the human face beneath the mask—distorted and purple with rage under Anhel’s relentless taunting.
He possessed terrifying power, yet mentally, he was nothing but a child. To put it bluntly, he had zero taunt resistance.
He lost his cool in an instant, degenerating into a useless lummox who did nothing but unleash reckless, wide-swinging haymakers. Anhel slipped under his clumsy strikes with crisp ducking maneuvers, occasionally catching a blow on her magically reinforced forearms before delivering a punishing counter from point-blank range.
Every time her fist connected, a heavy, bone-deep thud echoed across the deck. Her performance was, in a word, magnificent.
"Even though it's the same martial arts style, it's different from Big Brother or Misery-san... It's so... heavy!!"
"Fee, 'heavy' is a taboo word to use for a refined lady, you know? But since I’m a woman with a big heart—not to mention big tits and a big ass—I’ll let it slide just this once!"
"Gubooh!?"
Her style was a far cry from Yugo’s, which was built on acrobatic movements, kicks, and knifehand strikes that adapted to his Blaster forms. It was also distinct from Misery’s approach, which used mobility and sways to narrowly evade attacks while staying just inside the pocket to unleash rapid-fire flurries.
Anhel practiced the same discipline, but her specialty was heavyweight combat—stepping deep into the opponent’s guard to deliver a single, crushing blow that carried the weight of her entire body.
Compared to Lorence, who also relied on brute strength, the difference in technical mastery was night and day. Unlike the monster, who could do nothing but flail his arms and slam his fists, Anhel possessed polished defensive fundamentals.
She held a rock-solid guard to soak up impact and used precise ducking to read and evade her opponent's movements even at point-blank range. This massive gulf in defensive skill made the outcome of the battle between Anhel and Lorence painfully obvious to everyone watching.
"Hah... hah...! D-Damn it... I can't land a hit...!!"
No matter how powerful an attack was, it was meaningless if it never connected. Conversely, no matter how robust a body was, damage would inevitably accumulate if it was hammered relentlessly.
For Lorence—who had spent his life preying only on those weaker than himself, and who had memories of one-sided massacres rather than actual combat—this situation was pure agony.
He had faced an opponent stronger than himself once before: Gomez. This current nightmare felt hauntingly similar. He had absolutely no idea how to turn the tide or overcome her technique.
This total lack of imagination was a direct result of his meager experience, and it was his greatest weakness. His ego had ballooned the moment he received the Clear Plate, but in reality, he was still just an amateur with a big stick. Lorence simply refused to understand that.
"Don't screw with me...! Don't screw with meeeee!! I won't lose to a girl!! Not to some bitch who's been making fun of me! Not to some piece of trash who looks down on me even though she's weak! I won't let you mock meeeee!!"
His entire life had been defined by the contempt of others.
A puny body. A pathetic appearance. Because of that wire-thin frame that projected nothing but frailty and incompetence, he had been a constant laughingstock.
He could endure the mockery of men. But he could not stand being looked down upon by women, whom he believed should naturally be beneath him.
It was frustrating. It was agonizing. He had spent years believing he was the lowest rung of the social ladder. He thought the Clear Plate and its violent power would finally end that life of humiliation, yet here he was, being utterly dominated by a woman—the very thing he hated most.
"It pisses me off, it pisses me off so much...!! Every last one of you, looking down your noses at me! I'm the strong one now! I'm the one with the power!!"
"...You’ve got it all wrong. You weren't looked down on because you were weak. You were hated because you're a prick. I know a boy who gives his absolute best in everything he does, even if he can't fight like us. Unlike you, he’s a man who will stand up to someone stronger than himself for the sake of others. He watched the back of his brother, a true hero who fights without fear to protect people, and he learned what real courage looks like. My comrades and I trust and respect that kid. He's the polar opposite of a loser like you, someone who gets cocky with borrowed power and can only act tough against the defenseless."
"Shut up!! You shitty bitch! Just shut the hell up!!"
Lorence howled, the last shred of his composure evaporating under Anhel's scathing lecture.
As if responding to his scream, the energy of his rage triggered a further mutation in his body. To better crush his opponent, his fists and arms began to swell, growing massive and bloated.
His limbs became so gargantuan that it was clear his reach and raw strength had doubled, even as his body became dangerously unbalanced. Maddened with fury, Lorence glared at Anhel.
"I'm going to kill you...! I'll grind you into mincemeat right in front of them!!"