"Hahaha…! So Guruto and Biran were taken down, too. That leaves only me."
Gomez muttered with a self-deprecating laugh as he watched the explosion out at sea and the parted ocean. Realizing his comrades had been wiped out, he turned his gaze toward Yugo and spoke in a quiet, steady voice.
"Your companions are fighting for their lives, Yugo. Can you really afford to hold back against me?"
"Ugh…!"
Yugo’s movements had grown sluggish the moment he heard Gomez’s granddaughter was being held hostage. Knowing that Gomez wasn't a villain at heart but had been coerced into crime, Yugo found himself unable to fight with his full strength.
"Gomez-san… stop this already! Your allies are gone! There’s no reason to keep fighting!!"
"There is. I have a reason to fight until the very last breath."
With that, Gomez lunged at Yugo, a clenched fist leading the charge. Yugo braced himself and caught the punch, but he was nearly blown off his feet. Gomez threw his entire weight behind the strike, forcibly swinging his arm through to send Yugo skidding back.
"Guaah!"
"You're soft, Yugo! Do you really think you can call yourself a Hero with that attitude!? …Hm?"
Gomez had been in the middle of lecturing Yugo when he suddenly winced at a sharp popping sound. Blood sprayed from his right arm—the same one he had used to punch Yugo away and was still pointing toward him.
"Gomez-san, that just now was…!?"
"Hehe…! It seems I've reached my limit. I can endure the pain of being hit, but the strain of the ability is another story."
"…!"
Hearing those words, Yugo instantly understood what was happening. This was the side effect of the power granted by the Clear Plate—Gomez’s body could no longer withstand the burden of the enhancement.
His ability grew stronger in proportion to the wounds he received. In essence, he was forcibly doping a weakened body to maintain his power. Even as his flesh failed and his frame grew frail, the burden placed upon it only increased. That warped inverse proportion was bound to collapse eventually.
Even for someone with Gomez’s legendary toughness… no, it was precisely because of his strength that the limit had manifested at such a lethal level. Yugo’s own hesitation was partly to blame; because he hadn't landed a decisive, finishing blow, Gomez had been forced to push his ability even further.
Yugo watched as the muscles in Gomez’s Magic Armor Beast arm swelled and burst. Sensing that the man’s body had reached its breaking point, Yugo shouted.
"That's enough already…! Just stop! Even if you don't die, we can find a way to save your granddaughter! If you die here, there's no guarantee the girl will be released anyway!"
"Then let me ask you: if Fee were the one being held hostage, wouldn't you do exactly what I'm doing?"
"…!!"
Yugo’s eyes widened beneath his helmet. He fell silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head, his voice firm with a different kind of conviction.
"…No, I wouldn't. Just as you say, I might follow absurd orders if a hostage were involved. But… I would never choose death for the sake of a hostage. If I were to die there, then even if they were saved, they would have to spend the rest of their life burdened by my death. As a Hero, that is something I must never do."
"Then what would you do? Would you abandon them?"
"That's a 'no' as well. I trust my companions. Just as I would rush to their aid, I believe they will rush to mine."
"Fuhaha…! What a naive, wonderful answer. If I had companions I could trust like that, perhaps I could have answered that way, too. But—!!"
It was a naive answer, but a straight one. Gomez smiled at the sweet yet correct Hero's Condition Yugo lived by… and then his body surged, growing a size larger.
His frame, already massive, swelled until he stood over three meters tall. His arms and legs thickened into pillars of muscle. He had unleashed the Clear Plate's power to its absolute limit, completely ignoring the destruction of his own flesh. As Yugo watched Gomez's Rampage in horror, the giant slammed his fist onto the deck.
"Uoooooooooooooo!!"
A tremendous shockwave and the sound of rending metal echoed through the Sunlight. The massive sightseeing boat shook violently, and a section of the ship was pulverized by the impact, crumbling into the sea.
"Yugo… if you won't kill me, then I'll choose death myself. However, I'll be taking every passenger on this ship with me."
"What…!?"
"It's just as it looks. If I keep attacking, this ship will collapse along with my body. If you don't take me down, every passenger and crew member still on board will be sacrificed. Can you live with that, Yugo!?"
"…!!"
Even as he roared, the collapse of Gomez’s body accelerated. Muscles everywhere were bursting from over-expansion, only to be forcibly knit back together by the enhancement, which in turn placed an even greater strain on his frame. Witnessing this agonizing Loop of Destruction and Regeneration and the sheer weight of Gomez’s resolve, Yugo clenched his fists and exhaled a long, steady breath.
"…One. I misjudged your resolve. I was running away because I was afraid of facing your true feelings."
"…!"
Gomez sensed a shift in the air as a visible Fighting Spirit began to waver up from Yugo’s armor. Seeing the boy reach a quiet, certain resolution, Gomez waited as Yugo continued.
"Two. I failed to resolve myself for this fight. Three… because of that, I hurt you and put many other people in danger."
With a sudden whoosh, purple flames ignited around Yugo’s left fist. Gomez watched as the Micro-particle Metal hovering in the air began to swarm and cling to Yugo’s body. Yugo fixed his gaze on the giant.
"…I’ve counted my own sins, Gomez-san. Now, it’s your turn."
Yugo leveled his right hand toward Gomez, his fingers loosely curled into the shape of a gun. With the Flames of Resolve burning in his eyes, he spoke to the man reflected in his visor.
"Now… count your sins!"