Yugo roared, his body encased in Black Iron armor as he charged headlong toward Abyss. The mastermind had also transformed, manifesting as a stark, monochromatic Magic Armor Beast.
Yugo threw a heavy punch with all his might, but just before his fist could connect, it ground to a halt against a strange, invisible force.
"What—!?"
"It is futile," Abyss said, his tone mocking. "The attack known as [Punch] can never reach me."
Yugo recoiled, stunned. It felt as though an unbreakable wall had materialized between his fist and his target. Refusing to yield, he immediately pivoted, putting his full weight into a savage roundhouse kick.
"Equally pointless," Abyss countered. "[Kick] has already been nullified as well."
"Tch! What the hell is this...!?"
Once more, his leg was caught by that same uncanny barrier. As Yugo struggled with his confusion, Abyss watched him with palpable amusement. Suddenly, a pair of voices roared from behind.
"Yugo, move!"
"Seyaaaah!"
Yugo threw himself backward just in time for Marcos and Sakura to surge past him. Marcos led with his shield while Sakura swung her naginata in a wide, lethal arc. The two launched a coordinated, simultaneous strike, only for their weapons to freeze inches away from Abyss's skin.
"It didn't work...?" Marcos muttered, his eyes wide. "No, the weapons aren't even making contact!"
"Just what kind of ability is this!?" Sakura cried.
"Hehehe... Splendid, isn't it? This is the power of my Clear Plate: [Word]!"
With a casual flick of his arm, Abyss sent a shockwave through the air, blowing Marcos and Sakura backward. Before they could even hit the ground, Anhel and Raiha stepped up to cover their retreat.
"Engineer's Seven Tools: Fire-breathing Bellows!"
"How about this!? Thunder Dragon Claw!"
A torrent of roaring flames and a crackling arc of lightning converged on the villain. Yet Abyss stood his ground, utterly unconcerned. The fire swirled around him as if guided by an invisible slipstream, and the lightning branched off to the sides, refusing to strike him directly. As the two girls stood aghast at the sight, Melt and Setsuna used the elemental display as a screen to make their move.
"Then take this!"
"I'll shoot and shoot and keep on shooting!!"
A rain of magic swords and Wind Arrows descended like a monsoon. They poured everything they had into the assault, but it was as if an invisible umbrella had been opened over their target. Every projectile veered off course at the last second, leaving the mastermind standing in the center of the storm, perfectly pristine and unharmed.
"Our attacks... they aren't even hitting him!?"
"What manner of nullification is this de gozaru!?"
"Hehehe... How wonderful! I love those expressions of bewilderment!" Abyss's voice was light and airy, filled with genuine delight. "Watching people stand aghast as they realize the gap in our power—watching Despair slowly erode your will—it is the ultimate entertainment!"
He slowly raised his hand, pointing his slender fingers toward the group. Black magic power condensed at his tips. Sensing the danger, the group scattered just as thin, piercing lasers lanced through the air, scorching the ground where they had stood a heartbeat before.
"Heh. Good instincts. You are certainly a cut above those Hero Candidates I dealt with earlier. Not that it changes the final outcome."
Abyss rolled his neck, his bones letting out a series of audible cracks. He looked entirely relaxed, casually swatting away stray magic bullets as if they were bothersome gnats.
"Is nothing getting through?" Yugo gritted his teeth. "In that case—"
"Useless, useless, useless! It is all entirely pointless. [Punch], [Kick], [Slash], and [Shoot]—I have set every single one of them to be nullified. The power of [Word] is more absolute than your meager imaginations can fathom!"
Both physical strikes and long-range magic were turned aside effortlessly. This was a different beast entirely from Cyan's "Invincible" ability. Cyan took the hits but felt no pain; Abyss simply didn't take the hits at all.
"Give me a break...! A power that nullifies any attack directed at him? Talk about a nightmare," Yugo muttered.
"If it were just high defense, we could look for a weak point," Marcos added. "But if we can't even touch him..."
The difference was staggering. If an attack landed, you could eventually wear an opponent down or find a vulnerability. But if the attack never connected, you were effectively fighting a ghost. The only real hope was that Abyss would run out of magic power, but given the sheer scale of his weapon, that seemed like a pipe dream.
As Yugo racked his brain for a solution, he noticed Marcos staring at the villain with a peculiar expression. He didn't look defeated; rather, he looked like he was struggling to solve a puzzle that didn't quite fit.
"Marcos? You okay?"
"...I am not sure," Marcos replied slowly. "I cannot put my finger on it, but something... something is strange."
"Strange? You mean his ability?"
"Yes. I am currently sensing a profound incongruity. I cannot name it yet, but there is a contradiction here."
Marcos's words were cryptic, but Yugo trusted his friend's instincts. If Marcos had sensed a flaw in this "absolute" power, it was the only lead they had. As Yugo considered how to exploit that intuition, the girls rallied for another assault, refusing to let the mastermind have the final word.