Hugo Clay, finally grasping the power he had obtained, unleashed a transformation that merged that new strength with the capabilities of his Blaster.
A brilliant silver radiance erupted and then receded. When the light faded, the onlookers caught their first glimpse of him and gasped in unison.
"The X-shaped scar... I get it now. That was the letter on the Clear Plate that chose me."
"That... that form! What is that!?" Abyss stammered.
"X-Blaster! The power to take you down and save Wind Island!"
Unlike his usual pitch-black iron, this armor was a gleaming silver-white. While hints of the original Blaster’s aesthetic remained, the transformation was so complete that it stunned even Marcos and his allies. The magic crystals in his limbs and the glowing conduits tracing his frame remained, but the color change was radical.
The most striking feature was the alphabet letter etched into his visor. Large segments framed his eyes and mouth, forming a distinct "X." From within the cross-section of those lines, his eyes burned with a crimson light.
Abyss groaned, unable to process the sight. "Impossible... You synthesized a magic item with a Clear Plate to force an evolution? Such a miracle shouldn't be possible at the eleventh hour!"
"Don't go defining heroes by your own warped common sense," Hugo retorted, pointing a thumb at his chest. "Performing miracles at the eleventh hour is exactly what a hero does."
Despite being the center of attention for both his friends and his nemesis, the boy who had just defied logic gave a fearless grin.
"I can’t believe I managed to pull off a Summer Movie Version Limited Form... I guess I have you to thank for this one, Abyss!"
"Don't mock me! What is this X-Blaster nonsense!?" Abyss screamed. "My [Word] is the pinnacle of all Clear Plates! I will not have its supremacy overturned by a single wretched plate!"
"Think what you want, but take a look at reality. Your little tricks haven't worked on me for a while now, have they?"
"Guh... ugh...!"
Abyss knew he was right. This was conceptually impossible. Even if another Clear Plate possessed incredible power, [Word] was supposed to nullify that power at its source. No Clear Plate user should have been able to stand against him.
Yet Hugo was standing.
As the villain's panic surged—facing an opponent who had effectively nullified the power to nullify—Hugo conjured a staff and leveled it.
"Here I come, Abyss!"
Hugo leaped, bringing the staff down in a crushing overhead strike. Abyss scrambled to block with his arms, his dread deepening when the impact actually registered.
(Nonsense! I should have nullified all physical weapon strikes! So why... why is this hitting!?)
A dull, throbbing pain radiated through his arms, forcing his guard down. Before he could recover, Hugo shortened the staff and swung it twice with a single hand, carving an X-shaped gash into the villain’s torso.
"X-Slash!"
"Guaaaah!"
Abyss staggered, howling as a sharp agony tore through him. He had definitely nullified the slash. He should have been safe. He was safe just moments ago. So why?
Hugo stepped in, aiming the tip of the staff at Abyss’s midsection.
"X-Rod Long Pole!"
"What—!? Gah!"
Instead of thrusting his arm forward, Hugo triggered the staff itself, causing it to elongate with the speed of a projectile. The telescoping weapon slammed into Abyss’s gut, doubling him over.
He was driven back and slammed into the castle wall, gasping for breath and kneeling in pain—a sensation he hadn't experienced in years. He fought to reclaim his focus.
(Think! I have to think! He has the upper hand for now, but once I identify the nature of his power, I win! What is it!? What "X" word is he using!?)
With [Word], he could shut down any power as long as he could define it. If he could just pin down the source of Hugo’s new strength, he could flip the script.
He could afford to take some damage if it meant seeing through the trick. He resolved to focus entirely on analysis—but Hugo gave him no breathing room.
"Uoooooooh! X-Rope Electric Shock! Long Pole Strike! X-Slaaaash!!"
In a blur of motion, the staff shifted into a flexible cable that bound Abyss and surged with high-voltage electricity. Before he could recover from the shock, the weapon snapped back into a long pole that battered him relentlessly, followed by another transformation into a blade that carved into him.
It wasn't just transmutation. It wasn't just lightning. It wasn't just martial arts. There was no single word starting with "X" that could possibly encompass all of this.
Frustration boiled over as Abyss’s logic failed him. He unleashed the magic he had been gathering in his fingertips.
"You third-rate actor! Stop ruining my script!"
"Guh!"
"Hugo!?"
Catching the boy in a split-second opening as he raised his weapon, Abyss fired a lethal beam of light. It punched straight through Hugo’s chest, piercing through the Blaster armor.
As Hugo’s movements ceased, Abyss felt a surge of triumph and began to smile.
"Gah!? W-What? A weapon...?"
Suddenly, a heavy blow caught Abyss across the face. Stunned, he looked up.
Hugo’s weapon had bounced off the ground and was spinning through the air. Abyss had assumed the boy had simply dropped it when the beam hit, and that the impact was just the last bit of momentum. He had been ready to gloat over a failed counterattack, but then the impossible happened.
"Wait... why is the weapon coming back!?"
The weapon changed shape mid-air, turning into a sword and diving toward Abyss again. As he groaned in bewilderment, slashed by a blade that moved with its own will, the nonsense reached its peak.
"Carelessness is your greatest enemy, Abyss! Can you keep up with me!?"
"That voice... Hugo Clay!? Why is your voice coming from the sword!?"
Abyss stared in horror. Hugo’s voice was indeed emanating from the blade that had just cut him. He looked back at the abandoned Blaster armor and realized the truth: Hugo’s physical body was no longer inside it.
Was the armor just a decoy? Was his true self inside the sword? It was an absurd thought, but it was the only thing that made sense. As Abyss watched with wide eyes, the sword that was Hugo flew back to the stationary armor and merged with it. The silver-white plating suddenly erupted with vibrant, shifting colors.
"Alright! Arriving in Full Color! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
"...Um, did Hugo just get a hole blown through him?" Anhel asked, blinking.
"And then he turned into a sword, flew around, and came back in armor that makes my eyes hurt... and now he's charging again," another added, stunned.
"I-I'm not sure if I should even ask, but... what on earth is he doing?"
Anhel and the others stood frozen, watching Hugo—now the Swordsman Who Fights with All Colors—skillfully dancing around Abyss and delivering a barrage of slashes.
Melt, watching his performance, suddenly let out a giggle. She looked at her friends with a bright, knowing smile.
"I don't know! I have no idea... but that’s just Hugo being Hugo!"