"Maximum X Critical Punch!!"
"Guboaah!? Gah! Gafuh! Guh... I-impossible! How can this be happening!?"
Returning to a single form, Yugo transformed his right arm until it was as thick as a massive log. His fist swelled to match, becoming a colossal hammer of meat and metal as he sent Abyss flying with a single, crushing blow.
Abyss struggled to his feet, writhing from a pain that resonated deep within his core—a sensation far more agonizing than a simple physical strike. Any trace of his former composure had vanished. He howled at Yugo, the man who had become his absolute natural enemy.
"What are you!?" he screamed. "You nullify my [Word]! You launch these nonsensical attacks! You've made a total mess of everything! You're just a third-rate actor ruining my perfect script! I, Conductor Abyss, am the master of this world... so why do you keep ad-libbing on my stage!?"
"A world ruled by you? There's no such thing," Yugo countered. "At the very least, as long as I'm standing here, running wild however I want without being swayed by your voice, it proves you haven't conquered anything!"
"Shut up!! Everything will go exactly as I've written it! People's emotions, the future, even their despair! As the Conductor, I shall rule—gueh!?"
Yugo slammed a dropkick into the middle of the maddened villain's rant.
Abyss, who had been handled like a child for some time now, slammed his fist against the ground in impotent fury. Yugo stood over him, eyes blazing with conviction.
"Abyss! There isn't a single thing in this world you have the right to claim!" Yugo shouted. "The lives of everyone on this island, their futures, their very hearts... not one of those things exists for you to toy with!"
"You're wrong! I am the chosen one!" Abyss shrieked. "I have the right to rule this world, to raze it, to forge it into the ultimate dystopia and utopia! That is why... that is why you residents of this little cage must be ruled by me!!"
"You asked me earlier what I am, didn't you? I'll give you your answer, Abyss," Yugo said. "I am a Hero—one who fights to protect world peace and human freedom! That's why I'll never acknowledge you! If you intend to steal the liberty of the people in this world, then I will strike you down to stop it!"
"I'm sick of this! Your nonsense, your nauseating ideals—your very existence is an insult!" Abyss roared. "Disappear, Hugo Clay! Get out of my sight!!"
A low, vibrating hum filled the air as a massive amount of magic power converged at Abyss's fingertips.
He was concentrating the beam he had fired countless times before, pushing its output to its absolute limit. As Melt and the others watched in breathless terror, Yugo stood his ground, exhaling softly as he tightened his grip.
"The one leaving this world is you, Abyss," Yugo declared. "This world isn't some toy garden for you to play in. Your days of playing king are over!"
He brought his clenched right fist to his heart, crossing it over his left chest before swinging his arms wide with a fierce shout. At that moment, an X-shaped light erupted from his chest, shining with a blinding brilliance. Pale blue flickers reminiscent of a digital realm began to spark around him.
"Don't you dare talk back to me! Die! Hugo Clay!!"
"Ieeeeee-shaaaaaaa!!"
Even as a beam thicker and more vivid than any before it tore through the air, Yugo didn't flinch. He dropped into a low stance, twisting his body as he swung his arms in a wide arc, allowing the radiance surrounding him to swell alongside his internal magic power.
The energy surged up from the earth through his legs, his waist, and his chest before finally reaching his arms. The moment they ignited with a brilliant glare, Yugo snapped his eyes open beneath his visor. He crossed his forearms toward Abyss and unleashed it all.
"Xanadium Blaster!!"
"Wha!? Whaaat!?"
Abyss screamed, unable to mask his terror as Yugo countered his light with a beam of his own. The X-shaped blast collided with Abyss's compressed, maximum-output beam, held in place for a fraction of a second... and then it began to surge forward, relentlessly devouring Abyss's attack.
"I-impossible! This can't... How can something so absurd be happening!?"
"Uoooooooooooooh!!"
No matter how desperately Abyss poured his magic power into the struggle, Yugo’s torrent of light—fueled by a superior willpower—pushed through. Faced with the undeniable reality of his own total defeat, Abyss could only watch as the cataclysmic beam completely overwhelmed his own, striking his body with full force.
"Gah!? Gwaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
The sheer momentum of the blast lifted him off the ground. He was carried away by the river of light and slammed into the stone wall behind him. Agony and heat seared through him, but Abyss managed one last hateful glare at Yugo, his eyes glowing with a desperate, dying light.
"Not yet... I'm not finished yet! I am—Gwaaaaaaah!!"