"Ugh...!"
Marcos began a slow, deliberate advance, throwing Migald’s own words back in his face as he reaffirmed his vow to crush him.
Overwhelmed by the pressure, Migald let out a sharp gasp and stumbled backward in terror.
Damn it...! This was a total miscalculation. This kid is way stronger than I imagined!!
Migald was drowning in regret for his own arrogance—a conceit he could no longer deny. He had never expected someone like Marcos, a mere boy with the look of a coddled, high-born noble, to possess such overwhelming power. He tightened his white-knuckled grip on the handle of his battle axe.
He briefly considered trying to overwhelm the boy, but the thought was rejected instantly. If his opponent had lost his composure, it might be one thing, but Marcos clearly excelled in defense. Launching a reckless attack while the boy was this calm would only end in disaster.
Yet, Migald saw no future where Marcos would simply show him mercy. If he wanted to survive, his only option was to force a confrontation, even if it meant pushing himself far beyond his limits.
"U-Uooooooh!!"
Driven by desperation, Migald steeled his resolve. He hoisted his battle axe high and charged.
The roles were now reversed; he was the aggressor and Marcos the defender. However, the balance of power remained firmly in the boy's favor.
"Too slow. You aren't even worth raising my shield for."
"W-Waaaah!?"
Migald had been focused entirely on how to bypass the shield and strike home. He wasn't prepared for Marcos to use his own momentum against him, catching him in a clean leg sweep that sent the beast sprawling across the dirt.
Marcos watched him tumble away with a pathetic shriek, then scoffed.
"Your movements are incredibly sluggish. I suppose when you enlarged your body just to keep up appearances, you lost the ability to move properly, didn't you?"
"H-How do you know that...!?"
"I saw what you looked like before you turned into a Magic Armor Beast. You were a human of no particular stature, yet you suddenly gained an impressive physique once you transformed. It seems you hated your own frailty and sought out raw strength... but you've ended up as nothing more than a hollow paper tiger."
"Guguguuuuu! Gugiyiiiiiiii!!"
Marcos’s observation had struck Migald right where it hurt most.
He loved to provoke others, but he couldn't stand being the target of it himself. His face turned a deep crimson as he threw a hysterical tantrum, stomping his feet in a blind rage.
"Even with a body that massive, your only ability is planting parasites. The power and the form don't match at all. It truly is a transformation born of nothing but vanity."
"Shut up, shut up...!!"
"You want to look strong, you want to make everyone believe you’re superior... that form is simply a mirror reflecting your own pathetic greed."
"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up...!"
"You seem to enjoy bullying the weak... but isn't that just a reaction to your own cowardly heart? You can't stand up to the strong, so you take out your frustrations on animals that can't fight back. You are a truly miserable man."
"I told you to shut up!! You damn brat!!"
Something inside Migald finally snapped.
Before he could even process that he had lost his mind, he charged Marcos with a feral roar. Marcos had laid bare the insecurities he never wanted touched—his weakness and his vanity. Enraged, Migald swung his axe with every ounce of his strength, aiming to split the head of the detestable brat standing before him.
"U-Ah...!?"
"Is that the best you can do?"
The strike Migald had delivered with all his might crashed against Marcos’s shield, only to be stopped cold.
The impact sent a violent shockwave back through the weapon, and Migald watched in dazed horror as the blade of his battle axe shattered into a thousand shards.
"You said earlier that tormenting the weak is fun," Marcos said, his voice level. "I don't find it enjoyable at all. In fact, I still fail to see what could possibly be amusing about it."
"Ugh... uugh...!!"
"Strength is for protecting others. That is one of the most important lessons I learned from my greatest friend."
"H-Huh...?"
"The only thing you want to protect is your own fragile ego. You were hurt because it was wounded, you flew into a rage, and you challenged an opponent without understanding the gap between us. This is the result."
"U-Uwaaaaaah!?"
The Giga Scissors clamped shut around Migald’s midsection.
Instead of cutting the terrified beast in two, Marcos used his left arm to hoist the massive Magic Armor Beast high into the air. He looked up at the flailing Migald with cold eyes.
"Experience the pain of the animals you struck! Golden Drop!!"
"Ugyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?"
Like a pitcher hurling a baseball, Marcos swung his arm in a powerful arc.
He didn't release his grip. Instead, he drove the Magic Armor Beast head-first into the ground with the full force of his momentum.
A dull, sickening crack echoed as the asphalt buckled beneath them. Simultaneously, the jagged blades lining Migald’s armor shattered like glass. His armor and helm disintegrated, revealing a human form with rolled-back eyes. Marcos opened the Giga Scissors and let the unconscious man slump to the ground.
"...That should free the animals from the parasites. If it was just hypnosis, Elena’s voice should be able to reach them now."
Marcos muttered to himself, relieved to have neutralized the most troublesome of the three culprits.
The final one would surely be handled by his rival. Confident in his friend, Marcos hoisted the unconscious Migald over his shoulder and began to run toward the rendezvous point to reunite with Elena and the others.