As if Yugo’s shout had been a starting gun, the animals lunged at Yakaba from every direction.
Some used their massive weight to trample forward, while others utilized their natural agility to leap in with bared claws and fangs. Others still held their breath, lurking in the shadows and waiting for their target to wander close. Every creature moved with a singular purpose: to hunt the prey known as Yakaba.
Desperately dodging the onslaught, Yakaba swung his nail bat in a frantic, wide arc.
"Don't screw with me! Mere beasts defy me? The nerve!"
Fuelled by a hysterical rage, Yakaba let out a roar through the megaphone integrated into his head. Even without the hypnotic suggestion, the sheer, concussive volume of the blast was a formidable weapon in its own right.
Yakaba watched with a twisted, satisfied smirk as the animals—unable to cover their ears—writhed in pain from the sound. But as he gloated, a thin, black shadow streaked toward him.
"That’s enough! Shut that damn noise up! It’s grating on my ears!"
"What!? The—the sword is growing!?"
With a flick of Yugo’s wrist, the blade in his hand undulated like a living serpent, snaking through the air to coil tightly around Yakaba’s arm. Yugo expertly wielded the Bellows Sword—a weapon he had forged by manipulating the density and shape of his micro-particle metal—using it like a whip to yank Yakaba toward him.
"Seiya! Haah! Oryaaaa!!"
"Gaaaaah!? Guh, gaaaah...!!"
The moment Yakaba was within reach, Yugo reverted the blade to its standard form and unleashed a relentless storm of steel. His posture shattered, Yakaba had no way to defend himself. He could do nothing but scream in agony as a succession of slashes hammered into his body.
As they crossed paths, Yugo delivered a brutal horizontal strike across Yakaba’s torso. Without letting up, he extended the Bellows Sword again, coiling the segmented blade around the villain’s body to bind him in a lethal embrace. Yakaba thrashed as the sharp edges bit into his skin, but Yugo threw his weight into a powerful pull, retracting the sword all at once to shred his target.
"Blaster Spinning Slash!!"
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
The blades constricting his body snapped back into the hilt in a blur of motion. Yakaba shrieked as the retraction tore through him, his legs buckling as the deafening noise from his megaphone finally cut out.
The animals seized the opening. Birds dove from the sky and the beasts on the ground regained their footing, resuming their coordinated assault to drive him further into a corner.
"Damn it! Damn it all!! Stay back! Don't you dare touch me, you filth!!"
Half-crazed with panic, Yakaba swung his bat blindly at the swarming animals. Seeing his enemy’s vision narrow from physical and mental exhaustion, Yugo realized this was his best chance to neutralize Yakaba’s primary weapon. He kicked off the ground, vaulting high into the air.
"Super Transformation! [Flame Armor]!!"
In mid-air, his armor shifted forms, wreathed in flickering tongues of fire. He channeled the erupting heat into his fingertips and dove straight for Yakaba’s head with a devastating finishing blow.
"Finishing Move! Blazing Blaster!!"
"Ugah!? Gah, gaaaaaaaaah! M-my... my head! My weaponaaaaagh!!"
Yugo’s claws, glowing with white-hot intensity, carried the crushing force of a lion's jaws. The strike shattered the megaphone—Yakaba’s greatest asset—sending the villain tumbling across the dirt. His crystal-like body slammed against the earth as he rolled in a pathetic heap.
"A weapon designed to make a small man look big and strong... It was a perfect fit for a coward like you, but you won't be using it again. Now you’ve got to fight as your true, miserable self. Do you even have it in you?"
"Th-the brainwashing... the sound... my minions...! Everything I built has been destroyed...!! How—how could you be so cruel! You’re a devil!!"
"Don't you dare talk about cruelty after everything you’ve done! If there’s a devil here, it’s you!!"
Driven into a hopeless corner now that his megaphone was scrap, Yakaba had the gall to play the victim. Considering he was the one who had transformed into a Magic Armor Beast to terrorize innocent people and animals, Yugo’s fury reached a breaking point.
Realizing his words had only fueled Yugo's anger, Yakaba scrambled to his feet and tried to bolt. But the animals were already there, standing in his path as if they had anticipated his every move. Their wild instincts, etched into their very souls, allowed them to predict exactly where their prey would run.
Yugo pointed a sharp finger at the trembling Yakaba.
"The animals aren't going to forgive you for what you did to their kind! And neither am I! So... are you ready for this?"
"U-uuuuugh! F-fine! I'll take you all down with me! If you think you can stop Lord Yakaba, then just try it!!"
In a final, suicidal fit of rage, Yakaba charged. Yugo stared him down, tightening his fist as he prepared the final, decisive blow to end the fight.