(Yugo... after meeting you, I feel as though I finally understood what it truly means to protect someone. Watching you taught me the weight behind those words.)
Until now, Marcos had always believed his defensive skills were beyond reproach, a technical mastery that left others in the dust.
And in a sense, he was right. His defensive maneuvers using the shield-type Magic Item, Giga Scissors, were at a level that forced even experts to marvel.
However, that wasn't "protecting" in the truest sense of the word.
It was the act of fending off or parrying, perhaps, but it wasn't "protecting."
To safeguard precious friends. To shield the powerless. To preserve a peaceful life.
It meant standing against those who would threaten such things and wielding one's own power to strike them down. It meant staking one's life to safeguard the irreplaceable until the bitter end.
After meeting Yugo and being touched by his inner light, Marcos had finally realized the truth. "Protecting" wasn't just one option among many in a fight. Protecting was the fight itself.
It had been the same when Yugo faced Rush. No matter how monstrous the foe, no matter how powerful the opponent, and no matter how hopeless the odds, he had fought to shield his brother, his friends, and the children.
Marcos would never forget the light he saw that day, nor the back of the man he had come to admire so deeply.
(You were right, Yugo. Protecting something is always infinitely harder, more brutal, and more exhausting than destroying it. You have to give it your absolute everything. But that’s exactly why it’s so precious.)
Even as he struggled to shield his comrades from Burn's relentless onslaught without any other recourse, the image of Yugo and his words from that day flickered through Marcos's mind.
He spoke in his heart to the best friend who had taught him this truth. Even if the battle was agonizing and the path cruel, he could stand up again and again precisely because he understood the sanctity of what he was protecting.
(Tell me, Yugo... have I become a hero like you were that day? In this same situation, can I be a hero like you?)
Behind him now stood the friends he yearned to save and the children he was sworn to protect. It was exactly like that day. Everything was identical to the moment his yearning for Yugo first took root.
The only difference was that the one facing down the nightmare wasn't a true hero—it was just a half-baked man who wanted to be one.
How did he look in the eyes of his friends watching his back? How did he look to the children?
Marcos thought self-deprecatingly that his figure must look far from reassuring, but then a powerful shout cut through the chaos.
"It’s okay! It’s definitely going to be okay!"
Startled, Marcos glanced back to see Elena. She was smiling, her expression utterly devoid of despair.
She spoke to the children who were shivering with fear and sobbing, her voice bright and warm.
"Marcos will definitely win! Because Marcos is incredibly strong!"
(...Ah, I see. So this is how you felt, too...!)
Those words and those feelings gave him strength. No matter how desperate the situation, they gave him the courage to stand and fight until the end.
He would never give up. Especially not in front of those who believed in him. As he felt the meaning of the Hero's Condition Yugo had spoken of settle into his very bones, he understood the true power born from the feeling of being believed in. At that moment, the cheers of his comrades rose to meet him.
"That can't be all you've got! I know you're not the kind of man who loses to a piece of trash like this!"
"Go ahead and show off. This is your moment."
The cheers from Melt and Anhel, friends he had known for a long time, resonated deep in his chest.
The children, too, began to overcome their terror, sending their voices to Marcos as he fought for their sake. Amidst the din, he heard Elena’s voice once more, looking straight at him.
"Marcos... do your best!"
One by one, the gathering hopes became Marcos's strength.
Each step he had taken on his journey had led him to this point. Realizing this, a flame ignited in Marcos's heart—a heat so intense that Burn's fire could not even compare.
"...Everyone, thank you."
He had people he wanted to protect. That was why he could stand.
And he had many benefactors who had given him the power to do so.
There was Carlos, who had provided him with new strength, and Poruru, who had overcome a grueling trial for his sake. It was only because the two of them had combined their efforts that the power of the Grace Lance existed at all.
There was Yugo, who had made him want to become strong, and Ryuga, who had lent his strength toward that goal. Because he had comrades who shared his feelings, he had been able to change. His heart had become steel.
Their thoughts intertwined, overlapping with the fire ignited by the people's cheers to become a massive force.
Fusing and blazing, Marcos felt a definite pulse of power. Despite the critical situation, he allowed a smile to cross his face.
(Yugo, if it were you, I’m sure...!)
What would the hero he admired say at a time like this?
The answer came to him instantly.
"Leave it to me!"
He took a step forward. He thrust his arms—which had been on the verge of buckling—firmly toward the front.
Feeling the power filling his entire body, Marcos shouted the words of the hero within himself at the top of his lungs.