“Aguh…!”
“Shih…!!”
Yuugo unleashed a jab, matching Neid’s punch.
The difference in size and weight should have meant Yuugo would be pushed back, but… The armor on his left fist was changed into a drill shape.
By punching with iron reinforced with magic energy and a spinning drill, no matter how strong his opponent was, he was clearly going to take damage.
Also, another strange counterattack, when Neid was more focused on offense than before no less, meant that the crushing blow hit Neid’s mind more than his body.
“…I told you. I’ve got my friends. You only see an old model of magic item, but this Blaster carries a lot of people’s feelings. It’s the best magic item, with way more power than the magic swords you make.”
“Why…!? What’s with you!? Friends this, feelings that. You keep glossing over things with how you’re not alone! You’re just more scum who wants to be a magic knight! Just more scum like Isaac who wants to be a hero! I got this power to crush scum like you! I… I…!!”
“Open your eyes already, Neid! You’re doing the same things as the scum you say you hate so much! You’re trying to sacrifice others to achieve your goals, so what gives you the right to call others scum!?”
“That’s not right! I’m not the same as them! I’m gonna change this rotten world! I, I, I! Crush scum!!”
“!?”
Neid’s sense of reasoning was gone from his screaming voice.
Yuugo felt it was very similar to when Isaac was engulfed by the magic sword during their duel the previous day, and he gulped as Neid howled.
“I’ll! Crush! Scum! I’m! Great! I’m! The! Best! I’m! Right! Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
“…You’re wrong. You’re wrong about everything. But… You don’t have friends to tell you that. That’s why you became a monster armor beast…!”
Neid was not strong, or great. There was not a scrap of righteousness to him.
He was alone, did as he pleased, and decided what was right based on his narrow outlook. He rationalized his crimes, and was exactly the scum he detested.
But… Surely this tragedy could have been avoided if he had friends by his side.
If Neid got along with not just Isaac, but also Angel and the other students of the technical department, and if he slowly built relationships with students who presented requests like Hercus… Everything would be a lot different.
Yuugo did not know where it went wrong for him. He had no way of knowing when exactly he pressed the wrong button.
But what he did know, was what he had to do.
“Stop him…”
He remembered what Angel said when he left.
She did not tell him to take down Neid, she told him to stop him. Yuugo felt like he sort of understood why.
“Hero condition number two… Being strong doesn’t mean anything by itself, you can never forget to be kind…!”
He remembered the pride always present in the heroes he admired.
The fire that rose up inside him and motivated him.
Heroes always fought to protect. What they protected varied between fights and heroes.
Smiles, places, lives, dreams, futures, pasts, feelings, pride… And that also included people who had committed crimes.
He was not trying to be a machine that was simply strong. He wanted to be a hero that saved everything.
Then, surely… The villain in front of him whose heart was swallowed by darkness should also be saved.
As long as there were people who wanted Neid to live and atone for his crimes, he had to protect those feelings.
To become a hero that protected everything… He gained power in this world to stick to those ideals, so he had to do his best to make good on that.
“Here I go, An. With the Blaster you’ve been improving, I… Will become the hero that saves him!”
With strong will and resolve inside him, he unleashed the power of the magic crystal in his chest.
He felt the extraordinary power created by the shine with a fiery light, and jumped with his fluttering flame scarf towards the one whose heart was swallowed by the magic sword.
“Haaaaaah!!”
“Nugaaaaah!!”
There was a howl and a scream, and when they clashed, the air was electric.
Neid decided he had to punch Yuugo as he charged against him, but Yuugo disappeared the very next moment, and Neid felt an impact from a direction he was not expecting.
“Gah! Gaah! Yuu… Goooooooooo…!!”
Neid’s hatred and anger exploded as he swung his fists while trying to keep up with Yuugo, but he hit nothing.
In fact, he was not only unable to hit Yuugo, but he could not even follow him with his eyes.
He was trying to punch Yuugo after he approached him to attack him, but all he hit was after images.
When he saw Yuugo disappear, he was already being hit from another direction. He withstood that pain while trying to attack Yuugo again, but he kept being toyed with by his mobility… And this continued happening.
To Neid, the blows Yuugo delivered, whose flames scorched his tough body, were astounding. But what was even worse to him was the speed with which Yuugo moved around him.
How could he move like that while wearing a heavy armor? He had no answer, and continued getting attacked without hope of striking back.
“Ahhhhhhh!!”
Guaaah! Gah! Guuuuh!!”
He could not respond or keep up. His supposedly perfect form was completely outmatched.
To make matters worse, Yuugo was getting progressively faster, and each attack was heavier than the last. Even that tough cyclops body had a limit, and his stamina was reaching its limit as well.
There was a loud sound of flames being expelled, as Yuugo stepped forward and the ground shook violently.
The difference between his power and Yuugo’s was literally painfully obvious. The reality that he could not beat him and the fact that he was completely outclassed were very evident.
But still… Neid kept going. He could not stop. Every time he tasted defeat and humiliation, the negative emotions inside him were amplified, and the rising anger and hatred pushed his body forward.
He had turned into a monster armor beast, and was influenced by the many magic swords he made and the hammer that created them, meaning the brakes that were his reasoning had failed.
And so, Yuugo unleashed an attack with all he had, to avoid hurting him any more.
“Let’s end this, Neid. I’m stopping you!!”
He focused flaming magic energy on his legs, creating an overwhelming mobility that let him go higher up to the sky.
Flames continued to be expelled by Blaster, as Yuugo continued to build them up until the time limit, and they took form behind him like wings. He put his legs together and took aim at Neid, as he descended rapidly while clad in crimson flames.
“Prominence Blaster!!”
“Gogaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
He unleashed a dropkick with his legs powered up to their maximum, the momentum of the rapid descent, and scorching flames.
He became a crimson shooting star with flames whirling around him as he caught Neid’s chest, and pushed his body back.
Finally, Yuugo kicked Neid away as he tried to straighten his bent knees, and landed after spinning in the air.
Neid groaned with pain and extended his arm, as he saw Yuugo land with the light movements of a feather fluttering in the wind.
“I! Got! The! Strongest! Power…! I! Should’ve! Ruled! The! World! With! This! Power…!! Uoooooooooh!?”
There was a bright red explosion on Neid’s body. Then another, and they continued happening as his body was burned, until it reached its limit and he fell back while screaming.
And after one big explosion that seemed to engulf all the others, a giant flaming pillar rose to the sky.
The roaring flames devoured everything… Including the hammer, burning it to cinders.
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Looks like Yuugo had to borrow Ankh’s power for this one