"Right! Be careful!" Sakura nodded frantically. She turned and ran toward a cluster of weathered sea rocks. Finding a suitable vantage point, she crouched low, peering over the jagged stone. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic rhythm of terror and awe. She had just seen a monster born from her own flesh, and now she watched her savior—shimmering in impossible gold—standing his ground.
Back on the field of engagement, Rin took a deliberate breath, feeling the absolute equilibrium of the Hyper Muteki suit. This was the pinnacle of specialized combat—an armor that rendered the concept of "damage" obsolete so long as the user's will remained unbroken. Outside of his true Ohma Zi-O form, this was perhaps the most absolute defense in existence.
Initially, he had merely tested the limits of his causal manifestation, wondering if his Ohma power could synthesize the specialized Gashats of this world. The result was a flawless reconstruction. If he could manifest the Muteki Gashat, the entire arsenal of the Heisei era was at his fingertips.
"Come," Rin said. He didn't take a combative stance. Instead, he simply beckoned the Bugster forward with a single, taunting flick of his golden fingers.
"Arrogant brat! You're just bluster and light!" Graphite roared. The Bugster's warrior pride, fueled by the volatile viral energy in his veins, ignited into a crimson fury. He spat on the sand, adjusted his grip on the Graphite Fang, and charged.
The Bugster's heavy boots cracked the pavement as he reached the shoreline, kicking up a spray of seawater and grit. He closed the distance in a blur of emerald motion, leaping into the air with his blade raised high.
BOOM.
The Graphite Fang slammed into the golden shoulder of the Hyper Muteki armor with the force of a falling building. The shockwave of the impact shrieked through the air, sending a spray of orange sparks dancing across the concrete like dying stars.
Rin didn't move. He didn't even brace himself. He stood as immovable as a mountain against a summer breeze. The lethal blade remained lodged against his golden plating, unable to leave so much as a microscopic scratch on the divine armor.
"What...?! How can this be?!" Graphite's voice cracked, his draconic eyes widening in sheer disbelief as he felt the recoil of his own blow vibrate painfully up his arms.
Rin's right hand shot out, moving with a speed that defied the laws of physics. He caught the blade of the Graphite Fang between his fingers, his grip tightening like a vice.
"To be honest," Rin murmured, his voice cold and clinical, "using this armor against a specimen like you... it feels like a waste of resources."
"He's okay! He's actually okay!" Far off, Sakura couldn't suppress a cheer of relief, her voice briefly rising above the sound of the crashing waves. Realizing she might draw the monster's attention, she quickly clamped both hands over her mouth and ducked lower behind the rocks, her eyes wide with lingering excitement.
Graphite's fury reached its boiling point. He refused to accept the disparity in their power. Even with his weapon trapped in Rin's iron grasp, he poured every ounce of his viral energy into the blade. The dragon-fang sword began to thrum with a violent, jagged crimson light.
"Hraaaaaah! Gekitotsu... RYU-GEKI!"
With a desperate roar, Graphite triggered his finishing move, putting his entire weight into a downward cleave meant to split the world in two.
The result was a sound like a thunderclap—but not the one Graphite expected. Instead of the golden warrior shattering, a sharp CRACK echoed across the beach. The Graphite Fang, a weapon forged from the concentrated data of a legendary dragon, snapped cleanly in two under the pressure of Rin's grip and the monster's own overextended force.
The broken half of the blade spun through the air, clattering uselessly onto the concrete.
Lost in the momentum of his failed strike, Graphite stumbled, falling to his knees before the golden king. Rin didn't strike. He simply leaned down, placing a heavy, golden hand on the Bugster's trembling shoulder.
"I told you," Rin said, the air around them warping with the sheer gravity of his presence. "You aren't even worth the effort of a continue."