SUMMARY
In Sigma's throne room, Sigma punishing Armored Armadillo by slashing down on his left eye for defying orders and his selfish decision to declare a duel between him and X. Sigma returns to his throne, and after some thought, tells Armadillo to do whatever he wants. Cut back to X and Armadillo, as X realizes what Armadillo has done in order to have their duel. Armadillo says that there's no further need for words between them as he fires his head gun at X. X dodges with a jump, saying that he'll respect the distances Armadillo went for their fight by fighting at full strength. Armadillo thanks X, an raises his arms blocking X's buster shot. The buster shot reflects off Armadillo in several directions, one of them hitting X as he's blown back by it. X stares at Armadillo, thinking he's a fierce opponent for not only being immune to buster attacks, but being able to reflect them back at him. Armadillo asks if X is feeling fear, and whether it was mere coincidence that a B-Rank Hunter like himself was able to take down Special A-Ranks previously. Armadillo then shouts at X, saying that the one overcome by fear has their fate decided with defeat. X takes several shots at Armadillo, responding by telling Armadillo that he's just thinking of a strategy and that he's incapable of defending against several shots. Armadillo says X's deduction was correct as his arms can only block so much, but he responds by shifting into his Rolling Shield form, blocking all of X's attacks. Armadillo throws himself at X, striking him multiple times. X is unable to escape as Armadillo says he is tracking all of X's movements using thermal sensors built around his body. Armadillo launches himself at X, who catches him using his hands and pushes him away as Armadillo burrows through the walls around them, slowly causing the cave to slightly give in. Some debris hits X, and notices the place is covered in pieces of argonium. X gets an idea as Armadillo closes in on him, and scales the walls as Armadillo continues to burrow back and forth the walls, hitting one of the flame torches. X is hit by Armadillo as X falls to the ground as the torch sets the argonium alight, engulfing the entire room in flames. Armadillo calls X foolish for engulfing himself in flames, but stops as his heat sensors are unable to detect X as he unrolls. Armadillo is suddenly hit by an Electric Spark attack through the flames, causing his head gun, sensors, and body armor to break apart. Armadillo realizes X's strategy of deliberately causing the argonium to set fire, camouflaging himself from his sensors.

As X emerges from the flames, Armadillo asks why X used an Electric Spark attack on him. X says that it was just a gamble as he thought electricity works best to take out sensitive precision sensors, and that it did a lot more damage than he thought. Armadillo is amused by X's answer, and is impressed by X's do-or-die approach and says that X has the true makings of a real Special A-Rank. X asks why someone like Armadillo still obeys Sigma, and he replies that it's because Sigma is his commanding officer. Armadillo then says that even though he knows Sigma's ways are cruel, he's still someone who allowed him to fight X despite going against his orders. X says that Armadillo is wrong, and that he's just being used. A robot carrying Armadillo's sword runs to his side as Armadillo picks it up, saying that despite that Sigma's still not someone who tarnishes the title of Special A-Rank. X continues to plead to Armadillo that they should fight together, as Armadillo calmly tells X that his sword is the "Shien" (Purple Garden), and is the only one of its kind capable of slashing through Reploids. Armadillo gives one look at X, and impales himself on the sword. X is shocked, and Armadillo tells X that there's a bomb placed in his body as a proof of loyalty, and that cutting the detonator by impaling himself was the only way to stop it. X rushes to Armadillo, as he says the bomb is set to explode if he were to betray Sigma, and that he does not want to involve X in it. Armadillo says that he is satisfied with this last fight, as he looks up at X crying as he is moved by everything Armadillo sacrificed just to fight him. Armadillo is surprised by X's ability to cry, and thinks that X could truly bring forth a new dawn for Reploids. Armadillo hands X his special weapon chip, which X accepts. A blast aimed at X from behind flies towards him, and Armadillo throws himself between X and the blast, destroying him and sending X falling down the cliff. X regains his senses on ground level as the mine several explosions go off in the mine, and watches in horror as he is surrounded by the remains of all the subordinates Armadillo did so much to protect. Stricken by grief, X shouts out asking who did such a thing.

X runs to a nearby town, thinking the culprit is nearby and notices a parked hover bike at a Western saloon. X rushes in to find a lone Reploid at the bar counter with a glass of bourbon and ice in his hand. He says that it doesn't matter if the glass is filled with bourbon or muddy water as things like that are trivial to Reploids built solely for fighting. Revealing himself, Vile crushes the glass in his hand as X prepares to fire at him with a charged shot. X asks why he killed Armadillo, and Vile replies by saying those without any sense of existence have no reason to live. Vile leaves while telling X to head to "Z" Country at coordinates O-R-X for parts that he can use, and that he still sees X as nothing right now and is still not worthy of "his" title. X rushes outside, and fires a shot at Vile. Before the shot hits, Vile says that he has fought and defeated many, but is seeking to defeat a legend known as a "Rockman". Vile turns around and blocks the shot with his finger, and tells X that he fits the description, much to X's surprise. As Vile leaves, he tells X to get stronger and don't embarrass the title of "Rockman". Vile gives a thumbs down at X, and leaves. X apologizes to Armadillo as he grabs the dirt on the ground, swearing that he'll get stronger.

COMMENTARY
This is probably my favorite chapter so far. Armored Armadillo is definitely not like the last 3 bosses X has fought, and is characterized with having a strong sense of honor (albeit towards both his master Sigma and his opponent X) to a fault. It was definitely tragic to see a character like him to simply be on the wrong side of a conflict due to his "my master right or wrong" mentality further enforced by the explosive in his body that can only be disabled by his own suicide; whether Armadillo planted the bomb himself or did so on Sigma's orders isn't clear (if this is standard practice for those working under Sigma, I wonder if the others have such a thing as well?). Though X ended up using the Electric Spark (Armadillo's weakness) to win their duel, he was only able to land his attack after allowing himself and the entire area to be set on fire, hiding himself within it and therefore making Armadillo let his guard down. Considering how much Armadillo stood up for his subordinates in the previous and current chapter, everything Armadillo has done to ensure his subordinates would be safe was ultimately in vain as Vile ends up destroying them all after Armadillo stops his internal bomb from being detonated.

X's second encounter with Vile in this chapter was short, but we get to know a bit more about Vile and his motives for working under Sigma. He comes off as a bit of a bounty hunter (much like a certain character that is his inspiration) seeking a new target to defeat, currently gone as far as desiring to defeat a living legend. As Vile has referred to X as "Rockman", it means he knows that X is this living legend even though he does not acknowledge him as such yet. Additionally, Vile also went as far as telling X where he can seek out upgrade parts, possibly so he can see how strong a "Rockman" can be for himself.

Overall the entire Armored Armadillo arc was a nice change of pace, and is another major stepping stone for X's development. We'll see how much further later arcs take things.