The dust had yet to settle, and the scorched air lingered amidst the ruined crater of Kardia Cathedral.
Ace walked calmly toward the center of the battlefield, stepping up beside BlackWarGreymon.
The towering dark dragon stood tall and imposing, his Black Digizoid armor scorched but structurally flawless.
Ace pressed his hand against the Digimon's arm, his palm releasing a gentle stream of dark gold Digital Soul that smoothed over the superficial burn marks.
"You've done more than enough, BlackWarGreymon," Ace said, his voice low but filled with respect.
"Leave the rest of this to me."
BlackWarGreymon's pitch-black eyes narrowed, the crimson glow within them entirely steady and unbroken.
He glanced at the half-dead Laxus, then down at the faintly glowing runes starting to appear beneath the rubble.
"He's pulling a desperate trick. Are you sure you don't want me to crush him before he springs it?"
"It's fine. Step down," Ace said, a confident smile on his face. "This is my fight now."
BlackWarGreymon gave a low rumble of acknowledgment as he step back.
On the other side of the crater, Laxus was on one knee, breathing heavily.
His lightning armor was shattered, his battle blade was broken, and his body was covered in severe wounds.
But just as Ace stepped forward to take BlackWarGreymon's place, the trap sprang.
Hum!
The ground suddenly lit up.
It didn't just light up in one spot, dark purple magical runes emerged simultaneously across the entire cathedral floor!
The patterns spread and intertwined like living vines, ultimately forming a massive magic circle covering a hundred-meter radius.
At the exact center of the circle stood Laxus.
"This is…" Ace's eyes narrowed.
The magic circle activated.
Dark purple light surged from the runes, converging into Laxus's body like a tidal wave.
Even more astonishingly, the scattered magical residue in the ruins—energy dispersed during the earlier battle, shattered magical structures, and even the ambient ethernano from the air—was forcibly sucked in by the array.
It transformed into countless pale blue points of light that madly poured into Laxus.
"Uraaaaagh!!!"
Laxus roared at the sky.
His wounds sealed at a visible rate, the charred and bloody skin peeling away to reveal unharmed flesh beneath.
In just ten seconds, Laxus's magic power had completely recovered, peaking even higher than it had been before!
He slowly stood up.
All five pairs of his lightning wings spread wide behind him, the membranes flowing with liquid electricity.
A new lightning blade crackled to life in his hand, its tip wreathed in dark gold arcs that warped the space around it.
"Freed… finally did something useful." Laxus glanced down at the dimming magic circle on the ground, a cold smirk curling his lip.
Ace understood instantly.
That magic circle was Freed's Dark Écriture contingency plan—a massive magical energy supply array hidden beneath the church floorboards.
It was designed to activate at a critical moment, draining all residual magic within its range to completely recharge a designated target.
This explained why Laxus was so confident he could outlast Ace, and why the Thunder God Tribe had taken control of the cathedral in advance.
Knowing Laxus's pride, he would never use an enhancement like this against normal guild members.
This trap had been prepared specifically for Ace from the very beginning.
"I see..." Ace murmured, a flash of understanding in his eyes.
"You planned to use this array to fight me at full strength after I exhausted myself battling the other guild members. A clever tactic."
Laxus didn't deny it.
He raised his lightning halberd, pointing the crackling tip straight at Ace.
"Now, my magic is fully restored. You've already burned through a massive amount of your magic summoning that monster and fighting Mystogan. This duel was never fair from the start."
"No," Ace interrupted, shaking his head slowly. "This is better."
Laxus raised an eyebrow.
"My original plan was to have BlackWarGreymon humble you before finishing the fight myself while you were weakened," Ace said calmly, the dark gold Digital Soul beginning to flow around his shoulders.
"But you're the type of person who will only ever accept defeat if you are crushed at your absolute peak."
He stepped forward, intricate digital data rings emerging on the ground beneath his feet.
"So let's fight without holding back. You at your peak, and me at mine. Let's decide whose ideals are correct through pure power."
Ace raised his hand, and a red-and-black device suddenly materialized in his grip.
Its surface shimmered with crimson light as the central screen lit up, displaying a rotating flame totem.
"Laxus, you've seen my Digimon evolve, but you probably don't know..."
He gripped the device tightly as blinding, crimson-gold light burst from between his fingers.
"...as a Summoner, I can evolve too."
"Execute! Hyper Spirit Evolution!"
As the shout tore through the air, a massive pillar of crimson light shot skyward from the device!
The radiance was so intense it illuminated the ruins like the inside of a blast furnace, making even Laxus's golden lightning pale in comparison.
Within the light, Ace's figure was completely swallowed.
The Legendary Spirits of Fire surged from the device, transforming into countless burning data runes that enveloped him entirely.
These runes spun and rearranged in the air before finally imprinting themselves upon him, each containing the pure, conceptual laws of flame.
Fire erupted from Ace's body, it wasn't magical fire, but something far more fundamental—a flame constructed entirely from raw data and absolute willpower.
The fire wrapped around his form, twisting, shaping, and solidifying.
It forged crimson Red Digizoid chest armor, with molten, lava-like patterns flowing across the metal.
It formed orange dragon-head shoulder guards, their eyes burning with embedded gems.
It shaped heavy arm guards, featuring roaring flame dragons on the forearms with their jaws gaping wide to devour everything.
It constructed thick leg armor, featuring rotating flame turbines built directly into the knees.
Finally, the flames coalesced and stretched behind his back, molding into a massive broadsword nearly as tall as he was.
The blade—the Dragon Soul Sword—was entirely crimson with golden patterns flowing down its spine, while the hilt took the shape of entwined twin dragons.
Even while sheathed, the sheer heat radiating from it distorted the air.
The light of evolution faded.
And now EmperorGreymon stood atop the ruins.
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