The flames slowly died down across Laxus's body, leaving behind charred blackened armor and scorched stone.
Yet, he remained standing.
Even with the gaping, cauterized crater pierced through his right shoulder by the Flame Dragon Clash.
Even with every single breath bringing the searing pain of scorched lungs.
He forcibly straightened his back, his golden pupils fixed intently on Ace.
"Not enough..." Laxus growled hoarsely, his voice wet with blood. "This level... is not enough!"
Beneath his faceplate, Ace frowned.
He could see the state of Laxus's magic circuits—multiple pathways had completely fractured. The remaining magic power struggled to flow through his body, causing fresh internal damage with every cycle.
Continuing to fight would lead to unimaginable consequences.
"Laxus, that's enough," Ace said gravely. "Your body has already—"
"Shut up!" Laxus roared, cutting him off.
The golden lightning in his eyes flickered wildly, dancing with madness.
"I said... it's not enough!"
He raised his still-functional left hand, his fingers trembling violently as they curled into a fist.
At his fingertips, faint electric sparks reignited—incredibly weak, but exceptionally persistent.
Ace watched this desperate display and fell silent for a moment.
Then, he let out a soft sigh.
"It seems there's no other way," Ace murmured, slightly lowering the massive Dragon Soul Sword in his grip.
"Since you're so determined to continue... I'll oblige you."
Before the words faded, Laxus moved.
Even with his right shoulder completely destroyed and his right arm hanging uselessly at his side, Laxus forcibly raised his uninjured left fist and thrust it fiercely toward the sky!
"Lightning Dragon's—Heaven Halberd!"
BOOM!
The sky seemed to shatter.
The dark clouds above were torn apart by an invisible force.
A massive, golden magic circle manifested above his hand.
At its center, violent lightning gathered, compressed, and took shape, ultimately forming a colossal halberd over five meters long, composed entirely of crackling electricity!
The halberd flowed with liquid-like lightning, its tip wreathed in dark gold arcs. Every tremor of the weapon caused the surrounding space to warp.
This was supposed to be Laxus's ultimate long-range attack—materializing the Lightning Dragon's power into a halberd and hurling it at devastating speeds.
But he didn't throw it.
Instead, he reached up and grasped the shaft.
Zzzzt!!!
The sickening sound of lightning scorching his own flesh echoed through the ruins, but Laxus's expression didn't change.
The five fingers of his left hand clamped onto the halberd like an iron vise.
The muscles in his arm bulged under the immense strain, his veins rising like coiling dragons as he forced the massive spell to act as a melee weapon.
Without charging, without gathering his strength, Laxus simply leveled the heavy halberd, aiming the crackling tip straight at Ace.
The ground beneath his feet exploded as he transformed into a golden blur, tearing through the air and arriving before Ace in a fraction of a second!
The halberd thrust forward—simple, direct, and incredibly violent.
Dragging his broken body and gripping a weapon that was literally burning his own hand, Laxus lunged at Ace like a cornered mad tiger!
The halberd tore through the air, leaving a vacuum trail flickering with static.
There was no technique in this strike—only pure power, speed, and a resolve bordering on total suicide.
Ace's gaze sharpened beneath his visor as he flipped the Dragon Soul Sword in his grasp. He neither retreated nor dodged.
Standing absolutely firm, he swept his blade upward at an unexpected angle.
CLANG!
A deafening crash of metal echoed—no, not metal, but the explosive collision of pure thunder and flame.
The Dragon Soul Sword's edge met the tip of the Heavenward Halberd with surgical precision.
Crimson fire and golden lightning clashed violently, erupting into blinding light and searing heat waves.
"Hah!" Laxus roared.
The muscles in his left arm strained as he drove the massive halberd downward with everything he had left.
BOOM!
The ground beneath Ace completely shattered, sinking the Digimon half a meter into the earth.
Yet, a flash of crimson-gold ignited in Ace's eyes as he abruptly shifted his stance.
Instead of blocking the heavy strike, Ace angled his blade, allowing it to slide along the halberd's shaft to redirect the crushing force.
Sparks flew like shooting stars as the sword's edge scraped against the condensed lightning.
When the tip reached the midpoint of the shaft, Ace brutally flicked his wrist, rotating the blade horizontally to strike the side of the halberd with the flat of his sword!
Hum!
A peculiar shockwave rippled from the point of impact.
The Heaven Halberd trembled violently, and Laxus felt a bizarre, spiraling kinetic force surge up the shaft, threatening to wrench the weapon right out of his grip.
Electricity flared in Laxus's eyes.
Instead of letting go, he tightened his grip, channeling a desperate torrent of magic into the weapon.
The thunder-energy coating the halberd boiled over, transforming into countless lightning tendrils that lashed backward, coiling tightly around the Dragon Soul Sword!
Like venomous serpents, the lightning tendrils constricted around the blade, attempting to crush the steel.
Simultaneously, Laxus slid the halberd's edge downward along the sword, aiming straight for Ace's fingers gripping the hilt!
It was a vicious, cunning strike—both offensive and defensive.
But Ace was faster.
The moment the lightning tendrils ensnared his sword, Ace released his left hand, gripping the heavy hilt solely with his right.
Fwoosh!
Every flame pattern etched into the Dragon Soul Sword blazed to life!
Crimson fire surged from the grooves—not expanding outward, but compressing inward.
It formed a razor-thin film of absolute heat along the blade that warped the space around it.
Upon contact, the lightning tendrils dissolved like snow under a blazing sun, evaporating instantly. In that exact same breath, Ace's left hand—now completely free—shot forward.
His fist, wreathed in crimson-gold flame, struck the side of the halberd's blade with unerring accuracy.
CLANG!
Fist and lightning collided with a heavy ring.
The halberd was violently knocked off course, its crackling edge slicing harmlessly past Ace, scoring a shallow, charred groove across his Red Digizoid shoulder plate.
But Laxus's desperate assault was far from over.
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