Deep within the stone forest, jagged rock pillars stabbed toward the lead-gray sky like the fangs of colossal beasts.
Ace leaned against a thick stone pillar, holding his breath in concentration.
Lisanna lay prone by his side, having already received the Soul of the Nighthawk.
Her pupils had shrunk to pinpoints as she observed the outside world through a crack in the rocks.
Half an hour had passed since the start of the second round.
On the holographic map, the golden circle was shrinking at a steady pace, now covering less than two-thirds of the island.
"Someone's coming." Lisanna's wings trembled slightly.
Ace's heart tightened.
The light dot's movement trajectory was erratic—sometimes dashing in a straight line, other times making instantaneous turns that completely defied inertia.
Even stranger, along its path, the faint light representing terrain details would briefly distort, as if from signal interference.
'It's not Gildarts, nor is it Laxus.'
'Lightning movement leaves a trail,' Ace's mind raced. 'Could it be...'
At that moment, Mystogan walked straight into the stone forest.
As he moved, the light around him warped, his figure occasionally blurring as if seen through a layer of frosted glass.
Inside the stone forest, the hairs on the back of Ace's neck stood on end.
"He disappeared?" Lisanna whispered.
On the map, after approaching the edge of the forest, the strange light dot had vanished completely.
Even the surrounding terrain details had blurred for an instant.
'No, not disappeared. The detection magic was being interfered with by some kind of power.'
"Lisanna, cancel the reception and hide in the innermost cave," Ace said in a low voice.
"But—"
"Quick."
Lisanna gritted her teeth, reverted to her human form and turned to run toward the depths of the rock pillars.
She had almost blind faith in Ace, but her heart was still gripped by unease—the only one who could make Ace this tense had to be the most mysterious and unpredictable of the S-Class hunters.
Ace didn't move.
He closed his eyes, and his Digital Soul spread out from him like a radar wave, scanning a hundred-meter radius.
Rocks, moss, hidden small magical beasts, flowing air, thin magic power... all the information constructed a three-dimensional image in his consciousness.
Then, he "saw" it.
Thirty meters directly in front of him, where a rock wall should have been, a subtle "crease" appeared in the fabric of space.
It was as if a flat canvas had been gently pinched at a corner; though not torn, it had already distorted the flow of light and magic.
He was here.
Ace opened his eyes and thrust his right hand forward, the Digital Soul exploding in front of his palm.
"WereGarurumon."
A Magic Circle unfolded from the void.
Amidst the interweaving light of cerulean and silver-white, the agile and ferocious figure stepped out.
WereGarurumon landed on both feet, its sharp claws digging into the rock face and sending stone fragments flying.
It crouched slightly, muscles under its coat of short, steel-needle fur bulging as its cold blue eyes locked onto that distorted space.
The air was silent for several seconds.
Then, the crease was smoothed out by an invisible hand.
Mystogan's figure emerged as if shedding a disguise, still wrapped in his dark robes, his mask concealing all expression.
But Ace could feel that his gaze was fixed on WereGarurumon.
There was no hostility in that gaze, no killing intent, but a kind of puzzlement.
'As I thought...' Ace understood.
It was no coincidence that Mystogan had sought him out.
This visitor from another world, Edolas, had become curious about something that did not originally exist in this world.
Mystogan's gaze lingered on WereGarurumon for only five seconds, but he did not ask any questions.
He raised a hand, and three short magic staves slid out from his sleeve, hovering before him with their tips glowing.
Crimson, ice-blue, and dark purple—three colors of magic bullets rained down like a storm.
Each was only the size of a fist, but they moved with incredible speed and tricky trajectories, concealing different elemental effects: explosion, freezing, and corrosion.
WereGarurumon moved.
It pushed off with its feet, the rock layer beneath it shattering as its body shot forward like a cannonball.
As it charged, its claws swung, becoming a blurry afterimage.
Ding, ding, ding, ding...
The dense sounds of impact were like a rhapsody in a blacksmith's forge.
The magic bullets collided with its claws, exploding into clusters of elemental fireworks.
The explosive bullets were torn apart by the wind from its claws, the ice bullets were shattered by brute force, and the corrosive bullets were mostly neutralized by the ice-attribute energy naturally flowing over WereGarurumon's body.
Its movements were unadorned yet filled with a savage, violent beauty.
Every swipe of its claws aimed for maximum destruction, and every step built up explosive power.
It actually carved a path straight through the barrage of magic bullets.
A faint hint of surprise flashed in Mystogan's eyes.
With a flick of his finger, the three short staves flew back into his sleeve, and he drew three long magic staves from his back, forming a triangular formation with him at the center.
Magic power projected upward, converging above Mystogan's head and merging into a five-meter-diameter composite Magic Circle.
A vortex spun at its center, emitting a heart-pounding suction force.
"Orthodoxy."
From the center of the composite circle, a three-meter-wide magic whirlwind crashed down.
Before the whirlwind even arrived, loose stones on the ground began to float up, only to be sucked in and ground to dust.
WereGarurumon looked up, its cold blue eyes reflecting the falling whirlwind of destruction.
The muscles in its limbs instantly tensed to their limit, but it did not retreat—the whirlwind's area of effect was too large; it was too late to pull back.
"ROAR!"
A wolf's howl shook the stone forest.
Without dodging or evading, WereGarurumon leaped up to meet the whirlwind.
Its body was like a cerulean arrow shooting upstream, stabbing straight into the eye of the storm.
"How arrogant." Mystogan shook his head.
The tearing force at the core of this whirlwind was the strongest; charging in head-on would only result in being instantly and severely wounded.
But he had underestimated WereGarurumon's jumping power and explosive force.
Having evolved into a humanoid form, it had sacrificed some of Garurumon's linear speed in exchange for terrifying jumping and short-range dashing abilities.
Erupting with its full power, it leaped fifteen meters high, almost level with the descending whirlwind.
Then, it twisted its body in mid-air.
Using the terrifying power of its core, WereGarurumon's body spun horizontally like a top.
Its claws drew two intersecting arcs of cold light, viciously "hacking" at the side of the whirlwind.
Screech...
It was a piercing sound like tearing cloth.
The whirlwind was actually ripped open by the violent slash.
Although it closed up in an instant, WereGarurumon had used the reactive force to shoot away like a slingshot, grazing the edge of the whirlwind and crashing heavily into a rock wall ten meters away, creating a spiderweb of cracks.
It landed, bending its knees to absorb the impact as loose stones trickled down.
There were signs of injury on the fur of its shoulder and back, but its eyes remained fierce, locked on Mystogan.
"I see." Mystogan understood.
It lacked effective long-range attacks, but its close-range explosive power and offensive capabilities were extremely strong.
The tactic was simple, then: maintain distance, wear it down, and wait for it to reveal an opening.
He tapped his finger lightly.
The triple Magic Circle shone brightly, and more magic bullets began to form.
But WereGarurumon didn't give him time to cast a second spell.
Bang!
The rock surface beneath its feet exploded a second time.
WereGarurumon's figure vanished from its spot, leaving only an expanding ring of dust.
It was a short-range dash so fast it looked like teleportation.
Mystogan's pupils shrank.
'So fast... Even faster than its previous charge... Was this its true explosive speed?'
During the charge, WereGarurumon had already lowered its center of gravity, pulling its fists to its waist in a standard boxer's stance.
The thirty-meter distance was covered in an instant.
Mystogan reacted extremely quickly.
He made a grasping motion with his right hand, and one of the levitating long staves fell into his palm, which he held horizontally before him.
Multiple circular arrays lit up on the staff's body—a high-level magic shield.
At that same moment, WereGarurumon's right fist shot out.
There was no light, no special effects, only the purest form of power.
Where the fist passed, the air was compressed into a visible conical white mist, the piercing sonic boom arriving late.
CLANG!
The massive sound of the fist meeting the staff was not like flesh hitting metal, but more like two battering rams colliding.
A shockwave exploded in a ring, and cracks simultaneously appeared on the surface of three nearby rock pillars.
Mystogan was blasted back, staff and all, for more than ten meters, his feet plowing deep grooves into the rock.
The sleeve of the hand holding the staff was shredded.
But WereGarurumon's attack wasn't over.
With its punch blocked, it spun with the momentum, its left claw slashing upward from below.
A cold glint condensed on its claws, tearing through the air with a wail like a banshee's scream.
"Kaiser Nail."
This was its ultimate technique, capable of compressing its own energy to the absolute limit and, in conjunction with its claws, tearing anything apart.
Before the claw arrived, the chilling intent had already caused frost to form on Mystogan's mask.
At the critical moment, another Magic Circle rose above Mystogan's head.
"Phantasmagoria."
A flash of pain crossed WereGarurumon's eyes, but it still held on.
Seeing this, Mystogan had no choice but to open his left hand and meet the incoming claws.
In front of his palm, a miniature black hole seemed to appear, madly devouring all surrounding light and energy.
The claw and the black hole collided.
There was no sound.
Or rather, the sound was swallowed by the black hole.
Only a blinding turbulence of energy erupted from the point of impact, blasting both of them away.
WereGarurumon tumbled several times in the air before landing on one knee.
It had been hit by Dreamland, which was stronger than the sleep ability of Misty Phantom Abyss, and was now holding on by sheer force of will.
Mystogan, on the other hand, looked at the scorched black patch on his left palm; the miniature black hole had already dissipated.
He glanced at his injured left hand, then at WereGarurumon slowly getting to its feet in the distance, and fell silent.
The stone forest was quiet for a moment, with only the hum of residual energy echoing between the rock walls.
Deep within the rock forest, Ace slowly exhaled.
The exchange just now had been brief but extremely dangerous.
Mystogan's magic was bizarre and unpredictable; for WereGarurumon to force a draw in one exchange was already impressive.
But his opponent had clearly not used his full strength, while his own side...
'Can you still hold on?' he asked through their mental link.
WereGarurumon shook its left forearm, shedding most of the dark purple energy.
It let out a low growl, its fighting spirit not diminishing but growing stronger.
Mystogan raised a hand to wipe away the blood from under his mask.
Although he was injured, his aura had become even deeper and more unfathomable.
The second round of confrontation was about to begin.
On the holographic map, the golden circle had already shrunk to cover half the island.
The remaining five light dots were accelerating toward the central area.