The day after wiping out the Phoenix Guild, Ace took a breather in a nearby town to resupply.
While there, he picked up a lead on another dark guild with a pretty nasty reputation.
'It seems not all guilds flying the dark guild banner is strong,' Ace thought to himself, looking back at the devastated pit he had just cleared.
After reaching the Ultimate level, ordinary dark guilds just didn't pose a real threat to him anymore.
He needed stronger opponents to temper his Digimon and push them toward the Mega level.
....
On the third night, Ace arrived at the edge of the forest.
Following the intel he'd gathered, he tracked down the suspected base of a guild rumored to be even more secretive than the last, specializing in assassination and information brokering—the "Silent Kill Guild."
The base was hidden in a valley nestled between two barren mountains, filled with a faint gray mist that never seemed to disperse.
Even during the day, the light here was dim; at night, you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face.
Only a few patches of moss emitting a faint, ghostly blue glow provided any illumination.
The silence was terrifyingly absolute, truly befitting the name.
"Why call it Silent Kill? Wouldn't 'Night Raid' be more cool?" Ace muttered, hiding behind a giant boulder on the ridge and looking down at the crude stone houses looming in the mist.
He didn't hesitate long.
Ace decided to make this a quick battle.
Although the fighting over the last few days hadn't drained him too much, he wanted to wrap up this extermination campaign and get back to Fairy Tail.
"WereGarurumon, we've got another job to do."
The werewolf warrior landed silently beside him.
Ace pointed at the few dark figures patrolling sporadically around the stone houses below.
WereGarurumon understood immediately, his form transforming into a streak of blue light that melted into the mist and darkness.
Crack, squelch, thud...
A few faint sounds echoed in the quiet valley before dying out completely.
The outer sentries didn't even see their attacker before they were instantly taken out by WereGarurumon's precise, fatal strikes.
However, just as WereGarurumon finished off the last sentry and prepared to approach the largest stone house in the center—
Swoosh!
The door of the stone house slid open without a sound.
A slender figure clad in a form-fitting black night suit drifted out like a weightless ghost.
Her face was covered by a veil, revealing only a pair of eyes that glinted with a chilling coldness.
Her figure was graceful, but the aura she exuded was bone-chilling, like a poisoned blade drawn from its sheath.
It was the ace of the Silent Kill Guild, the assassin codenamed "Phantom."
"Who dares trespass upon the grounds of 'Silent Kill'?"
The woman's voice was clear and pleasant, yet it carried a murderous intent that pierced to the bone.
She had clearly sensed the commotion outside—or rather, the sudden silence of the dead sentries had triggered her alarm.
WereGarurumon didn't answer.
His cold blue eyes locked onto her, and he crouched slightly, ready to attack.
"Hmph, a Summoned Beast that doesn't know its place..." Phantom snorted.
Without any perceptible movement, her delicate figure blurred, transforming into a ripple of smoke-like afterimages and vanishing from her spot.
In the next instant, she appeared right beside WereGarurumon, her speed unbelievable.
Even stranger, her movement wasn't a straight line.
Wherever she passed, the surrounding light seemed to distort and refract, blending her perfectly with the mist and shadows.
It was impossible to pinpoint her position with the naked eye, as if she were part of this gloomy world herself.
"Phantom Step: Instant Kill."
Amidst the low, cold shout, Phantom's fingers formed a blade, silently slashing at the back of WereGarurumon's neck.
There was no light at her fingertips, yet they conjured a barely visible ripple—a void blade aimed straight for a vital point.
At the same time, a formless killing intent enveloped him from all directions, like invisible blades hanging over his head.
WereGarurumon's combat instincts were extremely sharp.
The moment she vanished, he twisted his body sideways, his powerful arm sweeping backward.
It was the opening move of the Werewolf Assault—not aiming for precision, but a wide counterattack to force her to reveal herself.
Screech!
The void blade collided with WereGarurumon's arm, creating a harsh scraping sound.
It actually left a shallow white mark on his tough fur, and a chilling energy tried to seep through.
WereGarurumon let out a low growl of pain, but his sweep forced Phantom to retreat into an afterimage.
"What a tough body," Phantom's voice came from the mist on the other side, tinged with surprise.
Her "Phantom Void Blade" could sever the hardest metals, yet it only left a mark on this beast.
Phantom moved again, flickering around WereGarurumon at high speed.
She left behind a series of afterimages that were hard to distinguish from reality. Countless formless void blades attacked from tricky angles, weaving a web of death.
These blades weren't just magic; they contained a "killing intent" that struck directly at the mind.
An ordinary opponent would have lost their composure and been cut down instantly.
But WereGarurumon was a warrior renowned for his wild instincts.
He didn't rely on sight, but on beast-like intuition to pinpoint Phantom's true body amidst the illusions.
His fists and feet became a blur, the afterimages of his kicks and punches constantly clashing with the incoming void blades.
He managed to block most of the attacks, and the few that slipped through were tanked by his formidable defense, adding only a few more insignificant marks.
For a moment, the two figures—one blue, one black—clashed at high speed in the misty valley. Illusions flickered, blade winds howled, and fists met force.
They were evenly matched.
Phantom's movements were bizarre and her attacks psychological; WereGarurumon was strong, defensive, and broke through her tricks with raw intuition and power.
Unable to gain the upper hand, the violet light in Phantom's eyes intensified.
She seemed truly angered now.
Her figure solidified three meters in front of him.
She brought her hands together, fingers moving rapidly like fluttering butterflies as a terrifying, condensed killing intent gathered at her fingertips.
"Endless Shadow Slaughter."
A void blade, only as thick as a finger but dark purple and condensed to the extreme, shot out silently.
Its speed was double what it was before, aimed straight for the spot between WereGarurumon's eyes.
WereGarurumon's pupils contracted.
Sensing the threat, he roared furiously. Instead of retreating, he advanced.
The muscles in his right arm bulged, azure energy compressing at the edge of his palm into an incredibly sharp hand-chop that met the incoming blade head-on.
CLANG!
An ear-piercing metallic clash exploded, as if two divine weapons had collided.
Dazzling purple and blue light erupted, and a shockwave violently pushed back the surrounding mist.
After a moment of stalemate, WereGarurumon roared and pushed harder, actually cleaving the dark purple void blade in two.
The remaining force of his hand-chop grazed past Phantom's veil, slicing off a few strands of her hair.
Phantom let out a muffled grunt, shock and anger flashing in her eyes as she retreated, clearly suffering from the backlash.
However, WereGarurumon didn't stop.
The moment he split the blade, his left claw was already charged.
Five intersecting claw marks condensed with icy blue light howled out.
"Kaiser Nail."
Phantom's movements were sluggish from the backlash.
Facing this swift attack, she twisted her body to the limit, barely avoiding a fatal blow.
But the claw's wind still grazed her shoulder and side, tearing her black clothes and leaving deep, bone-exposing wounds.
"Ugh!" Phantom cried out, stumbling back.
WereGarurumon pressed the advantage.
The ground shattered as he pounced again, a third, even more ferocious Kaiser Nail aimed straight for her throat.
Just as Phantom was about to meet her end, the atmosphere changed abruptly.
Voom—