Everyone's gaze instantly focused on Ace.
But Ace looked calm—even a little innocent.
He held up his empty hands, showing that there were no magic fluctuations on his body.
"I've been here the whole time," he said, his voice cutting through the noisy courtroom and reaching everyone's ears.
"I'm under your watch. How could I have done anything?"
"Then these monsters—"
"How would I know?" Ace looked out the window, a look of "horror" coincidently appearing in his eyes.
"Perhaps your Council has offended someone? After all... you must have made quite a few enemies, right?"
"You—!"
Zieg was trembling with anger, but an even more terrifying booming sound cut him off.
"BOOM—!!!"
The western wall of the courtroom was completely blasted through by a scorching, flaming fist!
Meramon's upper body leaned in.
Its face, made entirely of fire, "looked" into the courtroom, orange-red flames dancing in its empty eye sockets.
The next second, it raised its other flaming fist and aimed it at the three councilors on the judge's bench—
"Protect the councilors!"
The guard captain roared and rushed forward, deploying a thick wall of ice.
But the moment the Burning Fist struck the ice wall, it evaporated into steam, and then the steam itself was dried up by the intense heat!
The force of the punch, undiminished, blasted towards the judgment stand.
The three councilors' faces were deathly pale.
Zieg instinctively raised a magical shield, but with his strength, he couldn't possibly block a full-power attack from a Champion-level Digimon like Meramon.
A barrier infused with cherry blossom petals unfolded before the judgment stand.
"Vajra Realm Mandala!"
Sakuyamon had appeared before the judgment stand at some unknown point.
She held her staff with both hands, the Vajra Staff thrust deep into the ground.
The rings on its head vibrated wildly, emitting a clear, sacred chant.
The flames and the barrier collided, erupting in a blinding light and a scorching heatwave.
Meramon let out an angry roar and retracted its fist.
But it didn't continue its attack.
Instead, it "looked" at Sakuyamon for a moment before turning to attack other targets—as if it had received some kind of command.
A deathly silence fell over the trial hall.
Everyone looked at Sakuyamon, then at Ace.
"Wh-Why..." Zieg's voice was hoarse.
"Everyone! Evacuate the trial hall!" the guard captain yelled hoarsely. "To the underground shelter! Quickly!"
As if waking from a dream, the people frantically surged towards the side doors that weren't yet blocked.
The guards struggled to maintain order, but everyone's face was ashen.
Zieg, Michelo, and Leiji, left the judgment stand surrounded by their escorts.
As he passed by Ace, Zieg gave him a deep, incredibly complex look.
Ace returned his gaze calmly.
Only when most of the people in the trial hall had escaped did Ace slowly walk towards the large hole that had been blasted open.
Sakuyamon followed behind him, the barrier still maintained.
Looking down from the sixth floor, more than half of Crocus's districts had been reduced to a battlefield.
The Council's guard units and the Royal Capital's garrison were fighting desperately, but their resistance seemed so futile against this Digimon army.
Farther away, Ace could faintly sense several more powerful auras—those were Ultimate, or even Mega Level Digimon.
They had yet to make a move, merely observing.
"Ace..." Sakuyamon began softly.
"I know," Ace cut her off, his gaze fixed on the city center—the location of the royal palace, the true core of power in this country.
He knew, of course, where this Digimon army had come from.
But he said nothing.
Instead, the corner of his mouth curled into a cold smile.
Outside the window, the roars of the Digimon army, the sound of collapsing buildings, and the screams of people intertwined into a symphony of the apocalypse.
And reflected in Ace's eyes was the fiercely burning Royal Capital.
....
Beneath a colonnade on the east side of the Hall of Judgment that had yet to fully collapse, a middle-aged man in a purple councilor's robe pointed at Ace, his voice twisted with anger and fear.
His name was Yuri, one of the radical councilors of the Council.
He was currently being supported by two guards, his legs weak, but the fury in his eyes was about to erupt.
The destruction outside continued.
Cockatrimon's petrification beam swept across the neighboring Magic Research Institute tower.
The century-old spire turned grayish-white from the middle up, then collapsed with a piercing crack, showering rubble down like rain and completely burying the garden below.
Meramon's Burning Fist hammered against the outer magic barrier of the Council building.
With each heavy blow, the pale blue barrier rippled violently, spiderweb-like cracks appearing on its surface.
The guard units were frantically trying to repair it, but the speed of repair was far outpaced by the destruction.
"BOOM—!!"
Ogremon's Pummel Whack smashed through the dome of the underground warehouse.
The shockwave erupted from the breach, sending more than a dozen guards, along with their armor, flying.
The interior of the Hall of Judgment was not safe either.
A Flaming Digimon crashed through the southern wall and charged in.
It spewed high-temperature flames from its mouth, and wherever it passed, carpets, chairs, and wooden beams instantly burst into flames.
Four of the Council's combat mages immediately met it head-on.
Frost, water currents, wind blades, and earth walls—magic of four different attributes intertwined into a defensive net, barely trapping the Champion-level Digimon in a corner.
"Block it! Don't let it near the main hall!"
"Water Tornado!"
"Ice Seal Shatter!"
The mages' shouts mingled with the roar of magic.
But everyone could see that they were barely holding on.
Every time Flaremon spewed fire, the magic defense formation trembled violently.
Councilor Yuri watched this scene, then looked at Ace who stood at the edge of the gaping hole looking terrifyingly calm.
The rage in his chest finally overwhelmed his fear!
"You demon! Devil!" he cursed hoarsely, spittle flying from the corners of his mouth. "Not only did you kill Jose, but now you want to destroy the Council! You, you and your damned Fairy Tail guild are the cancer of this country! A bunch of lawless thugs! Mad dogs! You—"
His words came to an abrupt halt.
Because Ace had vanished.
No, not vanished—he was so fast that he left an afterimage in Councilor Yuri's eyes.
The next moment, Ace was already in front of Yuri, less than half a meter away.
"You..." Yuri's pupils shrank, his throat feeling as if it were being choked by an invisible hand.
"What you just said," Ace's voice was soft, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears, "say it again."
The air froze.
"Pro-protect the councilor!"
"Let go of Lord Yuri!"
The surrounding guards, mages, and even the clerical officials who could still move all reacted, rushing madly toward Ace.
At least twenty people, from all directions, unleashed magic, swords, chains, binding spells—all sorts of attacks and restraints erupted at once.
Ace didn't even look at them.
He simply raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist.
A simple, straight punch, aimed at Yuri's chest.
No technique, no flair, only the purest release of power.
"Stop—!"
"How dare you—!"
"Protect him!"
Several of the closest mages desperately deployed magic shields, trying to block the blow for Yuri.
But in front of Ace's fist, those shields were as brittle as thin paper.
Crack, crack, crack—!
The shields shattered, layer by layer!
The fist continued forward, about to land on Yuri's chest—
Just then.
"ROAR—!!!"
A deafening roar came from the sky.
The sound seemed capable of tearing souls apart, and the majesty and power it contained made everyone's heart tremble!
Immediately after, the dome of the Hall of Judgment was ripped away entirely by an indescribable force.
Sunlight—no, not sunlight—it was a blinding golden thunder that poured down from the opening, dyeing the entire Hall of Judgment a brilliant gold.
Everyone subconsciously looked up.
And then, they saw a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
A colossus blotted out the sky.
It was clad in a heavy carapace that shone with a golden luster, each plate forged like the purest magic metal, its edges as sharp as blades.
Three pairs of huge, sharp horns grew from its head, the centermost pair extending to the sides like a crown, with hissing arcs of electricity dancing at their tips.
On its chest was a pair of giant pincers, also covered in golden armor.
As the pincers opened and closed, space itself seemed to groan under the strain.
Most terrifying of all was the yellow lightning that coiled around its body.
The lightning was not static; it leaped, slithered, and hissed like a living thing.
Each leap released a terrifying fluctuation of magic power, making the surrounding air fill with a scorched smell!
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