Deep within a vast forest known to the locals as the "Black Forest," Ace moved silently through the trees.
The reason for this S-rank investigation mission—a mana leak from the remains of an ancient underground teleportation array—had not caused the crisis he had expected.
With Kyubimon's help, Ace had stabilized the situation in just over half a day.
"That's ....it?"
Standing at the edge of the forest, Ace felt a sense of unreality.
Since he was already out of the guild, he decided to "visit" a dark guild that had recently been active on the border.
He still wanted to evolve his other Digimon to the Ultimate level, and this would be a good chance to test his newly acquired powers.
Last night, he had a brief conversation with BlackWarGreymon.
Although Ace still couldn't fully command him, he told him that if he was looking for a worthy opponent, he could wait for the other Digimon to evolve to the Mega level.
They reached an agreement that BlackWarGreymon could intervene if there was danger, though Ace felt like he had mostly just sweet-talked him into it.
Ace wandered around the outskirts of the Black Forest and several nearby towns.
Using the information Kyubimon had gathered through illusions and sneaking around, he collected bits and pieces of intel about the dark guilds in the area.
One of them, a dark guild called the "Phoenix Guild," caught his attention.
This guild was relatively low-key, not as keen on burning and looting as other dark guilds.
They were more involved in forbidden magical experiments.
According to the intel, their secret base seemed to be in the mountains south of the Black Forest.
"The Phoenix Guild... Perfect. I'll use them for some practice and test out my new powers." A sharp glint flashed in Ace's eyes.
Wiping out an active dark guild would help his own guild and serve as a practical test for "Card Slash" and the "Warrior Spirit."
It was killing two birds with one stone!
...
The Phoenix Guild's hidden valley, at dusk.
It was a crude stone fortress built into the mountainside, half-buried underground.
The stronghold was surrounded by hiding spells and hidden guards.
Ace stood in an open area outside the entrance.
He took out the third-generation Digivice, his gaze calm as he looked at the heavy, tightly shut stone gate, which was carved with a twisted phoenix symbol.
"Let's begin."
As if sensing the magic outside, the stone gate boomed open.
Dozens of shabbily dressed, fierce-looking dark mages poured out, wielding various weapons.
They were led by three burly men whose auras were clearly stronger than the rest.
The man in the center, his face a mass of scars, carried a huge sword as wide as a door.
He was the leader, "Cragcleaver" Bal.
The two men to his left and right, one holding a double-bladed battle-axe and the other a skull-topped staff, were his two brothers and vice-leaders.
"Who are you?! How dare you cause trouble at my Phoenix Guild!" Bal's voice was loud like a karen in a sidewalk.
He pointed his greatsword at Ace, his gaze sweeping over WereGarurumon with a mix of fear and aggression.
Ace ignored him.
At the same time, a card with data streams flowing along its edges appeared in his hand.
"Card Slash—BlackWarGreymon!"
Ace shouted, aiming the card at WereGarurumon and injecting his energy into it.
A dark dragon warrior's ghostly image appeared behind WereGarurumon and merged into its body.
In an instant, a terrifying black aura swirled around WereGarurumon's blue-silver form.
Its claws and eyes seemed to be stained with a violent, dark red color.
"ROAR!" Feeling the unfamiliar yet destructive dark energy surging within it, WereGarurumon let out a low growl that sounded uncomfortable but incredibly fierce.
It suddenly crouched low, its blue and white fur mixing with the black energy, and began to spin wildly at an insane speed.
"Dark Battle Tornado!"
It was no longer a vortex of pure cold and speed, but a terrifying tornado wrapped in destructive dark energy.
The tornado formed with WereGarurumon at its center, instantly expanding to several meters wide.
It kicked up gravel and dust from the ground, letting out a piercing shriek like ghosts wailing, and charged toward Bal and most of his men at a speed almost impossible to track.
Wherever it passed, deep trenches were ripped into the ground, and black trails tore through the air.
"What?!" Bal's expression changed drastically. He sensed a fatal threat from this black tornado.
Not daring to be careless, he roared, pouring all his mana into his greatsword.
The blade lit up with a dazzling, earthy-yellow light.
He swung it sideways with all his might at the approaching dark tornado.
"Earth-Splitting Slash!"
A thick, solid, yellow blade of energy surged forward like a collapsing mountain, crashing toward the Dark Battle Tornado with enough power to tear the earth apart.
This was the signature move that had made Bal famous, powerful enough to split a small hill.
BOOM!
The black tornado and the heavy yellow energy blade collided violently in mid-air.
There was no stalemate, only total destruction.
The tornado filled with the corrosive power of darkness was like a hungry beast, madly tearing, devouring, and breaking apart the seemingly mighty yellow blade.
The energy blade lasted less than two seconds before shattering.
The tornado, though shrunk by nearly half, now had an even more condensed dark aura.
Its momentum undiminished, it instantly swallowed Bal and most of his men behind him, who hadn't had time to escape and were stumbling from the shockwave of their leader's attack.
"No—!!!"
Bal only had time to let out a short, desperate howl before he, along with his two brothers who were too close and dozens of elite subordinates, were reduced to nothing but flesh under the tornado's shredding power.
They couldn't even scream before completely vanishing into the air.
Where they had stood, only a huge pit remained, filled with deep gouges and scorch marks.
One hit, and it was almost a total wipeout.