The power of "The Beast King" was too immense and savage.
Although Elfman had forcibly taken it over, he couldn't control it and had fallen into a berserk state.
After all, his strength and willpower were too weak before this beast king, and his consciousness was on the verge of being completely devoured by bestial instinct.
"ROAR! KILL! KILL THEM ALL!!"
The crazed Elfman swung his claws, indiscriminately attacking everything around him, tearing the remaining monsters to shreds and smashing rocks into powder.
"Elfman-nii! Wake up! It's me! Lisanna!" Lisanna cried out, running toward her out-of-control brother regardless of the danger.
She also had many scrapes, her small face blackened by soot, with two white streaks where tears had washed it clean.
She tried to use her Animal Soul to communicate with her brother, but Elfman's mind was a chaotic and violent mess in his berserk state, her thoughts were like a stone sinking into the ocean.
"Lisanna! Don't come closer! It's dangerous!" Mirajane screamed hoarsely.
She tried to get up, but the movement aggravated her injuries, and she coughed up another mouthful of blood.
However, Lisanna had already rushed in front of Elfman.
She spread her arms, trying to embrace him.
"Brother! Look at me! It's Lisanna!"
Her plea was answered by Elfman's bloodshot, irrational crimson eyes and a giant beastly fist, that ruthlessly smashed toward her face.
"DIE!"
The force of the punch nearly suffocated Lisanna, and the shadow of death instantly enveloped her.
She closed her eyes in despair as a final thought flashing through her mind.
'Ace-nii... I'm sorry...'
"STOP! ELFMAN!"
In the nick of time, a furious roar that seemed to traverse space, exploded from the sky like a clap of thunder.
The next moment, a crimson figure tore through the twilight and descended from the heavens at a terrifying speed that was impossible to follow with the naked eye.
It crashed with pinpoint accuracy against the fist Elfman had thrown at Lisanna.
BOOM!
Amidst the incredibly booming sound of impact, a ring-shaped shockwave erupted.
The crimson figure swayed slightly and took half a step back before standing firm, securely shielding Lisanna behind its body.
The out-of-control Elfman, however, was sent staggering back several steps by the immense recoil, letting out a furious roar.
Lisanna opened her trembling eyes.
Reflected in them was the back of a dragon warrior with enormous crimson dragon wings, its entire body covered in sleek blazing armor, exuding a reassuring and incredibly powerful aura.
The figure was not only tall but seemed capable of holding up the entire sky.
"Ace... Ace-nii?" Lisanna murmured in disbelief, tears welling up in her eyes once more, but this time they were tears of joy from being saved from a desperate situation.
While rushing over, Ace, disregarding the magic consumption, had directly used the higher-tier evolution of his Warrior Spirit to evolve into his BurningGreymon form, gaining astonishing flight speed and power.
He had finally arrived at the most critical moment.
BurningGreymon (Ace) slowly turned his head.
From behind his faceplate, his flame-wreathed eyes glanced at Lisanna, confirming she was temporarily unharmed.
He then refocused on Elfman, who was roaring and charging at him again, and spoke in a deep voice.
"Stand back, Lisanna. Leave this to me."
'Thank goodness... I made it in time.'
But looking at Elfman, who had completely lost his sanity and was left with only the desire to destroy, Ace's heart sank.
If its about fighting with a monster or a dark guild cultist, it will be easy, but now...
'You want me to wake him up? I'm not some anime protagonist, I'm not good at this sort of thing!'
In the instant he was pondering his options, the berserk Elfman charged again, his claws letting out a shriek as they tore through the air, swiping down at his head.
The force was even greater than before; he had clearly identified BurningGreymon as a new, stronger enemy.
BurningGreymon's eyes narrowed.
He didn't dodge.
He raised his right arm, which was covered in crimson armor.
The armor on the outside of his forearm suddenly flipped open, revealing several nozzle-like devices resembling machine gun barrels.
"Pyro Darts."
Countless crimson points of light, each only the size of a fingertip but condensed with high-temperature flame energy, spewed forth from the nozzles like a torrential downpour.
They formed an incredibly dense net of firepower, all of it accurately striking Elfman's chest, arms, and shoulders—non-lethal areas sufficient to halt his movements.
Puff-puff-puff-puff...
A series of dense explosions erupted on Elfman's body.
Each point of light was like a miniature explosive flame bullet, bursting into a ball of scorching fire.
Although they couldn't pierce the defense of his "The Beast Soul" state, the continuous impacts, burns, and intense pain successfully interrupted Elfman's pounce.
He was knocked back repeatedly, wisps of green smoke rising from his body as he let out a howl mixed with pain and fury.
However, this seemed to enrage him further.
He pounded his chest violently, and the beast hide on his body glowed with an unnatural dark red light.
He actually braced himself against the "Pyro Darts" and charged forward again, opening his bloody maw as a breath attack mixed with bloodlust and berserk magic power was about to be unleashed.
"I can't let him continue."
BurningGreymon's eyes sharpened as he made a decision.
He had to use superior power to instantly suppress him, create an opportunity to temporarily incapacitate him, and then figure out a way to wake him up—or at least give Mirajane and Lisanna a chance to do something.
"Burning Salamander!"
BurningGreymon took a deep breath.
The massive crimson dragon wings on his back fully unfurled and began to flap frantically at an extremely high frequency.
Each flap stirred up scorching air currents and surging flame energy.
At the same time, the Digi-Soul within him was injected into this energy.
Raging flames also erupted from the seams of his crimson armor.
In an instant, with BurningGreymon at its center, a terrifying, giant tornado of fire over twenty meters in diameter abruptly took shape.
The storm spun madly, emitting a deafening howl.
The temperature inside was high enough to melt steel, distorting the surrounding air with its heat.
This was one of BurningGreymon's signature moves, created by burning his entire body's energy and flapping his wings to release a devastating, high-heat tornado.
"ROAR!" The berserk Elfman seemed to sense the threat of this move and fired his energy breath at the fiery storm.
However, when the savage breath attack slammed into the Burning Salamander, it was like a paper entering the sea—instantly swallowed and assimilated by the even more ferocious flames.
The fiery tornado's momentum didn't slow in the slightest as it swept toward Elfman with the power to incinerate all things.
"ACE STOP! Don't hurt Elfman!" Mirajane cried out shrilly from a distance.
Lisanna also covered her mouth tightly, her eyes filled with conflict and pain.
BurningGreymon's (Ace's) eyes were calm.
He didn't retort with, 'You're afraid I'll hurt him, but you weren't afraid he'd hurt me?'
He was controlling the power of the "Burning Salamander."
The goal wasn't to burn Elfman to ashes, but to use the ultimate force of flame and storm to forcibly wash away and suppress the Beast King's magic on his body, and to use the high temperature and impact to temporarily rob him of his ability to move.
RUMBLE...
The Burning Salamander completely engulfed Elfman.
The violent flames and tornadic forces madly tore at and burned his body, causing the dark red layer of the Beast King's magic on his surface to fluctuate violently and continuously dissipate.
Elfman let out screams of ultimate agony from within the storm's center, struggling madly, but in the face of this cataclysmic fiery storm, his struggles seemed utterly futile.
The storm lasted for several seconds.
When BurningGreymon estimated it was enough, he abruptly folded his wings, dissipating the "Burning Salamander."
The flames and dust slowly cleared.
Where he had stood, Elfman's massive "Beast King" body had vanished.
He had reverted to his human form, charred black all over, his clothes in tatters and smoke rising from his body.
He lay flat on the ground.
He had clearly fainted from the extreme heat and impact, but because of this, he had also been broken out of his berserk state.
"Elfman!" Mirajane and Lisanna cried out in unison, struggling to run over.
BurningGreymon slowly deactivated his Warrior Spirit, seizing the opportunity to take a picture of disheveled Mirajane.
'This might make a good material later!'
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