Sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows of the Fairy Tail guild hall, casting mottled patterns across the wooden floor.
What should have been a peaceful afternoon was now filled with a blood-pumping battle lust.
"Hey, hey, Ace! Let's fight!"
Natsu stood with his arms crossed, a trademark shark-toothed grin on his face, his eyes burning with a fierce fighting spirit.
"We didn't get a chance to have a proper go at it back in Oshibana Town! You can't back out this time!"
"Hmph, I'd also like to see where my own strength stands." Gray stood to the side, his shirt having vanished at some point again.
He crossed his arms, a confident arc on his lips.
"A two-on-one, Huh?" Ace raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth twitching upward.
"Interesting. I'll play with you two, then."
The other guild members, long accustomed to this, started placing bets on who would win.
Mirajane watched with a smile from behind the bar, while Lisanna and Levy excitedly squeezed into the front row.
Lucy, holding Gatomon, watched the three going outside to the guild backyard with some concern.
....
"Do you know the rules?" Erza, having changed into a set of light red leather armor at some point, stood by as the referee with an iron sword in hand.
"We fight until one side gives up or is unable to battle! Of course, no injuring blows!" Natsu eagerly cracked his knuckles, which popped loudly.
"Damage to the guild building will be deducted from the winner's reward," Master Makarov chimed in, having appeared out of nowhere.
He was sipping his ale, looking like he was enjoying the show and didn't mind the trouble.
"Then—" Erza raised her iron sword and swung it down sharply. "Begin!"
"Fire Dragon's—Iron Fist!"
The moment Erza's voice fell, Natsu shot forward, his right fist wreathed in scorching flames, aiming straight for Ace's face.
"Ice-Make: Lancer!" Gray swept his hands, and dozens of sharp ice lances materialized out of thin air, sealing off Ace's escape routes from every angle.
Faced with this coordinated pincer attack, Ace remained unruffled, a crimson glint flashing in his eyes.
"Armor Digivolution—BurningGreymon!"
Crimson flames shot toward the sky.
In an instant, a draconic humanoid figure nearly three meters tall appeared before everyone.
It was covered in streamlined, crimson dragon armor, had massive dragon wings on its back, and wore a majestic dragon-head helmet.
This was Ace's Beast Spirit Evolution form—BurningGreymon!
"Whoa! Another new form!" Lucy's eyes widened.
She had seen Agunimon back in Oshibana Town, but this was her first time seeing BurningGreymon.
The overwhelming draconic might and wildness that washed over her made her hold her breath.
"Roar!" BurningGreymon (Ace) let out a deafening dragon's roar.
With a powerful flap of his wings, the intense airflow blew all the incoming ice lances off course.
At the same time, his right fist, covered in draconic gauntlets, met Natsu's Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.
Boom!
The two fists collided in a fierce clash of fire against fire.
Natsu felt an irresistible, immense force slam into him, sending him flying backward.
He flipped in mid-air to stabilize himself and slid several meters upon landing with a grin of excitement on his face.
"Such power! Now this is interesting!"
On the other side, seeing his ice lances were ineffective, Gray immediately changed his tactic.
"Ice-Make: Geyser!"
The ground suddenly cracked open, and several thick pillars of ice erupted from under BurningGreymon's feet like a fountain, attempting to launch him into the air.
BurningGreymon flapped his wings and took to the sky, dodging the surprise attack.
But this was the exact moment Gray had been waiting for.
"Ice-Make: Prison!"
In the air, countless ice crystals rapidly condensed, forming a massive, hemispherical ice dome that trapped BurningGreymon inside.
Within the dome, the temperature plummeted, and even the air began to freeze.
"Nice one, ice-face!" Natsu laughed, took a deep breath, and puffed out his chest. "Fire Dragon's—Roar!"
A torrent of scorching dragon's breath spewed from his mouth, striking the ice dome directly.
The clash of ice and fire created a violent explosion.
The ice dome melted rapidly under the high temperature, but the BurningGreymon inside was simultaneously subjected to the dual impact of extreme cold and extreme heat.
"Did we get him?" Gray narrowed his eyes.
"No, it's not that simple," Erza said, shaking her head.
Sure enough, a crimson figure shot out from the smoke and dust of the explosion.
BurningGreymon's hovered in the air, his dragon wings beating slowly as he looked down on Natsu and Gray.
"Nice teamwork," BurningGreymon's voice, came through his helmet.
"But it's not enough to defeat me."
"Tch, what a pain," Gray muttered, but the fighting spirit in his eyes only grew stronger.
"This is what makes it fun!" Natsu shouted excitedly. "Again!"
The battle that followed grew even more intense.
Natsu and Gray, one close-range and one long-range, worked in perfect sync.
Natsu used his various Fire Dragon close-combat moves to clash head-on with BurningGreymon, while Gray constantly used various Ice-Make spells to interfere with and restrict BurningGreymon's movements.
BurningGreymon, in turn, relied on his immense power, sturdy defense, and aerial advantage to fight them.
"Fire Dragon's—Sword Horn!"
Natsu's head ignited in flames as he charged toward BurningGreymon like a cannonball.
"Ice-Make: Ice Arrows!"
Countless ice arrows shot toward the joints of BurningGreymon's wings like a torrential downpour.
BurningGreymon folded his wings to protect his body, taking Natsu's headbutt head-on.
He was knocked back several steps, but immediately swept his dragon tail to force Natsu back.
At the same time, the ports on his right arm opened, unleashing a dense barrage of fireballs that intercepted all the ice arrows.
Natsu and Gray's improvement was indeed astonishing, and their coordination was becoming more and more seamless.
"It's time to try that." A glint of determination flashed in Ace's eyes.
"Natsu, Gray, be careful!" BurningGreymon warned in a deep voice. "I'm getting serious now!"
"Ha! Bring it on!" Natsu wiped the sweat from his face, his fighting spirit soaring.
"Finally getting serious?" Gray also took a guarded stance.
The crimson flames around BurningGreymon suddenly converged inward, then erupted violently.
"Double Spirit Evolution—Aldamon!"
The flames exploded, then quickly receded.
Appearing before everyone was a brand-new form—Aldamon!
He was about two and a half meters tall, covered in red and gold dragon-scale armor, with a pair of dragon wings on his back whose edges flowed with flame patterns.
He possessed both the savage power of a beast type and the agility and skill of a human type.
"He-he changed again?!" Lucy exclaimed.
"What immense pressure..." Mirajane narrowed her eyes.
Aldamon (Ace) felt the surging power within him, a power more perfect and balanced than that of just Agunimon or BurningGreymon.
"Are you ready?" Aldamon's voice was low and full of power. "Brahma Sutra!"
The Rudriya Darpaṇa (mirrors on his arms) blazed with light, spewing forth endless flames like a volcanic eruption.
These flames were highly compressed and condensed in front of the mirrors, with faint dragon shadows swimming within.
Countless energy spheres, carrying a world-destroying might, shot toward Natsu and Gray.
"Bring it on!" Natsu, far from being alarmed, was delighted.
He slammed his hands together, and two highly compressed fireballs spun madly and fused in his palms.
"Fire Dragon's—Brilliant Flame!"
This was a finishing move he had previously mastered but forgotten due to its instability.
A large, deep-red fireball, even more violently energetic, pushed out from his hands to meet Brahma Sutra head-on.
Gray didn't stand idle either; he knew Natsu alone might not be able to block this attack.
He made the gesture of drawing a bow, his magic power surging wildly.
"Ice-Make: Ice Cannon!"
The moisture in the air instantly condensed, forming a huge, exquisitely crafted ice cannon in front of him.
A white shockwave, like an avalanche, roared out and, together with Natsu's "Brilliant Flame," met the Brahma Sutra.
BOOM!
Three distinct but equally powerful energies collided in mid-air.
The moment the deep-red Brahma Sutra, the Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame, and the pure-white Ice Cannon made contact, an unprecedentedly violent explosion occurred.
A terrifying shockwave spread out.
At the center of the explosion, space itself seemed to distort for a moment.
Fire and ice annihilated and canceled each other out, finally turning into a sky full of steam that enveloped the entire backyard.
"Who won?" someone asked in a small voice.
The white mist gradually dissipated, and everyone could finally see the situation in the center of the field—
Aldamon still stood tall, having put away the Rudriya Darpana.
Opposite him, Natsu and Gray were on one knee, panting heavily, with various burns on their bodies, but their eyes were still defiant.
"Want to continue?" Aldamon asked.
"Of course!" Natsu struggled to his feet, but his legs were clearly trembling.
"Hmph, don't look down on me..." Gray also tried to stand, but his knees gave way and he knelt again.
"That's enough." Erza intervened at the right time, placing her iron sword between them. "The match is decided. Continuing would be a meaningless waste of energy."
"Tch..." Natsu pouted unwillingly but didn't object.
"Alright, had enough fun?" Master Makarov said.
Though his tone was stern, his eyes held a look of gratification.
"Now, everyone—clean up the field! The repair costs will be deducted from the three of you's rewards!"
"Ehhh—?!" Ace, Natsu, and Gray wailed in unison.
...
The next morning, as Mirajane, with her usual gentle smile, prepared to start the day's work, she habitually glanced at the S-Class request board on the second floor—and her smile froze on her face.
She learned from Laxus that Happy had stolen a request form from the second floor, which made the Master furious.
Yesterday, right after the duel between Ace, Natsu, and Gray, Laxus, who had just returned from outside, had directed a few sarcastic remarks at Natsu, who was bruised and swollen but still bragging excitedly.
Laxus had his usual arrogance and disdain for the noisy weaklings of the guild.
"Find Erza immediately, Mira," Makarov's face was grave. "Have her bring Natsu back at all costs."
"I understand, Master." Mirajane nodded.
She first found Erza, who was practicing her swordsmanship alone in the backyard, and briefly explained the situation.
"That idiot Natsu!"
Upon hearing the news, Erza's heroic brows furrowed tightly, a flash of anger and worry in her beautiful eyes.
"How dare he steal an S-Class quest! He has no idea what that means!"
"Blaming him now won't help. We have to bring him back as soon as possible," Mirajane said calmly.
"Natsu left by flying with Happy, so they're fast. We need someone faster."
Their eyes met, and they thought of the same person almost simultaneously.
...
Ace opened his door to see Erza and Mirajane standing side-by-side outside.
The identical serious expressions on their faces made him pause for a moment.
"Ace, Natsu's in trouble," Erza said concisely. "He stole an S-Class quest from the second floor and has already left with Lucy and Happy."
"I understand."
Without a moment's hesitation, Ace turned and grabbed the black cloak and his Digivice hanging on the wall
"I'll leave immediately. Erza, you come with me too."
"I'm going too!" a voice interjected.
"If that hot-headed bastard is going to get a beating, it should be me who does it!"