At the other end of the street, a figure emerged from the shadows.
A wide-brimmed black hat hid the upper half of his face, and a dark green mask covered his mouth and nose.
Only his eyes, as deep as the night sky, remained visible.
He wore a heavy black cloak and carried five massive magic staves on his back, each with a distinct design.
Eerily, not a single trace of magic power could be sensed coming from him.
It was Mystogan—Fairy Tail's most enigmatic S-Class mage.
"Long time no see, Ace," Mystogan's muffled voice came through the mask.
It was low, steady, and completely devoid of emotion.
"Mystogan." Ace nodded. "You've returned."
"I sensed something was wrong with the guild and hurried back using teleportation magic." Mystogan slowly raised a hand, drawing the first staff from his back.
It was entirely silver-white, with a pale blue crystal embedded at its tip.
"I never expected to be dragged into such an absurd game the moment I arrived."
"This is Laxus's doing," Ace stated simply.
"I know." Mystogan held the staff horizontally before him. "The rule of the spell is that those who meet must fight. I'm sorry, Ace. Though I have no desire to battle you, right now... there's no other choice."
"Understood." Ace slowly straightened up, the dark gold Digital Soul swirling around him.
"But do you really think you can defeat me?"
"No, I don't," Mystogan admitted frankly. "Ever since I lost to you in the S-Class trials three years ago, I've never once thought I could beat you."
He paused, a complicated emotion flickering in his dark purple eyes.
"But I can try to persuade Laxus. Give me some time, and I can—"
"It's too late." Ace interrupted him, pointing toward the distant clock tower.
Ace looked at Mystogan, the dark gold streams in his eyes slowly rotating.
"Do you really think Laxus will listen to you? The man has become so obsessed that he's using his comrades' lives as bargaining chips. Do you think he'd listen to reason now?"
Mystogan fell silent.
After a long moment, he spoke again, his voice tinged with bitterness. "You're right. Then..."
He gripped the staff tightly with both hands, the pale blue magic crystal beginning to glow.
"—My apologies."
Before his words even faded, Mystogan blurred.
He left behind a fading afterimage, his true form instantly reappearing three meters to Ace's left.
He swung the staff horizontally, sending an invisible sonic shockwave tearing through the air, aimed directly at Ace's head!
"Sonic Magic: Concussive Blast!"
Ace didn't even turn his head.
He merely raised his left hand, his fingers spread wide, as dark gold Digital Soul formed a thin barrier in his palm.
The sonic wave crashed against the shield with a piercing shriek, but failed to breach it in the slightest.
"Too slow," Ace remarked softly.
But Mystogan's attack was only a distraction.
After missing his first strike, he immediately leaped backward, throwing a second staff into the air. This one was pitch black with a dark red crystal embedded at its tip.
As the staff spun, dark red light erupted from it, transforming into a flurry of razor-thin crimson threads that shot toward Ace from all directions!
"Crimson Binding Web!"
The moment the crimson threads touched the Digital Soul barrier, they began frantically eating away at it.
This wasn't a physical attack, it was a curse designed to directly target a person's magic power and life force.
It was meant to bypass physical defenses and destroy opponents from the inside out.
Dark gold Digital Soul surged from Ace's body, its data streams instantly analyzing and piercing the internal structure of the crimson threads.
The curse's magical formulas, mana nodes, and runic connections were entirely exposed.
Three seconds later, the threads shattered into harmless red light particles that dissolved into the wind.
Mystogan's eyes narrowed.
Without missing a beat, he grabbed his third and fourth staves simultaneously.
One was golden, embedded with a crystal as dazzling as the sun.
The other was silver, embedded with a crystal as cool as the moon.
"Sun and Moon Eclipse: Twin Birth of Light and Dark!"
Golden and silver light erupted, intertwining in the air to form a massive, slowly rotating Taiji symbol.
As the symbol pressed down toward Ace, it distorted and folded the space around it, swallowing and releasing light to create a bizarre domain where the extremes of light and dark coexisted.
But Ace merely glanced up at the descending symbol and sighed softly.
"Mystogan, do you know why I was able to defeat you in the S-Class exam?"
He raised his right hand, palm upward.
The dark gold Digital Soul stopped acting as a barrier and began rotating and compressing.
It transformed into a complex, glowing magic circle, flowing with pale golden light.
At the center of the circle, the roaring crest of a lion slowly emerged.
"It's not because my raw power is greater than yours. It's because..." Ace slowly clenched his fingers.
"...I'm not alone."
"Descend."
A pillar of pale golden light shot up from the magic circle, bathing the night sky in a warm, radiant hue.
Within the light, a majestic and powerful figure slowly materialized.
It was a lion—or rather, a beast that completely transcended the concept of a normal lion.
It stood over three meters tall and five meters long, covered in golden fur that shone as brilliantly as the sun.
Its limbs were as thick as pillars, leaving glowing footprints of pale light with every step it took.
Its eyes burned like golden flames, radiating the fierce, battle-hardened dignity of a monarch.
SaberLeomon.
The Mega-level evolution of the Leomon line.
"SaberLeomon, at your service!" its deep, majestic voice rumbled like grinding metal.
SaberLeomon bowed its forelimbs slightly, offering an ancient salute to Ace.
The razor-sharp blades of its mane stood upright, pointing toward the sky and scattering golden dust into the air.
Mystogan's voice came through his mask, calm yet carrying an unshakable resolve.
"Ace, I know I can't defeat you. But some battles must be fought even when you know you'll lose."
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