The towering pillar of dark light pierced the twilight sky, painting the clouds a sickly, bruised purple.
The sheer magical pressure radiating from the center of the Worth Woodsea was suffocating, thick enough to make the air taste like ash and ozone.
Ace stared at the beam, his eyes narrowing.
The D-Tector in his hand vibrated with an agitated erratic hum, its digital core reacting defensively to the massive influx of dark energy.
"What is that?" Wendy whispered, her voice trembling.
She hugged Carla tight against her chest, shrinking back from the oppressive aura.
"It feels... wrong. It makes me feel sick to my stomach."
"It's Nirvana," Ace said, his tone grim.
He tapped the screen of his device.
A soft glow enveloped Angemon and Ankylomon, reverting the two digimon back into the small, familiar forms of Patamon and Armadillomon.
"We need to hurry," Ace continued, turning his gaze toward the source of the light. "Brain managed to break the final seal. If we don't stop him, that magic is going to sweep across the entire continent."
He grabbed the thick enchanted rope binding the unconscious Racer and slung the dark mage over his shoulder.
It wasn't exactly comfortable, but leaving a member of the Oración Seis unguarded in the woods was a rookie mistake he refused to make.
"Let's move. Stay close to me, Wendy."
They broke into a steady jog, weaving through the dense, twisted roots and thick underbrush.
As they drew closer to the center of the forest, the strange, nauseating magic pulsing from the pillar grew stronger.
Ace felt a sudden, sharp tug in the back of his mind.
It was a strange creeping whisper urging him to drop Racer, leave Wendy behind and secure his own survival.
It was a vile, selfish impulse that felt entirely foreign to his nature.
He gritted his teeth, forcing the thought away.
His D-Tector flared with a protective warmth, shielding his consciousness.
"Ah!" Wendy suddenly gasped, stumbling forward.
She fell to her knees, clutching her head. "My head... it hurts! I feel so angry... why do I feel so angry?"
Carla flew around in a panic. "Wendy! Fight it! Don't let the darkness in!"
"Nirvana swaps light and darkness," Ace realized, crouching beside the young Dragon Slayer. "It takes the morality in a person's heart and flips it. For someone as pure-hearted as you, the magic is trying to force you into the dark."
He placed a hand on her shoulder, channeling a small fraction of his digital soul to act as a buffer.
"Breathe, Wendy. Focus on the wind, don't let the magic dictate how you feel."
Wendy took several ragged breaths, her small hands gripping the dirt.
Slowly, the dark, angry tension melted from her face, replaced by her usual gentle exhaustion.
"I'm okay... thank you, Ace."
"Don't thank me yet," Ace said, his eyes snapping forward.
The ground beneath their feet suddenly gave way, losing all solid structure.
The dirt and roots dissolved into a swirling, treacherous pool of liquid mud.
"Liquid Ground!" a bizarre, singsong voice echoed through the trees.
Ace reacted instantly. He tossed Racer onto a sturdy boulder and grabbed Wendy by the waist, leaping backward onto a thick tree root just as the earth where they had been standing turned into a sinkhole.
A tall, square-haired man stepped out from the shadows of the ancient trees.
He held a golden staff, and a wide, blocky smile stretched across his face.
"Oh, money! Money brings true happiness, yes!" Hoteye laughed, tapping his staff against the ground.
"Brain will pay a handsome bonus for the Sky Maiden. Hand her over Fairy Tail mage, and I might just let you keep your life. Time is money, after all!"
Ace set Wendy down and stepped forward, his hand resting on his D-Tector.
"Armadillomon. Get ready to tunnel. If he tries to sink the ground again, you disrupt the earth beneath him."
"You got it, Ace!" Armadillomon crouched, his sharp claws digging into the bark of the root.
"Stubbornness is bad for business!" Hoteye sighed dramatically.
He raised his golden staff, preparing to turn the entire grove into a deadly quicksand trap.
But before Hoteye could cast his spell, a second, massive pulse of magic erupted from the distant pillar.
This pulse was different.
It didn't feel like a wave of oppressive darkness.
It was a blinding disruptive ripple of raw, chaotic energy that swept through the forest like a hurricane.
The wave hit Hoteye directly!
The dark mage froze mid-cast.
His golden staff slipped from his fingers, clattering loudly against a rock.
His blocky, confident smile vanished, replaced by an expression of profound, agonizing shock.
Hoteye fell to his knees, clutching his face with both hands.
"Money... what is money?" he stammered, his voice trembling. "Why was I so obsessed with pieces of metal and paper? It's meaningless... it's all so meaningless!"
Ace raised an eyebrow, keeping his guard up. "Is it a trick?"
"No, Ace," Patamon whispered, fluttering down to land on his Tamer's shoulder.
The small Digimon's blue eyes were wide with genuine surprise.
"His aura... it just changed. All the dark, malicious intent is gone. It's like his heart just turned inside out."
Hoteye looked up at the sky, tears streaming down his square cheeks. "My brother... Wally! All I ever wanted was to find you! I traded my soul for money, thinking it would bring us together... but all I really needed was love!"
He slammed his fists into the mud, weeping openly. "Love is the only true currency in this world! Oh, the time I have wasted!"
Ace relaxed his stance just a fraction, realizing what had just happened.
"Nirvana's morality flip. It doesn't just turn good people bad. It turns bad people good. He must have had a shred of genuine love in his heart for his brother, and the magic amplified it, suppressing his darkness."
Hoteye suddenly scrambled to his feet and turned toward Ace, bowing so deeply his forehead nearly touched the mud.
"I am so sorry!" Hoteye cried out, tears still flowing freely. "I attacked you! I threatened this sweet, innocent child! I am a monster, but I swear on the power of love, I have seen the light! Please, allow me to assist you in stopping Brain!"
Wendy peeked out from behind Ace's leg, looking incredibly confused.
"He... he wants to help us?"
"If you truly want to help," Ace said, his tone cautious but pragmatic, "start by telling us exactly what Nirvana is. Brain said he found it, but that pillar of light isn't a weapon. It's just an activation signal."
"It's a city," Hoteye explained, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his coat. "Nirvana isn't just a spell. It's an ancient, walking fortress created by the Nirvit people. Once fully awakened, it will move across the land on six massive stone legs, spreading its morality-inverting magic across the entire continent."
"A walking city?" Carla gasped. "That's impossible!"
"Where is Brain planning to take it?" Ace asked, his eyes narrowing.
Hoteye's expression turned grim. "Nirvana's magic is fueled by targeting sources of immense light and destroying them. Brain has locked the city's navigation coordinates onto the nearest beacon of pure, concentrated good magic."
Hoteye pointed a trembling finger toward the horizon. "He is marching Nirvana directly toward the Cait Shelter guild."
Wendy's breath caught in her throat. Her eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated horror.
"My... my guild? Master Roubaul... everyone..."
Before anyone could say another word, the forest floor violently heaved.
The trees groaned, their ancient roots snapping and tearing out of the dirt.
A deafening, mechanical grinding noise echoed from the center of the Worth Woodsea, loud enough to shake the very air in their lungs.
Ace looked past the treeline.
The massive, dark pillar of light was slowly rising higher into the sky. Beneath it, six colossal, jagged legs of ancient stone erupted from the earth, lifting a sprawling, ruined city into the air!
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