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"Injecting the X-Antibody allows a Digimon to undergo X-evolution. I wonder just what kind of changes X-evolution will bring to a Digimon's strength." Turning it over in his mind, Luke set about crafting the X-Antibody evolution card.
*「 After a Digimon has been tempered through the grind of battle, its innate potential is stimulated to a tremendous degree. A Digimon in that state will awaken the X-Antibody. There also exist Digimon that carry the X-Antibody from birth. 」*
*「 The X-Antibody is a vaccine that renders a Digimon immune to the X-Program's attacks and deletion. A Digimon in possession of the X-Antibody can undergo the special X-evolution. 」*
*「 A Digimon receiving the X-Antibody's influence upon its Digicore will, in most cases, undergo changes in appearance, and its strength will grow greater than that of its non-X-Antibody kin. At the Champion stage, or even the Rookie stage, it becomes capable of defeating ordinary Ultimates. 」*
"Luke isn't finished yet?" Celestine, who had been getting acquainted with Guilmon, blinked at the sight. At the tree-spirit's words, Mana and Blanc likewise turned their eyes back toward Luke.
As for Guilmon, it tilted its head, then promptly had its attention stolen by a butterfly a short distance off, and went chasing after it.
Seeing that, the three girls paid it no mind. There wasn't a single dangerous corner anywhere in the Eternal Land, after all, and Guilmon was only scampering back and forth nearby anyway.
*「 Card background approved. Please complete the card art and add materials. 」*
The X-Antibody's card art differed from the Hyper Evolution Unit S and the Blue Card, presenting instead two mutually entwined spiral chains of DNA evolution. Under Luke's guidance, the X-Antibody's card art was soon saturated through by the solution the materials had become.
*「 Construction successful. Mana backflow obtained. Level breakthrough: Monarch Realm, One-Star! 」*
"Broke through at last." Unlike crafting Guilmon, when the mana within him had merely grown a shade more robust, Luke, now ascended to the Monarch Realm, could feel his mana climb an entire stair higher. Even maintaining the summoning of a Seven-Star card through prolonged combat would, from here on, pose essentially no great problem.
Then again, with the Eternal Sun standing by as a reserve power source, mana constraints already weighed on Luke far less than they did on other Card Masters. Measured purely by volume, even King Realm Card Masters a full realm above him couldn't mobilize a quantity of mana that matched his.
*「 X-Antibody 」*
Type: Evolution Card
Effect: Through a Card Slash performed via the D-Ark, releases the volume of data contained within and injects it into a Digimon's body. The Digimon can thereby further release its own potential and undergo X-evolution, obtaining greater power.
"Concise as ever. Should I give it a try right now, then?" The X-Antibody evolution card in hand, Luke turned a thought, and his gaze drifted toward Guilmon, still at play a short distance away. "Might as well make it Guilmon."
As if sensing Luke's gaze, Guilmon abandoned the butterfly it had been chasing and trotted back to Luke's side, its oversized head bumping and burrowing about, exactly like a child whose mind hadn't quite finished maturing. Then again, that was simply one of Guilmon's defining traits.
"All right, Guilmon, get yourself ready. I'm going to run a test." Patting Guilmon on the head, Luke had it stand up straight and proper, then waved toward Sistermon Blanc a short way off. "Blanc, you come over too."
At Luke's words, the obediently standing Guilmon raised a claw to prop its chin, head tilting to one side, its expression the very picture of adorable blankness. "A test?"
As for Blanc, though she was likewise only half-comprehending after hearing Luke, she trotted over quickly all the same, taking up an obedient stance right beside Guilmon.
A short distance away, Celestine and Mana refrained from disturbing them, two pairs of large eyes simply fixed on Luke, both of them plainly holding no small interest in what was about to unfold.
Somehow this feels vaguely like committing a crime. And now that I think about it, aside from Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Timaeus carrying a dragon's imperious air, every other card spirit I've made is adorably dopey. Is the problem with me? Gazing into Blanc's and Guilmon's big, sparkling eyes, Luke was abruptly seized by an absurd feeling.
But he shook the jumble of stray thoughts from his head soon enough, and drew out the X-Antibody evolution card.
Card Slash! X-Antibody!
As Luke slashed the X-Antibody evolution card through, special data unlike that of any prior evolution poured out of the D-Ark in a steady stream, spreading over the surfaces of Guilmon's and Sistermon Blanc's bodies, and once more taking the shape of a Digi-Egg.
Seconds later, the Digi-Egg cracked apart, and the two Digimon that reemerged had undergone no small change in form.
Blanc's was the milder case. Her outfit had merely grown more form-fitting, gaining a generous scattering of gold patterning, and the trident Cross Barbie in her hands had turned sharper, its edge colder. Beyond that, Blanc's appearance hadn't changed much at all.
Guilmon, by contrast, showed considerably more change. The sharply angular lines traditional to X-evolution were, of course, present in full, and they stripped away a good measure of Guilmon's formerly dopey air, leaving it looking far more aggressive and imposing. Beyond that, the engraving on the front of Guilmon's chest, the mark of the Digital Hazard, had vanished entirely.
By Luke's perception, however, the Digital Hazard hadn't disappeared. Rather, Guilmon had accepted that power and enveloped it completely, which meant that Guilmon's aptitude for growing into a true guardian of the Digital World had risen enormously.
Still, set against the changes in their appearance, it was the changes in Blanc's and Guilmon's strength that held far more of his attention.
*「 Sistermon Blanc 」*
Race: Digimon, Puppet type
Quality: Collectible
Level: ★★★★ (Four-Star)
Skills: Divine Pierce, Protect Wave, Grand Sister Cross, Awakening, Thunderbolt Descent
Thunderbolt Descent: Using the trident Cross Barbie, calls down bolts of lightning to deliver a sustained bombardment upon the target area.
*「 Guilmon, X Form 」*
Race: Digimon, Reptile type
Quality: Collectible
Level: ★★★★ (Four-Star)
Skills: Rock Breaker, Pyro Sphere, Blazing Rock Breaker, Fighting Spirit Focus, Fire Knuckle
Fire Knuckle: Wraps Pyro Spheres around the hands and delivers a flurry of rapid strikes against the target. In power and destructive force, it outstrips even the Blazing Rock Breaker.
"I'd guessed X-evolution would raise a Digimon's strength by a fair margin, but I didn't expect it to be as simple and brutal as a straight one-level jump, with a new skill thrown in on top of it." His eyes sweeping over the post-X-evolution information on Blanc and Guilmon, Luke rubbed his chin. "Blanc, can you still activate your Awakening right now?"
The Digimon of the Sistermon line all possessed the ability to Awaken, and an awakened Sistermon likewise gained a full level, an effect much like X-evolution's. Luke intended to see whether undergoing X-evolution and Awakening at the same time would let Blanc's strength stack.
If that could be managed, then the ceiling of the entire Sistermon line would climb by a considerable margin.
"I can, Master." Grasping Luke's intent, Blanc nodded, and then activated the skill Awakening.