Jayr POV - Nasuverse, Moon, Far Side, Sakura Labyrinth - 2030 AD
The clash detonates like a thunderclap.
My armoured fist slams into the flat of Ledram's Keyblade, and for a brief instant, our powers grind against each other.
The Spiral Cosmo is colliding with the strange authority embedded in that incredibly powerful weapon and the immense force of Ledram's Demonic Power and physical power.
Then the pressure explodes, unleashing a devastating shockwave that throws us apart.
One so powerful that in any other location it would have caused the explosion of at least a dozen planets.
I skid backwards across the fractured battlefield, boots carving trenches through the marble until I finally manage to halt myself.
Across from me, Ledram, who was sent blasting in the air, lands lightly, Keyblade resting casually on his shoulder as if the last exchange had barely required any effort.
For a moment, neither of us moves, and I take a slow breath and lift my gaze.
The battlefield stretches around us, still distorted by Nero's Noble Phantasm.
Golden pillars and blazing marble cover the ground in an impossible palace; this is the manifestation of Aestus Domus Aurea.
A sign that the battle is clearly approaching its end, even more so considering that only a few of us remain standing.
My eyes move first toward the centre of the arena, where Imperialdramon Paladin Mode towers above the battlefield like a living fortress, the Omega Blade in his hands radiating a purifying power that could erase and reset entire realities.
Opposite him, the woman named Sara struggles to maintain her footing.
Looking at her, I can't help but think, 'Until now, that woman has been a complete mystery. She is part of Ledram's Peerage, but it is the only one I can't recognise; However, she has been the central figure in the battle against my Digimon Partners. Just who is she...?'
While I'm thinking that, another swing of the Omega Blade forces her to leap backwards as the ground behind her vanishes in a surge of white energy.
At the same time, she fires another arrow of light, but it shatters against the Imperialdramon Paladin Mode's armour.
Even from here, I can see it clearly that she's losing ground.
Then I shift my gaze again and see that on the other side of the battlefield, Nero faces Oda Nobunaga alone.
Even inside the golden theatre, Nobunaga's matchlock fires relentlessly, each shot carrying the weight of the terrifying anti-Mystery and anti-Divine propieties of her Personal Skill, Unifying the Nation by Force - Innovation.
Seeing that, I reach a simple conclusion, 'The battle is coming close to an end. Three fronts remain. And all of them are critical for the result of this Champions Challenge. If either Nero or I wins or loses, then the battle is instantly over. If Imperialdramon wins, then he can support Nero and help us win the battle. If he loses, then Sara will support either Oda Nobunga or Ledram, making us lose... I can't lower my guard.'
Across from me, Ledram glances over the battlefield as well, then he chuckles and says, resting the Keyblade on his shoulder, "I have to admit. I never expected someone to push my full Peerage this far."
His eyes sweep across the battlefield again and adds, "I'm glad we agreed on the Champions Challenge rules. No permanent deaths."
I nod slowly in agreement while thinking, 'Even so, the intensity of this battle is undeniable. If we didn't ensure that the battlefield could endure multiverse-level power through the Concepts Authority, then the Nasuverse as a whole would have already suffered immense damage. Maybe even completely obliterated. I can remember only two or three enemies who can do the same.'
As I'm thinking that, Ledram looks back at me and smirks before he says, "You might actually be the most formidable opponent I've ever faced."
I can't help but smile faintly and reply, "Funny. I was thinking something similar."
I pause before adding, "Though I have to admit… I'm feeling quite a bit of pressure."
Ledram raises an eyebrow as I gesture toward him and continue, "Especially since you're still holding back."
For a moment, there's silence, then Ledram's grin widens as he replies, "That's rich coming from you."
We stare at each other. Neither of us denies it, as neither of us needs to, because it is the truth; we both are still holding back a fair bit.
Then something draws both our attention at the same time.
The battle between Sara and Imperialdramon Paladin Mode.
Imperialdramon's Omega Blade comes down again, forcing her to dive aside as another portion of the battlefield is erased and restored in a matter of moments.
She rolls across the marble floor of Nero's theatre before rising again, already drawing another arrow.
The arrow flashes forward, and again it breaks against Imperialdramon's armour.
I frown slightly, but what truly catches my attention isn't Sara; it's Ledram.
He's watching the fight calmly, way too calmly.
There's no tension in his posture, no worry in his expression. That doesn't make sense.
Sara is clearly on the defensive, yet Ledram looks almost amused by what is happening.
Slowly, I turn my head toward him, and he notices immediately.
He follows my gaze toward Sara and chuckles softly, "Oh, I see."
His smirk grows wider as he says, "You're wondering why I'm not worried about her."
I don't answer as Ledram glances back at the battlefield and calmly states, "She's the strongest one among my lovers."
And right as he finishes saying that, the whole battlefield explodes into light.
It begins as a single spark, a point of brilliance between Sara and Imperialdramon, then it erupts.
Blinding radiance floods the battlefield. Even I instinctively raise an arm to shield my eyes as the light intensifies, pure, scorching, almost like standing beneath the sun itself.
I'm forced to use my other senses to distinguish what is happening all around us.
The golden palace begins to crack, then it burns.
The pillars of Aestus Domus Aurea melt away like wax beneath the overwhelming radiance.
Perceiving that my eyes widen, 'Nero's Noble Phantasm isn't being broken by the power of this light, it's being burned away.'
The light swells for several seconds before finally beginning to fade, and slowly the battlefield emerges again.
I lower my arm and freeze as I focus back on the area where Imperialdramon Paladin Mode and Sara are.
Sara still stands where she was before, but she isn't the same anymore.
Great wings of radiant light unfurl behind her.
They don't simply appear like magic, but they bloom outward in a slow, deliberate motion, each feather formed from living light that ripples and shifts like a miniature sun caught in motion. The brilliance spills across the battlefield, casting long shadows across the shattered marble.
Golden horns rise from her head next, curving elegantly upward like the crown of some ancient celestial sovereign. They catch the surrounding radiance and reflect it in sharp glints of molten gold.
Then a halo forms behind her.
Not placed upon her head, but suspended just behind it, a perfect ring of pure light that turns slowly in the air, steady and absolute, as if reality itself acknowledges her authority.
Power pours from her body in waves, and I instantly feel that it is ancient, primordial, and more importantly, completely opposite to the Darkness coiled within Ledram.
My breath catches as I finally start to realise what kind of power she just displayed, while I continue to stare at Sara's transformed figure.
Then the realisation hits me, making me mutter out loud, "…The Angelus."
Hearing that, Ledram laughs quietly and confirms, "You're correct."
I glance toward him as he casually says, "When we visited The Darkness Universe, things got a little bit complicated."
Another explosion interrupts him while Imperialdramon staggers backwards as a blazing arrow detonates against his armour.
Sara lowers her bow with a confident smile on her face while Ledram shrugs lightly and continues to narrate, "The Angelus didn't appreciate my presence very much. Something about breaking balance and order."
His grin returns, "But after a little bit of aggressive negotiations... I subdued it. Permanently locked the Angelus' will using my Keyblade..."
My eyes narrow slightly as he casually finishes, "And then, I gave it to Sara. My light is the only one who can actually use all the immense power of the Angelus without any risk, and because of that, she is the only one among my women whose power is comparable to mine... Well, to tell the truth, this has always been the case even before she agreed to be my lover and member of my Peerage."
Hearing what he just said, my mind unconsciously connects the dots, making me grasp what is likely the true nature of the woman named Sara Connor, 'Unknown figure. Extremely powerful even before meeting a Champion. Have some kind of connection with the Greek God Apollo and the Greek Pantheon as a whole. Ledram called her "my light". With all these factors piling up, it is very likely that Sara Connor is, in fact, the former Champion of Light. The one who had chosen to reincarnate in the Percy Jackson Universe.'
But I don't have the time to confirm my guess as another explosion tears across the battlefield.
Sara's bow flashes, and a blazing arrow of fire and light slams into Imperialdramon Paladin Mode's chest plate. The impact erupts like a miniature star, flooding the arena in searing radiance as the force drives my Digimon Partner several steps backwards, his massive frame gouging deep trenches into the marble floor, yet Imperialdramon does not fall.
With a thunderous beat of his wings, he surges forward again, Omega Blade carving a vast arc of purifying energy that splits the battlefield in two as it descends toward her.
Sara twists through the attack at the last possible instant, her wings flaring as she launches herself skyward. Another arrow forms in her grasp almost immediately, the bowstring drawn with effortless precision before she releases.
Light screams across the arena.
Imperialdramon meets it head-on, the Omega Blade flashing upward as the projectile detonates against the weapon in a blinding eruption that sends shockwaves rippling through Nero's golden theatre.
Neither of them slows down.
Neither of them looks anywhere else.
Their entire world has narrowed to the opponent standing before them, as a single minute mistake could cost them their lives.
But, this isn't what is important at the moment, my attention is already elsewhere, across the battlefield where Oda Nobunaga steps forward, boots grinding against broken ground, and lets her rifle slip from her grasp before it vanishes in a shimmer of crimson light as she reaches over her shoulder and draws her katana in one smooth, practised motion.
Then the air suddenly changes.
A massive, swirling aura erupts around her, thick and oppressive, stained crimson as if soaked in blood and smoke. Heat rolls outward in heavy waves, forcing Nero to brace herself instinctively.
Nobunaga rests the blade across her shoulders, eyes gleaming before she begins her incantation, voice low and vicious, "Show your corpse to the Three Thousand Worlds…"
I don't need to see the rest to know what comes next. I recognise the chant immediately; this is her Noble Phantasm.
Three Line Formation.
The pressure spikes the instant Nobunaga finishes the first line of her chant.
Crimson energy coils around her like a living thing, thickening with every heartbeat. It bleeds into the air, staining the battlefield as if reality itself is being painted over in blood-red ink.
Nobunaga lifts off the ground, not abruptly, not violently.
She ascends, as if the battlefield itself is bowing beneath her presence, as she exclaims, "Demon Descent."
The words land like a verdict.
One by one, shapes tear themselves out of the air around her. Matchlocks, arquebuses, old, brutal, unmistakable. They don't appear all at once; they multiply, spiralling outward in expanding rings, until the sky above the arena is choked with them.
Three thousand.
They rotate in perfect formation, barrels tracking, adjusting, locking onto their targets with mechanical precision. Each one hums with condensed crimson energy, their firing mechanisms glowing like smouldering coals.
My eyes widen.
That attack is extremely dangerous for someone like Nero and me.
I move, or at least I try to, as Ledram anticipates what I want to do and moves accordingly.
Ledram doesn't hesitate as he turns the Keyblade on himself and drives it straight through his own chest.
For a fraction of a second, everything seems to freeze.
The blade pierces through armour and flesh without resistance, sinking deep until the hilt nearly touches his chest. Dark energy flickers along the weapon's edge, spreading outward like cracks across glass.
Then he twists it sharply, and something inside him unlocks.
The sound that follows is not metal scraping against bone or armour. It is deeper than that. A heavy, resonant click that echoes across the battlefield, like an ancient seal breaking somewhere in the depths of reality itself.
The reaction is immediate. Darkness erupts outward.
Not a mere shadow, nor the simple absence of light. A vast tide of primordial darkness bursts from the wound and surges back into Ledram's body like a starving storm finally finding its source. The air around him warps as the power condenses, folding inward again and again as if the world itself struggles to contain it.
I feel it instantly as the pressure of his existence multiplies exponentially.
The Darkness doesn't just surround him, it refines him, reinforces him, compressing unimaginable power into his frame and elevating him far beyond the level he displayed moments ago.
His presence changes completely.
His wild black hair lengthens and turns pure white, the strands drifting slowly in the turbulent aura surrounding him.
The pressure that rolls off his body is overwhelming, almost absolute.
Every instinct I possess screams the same warning over and over again. Danger.
And then he moves.
The distance between us vanishes instantly.
One moment, Ledram stands several meters away; the next, he is already in front of me. I barely manage to raise my arms before the first blow lands.
The impact detonates against my guard like a meteor strike.
A deafening crack echoes through the battlefield as the force drives me backwards and fractures spread across the surface of the Crateris Cloth, thin glowing lines racing across the armour like lightning trapped beneath the metal.
But Ledram doesn't stop here.
He moves again before the sound of the first impact even fades.
Another strike crashes into my side, then another, then another.
Each blow lands faster than the last, his movements blurring into something my eyes and senses can barely follow. My arms shift instinctively, blocking where instinct screams the next attack will come from, but the pressure keeps increasing with every passing second.
The Crateris Cloth struggles to keep up.
Cracks seal themselves as divine energy surges through the armour, only for new fractures to appear a heartbeat later as another strike detonates against it.
Regeneration battles destruction across the surface of the Cloth, and little by little, Ledram begins to win that race.
While enduring this storm of attacks, my mind races, 'If Nero dies again… She'll be forced to unlock that form or die. But this isn't the right moment for it. Not yet. Imperialdramon is already fighting Angelus Sara. I can't help Nero. And Ledram... Ledram is too dangerous to ignore. There's only one possible solution to this problem.'
My Spiral Cosmo ignites and surges through my body like a blazing star as Divine Will erupts outward.
From my body, a pure golden aura bursts up, which keeps expanding and getting stronger until my Cloth starts glittering with tiny pure golden sparks, which soon become a blazing pure golden flame that covers my whole body, and I feel the Cloth covering my body evolve.
And once the transformation is done, I feel something within me click, and with an energy pulse, I disperse the flames covering my body and finally feel truly complete as I now don the Crateris God Cloth.
Now the Crateris God Cloth covers my whole body, leaving very few places exposed, and none of them are vitals, but still retains the colour scheme of its previous form, Silver, Blue, and Cyan with gold ornament.
The head piece became slimmer, the double-layered shoulder pads became thicker and sharper, the chest piece now covers my whole upper body and is connected to the waist piece that retains a similar shape, only now protects even more.
The leg pieces retain the same general shape, but now they are more refined and with more details and ornament compared to their Silver Cloth form, while the arm pieces now cover the whole limb.
But the gautlets are the ones that went through the greatest change as the tear-shaped shields that made up the foot of the Cup in its Constellation Form are now gone, instead, they became much larger and moved to my back, taking the function of the wings that all the God Cloth have as they slowly rotate like some kind of yin yang symbol.
Even if they aren't physically attached to my Cloth, they are still part of it, and I have total control over them, as I can move them however I desire.
At the same time, across the battlefield, Nero begins to shine.
Through our bond, I release the power I've kept sealed until now, the true power of her origin, the Mythological Mystic Code of the Emperor.
Light explodes around her, and her parameters surge to impossible levels as her attire also goes through some noticeable changes.
She wears a golden chest plate with red accents, a short, pleated black skirt, and thigh-high black stockings.
Over this, she has a voluminous, layered garment that is predominantly gold with red trim, featuring large, wing-like extensions on the sides.
The outfit is further detailed with golden gauntlets on her forearms and golden greaves on her shins.
(Image Here - Nero Mythological Mystic Code of Emperor)
At the same time, Nobunaga swings her katana forward, blade levelled directly at Nero as she snarls, grin stretching wide, "Behold, the Demon King's Three Line Formation!"
The next moment, the world explodes.
Gunfire roars in perfect synchronisation, a deafening, relentless storm of crimson beams tears through the air in disciplined waves, each volley overlapping the last with brutal efficiency.
There's no wasted motion, no hesitation, it isn't a barrage meant to intimidate, it's execution.
But before the crimson beams could even approach her, Nero was already gone.
The storm of gunfire descends like the judgment of an army.
Three thousand beams tear through the air in perfect formation, carving burning lines across the battlefield as they converge on the spot where she stood. The sky itself seems to fracture beneath the sheer density of the barrage, crimson light flooding the arena as the beams overlap and collapse inward with merciless precision, and yet, Nero moves.
Not in panic, nor in retreat. She slips forward into the storm itself.
Her figure becomes a streak of gold and red, weaving between the incoming beams with impossible grace. One ray scorches past her shoulder, another tears through the space where her head had been a fraction of a second earlier. Each step carries her through a gap so narrow that it should not exist, her body shifting, turning, and gliding through the lattice of destruction as if she had already seen every trajectory before the weapons had even fired.
To anyone watching, it looks less like evasion and more like a dance through annihilation.
And before the storm of crimson light can fully collapse upon itself, Nero is already standing directly in front of her opponent.
Nobunaga's eyes widen, unable to believe what just happened and unable to react to Nero's astonishing burst of speed.
Across the battlefield, Ledram notices her predicament.
His head turns slightly, eyes locking onto Nero just as she closes the distance to Nobunaga. For the briefest instant, his expression sharpens with intent, then he moves.
Darkness folds around his body as he launches forward, the ground beneath him shattering as his speed tears him across the arena. The distance between him and Nero collapses in an instant as he aims to intercept before her blade can fall.
But I'm also already moving.
The moment his body shifts, instinct and battle experience take over. My Spiral Cosmo flares violently as I throw myself forward to meet him, the world blurring into streaks of gold and shadow as we rush toward the same point.
We collide halfway across the battlefield.
Ledram's Keyblade flashes downward in a strike meant to break through me and continue toward Nero, but I meet the blow head-on. The shockwave from the impact ripples through the golden arena, sending fractures racing across the ground beneath our feet.
I don't give him the chance to recover.
My Spiral Cosmo surges to its peak and gathers into my fists, blazing brighter with every heartbeat. Clear orbs of pure golden, water-like energy swirl around them, spinning faster and faster as the power condenses.
Then I strike, "Divine Maelstrom Punch!!"
Moving faster than reality itself can properly register, my fists explode into motion.
The first punch lands, then another, then hundreds more, then thousands more.
My fists blur into motion as I strike Ledram again and again, each blow landing across his body with devastating precision. The impacts happen so quickly that the world itself fails to keep up with them. To any observer, it would seem as if only a handful of punches were thrown.
But the truth is far different.
For a brief moment, there is silence, then the delayed impacts begin.
Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands. Millions. Billions.
They erupt all at once.
Invisible strikes detonate across Ledram's body in rapid succession, each one triggering the next in a cascading chain of force that sends his form ricocheting violently through the air. His body is hurled from one direction to another like a projectile caught inside a storm of its own making, every rebound triggering another eruption of compressed Spiral Cosmo.
The shockwaves multiply with terrifying speed.
Each new impact carries more power than the last, the accumulated force compounding on itself as the technique continues to unfold.
Even the battlefield begins to react.
Cracks tear across the barren ground of the battlefield as the shockwaves ripple outward. Space itself shudders and splinters around Ledram's body, thin fractures spreading through the air like shattered glass under the pressure of the relentless barrage.
For an instant, the arena seems on the verge of collapse as the power behind my technique seems about to spill over, but then the Concepts Authority embedded in the battlefield asserts itself.
The fractures in reality knit themselves back together, broken ground reforming as quickly as it is destroyed.
But my attack is still raging.
Ledram's body continues to bounce through the storm of delayed impacts like a flipper ball trapped inside a divine machine of destruction.
Then the final strike arrives, making the accumulated force detonate all at once and hurling Ledram downward.
His body crashes into the ground with catastrophic force, the resulting shockwave ripping across the battlefield so violently that for a moment I genuinely think the entire arena might collapse.
He lies there on the ground, his armour and body completely broken, but despite that, he is still alive.
And at the same moment, Nero strikes.
The distance between them vanishes in a single step.
For a brief instant, Oda Nobunaga sees it coming. Her eyes widen, the grin that had stretched across her face faltering as the realisation hits. The storm of three thousand weapons still hangs in the sky behind her, their crimson barrels glowing with residual power, but none of them can turn fast enough.
None of them can protect her.
Nero is already there.
Her blade moves with absolute precision, a single, flawless arc of steel and golden light. There is no wasted motion, no hesitation, only the quiet certainty of a strike that has already decided the outcome before it was even delivered.
The sword flashes once.
For a heartbeat, the battlefield goes completely still.
The roaring barrage fades, the crackling energy dissipates, and even the oppressive pressure of battle seems to pause as if the world itself is waiting to see the result.
Then Nobunaga's body breaks apart into motes of crimson light.
The fragments drift into the air like dying embers before fading completely from existence.
Silence falls across the battlefield.
The Champions Challenge is decided.