Jayr POV - Nasuverse, Moon, Far Side, Sakura Labyrinth - 2030 AD
For a moment after Nobunaga disappears into motes of crimson light, the battlefield becomes completely silent.
The echoes of Nero's final strike fade away, and the storm of power that had torn across the arena only seconds earlier vanishes as if it had never existed.
At this point, I look at Ledram's battered body lying on the ground and exhale slowly.
Then the voice of the Concept of Culture resounds through the battlefield.
It carries no emotion, no warmth, only the absolute authority of an impartial judge, [The winner of the Battle and of this Champions Challenge is Jayr Pucci, the Man of Culture.]
A faint ripple spreads through the Labyrinth as the voice continues, [As the Winner, Jayr Pucci will obtain the power of Ledram Vassago's Blessing, empowering and evolving his own. Meanwhile, the Champion of Darkness will lose his Blessing together with the powers it granted, his Soulbound Territory, and the capacity to safely explore the Omniverse on his own.]
The instant the announcement ends, time stops, but this is way different from the usual time manipulation abilities, magic spells, and powers I've experienced in my life.
I have faced countless time-based abilities before. Spells that freeze moments, techniques that slow the world to a crawl, and authorities that rewind or accelerate events.
This is none of those.
At first glance, it looks like a normal time stop; the battlefield freezes exactly as it is.
Imperialdramon Paladin Mode remains poised mid-movement with his Omega Blade deflecting yet another fire and light arrow. The blade is locked against the attack at the exact moment of impact, sparks of golden light hanging motionless where steel and energy collide.
Sara's wings of radiant light hang suspended in the air as she prepares to fire another arrow, the bowstring pulled tight while a luminous projectile rests between her fingers.
Even the drifting fragments of broken marble scattered across the battlefield are perfectly locked in place.
Dust hangs in the air. Flames remain frozen in mid-flicker. Not even the smallest particle moves, yet something about it feels wrong.
I think it is even incorrect to describe this phenomenon as a mere "time stop."
It feels more like I've been temporarily cut off from the rest of existence itself.
The world hasn't merely stopped, but it has been paused, placed on hold like a discarded thought, and I have been left outside of it.
I'm aware, but I cannot move.
My body refuses to respond, no matter how much I will it. My Spiral Cosmo, which normally burns like a miniature universe inside my soul, has gone completely still. Not suppressed, nor sealed, it is simply inactive.
Even my senses are gone.
I cannot feel the wind, the battlefield, or the countless presences that filled the arena only seconds ago. The Labyrinth itself, which normally resonates faintly with strange dimensional energy, has completely vanished from my perception.
All that remains is my awareness and the faint understanding that something immense is observing the result of the battle.
The silence is absolute, not the silence of an empty room, nor the silence of space.
This silence feels deeper than that.
As if every law, every concept, every movement of reality has been placed on hold.
For a brief moment, I feel like a tiny speck floating in a boundless void where existence itself has been suspended.
Then I understand. This is the Champions Challenge system processing the result of the battle, and the only reason I am still aware is not because of my immense power, but it is because the Concepts themselves allow me to witness this moment.
This is the kind of feat that is only possible through the absolute authority of the Concepts, not even the most absurd time manipulation abilities I've encountered come close to this level.
Those powers interfere with time.
This is the Concepts directly issuing a command to reality itself, and reality obeys without question.
But I also know that this isn't some kind of power play or a way to intimidate me and keep me humble.
This is simply them, more likely Culture, posturing and showing off for the sake of it, because as absolute as they are, they aren't empty, emotionless entities, but ones with feelings and at times almost child-like purity.
Then I feel it, a surge of power erupts deep within my very core.
It isn't violent, but it feels more like something hidden very deep, finally unlocking.
I sense Ledram's Blessing merge with my own, and the change is immediate.
My Blessing surges in levels. One level. Two. Three. Four. Five.
At the same time, a flood of new information pours into my mind as I learn the new abilities I've unlocked.
The first ability I've unlocked is Absolute Mind, which makes my mental attributes, capabilities and abilities reach the absolute peak, infinitely superior to that of all other beings.
My thoughts sharpen instantly. Every calculation becomes clearer, faster, and more precise and at the same time, I feel that I can hold a literal infinite number of parallel thoughts, making controlling my Main Body and Digimon Incarnation at the same time much easier.
The second unlocked ability is Living Database, which turns me into a living archive or database of knowledge. This is like I've become knowledge itself, given physical form.
I have a complete and perfect amount of knowledge and information on all subjects I've learned before.
However, unlike Encyclopedic Knowledge and Omnilegence, I don't just store knowledge in a passive manner but as an active agent of knowledge, allowing me to change/manipulate, add to, erase or anything else I wish to know.
I've basically become a living, nerferd version of the Akashic Records.
In an instant, under the combined power of my two new abilities, all the knowledge in my possession organises itself automatically within my consciousness.
The third unlocked ability is the ability Compile and Improve Knowledge.
Just like that, information does not merely remain static anymore as my mind begins analysing, refining, and improving everything I've ever known.
All the techniques and spells that I've learned and created start to become more refined, more perfect, even the ones I've only theorised start to become more concrete and applicable.
Then yet another ability manifests. Knowledge Acquisition – Written Lv1.
The moment the ability forms, I understand its function, and it is absolutely obscene.
Anything that has been written and is within a certain range will become known to me automatically.
The range corresponds to about 20% of my Soulbound Territory's size.
This ability then further evolves into Knowledge Acquisition – Written Lv2, which expands the range to the point of reaching the 40% of my Soulbound Territory's size.
Right at this moment, I feel the Soulbound Territory itself change as it expands outward violently, growing larger and larger and larger until it stabilises at a scale that makes even me pause for a brief moment.
It is the size of a small planet.
I whistle quietly while thinking, 'That's... actually quite good. The Nymphs and the Digimon living in my Soulbound Territory do need the space. Especially the Digimon, their number has been increasing lately, making Meliae and Bancho Lilimon a bit worried. Now they can expand to other areas without worry.'
A moment later, the process finishes, and I'm reconnected to the existing reality.
The battlefield moves again, but the battle itself quickly comes to an end under the authority of the Concepts.
Imperialdramon Paladin Mode and Sara Connor are forced apart while Sara returns to her base form and Imperialdramon devolve into V-mon and Wormmon.
Ledram's battered body quickly reverts to a perfectly healthy state before he gets up with a pained groan while muttering, "Urg... Damn... That last blow was vicious. I felt every single bone in my body break, and my organs rupture with every single impact. My healing factor simply couldn't keep up."
Meanwhile, Crateris returns to its normal state and retreats into the Core Drill around my neck.
Nero also comes out of her Mythological Mystic Code of Emperor form with a heavy sigh, as that form does put quite a bit of burden on her.
Shortly after, Oda Nobunaga's body reforms where she had been eliminated.
At the same time, dozens of flashes of light appear across the arena as everyone who had been sent to the spectator area returns.
Soon, the overwhelming presence of the Authority of the Concepts begins fading while the floor reconnects with the natural structure of the Sakura Labyrinth.
Then the cold mechanical voice of the Moon Cell announces:
[Elimination confirmed. Master Ledram Vassago has been eliminated.]
The moment those words echo across the Labyrinth, the Moon Cell's judgement falls upon them.
Both Ledram and Nobunaga suddenly glow with a violet distortion, making my eyes narrow as the Moon Cell is attempting to delete them.
Soon, a deep black colour starts spreading across Ledram and Nobunaga's bodies.
It isn't shadow, nor the usual Darkness, nor any element that belongs to the natural world.
Its absence, pure deletion, crawling over their skin like a living thing, where it touches, their flesh blackens and hardens, fissures forming beneath the surface, taking the form of thin purplish lines that glow faintly within the cracks, like broken glass lit from the inside, as if her body is being rewritten into corrupted data.
The next moment, Ledram coldly watches the deletion advance across his body and snorts in annoyance before saying, "Hmpf. Seriously?"
Then a pulse of demonic power explodes from his body, making the deletion covering his body shatter like fragile glass.
The Moon Cell tries to delete him again, but Ledram simply glares upward, and his powerful body and will continue to reject the deletion.
The pressure of his existence alone forces the system to hesitate before finally abandoning the attempt.
But Nobunaga is not as fortunate as the black colour of deletion keeps spreading across her body, and all the blackened areas are full of purple cracks.
Unlike Ledram, she is still fundamentally a Servant, a very powerful one, but still part of the system in the end.
Her existence is tied to the Moon Cell.
The deletion continues, and it has already devoured most of her torso, leaving only her upper chest, one shoulder, and part of her head intact. The edges of what remains flicker and distort, her outline stuttering like corrupted data struggling to maintain cohesion.
She watches the cracks spreading across her arms with mild curiosity.
Then she turns toward Ledram and grins, "Well, that was a hell of a fight."
She stretches lazily before she adds, "I gotta admit, Master, I had a lot of fun."
Then her grin widens shamelessly as she continues, "And not just the fighting."
Several people immediately realise where this is going, making Sara Connor cough lightly, trying to divert the attention away.
Some of the women in Ledram's Peerage suddenly look extremely embarrassed.
Nobunaga laughs loudly as she says, "Those nights we spent together with your whole group were pretty damn entertaining too!"
A few people groan while others laugh. Despite the situation, Nobunaga looks genuinely happy.
The black colour of deletion continues spreading across her body as she looks at Ledram again and admits, "Still… I wish I had more time to enjoy this companionship."
Her voice softens slightly as she says, "You were the best Master I could've asked for."
The deletion reaches her shoulders, and her body begins dissolving.
Then Ledram steps forward with a confident smile on his face and says, "As a proud Devil and heir of the Vassago Clan, it is my duty and job to grant wishes of the clients who desire to make a deal."
While saying that, he raises his hand and in his palm lies a crimson chess piece.
My eyes widen immediately as I immediately recognise it, "That's..."
The King Piece from the Evil Pieces system of the Devils from the High School DxD universe.
Ledram glances at Nobunaga as he explains, "Using this, I can reincarnate you as a Devil."
He shrugs casually and continues, "Doing so will break the Moon Cell's hold over your existence and make you part of my Peerage, likely my equal in authority too, considering that this is the King Piece. I'm not too sure what is going to happen, as this is the first time someone has attempted something like this."
Then he adds, "But you have to accept willingly."
Hearing that, Nobunaga bursts out laughing, "Become a Devil?"
She wipes a tear from her eye and says, "I'm literally called the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven."
She spreads her arms as she declares, "Sounds perfectly on brand to me."
Then, without any hesitation, she says, "Do it."
Ledram grins, "Gladly."
He then presses the King Piece into her chest, making the Evil Piece sink into her body.
The next moment, a crimson magic circle erupts beneath Nobunaga's feet as the reincarnation process begins instantly.
The circle spreads across the fractured marble floor in intricate layers of demonic script, each ring rotating in opposite directions while ancient symbols ignite one after another like burning stars. The air trembles as raw demonic power pours into the ritual.
Her body shines with blinding light as power surges outward violently.
The pressure of that energy rolls across the battlefield like a shockwave. Loose fragments of stone lift from the ground, hovering in the air as the magic circle draws in power from Ledram's Evil Piece.
Nobunaga throws her head back and laughs as the transformation begins.
Her body lifts slightly from the ground while the crimson light grows brighter and brighter, swallowing her silhouette until only a blazing outline remains visible. The demonic power flooding into her existence twists the surrounding space, making the air ripple like heat above an inferno.
Then the Moon Cell reacts.
The black colour of deletion surges forward again, spreading rapidly across her body in an attempt to erase her before the reincarnation can complete. Jagged purple cracks crawl across her skin like shattered glass as the system desperately tries to reclaim what it considers its property.
For a moment, the two forces collide.
Crimson demonic power and the violet authority of deletion grind against each other, filling the arena with a piercing metallic hum as the Labyrinth itself struggles to stabilise the clash.
But the Evil Piece has already taken root, and a deep pulse of power erupts from Nobunaga's chest.
The crimson magic circle flares brilliantly, and the deletion shatters.
The black corruption fractures into countless pieces like broken mirrors before dissolving completely under the overwhelming surge of demonic energy.
Then the transformation completes, the light fades, and Nobunaga stands there again, but she is no longer a Servant; she is a Reincarnated Devil now.
Her appearance has changed subtly, yet the difference is unmistakable. Her hair has turned a deep crimson that glows faintly like burning embers, and a pair of elegant demonic wings unfold slowly behind her back. Dark power radiates from her body in powerful waves, heavy and ancient, carrying the unmistakable authority of a high-ranking Devil.
The demonic aura spreading from her body crushes the remaining fragments of deletion instantly.
The Moon Cell attempts to respond, but the system hesitates.
Nobunaga is no longer registered as a Servant.
The entity known as "Oda Nobunaga, Servant" has already been erased from its system.
What stands here now is something entirely different.
Free from the limits imposed by the Moon Cell, Nobunaga's power is truly extraordinary.
The pressure of her demonic aura floods the battlefield, far greater than what she displayed as a Servant. Flames flicker briefly along her fingertips as if responding to her will, and the very air around her trembles under the weight of her presence.
For the first time since the battle began, the Moon Cell does nothing.
Nobunaga rolls her shoulders slowly, testing her new body.
Then she grins and comments, "Well, damn. It feels good to be alive once more."
Her grin grows bigger as she exclaims, "That worked better than expected."
With that, the tension finally fades from the battlefield.
After ensuring that everything is fine with Nobunaga, Ledram walks over to me, extends his hand, and says, "That was a fun match."
I nod, shake his hand and reply, "True. You and your Peerage were a formidable opponent."
He looks around briefly before shrugging his shoulders while saying, "Well, since I lost the Champions Challenge and my Blessing..."
After a brief pause, he smirks and concludes, "...I guess I'll help you win this Holy Grail War instead."
I blink for a moment before I say, "That's a rather quick decision."
He laughs and says, "I like backing the winner. And after fighting you, I know what kind of man you are. I can be completely at ease if the final winner of this competition is you."
Fair enough.
Soon, we leave the battlefield floor together and begin heading back toward the Sanctuary Floor of the Labyrinth.
Along the way, the atmosphere becomes noticeably lighter.
Nero walks proudly ahead, and from time to time, she glances toward Nobunaga with a smug smile.
Then she says, "Clearly, this battle has proven my superiority as a ruler."
Nobunaga immediately snorts, "Please."
She folds her arms and retorts, "You only won because I couldn't use my true Noble Phantasm."
Nero raises an eyebrow, and in an amused tone, she asks, "Oh? Is that so?"
Nobunaga grins and explains, "If I had unleashed Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, that battlefield would've turned into a burning apocalypse."
She shrugs before she continues, "However, not only you but my Master and all my allies would've died too."
Nero huffs, "Umu! Excuses. I'm simply better. Admit it!"
Their argument continues as we walk.
Meanwhile, Ledram gestures toward Sara walking beside him and casually says, "Oh, right. I noticed that you were curious about her earlier."
He places an arm around her shoulders and continues, "This is Sara Connor."
He pauses for a moment, likely just for a bit of dramatic effect, before he adds, "Former Champion of Light."
I nod slowly and evenly say, "I see. So my guess was correct. Nice to meet you."
Sara smiles politely.
Elsewhere, the Digimon are already speaking with members of Ledram's Peerage, and Rani joins their conversation enthusiastically.
By the time we arrive at the Sanctuary Floor, the group is relaxed.
There are only two possibilities left now. Either another Master attacks, or we simply wait for the remaining two hours to pass, and then we leave the Sakura Labyrinth.
Then suddenly, the Sakura Labyrinth trembles.
It begins as a faint vibration beneath our feet, subtle enough that at first I almost dismiss it as an aftereffect of the battle we just finished.
But the tremor does not stop; instead, it grows stronger.
The entire structure of the Labyrinth shudders violently, the vast crystalline architecture groaning as if some immense force has struck it from deep within its foundations.
Thin fractures of pink light race across the distant walls as the system immediately begins reinforcing its structure.
The floor beneath us ripples for a brief moment before stabilising again.
Around me, several people instinctively tense.
My Digimon Partners look around warily.
Some members of Ledram's Peerage glance toward the distant corridors of the Labyrinth, their expressions sharpening as they try to identify the source of the disturbance.
Even the ever-composed Sara Connor raises her head slightly, her eyes narrowing.
This place is not a normal battlefield.
The Sakura Labyrinth exists within the Moon Cell itself, a structure designed to contain absurd levels of power and stabilise dimensional disturbances.
For it to react like this, something extremely violent must have just happened somewhere within the Labyrinth.
Then suddenly, the Sakura Labyrinth's voice echoes through the structure again.
[Elimination confirmed. Master Biol has been eliminated.]
For a brief moment, I simply stare ahead in silence.
The moment I hear that name, my body freezes as I realise. 'Biol. That's the name of another Champion! Someone just killed him!? And judging by the reaction of the Labyrinth itself... The battle that ended his life must have been anything but ordinary.'
Kang Yaling POV - Nasuverse, Moon, Far Side, Sakura Labyrinth - 2030 AD
The battlefield is quiet, but it is not the calm of a peaceful place.
It is the heavy silence that follows overwhelming destruction.
All around me, the terrain has been completely devastated. Vast sections of the battlefield have been torn apart, leaving behind enormous fractures that stretch across the once pristine floor of the Sakura Labyrinth.
Entire layers of marble and crystal-like structures have been ripped open, exposing deeper geometric frameworks beneath the arena that were never meant to be seen.
Some areas no longer resemble solid ground at all.
Chunks of the battlefield have been blasted into floating debris fields, massive slabs of shattered terrain hanging in the air like broken islands. Smaller fragments drift slowly between them, rotating lazily as if gravity itself has become uncertain.
The only reason the arena hasn't completely collapsed is that the Sakura Labyrinth is already repairing the damage.
Faint pink energy spreads across the ruins in thin glowing veins, crawling along the fractured ground like living roots. Wherever the energy passes, the shattered terrain begins to pull itself back together.
Fragments of broken marble rise into the air and glide back toward their original positions.
Cracks seal themselves. Collapsed sections of floor reassemble piece by piece, the Labyrinth silently rebuilding the battlefield as if the devastation had never occurred.
Even so, the scale of the damage is impossible to ignore.
Some wounds are deeper than simple destruction.
Thin distortions linger in the air where the clash of powers tore at the structure of the Labyrinth itself. Space bends faintly around those points, rippling like disturbed water before slowly stabilising under the system's influence.
Residual energies still drift through the battlefield.
Faint sparks of chaotic power flash and disappear. Invisible currents of force ripple through the air, remnants of attacks that had carried enough power to erase worlds.
It is the aftermath of a battle between beings who could casually destroy universes.
And yet, despite all of that devastation, the Sakura Labyrinth endures. Slowly. Relentlessly.
Piece by piece, the system repairs the battlefield, erasing the evidence of the conflict that took place here only moments ago.
At my feet, there are the shattered remains of my opponent, Biol and his Servant, Ashiya Douman, which are slowly dissolving into particles of light as they are completely erased.
Soon, their existence completely fades from the Labyrinth.
Floating beside me is my pet, the Firework Devil named Baam, who crackles with sparks of excited energy.
It is a cute, small, bright red feline-like Devil with colorful rockets-like appendage protruding from the tip of its tail.
This is a Devil from the Chainsaw Man Universe; its strength is mediocre at best, but it is useful for causing mayhem and distraction and also very cute.
Baam clearly enjoyed the spectacle.
I gently tap its head, and it calms immediately.
Then the Sakura Labyrinth announces:
[Elimination confirmed. Master Biol has been eliminated.]
I look down at the place where the Champion disappeared.
Thinking back at my battle against them, I almost let out a sigh, 'I'm glad I've left my Servant in my territory, protected by three floors of countless deadly traps and with a layout that imitates the Mementoes of Persona 5.'
Biol was very strong.
He was a Kirby who not only had absurd physical abilities, but he also gathered and absorbed all kinds of overpowered powers.
The Chaos Emeralds from Sonic Universe, which gave him unlimited powers, Gojo Satoru's Six Eyes and Limitless, the Shouts from Elder Scrolls, and on top of that, there is also the Omnitrix and the reality warping powers of the Celestialsapien, all seamlessly merged in the small and almost indestructible body of a Kirby.
Then there was also his Servant, whose Magecraft can also have special effects, which in some cases can be directly compared to swords that have reached the demonic realm. For example, he's able to inflict wounds that never heal or curses that directly kill the target.
Luckily, strength, magic, and powers alone are meaningless against me.
They hesitated. They cared about things. They feared their own death. They all had weaknesses.
I abandoned those long ago. Back when I was fifteen. Back when I decided to kill my own will to live just to enter the God Dimension.
Since then, I have survived: Horror worlds. Death games. Betrayal. Massacres.
I did everything necessary to gain power, everything necessary to control my own fate.
For a brief moment, the air around me distorts.
Two different forces stir beneath my skin, the power of the Wild Card and the authority of the Demi-Fiend.
Even the Sakura Labyrinth seems hesitant to approach.
I remember the system message from earlier: another Champion has fallen.
Ledram Vassago has been eliminated. And only another Champion is able to accomplish such a feat.
Now, only two of them remain, and they are likely very strong.
Reaching this conclusion, I smile a bit while thinking, 'Good. This might be interesting. Strong enemies accelerate evolution. And I will evolve into the ultimate being in this Omniverse. With that, I will be able to control my own fate.'
I turn away, and Baam follows me happily.
As we leave the ruined battlefield behind, I murmur quietly, "Only 2 or three Champions remain..."
I smile faintly and say, "Good. Let's see how long you survive my hunt."
Behind me, the Sakura Labyrinth finishes repairing itself as Biol's existence disappears completely.