Burn! Digisoul!

"Ready, begin!"

As Etemon's voice rang out, two figures on the ring rapidly closed in on each other again.

Unlike the previous fight between Mo Si and Yoshino Fujieda, however, their fists collided this time, unleashing white and orange Digisoul.

Boom!

The scattered Digisoul turned into a gust of wind, stirring up dust in the ring.

"That's more like it!"

Mo Si's lips curved upward as she swung her left fist.

Marcus Damon's moves were street-style-he attacked however he pleased, relying on his own beastlike instincts.

However...

When it came to reaction speed, Mo Si still had the edge.

Bam!

Three exchanges later, Marcus Damon flew backward and landed outside the ring. By the time he got up, the entire right side of his face was swollen.

Mo Si cast a Healing Light onto Marcus Damon, relieving his pain and restoring his stamina, while muttering, "Only at the adult level."

"Adult level?" Yoshino Fujieda looked puzzled.

Thomas H. Norstein considered it. "You mean Marcus's Digisoul?"

No, she actually meant Marcus Damon himself.

"It's not over yet!" Marcus Damon sprang to his feet with a kip-up, ready to climb back into the ring.

Thomas H. Norstein stopped him.

"What are you doing?" Marcus Damon demanded angrily.

"It's my turn."

Thomas H. Norstein pushed Marcus Damon aside and vaulted into the ring. He wasn't wearing protective gear either.

After all, this wasn't about deciding a winner, but honing their Digisoul.

"Thomas, you little..." Seeing Thomas H. Norstein enter the ring, Marcus Damon pursed his lips and said nothing more.

Mo Si told Marcus Damon, "Don't worry. You'll get another chance soon."

Marcus Damon froze.

Thomas H. Norstein frowned. "Miss Angewomon, I won't go down easily."

He wasn't just a teenage genius. He was also a world boxing champion. Though his title was in the junior division, he was still a world champion.

No one in DATS could compare with him when it came to fighting technique.

As long as Angewomon didn't use her Digimon skills, he didn't think he would lose.

"Good luck, Master!" Gaomon called.

Thomas H. Norstein fixed his eyes on Mo Si and assumed a fighting stance.

Etemon shouted, "Ready, begin!"

Five exchanges later, Mo Si beat Thomas H. Norstein to his knees.

"Yeah!" Goblimon, Mushroomon, and the other Digimon cheered.

"You did your best, Thomas."

Mo Si cast a Healing Light, then had Thomas H. Norstein leave the ring. Looking at Yoshino Fujieda, she said, "Yoshino, come on up."

"Could Marcus go first?" Yoshino Fujieda ventured.

Mo Si smiled. "Once I knock you out of the ring, it'll be Marcus's turn."

In other words, no.

Yoshino Fujieda reluctantly entered the ring. She wasn't wearing protective gear this time. Apparently, despite her inclination to slack off, she still wanted to strengthen her Digisoul.

She wanted to improve too!

Then she lasted one exchange in the ring before being knocked out again.

Marcus Damon was next.

It continued like that, over and over, one stepping in as another stepped out.

"Too slow! You can't even put any strength into your punches, and you call yourself a street-fighting boss?"

"What world boxing champion? You're just a small fry! A small fry!"

"Burn, Digisoul!"

At first, Mo Si could defeat all three in succession within a minute.

But as time passed, her stamina began to dwindle, while their Digisoul grew increasingly solid, making them harder and harder to handle.

"Huff... huff..."

Mo Si panted, drenched in sweat.

She had been throwing punches for three straight hours. The sky outside the DATS base had already darkened, yet she was still swinging her fists.

No, she was fighting!

The person standing opposite her now was Marcus Damon.

Aside from his somewhat tattered clothes, Marcus Damon was fine. Every time Mo Si sent him flying, he received a Healing Light, so he hadn't suffered any injuries at all.

Healing Light did nothing for Marcus Damon's clothes, though.

Looking at the panting Mo Si, Marcus Damon said, "Angewomon, you can use Healing Light on yourself, can't you?"

Mo Si smiled faintly. "If I did that, these past few hours would be meaningless. Come on, Marcus Damon. Attack me."

"I don't know what you're trying to do, but if you're doing this, you must have a reason... I'll give it everything I've got!" Marcus Damon swung his right fist with all his strength.

His first punch carried no Digisoul.

Mo Si met his fist with her own, easily blocking the blow.

In the next instant, however, powerful Digisoul erupted from Marcus Damon's fist, blazing fiercely like real flames.

Marcus Damon's Digisoul was already several times stronger than it had been three hours ago! It would have no trouble evolving Agumon to Ultimate.

Thomas H. Norstein and Yoshino Fujieda had improved just as much.

Faced with Digisoul that had already reached Ultimate-level strength, Mo Si could no longer block it unscathed. She was forced back two steps.

What an opening!

Marcus Damon's gaze sharpened, and he struck with his left fist.

Wreathed in Digisoul as well, it struck Mo Si in the abdomen.

"!"

Mo Si staggered backward and crashed into the boxing ring's ropes.

She felt something surge up her throat, flow into her mouth, and spill from its corner. Raising a hand to touch it, she found red liquid.

Blood?

Digimon could bleed?

Of course Digimon could bleed!

The "digital" in Digimon's name might give people the mistaken impression that Digimon were merely data and therefore couldn't bleed.

In reality, Digimon were both data and living beings. They weren't just a layer of skin with nothing but zeros and ones inside; they possessed a complete metabolic system.

...Puppet-type and machine-type Digimon had somewhat different internal structures.

At least Digimon with flesh-and-blood components could not only bleed, but suffer broken bones too.

This was also documented in Digimon Adventure.

For example, Leomon's archrival, Ogremon, had suffered battle injuries such as bleeding and broken bones in that series.

"Heh..."

Mo Si straightened and licked the corner of her mouth. Her tongue spread the blood over her lips, lending her a seductive, wild air. "The real fight is only just beginning!"

At those words, Marcus Damon's blood surged. He shouted, "Angewomon, I can feel your fighting spirit! Come on!"

The instant his words fell, both sides swung their fists again.

Bam!

No one below the ring cheered. Or rather, Thomas H. Norstein, Yoshino Fujieda, Gaomon, Lalamon, Etemon, Goblimon, and the other spectators had forgotten to cheer.

They stared at the two fighters in the ring, unwilling to miss a single second.

On one side was Mo Si, still fighting though she might collapse at any moment. On the other was Marcus Damon, striking with all his strength to answer her fighting spirit.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

A heated battle! A fierce battle! An all-out battle!

There were no flashy moves, only punches that slammed into flesh, yet the spectators below watched with their nerves stretched taut.

Humm-!

I can feel it.

Exhaustion stripped Mo Si of every distracting thought, forcing her to devote her entire being to sensing her Digisoul. At the same time, she perceived the existence of a limit.

It was like an invisible shackle.

Damn you!

Break through!

Break through!

Burn, my Digisoul!

A mighty dragon shattered its chains, a fierce tiger burst from its cage. In that instant, Mo Si felt an unprecedented sense of freedom, as though she had opened her governing and conception vessels in a martial arts novel.

In the panel's evolution path field, a new form of evolution appeared alongside fallen evolution and mutation evolution-

[Ultimate evolution]!