Chapter 15: You Despicable Monster!
NeoDevimon.
An Ultimate-level Digimon.
He was the evolved, artificially enhanced iteration of Devimon. Because this power had been forcibly injected into his data core, his individual consciousness was completely subjugated. The grotesque, metallic mask clamped over his face existed for one sole purpose: to shackle his overwhelming power and dominate his will.
His signature technique was a brutally enhanced variation of Death Claw—the Guilty Claw.
Mizuki sifted through this information in his mind. The initial flicker of surprise in his eyes smoothed out, replaced by a pool of absolute calm. He stood with his hands resting casually at his sides. Whether the towering monstrosity above them possessed free will or was merely a puppet meant nothing to him.
He only had one objective. Eradicate the threat.
"LadyDevimon," Mizuki called out, his voice cutting clearly through the tense air. "Are you ready?"
"Ah, I've been waiting for you to say that, Mizu!"
The moment the words left her lips, LadyDevimon's tattered black wings snapped open. A sonic boom shattered the air as she vanished, instantly materializing directly behind NeoDevimon's massive frame.
Sensing the shift in air pressure, NeoDevimon reacted with terrifying speed. He spun, raising his elongated, crimson claws to intercept the strike.
"You certainly love striking from the shadows," a distorted, metallic voice grated from behind his mask.
"I learned from the best!" LadyDevimon sneered.
Her arm elongated, the dark data hardening into a razor-sharp lance. She thrust forward, weaving a blinding, crisscrossing web of slashes that completely sealed off NeoDevimon's avenues of retreat. The metallic clashing of claws against her blade sent sparks raining down over the battlefield. She was clearly still harboring a deep, burning grudge over Devimon's cowardly ambush from before.
Forced onto the defensive, NeoDevimon parried the relentless strikes, though he did not miss the chance to needle her.
"As a Dark-species Digimon, isn't deceit simply our nature?"
"Look in a mirror! Do you have absolutely zero awareness of being a Holy-species Digimon at your core?"
"Shut up! Just die!"
Flashes of crimson light bloomed in front of NeoDevimon's vision—not stars, but the lethal tips of LadyDevimon's relentless thrusts. The sheer velocity of her blade, combined with the glint of dark energy, created a captivating, deadly optical illusion.
This torrential storm of an offensive forced the masked giant into a steep disadvantage.
With a final, brutal sweeping strike, LadyDevimon concluded her assault, the sheer kinetic force sending NeoDevimon skidding backward through the sky.
"I will end you with this!" she declared, raising her hand high. The lance of dark data dissolved, reverting into her vicious claws. "Darkness Wave!"
Countless bats forged from pure, concentrated dark energy erupted from her palm, shrieking as they flooded the airspace.
Watching the dense, suffocating swarm of shadows blot out the sky, the six eyes visible beneath NeoDevimon's mask narrowed into dangerous slits. He pulled his right arm back.
With a seemingly casual, sweeping motion, he swung his claws forward. The resulting slash tore through the very fabric of the air, leaving a jagged, black vacuum in its wake.
"Guilty Claw!"
The two colossal masses of dark energy collided. A violent shockwave detonated in the sky, sending a hurricane of displaced air howling in all directions. Had they not taken this clash high above the ground, the resulting crater would have utterly annihilated the Primary Village below.
"To use dark power against me..." NeoDevimon scoffed, his voice dripping with condescension as the smoke cleared. "LadyDevimon, you severely underestimate me!"
"You are absolutely right," a different, far more serene voice echoed through the dissipating shadows. "In that case, I will use the power that restrains you!"
"What?!"
Before NeoDevimon could process the shift in tone, a blinding beam of pure, incandescent light pierced the lingering darkness.
Like the first rays of dawn cresting over a dead horizon, the holy illumination washed over the battlefield, burning away the residual dark data at a visible, rapid speed.
And the attack had already reached NeoDevimon's chest before the shadows could even fully scatter!
It was an arrow, radiating an overwhelming, divine aura.
LadyDevimon—no, that name no longer applied.
Because she maintained a perfect, delicate equilibrium of two opposing forces within her data core, she possessed the unique ability to rewrite her own form.
Her name now was—
Angewomon!
"Impossible! A Holy-species Ultimate-level Digimon?!" NeoDevimon roared, his six eyes widening in sheer disbelief. "That wretched LadyDevimon... she hid her true nature to this extent?!"
With zero time to evade the incoming Holy Arrow, NeoDevimon crossed his arms, desperately clamping both of his massive claws around the shaft of pure light.
The instant his dark flesh made contact with the holy projectile, a sickening hiss filled the air. Plumes of white smoke erupted from his palms. The agonizing, searing pain of purification tore through his nerves. It was glaringly obvious that if he maintained his grip, his claws would completely disintegrate under the violent collision of opposing data streams.
His chest heaved. "Do not... look down on me!"
"My darkness cannot be shattered by mere light!"
A surge of abyssal rage flooded his core, granting him a terrifying spike in physical strength. With a guttural, beastly roar, NeoDevimon crushed his hands together, forcibly snapping the Holy Arrow in two! Shards of light scattered into the wind like broken glass.
But before he could even draw a ragged breath, Angewomon's follow-up assault arrived.
"Holy Arrow!"
"Holy Arrow!"
"Holy Arrow!"
Drawing her great bow with blinding speed, Angewomon fired three fully charged arrows in rapid succession. She could feel the divine energy reserves within her body draining at an alarming rate, her data core burning with the exertion.
Yet, her hands never stopped moving.
'Mizu said it himself,'she thought, her eyes narrowed in absolute focus.'Once you seize the opening, you never give the enemy a single second to breathe!'
Channeling the ruthless tactical knowledge Mizuki had drilled into her, Angewomon smoothly nocked a fourth arrow onto her bowstring.
Incidentally, concealing her Holy-species digivolution until the absolute perfect moment was also Mizuki's idea. Always keep a trump card buried deep, and strike when the enemy's guard is entirely focused elsewhere. That was his brand of warfare.
For NeoDevimon, this brand of warfare was an absolute nightmare.
Caught in a relentless, merciless bombardment while he was still recovering from the first strike, the masked giant could find zero space to regroup. He was forced into a desperate, passive defense, swinging his claws wildly to deflect the incoming light.
"Damn you, Angewomon! You possess absolutely no grace as a Holy-species!" he bellowed, his voice cracking with strain.
Fortunately for him, light and darkness were mutually destructive. As long as one side's raw output did not completely eclipse the other, holding the line was not entirely impossible.
And despite the pressure—
While throwing out Guilty Claws to intercept the Holy Arrows, NeoDevimon kept his six eyes locked on Angewomon's physical state.
Firing so many high-tier techniques at maximum output had to be taking a massive toll on her stamina. If he could just weather the storm until her energy reserves bottomed out, the window for a lethal counterattack would blow wide open!
The first Holy Arrow was violently swatted away by a Guilty Claw.
The second arrow slipped past his guard, burying itself deep into his left leg. Before the purifying holy fire could spread up his thigh and infect his core, NeoDevimon raised his own claw and ruthlessly severed his entire leg at the knee, letting the burning limb plummet to the earth.
The third and fourth arrows capitalized on his momentary loss of balance, punching clean holes through his massive, leathery wings!
'She did not aim for my vitals, but chose to cripple my mobility?'Feeling the agonizing, holy fire eating away at his wing membranes, NeoDevimon actually curled his lips into a gruesome sneer beneath his mask.'Just as I thought. A newly evolved Digimon like her severely lacks actual combat experience.''In the end, this is the limit of her—uh?!'
His thoughts violently derailed.
His body.
NeoDevimon tried to shift his weight in the air, only to find his muscles completely locked. A heavy, suffocating pressure seized his limbs, freezing him in place.
"What is this?!" Panic finally bled into his distorted voice. "Why can't I move?!"
"I finally caught you."
"Angewomon!!!"
As her cold, decisive words echoed across the sky, a brilliant, cross-shaped aura of purple light bloomed around NeoDevimon, trapping him squarely within its divine epicenter.
Hovering in the distance, Angewomon took a deep, steadying breath. She forced down the crushing fatigue threatening to unravel her data, extending both arms straight out and bringing her hands together.
This was her ultimate technique, the true trap hidden behind the barrage of Holy Arrows.
"Heaven's Charm!"
A devastating torrent of holy energy, fueled by Angewomon's sheer, unyielding determination, erupted from her open palms!
The blinding purple and pink light swallowed NeoDevimon whole.
The absolute, purifying heat of the attack tore a horrific, mournful shriek from his throat.
"GAAAAAAHHHH!!! You damned Holy-species!"
His flesh boiled away into raw data. "But—but—I will not die so easily!!!"
"HRAAAAAAGH!"
Perhaps it was a lingering, wretched obsession from the abyss. Or perhaps it was the sheer, unadulterated madness woven into his dark data.
NeoDevimon's six eyes spun wildly in their sockets. The metallic mask bolted to his face began to fracture, spiderweb cracks spreading inch by inch across the steel.
Yet, against all logic, he braced his remaining limbs and forcibly weathered the brunt of the divine blast.
Watching the smoke clear to reveal the mangled but still living monstrosity, Elecmon and Leomon, watching from the ground, both grimaced in bitter disappointment.
Only Mizuki remained entirely unfazed. His expression did not shift a single millimeter. He kept his hands in his pockets, his gaze resting on Angewomon with absolute, unwavering trust. He had expected this exact outcome from the very beginning.
"Heh... heh... what a tragedy for you, Angewomon."
Panting heavily, dark data bleeding from his ruined wings and severed leg, NeoDevimon glared through the smoke. "If you hadn't squandered so much energy spamming those arrows... I imagine I would have actually perished just now..."
Under his hateful stare, Angewomon's glowing silhouette began to flicker. Static rippled across her porcelain skin, her data fluctuating wildly.
She had burned through far too much holy energy in a single, concentrated burst.
While her stabilized core meant she wouldn't suffer a catastrophic data collapse like before, maintaining the divine frequency of her Angewomon form was no longer viable.
With a soft sigh of resignation, the blinding light shattered, replaced by the familiar, heavy clinking of chains and dark leather as she reverted to her LadyDevimon form.
And with that shift, the curtain fell on the first brutal round of their clash.
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