Chapter 16: Round Two!
NeoDevimon's current state could only be described as utterly wretched.
One of his legs had been cleanly severed. The sinister mask covering his face bore deep, jagged fissures, threatening to shatter at any moment. His towering physique was littered with gruesome wounds, and the once-majestic, leathery wings on his back had been shredded down to a pathetic, skeletal frame jutting from his shoulder blades.
All of this devastation was the handiwork of the Digimon standing before him: LadyDevimon.
However, the initial burst of blind rage consuming NeoDevimon quickly cooled into a chilling, calculated calm. He might have looked like a mangled corpse, but for a data-based lifeform, superficial injuries meant nothing. As long as his Digicore remained intact, his physical form could be reconstructed.
Conveniently, the sheer volume of data he had hoarded up to this point was more than enough to fuel his regeneration.
The only bitter pill to swallow was the permanent loss of his overwhelming advantage. Before this, his power had far surpassed that of a standard Ultimate-level Digimon. Now, after burning through so much stored data just to survive and repair himself, his strength had plummeted back down to the baseline of an ordinary Ultimate.
Perhaps the gap between his current self and his former glory was like the difference between a certain aristocratic vampire and a vulgar ape ruling over the Server Continent.
A surge of intense distress twisted NeoDevimon's chest at the thought. His original grand design had been to use his extraordinary power to invade the Server Continent, crush that obnoxious monkey's territory, and stand as an equal rival to Myotismon.
Now, it seemed that glorious conquest would have to be indefinitely postponed.
'Tsk... What a humiliating setback.'
Dark energy rippled unsteadily around his form as he forced his surging frustrations down, demanding every ounce of his concentration to stabilize his damaged code.
While the fallen angel focused on his repairs, LadyDevimon drifted down from the blood-red sky. Her boots touched the scorched earth lightly as she landed right beside Mizuki.
"LadyDevimon, how are you holding up?" Mizuki asked, his eyes scanning her form.
"Aside from my Holy-type powers being temporarily locked out, I am perfectly fine."
Her chest heaved slightly as she adjusted her breathing. The relentless barrage of attacks she had just unleashed had drained her reserves of Holy power, and the physical toll of the high-speed clash was beginning to show in the slight tremor of her shoulders.
"I see..."
Confirming her status, Mizuki gave a short nod and shifted his gaze back to their enemy.
Across the battlefield, NeoDevimon's severed leg was already weaving back together, dark streams of binary code knitting bone and muscle into a flawless reconstruction. Yet, Mizuki's sharp eyes caught a crucial detail. The skeletal wings on the demon's back remained broken and bare.
Was he abandoning aerial combat?
A calculating glint flashed in Mizuki's eyes. He understood the enemy's tactical choice perfectly.
LadyDevimon was a Dark-type Digimon, just like NeoDevimon. Against an opponent of the same attribute, Dark-elemental attacks suffered a massive penalty, rendering them practically useless unless there was an overwhelming disparity in raw power. Therefore, wasting stamina on a ranged energy attack like Darkness Wave would yield minimal results. The most reliable method of inflicting real damage was pure, concentrated physical force.
NeoDevimon had clearly reached the exact same conclusion. He was conserving the massive amount of data required to rebuild his wings, focusing on his ground combat capabilities and raw physical output instead.
Having dissected the enemy's strategy, Mizuki turned his attention back to his partner.
"LadyDevimon, you know exactly what to do next, right?"
"Of course. I will execute him with my blade," she replied, her voice dripping with cold intent. As she spoke, the elongated, crimson claws on her right hand began to shift, the dark data compressing and sharpening until it formed a lethal, jagged longsword.
"After all, this creature's natural resistance to darkness is far too high to bother with anything else."
Her assessment mirrored Mizuki's perfectly.
"In that case, let us begin."
LadyDevimon lowered her center of gravity, her crimson eyes locking onto her prey. The ground beneath her boots cracked as she launched herself forward, tearing through the air like a bolt of black lightning.
"Round Two begins now!" Mizuki declared, his voice cutting through the tense air.
"Guilty Claw!" NeoDevimon roared in response.
Facing the lethal thrust of LadyDevimon's Sword, the towering demon did not retreat. He channeled his remaining dark energy into his massive, elongated talons, swinging them in a brutal arc to intercept her blade.
The deafening screech of metal grinding against metal echoed across the wasteland as the two dark entities collided. Taking advantage of the explosive clash, Mizuki glanced over his shoulder.
A short distance away, Leomon and Elecmon were shifting their weight, their muscles tensed and ready to leap into the fray.
"I strongly advise against rushing in right now," Mizuki said, his tone calm but carrying an obvious weight. "Even though NeoDevimon has been severely weakened, an Ultimate-level Digimon is still an Ultimate. The gap in raw power between him and the two of you cannot be bridged by sheer willpower alone."
Elecmon opened his mouth, his tail bristling with static electricity, clearly wanting to protest.
Mizuki shook his head, offering the small Digimon a reassuring look. "I know exactly what you want to say, Elecmon. I am not looking down on your courage or your strength."
He raised a hand, gesturing toward the distant, central area of the Village of Beginnings.
"It is just that you both have a far more critical duty right now. You instructed the other children to hide inside the village, correct?"
Elecmon nodded slowly, the static in his fur settling down.
"NeoDevimon appears to be operating alone right now, but we cannot rule out the possibility of a secondary strike force. He might have ordered his surviving subordinates to launch a sneak attack while we are distracted here. Your absolute priority must be protecting those children."
Leomon and Elecmon exchanged a heavy look. The logic was flawless, and the safety of the infant Digimon was their ultimate responsibility.
"We understand," Leomon rumbled, his grip tightening on his sword. "But what about LadyDevimon? She is fighting a monster."
A confident, almost dangerous smile tugged at the corner of Mizuki's lips.
"LadyDevimon has me."
With deliberate, unhurried movements, Mizuki reached up and slowly slid his white jacket off his shoulders. The playful, gentle demeanor he usually carried vanished entirely, replaced by a chilling, absolute concentration. His eyes locked onto the chaotic blur of the battle ahead.
"After all, we are partners. And partners fight side-by-side."
"What is the matter, LadyDevimon? Is this the absolute limit of your power?" NeoDevimon taunted, his voice a grating, metallic sneer.
The high-speed duel between the two dark angels was reaching a fever pitch. While NeoDevimon had initially been forced on the defensive by LadyDevimon's blistering speed and relentless aggression, the tide was slowly turning. Decades of brutal combat experience allowed him to adapt. He began reading her movements, predicting her strikes, and parrying her blade with sickening precision.
Slowly but surely, he was wresting control of the battle, forcing her into a defensive rhythm.
LadyDevimon gritted her teeth. She kept repeating Mizuki's instructions in her mind, forcing herself to remain calm, but a flicker of genuine urgency gnawed at her composure.
This was the sheer weight of experience. NeoDevimon had survived countless death matches, while she was still adjusting to the mechanics of her newly evolved form. If the battle dragged on, this disparity would only become more fatal.
Her mind raced, calculating angles and feints, desperately searching for an opening. But NeoDevimon was merciless. Seizing a microscopic hesitation in her footwork, he stepped inside her guard and delivered a brutal backhand, knocking LadyDevimon's Sword wide open.
Her defense was shattered. Her vital points were completely exposed.
NeoDevimon's other claw surged forward, aimed directly at her chest.
"Checkmate!" he roared.
"Oh, is that so?"
A calm, almost mocking voice cut through the roar of combat.
NeoDevimon's crimson eyes widened. Every survival instinct in his data-coded body screamed that something was terribly wrong.
Before his lethal strike could connect, his entire field of vision was suddenly swallowed by a blinding, pure white fabric.
A jacket?
Who in the Digital World throws a jacket in the middle of a death match?!
'That human brat!'
The realization hit NeoDevimon a fraction of a second too late. In the exact moment the demon's vision was obscured, Mizuki had already closed the distance.
The human boy planted his feet firmly into the cracked earth. His youthful hands clenched into tight fists. He drew in a sharp, hissing breath, his lungs expanding as his sharp gaze seemed to pierce straight through the white fabric and into the demon's very core.
A brilliant, pulsating aura erupted around Mizuki's fist. The Digi-Soul flared to life, converting his raw, unyielding willpower into devastating kinetic energy.
The momentum peaked.
"Break!" Mizuki commanded.
Boom!!!
Empowered by the roaring Digi-Soul, Mizuki's fist slammed into NeoDevimon's exposed abdomen with the force of a cannonball.
A human striking an Ultimate-level Digimon should have been a joke. And while the blow did not inflict lethal structural damage, the sheer kinetic shockwave and the disruptive nature of the Digi-Soul were more than enough to stagger the massive demon, completely derailing his fatal attack.
"LadyDevimon!" Mizuki shouted.
"I know, Mizu!"
She did not let the golden opportunity her partner created slip away. NeoDevimon's deflected claw scraped violently across her cheek, leaving a thin, glowing trail of damaged data, but LadyDevimon did not even blink. Her movements remained fluid and lethal.
With a sharp twist of her hips, she drove her dark blade upward. The jagged edge of LadyDevimon's Sword pierced cleanly through NeoDevimon's chest armor, burying itself deep into his digital flesh!
A massive geyser of dark, corrupted data erupted from the wound, scattering into the air like black blood.
"Damn you! You miserable bastards!" NeoDevimon shrieked, his voice distorting into an agonizing, glitching roar.
Driven to absolute madness by the heavy blow, the demon abandoned all technique. He thrashed wildly, swinging his massive claws in a frantic, indiscriminate frenzy, desperate to tear his attackers to shreds.
But Mizuki had already anticipated the dying beast's final thrash.
Before the first wild swing could connect, Mizuki grabbed LadyDevimon's arm, abruptly halting her offensive momentum, and yanked her backward. The two of them glided smoothly out of the demon's attack range, leaving NeoDevimon to carve up nothing but empty air.
And, with a casual flick of his wrist, Mizuki snatched his white jacket right out of the air as it fell.
He draped it over his shoulder, a thoroughly satisfied smirk playing on his lips.
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