Chapter 17: The General
"Mizuki, did you notice something?"
"Hmm. Devimon... or rather, NeoDevimon's condition. Something is off..."
Mizuki pulled his coat back over his shoulders, settling the fabric against the chill of the digital wind. He followed the line of LadyDevimon's slender, clawed finger, his gaze locking onto the towering monstrosity ahead.
The shift was glaringly obvious. Compared to the cold, calculating rationality NeoDevimon had displayed at the start of the battle, the creature now moved with a twitchy, feral aggression. He was regressing, slipping closer to his true, inherent nature as a beast of pure destruction.
"I don't know how NeoDevimon managed to maintain his self-awareness after evolving," Mizuki murmured, his eyes narrowing as he studied the cracked golden visage obscuring the demon's face. "But it looks like he hasn't fully resolved the risks associated with this form."
He tapped his chin. "Could it be... related to that mask?"
Mizuki searched his memories of Digimon lore. The golden mask worn by NeoDevimon wasn't just a cosmetic choice; it was a restraint, a tool designed to suppress his overwhelming power and dominate his chaotic will. If no external tamer or dark master was pulling NeoDevimon's strings right now, the reverse had to be true. The demon was using the mask to leash his own mind, preventing the raw data from tearing his sanity apart.
A sharp, calculating light flickered in Mizuki's eyes. He tilted his head toward his partner.
"LadyDevimon. Focus all your attention on the mask."
"The mask?" LadyDevimon's crimson eyes darted toward the fractured gold plating on their enemy's face. A cruel, understanding smirk curved her lips. She gave a single, sharp nod. "Understood."
Across the scarred earth, NeoDevimon finally ceased his frantic, tearing strikes. His chest heaved, expelling hot streams of corrupted data into the air.
Recalling the feral, unsightly display he had just put on, a surge of dark frustration boiled beneath his skin. The NeoDevimon form granted him god-like physical strength, but that immense power carried a fatal flaw: the constant, gnawing threat of his ego dissolving into mindless rage.
Had he not stumbled upon a unique, stabilizing power by sheer chance and devised the desperate method of using the mask to anchor his mind, he never would have risked this digivolution. The sheer potency of this form was intoxicating, but...
His six crimson eyes twitched, rotating erratically as they locked onto his opponents. His gaze darted back and forth between the human boy and the fallen angel.
He remembered it now. During their previous clash, he had inadvertently siphoned a fragment of that very same stabilizing power from them. That was the entire reason he had set his sights on the Village of Beginnings. He intended to hold the entire cradle of life hostage, using it to extract the rest of that power from Mizuki and LadyDevimon.
But a nagging question clawed at his mind.
Did this strange, harmonizing energy, this power of absolute balance, originate from LadyDevimon? She was a bizarre anomaly, a Holy-species Digimon dripping with dark data. Or did it come from the human?
NeoDevimon's claws ground together, sparking with dark friction. He loathed the idea. A mere human brat? A fragile creature who didn't even bear the crest of a DigiDestined wielding such a deep, unique force? It was insulting.
Yet, as he felt the foreign data continuously fortifying his own body, he couldn't ignore the signs. The boy's name, Mizuki. A name representing the moon, often paired with the sun. Light and dark. Sun and moon. The very essence of balance.
Was the brat the true key all along?
NeoDevimon's neural pathways fired at unmatched speeds, his mind racing to untangle the mystery.
But before his thoughts could crystallize into an answer, the air pressure shattered.
[LadyDevimon's Sword!]
Moving with the ghostly silence of a phantom, LadyDevimon bypassed his peripheral vision entirely. The crimson rapier in her hand thrust forward, a deadly blur of dark energy aimed squarely at the golden mask!
"Round three, NeoDevimon!" she taunted, her voice a velvet threat.
A sharp metallic clang echoed across the battlefield. Startled out of his reverie, NeoDevimon barely managed to cross his massive forearms, the reinforced leather and metal deflecting the lethal thrust just inches from his face.
He glared at the Dark-type Digimon before him, a furious retort bubbling in his throat.
'At least let me finish my internal monologue before you attack!'
Where was her dignity? Where was the noble reserve of a Holy-species Digimon?
NeoDevimon's mind spun with indignant rage. 'Holy species? LadyDevimon? Holy my ass!'
If the fate governing this Digital World truly had a physical form, it had to be some sadistic, mischievous little girl who delighted in tormenting the minds of proud Digimon. How else could one explain a so-called Holy Digimon who wielded the powers of darkness with far more lethal proficiency than the light? Her treacherous, underhanded combat style was lightyears away from the righteous angels in his memories.
Hell, if she counted as a Holy Digimon, why couldn't he be classified as one too?!
Despite the chaotic swirl of indignation in his chest, NeoDevimon's combat instincts did not waver. He roared, his massive muscles bulging as he pushed back against the rapier.
Using his overwhelming advantage in raw combat experience, NeoDevimon seized the rhythm of the fight. LadyDevimon, who had held the absolute initiative just seconds prior, found herself forced into a desperate defense.
"Damn it..." she hissed through gritted teeth.
A freezing gale generated by NeoDevimon's sweeping claws screamed past her ears. Razor-sharp wind sheared her cheek, causing tiny, glowing fragments of data to leak from the shallow cuts. The stinging pain spiked her nerves, keeping her hyper-aware of the lethal danger.
She burned with determination, her dark aura flaring wildly, but willpower alone couldn't bridge the massive chasm in their combat experience. NeoDevimon was a veteran of slaughter; every strike he made was designed to corner her.
Fortunately, she wasn't fighting this battle alone.
Catching a flicker of movement in her peripheral vision, LadyDevimon's lips curled into a sharp, knowing smile.
"Hey, NeoDevimon," she called out, her voice dripping with mockery. "Look over here."
"You hateful brat! Trying the exact same trick twice?!" NeoDevimon roared.
A dark coat sailed through the air, expanding to block his line of sight. Sneering at the pathetic attempt at a distraction, NeoDevimon didn't even slow down. He swiped his massive claw, shredding the fabric into useless, fluttering ribbons of data with a single, casual strike.
He expected to see the human boy standing there, vulnerable and exposed.
Instead, the space ahead was completely empty.
The violent gales sweeping across the battlefield suddenly shifted, playing a rapid, intense rhythm of impending violence!
NeoDevimon pushed his sensory perception to the absolute limit. Not a single fluctuation in the air currents, not even the trajectory of a blown grain of sand, escaped his notice.
'He isn't in front. That means the attack is coming from behind!'
The instant the realization hit, NeoDevimon's body moved on pure, lethal instinct. Without even bothering to turn his head, he whipped his massive arm backward, his reinforced claws rising to intercept the ambush.
A heavy impact struck his palm. A familiar, sharp pressure.
'It's LadyDevimon's Sword!'He sneered inwardly.'Just as I thought. The brat threw the coat as a feint to create an opening for LadyDevimon's sneak attack.'
But the roaring wind abruptly died. The lightning-fast figure that had launched the assault suddenly froze in mid-air.
NeoDevimon finally glanced back, his six eyes widening in sheer disbelief.
It wasn't LadyDevimon's rapier pressing against his palm. It was a sneaker.
Mizuki's flying kick had been perfectly intercepted by NeoDevimon's raised claw. Without missing a beat, the demon's massive fingers clamped down, crushing the boy's foot in an inescapable vice grip.
NeoDevimon threw his head back and let out a grating, metallic laugh.
"I see! You made it look like you were feigning an attack to create an opportunity for LadyDevimon, but you were actually the primary attacker all along!"
His six eyes rotated eerily, locking onto the human dangling from his grip, mocking the boy's failed ambush.
"Aiming directly for my mask? Interesting. I have to admit, I underestimated your sheer audacity, brat!" NeoDevimon's grip tightened, the sound of straining bones echoing in the tense air. "But unfortunately for you, your little scheme has failed."
He raised his free claw, dark energy pooling at the tips. "Which means, checkmate."
"Failed?"
Despite being suspended in the air, a broken captive to a towering demon, Mizuki didn't panic. Instead, a cold, mocking smirk spread across his face.
"I wouldn't say that."
"What?!"
Before NeoDevimon could process the words, an unbelievable sequence of events unfolded right before his eyes.
Mizuki's forward momentum hadn't faded. It had been stored. Using the trapped foot as a gruesome pivot point, the boy violently twisted his entire upper body.
A sickening crack split the air as his own ankle dislocated and snapped under the extreme torsion. But Mizuki didn't even flinch. Harnessing the explosive centrifugal force of his ruined leg, he whipped his free leg around in a devastating spinning heel kick.
The strike bypassed NeoDevimon's guard entirely, slamming squarely into the center of the cracked golden mask with the force of a battering ram!
"Now."
Ignoring the blinding agony shooting up his shattered leg, Mizuki stared directly into NeoDevimon's shocked eyes. His voice was ice-cold, delivering the final verdict.
"You are the one who has been checkmated."
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]