Chapter 20: Post-War Respite
"Oi! Mizuki!"
The shout echoed across the trampled grass. Mizuki had barely finished his quiet, heart-to-heart moment with LadyDevimon when that familiar, energetic voice broke through the lingering tension of the battlefield. Hearing the sheer, unfiltered vigor in that tone, Mizuki didn't even need to turn his head. He already knew exactly which miniature sun was barreling toward them.
Or rather, the bearer of the Crest of Courage had arrived.
"Tai... and Greymon too?"
Cradled securely against LadyDevimon's chest, Mizuki shifted his gaze toward the approaching figures. Seeing the massive, horned dinosaur stomping alongside the goggled boy, he instantly pieced together what had happened. A faint, amused breath escaped his lips. As expected, telling this group of kids to stay put and wait obediently on the sidelines was an exercise in futility.
Still, their presence brought a wave of relief. With the DigiDestined actively guarding the perimeter, the Village of Beginnings was entirely secure.
Just as that thought settled in his mind, Tai and Greymon—guided by a very frantic Elecmon—skidded to a halt in front of him and his dark-winged partner.
Tai blinked, his hands resting on his knees as he caught his breath. He scanned the scarred earth and broken trees, his brow furrowing in confusion. "I don't see any enemies. Is the battle over?"
"Yes. Devimon has retreated."
Mizuki offered a calm nod before shifting his attention to the red, mammalian Digimon twitching its tails nearby. "More pressing, Elecmon. Are the Village of Beginnings and the other children safe?"
"Yes! Thanks to your warning, and the help of these DigiDestined!" Elecmon puffed out his chest, his answer aligning perfectly with Mizuki's expectations.
The sound of hurried footsteps announced the arrival of the rest of the group. The children broke through the tree line, panting and flushed from running. However, the moment their eyes landed on Mizuki resting in LadyDevimon's arms, the relief on their faces shattered.
Their gazes dropped to his right leg. The limb was twisted at a sickening, unnatural angle, the bone structure visibly warped beneath his torn trousers. Blood stained the fabric, painting a grim picture of the violence he had endured.
Horror drained the color from their faces.
"Mizuki! What happened to your leg?!"
Tai lunged forward instinctively, his hands reaching out, but a firm grip clamped down on his shoulder.
"Tai, stop!" Izzy yanked him back.
Tai whipped his head around. "Izzy?"
"Mizuki's leg is severely injured," Izzy said, his voice tight but remarkably steady. He shook his head, keeping a restraining arm out. "We cannot touch him rashly. Moving him the wrong way could cause permanent damage."
Despite the cold sweat gathering on his forehead, Izzy forced his analytical mind to take charge. Mizuki had protected them time and time again; Izzy already viewed the older boy as an irreplaceable comrade. But panic would help no one. Logic had to prevail.
"Mizuki..." Takeru peeked out from behind his older brother, his large eyes brimming with unshed tears. He stared at the mangled limb, his voice trembling. "Your leg... it must hurt so much..."
Sora covered her mouth with both hands, her knuckles turning white as she took in the gruesome sight. "What exactly happened out here...?" she whispered, her fists clenching tight against her chest.
Joe swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously. He adjusted his glasses, his hands shaking slightly, but he forced himself to take a step forward. "Um, I... I actually know a little bit of first aid. I don't know if it will be enough for something this severe, but..."
He trailed off, his lack of confidence evident, yet his resolve held firm. It was painfully obvious to the naked eye that Mizuki's condition was critical. They couldn't afford to waste a single second.
"Elecmon!" Mimi spun around, her dress swishing as she looked at the caretaker with desperate, pleading eyes. "Don't you have any medicine here? Bandages? Anything?!"
"If you need to search for supplies, I can help look!" Kari chimed in, nodding vigorously, her small face set in pure determination.
Matt remained silent for a long moment, his jaw tight as he stared at the gruesome injury. Finally, he stepped up beside Tai. "...Count me in."
"We'll help too!"
The chorus of voices erupted from the ground level as Agumon, Gabumon, Tentomon, and the rest of the Digimon partners stepped forward in perfect unison, their eyes shining with fierce loyalty.
Mizuki watched the chaotic, frantic display unfold before him. They were clumsy, frightened, and entirely out of their depth, yet every single one of them was desperately trying to find a way to save him. A gentle, unbidden warmth spread through his chest, chasing away the lingering chill of the battlefield.
Elecmon was already turning around, his tails flicking as he prepared to lead a scavenging party back to the nursery.
Seeing the mass exodus about to happen, Mizuki finally broke his silence.
"Hey. Wait a moment."
Tai, who had one foot pivoted toward the village, snapped his head back. "What's wrong, Mizuki? Don't talk, save your strength!"
Mizuki suppressed a wry smile. How was he supposed to break it to them? With his bones splintered and twisted into this grotesque shape, a few bandages and some basic ointment weren't going to solve the problem. It was an incredibly naive, childlike way of thinking—endearing, certainly, but entirely impractical.
He let out a soft, breathy chuckle. "You guys really don't need to worry so much."
"Don't need to worry?!" Joe squeaked, his voice cracking.
"It's just a mere leg," Mizuki said, his tone infuriatingly casual, as if discussing a scuffed shoe rather than a mangled limb. "It's nothing significant."
Before anyone could explode in outrage at his flippancy, Mizuki raised a finger, pointing toward a patch of scorched earth a few yards away. "On another note, Tai... could you do me a favor and pick up my jacket?"
Tai blinked, utterly derailed by the request. He followed Mizuki's pointing finger, spotting the ruined garment lying in the dirt. Without arguing, he jogged over and scooped it up.
He held the fabric up by the collar. It was shredded, slashed to ribbons by Devimon's claws, and stained with dirt. "Can you even wear this anymore? It's completely torn up..."
"It's fine. Just bring it here."
Muttering under his breath about Mizuki's bizarre priorities, Tai carried the tattered remains of the jacket over and handed it to him.
Mizuki accepted the ruined clothing, resting it on his lap. He shifted his weight slightly against LadyDevimon's arm, ignoring the sharp spike of agony from his leg, and looked at the circle of anxious faces surrounding him.
"Do you all remember what I told you before?" His voice dropped into an even, instructional cadence. "Digimon are a unique group of network data life forms. And this entire world... is an alternate reality constructed entirely from countless streams of network data."
Izzy nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing as he tried to follow Mizuki's train of thought.
"In this place," Mizuki continued, his eyes glinting with a faint, mysterious light, "theoretically, as long as you possess enough data and the right application, almost anything can be accomplished."
He smoothed his hand over the shredded fabric. "For example..."
Mizuki pressed his palm flat against the ruined jacket. A sudden, brilliant hum filled the air. Streams of emerald-green and binary-blue light flared from his fingertips, weaving through the torn threads. The children gasped as the shredded fabric began to stitch itself back together at an impossible speed. The dirt vanished, the slash marks sealed, and within seconds, the jacket lay in his lap, utterly pristine and miraculously restored to its original state.
Mizuki picked it up, giving it a light shake. "See? Isn't it amazing?"
A heavy, stunned silence blanketed the clearing.
Then, Joe snapped.
"Yes, it's amazing!" Joe threw his hands in the air, his face turning a shade of apoplectic red. "But is this really the time to be doing magic tricks with a jacket?! The absolute priority right now is your leg!"
Sora nodded frantically, stepping closer. "He's right, Mizuki! Your leg is mangled! If we don't deal with it soon, you could lose it completely!"
"Hey, hey. I told you not to be so nervous."
Looking at their pale, panic-stricken faces, Mizuki let out a long, helpless sigh. They really didn't understand the implications of what he had just shown them. He tilted his head back, resting it against the soft leather of LadyDevimon's attire, and looked up into her crimson eyes.
"LadyDevimon," he murmured, his tone softening. "How is your Holy Power recovering?"
She looked down at him, her sharp features softening into an expression of deep gentleness.
"Can you initiate a transfer digivolution into Angewomon?" he asked.
LadyDevimon closed her eyes for a brief second, sensing the internal flow of data and energy coursing through her core. When she opened them, a confident smile graced her dark lips. "Yes. It's stable now."
Without a moment's hesitation, she initiated the sequence.
A brilliant, blinding pillar of pure white light erupted from her form, forcing the children to shield their eyes. The eerie, oppressive aura of darkness that clung to her leather-clad figure began to fracture and dissolve, burning away like morning mist under a blazing sun. Eight magnificent, feathered wings unfurled from the center of the radiance.
As the holy light gently dissipated into sparkling motes of data, the sacred, divine form of Angewomon knelt in LadyDevimon's place, her angelic presence bathing the clearing in a soothing warmth.
"Woah!" Joe stumbled backward, nearly tripping over his own feet. "A demon just turned into an angel?!"
"That's Angewomon," Gomamon corrected, floating up beside his partner. The little seal Digimon looked at the trembling boy with a look of utter helplessness. "Joe, why are you always so timid?"
"Mind your own business, Gomamon!" Joe snapped back, his face flushing red as he adjusted his glasses defensively. "I'm not timid! I'm just... scientifically surprised!"
"Yes, yes, yes," Gomamon sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically.
Ignoring the comedic bickering between the boy and his partner, Angewomon focused entirely on the boy in her arms. With infinite care, she lowered Mizuki onto a soft patch of grass, ensuring his ruined leg wasn't jostled in the process.
Kneeling gracefully by his side, she extended her slender hands over his shattered limb. Drawing upon the ancient data inscribed within her very core, she began to mobilize the vast reserves of holy energy she had just recovered.
A warm, golden luminescence spilled from her palms, enveloping Mizuki's leg in a cocoon of divine light. The children watched in absolute awe as the impossible occurred. The sickeningly twisted bones began to snap back into their proper alignment with soft, echoing clicks. Torn muscle fibers reknitted themselves, and the bruised, bloodied skin smoothed over, leaving no trace of the horrific trauma. An injury that would have undoubtedly required amputation in the human world was being erased right before their eyes.
"This is... healing power?!" Izzy breathed out, his eyes wide as he watched the data restructure physical matter.
The rest of the children stood paralyzed, their expressions shifting from pure terror to absolute wonder.
"More accurately, it's the power of light," Mizuki corrected gently, leaning back on his elbows as the agonizing pain finally faded into a dull, manageable throb.
He looked at the glowing angelic figure beside him. "Perhaps when it comes to raw, unadulterated destruction, the power of light isn't quite as violently explosive as darkness. However, light possesses unique properties that darkness completely lacks—namely, the ability to heal and purify."
He gestured toward his rapidly mending leg. "Angewomon is an Ultimate-level, Light-attribute, Vaccine-type Digimon. Even though she isn't strictly classified as a dedicated healer-type, the sheer density of the Holy Power within her body allows her to perform localized data restoration like this."
With the immediate crisis averted and nothing else to do while the healing process finished, Mizuki fully embraced the opportunity to play the role of a relaxed mentor, casually discussing Digimon biology with the wide-eyed children.
He kept the deeper, more dangerous truth to himself. The real reason he hadn't demanded immediate treatment the second the battle ended was entirely pragmatic. LadyDevimon's internal reserves of Holy Power had been dangerously depleted. If he had forced her to initiate a transfer digivolution and attempt a complex data-rewrite on his physical body while her energy was unstable, the resulting data imbalance could have been catastrophic.
In this digital world, a botched healing process wouldn't just leave a scar—it could corrupt his very existence. But looking at the relieved, smiling faces of the DigiDestined around him, Mizuki decided that was a lesson they didn't need to learn today.
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