Chapter 27: A Bitter Victory
"Darkness Wave!"
A torrent of pitch-black energy erupted from LadyDevimon's outstretched claws. The overwhelming tide of shadows swept across the factory floor, tearing up metal plating as it surged straight toward Andromon. Lacking the agility to evade, the cyborg Digimon took the brunt of the assault. In the blink of an eye, the rushing current of darkness swallowed his metallic frame whole.
'It worked?!' A fleeting spark of joy lit up LadyDevimon's crimson eyes.
Unlike NeoDevimon, who possessed an innate resistance to dark-attribute attacks, Andromon was a machine. Taking a direct hit from her signature move should have guaranteed a severe, if not crippling, injury. As for dealing a fatal blow? She had deliberately pulled her punches. She was no mindless slaughterer, and more, Mizuki despised unnecessary cruelty. She refused to let her partner witness a gruesome execution if she could help it.
Just as she prepared to dial back her power output, the shadows violently ruptured.
Without a single warning klaxon, a brilliant blue light pierced through the center of the surging darkness. The glow rapidly expanded, burning with intense heat. Like a mythical blade cleaving the ocean, the azure light sliced her Darkness Wave cleanly in half.
"What?!"
"Spinning Energy Sword!"
A crescent of high-density energy tore through the air. LadyDevimon threw herself sideways, the scorching blade whizzing mere inches past her face. The lingering heat singed the edges of her dark hair. She whipped her head around, her eyes widening in absolute disbelief.
"How is that possible?!"
Andromon stood amidst the fading shadows. He was completely unharmed. Sunlight filtered through the broken factory roof, catching the pristine metallic gleam of his Chrome Digizoid plating. Her concentrated attack had not left a single scratch on his armor.
"I know I held back, but this is ridiculous..." she muttered under her breath. Seeing the cyborg raise his arm for another strike, she violently flapped her tattered wings, launching herself higher into the air to use her aerial superiority.
But Andromon did not ready another energy blade. Instead, the heavy metal plating on his chest slid open with a mechanical hiss.
"Gatling Missile!"
Two large projectiles, shaped bizarrely like mechanical marine fish, shot out from his chest silos, trailing thick plumes of white smoke as they rocketed straight toward her.
"Missiles, huh?" A cold sneer touched LadyDevimon's lips. "At that sluggish speed, how do you expect to catch me?"
The words barely left her mouth before the mechanical fish snapped their jaws open. From deep within their metallic maws, twin rotary gun barrels extended, spinning up with a high-pitched whine. The targeting lasers locked dead onto her flight path.
"They have guns inside them?!"
The sheer absurdity of the weapon caused her to hesitate for a fraction of a second. That was all it took.
A deafening roar erupted as a dense, unrelenting barrage of heavy caliber bullets saturated the airspace she occupied.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The intense, rhythmic thunder of gunfire echoed endlessly throughout the cavernous factory, shredding the steel beams and concrete pillars around her.
Down below, Mizuki watched his partner twist and dive through the storm of lead. A calculating glint flashed in his dark eyes.
'Still too naive, LadyDevimon...' he thought, his jaw tightening slightly.
From the exact moment Andromon shrugged off her opening attack, the tempo of the battle had shifted. The absolute control LadyDevimon initially held had slipped, falling directly into the cyborg's mechanical rhythm.
The ineffectiveness of her attacks stemmed from several crucial factors. First was the sheer physical reality of an Ultimate-level cyborg like Andromon. His extensively modified body and heavy armor did not just grant him lethal offensive output; they provided absurdly high defensive parameters. Mizuki knew the lore well. In the original timeline, this exact armor could deflect Piedmon's Trump Sword—a weapon capable of piercing right through Mega-level titans like WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon.
Second was the fundamental law of the Digital World: Attribute compatibility. Andromon might lack a natural resistance to dark energy, but as a Vaccine-type, he held a distinct elemental advantage over the Virus-type LadyDevimon. Vaccine countered Virus. Virus countered Data. Data countered Vaccine. Unless there was a massive, impossible gap in raw power, these inherent rules dictated the flow of combat.
Mizuki had drilled this exact rock-paper-scissors mechanic into her head during their training sessions. Yet, in the heat of the moment, fueled by adrenaline and a disrupted rhythm, she had let the basics slip her mind. Her raw power was immense, but her actual combat experience remained dangerously thin.
Recognizing the shift in momentum, Mizuki finally broke his silence.
"LadyDevimon! Stop retreating!" His voice cut through the deafening gunfire, sharp and commanding. "Thrust forward thirty meters, then pull up into a vertical climb!"
LadyDevimon flinched in mid-air. The order completely contradicted her instincts. Why charge directly toward the source of the barrage? But her absolute trust in Mizuki overrode her hesitation. She folded her wings, diving straight into the danger zone before violently pulling upward.
The truth of his command revealed itself a fraction of a second later.
Glancing down, she watched a concentrated net of heavy artillery completely annihilate the exact airspace she would have occupied had she continued to retreat. Her breath hitched. Because she had been dodging so fluidly, she failed to realize the cyborg's targeting AI was actively analyzing her evasion patterns. The previous barrage had not been a wild spray; it was a carefully calculated funnel designed to herd her into a fatal kill box.
"Gatling Missile!"
More mechanical fish launched from the silos, their rotary guns spinning up to chase her ascent. A cold sweat broke out across LadyDevimon's pale skin as the reality of the trap sank in. If Mizuki had not intervened, she would have been shredded. A fierce surge of admiration swelled in her chest.
'As expected of Mizuki. He sees everything.'
Guided by his precise tactical callouts, she wove through the relentless storm of bullets, her movements sharp and deliberate. Slowly but surely, she clawed back the tempo of the fight. She raised her hands, gathering a dense sphere of dark energy to retaliate.
"LadyDevimon, remember your attributes!" Mizuki's voice rang out again, calm but firm. "Until your raw power reaches a state where it completely eclipses the enemy, ignoring type compatibility is just throwing energy at a wall."
She bit her lip, the dark sphere flickering in her palms. He was right. She had let her pride blind her to the fundamentals. She immediately prepared to shift her data, intending to trigger a extraordinary digivolution and draw upon Angewomon's holy power.
But Mizuki wasn't finished.
"Listen to me," he instructed, his tone dropping into a focused, analytical register. "You are a master of dark energy. If you reach out, you should be able to feel it. There is a distinct incongruity in his data. Something that does not belong to him."
LadyDevimon closed her eyes for a split second, expanding her sensory perception. The chaotic noise of the battlefield faded, replaced by the distinct hum of digital signatures.
There it was. A foul, parasitic pulse of dark energy radiating directly from Andromon's right leg. A Vaccine-type cyborg possessed zero affinity for the dark arts; for him to emit such a malicious aura was a glaring anomaly.
Her eyes snapped open, a flush of shame heating her cheeks. She should have noticed the Black Gear the moment the fight began.
'Damn it... I made him worry again.'
A bitter wave of frustration gnawed at her chest. She had promised herself she would be his ultimate shield, yet here she was, relying on him to point out the obvious. She felt like she was failing his expectations.
But wallowing in regret would not win the battle. She shoved the frustration down, channeling it directly into her core. She knew exactly what needed to be done. Slashing her elongated claws through the air, she summoned a massive, churning vortex of shadows.
"Darkness Wave!"
Fueled by her own irritation, the swarm of dark bats shrieked as they descended upon the cyborg. Yet, the physical result remained identical. Standing at the epicenter of the shadowy tempest, Andromon barely registered the bats tearing at his armor. His optical sensors locked onto the darkness, and he slowly raised his mechanical arm, the internal rotors spinning up to unleash another energy blade.
But this time, the cyborg miscalculated.
Before his arm could fully charge, a blinding flash of pure, incandescent white light erupted from within the very heart of the shadow storm. The holy radiance instantly vaporized the remaining darkness.
"Holy Arrow!"
The dark bats had never been meant to inflict damage. They were a smokescreen. High above, the tattered leather of LadyDevimon had vanished, replaced by the pristine, angelic form of Angewomon. The dark assault had been a deliberate feint, designed to blind Andromon's optical sensors and mask her extraordinary digivolution.
All of it had been a setup for this single, decisive strike.
Drawn back on a bow of pure light, the crackling bolt of holy lightning shot forward with pinpoint precision. It bypassed the thickest parts of the cyborg's chest armor, striking dead center on the joint of his right leg.
The holy energy violently purged the parasitic darkness. With a harsh, metallic screech, the Black Gear embedded deep within the machinery shattered into a dozen fragments, dissolving into harmless data before they even hit the floor. Andromon's glowing red optical sensors flickered, then dimmed, his massive frame slumping forward as the hostile override ceased.
Watching the black fragments scatter, Mizuki let out a quiet breath, his mind briefly flashing back to the original timeline's events. But those thoughts could wait. He looked up at the descending angel.
"Well done, Angewomon," he said, his voice warm and steady. "I knew you could do it."
The praise washed over her, a familiar comfort that usually brought a bright smile to her lips. But this time, the smile didn't reach her face.
As her boots touched the factory floor, the weight of the battle settled heavily on her shoulders. She had won, but only because Mizuki had guided her hand. The gap between her raw power and her actual combat proficiency was a glaring weakness.
'I have to get stronger...'she thought, her hands curling into tight fists at her sides.'I can't just rely on raw power. I need to be better. Only then will I truly be worthy of his trust.'Beneath her silver visor, her eyes burned with an unshakable resolve.'Only then... can I truly protect him.'
[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!]