Chapter 66: Etemon! You Liar!!!
"Big Sis BlackGatomon! Why?!"
"Why are you just standing there watching?!"
"Hurry up and capture him! We need to offer him to King Etemon as a hostage!"
Gazimon stared at BlackGatomon, who was currently resting comfortably in Mizuki's arms. The rabbit-like Digimon's face twisted into an expression of utter disbelief.
Clinging to a desperate, fraying thread of hope, Gazimon's voice cracked. "We... we're comrades, right? Big Sis, stop messing around! This isn't funny!"
Yet, in the face of Gazimon's emotional, frantic pleading, BlackGatomon didn't twitch a single whisker. She merely rested in Mizuki's embrace, her icy blue eyes quietly observing the panicking Rookie.
Silence stretched between them.
The cold reality slowly drenched Gazimon like a bucket of ice water. The frantic denial faded, replaced by a hollow, dawning comprehension.
"Big Sis BlackGatomon..." Gazimon's voice trembled. "Don't tell me... all that talk about becoming friends with us... was it all a lie?"
Her claws dug into the dirt. "Why?! Why are you just watching him?! Have you really betrayed us?!"
"Betrayal?"
Finally, cutting through Gazimon's sorrowful, ragged cries, BlackGatomon spoke. Her tone was cool, entirely devoid of guilt.
"From the very beginning, I was Mizuki's partner." She shifted her paws, settling deeper into the boy's arms. "I am merely returning to where I belong. Tell me, how can I betray a side I was never truly on?"
"Oh, that reminds me~"
As she spoke, a soft, warm light began to radiate from BlackGatomon's sleek fur. The data around her shifted, compressing inward. In the blink of an eye, the fierce Champion-level feline dissolved, leaving behind a small, yellow, cat-like In-Training Digimon.
Nyaromon!
"Ah, this form is so much more comfortable~" Nyaromon nuzzled against Mizuki's chest, her voice pitching up into a sweet, affectionate purr. "After all, this is how I looked when I first met Mizuki. It holds the most meaning for me~"
Acting every bit like a spoiled, pampered pet, Nyaromon then swiveled her gaze back toward Gazimon. The playful warmth vanished from her eyes, replaced by a sharp, knowing glint.
"Speaking to you looking like this... you should be able to put the pieces together now, right?"
Gazimon's jaw dropped. "You... Big Sis BlackGatomon... you're Nyaromon?!"
The gears finally clicked into place. "You're that Nyaromon from yesterday!"
Realizing the sheer scale of the deception, Gazimon pointed a trembling claw at them. "Did you approach us just to gather intelligence?! You hateful DigiDestined! And you, you deceitful Digimon! You're both completely despicable!"
"Despicable?" Mizuki finally chimed in, offering a casual, unapologetic shrug. "That's rich coming from you, Gazimon."
He stroked Nyaromon's head, his lips curling into a dry, mocking smirk. "Let's not forget who started this. You guys were the ones who snuck in and kidnapped Nyaromon while I was asleep."
"That was the Pagumon's doing!" Gazimon shrieked, stomping her foot in the dirt. "What does their thievery have to do with me?!"
"..."
Mizuki blinked. 'Damn it, she actually has a point.'
If his left arm wasn't currently weighed down by the heavy, metallic bulk of the Dragon Head Shield, and his right arm wasn't busy cradling Nyaromon, Mizuki absolutely would have face-palmed right then and there.
"Forget it. Let's put the petty details aside for a moment." Mizuki sighed, adjusting his stance. His tone shifted, dropping the playful banter for something far more grounded.
"Gazimon, take a good look around. You understand the current situation, don't you?" He locked eyes with the trembling Rookie. "Given your strength, there is zero chance of you escaping from us."
He glanced down at Nyaromon. "Since Little Bei went out of her way to bring you here instead of just deleting you, it means she recognizes your abilities to some extent."
Mizuki took a slow, deliberate step forward. "So—"
He raised his left arm, extending the menacing, metallic snout of the Dragon Head Shield directly toward Gazimon.
"Why don't you join me?"
"You?" Gazimon scoffed, eyeing Mizuki up and down with blatant disdain. She opened her mouth, fully prepared to unleash a torrent of mockery upon this arrogant human.
But Mizuki, anticipating the exact trajectory of her attitude, simply flexed his arm.
Fwoosh!
The mechanical jaws of the Dragon Head Shield snapped open. A searing, concentrated burst of crimson flame erupted from the fanged maw, the intense heat washing directly over Gazimon's face, singeing the tips of her ears.
The scathing insult died instantly in Gazimon's throat, replaced by a sharp, terrified gulp.
"Hmm? Gazimon?" Mizuki tilted his head, a thoroughly innocent, trollish smile spreading across his face. "Speak up. Why did you stop talking?"
He leaned in a fraction closer, the flames casting dancing shadows over his amused features. "Are you feeling shy? Wait, are you a girl, Gazimon?"
Gazimon's cheeks flushed a furious, humiliated red. Finally snapping under Mizuki's relentless, weaponized teasing, she leaped up, her claws flailing in the air.
"Enough!" she shrieked, her voice cracking with indignation. "You hateful human! You have a literal flamethrower pointed at my face! Don't you know exactly why I'm not speaking?!"
"Haha~ Don't be so angry, I'm just messing with you~" Mizuki chuckled, lowering the shield slightly. "Come on, give us a smile~"
For some inexplicable reason, watching this snarky little Digimon practically vibrate with fury—yet remain completely paralyzed by her inability to fight back—triggered Mizuki's worst impulses. He just wanted to poke the bear even more.
Nyaromon watched him from his arms, her tail swishing in dry amusement. 'Ah, there he goes again. The two-faced, black-bellied Mizuki strikes again.'
However, knowing exactly where the line was drawn between playful teasing and pushing someone into a spiteful frenzy, Mizuki reigned himself in. The mischievous glint faded from his eyes, replaced by a sharp, calculating calm.
"Jokes aside, Gazimon." His voice dropped an octave, carrying genuine weight. "I am entirely serious about wanting you to join us."
He deactivated the shield, letting the flames die out. "After all, to be accepted into Etemon's inner ranks means you possess a very specific set of skills."
As he spoke, fragmented memories of the original timeline flashed through his mind.
Calling it 'a specific set of skills' was an understatement. These Gazimon weren't just brainless grunts; they were the IT department of the Dark Network. They maintained Etemon's servers, operated complex tracking equipment, and managed his communications. In a Digital World mostly populated by feral beasts and warriors, technical literacy was an incredibly rare talent.
While Mizuki had no grand ambitions of building a massive, world-conquering faction, securing a few highly capable, specialized allies was an absolute necessity if he wanted to survive the escalating dangers ahead. A tech-savvy scout would be very useful.
Gazimon, however, was far from convinced. She crossed her arms, letting out a harsh, dismissive sneer.
"Are you seriously spouting such foolish nonsense, even after knowing who I work for?" She spat the words out, her loyalty flaring up. "I am a direct subordinate of the invincible King Etemon! I really don't know whether to call you hopelessly stupid or just painfully naive."
"The invincible Etemon..."
Hearing that exact, overly-rehearsed title again—the same one the other Gazimon had parroted yesterday—Mizuki had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from bursting into laughter.
Nyaromon, sensing his amusement, suddenly recalled her own brief encounter with the so-called 'King'. She let out a long, thoroughly depressed sigh.
"Mizuki, let me tell you a secret~" she grumbled, her voice dripping with absolute boredom. "That Etemon is nothing but an Ultimate-level Digimon. And a rather tacky one at that."
She puffed out her cheeks. "A guy of his caliber wouldn't even require me to get serious. It's almost insulting."
"That's very true~" Mizuki agreed smoothly, gently patting Nyaromon's head to soothe her wounded pride.
Then, ignoring Gazimon's deeply confused glare, he raised a hand and pointed directly toward the distant, dust-choked battlefield.
"This whole 'Invincible King of Digimon' nonsense... let me guess, he told you that himself, didn't he?" Mizuki asked, his tone laced with pity. "Look, I really hate to shatter your worldview, but that Etemon guy? He's just a loudmouth with a good PR team."
"A loudmouth?!" Gazimon bristled, her claws extending as she prepared to furiously defend her master's honor.
But the words died in her throat.
Her gaze followed Mizuki's pointing finger, and the sight that met her eyes completely shattered her reality.
Through the clearing smoke, she saw him. Etemon—the absolute tyrant, the terrifying rockstar worshipped and feared by the entire Gazimon tribe—was currently sprinting for his life, shrieking miserably as MetalGreymon unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks upon him.
"Ahhh! You hateful MetalGreymon!" Etemon's screech echoed across the wasteland, entirely devoid of dignity. "How dare you treat a star like this?!"
A stray blast clipped the ground behind him, sending the monkey flying forward into the dirt.
"I am the King of Digimon—OW! My butt! My beautiful butt!" Etemon scrambled up, clutching his scorched rear end as he sprinted faster. "If you have any guts, aim for the front! Stop hitting my butt! Awoooo!"
"How... how is that possible?!"
Gazimon stared blankly at the spectacle. Her jaw hung slack. No matter how hard she tried, her brain simply refused to reconcile this pathetic, wailing coward with the terrifying, untouchable King Etemon who had ruled over them with an iron fist.
"King Etemon... he's actually this weak?" Her voice was a hollow whisper. "We... we were fooled. He played us!"
All the strength evaporated from Gazimon's legs. She collapsed onto the dusty earth, her knees hitting the ground with a soft thud.
Her eyes glazed over, completely hollowed out by the destruction of her entire worldview. She hugged her knees to her chest, rocking slightly as she muttered under her breath.
"Liar... he's a liar... lied to us for so long..."
If someone had walked by without knowing the context, they would have assumed the poor creature had just been brutally dumped and abandoned by the world's worst scumbag.
To be precise, she wasn't the only one suffering an existential crisis.
Back at the edge of the Koromon village, the captive Pagumon and the other two Gazimon had been drawn out by the massive explosions. Escorted by a stern-looking group of Koromon and the recently freed Agumon, the former dark network operators shuffled out into the open to see what the commotion was about.
The moment their eyes landed on Etemon's miserable, undignified retreat, identical expressions of sheer, unadulterated shock mirrored across their faces.
"How could this happen?!" one of the Pagumon gasped, its ears drooping.
"How could King Etemon be losing?!" a Gazimon cried out, clutching its head. "Didn't he always say he was the invincible King of the Digital World?!"
The shock quickly curdled into bitter resentment.
"...Liar!"
"You hateful liar!"
"Damn it! Give us back our blind loyalty, you fraud!"
A chorus of betrayed wails rose from the group of former minions.
Listening to the chaotic, grieving chatter of her comrades in the distance, the Gazimon sitting by Mizuki's feet slowly blinked, regaining a fraction of her lucidity.
However, the look on her face wasn't just disappointment anymore; it had twisted into a bitter, self-deprecating grimace.
"Heh... heh..." Gazimon let out a dry, broken laugh. "Etemon... how dare he lie to us..."
She stared down at her own trembling claws. "But... even if we were lied to, what can we possibly do about it? In the end, we're just a bunch of weak, pathetic Rookie-level Digimon. We don't have a choice but to follow the strong."
Watching Gazimon's utterly crestfallen state, a rare flicker of genuine pity softened Nyaromon's gaze.
Despite being Etemon's subordinate, this rabbit-like Digimon wasn't inherently malicious or twisted by darkness like Devimon had been. They were just survivors in a cruel world, clinging to whoever offered them protection. It was entirely a matter of forced allegiance.
Now that Etemon's facade had crumbled, perhaps—
Nyaromon closed her eyes, cutting off the thought.
As much as she felt the urge to hop down and offer the trembling Rookie a word of comfort, she held herself back. She had to consider Mizuki's position. He was currently negotiating, establishing dominance and offering a way out on his own terms. She refused to undermine his authority or cause him unnecessary trouble by acting out of turn.
Yes, she pitied the deceived Gazimon.
But in Nyaromon's heart, absolutely nothing and no one could ever compare to Mizuki's importance.
And that was that.
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