Chapter 156: Determine Your Destiny! Unleash a Miracle
[Grey Sword: Modified!]
Belle swung her massive blade in a sweeping arc, the weapon howling as it tore through the air. Her strike collided head-on with Omnimon's descending attack. For a fraction of a second, the world fell dead silent. Then, the two titanic forces detonated.
A cataclysmic shockwave ripped across the battlefield. The bedrock beneath them splintered into jagged fragments, while the distant ocean churned into violent, towering swells. Caught in the direct epicenter of the blast, the heavy storm clouds above were violently obliterated, scattering into nothingness. Unobstructed, the brilliant silver light of the moon spilled down, bathing the ruined landscape in an ethereal glow.
"Such terrifying strength..." MetalGarurumon X muttered, his voice laced with disbelief. Having been brutally slammed into the earth moments prior, the cyborg wolf struggled to drag his battered frame out of the smoking crater. His optics locked onto the silhouette hovering high in the moonlit sky. "Just who is that?"
"I do not know. I have never encountered anyone with that kind of power." WarGreymon X landed heavily on the fractured surface, his armor scorched and dented. He reached out a clawed hand, hauling MetalGarurumon X to his feet. The dragon warrior paused, his draconic eyes narrowing as a sudden realization hit him. He turned his gaze toward the cloaked stranger standing nearby. "Wait. I remember a rumor."
WarGreymon X took a slow step forward. "Word has spread across the digital world. Two anomalies have surfaced recently, fighting desperately to protect those hunted by the Royal Knights. Could that be... you?"
WarGreymon X stared at the hooded figure, his eyes reflecting a mixture of desperate hope, gratitude, and intense curiosity. Mizuki, however, offered no reply. His hidden gaze was entirely fixed on the two small figures huddled in the dirt.
"One of them is battered, but stable," Mizuki whispered, his voice dropping to a dangerous register. "But the other..."
He stared at the tiny, motionless form of Tokomon lying limp on the ground. The In-Training Digimon's data was already beginning to destabilize, lacking any trace of a pulse or breath. Beneath his cloak, Mizuki's knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists.
"Damn it all," he hissed, the words dripping with venom. "Is this the grand justice of the Royal Knights? You butchers will not even spare a child?"
"The Royal Knights have indeed been slaughtering our kind," MetalGarurumon X interjected, limping forward with heavy, metallic thuds. "But this child's condition is not from their blades. It is something far worse."
The armored wolf lowered his massive head, looking sorrowfully at the lifeless Tokomon. He then shifted his gaze to the small, purple-furred Dorumon beside it. The Rookie Digimon sat completely paralyzed, her wide eyes glazed over with a hollow, suffocating grief. MetalGarurumon X slowly raised a mechanical paw, pressing it firmly against his own chest plate.
"This little one's DigiCore has been ravaged by the X-Program. She is on the absolute brink of deletion. But do not despair." His voice strained as a low hum vibrated from his core. "I will give... ugh! I will give my own X-Antibody to her."
Dorumon blinked, snapping out of her daze, while Mizuki's eyes widened beneath his hood. With a sickening sound of tearing data, MetalGarurumon X forcibly ripped a glowing, geometric sphere of pure energy straight from his own chest.
WarGreymon X lunged forward, his voice cracking with alarm. "MetalGarurumon X! If you do this, you will—"
"Die?" MetalGarurumon X interrupted, letting out a weak, metallic chuckle. "Perhaps. Stripping away my X-Antibody means I forfeit my immunity. The X-Program will consume me." He looked down at the radiant sphere resting in his claw. "But I refuse to stand by and watch an innocent life fade into nothingness while I have the power to save it."
"No." WarGreymon X planted his feet, blocking his comrade's path. "I meant you should use mine."
"Do not be a fool," MetalGarurumon X shot back, physically shoving the dragon warrior aside. "You are stronger than I am. Your will is forged from harder steel. The Digital World needs you alive far more than it needs me."
MetalGarurumon X knelt, extending the glowing X-Antibody toward the fading Tokomon. Before the light could touch the tiny Digimon, a hand shot out, gripping the cyborg wolf's wrist with surprising, immovable force. Mizuki stood between them.
"We are not at that desperate stage yet," Mizuki said quietly. He shook his head, a faint, ethereal light igniting within his eyes, piercing through the shadows of his hood. "If the issue is solely the X-Program, there is no need for you to sacrifice your entire X-Antibody."
"But extracting only a fragment will—" MetalGarurumon X argued, struggling against the human's grip.
"Will not be enough to save her?" Mizuki finished, his tone calm and measured. "Perhaps. Under normal circumstances, you would be entirely correct."
As he spoke, Mizuki released the wolf's wrist. He knelt in the dirt, hovering his left hand over Tokomon's deteriorating form. A soft, pulsing luminescence began to radiate from his palm.
[Power of Fate]
'Even though the very fabric of this world is actively suppressing my existence,'Mizuki thought, his focus sharpening into a razor's edge,'a concept as absolute as fate cannot be bound by mere dimensional laws.'"In the end, it is only my raw output that is restricted," he whispered to himself.'What I must do now is drag a miracle kicking and screaming out of the threads of destiny!'
[Power of Miracles!]
Mizuki murmured the invocation. Instantly, a blinding, golden crest ignited across the back of his right hand.
"This fraction will be enough."
Channeling his Digi-Soul, Mizuki forced his will upon reality. His left hand anchored Tokomon's fading data, literally rewriting her immediate destiny to halt the deletion process. Simultaneously, his right hand reached out, delicately siphoning a mere sliver of the radiant energy from MetalGarurumon X's exposed X-Antibody.
"MetalGarurumon X," Mizuki commanded, his voice tight with exertion. "Put the rest back into your DigiCore. Now."
The cyborg wolf hesitated, staring at the human. But before he could question the order, a small, trembling voice broke the silence.
"Why... why would you go this far for us?" Dorumon asked.
The purple-furred Rookie stared in horror at Mizuki's glowing hands. The sheer strain of manipulating fate was taking a physical toll; jagged, glowing cracks were actively splitting across Mizuki's skin, bleeding raw data into the air.
Mizuki turned his head. Meeting Dorumon's tear-filled, agonizing gaze, he pressed his lips together. A moment later, the corners of his mouth lifted into a gentle, if slightly strained, smile.
"Why?" Mizuki repeated softly. "My reasoning is no different from MetalGarurumon X's. I refuse to stand idly by and watch a life extinguish before my eyes, not when I hold the power to drag it back from the edge."
He shifted his glowing hands, carefully weaving the fragment of the X-Antibody into Tokomon's stabilized core.
"The way I see it, every single life in this world has the inherent right to live freely under the sun." He locked eyes with the trembling Rookie. "And that includes you, Dorumon. So, stop wearing such a tragic, lost expression. You should smile more."
Dorumon froze, utterly stunned. The breath hitched in her throat.
No one had ever spoken to her with such warmth. For as long as she could remember, she had been treated as a cursed anomaly, an outcast violently rejected and hunted by every corner of the Digital World. The only fleeting fragments of kindness she had ever known had come from WarGreymon X and MetalGarurumon X just moments ago.
That desperate craving for connection was exactly why she had fought so fiercely, throwing her bruised body in front of danger to protect a helpless In-Training Digimon like Tokomon.
But to be looked at directly, to be acknowledged as someone worthy of life, to be treated with such deep gentleness... this was a first.
She opened her mouth, desperate to force out a response. But her throat tightened, choking the words before they could form.
By the time she found her voice, Mizuki had already turned away, his absolute focus returning to the critically injured Tokomon beneath his hands.
A heavy pang of guilt washed over Dorumon's chest. She had not even managed to say a simple thank you. She dug her claws into the dirt, making a silent promise to herself. 'Next time. I will definitely say it next time.'
Under the watchful, silent gazes of Dorumon and the two Mega-level knights, the luminescence pouring from Mizuki's hands intensified.
The light flared into a brilliant, golden halo that engulfed Tokomon entirely. Yet, despite its overwhelming brightness, none of them found the glare harsh or blinding. Much like the human's voice, the aura radiating from his soul felt incredibly warm, wrapping around them like a protective embrace.
Slowly, the tension etched into the knights' armored faces melted into pure, unadulterated shock.
Right before their eyes, the impossible was happening. The fading, fragmented data of the dying Tokomon was knitting itself back together. Her pulse, previously nonexistent, began to beat with a steady, rhythmic thrum.
It did not stop there. The jagged, corrupted scars left behind by the X-Program actively dissolved, peeling away to reveal flawless, healthy data beneath. In their wake, a new, vibrant surge of power blossomed deep within the tiny Digimon's core, the unmistakable spark of the X-Antibody taking root.
Everything unfolding before them completely defied the established laws of the Digital World. Yet, as they watched this mysterious, cloaked savior weave life from the brink of death, it somehow felt entirely natural.
"He is manifesting a miracle..." WarGreymon X murmured, his deep voice thick with reverence.
MetalGarurumon X remained silent, but the glow in his optical sensors shifted, reflecting a deep sense of awe. He stared at the human's back, a single thought echoing in his mind.
'If a God truly exists in this world... perhaps this is what He looks like.'
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