Chapter 204: Borrowing It for a Bit
"Little guy, you really possess an incredible battle instinct." The towering centaur knight tilted his head, his tone laced with a strange mix of amusement and genuine curiosity. "Are you truly just a human child? You aren't some ancient monster wearing a child's skin, are you?"
Kentaurosmon's words sounded like lighthearted teasing, but they carried a heavy undercurrent of praise. Mizuki, however, offered no outward emotional reaction. His expression remained perfectly neutral, masking the frantic racing of his heart. Only he knew just how terrifyingly close they had come to total annihilation in those last few seconds.
If Dynasmon had been even a fraction of a second slower in his arrival. If the wyvern knight had buckled under Omnimon's suffocating pressure. If Mizuki himself had failed to predict and intercept Kentaurosmon's blinding speed... It might have looked to the outside world as though every movement was part of a flawless, overarching master plan. In reality, it was a fragile house of cards built on sheer luck and desperate gambles. He wasn't some tactical genius with peerless instincts; he was just a lunatic pushing all his chips onto the table and praying the dice rolled in his favor. There was absolutely nothing to celebrate here.
Mizuki drew in a slow, steadying breath, forcing the adrenaline spikes in his chest to settle. He locked his gaze on the enemies ahead. "Everyone, keep your guard up. Now is not the time to relax." He shifted his stance, his voice dropping to a serious register. "Omnimon's strength far exceeds our initial estimates. And that's not even factoring in the highly troublesome presence of Kentaurosmon lurking on the sidelines."
Hearing his name dropped so casually, Kentaurosmon blinked, pointing a heavily armored finger at his own chest. 'Huh? Me?'
Completely ignoring the bewildered centaur knight, Mizuki lowered his center of gravity and raised his hands into a defensive combat posture. "Because of that, every single move we make from this point forward must be calculated and utterly cautious. One mistake will be fatal."
"I understand, Your Excellency Mizuki." Dynasmon lowered his head slightly, his massive gauntlets clenching so tightly that the metallic joints groaned. Reflecting on the previous clash, a wave of shame washed over the proud knight. The only reason they had fallen into such a desperate predicament was his own hot-headed recklessness. If Mizuki had not stepped in with his quick wits to break the deadlock, the outcome would have been disastrous. He had allowed himself to be blinded by the intoxicating thrill of a long-lost, beautiful battle. He needed to lock down his surging emotions and regain his absolute focus.
"Oho... that guy Dynasmon. The aura around his body has completely shifted." Across the shattered battlefield, Kentaurosmon trotted leisurely out of the settling dust clouds, returning to Omnimon's side. His six legs moved with an eerie, silent grace. Observing the two Digimon and the human boy standing in defiance, Kentaurosmon let out a melodic, lilting chuckle. "It has been a very long time since I have seen Dynasmon so full of terrifying drive. It is quite scary, isn't it?"
He glanced sideways at his stoic companion. "Three against two, Omnimon. We are actually at a numerical disadvantage here."
Omnimon remained perfectly still, the tattered white cape billowing behind him in the harsh wind. He pondered the centaur's words for a brief moment before his deep, resonant voice cut through the air. "If you do not wish to fight, then stand aside, Kentaurosmon."
Without waiting for a response, Omnimon kicked off the ground. The earth shattered beneath his boots as he launched himself forward, closing the distance toward Dynasmon and the others with the speed of a fired artillery shell.
Kentaurosmon's eyes widened beneath his visor. He let out a dramatic, exaggerated sigh and shrugged his armored shoulders. "Well, if you insist." In a blur of golden light, he galloped forward, following closely in Omnimon's devastating wake.
'It is true that I hold no real desire to fight,'Kentaurosmon mused internally as the wind whipped past his face.'But more than that, I truly do not want to see old acquaintances leaving this world one after another.'
If all his former comrades perished in this nonsensical, fractured world, he wouldn't even have anyone left to share a casual conversation with. Living a solitary life sounded pleasant in theory, but stretching that isolation across eternity was a deeply depressing prospect.
The distance between the two factions vanished in the blink of an eye. Dynasmon's imposing, draconic figure materialized directly in Kentaurosmon's path, cutting off his advance. A violent, ear-piercing hum of colliding energies erupted as the two Royal Knights became fiercely entangled once more.
Looking at the familiar, furious face of his former companion locked in combat just inches away, Kentaurosmon couldn't suppress a light, breathless laugh. A person would eventually get tired of endless solitude, wouldn't they?
While the battle raging on the ground below was a high-stakes chess match of tactical skill and spatial awareness, the slaughter unfolding in the sky was something entirely different. It was a pure, unadulterated clash of monstrous raw stats.
High above the clouds, Belle found herself pushed to the absolute limit. Examon, the Dragon Emperor, fought with a terrifying philosophy of absolute brute force over finesse. His colossal wings blotted out the sun, and his sweeping strikes tore the very atmosphere apart. After surviving several rounds of perilously close dodges that nearly clipped her wings, Belle realized she needed to drastically alter her combat strategy.
Examon's wide-range area attacks were simply too massive. With every swing of his gigantic lance, her windows for evasion shrank. Continuing to dance on these razor-thin piano wires would only end with her being swatted out of the sky. Rather than playing a losing game of evasion, it would be far better to plant her feet and face the behemoth head-on.
After all, wasn't this just a contest of raw data and stats?
A fierce, unyielding grin spread across Belle's face. It wasn't as if she lacked the firepower to match him. He had absolutely no right to look down on her.
As a blinding, apocalyptic radiance began to bloom at the tip of the Dragon Emperor's colossal lance, a fiercely scorching flame ignited simultaneously at the muzzle of Belle's custom handguns.
[Pendragon's Glory!]
[Fly Bullet: Modified: Terra Force!]
Having personally witnessed the impressive, brute-force devastation unleashed by WarGreymon X in their previous encounters, Belle decisively chose to borrow that exact same destructive principle. Who ever made the rule that a gun muzzle could only fire standard bullets?
She pulled the triggers. Massive, super-dense spheres of atmospheric energy erupted from her barrels, hurtling forward to collide violently with the Dragon Emperor's ultimate attack. Terrifying shockwaves of pure energy detonated across the high altitude, painting the sky in blinding flashes of crimson and gold. The sheer kinetic force of the entanglement whipped the surrounding clouds into a frenzied, roaring vortex, distorting the heavens like a violently surging ocean storm.
"It is not over yet!" Belle shouted over the deafening roar of the explosion. Seeing that her modified attack had failed to gain the upper hand against the Royal Knight's overwhelming power, she spun her weapons. A complex, glowing magic circle instantly sketched itself into the air directly in front of her gun muzzles.
In the very next second, a blindingly familiar beam of holy purification erupted from the center of the sigil.
[Final Elysion!]
Examon's massive crimson eyes narrowed in sheer confusion. '...?'
Was that not Gallantmon's ultimate technique? The realization struck the Dragon Emperor like a physical blow. Just as the rumors had suggested, this anomalous BeelStarmon possessed some sort of terrifying innate ability to perfectly copy the ultimate moves of other high-ranking Digimon.
While Final Elysion was undeniably an extremely powerful and destructive technique, its true effectiveness ultimately depended on the one wielding it. Facing the sweeping, intense beam of purification light, the Dragon Emperor let out a low scoff. He raised his colossal, razor-sharp claws, fully prepared to tear the beam apart with his bare hands.
However, just as he was about to launch his counterattack, a small, golden-armored figure suddenly blurred into his field of vision.
"To dare use the sacred ultimate move of a Royal Knight so casually!?" a furious voice roared across the sky. "You are nothing but a filthy Demon Man type Digimon! Do not get too ahead of yourself!"
Accompanied by this enraged shout, the golden figure threw himself directly into the path of the menacing Final Elysion. The devastating purification beam slammed head-on into his armored body, washing over him in a blinding torrent of light—yet he did not budge a single inch.
"This guy... is Magnamon?" Belle muttered, lowering her smoking guns slightly.
She wasn't particularly surprised by the fact that the golden knight had managed to tank her stolen ultimate attack without sustaining any visible damage. After all, she had already witnessed the absurd, near-impenetrable defensive strength of that golden tortoise shell he wore.
Before Belle could fully snap out of her momentary pause, Magnamon, still glowing from the residual energy of the blocked attack, immediately turned and shouted orders to the colossal dragon behind him.
"Examon! Focus entirely on your offensive strikes!" Magnamon commanded, his voice ringing with absolute authority. "Leave all the defense to me!"
Examon merely cast a heavy, sidelong glance at the smaller knight. He didn't offer a single word of verbal confirmation. Yet, despite the silence, Magnamon knew very well that the Dragon Emperor had accepted his tactical proposal.
The reason for Examon's suffocating silence was simple. The colossal dragon still had not walked out of the dark, haunting shadow of having personally executed his own colleague back during the initial schism.
Gankoomon... and the rest of those foolish rebels.
Magnamon scoffed internally. He genuinely could not understand what there was to feel so guilty about. They were traitors to Yggdrasil's will; executing rebels was simply their sacred duty. However, since they were currently in the middle of a high-stakes battlefield, Magnamon forcibly swallowed his rising displeasure and focused on the enemy ahead.
He braced his golden armor, preparing to intercept the next barrage of incoming fire aimed at Examon. But just as he shifted his stance, a voice—as pure, sweet, and cute as an innocent child's—suddenly drifted directly into Magnamon's ears.
Yet, to the golden Royal Knight, that sweet tone was absolutely no different from the chilling whisper of a devil dragging him into the abyss.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Your defensive power really is quite spectacular, isn't it?" the voice giggled with a terrifyingly playful lilt. "Since that is the case, why don't you let me borrow it for a little bit?"
[Crystal Revolution!]
Magnamon's eyes shrank to pinpricks. "!!!"
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