Now You're Calling Yourself King?

"Huh? Guys, what happened?"

Confusion flickered across Tai's face at the sight. In all his life, he had never seen anyone voluntarily devolve before a battle even started.

"I can't use my power!"

Agumon felt the state of his body and looked at Tai with a miserable expression.

Crackle! Crackle!

Outside, Etemon's attacks kept coming.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Izzy looked anxiously at Etemon, who was still wreaking havoc outside.

"We can't fight Etemon as we are. We have to evolve further!" After being suppressed by Etemon's Love Beam earlier, Gabumon understood perfectly well that ordinary Champion Digimon weren't even fit to face Etemon head-on.

Against Champion Digimon weaker than Etemon, that Love Beam was simply unbeatable.

"If Garurumon evolved further..."

At that point, Matt suddenly seemed to remember something. He turned and looked around, his gaze finally settling on Zhou Zhu, who had quietly retreated behind the others.

With that reminder from Matt, the children realized that their group already had a Perfect Digimon ready to go...

"Zhou Zhu, why are you hiding back here without saying anything?" Seeing Zhou Zhu and Wisemon silently watching from the back, Tai looked utterly exasperated.

He had been so focused on Agumon at this critical moment that he had actually forgotten about their strongest ally.

"You were deliberately watching us make fools of ourselves, weren't you?" Seeing Zhou Zhu's calm expression, Matt immediately flared with anger.

Why did a guy who'd lucked out like this get to have a Perfect Digimon? He was even hiding off to the side and watching at a time like this. He didn't have an ounce of team spirit. Tai really should have listened to me back then and left this guy alone.

"Oh? Going to indulge your urge to fight your own side again, kid? Etemon's still rampaging outside, you know. Are you sure you should be giving me attitude instead of trying to get on my good side? Believe it or not, I could throw you straight to Etemon right now. You really have no manners. Is this how you ask someone for help?"

Zhou Zhu didn't show much anger at Matt, who seemed ready to pick a fight with him anytime, anywhere. Viewed from another angle, it was actually rather amusing. He was just an idiot who gave Zhou Zhu a legitimate excuse to vent whenever he pleased.

Like right now. Wouldn't beating him up be just the thing to help me digest my food?

Thump!

Zhou Zhu held back a great deal as he punched, lest Matt fail to feel any pain and simply fall asleep again.

Seriously, how could someone his age sleep so easily...?

Smack!

"Do you know who's in control now?"

Thump! Thump! Thump!

"Matt!" Gabumon watched his partner take a one-sided beating, worry written all over his face. He wanted to help, but Wisemon's towering figure blocked his way.

"Big brother..."

Watching his own brother get beaten up, T.K. could only turn his head away. He really couldn't understand deliberately provoking someone like this. Last time had already proven that Matt couldn't beat Zhou Zhu, so why hadn't his brother learned anything?

"Stop hitting him! Stop!"

Sora immediately stepped forward to break up the fight.

"Get out of the way. What's it got to do with you? Why didn't you say anything when this idiot was provoking me? Keep making trouble and you'll get beaten up too. Sure, I don't hit girls, but if Wisemon does it, that's out of my hands."

Shaking off Sora, who was clearly taking sides, Zhou Zhu pointed at Wisemon beside him and spoke with a hint of menace.

At the same time, Wisemon obligingly raised a fist.

"You jerk!"

At Zhou Zhu's words, Sora froze on the spot!

"Tai, hurry up and stop him!"

Knowing that Tai and Zhou Zhu were on fairly good terms, and seeing that trying to intervene again might get her hit, Sora immediately switched to an indirect approach.

"Uh, the problem is, I can't beat Zhou Zhu either." Faced with Sora's request, Tai could only admit he couldn't help.

Even setting aside whether he could beat Zhou Zhu, he wouldn't want to get involved if he could.

After all, their safety now depended on Zhou Zhu and Wisemon. Besides, his last fight with that stuck-up Matt had ended without a winner, so this was a perfect chance to let Zhou Zhu settle the score for him.

"Izzy..."

Seeing that Tai had no intention of intervening, Sora turned her gaze to Izzy.

"..."

Under Sora's gaze, Izzy was struck completely speechless. With his build, if he rushed in, Zhou Zhu could beat him with one hand.

"Joe..."

Seeing Izzy remain silent, Sora turned to Joe. After all, he was the oldest among them.

"Zhou Zhu, stop for now. Dealing with Etemon is the most important thing right now. If we let him keep destroying things, the Koromon village will be gone, and we won't even have anywhere to stay tonight."

Having spent so much time with Zhou Zhu, Joe had gained a rough understanding of his personality. He was the sort who responded to a gentle approach, not force. If Joe rushed straight in to help Matt, he would probably get beaten down along with him.

"Hm? That's true. We finally found somewhere to stay. We can't let Etemon wreck it." Only after hearing Joe's suggestion did Zhou Zhu let go of Matt, whose face was already bruised and swollen, looking thoroughly refreshed.

"Wisemon, Etemon's all yours!"

On the surface, Zhou Zhu was asking Wisemon to act. In reality, he had already secretly shifted most of his attention into Wisemon.

After all, they were facing a Perfect Digimon like Etemon, and the gap between the two wasn't very large. He would have to give it his all.

"Understood!"

Whoosh! As the word fell, Wisemon vanished from the cave.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Come on out, brats! King Etemon has already spotted you!" Etemon's thunderous roar mingled with the explosions of his indiscriminate destruction.

"Storm Flame!"

BOOM!

Caught completely off guard while singing and dancing, Etemon was knocked straight to the ground by Wisemon's sudden attack!

"Heh. You're just a Perfect Digimon, and now you're calling yourself king?"

Watching Etemon scramble awkwardly to his feet, Wisemon had no intention of pressing the advantage. After all, the only purpose of fighting this time was to get accustomed to a Perfect Digimon's combat methods and techniques.

If I killed Etemon this easily and the main cast couldn't grow stronger afterward, would I have to fight Apocalymon myself?