The Crest of Friendship

Yukidarumon was suffering, but Leomon and the others were in even greater pain. To break through the ice, Leomon had all but burned through his own origin to wear down Yukidarumon's defenses. At the very least, a lengthy recovery was unavoidable. Even Zheng Fan could not replenish what Leomon had lost directly.

Garurumon lowered his head in frustration, looking at first glance like a yak grazing. Garurumon was proud. Proud beings, whether humans, Digimon, or anything else, would never allow themselves to make mistakes. Yet even pride had fundamentally different roots. Those whose pride sprang from insecurity took all the blame upon themselves, while those whose pride sprang from arrogance pushed it onto others.

Whether Garurumon was insecure was uncertain, but Gabumon most certainly was. Generally, Digimon could cast aside their former selves after digivolving, even more thoroughly than humans could. Digivolution played a part in that transformation. It was like in Buzhou: someone who broke through to spirit level at thirty could naturally feel proud, but someone who only reached spirit level at a hundred could also accept praise without embarrassment. Still, that transformation required a period of adjustment.

The Digivice had given Gabumon the opportunity to digivolve into Garurumon. But because that digivolution came from the Digivice, Garurumon was still Gabumon at heart. His actions therefore still bore traces of Gabumon-a pride born of insecurity.

"Garurumon, I told you not to hold back. Have you forgotten?" Seeing Garurumon's lowered head, Leomon understood his guilt. He had never blamed Garurumon. After all, he had not counted on Garurumon's fighting strength in the first place.

"Leomon, I'm sorry." With those words, Garurumon lunged at Yukidarumon.

Although Yukidarumon had sustained various injuries, ice against ice did little to diminish his fighting strength. Energy consumption was the greater problem. Despite his plump appearance, Yukidarumon was quite agile on the snow. He slid two body lengths backward, evading Garurumon's pounce, then swung an Absolute Zero Punch into Garurumon's mouth.

Garurumon had considerable resistance to cold. Although Yukidarumon's Absolute Zero Punch struck him, only his mouth froze over. Earlier, Leomon's entire lower body had been encased in ice, leaving him able to do nothing but act as a cannon emplacement with his Beast King Fist.

Garurumon had not been badly injured, but the blow stunned him. He stood rooted to the spot, watching as Yukidarumon's second punch came hurtling toward him.

Matt suddenly sprang out of hiding and shouted, "Garurumon, watch out!" Hearing Matt's voice, Garurumon snapped out of his daze just in time and rolled across the ground to dodge Yukidarumon's fist.

Yukidarumon turned toward the source of the voice. Whoa, what a huge lump! He's even fatter than me!

Indeed, Matt was now a size larger than Yukidarumon. It was simply too cold. Gabumon and Leomon were fine, but Matt could barely walk. What could they do? Leomon had gone out of his way to find some strange materials and wrap Matt tightly from head to toe. Unfortunately, the materials provided very little insulation, so they kept adding layers. Originally, Matt had been spherical. Later, after the Night Dawn Sword helped exercise his body passively and he had some time to adjust, they removed several layers. Only then had he slimmed down to merely a size larger than Yukidarumon.

Had Matt stayed hidden, Yukidarumon's current intelligence would never have allowed him to discover Matt. He was simply too weak. The oriole waiting behind the mantis and the fisherman profiting from the snipe and clam's struggle had one thing in common: they possessed enough strength to crush their prey. It was not impossible for someone dozens of tiers weaker to reap the rewards, and against hundreds or thousands of cautionary examples, that one successful figure truly stood out.

But Matt had come out, and he was clearly on Garurumon and Leomon's side. That severely tested Yukidarumon's nerves.

"Absolute Zero Punch!" White light shot from Yukidarumon's fist, rushing straight at Matt with a biting chill.

"Matt!" Seeing this, Garurumon felt even guiltier. His attacks grew more ferocious, as though he no longer cared whether he lived or died.

With a hum, the Night Dawn Sword flew out from behind Matt and slashed into the cold blast of the Absolute Zero Punch. The sword did not freeze, nor did anything melt or explode. Before the white light even touched its edge, it split in two on its own. The freezing blast swept past either side of Matt and struck the ground behind him, raising two pillars of ice as tall as a person.

Seeing the Night Dawn Sword cut through his finishing move so easily seemed to provoke Yukidarumon. Ignoring Garurumon and Leomon behind him, he unleashed punch after full-powered punch at the sword.

The Night Dawn Sword hovered in the air with its edge facing forward. At first, it remained perfectly steady, but after cutting through four punches in succession, its blade began to vibrate. Rings of golden light radiated from the Sword Tassel to steady it, but after a dozen or so punches, even Matt could see the blade trembling with his naked eyes.

Ultimately, no matter how formidable the Night Dawn Sword was, it was still a newborn spirit. Zheng Fan had found a way to substitute data energy for Heaven-and-Earth Spiritual Qi, but the sword could not do the same. It was only holding out thanks to the Holy Ring. Moreover, although its original materials were excellent, they had not reached supreme grade. The Heavenly Artifact Race was immensely powerful, but its members were constrained by their first master's abilities. From the moment the Night Dawn Sword gave birth to a spirit, its materials could effectively be disregarded. If Zheng Fan had not broken through the mortal realm, then even a Night Dawn Sword made from stardust sand and void mud would have been nothing more than a mortal weapon. If Zheng Fan died now, anyone who came after him-or the sword itself-would need to prepare materials at least two grades above its own to upgrade it to a spirit weapon. Conversely, as long as Zheng Fan remained alive, the Night Dawn Sword would naturally become a spirit weapon when he broke through to spirit level, and an immortal weapon when he broke through to immortal level. It would not matter even if its original materials were iron oxide and copper chloride.

Yukidarumon hammered the Night Dawn Sword with punch after punch, while Leomon and Garurumon attacked the hard ice on his back with all their strength. Garurumon breathed flames from his mouth, and Leomon battered the ice with his Beast King Fist. Whenever Garurumon paused to catch his breath, Leomon drew Man Soul and hacked at it again and again. Yet their efforts had little effect. Given the thickness of the ice, breaking it would take the force of more than a dozen punches, but the Night Dawn Sword clearly could not withstand even ten more.

The Night Dawn Sword trembled more and more violently, yet it remained resolutely before Matt. In the brief gaps between attacks, they seemed to see cracks spreading across its blade. But when they looked closely, its cold gleam remained undiminished.

Even if Leomon had not yet noticed, Garurumon could already tell the Night Dawn Sword's condition from Matt's reaction. Perhaps out of guilt, during his next pause to rest, Garurumon hurled himself at Yukidarumon and pinned his limbs down with all his strength.

"Garurumon, what are you doing?" Because of Garurumon's sudden move, Leomon's Beast King Fist struck him instead, leaving scorched black marks on his blue-and-white fur as orange light rippled around him.

"Leomon, the Night Dawn Sword can't hold on any longer. This is the only way I have left. It doesn't matter even if I die."

"Garurumon, what nonsense are you talking about? Do you have any idea how important the Chosen Children and the chosen Digimon are to the Digimon World?" Leomon roared.

"Leomon, is it because I'm a chosen Digimon?" Garurumon's voice was thick with disappointment and despair. Even Matt could not help questioning the meaning of his own existence.

With his limbs pressed tightly against Yukidarumon, Garurumon's legs had already begun to freeze. Although he was a Digimon with considerable cold resistance, he could never withstand damage like this.

"Garurumon, you're overthinking this. As chosen Digimon, each of you has something that makes you unique. Why do I protect you? Because I want to protect the Digimon World. The Digimon World cannot do without you." It was probably hard to imagine Leomon saying so much, let alone speaking so emotionally.

"Really? Because I'm unique?" As he spoke, Yukidarumon secretly exerted his strength. The ice rapidly spread upward, and Garurumon's body was on the verge of being completely frozen.

"Garurumon, you're unique. You're the Gabumon who's always protected me!" Matt hurled the only metal object he had on him at Yukidarumon.

Through his fading vision, Garurumon saw that piece of metal. It was Matt's beloved harmonica.

Before the symbol of the Crest representing friendship could light up, the Night Dawn Sword's Holy Ring absorbed it. A strand of sword qi broke away from the blade and easily pierced the ice that Leomon and Garurumon had spent so long trying to destroy. Or rather, it had not pierced the ice at all, because the Night Dawn Sword had left the ice undamaged.

"Aaargh!" Yukidarumon screamed, and a glimmer of white appeared in his two Pure Black eyes. "Leomon, Garurumon, I'm sorry." As he spoke, his tightly clenched fists opened, and the ice covering Garurumon slowly receded.

Leomon watched Yukidarumon in confusion. Yukidarumon slowly stood up, and the ice on his back crashed to the ground, throwing up a great cloud of snow. The Black Gear came free with ease.

On the Black Gear, now free of ice, was a tiny hole-so small that an ordinary person could not see it at all. Yet that very hole had passed through the Black Gear's core program, allowing them to obtain their only nearly intact Black Gear.

The Night Dawn Sword had fallen completely silent.

"Leomon, Gabumon, Matt, I'm very sorry for causing you all so much trouble," Yukidarumon said earnestly. "The Black Gear controlled me and made me patrol this area to protect a Black Gear inside from being destroyed. I'll take you there."

"Matt, thank you." Unimon, who had disappeared somewhere, suddenly sprang out of the snow and landed in Matt's arms, handing him the harmonica.