Elderlymon evolved

"Putrid Stench!" The instant the barrier shattered, Sukamon unleashed another special move. A terrifying odor rose from Sukamon's body. Mimi Tachikawa, who was close by, caught one whiff and collapsed, her legs giving out beneath her. This was no longer a smell she could ignore by distracting herself.

Elderlymon shuddered at the smell but managed to stay upright. Chimairamon, perched on Elderlymon's shoulder, fainted from the stench instead. Apparently, Chimairamon had not known about this special move of its partner's.

The Lobomon charging toward them naturally had no way to resist. Those at the front collapsed, while those in the middle still had enough strength to turn and flee. The ones farther back, beyond the stench's reach, stopped in terror at the sight of their companions.

As the aerial force, the Cyclomon suffered even more. Within moments, only a scattered few remained in the sky.

The DemiDevimon were the fewest in number but the smartest. They had all fled long before.

The Lobomon and the others were only Rookie Digimon, after all. They were not everyone's main concern.

Kangarumon howled. Its body remained unchanged, but a layer of white light appeared around it, unlike Elderlymon's barrier. Had Zheng Fan seen it, he probably would have exclaimed that it was a protective aura.

The white light expanded to the size of a room and began reshaping itself.

Kangarumon was not directing these changes, however. It clutched its head and rolled across the ground, seemingly in agony.

"Elderlymon, doesn't that look like War Bearmon?" Sukamon was the only one who could speak now. With Sukamon's special move blanketing the area, even Elderlymon dared not move recklessly. Still, Sukamon's voice finally brought Elderlymon back to attention. Elderlymon looked around and saw that Mimi was on the verge of death. A wave of the cane conjured a strange wind out of nowhere, clearing away ninety percent of the putrid stench. At last, Elderlymon dared to speak. The remaining ten percent clung to its source, Sukamon.

"It is War Bearmon. Kangarumon killed War Bearmon." The wrinkles on Elderlymon's forehead deepened. Elderlymon was not the sort of Digimon to stand by and wait for an enemy to finish transforming, but the few probing attacks just now had all become nourishment for Kangarumon. Some mysterious intuition told Elderlymon that every means of attack would be useless until Kangarumon finished transforming.

The War Bearmon formed from the shell of light was finally complete. Apart from the wrong color, it was almost an exact recreation of the War Bearmon Kangarumon had killed. Even the wound Kabuterimon had left on War Bearmon's right arm had reappeared.

"Kangarumon absorbed War Bearmon?" Elderlymon's sigh held boundless sorrow. After that grief came resolve. "Kangarumon, or rather, First-Generation Kangarumon, let us fight."

Kangarumon's body still looked the same. Only after the War Bearmon-shaped shell of light was complete did Kangarumon regain the ability to move. Kangarumon waved a hand, and War Bearmon raised its left hand and waved as well. Kangarumon then made a swatting motion toward a tree, and War Bearmon's huge paw snapped the trunk in one blow.

After testing this new power, Kangarumon began attacking Elderlymon. There were gains and losses: War Bearmon's strength was terrifying, but its movement speed was only about a third of what it had been. That was the only reason Elderlymon narrowly escaped Kangarumon's pursuit.

Gradually growing accustomed to controlling War Bearmon, Kangarumon ran toward Elderlymon in great strides. Yet controlling War Bearmon could never be as nimble as moving its own body, and it suddenly fell to the ground. War Bearmon reached down and grabbed at its foot, discovering Palmon's Poison Ivy.

Palmon had hidden behind a tree and used Poison Ivy to trip War Bearmon. Just as Palmon tried to sever the vines, it became clear that Palmon had been locked down. Kangarumon had locked onto the data energy within Palmon's body.

It was already known that Kangarumon's special move, Spear of Faith, could lock onto a Digimon's data energy, then pierce its Digicore directly, killing any Digimon in a single strike.

Of course, despite its tremendous power, the move had considerable flaws. Kangarumon had no energy attacks, and its physical attacks had limited range. If it could not lock the opponent's Digicore onto the surface of their body, or if the opponent had sturdy defenses, there was naturally nothing more it could do.

This flaw only improved after Kangarumon evolved into the Mega-level Altaismon. "Improved" was not quite the right word, either. Altaismon's special move, Cross Beacon, could imprint itself directly onto a Digicore. Though it had no destructive power whatsoever, everyone from Dumplingmon to Aegiomon could respond to the Cross Beacon and use its power to construct a channel through which to attack the Digicore. Altaismon itself did not enjoy that benefit.

Of course, even with the power of Cross Beacon, constructing that channel still required getting close, sometimes even making direct bodily contact.

Kangarumon's War Bearmon form seemed to retain this trait. It locked onto both the vines and Palmon, preventing Palmon from cutting the vines. Instead, War Bearmon grabbed them and hauled Palmon over with a single tug.

Palmon slammed into the ground and scrambled away on all fours. But with War Bearmon holding the vines, Palmon only managed to flee a short distance before being dragged back again.

"Lightning Bombardment!" Elderlymon returned after getting Mimi and the others to safety. A bolt of lightning blasted a dent into War Bearmon's body.

That pain was transmitted to Kangarumon as well. Kangarumon screamed, and Elderlymon's eyes lit up.

The pain also restored a little reason to Kangarumon's eyes. Looking at Palmon in War Bearmon's palm, Kangarumon hurled Palmon like a ball at Elderlymon. With War Bearmon's strength behind the throw, the speed was terrifying. Before Elderlymon could react, Palmon slammed squarely into Elderlymon and sent Elderlymon flying. Palmon's vines were extremely tough. Though they might not withstand a sharp edge, War Bearmon's pulling did not snap them. By the time Elderlymon tried to advance again, War Bearmon was wielding Palmon like a meteor hammer, its bulky figure rather reminiscent of Dong Zhuo.

Palmon remained conscious. There was no helping it: a Digimon that lost consciousness while its own data energy was locked down would hardly be a Digimon at all.

"Hm?" Kangarumon sensed something strange about Palmon. During several attacks, Palmon had subtly adjusted its position, leaving a few trees ahead undamaged. But Kangarumon was a master of close combat. Seeing through Palmon's odd behavior, it had War Bearmon step forward and swing a huge hand. The trees fell with a crash.

"Mimi!" Palmon and Elderlymon cried out at the same time.

"Hahahaha! So the Chosen Child is here." Perhaps delighted at finding Mimi, Kangarumon finally spoke after remaining silent from the start.

"Spear of Faith!" War Bearmon did not move. Kangarumon's left hand transformed into a sharp dagger and stabbed viciously toward Mimi.

"Mimi!" Elderlymon roared, suddenly displaying terrifying speed. Just as Spear of Faith was about to strike her, Elderlymon swept Mimi into an embrace and shoved her away. Kangarumon's Spear of Faith plunged into Elderlymon instead. Elderlymon screamed, feeling a crack form in its Digicore.

Still unconscious, Mimi had no idea of the danger she was facing. But the Digivice burst with golden light. One beam aimed at Palmon, another enveloped Elderlymon, and a third pierced Kangarumon's War Bearmon form like a peerless sword tempered in an iceberg, shining directly onto Kangarumon's true body.

"Palmon digivolved into Cactismon!"

Cactismon, Champion, Virus-type Digimon.

"Elderlymon digivolved into Mastermon!"

A majestic middle-aged man emerged from the light, with none of Elderlymon's former sickliness. Even Digimon like Leomon probably could not have looked more robust than Mastermon. Of course, Mastermon was an Ultimate, while Leomon was only a Champion. There was no comparison.

Mastermon, Ultimate, God Man-type, Vaccine-type. An Ultimate Digimon that evolved under the guidance of the Gate of the Digimon World, named for overseeing that Gate. As an Ancient Digimon, Mastermon possessed strength on par with a Mega. Before the Gate of the Digimon World, Mastermon could wield power surpassing that of an ordinary Mega Digimon. After the great battle at Infinite Mountain, Mastermon devolved into Elderlymon.

Overall combat ability and raw strength were two different things, after all.

"I never imagined it. My power has returned. My power has actually returned!" Mastermon laughed heartily.

In truth, after the Gate of the Digimon World was taken away back then, Mastermon had lost heart. Knowing there would be no way to contribute to future battles, Mastermon gave up the power the Gate had provided for that evolution to support research into the Digivice. Otherwise, Mastermon would never have devolved into Elderlymon.

Kangarumon did not evolve at all. Instead, under the Digivice's light, War Bearmon's body gradually shrank and faded. Finally, Mastermon's lightning strike shattered it.

The thunderous crash finally woke Mimi. The first thing she saw was a strange middle-aged man staring at her with a flushed face. She instinctively backed away two steps and sat right down on Sukamon.

"Mimi, Mimi, will you go on a date with me?" Sukamon hurried to seize the opportunity to express its sincerity. Mimi's face turned green. She cast a pleading look at Cactismon nearby.

"Mimi, this is Mastermon, Elderlymon's evolved form. Kangarumon was destroyed by the Digivice's light," Cactismon explained to her.

Mimi cautiously tossed a stone at Kangarumon. It struck Kangarumon's body, but Kangarumon did not react.

"Cactismon, didn't you say Kangarumon was destroyed? Why hasn't its body disappeared?" Mimi asked curiously.

"What?" Mastermon suddenly realized something and turned back to look. Kangarumon, which had been lying motionless on the ground moments before, had disappeared.

"Everyone, be careful! Don't let Kangarumon get close!" Elderlymon warned. Behind Elderlymon, a gray shadow was already lunging at Mimi.

"Spiky Bump Punch!" No matter how fast Kangarumon was or how powerful its attacks were, it still had no answer to its natural nemesis. Cactismon's Spiky Bump Punch was a true indiscriminate, full-area attack. Though its power was somewhat weak, allowing Mastermon to block the flying spikes with one hand and protect Sukamon at the same time, Kangarumon was completely kept outside the spikes' attack range.