The state of battle

"Tentomon, digivolve to... Kabuterimon!" Light blazed, and Kabuterimon appeared on the battlefield, sporting a jet-black helmet and an enormous body.

Having just crippled the formidable Butterflymon, the fallen Digimon were feeling rather pleased. The sudden appearance of a Champion Digimon drew all their attention.

"Super Mothmon Sorrow!" Butterflymon's weak voice rang out. The torn-off half of Butterflymon's wings instantly shattered, but the fragments did not disperse into the air. Under Butterflymon's direction, they precisely enveloped the fallen Digimon.

The fallen Digimon were not incapable of thought, but Digimon could not resist data energy. Unlike skilled human fighters, they had no internal breathing technique to shut out external poisons. Of course, if a poison could truly contaminate the spiritual qi of the land, even those human fighters' internal breathing would offer no protection.

Although the fallen Digimon made no sound, everyone saw them freeze for an instant. How could anyone let such an opportunity slip away?

Because the plan had been improvised, their concentrated attacks were a complete mess. Numemon, who tended to draw more hostility, came under simultaneous attacks from three to five Digimon, while few voluntarily attacked Scarecrowmon. One round of concentrated fire eliminated only thirty fallen Digimon. At Izzy Izumi's prompting, Kabuterimon used Mega Cannon to take out a Tarantulamon near the rear single-handedly.

Butterflymon retreated to the rear, and Saorimon hurried over to provide treatment. Saorimon was a Digimon who resembled a human girl. Apart from not crying or throwing tantrums, Saorimon's raw stats might have been a little higher than a human girl's, but not by much.

Naturally, despite being a Champion, Saorimon had practically no combat ability. Fighting was not Saorimon's specialty, either. As a healing Digimon, Saorimon could heal severely wounded Ultimate Digimon. Compared with Saorimon's healing techniques, Zheng Fan's method of condensing data energy into balls for the wounded to swallow was laborious, time-consuming, and not worth learning at all.

"Saorimon, take care of the front line first. Even without treatment, I won't die in this state. On the other hand, even if all my wounds heal, I still won't be able to rejoin the fight."

Saorimon looked around at everyone, reached an agreement with them, and decided to leave Butterflymon alone for now.

"Saorimon, ride on Kabuterimon's back. That will guarantee both safety and speed," Izzy Izumi said.

"Izzy Izumi, I told you that I am in command of everything now." Infinite coldness flashed through Oraclemon's eyes upon hearing him speak. "This is your punishment." Light flickered in Oraclemon's hand. Izzy Izumi felt a strange aura surround him. Only when he tried to speak did he realize that he could not make a sound.

Saorimon gave the poor human a curious look, then turned to return to the battlefield.

"Saorimon, wait. You should ride on Kabuterimon after all. Having Kabuterimon carry you around the battlefield will be faster," Oraclemon said.

Seeing Oraclemon adopt his suggestion, Izzy Izumi could not help growing excited. But Oraclemon's special move was nothing like the incomplete secret techniques of mortals. Having been forbidden to make a sound, Izzy Izumi could not produce even the slightest noise. He clapped hard, waved his arms, and stamped his feet, yet not a sound emerged.

Saorimon looked at Izzy Izumi again and said, "Izzy Izumi, thank you." His face flushed bright red at Saorimon's thanks, whether from strain or embarrassment.

Knowing Oraclemon would not allow him to cause any more trouble, Izzy Izumi quieted down.

Although the Digimon on both sides totaled fewer than three hundred, and casualties had left fewer than two hundred still active, their battlefield covered well over a thousand square meters. There was no helping it. Humanoid Digimon like Flamemon, whose builds resembled ordinary humans, were a minority. Hillmon was humanoid too, but stood over fifty meters tall. Grappledramon was only a little over ten meters tall, but probably measured more than fifty meters from head to tail. And although Jar​mon was human-sized, when using a special move, the earthen jar on Jarmon's head first grew as large as the enemy.

Of course, Digimon were not normally so enormous. Otherwise, there would have been no way to build villages or towns.

Enlarging their bodies was actually a Digimon's limit form. Most Champions could grasp this technique. But enlargement was not the only kind of limit form. The human race's Heaven-and-Earth Form, which enlarged the body to its limit, was one example. The elf race's Flower World, by contrast, was a fighting method that shrank the body. Legends of Flower Fairy and Little Fairy originated from this.

Of course, if strength, constitution, and such could be expressed as fixed numerical attributes, neither a gigantic body nor a miniature one changed those numbers. It was like Kangarumon's attacks, which struck the Digicore directly regardless of whether the target had thin or thick skin. Only armor could block them, being data energy with almost no connection to the Digicore.

Combat power, however, could not be calculated that way. One tonne of water was one cubic meter; most people could imagine that even if they had never seen it. But if someone were mad enough to blow that cubic meter of water into bubbles, it could conceivably cover an entire city. Of course, anyone capable of such madness was either a genius or a mighty expert. With the same cubic meter of water, a few adults working together could carry away the former. The latter would require ten, a hundred, or a thousand times as many people to maintain its balance.

Even as a Champion Digimon, Saorimon was far more efficient riding Kabuterimon's back across a battlefield stretching a thousand meters in every direction. The arrival of fresh reinforcements in the form of Kabuterimon certainly made a difference. But this was a battlefield, and by now everyone was utterly exhausted. Every Digimon had comrades at their back, however, and with Kabuterimon joining the fight, Kabuterimon went all out and eliminated three Digimon.

Before long, though, Kabuterimon began to tire as well. By then, Butterflymon, whom the fallen Digimon believed had withdrawn, had finished resting in the rear. Butterflymon's interference ultimately became the key to turning the battle around.

On a battlefield, conviction became especially important when the two sides were evenly matched. When everyone was full of energy, they brimmed with fighting spirit and remained alert. When everyone was exhausted, conviction alone sustained their will to fight. Although the fallen Digimon were a mindless bunch, they were not undead. They tired too. Once tired, they let their guard down. When everyone was tired, everyone grew lax.

Kabuterimon's arrival as a fresh combatant rekindled the fallen Digimon's fighting spirit. They knew the enemy was formidable, and they would also consider why the enemy was so formidable and why they themselves were exhausted. Thus, the conviction sustaining them was to drag Kabuterimon's stamina down to their own level.

They knew both themselves and their enemy. Once they had worn down Kabuterimon's stamina, nothing would remain that could kill them. With the threat gone, their vigilance vanished too.

Butterflymon's Butterfly Fragrance was powerful, but limited in quantity and short-lived. They could always endure until it passed. Yet although Butterflymon had left the battlefield, that final Mothmon Sorrow had been launched with half of Butterflymon's body as a sacrifice. After taking effect for an instant, it had lain dormant. After all, Mothmon Sorrow's energy came from Butterflymon's body. Although Butterflymon lacked the strength to control it, activating the hallucinatory energy within it was still possible. Of course, outside a battlefield, that data energy would have been nothing more than nourishment.

The instant Butterfly Fragrance activated, the fallen Digimon's movements suddenly stiffened, as comical as dancing zombies. But the fallen Digimon were far stronger than Jackson. Even fallen Digimon paid attention to their surroundings; those who bulldozed through everything were, after all, a minority. Once they lost control, however, damage to their surroundings became inevitable.

The instant Fallen Rockmon raised a foot, Butterflymon stripped away control of the body, and the enormous foot dropped from midair, gouging a pit in the ground. Fallen Rockmon regained control at once but stumbled. Guardromon, standing ahead, seized the opportunity and unleashed the Destruction Grenade Launcher. To the left, Fallen Numemon opened wide and spat foul-smelling sludge straight toward Guardromon. Kuwagamon jerked in the sky and, under Butterflymon's interference, fell at an angle toward the space between Fallen Numemon and Guardromon. The three Fallen Scarecrowmon at the rear immediately shot two slender stalks of straw from their bodies, deftly wrapping them around one of Kuwagamon's arm pincers. Another Fallen Rockmon grabbed the straw rope and gave it a hard tug, shifting Fallen Kuwagamon's fall by a few degrees.

Underground, Drillmon, four Fallen Tarantulamon, Tundra Wolfmon, Flamemon, and others were locked in fierce combat. Two Fallen Numemon blocked the main passage, supporting the Fallen Tarantulamon from time to time. Although Fallen Tarantulamon could not dig tunnels, cramped terrain was their home ground.

Suddenly, Drillmon, who had somehow contacted Oraclemon, changed the direction of the tunneling. The Fallen Tarantulamon and Fallen Numemon did everything they could to intercept Drillmon. The underground world shook violently, and a black figure appeared in the tunnels already ravaged by the fierce fighting. It was Fallen Kuwagamon, who had evolved from Tentomon through an infusion. Fallen Kuwagamon's landing separated the Fallen Tarantulamon from the Fallen Numemon. Inside, Tundra Wolfmon and the other Digimon whose abilities countered Tarantulamon had already gathered.

Aboveground, Fallen Rockmon's body slammed into the earth, sending countless grains of sand and stones flying. Fragile fighters such as Fallen Scarecrowmon and Sweetpotatomon hurried out of the way, while Grappledramon, Fallen Rockmon, and others charged forward at full speed, preparing both to rescue their allies and to force a kill.

The Fallen Tarantulamon fighting ArmorKabuterimon twitched as Butterflymon activated Butterfly Fragrance again. Fallen Rockmon and Fallen Scarecrowmon rushed forward, only to discover that ArmorKabuterimon was targeting something else. The scales on ArmorKabuterimon's tail unfolded one by one, just like a modified model from the Metal Empire. In an instant, the tail extended by more than ten meters, its hammer blow aimed at the Fallen Rockmon lying on the ground.

Three Fallen Kuwagamon, their entire bodies gleaming black, abandoned their opponents and charged at ArmorKabuterimon. Flamemon hurled a large fireball from afar, forcing one Fallen Kuwagamon away. Oraclemon used the special move Gaze, and Butterflymon activated Butterfly Fragrance, each holding off another Fallen Kuwagamon. ArmorKabuterimon's tail hammer struck Fallen Rockmon squarely. With a howl of agony, Fallen Rockmon's body instantly shattered and reverted to data energy.