Zheng Fan did not use the Night Dawn Sword. Instead, he used only the Finger Sword Art, pointing at the Black Gears filling the sky and destroying them one by one.
"Sunshine Flame!" Mastermon's entire body radiated dazzling golden light, so bright that no one could keep their eyes open. Everyone felt warm as the light shone over them, but the Black Gears burst into golden fireballs with a hiss. Fueled by the Black Gears, those golden fireballs kept burning, releasing boundless heat and igniting even more Black Gears before their fuel was consumed.
"Agumon, digivolve to Greymon! Super Flame!"
"Gabumon, digivolve to Garurumon! Fox Fire!"
"Tentomon, digivolve to Kabuterimon! Mega Cannon!"
"Biyomon, digivolve to Birdramon! Meteor Wing!"
"Gomamon, digivolve to Ikkakumon! Harpoon Vulcan!"
Although Zheng Fan and Mastermon's words had been heated, there had also been plenty of embellishment mixed in. Izzy Izumi and Sora Takenouchi had realized that the two were putting on an act, while Tai and Matt had understood Zheng Fan's expression. Only Mimi Tachikawa and T.K. Takaishi had truly believed they were arguing.
"Aah!" A scream came from behind the endless Black Gears. "Zheng Fan, you damned human! Why must you stand in my way?" Knowing he had been exposed, Lost Satanmon stopped pretending.
Lost Satanmon was also a humanoid Digimon, though his human form was little more than a framework. His lower body seemed to be clad in tight trousers, with a belt around his waist-all human attire-but his upper body consisted only of bones and muscles. A blood-red angel emblem sat in the center of his chest, surrounded by equally blood-red ribs. His head was entirely a skull, with a demon emblem on its forehead. Behind the skull were two pairs of small structures shaped like demon wings, apparently his ears. The demon wings on his back, however, looked immensely powerful at a glance. Lost Satanmon held a wooden-handled scythe, the same weapon he had swung earlier to shatter Mastermon's special move, Sunshine Flame.
"Lost Satanmon, congratulations on digivolving and becoming stronger." Zheng Fan stepped forward and greeted him with a clasped-fist salute. Had he not followed in Devimon's footsteps earlier, Zheng Fan could only have waited silently for death in the Void.
"Zheng Fan, I've thought this over again and again, but I still don't understand. After visiting that world outside, why do you still oppose us? Why are you even willing to pay a price for it?" Lost Satanmon demanded.
"Lost Satanmon, on that subject, I believe no one in the entire Digimon World understands the Void better than I do. But I'm fighting you simply because your side attacked first," Zheng Fan replied.
"Because we attacked first?" Lost Satanmon considered this, understood Zheng Fan's meaning, and smiled. "I'm very satisfied with that answer. Then would you be willing to hear my explanation? Zheng Fan, Mastermon, the Chosen Children, and their Digimon."
Mastermon was somewhat stunned by Lost Satanmon's words. In truth, everyone knew that their opponents were genuinely intelligent Digimon. Yet the two sides had always fought on sight. As far as Mastermon knew, from countless ages ago until the present, the Digimon on either side had never truly communicated.
Zheng Fan fell silent. This was a matter for the Digimon World; he could not make the decision on the Digimon's behalf. What he feared even more was that Lost Satanmon might weaken his resolve.
"What do you want to tell us?" After a moment of silence, Mastermon broke the stillness.
"We, the dark Digimon, came from another Digimon World," Lost Satanmon said.
"Before we came into conflict with this world's Digimon, we had always been quietly strengthening ourselves." "So you could conquer the Digimon World in one fell swoop?" Izzy Izumi shouted at Lost Satanmon.
Lost Satanmon ignored Izzy Izumi and said, "We have been preparing to face a crisis all along."
"Are you saying that you were the losing side in the war in your world?" Mastermon asked.
At Mastermon's words, fury blazed across Lost Satanmon's brow. In the end, however, he restrained himself and said hoarsely, "I was born after that. Our leaders never told us the details of that war."
"I have a question," Zheng Fan interjected. "I also returned here from the Void. I didn't see any other planes or worlds along the way. How can you prove that you came from another Digimon World?"
Lost Satanmon countered, "I've also reached that infinitely deep place. Do you think there would be any point in lying to you about this?" Zheng Fan nodded.
"What good does telling us all this do? I know you're stalling for time!" Matt shouted. He spoke very quickly, probably hoping to get his thoughts across to Zheng Fan before Lost Satanmon could react. But no one paid much attention to his efforts.
"One last question. How many leaders do you have?" Mastermon stared fixedly into Lost Satanmon's eyes. His gaze was extraordinarily compelling. Lost Satanmon felt that unless he remained silent, he would be unable to lie. So he could only stare back at Mastermon.
In the midst of this stalemate, everyone attacked. Holding the barely usable Night Dawn Sword, Zheng Fan charged at Lost Satanmon first. Mastermon pressed his palms together, and a visible yet indescribable halo spread outward from his body. Lost Satanmon swung his staff, catching Zheng Fan's sword with its scythe blade, while the three claws gripping an orb at its base spread into something resembling a black hole. Endless Black Gears surged toward it.
Although the Black Gears were numerous, they shattered one after another as they passed through the halo Mastermon had created. Fewer than one in a thousand survived. Even so, Zheng Fan could feel Lost Satanmon's strength increasing enormously with every clash of their weapons. At first, they had traded blows evenly; now, Zheng Fan needed three to five moves of the Force-Redirecting Sword Technique to withstand even a casual attack from Lost Satanmon.
"You lost focus. Azure Dragon Path, Lightning Sword!" Purple threads crawled over the Night Dawn Sword. In their next clash, all that purple lightning surged into Lost Satanmon, actually scorching the Ultimate Digimon's skin black.
Unfortunately, Lost Satanmon paid no heed to Zheng Fan's attack. "Death Claw!" His left arm lengthened in an instant, reaching toward Mastermon nearby. Zheng Fan brought his sword back around and slashed the arm, only for a ripple to run through it and bounce the Night Dawn Sword away.
"Garuru Crystal Sword!"
"Palmon, digivolve to Cactismon!"
The Garuru Crystal Sword successfully encased the Death Claw in ice, and Cactismon leaped forward and wrapped himself around it. The arm that even the Night Dawn Sword could not cut was riddled with holes by Cactismon's spines.
"Tyrannical Dragon Claw!" Greymon struck with all his strength, slamming his arm into the elbow joint. Lost Satanmon, who was facing off against Zheng Fan, shuddered from head to toe, and his aura diminished by a full tenth.
"Meteor Wing!"
"Harpoon Vulcan!"
"Mega Cannon!"
Struck once again by the special moves of three Champion Digimon, Lost Satanmon drew a harsh, gasping breath.
"One Sword Slashes the Heavenly Dipper!" Zheng Fan slashed Lost Satanmon's shoulder again. This time, he successfully severed the arm.
Upon discovering that his arm had been severed, Lost Satanmon said nothing. He planted his staff in the ground, picked up his severed left arm with his right hand, and swung it at everyone. Cactismon was flung away immediately.
"Everyone, get out of the way!" Tai and Matt each dragged two people away, and Matt also scooped up T.K. Takaishi and ran. They just managed to escape behind a massive rock in time. Cactismon's body skidded across the ground, whipping up a strong gust. There was no telling what would have happened if they had been any slower.
"Izzy Izumi, the number of Black Gears is increasing!" Zheng Fan shouted. "Hurry and find out where they're coming from!" Hearing him, Izzy Izumi rapidly ran calculations on his laptop. Watching the data scroll past, Joe Kido shouted, "Below the mountain! The Black Gears are coming from below Infinite Mountain! A lot of Digimon have died down there. It's Leomon!"
"Birdramon, go down the mountain and stop Leomon!" Sora Takenouchi shouted.
"Don't go!" Mastermon shouted. "We just need to attack with everything we have and destroy Lost Satanmon!" As he spoke, Mastermon joined the battle as well. His aura weakened by a full fifth, but the halo grew dramatically stronger. In an instant, fewer than one in ten thousand Black Gears made it through.
"No! We have to stop Leomon!" Izzy Izumi shouted after finishing his calculations. Unfortunately, everyone was locked in a desperate battle. Even if they heard him, they had no strength to spare.
Tai and Joe Kido exchanged a glance. "Izzy Izumi, we'll go stop Leomon," Tai said. With that, he bounded away, covering a considerable distance in a few leaps.
Seeing Tai leave, Mastermon froze and nearly got caught by the Death Claw. "Zheng Fan, hurry and stop those children! They're the hope of the Digimon World!"
"Enough, Mastermon! Are you an idiot?" Saddled with a useless teammate, Zheng Fan took several hits in succession, and anger began to rise in his heart. "They've gone to do their job. We need to do ours. Now attack with everything you've got!"
Mastermon was experienced, after all. Zheng Fan's rebuke made him recognize his mistake.
During that brief delay, the halo weakened considerably, until nearly one in six thousand Black Gears survived the passage through it. Although Lost Satanmon was covered in wounds, his body swelled rapidly. He was already twice Greymon's size.
Tai and Joe Kido did not take the mountain path down. Instead, they jumped straight down the cliff, using every crack and every uneven patch of rock to support themselves. Only because of the Digimon World's unusual environment, which had nearly eliminated their sense of pain, could they react quickly even when they failed to secure a grip in a crevice. Within minutes, they had reached the foot of the mountain.
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