"Your punches are too weak!
Just like how all you ever do is run away from your problems."
Dark Impmon knocked Impmon down with a punch, then stood over him like a victor, berating him for his past choices.
**"Shut up!
What do you know?"**
Impmon rallied and punched Dark Impmon in the cheek, shouting back at him.
Yet Impmon could never explain himself.
Feeling the force of the fist against his face, Dark Impmon's gaze sharpened slightly.
Then Dark Impmon pushed against Impmon's fist with his cheek, forcing his head straight again.
The sight left Impmon momentarily dazed.
"Am I the one who doesn't understand, or are you the one who refuses to face it?"
While Impmon was dazed, Dark Impmon knocked him down with another punch.
"Xiao Ai, A Zhen."
Down on one knee, Impmon clenched his fists and murmured to himself.
"I'll go find them. I'll face my fears, too.
You don't get to stand there and tell me what to do!!!"
Impmon staggered to his feet, a light beginning to flicker in his eyes.
"You will? You really know how to make excuses for yourself!
Don't make other Digimon laugh their heads off!
Besides, how is this none of my business?
I am you!!!
Your old, cowardly, useless self!"
Hearing Impmon's grand declarations, Dark Impmon flew into a rage.
He swept a hand through the air, and a ring of dark fireballs appeared around him.
Then, with a point of his finger, the fireballs hurtled toward Impmon.
"The past is in the past.
I won't run away anymore."
"Magic: Dark Night Barrier!"
Watching the fireballs rush toward him, Impmon instinctively imitated Mo Yan's barrier skill.
He was lucky.
No, it was inevitable.
Impmon successfully cast a spell of his own.
While Impmon had been training under Mo Yan, Mo Yan had never taught him any specific spells, but he had explained how magic was formed.
Magic was a form of advanced programming language.
At its core, it was still the manipulation of data.
However, the way magic applied data resembled the magic of human legends.
That was why "Advanced Programming Language Magic" was called magic.
During his training under Mo Yan, what Impmon had encountered most was knowledge about magic, learning how it was formed.
Finally, he had learned to control magic power.
This was the primary means by which Wizards modified and manipulated data to create magic.
Thus, with this training, Impmon had actually become capable of casting spells himself.
He had simply never considered it.
Now, Impmon had no choice but to make his mind race.
He began recalling every scene of Mo Yan casting magic.
At last, as though something had clicked, Impmon began imitating Mo Yan's magic and formed a spell of his own.
This was also the process SageMon had once used to teach Mo Yan.
Spells taught by others would never come as naturally as those one understood and cast oneself.
Of course, this was also why Wizards of SageMon's lineage were so powerful.
They never cast magic by blindly following instructions. Instead, they manipulated data according to their own intentions and needs, forming the spells they wanted.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Fireball after fireball rained down on the Dark Night Barrier, scattering sparks, yet none could break through its defenses.
Like that, Impmon walked toward Dark Impmon through the rain of fireballs.
"You think you can beat me like this?
Anything you can do, I can do too!"
Seeing Impmon approach through the fireballs, Dark Impmon wore a look of disdain.
"Magic: Dark Night Fire Rain!"
Connecting to the Dark Night Flame data drifting through this space, Dark Impmon cast a spell.
In an instant, the Dark Night Flame data within the space began gathering above Dark Impmon's head.
Soon, an enormous cloud of fire appeared overhead.
Then a dense barrage of fireballs began falling like rain.
"You said you're a Digimon formed from the darkness inside me?"
His face lit by the flames, Impmon looked up at Dark Impmon.
"Of course.
Why else would I hate you so much?!!!"
Meeting Impmon's eyes, Dark Impmon made no attempt to hide his disgust.
He despised the Impmon who had once chosen to flee.
He despised the Impmon who had chosen to flee yet could never let go.
He despised the Impmon who had already begun to understand yet still refused to face the truth.
"So that's how it is.
Then come!"
Looking into Dark Impmon's eyes, Impmon seemed to finally understand something and uttered those baffling words with a cryptic air.
At that moment, Impmon seemed just like Mo Yan.
Both had the same cryptic manner, saying strange things that other Digimon could not understand.
After speaking, Impmon dismissed the Dark Night Barrier.
Then, by some unknown means, Impmon seized all the data in this space that originated from the individual known as "Impmon."
Next, Impmon spread his arms and walked toward Dark Impmon.
"Y-you, what are you trying to do!?"
Having lost control of his magic as well as the surrounding data, Dark Impmon stared at Impmon in alarm and uncertainty, demanding to know what he intended.
"Someone once said that only by facing the darkness within and overcoming your past self can you embrace the future you want.
But now, I want to tell him something.
Every Digimon has moments of uncertainty. Uncertainty isn't frightening. What's frightening is failing to make a choice while you're lost in it.
I used to run away all the time.
Now, I don't want to run anymore.
Only after experiencing loneliness and facing my fears
did I learn that no person, no Digimon, stays the same forever.
We're always evolving!
Evolving toward a more complete version of ourselves.
So I won't waver anymore. I won't be lost anymore.
Because I know what I've chosen. Once I've made that choice, I won't waver again, and my future will move in the direction I've chosen."
As Impmon spoke, he came to stand before Dark Impmon.
Looking at Dark Impmon, who was identical to him except for his skin color, Impmon threw his arms around him in a fierce embrace.
"Is that so?
Then remember this: when you start wavering and hesitating again, I'll return!
When that time comes, I'll devour you completely and become my own self!"
Feeling the strength and resolve Impmon conveyed, Dark Impmon declared his own choice.
With that, Dark Impmon dissolved into countless motes of light.
"Tch. I never go back on my word. When I say something, I mean it!"
His cool demeanor lasted less than three seconds before Impmon immediately revealed his true nature, waving a fist at the motes of light Dark Impmon had become.
The next second, those motes streamed into Impmon's body.
At the same time, a mass of white light appeared from somewhere unknown and swiftly merged into Impmon's body.
Then the power of evolution began to surge.
Impmon!
Digivolve to!
Wizardmon!
Before you continue