It was all Kurata's fault!

Kudamon studied Mo Si closely. Compared to an ordinary Angewomon, she was no different in her mask, hairstyle, wings, clothes, belt, feathered robe, shoes, build, skin, or anything else.

The only difference was a white crest on her left shoulder!

It looked like the silhouette of a little fairy. What did that design mean?

In the Digital World, the crests used as symbols were the Seven Deadly Sins Crests of the Seven Great Demon Lords, but those seemed to have nothing to do with this Little Fairy Crest.

Besides, those weren't marked on their bodies.

Could... this Little Fairy Crest be a distinguishing feature of a new type of Angewomon?

But she was barely different from the original type. And a new type of Angewomon would still be an angel, so her crest should have something to do with angels, like the Crest of Light or the Crest of Hope.

Why would it be a Little Fairy Crest like this?

Kudamon couldn't make sense of it.

Captain Satsuma didn't notice his partner's musings, because his attention was entirely on Saint.

After considering his words for a moment, he asked, "What does Digimon Hunter mean?"

Saint stole a glance at Mo Si. No longer daring to act arrogant, he answered honestly, "It means going to the Digital World to hunt Digimon."

Captain Satsuma frowned. "How do you get to the Digital World?"

Saint scratched his head as he thought, then said, "With something called a Space-Time Shock Bomb. One bang, and it opens a passage to the Digital World."

"So that's what it was..." Captain Satsuma frowned. Suddenly, something occurred to him, and his expression darkened.

He asked gravely, "Who do you Digimon Hunters work for?"

Saint answered, "A guy named Kurata."

"Just as I thought..." Captain Satsuma had already suspected as much.

Thomas H. Norstein asked, "Captain, do you know him?"

Captain Satsuma nodded. "Ten years ago, we were on the same expedition team."

And that team had been sent to explore the Digital World.

Ten years ago, the Digital World had still been an urban legend. It occasionally caused mysterious disappearances-people would simply vanish while walking along.

A married pair of scientists had accidentally opened a passage to the Digital World during an experiment. To explore it, a veteran detective who was now the director of DATS had assembled an expedition team and headed into the Digital World.

Satsuma and Kurata had both been members of that team.

Even Marcus Damon's father, Suguru Daimon, had been among them.

Later, an accident had cut the expedition short. Everyone except Suguru Daimon had withdrawn to the human world.

Captain Satsuma didn't mention that part, believing the time wasn't right yet.

Captain Satsuma continued, "When did Kurata start hunting Digimon?"

Saint said, "I don't know. Really. I only became a Digimon Hunter this year. I honestly don't know how long Kurata's been doing it."

This guy cared little about anything besides strength and fighting. His position under Kurata was merely that of a special enforcer, so this was about all the information they could get out of him.

Just then, a clear voice reached everyone's ears.

"Frequent use of Space-Time Shock Bombs thins the space-time barrier between the human world and the Digital World."

They turned toward the voice. The speaker was Mo Si.

In fact, Mo Si already knew everything Saint had told them.

She had hoped to get something out of Saint that hadn't been described in the original story, so the result left her a little disappointed.

Fortunately, though, Saint's words would lend credibility to what she said.

Kudamon exclaimed in surprise, "The space-time barrier... don't tell me!"

Mo Si smiled. "Looks like you've figured it out. As expected of..."

A Royal Knight!

To avoid arousing unnecessary suspicion, she left the words "Royal Knight" unspoken.

Kudamon asked, "As expected of what?"

Mo Si smiled faintly, raised her right index finger, and gently pressed it to her lips in a shushing gesture. "It's a secret."

"..."

"What are you talking about?!" Marcus Damon was completely lost. He felt as though his brain couldn't keep up.

He knew he wasn't the intellectual type, but they could at least explain things in terms he understood.

Kudamon took the opportunity to steer the conversation back on track. "As the space-time barrier thins, Digimon become more likely to fall into the human world. The reverse is also true."

Realization dawned on Thomas H. Norstein. Holding his chin, he quickly analyzed the situation. "So the reason more and more Digimon have appeared in the human world over the years is that someone has been using Space-Time Shock Bombs frequently?"

Kudamon said, "Yes. That's very likely."

With a lead to follow, Thomas H. Norstein immediately worked at his computer, pulling up scans of the space-time barrier from ten years ago and the present from the DATS database to compare them.

Sure enough, the space-time barrier had grown drastically thinner over those ten years, and its thinnest point was right near Tokyo!

Thomas H. Norstein muttered, "No wonder Digimon appear in Tokyo more often than in all of Europe combined. It looks like Space-Time Shock Bombs are used most frequently around Tokyo."

Staring at the scans of the space-time barrier, Kudamon voiced the worst possible outcome. "If we let him keep doing as he pleases and he completely breaks down the space-time barrier, the two worlds will collide."

This time, Marcus Damon understood perfectly. "So, basically, this is all that Kurata guy's fault, right?"

Everyone agreed with his conclusion.

Without Kurata, the space-time barrier wouldn't have thinned, and Digimon wouldn't keep appearing in the human world to wreak havoc.

It was all Kurata's fault!

Marcus Damon raised his fist, eager for action. "Then let's go beat Kurata to a pulp right now!"

Everyone sighed helplessly.

Thomas H. Norstein said, "It couldn't possibly be that simple. They have at least two Digimon Hunters on their side."

Mo Si added, "That's not all. Kurata has also developed artificial Digimon called Gizumon. Their Laser Beam can reduce Digimon to pure life energy without even leaving a Digi-Egg behind."

"What?!"

Everyone paled in shock.

Both the concept of artificial Digimon and the ability to kill Digimon permanently seemed unbelievable to them. Such accomplishments showed that Kurata was a genius, too. Unfortunately, his thinking had gone astray, and the more brilliant he was, the more despicable that made him.

Hearing that Gizumon could kill Digimon permanently sent a chill through Kudamon. Fixing his gaze on Saint, he asked, "Has he killed a lot of Digimon in the Digital World?"

Saint nodded. "Yes, he has. He kills Digimon, then collects their life energy."

Kudamon thought of how, even as he poured his heart into helping the two worlds coexist peacefully, the Digimon in the Digital World had already suffered countless brutal massacres. Guilt and anger surged within him.

Kurata!

Kudamon was furious. He wished he could go and kill Kurata right that instant!

"Satsuma, I have to take action!"

Kudamon's voice brooked no argument.

Captain Satsuma urged, "Kudamon, I understand your anger. We need to deal with Kurata, but we can't act on our own. Otherwise, all our years of work toward peaceful coexistence between the two worlds could go to waste."

This was a matter of grave importance. If handled poorly, it could easily turn into a war between the two worlds.

World War III!

Kudamon fell into thought. Unwilling to see countless lives destroyed, he seemed to waver.

Perhaps we should find a safer way...

Seeing his hesitation, Mo Si immediately posed a piercing question. "If you keep filling a water tank while draining it at the same time, when will it ever fill up? How can peaceful coexistence be possible with vermin like Kurata around?"