Nothing but a Little Wind and Frost

Boom!

An explosion, a deafening roar.

Flames soared into the sky, and smoke billowed.

From afar, a massive centaur clad in red armor stood proudly amid the flames and thick smoke, imposing and majestic.

That was Kudamon's Ultimate form, Sleipmon, one of the Royal Knights.

Whoosh!

A red Laser Beam suddenly shot out of the burning ruins. Its source was a mechanical Digimon with a purple metal shell-Gizumon AT.

In the blink of an eye, the Laser Beam swept across Sleipmon at incredible speed!

Yet this beam, which should have reduced a Digimon to raw life energy and prevented it from regenerating into a Digi-Egg, failed to leave so much as a scratch on Sleipmon!

How was that possible?!

But that was the reality!

Sleipmon's armor was not forged from ordinary metal, but from time chrome digizoid, a high-strength material found in the Digital World.

Moreover, his armor was made of red time chrome digizoid, a type with exceptionally high purity and hardness. Even a beam ten times stronger would not have pierced it.

"Hmph, an attack of this level won't work on me, Sleipmon!"

Sleipmon's eyes widened in anger as he swung his right arm, which bore an enormous shield shaped like a horse's face and decorated with a horse-head design.

Its name was the Holy Shield, Niflheim.

A shield with its own name was bound to be extraordinary.

Sleipmon could use this Holy Shield to manipulate the weather, conjuring a blizzard of extreme cold that sealed his enemies in ice. Even Gallantmon, a fellow Royal Knight, could not escape it.

That technique was called Odin's Breath.

Now, Sleipmon used the Holy Shield as a melee weapon, smashing it into the Gizumon AT that had fired the Laser Beam. The cold carried by the shield poured into his target instantly.

A layer of ice formed over Gizumon AT before he shattered into pieces.

Gizumon AT, virtually indestructible against ordinary Digimon, was utterly helpless in Sleipmon's hands!

Such was the might of the Royal Knights.

One word: powerful!

The shattered Gizumon AT turned into a Digi-Egg a moment later. Artificial though he was, he was still a Digimon, so naturally he became a Digi-Egg upon death.

Still, there was something ironic about a Digimon Killer like Gizumon AT turning into a Digi-Egg.

The most effective weapon against Digimon was another Digimon.

The sight left Sleipmon with mixed feelings, and his hatred for Kurata deepened. He shouted furiously, "Kurata! Where are you?!"

He had attacked Kurata's base at the location Saint provided, but only a few Gizumon AT had met him in battle. There was not a single human in sight.

Kurata had fled!

Sleipmon was furious. All his painstaking efforts over the past two days had gone to waste.

Had he known, he would have followed Mo Si's example and acted first, reporting afterward.

Alas...

Now that he had missed the best opportunity, he bitterly regretted his decision.

Meanwhile, two kilometers away-

Holding a pair of binoculars, Kurata quietly watched Sleipmon demolish the base he had spent years building. He was not angry.

He had already moved everything important. All that remained was an empty shell and a few mass-produced Gizumon AT. Even if it was destroyed, there was nothing worth mourning.

If anything, he was relieved.

"Oh dear, how terrifying! To think DATS had such a powerful Digimon. I underestimated them..."

Kurata had thought DATS was nothing but a bunch of people playing at their jobs. He had never expected them to possess such a secret weapon. Had he stayed in that base, he would probably have been done for by now!

But since he was still alive, fate apparently remained on his side.

"Heh heh heh, hahahaha-!"

Just as a smile appeared on Kurata's face, a voice sounded beside him. "It's all thanks to me. You should thank me."

He turned toward the voice. The speaker was a blond man with a sleazy air.

It was Saint.

After reverting to his scumbag self, Saint had told Kurata about his experiences at DATS and his undercover assignment. That had allowed Kurata to relocate his resources within half an hour, saving him from being wiped out by Sleipmon.

Kurata was speechless. You're the one who exposed me, and now you want me to thank you? This brat is utterly shameless...

Despite his inward contempt, he still expressed his gratitude.

After all, Saint was still useful.

"I certainly should thank you, Saint. As a reward, I've decided to implant the strongest Digimon into you."

The strongest Digimon in Kurata's possession was Belphemon, his greatest trump card. Naturally, he could not hand him over to a musclehead like Saint.

The Digimon he intended to give Saint was Darkdramon, the strongest one he possessed apart from Belphemon.

"Excellent!"

A vicious grin spread across Saint's face. Staring at Sleipmon in the distance, he muttered, "That little punk Kudamon dared to control me, and that bitch Angewomon dared to threaten me... Once I have the power of the strongest Digimon, none of you will escape. Not a single one!"

Kurata narrowed his eyes slightly at those words. He had similar thoughts.

But his thoughts went further. The reason things had slipped beyond his expectations was that unusual Angewomon.

If that Angewomon had not escaped, if she had not appeared on television, if she had not interrogated Saint and stirred up Kudamon... things would never have come to this.

Thus, everything was that Angewomon's fault.

The root of all evil!

A cold glint flashed through Kurata's eyes, though he was relieved that the Angewomon pulling the strings was only an Ultimate. Given an opportunity, he could easily kill her.

...No, better to capture her alive.

That Angewomon held even greater secrets.

At that thought, Kurata said, "Let's go. We're heading to the Digital World."

Saint froze for a moment, then asked, "Why are we going to the Digital World?"

Kurata sneered. "If they allowed DATS to attack, that means the big shots upstairs intend to cut ties with me. We can't stay in the human world for now, unless you want to be hunted down."

Originally, he had intended to keep using the human world's resources to hunt Digimon and collect life energy, raise Belphemon to a perfect state, then use Belphemon's power to rule the world.

But events had overtaken his plans, leaving him no choice but to make some adjustments.

Realization dawned on Saint. "You've been betrayed... No wonder you killed the entire Guard Team."

Kurata smiled faintly. "Gizumon may not be very adaptable, but they won't betray me. Those people were another matter."

The Guard Team had been assigned by the big shots upstairs to keep watch on him as well. Since those big shots intended to discard him now that he had served his purpose, he had no reason to spare guards who knew so many of his secrets.

And so, not long before, Kurata had revealed his wicked nature and ordered Gizumon AT to kill them all.

Before dawn, Sleipmon flew back to DATS headquarters and reverted to Kudamon.

Everyone already knew the outcome of the raid. Sleipmon had searched the place all night, leaving no stone unturned, but had never found Kurata.

"No Kurata, and no Saint. My technique must have worn off and exposed the plan." Kudamon hung his head in dejection.

If he had acted as soon as they received the evidence, this would never have happened.

Mo Si stepped forward and said, "Don't be discouraged, Kudamon. It's nothing but a little wind and frost."