Kimeramon was still rampaging across the surface of the sea, and the kids' Digimon were no match for it at all. Luckily, the Digimon Emperor didn't have time to command Kimeramon right now, so the kids could still stall it with strategy. But at this point, even keeping up a hit-and-run fight was becoming impossible to sustain—so much so that even Kabuterimon had to jump in to draw aggro, just to let the others rest for a moment.
Kimeramon's Heat Viper kept blasting the sea, throwing up towering plumes of water. Darcmon and Halsemon set Kari and Yolei down on a floating island, then immediately rejoined the fight, swapping in for the constantly endangered Kabuterimon.
Kabuterimon let out a shriek and barely dodged another Heat Viper at a hair-raising angle. That scorching beam grazed past Kabuterimon's body and slammed straight into the Digimon Emperor's base.
T.K. had the Digimon Emperor pinned to the ground, hammering him with left hooks and right hooks. The base's violent shaking made T.K. pause for a split second, and the Digimon Emperor seized the chance—he heaved T.K. aside, grabbed the whip he'd tossed away earlier, and lashed it at T.K. T.K. kept a grin on his lips as he caught the whip with one hand.
"What?!" The Digimon Emperor was shocked. He couldn't understand it—if T.K. could catch the whip, why had he taken that earlier hit at all?
T.K. yanked the whip hard, pulling the Digimon Emperor off balance, then swung a fist into him and knocked him down again—right back to the left hooks and right hooks.
"Sticky Net!" Seeing Ken held down by T.K., Wormmon hurried over to help. But T.K. hadn't come alone. Patamon flew out from behind him and fired an Air Shot, blasting Wormmon's attack right back and knocking Wormmon over into a round little tumble that sent him rolling across the ground.
"Looking for a fight?" Patamon landed, its tone openly hostile.
"Don't you dare lay a finger on Ken." Wormmon got back to its feet—not crawling up, but standing—staring straight at Patamon.
The two Digimon locked eyes in tacit understanding, then moved at the same time—no, not "moved." They started fighting.
"Tempest Wing!" Halsemon began spinning its body, forming a tornado that surged straight toward Kimeramon, while Darcmon slashed with her twin blades, sending multiple arcs of energy ripping toward Kimeramon's chest.
The tornado struck Kimeramon's head and vanished without a sound. The spot it hit wasn't even scratched. Darcmon's energy blades, meanwhile, were torn apart by Kimeramon's skeletal claws.
"So what do we do now?" Halsemon said helplessly. After the failed strike, it shot upward fast, trying to widen the distance between itself and Kimeramon—never noticing the Death Claw that came screaming down from above.
"Urgh!" Halsemon cried out in pain as it was slammed out of the sky, crashing heavily onto the Digimon Emperor's base. Its body slid a long distance… and then it went limp, unconscious.
Kimeramon flew in and opened its mouth, firing another Heat Viper. Darcmon hurriedly dragged Halsemon aside. The beam scraped past Darcmon's wing—she could even feel the feathers on it about to catch fire from the searing heat. The Heat Viper missed its target and crashed into the base, blasting a huge hole straight through it.
T.K. was still tangled up with the Digimon Emperor when, above them, a blistering pillar of light punched through the wall and blew a massive hole in the opposite side. The sheer power made T.K. freeze in shock for a moment.
"What is it?" T.K. looked up at the opening—only to see that messy, patchwork Digimon roaring as it flew past the hole.
"That's the Digimon I created—Kimeramon! How about it, impressive, right?!" Even beneath T.K., the Digimon Emperor still wore that smug, self-satisfied expression. "Even if you combine all your power, you still won't be able to beat it."
T.K. could see it clearly: Kimeramon had Darcmon and Halsemon clenched in its two claws.
"Patamon, Armor Digivolve!" T.K. stood up, no longer bothering with the Digimon Emperor, and spoke to Patamon.
"Patamon, Armor Digivolve—Pegasusmon!"
T.K. mounted Pegasusmon and glanced back. "Ken—next time, I'll come find you again, and we'll settle this." With that, he didn't look back again, riding Pegasusmon out of the base.
"Ken…" Wormmon stepped forward, worry written all over it.
Ken pushed himself up with one hand, his eyes drifting, unfocused and empty. "Useless," he muttered. He stood and walked deeper inside, no longer looking at Wormmon behind him. His whole body carried a bleak, desolate air as he staggered into the darkness—letting it swallow him whole.
"Silver Blaze!" Pegasusmon rose into the air and fired its special attack, striking the claws that were holding Darcmon and Halsemon. The holy light burned into Kimeramon's grip, forcing it to loosen its hold from the pain. Darcmon and Halsemon seized the chance and fled immediately.
"Kimeramon… it looks like it stopped." T.K. stared at the motionless Kimeramon. After Darcmon and Halsemon escaped, Kimeramon had simply frozen in midair, hovering without moving.
"Then hurry—let's get out of here while we can."
The kids flew away from the floating fortress and that terrifying Kimeramon. Sitting on two floating-island ships, Patamon, Hawkmon, and Gatomon were so exhausted that they'd already fallen asleep. Only Veemon—who hadn't joined the battle—still had any energy.
"If only I could fly," Veemon said, sad and ashamed.
"Don't say that. Even if you can't fly, we've got our own way of fighting." Davis kept pumping everyone up, full of confidence. "Anyway, let's rest a bit first, then we keep chasing the Digimon Emperor."
"Yeah."
Jun Motomiya stared blankly at the bay in front of her, at the huge city across the water. She turned stiffly back toward the elderly couple beside her and asked, "Excuse me, this is…?"
"This is Lake Hamana," the old couple said, acting like there was no need for thanks. Jun was left speechless. All she could do was turn back toward the bustling city and let out a helpless sigh. "I said I wanted to go to Lake Yamanaka… Matt…" She could only pour her longing out to the ocean.
Night had already fallen in the Digital World. Digimon returned to their homes, turned on their lights, and enjoyed the delicious warmth of dinner. From far away, the town looked bright and peaceful, quiet and serene—yet again and again, pillars of flame erupted into the sky from within it. A small black shadow circled above the town, constantly spraying firelight, painting the entire place into a sea of flames.
Kimeramon raged above the town, firing Heat Viper after Heat Viper, igniting houses one after another and turning Digimon into data that vanished. Countless buildings burned, staining the sky a deep red. Thick smoke blotted out the heavens; even from far away, you could see it rolling and surging upward into the clouds.
The Digimon in town all flooded into the streets, scattering in every direction, trying to evade Kimeramon's Heat Viper—but it was futile. From time to time, a Digimon would be struck and reduced to drifting ash. Behind Kimeramon stretched endless ruins, flames, and smoke, and together with the data that danced unceasingly through the sky, it all seemed to sing a grim melody of death.
Not far behind Kimeramon was the Digimon Emperor's base. Wherever the base passed, a neat row of Dark Towers stood in its wake.
"Hahahaha!" The Digimon Emperor watched Kimeramon slaughter everything on the screen and laughed wildly, his face twisting. "Perfect! Run! Fear me! Now the Digital World is basically mine! Hahaha!"
Wormmon crawled in and saw this scene. Looking at Ken, who had completely lost himself, sorrow filled Wormmon's eyes. "Ken… is this really what you wanted? Is it really?"
The kids stood atop a high mountain, watching the town—once calm and peaceful—become a silent city under Kimeramon's rampage. Smoke drifted and churned above the ruins. Kimeramon and the Digimon Emperor's base left the city, now destroyed beyond recognition, and headed for the next town.
"Damn it, Kimeramon…" Davis clenched his fist, furious. "How long are you going to keep running wild?"
"What a terrifying monster," Raidramon said, staring at Kimeramon's horrifying destructive power, deeply uneasy.
"There's no target at all—just attacking for the sake of attacking," Digmon said angrily, watching Kimeramon disappear into the distance.
"To ruin our Digital World—" Halsemon hadn't even finished when Cody cut in, "Does it want to destroy everything it sees before it'll finally stop?!" His voice carried endless rage.
"No way…" Yolei couldn't believe it.
"Unforgivable… creating a Digimon like that… it's unforgivable." T.K. spoke through the pain, condemning the Digimon Emperor's crime.
"Are we really going to stand here and do nothing… and just watch it destroy the Digital World?" Kari questioned herself—and everyone else.
"But what can we do? With our strength right now, if we challenge Kimeramon head-on, there's absolutely no chance we win." Darcmon's voice fell, and her words made the kids lower their heads.
"I'll call Tai—" Kari started to say.
"Absolutely not!" T.K. shouted, loud enough that everyone froze and turned to look at him. He clenched his fists and continued, "If we rely on Tai for everything, then what's the point of us being chosen at all?"
"Right. We have to defeat the enemy through our own effort. We can't just think that as long as Tai is around, everything will be fine." Cody's tone was firm and unshakable.
"Yeah! We can definitely beat Kimeramon! So everyone—keep your spirits up!" Davis said, blood boiling with determination.
"But where are they even going?" Kabuterimon asked, staring at Kimeramon and the Digimon Emperor's base as they moved away.
Cody looked in the direction they were heading. In the endless desert, a very obvious oil pipeline—completely different from the surrounding terrain—lay across the sand, stretching out to both sides so far that you couldn't see either end.
"That's…" Cody said with sudden excitement. And when he noticed the height at which the Digimon Emperor's base was hovering, an excellent idea immediately surfaced in his mind—an idea that could destroy the Digimon Emperor's base.
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