The events at Ore Town drew to a temporary close while Aomori was still on the road.
SuperStarmon seemed very nervous, barely speaking to Aomori during the journey. They maintained this silence until they reached their destination on the morning of the second day.
The thick mist had not yet dispersed as SuperStarmon led Aomori and the others to a secret base of the Superstar Chamber of Commerce. Inside a small meeting room, they held an intense briefing.
"Next, we will pass through a dense forest, and then we'll see Myotismon's castle." SuperStarmon displayed a map of the area. "That forest is shrouded in mist year-round. This is a skill Myotismon maintains; it not only hides the castle but also significantly boosts Myotismon's power while within it."
"Can the mist be cleared?" Aomori asked.
"It's difficult. Unless Myotismon, the caster, is defeated, the mist cannot be effectively dispelled."
"But fighting in such an environment is very disadvantageous for us."
"Indeed. That's why we're going to take a more aggressive approach."
"Aggressive?"
"Mhm." SuperStarmon revealed the confident smile of a big spender.
At noon, when the sun was at its strongest, Aomori and SuperStarmon began to move separately according to the plan.
First was SuperStarmon. Having already provided a large amount of explosives, it pulled out an even more massive stash. It had flying Digimon carry the explosive satchels, light them, and drop them into the dense forest.
SuperStarmon intended to set the mountain ablaze to force Myotismon out for a decisive battle. "Since we can't clear the mist, we'll make him walk out of it himself."
The forest was soon engulfed in a sea of flames. Pidgeot used Gust repeatedly, fanning the fire toward Myotismon's castle. Meanwhile, Aomori, SuperStarmon, Absol, and Pidgeot each monitored one side to intercept Myotismon.
As the fire grew, the castle was surrounded by an inferno, sending the Digimon inside into a panic.
"This is bad, Lord Myotismon! Enemies are attacking! The outside is on fire!" DemiDevimon reported frantically.
"So a Digimon actually dares to come to my door and provoke me." Myotismon remained calm, even taking a sip of a red beverage.
"What do we do? The fire is almost at the walls!"
"What else can we do? They've brought the fight to us; naturally, we go out and destroy them." Myotismon stood up and issued the command: "Nightmare Soldiers, all units, deploy!"
"Yes, sir!"
Swarms of Bakemon, DarkTyrannomon, Devidramon, and the remaining two Ultimate-level Digimon, Mammothmon and Pumpkinmon, poured out, forcing a path through the flames with their signature moves.
The direction they chose happened to be the one Aomori was guarding.
Facing the swarm of Digimon, Aomori, disguised as HellKnightmon, smiled beneath his mask. He lowered his stance, his right hand gripping the hilt of Ryuko at his left waist. With his legs bolstered by lightning, his figure became a blur, piercing through the dense crowd like a stray arrow.
Appearing behind them, he flicked his blade. Dozens of Digimon erupted in blood-colored light before dissolving into digital fragments.
[Mission Progress Completed: 100/100.]
As the remaining Digimon fled in terror, Aomori silently gathered the digital fragments, not pursuing them further. Standing before him was a Digimon that looked exactly like a vampire.
"Are you HellKnightmon?"
"And you must be Myotismon."
The man and the monster sized each other up, both sensing the other's unfathomable depth.
"What is your objective? Speak it; perhaps there is an opportunity for cooperation." Unless absolutely necessary, Myotismon did not want to fight this mysterious opponent; he had a premonition that this would be the most troublesome foe he had ever encountered. Moreover, winning this fight didn't seem to offer much benefit.
"My objective? To become the sole King of the Digital World, of course. If you bow to me, I might consider sparing you," Aomori said seriously.
"The sole King? Hahaha! Such ambition!" Myotismon laughed twice, his smile gradually turning cold. He was an ambitious Digimon himself; how could he allow another to compete with him?
"A pity. Then die! Grisly Wing!" Myotismon closed his cape and snapped it open; a swarm of blood-sucking bats flew out, swarming toward Aomori.
Unfazed, Aomori drew Ryuko, which had been "enchanted" with Digizoid. With a flick of his wrist, he cut down every single bat.
"Don't release bats randomly; they carry viruses."
"I am a Virus!" Seeing that Grisly Wing was ineffective, Myotismon switched tactics. He flipped his hands, creating two crimson whips from dark energy. Like dancing serpents, they lashed toward Aomori with a crack.
"Crimson Lightning!"
Aomori held Ryuko, lightning coiling around the blade as he slashed at the whips. Unexpectedly, the whips were flexible and agile, bypassing the sword to strike at his body. He flipped away, using telekinesis to bind the two whips while he charged Myotismon for a direct strike.
Realizing he couldn't pull the whips back, Myotismon let go, dodging Aomori's slash by a hair's breadth, losing only a single strand of hair.
Curse it! This HellKnightmon's movement speed is too fast; I can't pin him down.
After fighting for a while, Myotismon realized how difficult Aomori was to deal with. Furthermore, Aomori held a weapon seemingly forged from Digizoid; Myotismon didn't dare take a direct hit and could only focus on dodging.
At this moment, Aomori's reinforcements arrived. Pidgeot fired a Hyper Beam from the sky, while Absol appeared behind Myotismon, launching several air blades.
Myotismon used his ethereal movements to dodge all the skills and flew into the air. Seeing his subordinates being overwhelmed and unable to help, while Aomori had powerful backup, Myotismon decided to retreat.
But he certainly couldn't just run away like that. He spread his arms, releasing the thick mist once more. It expanded instantly, masking his figure and engulfing Absol. Pidgeot flew higher to avoid the mist, but it lost sight of Aomori and Myotismon.
"Trying to escape?"
As soon as he entered the blinding mist, Aomori activated Mind's Eye. However, his Spirit seemed suppressed; what used to be a 200-meter range was now reduced to 10 meters.
Contrary to Aomori's expectation that Myotismon would flee, the vampire closed the distance like a ghost and threw two red fist shadows at him. His speed was much faster than before, nearly matching Aomori's.
"A melee fight with me?" Aomori laughed. He sheathed Ryuko, his fists reflexively parrying the shadows. With lightning sparking on his feet, he spun and jumped, hooking Myotismon's neck with his legs, throwing him to the ground, and pinning him down.
Boom!
Myotismon slammed into the earth, creating a large crater. Realizing his mistake, he transformed into bats and scattered before Aomori's next strike could land. He reformed in the air, using long-range skills to keep Aomori at bay while putting distance between them.
This time, Myotismon was truly fleeing.
"No way out!" Aomori exploded with full power, pursuing him closely. For a Digimon like Myotismon, adept at schemes and sowing chaos, he had to ensure a complete "uprooting" with no trace left behind.
Seeing that he couldn't shake him, Myotismon knew the mist wasn't very effective. He furrowed his brow and suddenly changed direction, flying toward Absol, who was standing still in the mist.
Seeing this change, Aomori immediately guessed his intent and contacted Absol via Telepathy.
As Myotismon lunged at Absol to take it hostage, Absol was ready. A Thunderbolt erupted from its body; the silver serpents of electricity struck Myotismon dead-on. Stunned by the hit, Myotismon's body trembled as green smoke rose from him.
At that moment, Aomori accelerated like a projectile, and Ryuko pierced through Myotismon's chest up to the hilt.
"Pfft!" Myotismon spat out blood, his eyes turning ferocious.