"Did it work?"
After unleashing that move, Millenniummon looked withered, as if the cost had been immense.
"It should have worked. I exhausted all my efforts to return to this point in time just to banish him to another dimension. This way, my future plans won't be affected by him."
"Unfortunately, I've drained my energy and can no longer maintain this form."
After muttering to itself, Millenniummon closed its eyes. Its body twisted again, splitting back into Kimeramon and Machinedramon.
Kimeramon slowly faded away. The remaining Machinedramon opened its eyes, looking dazed. "Why am I here?"
It searched its internal data but found no answers. It could only turn back to continue sealing its assigned Digimon Sovereign, hoping its opponent hadn't escaped.
...
The moment Aomori disappeared, Gatomon on File Island seemed to sense something. She looked up at the sky and whispered: "Master..."
"What's wrong?" BlueGreymon asked.
"Nothing." Gatomon shook her head. "Must have been an illusion."
"Come on! We're attacking together this time to show them what we're made of!" Gatomon steadied her spirit.
"Yeah."
...
Iron City, Research Lab.
Akihiko Kayaba, deep in his research, suddenly jolted. He felt his connection to the Laptop grow incredibly weak.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, he shook his head and returned his attention to his work.
"With a miraculous boss like that, there's no need for me to worry."
...
"Where am I?"
The "miraculous boss" Kayaba spoke of was currently staring at a mountain of stones, frowning deeply.
Struck by Millenniummon's attack, Aomori had entered a psychedelic realm where he had no control over his body. It felt like an instant, yet also like an eternity, before he finally exited through a portal into this place.
Millenniummon's techniques were all related to space-time. Had he been sent to a Digital World in a different parallel timeline?
"Come to think of it, that place felt very similar to how it feels when I enter a dungeon."
Since the day he first entered a dungeon, Aomori had wanted to understand the mechanics. He had tried filming it, but the footage showed no black holes, he simply vanished.
Compared to his first entry, Aomori's periods of consciousness during the System's search for a suitable dungeon had grown longer. He had roughly memorized the environment.
It was a place of total crimson, where nothing else existed.
The environment here was different, but the feeling it gave him was very similar.
"So, entering a dungeon is also a form of space-time travel?"
Aomori firmly committed this information to memory. It was crucial for finding his way home. He opened the System and scrolled through the logs. Sure enough, he found an important message:
[Due to external interference, you have exited the original dungeon space. The free duration for this dungeon has ended. From this moment on, stay duration costs will be calculated based on the time flow of this world. Additionally, save points cannot be fixed. Please be advised.]
"As I thought, this isn't the original Digital World. The System really isn't being generous."
This meant the advantage of the Digital World's different time flow was gone.
"What a blunder."
When he first encountered Machinedramon's self-destruction, he could have chosen to return to the main world. However, out of a greedy desire for more training time, he chose to stand his ground. Now, he had lost the "wife" and the "soldiers"—a total loss.
He would remember this lesson... until the next time he decided to take a risk.
He released Absol and the others. Seeing they were unharmed put his mind at ease. Most of his items were in his system inventory, but he had "lost" Akihiko Kayaba.
However, it wasn't a major issue.
He took out the Laptop. Upon booting up, a miniature version of Akihiko Kayaba crawled out of the screen.
"Good thing I had you leave a backup. Can you contact the main body?"
Mini-Kayaba shook his head. "The connection is severed. It's as if he doesn't exist."
"I see." Aomori hadn't held much hope anyway. "Go back inside. Since you're the only one left, there's no need to risk letting you out."
Mini-Kayaba nodded and obediently crawled back into the computer.
Putting away the Laptop, Aomori had Absol and the others keep watch while he began to circulate Light Breathing to heal his injuries.
His entire body glowed with a pure white light, shining like a lightbulb.
A passing Digimon was immediately drawn to the sight.
"Such pure light energy... Could it be Garurumon?" This beetle-like Digimon remembered its purpose for being here and quickly spread its wings, flying toward the light accompanied by the sound of thunder.
Upon reaching the vicinity, it realized it was mistaken. Garurumon wasn't this weak. Looking closer, it was astonished: "A human?"
Pidgeot had already spotted the approaching Digimon and informed Aomori.
Aomori remained where he was, switching to his long-unused "Ultimate Hottie" title to boost his charisma. He waited for the Digimon to arrive; he needed to ask about the state of this Digital World.
The insect-type Digimon arrived before him in a flash of lightning. Only then did the rolling thunder reach his ears.
First the form, then the sound. Aomori was inwardly surprised by this stranger's speed, but he kept a calm exterior and spoke clearly: "Hello. My name is Aomori. I am a traveler who has lost his way."
"I am Tentomon."
The un-friendly looking Tentomon with a gruff voice looked past Absol and the others to Aomori. "Human, your timing in coming to this world is truly unfortunate."
"Oh? Please, do tell."
"Lucemon, the ruler of this world, has gone astray. The world has fallen into darkness."
"Lucemon?" That little brat? Does that mean...
Aomori looked around. He didn't see any darkness. Just as he was about to ask, Tentomon continued: "Your luck isn't entirely bad. This is the last pure land. We, the Digimon born alongside the Digital World, shall gather here for a final battle against Lucemon."
"Um, if I may ask..." Aomori had a good guess as to which plotline he was in. Adhering to his fact-seeking nature, he asked: "The Digimon you say are gathering here... are there ten of you in total, including yourself?"
"Yes." Tentomon nodded. "How did you know?"
As I thought!
Aomori had been sent by Millenniummon to the ancient era of a different series' plot.
Legend has it that shortly after the Digital World was born, Human-type and Beast-type Digimon were at each other's throats, and wars broke out frequently.
Then, a young boy descended from the heavens—Lucemon. He ended the conflict single-handedly.
Unfortunately, the peace was short-lived. Lucemon fell from grace. He believed the Digital World was filled with filth and needed to be "purified" so a new world could be created. The Digital World fell to the brink of collapse.
But Lucemon's plan was halted.
It was said that the first ten Mega-level Digimon, who had existed since ancient times, suddenly appeared to revolt against his rule.
In the end, these ten Megas successfully sealed Lucemon into the deepest layer of the Digital World, though they sacrificed their lives to do so.
Posterity would revere these ten Megas as the "Ten Legendary Warriors"!
In the Digimon Frontier plotline, the DigiDestined inherited their powers.