"Is the battle…really over, just like that?"
Renamon stared in a daze at Greymon and Parrotmon, both collapsed on the ground. It took her several moments before she reluctantly accepted this sudden, bizarre ending. Slowly, she shifted her gaze toward the one responsible for this outcome.
"…Chen Ze?"
Her voice was tinged with uncertainty. As she looked at the unfamiliar Digimon standing not far away, confusion surged through her.
At this moment, Chen Ze no longer appeared as the snow-white variant Koromon from earlier. Instead, standing before everyone was an entirely unfamiliar form of Agumon.
Like the previously evolved Agumon, this Digimon, who'd single-handedly altered the course of battle, towered significantly taller than the average member of its species.
Though not as exaggeratedly huge as Tai's Agumon, whose height nearly reached two meters, Chen Ze still easily exceeded the usual height of his kind, standing close to 1.6 meters tall.
His muscular frame, powerful physique, and razor-sharp claws only further emphasized his formidable strength and threat level.
Yet these details weren't even the most striking. What truly separated Chen Ze from other Agumon was his pale blue skin.
Indeed—Chen Ze's evolved form wasn't the normal yellow-orange Agumon, nor the black-skinned BlackAgumon produced by a dark evolution. He'd become an unprecedented, ice-blue Agumon variant.
This icy blue color, reminiscent of glacial ice or a clear blue sky, combined perfectly with Chen Ze's muscular body, enough to draw the attention of anyone nearby.
But Renamon, whose perception was sharper than anyone else's, quickly recovered from her initial astonishment and instead focused intensely on Chen Ze's sharp claws.
Because wrapped around those deadly claws—obviously not for decoration—was a pair of leather bindings resembling claw gloves or bandages.
These claw-bindings were formed by the residual data of Tai's Agumon, reconstructed anew. They were also the very reason Chen Ze had been able to deviate from his previous malformed evolutionary path and return properly to the Agumon line.
Precisely due to that seemingly insignificant scrap of data, Chen Ze had successfully broken free of the influence of the Overload Program and the Crest of Purity, allowing him to digivolve back into an Agumon during his Rookie stage.
Though this choice came with several side effects—and even his attributes now seemed slightly off—at the very least, he wouldn't need to worry about becoming something overtly feminine like Angewomon or Lillymon in the future.
In fact, Chen Ze's intuition was indeed correct.
After forcibly reversing his original evolutionary path, he was no longer the typical Reptile-type Agumon. Instead, he had become a far stronger Dinosaur-type subspecies—a true variant.
Moreover, the influence of the Overload Program had caused the original Vaccine-type attribute of Agumon to mutate significantly, though it didn't fully transform into a Virus-type.
After all, though the Overload Program disrupted normal computer functions, forcibly labeling it as a pure virus wasn't entirely accurate either.
Thus, Chen Ze now was neither Vaccine-type nor Virus-type, but an ambiguous state in-between.
Within the Digital World, this kind of attribute, difficult to classify simply as Vaccine or Virus, was generally known as a "Free-type," an attribute characteristic of descendants of Ancient-species Digimon.
Because only in the era before clear attribute distinctions existed in the Digital World could Digimon emerge with such mixed, complex data attributes.
As for Chen Ze himself?
At most, he'd become a Free-type due to the Overload Program's influence, inadvertently mixing large amounts of non-Vaccine data into his Digital Core during evolution, thus "forcing" him into this intermediate form.
...
"Koromon! Koromon!"
Although the Yagami siblings had also clearly seen that snow-blue Agumon, their attention right now was entirely focused on Greymon, lying toppled and motionless on the ground.
Especially Kari—ignoring everything else, she shook off Tai's grip and rushed straight toward Greymon.
"Kari! Don't go over there!"
Shouting anxiously, Tai chased after her with no other choice.
Truthfully, Tai himself was deeply worried about Greymon's current state. Only Kari's presence restrained him from openly showing his concern.
Ultimately, as long as Greymon didn't fully lose its sanity, becoming nothing but a mindless beast bent solely on destruction, then it was still the Koromon he knew, still his friend.
Tai had fully recognized this truth at the very moment Agumon willingly faced death, ready to sacrifice itself to ensure their safety.
"Huff…"
However, just as the Yagami siblings arrived beside the unconscious Greymon, the similarly fallen Parrotmon began shakily rising to its feet.
"Huff…"
Even with its lower beak pierced completely through by Greymon's horn…
Even with saliva and fluids pouring uncontrollably from the open wound…
Even though it couldn't produce even the simplest cry anymore…
Parrotmon still clung fiercely to consciousness, staggering forward one step at a time toward Greymon—the chaotic electric sparks flickering among its feathers the clearest proof of its relentless determination.
Parrotmon was a messenger of "God," a being descended upon this world bearing a sacred mission.
In order to complete the mission bestowed upon it—even if its body reverted to raw data, even if its will had to reincarnate again—Parrotmon wouldn't hesitate.
"That strange bird…"
From a nearby balcony, a young girl named Sora watched this scene, an unexpected wave of sympathy rising faintly within her.
She didn't understand why these two massive creatures fought so desperately, yet seeing Parrotmon struggling to stand despite its devastating injuries profoundly moved her heart.
No—even aside from those two wounded creatures, the young brother and sister caught in the midst of the battlefield were enough for Sora to deeply grasp the meaning of courage and responsibility.
Compared to them, her earlier fight with her mother and sulking alone seemed unbearably childish.
"The fight…isn't over yet."
As Sora thought this, she noticed the two smaller creatures—though not as enormous as the bird or dinosaur, certainly no ordinary animals themselves—seemed equally stunned by Parrotmon's determination.
The golden fox-spirit standing upright quickly stepped back warily, then, just like in the earlier battle, swiftly concealed her presence within the darkness.
The smaller, blue dinosaur who'd appeared later remained frozen in place, seemingly taken aback by Parrotmon's relentless persistence.
Even without anyone explaining, Sora could immediately tell this small blue dinosaur clearly wasn't as powerful as the three monsters before it.
Not necessarily lacking strength, but certainly lacking the experience and tactical judgment necessary for real combat.
"Those two kids…are in danger!"
---
A/N: Originally, I planned for Renamon to face danger, causing the protagonist to lose control and become a BlackAgumon.
But thinking again, Parrotmon is an Ultimate after all—even the super-powered Greymon had to evolve to challenge it—so I temporarily changed the ending.
Anyway, this is Greymon's final scene, so it's fitting to give him a more tragic and heroic send-off!