A perfect cup is hard to crush in your hand no matter how much force you use, but if a crack appears—even the tiniest, seemingly insignificant little crack—it becomes very easy to crush it to pieces.
The tiny fracture on the golden runes was immediately noticed by Daemon. The corners of his mouth curled into a faint smile.
"As expected, the thing Lord Millenniummon gave us can break this seal. Farewell, Royal Knights."
As Daemon's words fell, the thirteen golden sigils shattered like glass, breaking apart into fragments and turning into countless golden motes of light that were sucked into the black vortex.
Left before the Dark Army was only that endlessly rotating black vortex.
"Good. The last obstacle is gone. Now, let's go conquer the Digital World."
The army followed Daemon into the black vortex. Strangely enough, the vortex merely spun there; it did not impede any Digimon from passing through, as though it didn't exist at all.
At the very instant those golden runes shattered, a black, chilling vortex suddenly appeared in the sky of the Digital World, making every Digimon who saw that darkness feel a deep discomfort from the bottom of their hearts.
"What is that?"
Tai, who had just managed to pull himself briefly out of the battle, hastily glanced up at the black vortex that had flickered into existence in the sky. He didn't know what it was, but he knew for sure that it was absolutely not a good sign.
Passing through that black vortex, what appeared before the Dark Army again was a vast green land—green that was full of life, completely different from the lifeless gray of the Dark Area.
"We're back in the Digital World," Lilithmon said with deep emotion as she looked up at the blue sky. "This time, you'll belong to us."
The dark army turned their gaze toward the nearby mechanical metropolis of steel—Tai City.
"Bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt!"
Red alarms blared through every corner of Tai City.
"Warning, warning! Initiate highest protocol, all legions deploy. Repeat, all legions deploy."
With the female voice's announcement, the city's previous tranquility was instantly shattered. Flat streets sank away, revealing steel passageways beneath. Fierce-looking gun barrels extended from every floor of the high-rises. Rooftops opened as flying Machine-type Digimon unfolded their steel wings and took to the air.
In an instant, the skies above the city were filled with Megadramon and Gigadramon. The gunports on their arms opened, the missiles within exposed and ready. One after another, Guardromon flew out from inside the buildings; Mechanorimon marched out of exits all over the streets; column after column of Tankmon rolled out.
In a heartbeat, Tai City transformed into a gigantic military fortress.
Megadramon, serving as anti-air interception, was the fourth Digimon modified by the same creator who had produced Andromon, MetalGreymon, and Giromon. It is an Ultimate-level, dragon-type, half-cyborg Dark Dragon Digimon that prides itself on the most brutal and powerful might among its kind. It possesses the power to break through even the strongest defensive systems.
On its chest is engraved a skull symbol similar to the radiation mark found on some Digimon. It runs a program whose purpose is simply to destroy everything. You could say it's essentially the same as a computer virus in and of itself. It can easily infiltrate heavily protected computer networks and freely damage or rewrite host systems. Its special attacks are Genocidal Attack, which fires countless organic missiles from both arms, and Ultimate Slicer, which can cut through any material.
Gigadramon is a subspecies of Megadramon, a Dark Dragon Digimon developed in the same period as Megadramon. After further modification into a fully armed battle dragon, its very existence became a vicious computer virus. Its wings are completely mechanized, and it prides itself on destructive power and flight speed surpassing Megadramon's.
Although its firepower outstrips Megadramon's, its mobility is inferior, so it often forms teams with Megadramon to complement each other's weaknesses. Its special attacks are Genocidal Attack, which fires countless organic missiles from both arms; Giga Hands, striking the enemy with its arms in the attack known as Guilty Claw; and Giga Heat, heat rays fired from its eyes.
Tankmon is a Champion-level Cyborg Digimon whose massive output, combined with heavy armaments all over its body, gives it tremendous firepower and solid defense, with relatively poor agility. It can blast enemies to pieces. Its special attacks are the High-Pressure Cannon, which fires energy shells from the gun barrel on its head, and Gatling Arm, which sprays bullets from the machine guns in its twin arms—both of which are its signature moves.
Mechanorimon is a high-combat-ability, vehicle-type Champion-level Machine Digimon, well-suited to urban warfare. It looks very similar to Guardromon, but its defense is inferior to Guardromon's, and although its agility is average, its overall ability is not especially outstanding compared to other Champion-level Digimon. Its special attack is Flash Cannon, firing high-destructive-power energy shells from the energy cannon in its chest and abdomen.
Inside the central control room, Datamon was staring at the mass of black Digimon on the main screen. At their head was none other than Daemon, who had once appeared in the Digital World but had been defeated by Tai and the others.
This time, however, he wasn't just leading a few Ultimate-level Digimon—there were two other Demon Lord Ultimate-level Digimon with him, plus several hundred Ultimate-level Digimon and an uncountable number of Champion-level Dark Digimon.
"King Tai, Daemon has appeared on File Island with two other Ultimate-level Digimon and the Dark Army. They're advancing on Tai City. We've activated the defense system, but I don't know if we can stop them."
Datamon's voice came through the headset, making the situation—already giving Tai a headache—feel like a disaster piling on top of disaster. MoonMillenniummon had been killed again and again, yet kept reappearing. Now enemies had shown up at his own base, Tai City.
Tai couldn't help but feel a pounding headache. The timing really couldn't be worse—the enemy had picked the single most inconvenient moment to appear.
Then again, it was far more likely that this timing had been the plan all along between MoonMillenniummon and Daemon.
"Datamon, you and Machinedramon stay and hold Tai City. Don't launch a sortie. Once we finish things with MoonMillenniummon here, Omnimon and I will come back and settle things with them in a final battle."
This was the only conservative strategy Tai could choose.
He forced himself to calm down and stop thinking about what was happening back in Tai City, focusing instead on MoonMillenniummon before him, trying to find its weakness and a way to kill it completely.
Tai absolutely refused to believe that MoonMillenniummon couldn't be killed—he was convinced he simply hadn't found the right method yet.
"Open fire!"
With Datamon's command, countless streaks like shooting stars suddenly erupted from within Tai City, rushing at high speed toward the advancing Dark Army. Mechanorimon, Guardromon, and Tankmon all unleashed their attacks. Up in the sky, Megadramon and Gigadramon opened their launch ports and fired volleys of organic missiles.
Countless streaks of light rained down on the dark host. Daemon looked up with a cold sneer and raised his hand, unleashing Hellfire to detonate the incoming missiles at a distance, the explosions staining the sky a blazing red.
The other Digimon of the Dark Army also attacked, intercepting the barrage. Yet every time they destroyed part of the incoming fire, more attacks followed. Missiles, shells, and lasers exploded again and again within the Dark Army's ranks, each blast reducing some Digimon to raw data—yet new Dark Digimon continued to pour out of the gate in an endless stream.
Nor was the Dark Army content to simply stand there and take the bombardment; they unleashed their own attacks, firing back toward distant Tai City.
From above, one could see a huge city and a black torrent in the distance, both sides constantly spewing all kinds of attacks at one another, with massive explosions erupting within both formations. Data streamed through the air as dust and black smoke shrouded the sky.
Even though Tai City was firing on all cylinders, the attacks simply couldn't break through the defenses of the three Mega-level Digimon—Daemon and his two Demon Lord allies. With each strike from the three of them, an entire building-sized fortress crumbled, and the countless mechanical soldiers within were reduced to ashes.
In the central control center, Datamon stared at the screens before him while Hagurumon and Repairmon scurried about nonstop. Locomon shuttled back and forth, delivering parts and materials to support their repairs on damaged sections.
One Hagurumon was working on a cannon that had been damaged by continuous firing when a black energy wave suddenly slammed into the building, blowing the whole structure to rubble. Scenes like this unfolded over and over throughout Tai City.
At last, the Dark Army broke through the curtain of fire and reached the outskirts of Tai City. Lined up at the defensive perimeter were ranks of Mechanorimon and Tankmon, interspersed with dozens of MetalTyrannomon, while up above, a few flickering MetalPhantomon dove down, brandishing laser scythes.
MetalTyrannomon is a Cyborg Digimon that modified its body in pursuit of greater power. After the success of the anti-air Megadramon, this Machine-type Digimon was further remade for ground engagements. Its reinforced body can deflect any attack, and its powerful lower jaw can bite through any defensive armor.
Its special moves are Giga Destroyer II, an organic missile launched from its right arm whose destructive power surpasses even MetalGreymon's Giga Destroyer, and Nuclear Laser, a powerful laser beam fired from its left arm.
MetalPhantomon is a fully mechanized, grim-reaper-like Cyborg Digimon. It moves using energy supplied from another-dimension Digital World and is said to be controlled by some unknown entity. It manifests an energy scythe and lets out an eerie cry, Grave Scream, against which any armor or shield is meaningless, as it directly reaps the opponent's soul.
Its special attack, Soul Predator, swells the scythe with immense energy as though thirsting for souls, then brings it crashing down on its target.
In the air, Megadramon and Gigadramon were the first to open fire, kicking off the new phase of the battle as dozens of missiles streaked toward the Dark Army. At the same time, both the Dark Army and the Mechanical Army surged forward, charging at each other.
"Sector One and Sector Three have fallen!"
"Units in Sectors Nine, Eleven, and Thirteen have lost over half their forces—requesting reinforcements!"
"Sectors Eight and Twelve are no longer defensible—request permission to abandon!"
"Sectors Two, Three, and Five are now engaging the enemy!"
Reports from Hagurumon echoed through the central control room without pause. The Mechanical Army was fighting hard, but the power of Mega-level Digimon simply wasn't something ordinary Digimon could withstand. Under the assault led by the three Demon Lords, the Mechanical Army was forced into a constant retreat, their defensive lines being broken one after another.
"Detonate all lost sectors," Datamon's merciless mechanical voice rang out.
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