A massive explosion instantly captured the Digimon Kaiser's attention…!
It came from the battlefield where Zero was fighting Puppetmon—or rather, that place had long become the fiercest center of combat.
Even though Puppetmon's monstrous puppet had caught Zero in its grasp, clearly such an attack was nowhere near enough to trap him.
From afar, a fiery blast erupted atop the monster's head, sending out shockwaves powerful enough to disperse clouds and force the gigantic creature staggering backward.
Amid the flames, Zero reappeared, sword still clenched in one hand. Yet, though the blow had landed solidly, Puppetmon's real body remained unharmed.
The monster, leaning back, furiously swung its huge arms at Zero in retaliation.
Zero instantly countered with a Glorious Burst, blasting apart one of the monster's palms. But before the explosion even cleared, its other hand surged forward, engulfing the blinding flash—and Zero himself—in its enormous fist.
From hundreds of meters away, a sickening crunch could be clearly heard.
Yet, mere seconds later, flames burst out from between the giant's fingers, two of them completely shattered, as Zero emerged, completely unscathed.
Meanwhile, grotesque bulges swelled along the monster's back, from which several additional arms erupted violently. Enormous fists hurled forward, generating fierce gusts of wind pressure even before landing. A massive crater formed instantly beneath Zero from the sheer force.
And it wasn't just one fist—multiple fists converged from every angle, clearly intent on smashing Zero to pieces.
Zero swung his GeoGrey Sword, transforming his entire body into a streak of blazing red light, colliding directly with the fists.
Breaking through the first wave of fists, he surged upward along the monster's arm, punching a gaping hole straight through its enormous body.
To any lesser Digimon, this would be mythic-level power—each casual blow able to reshape the land itself. Zero had surpassed the level of a walking nuke; he'd become a walking map editor.
Puppetmon's own frontal combat strength was never remarkable, but when combined with his puppet strings and favorable terrain, his abilities became terrifying.
Enhanced further by his "Cursed Puppet" ability, channeling cursed magic into his creations greatly magnified their destructive power.
Even more chillingly, he could craft cursed dolls infused with the souls of grudges, capable of remotely transferring fatal damage directly to targets, killing enemies silently from vast distances.
Zero, however, was simply too powerful for Puppetmon's curses to affect him. Thus, his trump card remained unused.
But for weaker foes, Puppetmon's silent manipulation of life and death was nightmarish. Their very existence rested within his whims, their deaths achievable with a mere thought—inescapable, untraceable curses.
If Puppetmon hadn't essentially been a spoiled, childish brat and instead a cunning schemer, the original Chosen Children could have been wiped out with frightening ease.
His puppet strings alone could control Mega-level Digimon; even WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon had fallen victim in the past, only saved in the end by crest-induced immunity.
The cursed dolls, if used properly, were absolute tools of annihilation.
Sadly, these terrifying powers had fallen into the hands of an impulsive child who'd used them merely as prank-level tricks, failing utterly to realize their potential.
But now, Zero clearly saw the theoretical strength Puppetmon should possess—and understood something important:
This terrifying level was the bare minimum for someone who held the rank of a Dark Army commander.
But if Puppetmon was this troublesome, how much harder would it be to handle Piedmon and Machinedramon—both of whom required plot armor and group efforts in canon?
Well, there was no use worrying about that now; the enemy at hand was troublesome enough.
After dozens of intense exchanges, Zero felt he'd accumulated enough momentum.
Amid another storm of fists, Zero shattered the surrounding limbs once again with a fierce Glorious Burst combined with a sweep of his GeoGrey Sword. The monster's arms shattered explosively, unable to withstand the recoil.
Yet this colossal puppet was simply that—a puppet. No matter how much it was destroyed, it didn't harm Puppetmon himself. After all, it wasn't truly alive. The real threat lay hidden: Puppetmon, who manipulated it all from the shadows.
The puppet was merely a tool… and the thing about tools was that you could always replace them with another!
New limbs erupted instantly from shattered stumps, their numbers even doubling this time.
"How much longer can you hold out against my attacks? You must be reaching your limit, right?"
Puppetmon's voice rose with gleeful anticipation, so fixated on Zero that it failed to notice something crucial—or perhaps, because it stood atop such a gigantic puppet, it couldn't see clearly the changes happening far below.
"Haha, talking about limits already? You're underestimating me way too much. Or perhaps…you're the one nearing your limit, and this is just bluffing?"
Zero's voice showed no hint of strain, seemingly as relaxed as his words suggested.
Puppetmon's tone darkened noticeably. "Fine, enjoy laughing while you still can!"
"Those words—I return them to you exactly as spoken. Look down—can you still laugh after seeing 'this'?"
"?!"
At Zero's reminder, Puppetmon finally noticed the subtle changes below.
While manipulating the giant puppet, hidden away, Puppetmon hadn't realized that beneath the monster, a broken path of stone and rubble had gradually surrounded it bit by bit, accompanied by ruined walls and ancient remnants rising from the ground.
Each time Zero successfully pushed back the monster, the path expanded slightly, and the ruins became clearer and clearer.
At this very moment, the path had fully encircled the monstrous puppet, and the ruined structures had transformed under the sunlight, revealing a magnificent, golden hall.
"Walking the thorn-filled path, overcoming every trial and hardship… Only after passing through countless obstacles will one finally reach the shrine of victory."
Hoisting the GeoGrey Sword high, Zero pointed skyward toward the blazing sun.
"The road to victory is now complete. All that remains…is to embrace victory itself!"
"You're bluffing! Who do you think you're fooling?!"
Puppetmon realized too late that something had gone seriously wrong. Zero's domain was exceptionally subtle; it expanded gradually through accumulated victories, each increment tiny and nearly unnoticeable, meaning enemies rarely recognized its expansion until it was too late.
By the time they finally noticed, it was already complete. Countless tiny steps had accumulated, forging a magnificent path directly to victory itself!
Zero tightened his grip on the GeoGrey Sword. Radiant golden-red energy erupted powerfully from both edges of the blade…
"Alright, here we go!"
Zero lunged forward decisively. Puppetmon stubbornly refused to back down; countless massive fists swung downward, blotting out the sky, determined to bury Zero completely.
With a swift horizontal slash, Zero's GeoGrey Sword emitted a broad, fan-shaped beam of light, instantly slicing every descending arm neatly in two!
Without pause, Zero immediately reversed into a vertical strike. The intersecting horizontal and vertical slashes formed a blazing cross, tearing directly through the monster's immense body!
"Wha—?!"
Puppetmon finally realized how serious things had become. Boosted by the fully-formed Glorious Shrine of Victory, Zero's strength had now risen to an unimaginable level.
Two sword strikes had completely shattered the colossal puppet, which crumbled bit by bit into scattering ash beneath surging waves of flame.
As the ash dispersed, Puppetmon's true body—the puppeteer who'd been hiding within—was finally revealed.
Zero raised his GeoGrey Sword and hurled it directly at Puppetmon. The sword, enveloped in golden-red brilliance, transformed mid-air into a crimson spear…
Puppetmon desperately raised his hammer to block the incoming attack, only for the two weapons to collide head-on.
But in a pure contest of strength, Puppetmon stood absolutely no chance against Zero at this moment. With a pained scream, he was sent hurtling from the sky, engulfed in inextinguishable flames born from the fusion of DigiSoul and the fire of courage.
Puppetmon writhed helplessly, desperately beating at the flames consuming his wooden body, yet unable to extinguish them.
Meanwhile, the GeoGrey Sword, spinning back from its flight, smoothly returned to Zero's waiting grasp…
"It's over…"
Immediately afterward, Zero raised his sword again, swinging it down decisively toward Puppetmon.
Just as the sword was about to land a finishing blow, a sudden burst of applause echoed in the empty air.
"Marvelous, truly marvelous… You're quite an incredible fellow…"
As the voice spoke, a white cloth descended swiftly from the sky, neatly draping itself over Puppetmon's body an instant before Zero's sword struck.
Zero instantly spun around, slashing again. The white cloth fluttered upward, empty. Puppetmon had vanished completely.
This stunning display of disappearing trickery caught everyone by surprise. At the same time, two more white cloths appeared, swiftly wrapping around the Digimon Kaiser and LadyDevimon.
"You win this round—I admit it clearly. Did you hear that? I said you win~"
As the cloth scattered, both the Digimon Kaiser and LadyDevimon had vanished as well.
Lowering his GeoGrey Sword, Zero closed his eyes in silence for two full seconds. Then, abruptly turning toward a certain spot, he slashed downward again without hesitation…
A shimmering distortion rippled through the empty air. A white-gloved hand casually caught the blade, effortlessly holding back Zero's strike. From that distortion emerged a figure in an exaggerated clown costume.
"Oh? You saw through my disguise? Impressive indeed—I must say, you continue to exceed my expectations…"
Taichi, Hikari, Koushiro, and Rina stared in shock at this new intruder, immediately realizing who it was.
The leader of the Dark Masters and the supreme commander of the Dark Army…
…The demonic clown himself—Piedmon!
---
T/N: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK STUPID PIEDMON!!!!! HE KEEPS INTERFERING!!! SHRAA
T/N2: hello i am back from japan, and i am sick heres some chapters i remembered you guys exist
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