Chapter 82: Let That Miracle Happen Again
The suffocating tide of darkness that had choked the battlefield finally began to recede, peeling back like a dying breath. As the shadows dissolved, Datamon's ruined mechanical body was laid bare. Severed cables and fragmented streams of code sparked weakly in the dirt around him. It was obvious he had desperately siphoned power from the Dark Network to shield himself from LadyDevimon's onslaught. Had he not used the network as a meat shield, his fragile frame would have been instantly vaporized by her finishing strike.
"He actually survived that?" LadyDevimon murmured. Her crimson eyes narrowed, flashing with a chilling, predatory light as she locked onto the twitching cyborg. "Never mind. It makes no difference in the end."
She took a deliberate step forward, her clawed fingers flexing. She was fully prepared to close the distance and deliver the final, merciless execution.
Yet, before she could close the gap, the air rippled. A familiar silhouette materialized directly in her path.
LadyDevimon halted, her cold expression cracking into genuine surprise. The newcomer stood tall, a dark blue mask concealing the upper half of her face. Brilliant golden hair cascaded down her back, contrasting sharply against her signature black trench coat. Despite her youthful features, she radiated an powerful aura of absolute authority and lethal grace.
"Big Sister Belle!?" LadyDevimon blurted out, the fearsome dark angel suddenly sounding like a startled subordinate.
"You..." Belle's eye twitched beneath her mask. She raised a fist, fighting the instinctual urge to smack the taller Digimon over the head for that ridiculous nickname. She took a slow breath, her knuckles popping, but ultimately lowered her hand. LadyDevimon had just fought a grueling, flawless battle. She deserved a pass. For now.
"Leave this piece of scrap to me," Belle ordered, her voice smooth but leaving no room for argument. "He possesses something that can help Mizuki. In exchange, the secondary battlefield still requires an Ultimate level to mop up the stragglers."
She tilted her chin toward the lingering remnants of the Dark Network in the distance. With Datamon incapacitated, the chaotic data pulses of the network had slowed to a sluggish crawl. MetalGreymon (Blue) was currently tearing through the remaining infected nodes, and while the massive cyborg dragon could certainly clear the area alone, it would be a slow, grinding process. An extra set of claws would expedite the cleanup immensely.
LadyDevimon processed the logic instantly. She gave the shattered Datamon one last disdainful glance before bowing her head slightly. "Understood, Big Sister Belle. Please be careful with that trash."
Without waiting for a response, she spread her tattered wings and launched herself toward the distant explosions. She flew with such frantic speed that it was entirely debatable whether she was eager to assist her comrades or simply desperate to escape Belle's immediate vicinity.
Belle watched her go in absolute silence. She glared at the receding dark speck in the sky, making a very specific mental note that she had been called that infuriating nickname twice in the span of a minute. Exhaling a sharp breath, she turned her attention back to the pathetic heap of metal and flesh at her feet.
"I do not particularly enjoy taking lives," Belle stated, her tone dropping to a glacial chill as she closed the distance. "But you dared to target Mizuki. That leaves me with only one course of action."
She reached down, her gloved fingers wrapping effortlessly around Datamon's cracked chassis, and hoisted him into the air.
Dangling helplessly, Datamon finally registered the sheer, suffocating density of the data radiating from the woman holding him. His mechanical optical sensors dilated in raw, unfiltered terror.
"A Mega level?" he rasped, his voice synthesizer glitching with panic. "How is that possible! How can you be a Mega level? This world has not seen a Mega in ages! Is this... is this the unnatural power of the DigiDestined?!"
"I have no interest in conversing with you," Belle replied, her expression entirely deadpan. "You are not worthy of an explanation."
She ignored his frantic rambling. Golden energy flared around her hand as she forcibly tapped into his mainframe. Datamon let out a mechanical shriek. He could feel his internal firewalls shattering like glass. His core data, his accumulated knowledge, and even the protective layers of his Digicore were being forcibly decrypted and stripped away at a terrifying speed.
"You... you are stealing my knowledge?!" he screeched, his limbs flailing weakly.
"Everything you know will serve Mizuki," Belle said, her voice devoid of any pity. "That is the only value your existence has left."
The download completed in seconds. Without giving the cyborg another fraction of a second to beg, Belle's grip tightened. Metal shrieked. Glass shattered. With a sickening crunch, she crushed his central processor into digital dust. Datamon's body dissolved into a flurry of dead, gray pixels, scattering into the wind.
"And so, it ends," she murmured, brushing off her gloves.
Without a backward glance, she took to the sky, streaking directly toward Mizuki's location.
The chaotic siege that had ravaged the Pyramid sector finally drew to a close with Datamon's execution. Yet, as the dust settled over the scarred earth, the surviving Digimon did not erupt into cheers. A heavy, somber silence hung over the battlefield.
The reason was painfully obvious. Even with three powerhouse leaders, led by the relentless might of MetalGreymon (Blue), holding the frontline against the Dark Network's main assault, the sheer volume of frenzied Dobermon had slipped through the cracks. The rabid hounds had inflicted severe damage upon the defending Rookie level Digimon.
This devastation occurred despite their side boasting heavy reinforcements: two Megadramon raining fire from above, four sturdy Monochromon holding the perimeter, and two Dobermon of their own, who had evolved from the initial pair of Labramon to fight off their corrupted kin.
As Mizuki's footsteps crunched against the scorched earth, the exhausted defenders noticed his approach. One by one, they lowered their heads in shame.
"We are sorry, King Mizuki..." one of the Dobermon growled softly, his ears pinned back against his skull. "We failed to properly protect our smaller companions. We have disappointed you."
"Disappointed? Why would you ever say that?"
Mizuki paused in front of the two Dobermon. He surveyed their battered, panting forms. There was not a single trace of anger or dissatisfaction on his face. Instead, his dark eyes reflected only his usual, unwavering gentleness and deep concern for their well-being.
"Battle is inherently a painful, ugly thing," Mizuki said softly. "You faced a terrifying, frenzied enemy. Yet, you not only held the line and defeated them, but you achieved the absolute miracle of zero casualties. Under these circumstances, you should be swelling with pride."
He reached out, his hands gently stroking the coarse fur of the Dobermon's heads, soothing their lingering battle-tension. "So, raise your heads, everyone. What we should be doing right now is embracing the hard-fought joy of our victory, not hanging our heads as if we had lost."
"King Mizuki..." The two Dobermon choked up, hot tears welling in their fierce eyes, washing away the grime of combat.
Before they could voice their overwhelming gratitude, Mizuki raised a hand, gesturing for them to follow him. Swallowing their emotions, the hounds exchanged a curious glance and obediently fell into step behind him, their heavy paws treading softly over the broken ground.
"Wuwuwu... Big Brother... Big Brother Monochromon..."
A series of pitiful, broken whimpers drifted through the smoke before Mizuki even reached the clearing. The sound of pure, helpless grief made his chest tighten, and he subconsciously quickened his pace, his boots kicking up ash.
He broke through the lingering smog and found the source of the crying. Four massive Monochromon stood in a tight, protective circle around a fallen comrade.
The Monochromon lying in the center of the crater was in agonizing condition. His thick, armored hide was riddled with deep, jagged puncture wounds, every single one inflicted by the corrosive dark cables of the network. As a Data-attribute Digimon, his very code was inherently vulnerable to the vicious Virus-attribute corruption. Coupled with the fact that his raw power was vastly inferior to heavy hitters like Megadramon or MetalGreymon, it was a miracle he had survived the frontline at all.
Mizuki stopped, his jaw setting into a hard line as he took in the gruesome sight.
Hearing the crunch of approaching footsteps, one of the standing Monochromon turned his heavy, horned head. Seeing the human boy, the dinosaur's eyes widened, and he spoke in a thick, broken rumble. "King Mizuki... Big Brother Monochromon, he... he..."
"I see it," Mizuki interrupted softly, his voice steadying the panicked beast. "He was incredibly brave. To protect his smaller companions, he threw himself into the cruelest darkness without a single second of hesitation. I see exactly what he did."
Under the mournful gaze of the four towering dinosaurs, Mizuki stepped directly into the crater. He knelt beside the motionless Monochromon, reaching out to gently rest his palm against the beast's cold, cracked snout.
The damage was catastrophic. The deep, malignant erosion of the virus had already triggered an irreversible collapse of the Digimon's structural data. Faint, glowing pixels were bleeding from his wounds, drifting upward like embers from a dying fire. Even his Digicore, the very heart of his existence, was fractured and failing. By all laws of the Digital World, death was an absolute certainty.
Watching the life literally flake away from the brave creature, Mizuki slowly closed his eyes.
'Death...'The image of Monochromon's fierce, unyielding stand against the rabid horde flashed vividly in Mizuki's mind. A creature of humble origins, possessing no legendary lineage or overwhelming power, yet he had burned with such a dazzling, blinding light to shield those weaker than himself.'And I...' Mizuki's hands curled into tight fists.
"Perhaps in my past life, I was entirely helpless against the cold arrival of death," Mizuki whispered into the quiet air, his voice carrying a strange, resonant weight. "But now... everything is different."
He had been given a second chance. A healthy body. A new world. If the very continuation of his own existence was born from an impossible miracle, then he would force that miracle to manifest here and now.
Mizuki's eyes snapped open, burning with absolute conviction.
In that exact fraction of a second, a brilliant, flower-shaped crest materialized over his heart. It pulsed with a soft, radiant pink light, pushing back the lingering gloom of the battlefield.
It was the pure, unadulterated power of Kindness.
The phenomenon did not stop there. The exact same floral pattern flared to life on the back of Mizuki's hand, directly over where his palm rested against Monochromon's deteriorating armor.
The pink light cascaded outward, washing over the dying data, weaving the broken code back together with impossible gentleness. The bleeding pixels stopped scattering. The fractured armor began to knit itself whole.
The surrounding Digimon watched in breathless, wide-eyed awe. In that fleeting, beautiful moment, a single, unified thought echoed through the minds of every creature present.
If a true miracle actually existed in this digital realm... then the warm, pink light blooming before their eyes was its very essence.
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