Chapter 84: The Demon Beast Returns to Her Old Habits
The Ultimate-level Digimon—MetalGreymon!
Ever since he successfully shattered his limits and evolved to this formidable stage with Mizuki's help, a deep shift had occurred within him. The initial, gnawing discomfort of transforming into a Virus-attribute Digimon—a dark, heavy sensation that had previously clawed at his data—had completely vanished. As he flexed his massive, cybernetic claws and adapted to the surging power of his reborn body, pure, unadulterated ecstasy flooded MetalGreymon's core.
Yet, eclipsing even that intoxicating rush of newfound strength, was an overwhelming tide of gratitude directed entirely at the young man standing before him.
"Mizuki! My great... great... great... King!" MetalGreymon stammered, his deep, metallic voice trembling with an emotion far too large for his fearsome vocal cords. "You... I... No, I mean—"
Watching the towering cyborg dinosaur stumble over his words, utterly incoherent with excitement, Mizuki didn't mind the clumsy display in the slightest. Instead, the corners of his lips curled into a warm, gentle smile.
"Relax, MetalGreymon," Mizuki said, his voice steady and reassuring. "You don't need to force the words. This is exactly what you deserve."
He reached out, resting a hand near the Digimon's massive armored leg. "From now on, I only hope you continue to use this power to protect the companions standing beside you."
"Yes—yes, I will!" MetalGreymon roared softly, nodding his heavy, chrome-plated head with absolute conviction.
Giving the newly evolved Ultimate a final, approving nod, Mizuki turned and walked away. He knew all too well that MetalGreymon needed a moment to process the sheer magnitude of his own emotions and the heavy reality of his new form.
As Mizuki stepped back, the skeletal giant, SkullGreymon, lumbered over to MetalGreymon's side. The bone-dragon's hollow eye sockets seemed to gleam with a brotherly amusement.
"Now you don't have to look at me with such envy anymore, do you?" SkullGreymon rumbled, his tone laced with heavy teasing.
"Hehe... Hehehe..."
Faced with his companion's dry jab, MetalGreymon could only let out a series of deep, booming, and entirely honest laughs. The warm, harmonious atmosphere between the two massive, terrifyingly destructive Virus-types formed a stark, almost comical contrast to their nightmarish appearances.
Leaving the two heavyweights to their bonding, Mizuki made his way toward the center of the battlefield, where the rest of the surviving Digimon had gathered.
He swept his gaze across the crowd of creatures who had bled and fought so fiercely for his sake. Their digital bodies were battered, their armor cracked, and their fur singed. A sharp flicker of worry crossed Mizuki's features as he took in their scarred appearances, but he quickly swallowed the hesitation. His jaw set. Worry wouldn't heal them; action would.
"Belle," Mizuki murmured softly, bringing his hands together as if gently cupping a fragile ember. "Please, help me."
He barely needed to voice the request. Belle was already moving. Stepping up right behind him, she opened her slender arms and wrapped them securely around his shoulders, pulling his back against her chest. A pair of magnificent, pitch-black wings unfurled from her back, sweeping forward to envelop both of their bodies in a protective, feathery cocoon.
Watching Mizuki and Belle standing together in the center of the clearing, the surrounding Digimon instinctively held their breath. Though none of them entirely understood what the pair intended to do, a heavy, reverent silence fell over the crowd. Not a single Digimon dared to speak, terrified of shattering the deep stillness that had suddenly gripped the area.
Under their collective, unblinking gaze, a faint, pure light began to bleed through the gaps in Belle's dark, enveloping wings.
It was a brilliant luminescence, yet entirely devoid of harshness. It didn't blind or burn the eyes. Instead, it possessed a strange, paradoxical quality. Even as it bloomed within the deepest, most oppressive darkness of the surrounding environment, the light never fought against the shadows. It didn't pierce or destroy the dark; it simply embraced it, accepting the surrounding gloom with an infinite, quiet grace.
A ripple of recognition passed through the veteran fighters in the crowd. They had witnessed this exact miracle once before—back when Mizuki had pulled Monodramon back from the brink of deletion.
Before anyone could fully process the memory, the gentle radiance contained within the black wings began to rise and expand. Like the first, quiet breath of dawn breaking through a long, suffocating night, the light spilled outward in a sweeping, silent wave.
The moment the illumination washed over them, a deep warmth soaked into their battered data. The Digimon enveloped within the glow felt the agonizing, burning pain of their virus-corroded wounds begin to recede.
They blinked, staring down at their own hands and bodies. No—this wasn't some fleeting illusion born of exhaustion. It was real!
Jagged cuts knitted back together. Scorched armor smoothed out and repaired itself. As they watched their severe injuries rapidly close and heal, a wave of pure rejoicing swept through the crowd. When they finally lifted their heads to look back at the source of the light, their eyes shone with an overwhelming, almost fanatical mixture of gratitude and raw admiration.
"King Mizuki... King Mizuki actually saved us!" one of the smaller Digimon cried out, tears welling in its eyes.
"Wuwuwu... It's not just the big bosses who get his attention," another sobbed loudly, wiping its snout. "Even nobodies like us are worthy of this kind of treatment?"
"Does that even need to be asked?!" a third shouted, puffing out its chest. "King Mizuki has always been this gentle to us!"
"Listen up!" a scarred brawler roared, slamming its fists together. "If any bastard dares to oppose King Mizuki in the future, I'll personally smash their dog head into scrap data!"
"Damn right! Count me in!"
"And me! I'll tear them apart!"
It wasn't just their physical injuries that were vanishing. As the healing light soaked into their cores, the Digimon could feel their internal power reserves steadily rising, their base data thickening and stabilizing.
While the boost wasn't quite enough to trigger a spontaneous digivolution, not a single creature present felt even a whisper of dissatisfaction. Why would they? Their eyes remained locked on Mizuki, brimming with absolute, unwavering loyalty.
Complain? They would have to be insane. Anyone with half a brain could go ask around the entire Digital World and see what answers they got. Which other King, possessing such terrifying, world-shaking power, would ever stoop to be this gentle?
Most rulers treated their armies as disposable fodder. But Mizuki? He didn't just shower favor upon his most powerful, Ultimate-level generals. He looked at the ordinary, weak, everyday Digimon and treated them with the exact same, equal measure of warmth and respect.
Mizuki hadn't issued a single command. He hadn't asked them for a pledge of fealty or demanded a blood oath. Yet, in that glowing, silent moment, every single Digimon present came to the exact same, unshakable resolution.
To protect the greatest King they had ever known, they would gladly march into the darkest abyss. They would spare no effort, hold nothing back, and willingly sacrifice their very lives if it meant keeping Mizuki safe.
Just as the heavy, emotional atmosphere reached its peak, a cluster of unfamiliar, groggy voices drifted over from the edge of the clearing.
"Ugh... Hmm? What... what happened?"
"Where are we...?"
"Wait. Are we... still alive?"
Hearing the confused murmurs, several of Mizuki's veteran BlackGatomon subconsciously turned their heads toward the sound.
They blinked in surprise. The pack of frenzied, virus-corrupted Dobermon that had previously been lying unconscious and scattered across the dirt had completely vanished. In their place sat a large group of fellow BlackGatomon, rubbing their heads and looking around with expressions of utter bewilderment.
Seeing their dazed state, Mizuki's veterans immediately understood what had happened. Exchanging knowing, slightly smug glances, they trotted over and surrounded the newly awakened group.
"Does that even need to be asked? Of course you're still alive, you idiots!" one of the veterans chirped, crossing her arms.
"It's all thanks to the incredible, gentle King Mizuki that you even have the chance to stand here with your data intact," another added proudly.
"Exactly, exactly! So what are you waiting for? Hurry up and pledge your absolute allegiance to King Mizuki!"
"???" The newly awakened BlackGatomon stared at them, completely lost.
Before the confused newcomers could even begin to process where they were, they were thoroughly dizzy from the veterans' rapid-fire barrage of praise.
Just as they were starting to panic, unsure of how to respond to this aggressive recruitment pitch, a tall, imposing shadow dropped from the sky, landing squarely between the two groups.
"Ah! It's Big Sister BlackGatomon!" one of the newly awakened cats blurted out, recognizing the familiar aura.
The tall figure crossed her arms, her dark lips curving into a sharp smirk. "Fool. I'm LadyDevimon now."
After shooting a mild glare at the subordinate who had used her old title, LadyDevimon turned her piercing gaze toward the huddled, confused mass of newcomers.
As their initial bewilderment slowly morphed into wide-eyed astonishment at her towering, Ultimate-level form, LadyDevimon sighed. A dark aura flared around her, and her tall, humanoid body began to rapidly compress and shrink. Within seconds, the imposing demoness had transformed back into the familiar, diminutive appearance of a BlackGatomon.
She dusted off her paws and looked at them. "Speaking to you while looking like this should make things a lot easier to understand, right?"
"You really are—Big Sister BlackGatomon!" one of the newcomers gasped.
"That's right," she replied, her tone dripping with casual confidence.
The BlackGatomon nodded once, allowing them a moment to process the familiarity, before her data flared violently once more. In a flash of dark energy, she evolved straight back into her towering LadyDevimon form, her tattered black wings snapping open.
"As you can clearly see," she purred, looking down at them, "I am now an Ultimate-level LadyDevimon."
She gestured gracefully toward the center of the clearing. "And the sole reason I was able to achieve this power is entirely thanks to the great Lord Mizuki."
Seeing the blank, uncomprehending stares of her former peers, LadyDevimon chuckled. "I know you must be burning with curiosity about who Lord Mizuki is. But before we get to the best part, let me properly explain the miserable situation you all just woke up from."
Taking on the tone of a seasoned storyteller, LadyDevimon proceeded to recount everything that had transpired over the past few days.
At first, the newly awakened BlackGatomon vehemently shook their heads, completely unwilling to believe the absurd claim that the tyrannical Etemon was actually dead. He had ruled over them with an iron fist for too long; his invincibility was practically a law of nature to them.
However, as LadyDevimon carefully laid out the cold, hard truth of how Etemon had callously deceived and used them as disposable pawns, their denial began to crack. And when they felt the suffocating, obvious pressure of LadyDevimon's Ultimate-level aura—an aura that clearly eclipsed Etemon's—the final pieces clicked into place.
Coming to their senses, the BlackGatomon erupted into a chorus of vicious, spitting curses directed at their former, deceased master.
Their furious cursing, however, was short-lived. The anger quickly drained from their faces, replaced by pale expressions of lingering terror as LadyDevimon revealed the next part of the story. She explained how Datamon had been secretly lurking beneath the inverted Pyramid the entire time, and how the mechanical menace had hijacked the dark network to forcibly mutate them into mindless, frenzied beasts.
"How... how is such a terrifying thing even possible?" one of them whispered, hugging her arms as a shudder racked her small frame.
"Turning us into irrational, rabid monsters..." another muttered, looking at her own paws in horror. "If all of that is true, then... what's happening to us right now? Why are we back to normal?"
"Is our recovery also related to that 'Mizuki' person you mentioned earlier, Big Sister?" a braver BlackGatomon asked hesitantly.
LadyDevimon's eyes narrowed dangerously. "First of all," she snapped, her voice cracking like a whip, "it is not just 'Mizuki'. It is Lord Mizuki to you!"
She raised a single, long, clawed finger, pointing it sharply at the offending speaker. "Second, I am no longer just your 'Big Sister'. I am LadyDevimon! Address me properly."
Her severe expression suddenly melted into a highly amused, almost theatrical smirk. "But as for your question... congratulations. You've finally hit the nail right on the head."
She spread her arms wide, her voice rising in a dramatic, impassioned crescendo. "That's exactly right! The only reason you miserable lot are still standing here, breathing and in your right minds, is entirely thanks to the great, benevolent, kind, devastatingly handsome, and utterly invincible beacon of all Digimon—"
She paused for dramatic effect, her eyes gleaming. "The holy Lord Mizuki!"
The crowd of BlackGatomon collectively flinched: "—!"
They stood frozen in stunned silence. Although they still couldn't quite wrap their heads around what kind of extraordinary existence this 'Lord Mizuki' actually was, the evidence was right in front of them. Seeing the normally aloof and cynical LadyDevimon praising a human with such fanatical devotion was jarring enough. Add to that the obvious fact that they had just been miraculously saved from a fate worse than deletion, and the math was simple.
Unknowingly, the seeds of reverence had already been planted. A deep, burning curiosity and a strange sense of anticipation began to bubble up within their data regarding this mysterious, god-like savior.
"Alright, alright, LadyDevimon, stop keeping us in suspense!" one of the bolder cats finally meowed, her tail twitching with impatience.
"Quickly, tell us the rest!"
"You can't just climb to the top, get all this amazing power, and forget about your poor sisters down here!"
"Exactly, exactly! Spill the details!"
Amidst the eager, whining urgings of the surrounding BlackGatomon, LadyDevimon's dark lips curved into an incredibly smug, satisfied smile. Slipping effortlessly back into her old habits, she prepared to deliver the ultimate sales pitch.
"My dear sisters," LadyDevimon purred, her voice dropping into a smooth, hypnotic cadence. "I'm sure you've all noticed it by now, haven't you?"
She paced slowly in front of them, her tattered wings trailing behind her. "This miserable world we live in is teetering right on the absolute verge of collapse. Between the endless, pointless infighting among Digimon and the constant, suffocating emergence of dark forces, there is no future here."
She stopped, turning to fix them with a burning, fanatical stare. "But for any Digimon who wishes to escape this cruel, grinding environment... for anyone who truly desires a better, stronger, and more glorious life... Lord Mizuki is the ultimate safe haven. He is the answer you've been waiting for—"
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