Chapter 132: Recalling the Past — The Ultimate digivolution of Light
"You... don't seem to have Myotismon's full trust, do you?"
Mizuki tilted his head, a faint, almost pitying smile resting on his lips. He casually dusted off his knuckles. "After all, it looks like he didn't even bother to tell you how he got injured."
To Mizuki, shattering Deathmon's chain hammer with a single, bare-handed punch was a trivial matter, barely worth a second thought.
But to the surrounding Digimon, the impact of that casual strike was devastating. It was like watching a tiny Rookie completely dismantle an Ultimate-level powerhouse.
"Mizuki... Brother?" Motimon stammered, his small, doughy body trembling. His wide eyes stayed glued to the shattered metal fragments on the ground, his mouth hanging open as he struggled to form a complete sentence.
Deathmon floated in stunned silence. His ghostly form flickered, his mind completely failing to process Mizuki's mocking words.
Only one image looped in his consciousness: the human youth's fist colliding with his chain hammer, and the solid metal exploding into data shards.
That was the chain hammer attached to his scythe! It was not some random construct formed from loose environmental data. It was his companion weapon, forged from his own core the moment he evolved into Deathmon! In many ways, that dense metal was far harder than his actual spectral body.
Yet, this seemingly frail human boy had shattered it with a single, effortless punch?
Weren't humans supposed to be fragile? Even the DigiDestined, based on his careful observations over the past few days, possessed combat power that hovered around the Champion level at best—and a rather weak Champion level at that.
How could a mere Champion-level force possibly obliterate his weapon?
As Deathmon's thoughts spiraled into absolute disarray, Mizuki caught the shift in the air. He turned his head toward the small, pink, winged mentor hovering nearby.
"Teacher Piximon, you really tricked him badly..." Mizuki chuckled.
"Is it really okay to do that, pi?" Piximon shot back, zipping forward to pinch Mizuki's ear with surprising finger strength. "Pi! I told you not to mimic the way I talk, pi!"
Releasing the boy's ear, Piximon twirled the spear in his hands. The air rippled, a subtle distortion washing over the battlefield like a pulled curtain.
At that exact moment, the ghostly fire in Deathmon's single eye flared wildly. He recoiled, his grip tightening on his scythe.
"Your... your appearance?!"
"Can you see clearly now, pi? You dull Deathmon!" Piximon pointed the tip of his spear condescendingly. "In your eyes, what kind of Digimon am I exactly, pi?!"
Facing the overwhelming, concentrated data signature now radiating from the small pink fairy, Deathmon forced his erratic breathing to steady. The initial shock gave way to a cold, sinking realization.
"So... I have been deceived by you all along?"
The weak Rookie-level aura he had sensed earlier was nothing but a flawless illusion, deliberately woven by Piximon. He had been played for a fool from the very beginning.
Deathmon's spectral form violently expanded, the ghostly fire in his eye burning with a dark, suffocating intensity, but his mind remained razor-sharp. If they had the power to toy with him this entire time and were only now baring their fangs, they were absolutely planning to execute him.
In this dire situation, his only chance of breaking the encirclement was the half-baked Digimon from earlier.
The moment that thought crystallized, a white blur tore through the mist-shrouded field behind him.
It was Belle.
Though she had been caught off guard by Deathmon's previous ultimate attack, her absolute mastery over data manipulation meant she had suffered almost zero actual damage.
"Deathmon, your opponent is me!" Belle declared, her voice ringing with bright, fierce energy. In a flash of white, she closed the distance, appearing directly behind the spectral giant, her small fist pulled back.
"[Cat Punch!]"
"...Tsk."
After the humiliating revelation with Piximon, Deathmon was no longer certain if this Gatomon was truly as weak as her form suggested. But with a fist hurtling toward his skull, he had no time to second-guess.
"[Soul Chopper!]"
Eerie, purple-black energy coiled around the long handle of his giant scythe. With a brutal, sweeping swing, Deathmon kicked up a deep, suffocating tide of dark data.
Facing the Ultimate-level strike, Belle didn't flinch. She threw her small fist forward, meeting the massive blade head-on.
The collision of their attacks triggered a massive shockwave, tearing up the earth and sending a blast of wind howling toward the treeline.
Seeing the destructive fallout, Mizuki calmly raised a hand. The golden, geometric data of BryweLudramon's shield materialized in the air, forming an invisible, curved barrier that safely deflected the shockwave away from the huddled, weaker Digimon.
Hovering nearby, Piximon caught the subtle use of the shield. The fairy Digimon cast a long, unreadable glance at Mizuki, opening his mouth to speak, but ultimately shook his head and let it go.
Back in the center of the cratered clearing, the clashes continued at a blistering pace.
Sparks rained down as fist met scythe. Deathmon's spectral body was pushed back inch by inch. He quickly realized this Gatomon's raw physical power was not just equal to his own—it was vastly superior.
Yet, Deathmon didn't panic. As a Ghost-type Digimon, brute-force brawling was never his specialty. His giant scythe and chain hammer were tools for assassination, not honorable duels. Beyond physical strikes, he possessed a terrifying arsenal of eerie, supernatural arts.
Analyzing the battle in a fraction of a second, Deathmon decisively swung his scythe backward, using the momentum to carve a massive, glowing purple magic circle into the air before him.
"Is it that same move from before?"
Recognizing the gathering energy, Belle's figure blurred. She lunged forward, aiming to shatter the magic circle and interrupt the summoning with a close-range strike.
But Deathmon had anticipated the rush. Twisting his spectral body mid-air with unnatural flexibility, he narrowly evaded Belle's surprise attack, using the split second of her missed strike to finalize the incantation.
Watching from the sidelines, Piximon slapped a hand over his face, groaning in sheer exasperation.
"This little girl... I've said it a hundred times, pi! Before you're absolutely certain you can completely crush the enemy, going all out will only hand a massive opening to your opponent, pi!"
Piximon gripped his spear tightly. "No way. After everything here is over, she is doing extra training, pi!"
Just as Piximon finished his rant, a distinctly annoying, casual voice drifted over from beside him.
"Is that so? I think Belle has grown a lot..."
Silence fell between them. Piximon slowly turned his head, his large, pitch-black eyes locking onto Mizuki with an unblinking, deadpan stare.
Mizuki felt a chill crawl up his spine. Just as he was about to step back, Piximon lunged, his tiny fingers clamping onto Mizuki's ear in a vice grip.
"You have the absolute nerve to say that, pi?!"
"Ow, ow, wait—"
"If you hadn't let that child evolve so recklessly fast, would she be fighting like this right now, pi?!" Piximon scolded, pulling the boy's ear. "Do you know what happened during training? I told her she needed to use her brain more during combat, pi! And do you know how she answered me?"
Piximon puffed out his cheeks, mimicking Belle's bright, innocent expression perfectly. "That girl looked right at me and said, 'My brain tells me it's time to use super strength, pi!'"
Piximon threw his hands up in the air. "Super strength! Just brute strength, pi! Using raw power whenever she's undecided! Anyone who didn't know better would think her Mega form was some big, lumbering dummy like MetalGreymon!"
The fairy Digimon pointed an accusatory finger at Mizuki's chest. "And who do you think is to blame for all this? Spare the rod, spoil the child—no, it's 'indulgent father, failed daughter', pi!!"
Thoroughly lectured, Mizuki didn't dare talk back. He just sheepishly shrank his neck, rubbing his stinging ear.
In truth, Mizuki understood exactly what Piximon meant.
Belle's current situation was like an infant who hadn't even learned to walk suddenly being handed the power of a god. In most cases, it was fine—she could simply crush her opponents with overwhelming raw power.
The real danger lay in encountering an enemy who was not only powerful but possessed centuries of lethal combat experience. If that happened, even if Belle's 'Final Mode' kept her from losing, she would inevitably be beaten into a very pathetic state.
Mizuki had recognized this flaw early on, which was exactly why he had begged Piximon to train her.
But then again, he mused, rubbing his chin, in the world of the original DigiDestined, there shouldn't be anyone capable of standing on equal footing with Belle's sheer strength, right?
The Dark Masters? Those four little runts could be completely ignored.
Apocalymon was a genuinely troublesome existence, sure. Beyond that, there was Daemon from the second generation, Millenniumon who could pop out of the timeline at any given moment, Diaboromon lurking in the network, and Armageddemon later down the line...
There was no one else left—wait.
Mizuki froze, a sudden realization hitting him. He slapped his palms together.
"Right! How could I forget?"
"There's still that old geezer, GranDracmon!"
As an anomaly just like himself, GranDracmon hadn't shown his face since the incident on File Island. But Mizuki wasn't naive enough to believe the ancient vampire had just faded into obscurity.
You could look down on Apocalymon's destructive tantrums.
You could look down on Daemon's secret scheming.
You could even look down on Millenniumon's time paradoxes.
But you absolutely could not look down on a chaotic fun-seeker like GranDracmon. A literal Troll Beast!
Compared to simple, straightforward villains who just wanted to destroy the world, a bored, fun-seeking Digimon like GranDracmon was infinitely more unstable and unpredictable.
It was like when a trusted netizen posted a link promising high-quality adult content, but when you eagerly clicked it, it redirected you to a damn clickbait shopping link. Pure, unadulterated malice.
Mizuki coughed into his fist. Ahem, getting sidetracked.
In short, the current Belle indeed still had a long way to go.
Watching his partner engage in a high-speed, lethal dance with Deathmon, Mizuki's eyes softened with quiet determination.
"[Death Sentence!]"
"Tsk... that move again..."
Because she had failed to interrupt the magic circle, Belle could only watch as the dark energy flared, and Deathmon summoned a horde of rattling skeletons from the earth.
These skeletal familiars weren't particularly strong, but as they crawled from the dirt, they exhaled a thick, suffocating dark mist that rapidly flooded the battlefield, severely crippling visibility and sensory perception.
To be fair, it wasn't as if Belle had never fought a Deathmon before.
However, the Deathmon that Kari's Phantomon—affectionately dubbed 'Big White'—had evolved into was a mindless, lumbering brute that did nothing but spam scythe slashes. It had completely failed to use any of the terrifying, eerie characteristics inherent to Ghost-type Digimon.
This Deathmon was entirely different.
Before Belle could adjust her stance, the sweeping dark mist completely swallowed her figure.
Deathmon didn't stop his assault just because his ultimate move had successfully trapped her. Hovering in the shadows, he continuously channeled his data, commanding the skeletons to spew more and more mist.
Within moments, the entire clearing was plunged into absolute, suffocating darkness. Combined with the thick canopy of giant trees intertwining overhead, not a single speck of moonlight could pierce the gloom.
Trapped in the pitch-black environment, the weaker Digimon whimpered, huddling closer together in sheer terror.
But their panic was short-lived. A warm, invisible power gently wrapped around them, forming a secure perimeter in the dark.
"It's Brother Mizuki!" Motimon blurted out, his voice trembling with relief.
One by one, the frightened Digimon turned their gazes toward the blurry silhouette standing tall at the edge of the mist. A deep wave of gratitude washed over their hearts.
Mizuki didn't notice their reverent stares. His gaze was locked dead ahead, piercing into the deepest, thickest part of the dark mist.
It was as if the darkness itself could not sever the invisible bond tethering his soul to Belle's.
"So, what are you going to do next?" Mizuki murmured softly, his voice carrying only to himself. "Will you use your overwhelming force to violently disperse the mist? Or..."
Deep within the suffocating darkness, Belle's ears twitched. She seemed to sense Mizuki's silent question and cast a brief glance toward his direction.
Truthfully, the moment she realized Deathmon was trying to blind her, her very first instinct had been to detonate her aura and blow the mist away with raw, overwhelming power.
But as the data surged through her veins, she stopped.
Thinking about it carefully... it had been a very long time since she had felt this, hadn't it?
That desperate, suffocating feeling of having to put absolutely everything on the line just to survive another second.
Ever since she had evolved to the Mega level and awakened the apocalyptic power known as 'Final Mode', her mindset had unconsciously shifted.
Powerful strength allowed her to protect Mizu and the friends she held dear. But was raw power alone really enough?
At her core, her nature had never changed. She hated conflict. She despised pain.
Yet, despite that gentle nature, she had forced herself to walk this blood-soaked path of endless combat, all to become stronger.
The feeling back then... remember it. Remember the feeling from that time.
It was a sensation she had gradually let slip away since ascending to the Mega level. The raw, primal instinct of a cornered beast, gambling its very soul for survival and the right to protect its tamer.
As that realization settled into her core, a faint, pure light began to glow in the depths of Belle's eyes.
In the next fraction of a second, the shadows around her violently ruptured. Countless heavy chains shot out from the dark mist, striking at her from all directions like a nest of venomous snakes.
Watching Belle dodge clumsily through the fog, her movements seemingly sluggish and panicked, the hidden Deathmon curled his spectral lips into a cruel, eerie smile.
He knew exactly how to hunt agile, feline Digimon like Gatomon. He had learned from observing that annoying subordinate of Lord Myotismon.
To kill a highly agile target with strong sensory abilities but weak defenses, the strategy was simple: First, use the dark mist to blind their sight and choke their sense of smell. Second, use the rattling noise of the chains echoing in the fog to disorient their hearing while launching a coordinated, multi-directional assault.
Finally, when their mind broke under the sensory overload, seize that fleeting opening to deliver the fatal blow!
As the distance between them rapidly closed, the massive blade of Deathmon's scythe began to radiate a freezing, lethal aura.
There was no denying that this Gatomon was monstrously stronger than the one he knew. But as a Digimon who had clawed his way up from the bottom to reach the Ultimate level, Deathmon knew a fundamental truth: powerful Digimon always subconsciously relied on their most outstanding traits.
And in doing so, they inevitably forgot the gritty, desperate tactics they had relied on to survive when they were weak.
But Deathmon was different. Even after ascending to the Ultimate level, he had never forgotten that feeling. He had never forgotten the desperate, crawling hunger for survival.
That relentless drive was what made him the lethal assassin he was today.
"You, who are completely blinded by the arrogance of your own power, have no hope left!" Deathmon roared, bursting from the shadows.
"[Soul Chopper!]"
The razor-sharp scythe cleaved through the mist, radiating an aura of absolute death, determined to swallow all light, life, and hope in its path.
The blade was mere inches from Belle's neck.
Suddenly, she spun on her heel. Her small, gloved claws shot out with blinding, impossible speed, clamping down directly onto the flat of Deathmon's descending scythe!
"What?!" Deathmon gasped, his single eye shrinking in horror.
"Hehe~ I finally caught you!" Belle's voice rang out, crisp and devoid of any panic.
In the exact moment of Deathmon's paralyzing shock, Belle stepped into his guard and drove a devastating punch directly into his spectral chest!
Her suppressed power erupted without a single ounce of reservation.
CRACK!
The sheer kinetic force of the blow not only shattered the massive scythe in her grip into glittering dust, but it also blasted Deathmon's body backward like a cannonball.
One hit.
With a single, perfectly timed strike, Belle completely reversed the flow of the battle. The explosive shockwave generated by her fist tore through the clearing, violently shredding the dark mist and instantly clearing the battlefield.
"Speaking of which, I really have to thank you!" Belle called out, her voice echoing in the newly cleared air.
"If you hadn't created that suffocating environment, I might not have been able to recall the feeling of standing on the absolute brink of death, completely swallowed by darkness."
"That desperate feeling of doing whatever it takes to survive... just so I can return to Mizu's side."
"Cough—damn you, Gatomon... you—!"
Crashing into the dirt, Deathmon struggled to lift his head. Although he had instinctively used the remains of his weapon to block the brunt of the kinetic force, his spectral body was flickering wildly, heavily damaged and pathetic.
He stared fixedly at the center of the clearing, where the last wisps of mist were fading. A deeply unsettling premonition gripped his core.
"How on earth did you do it?!" he rasped.
"How did I do it? Actually, it wasn't anything incredible," the voice replied, though the tone had subtly matured.
"I simply cut off four of my own senses: sight, smell, hearing, and taste."
"By doing so, my remaining sense of touch was amplified to its absolute limit. I didn't need to see or hear you. I determined your exact position through the microscopic vibrations in the air."
"It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but when I first shut off my senses, I really was stumbling around in a mess because I wasn't used to it!" The voice giggled lightly. "However, every cloud has a silver lining. You completely fell for it and thought I was helpless!"
As the final words fell, the last of the mist dissolved, and Belle's figure was finally revealed to the world.
However, the creature standing in the center of the crater was no longer the small, feline Gatomon.
There stood a breathtakingly beautiful young girl clad in a pristine white dress. Her vibrant, golden-blonde hair was woven into elegant twin tails, perfectly capturing her lively and spirited soul. Though the upper half of her face was concealed behind a sleek, golden visor, her unique charm, warmth, and obvious cuteness radiated from her very aura.
"It's finally complete~ The Ultimate digivolution of the Light side!"
Stretching her arms gracefully above her head, Belle showcased her perfect, blooming figure, the air around her shimmering with pure, holy data.
She turned toward Mizuki, flashing a bright, victorious smile, and threw up a cheerful peace sign.
"Mizu~ did you see? I succeeded!"
Gatomon Super Digivolution... Angewomon!
Angewomon Mega Digivolution... LovelyAngemon!
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