Chapter 198: Should I Feel Bad Too?
The colossal Dragon Emperor beat his sun-blotting crimson wings, sending hurricane-force gales tearing across the battlefield. With a mere sweep of the gigantic lance gripped in his claws, Examon orchestrated a chaotic tempest that ripped the very clouds apart.
Facing the apocalyptic storm, ChaosGallantmon refused to yield an inch. He swung his dark energy sword, carving a crescent of corrupted light through the air that neutralized the Dragon Emperor's crushing offensive in a single, thunderous clash.
Yet, before the dark knight could even draw a breath, the firmament above ignited. A blinding rain of destructive light blanketed the sky, etching itself violently into ChaosGallantmon's vision.
[Pendragon's Glory!]
Fueled by his impossibly massive volume of data, Examon recklessly carved a path of pure annihilation across the heavens!
Watching the torrential cascade of energy plummeting from the sky, ChaosGallantmon immediately saw through Examon's cold calculus. This wasn't just a targeted strike against him. The Dragon Emperor intended to obliterate everyone on the ground below.
Examon's standard attacks already boasted a terrifyingly vast blast radius. Now, fueled by raw desperation and power, that radius had been pushed to catastrophic extremes.
Whether it was a trick of the light or a genuine display of character, ChaosGallantmon caught a fleeting glint of ruthless cunning within Examon's icy, reptilian eyes.
Save himself, or protect the others?
From a purely tactical standpoint, evading the blast was the only rational choice.
He was currently in Calamity Mode—a dark, unstable counterpart to Gallantmon's legendary Crimson Mode. Just like its holy equivalent, this form granted an explosive surge in combat power, but the toll it took on his digicore meant it could not be maintained for long.
The grueling series of clashes leading up to this moment had already drained a massive reservoir of his energy. If he chose to meet this apocalyptic, wide-range bombardment head-on, he would undoubtedly burn through the last of his reserves. Maintaining Calamity Mode afterward would be impossible.
Realizing this, a low, raspy chuckle vibrated from beneath ChaosGallantmon's dark visor.
"Examon..." he murmured, his voice cutting through the roaring winds. "I didn't expect someone as self-righteous and upright as you to harbor such a devious side."
With those final, mocking words hanging in the air, ChaosGallantmon abruptly flared the tattered, demonic wings on his back. Instead of retreating, he angled his lance and charged straight into the heart of Examon's falling starstorm!
If ChaosGallantmon, carving a brilliant cyan-blue trail across the darkened sky, was a lone, defiant meteor, then Examon's descending offensive was an entire crushing galaxy.
The disparity in their scale was despairingly vast.
Yet, in this seemingly lopsided collision of titans, the impossible occurred. The cyan meteor pierced violently through the crushing sea of stars, tearing a jagged rift through the overwhelming light.
At some unknown point, the sky had bled into total darkness.
As the blinding glare of Pendragon's Glory gradually faded into embers, the roaring world slowly returned to a haunting, suffocating silence.
High above, Omnimon watched the familiar silhouette of the dark knight. The glow in the Royal Knight's eyes dimmed, his tattered cape snapping weakly in the residual wind. Although he had braced himself for this outcome, actually witnessing the scene made his chest tighten, as if the air had been violently stolen from his lungs.
"My friend..."
At that moment, Omnimon felt a phantom blade twist agonizingly deep within his own digicore.
Simultaneously, the battered ChaosGallantmon seemed to react. A faint, fading glimmer sparked in the eyes visible beneath his shattered helmet.
In the next second, his dimming pupils reflected the weapon he had hurled in his final, desperate gambit.
His dark lance, still pulsing with a faint, ghostly cyan glow, was buried deep within Examon's massive, armored chest.
ChaosGallantmon: "..."
Examon: "..."
A heavy, suffocating silence stretched between the two titans.
Then—a sharp, sickening crack echoed across the sky!
Fractures appeared on the Dragon Emperor's armor. At a speed visible to the naked eye, the fissures began to spiderweb outward, radiating from the exact point where the dark lance had impaled him.
Down below, Belle's eyes lit up with a sudden, desperate hope.
"Is it... a win?!" she gasped, her hands clenching into fists. "Mizuki, ChaosGallantmon, he—"
"No, Belle."
Mizuki let out a soft, heavy sigh, slowly shaking his head as he stared at the sky.
"He lost."
As if to validate Mizuki's grim verdict, the glowing fissures on Examon's chest abruptly ceased their advance.
In stark contrast, ChaosGallantmon's armored body began to flicker. Jagged lines of static tore through his silhouette as images of data collapse cascaded across his form.
And the degradation was accelerating.
"ChaosGallantmon—how can this be!?"
Standing by Mizuki's side, DoruGreymon's claws dug deep into the scorched earth. As a Digimon, she knew exactly what that flickering static meant. The irreversible breakdown of a digicore.
Although she had witnessed countless deaths throughout their grueling journeys, she still couldn't stop her jaw from locking. She ground her teeth together, a low, frustrated growl vibrating in her throat.
Dammit...
Why is it still like this?
I've clearly fought so hard... I've become stronger, but...
Why am I still so powerless?
As the bitter thought washed over her, DoruGreymon suddenly snapped back to reality. She hurriedly reached out, pulling the nearby Breakdramon close and shielding the younger Digimon's eyes beneath her massive, furry wing.
"Big sister DoruGreymon, what's happening?" Breakdramon asked, his voice trembling with confusion. "Gallant... Big brother Gallantmon?"
"It's okay... it's fine. Gallantmon will be just fine," DoruGreymon whispered, her voice cracking slightly as she used her own body to block Breakdramon's view of the sky.
Looking down into Breakdramon's innocent, wide eyes, DoruGreymon bit her lip so hard she nearly drew data. She turned her desperate gaze toward the human beside her.
I can't do anything...
But if it's Lord Mizuki...
If it's Lord Mizuki, he can—
But before DoruGreymon could even voice her plea for Mizuki's intervention, the dark knight in the sky reached his absolute limit.
Amidst a brilliant, tragic shower of splashing data fragments, the warrior who had wandered the Digital World for years—fighting a lonely war for his own inner convictions and twisted sense of justice—finally met his end.
DoruGreymon's breath hitched. "!"
Examon remained frozen, staring at the dissipating light. "..."
Omnimon lowered his head, the shadows hiding his eyes. "..."
Dynasmon let out a mournful squawk. "...Another old friend gone, is it?"
Crusadermon bowed his massive, maned head. "To practice one's will and convictions with one's very life... what a beautiful, tragic curtain call."
Craniamon slammed his spear into the ground, his voice heavy with grief. "None of this should have come to this... whether it was Gankoomon and the others in the past, or Gallantmon now... why is this happening..."
"There is no 'why'!" Magnamon sneered from his bound position on the ground, his voice dripping with venomous mockery. "The fate of those who dare to defy Lord Yggdrasil... is nothing but a deserved dea—"
Thud.
Before the holy dragon could finish his gloating, Belle ruthlessly slammed her heel down, forcefully shoving Magnamon's face right back into the dirt.
Magnamon: "—!"
Muffled, furious curses erupted from the dirt-eating dragon, but not a single person or Digimon present paid him the slightest bit of attention.
With Gallantmon's dramatic demise, a heavy, suffocating blanket of mourning descended over the battlefield. The grief was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Sensing the deeply depressed and sorrowful mood of the companions surrounding him, Mizuki stood completely still. Inside, however, he was experiencing a deep and incredibly awkward dilemma.
After all, he knew exactly what Gallantmon was thinking.
He also knew, with absolute certainty, that the stubborn knight wouldn't just permanently die like this.
Am I being a bit too out of place here? Mizuki thought, his eye twitching slightly as he watched everyone practically weeping over the 'sacrifice'.
On the surface, Mizuki maintained a solemn, respectful expression, perfectly blending in with the tragic atmosphere. But inside his shoes, his toes were curling so hard from the sheer secondhand embarrassment that they were practically cramping.
That dramatic bastard Gallantmon... Mizuki sighed internally. Sigh...
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