Chapter Eleven: The Second Card

"Shellmon, Mature stage, Data type..." As Qin Fei watched the enormous, menacing conch creature emerge from beneath the beach, he already knew all its information by heart. It was also the 'tool monster' from the first animated series that pushed Agumon to evolve into Greymon.

"It looks like it's hurt..." Loretta-mon examined the pink dinosaur that had crawled out from under the sea shell, her tone curious. With a nimble flick of the crimson bone-cleaver—pulled out from who knows where—Loretta-mon gazed at Shellmon with excitement, as if she were just waiting for Qin Fei's order to charge in without hesitation.

"It must have had a fight with Taichi’s Greymon," Qin Fei nodded, having already noticed the scorched-looking wound on Shellmon’s chest. If he wasn’t mistaken, that was likely the result of Greymon's Mega Flame attack.

Catching the burning hatred in Shellmon’s eyes as it glared at him, Qin Fei could only shrug helplessly. "Looks like I’ll have to clean up this mess..."

Greymon had sent Shellmon flying back into the sea but hadn’t pursued to finish it off. Now that Shellmon had returned, it was bound to hold a grudge against him, who just so happened to be present. After all, his appearance must mark him as one of those Chosen Children in the creature’s eyes.

An injured wild beast grows even more ferocious, and this held true for wild Digimon as well.

"Gyaa-muu!"

"Qin Fei, it’s coming!" Loretta-mon warned with gravity as Shellmon’s furious roar rang out. She leapt nimbly aside.

Qin Fei tensed immediately, just in time to see Shellmon lower its head, the seaweed-like mass atop it angling toward him.

"Starting off with Hydro Pressure? Seriously?" He dove to the ground in a swallow-dive, narrowly dodging the sudden jet of water.

Luckily, Shellmon’s attention quickly shifted to Loretta-mon. Otherwise, Qin Fei wasn’t sure he could avoid another attack.

Loretta-mon, small and agile, handled herself with ease. Her petite frame and remarkable dexterity allowed her to dodge Shellmon’s onslaught with poise.

Sparks flew as Loretta-mon’s bone-cleaver struck Shellmon’s back.

"Tch! Pretty tough," she muttered. Though her axe bit deeply, Shellmon’s carapace was thick and the wound was not severe. Its pink, supple flesh was tough as leather—slick, almost impossible to grip—causing many of Loretta-mon’s attacks to glance off harmlessly.

Clearly, this wouldn’t be resolved quickly.

Worse, the constant assault only seemed to ignite Shellmon’s rage further, the searing pain from its burns fueling a murderous intent. Its eyes glinted with a hatred that declared it would fight Qin Fei’s group to the bitter end.

Tangle after tangle of green, seaweed-like tentacles shot toward Loretta-mon in an attempt to ensnare her.

"Come on, let’s see how much you can take!" Shellmon’s thick hide only stoked Loretta-mon’s fighting spirit. Her bone-cleaver flashed ever faster, severing the oncoming tentacles one by one.

With each mark she etched into Shellmon’s shell, a wild glint began to kindle in her once-calm expression—an all-too-familiar madness.

Unconsciously, she began to lose herself in the frenzy.

"Loretta-mon! Snap out of it!"

Qin Fei’s timely shout pulled Loretta-mon back from the brink. For a heartbeat, she hesitated, then the crazed look faded from her eyes.

"Can you end this quickly?" Qin Fei called out, watching Loretta-mon dart around Shellmon.

"Whew... I doubt it. This thing’s sturdy. My attacks aren’t doing much damage."

Qin Fei pulled out the Digivice from his pocket, gripping it tightly, feeling a surge of anticipation.

"Then let me help you!"

A card appeared between his fingers, which he spun deftly.

"Alright," Loretta-mon nodded. She didn’t know how Qin Fei intended to help, but she trusted her Tamer completely.

Actions must be stylish, and card-slashing must be fast! Qin Fei couldn’t help but feel a bit dramatic—after all, no one was watching, so why not indulge in a little youthful flair?

Excitement bubbled in his chest, and he could almost hear the Digivolution anthem in his mind... CARD SLASH!

"Card Switch!"

With a solemn, focused murmur, Qin Fei’s heart pounded. He pinched the card’s edge between thumb, middle, and index fingers, then, imitating Jianliang’s stylish flourish, swiped it through the Digivice’s slot.

But as the Kukamon card slid through the device, arcs of electricity sizzled and unusual resistance slowed his hand.

Qin Fei didn’t let go. Gritting his teeth, he forced the card through, refusing to let his dramatic moment end in failure.

"Ah! Scissor Arms!"

"Hmm?" As Qin Fei called out, Loretta-mon suddenly felt an overwhelming flood of data surge into her, filling her body and coalescing in her hands.

"What...what is this?!" Staring in disbelief at her slowly transforming bone-cleaver, Loretta-mon instinctively split her grip—now wielding two identical blade-weapons shaped like insect mandibles, one in each hand.

"What’s going on? I feel like... I can use Kukamon’s special move—no, it’s my own move, something even more powerful than Kukamon’s!"

"Gyaa-muu?" Shellmon hesitated, wary of its opponent’s strange transformation.

Both mandible blades were longer than Loretta-mon was tall, yet she wielded them effortlessly.

No more hesitation—she reversed her grip, crouched low, and crossed the twin blades behind her back, aiming straight at Shellmon.

"Scissor Arms!"

A sense of dire peril swept over Shellmon, but it was too late to flee. Loretta-mon, already agile, became even faster with the card’s power.

The crimson mandible blades pierced deep into Shellmon’s chest without resistance.

"It’s done! Whew."

Watching Shellmon’s body collapse and slowly dissolve into fine data fragments, Qin Fei finally relaxed, his nerves unwinding after the tense battle. He even felt a bit exhausted.

As with Kukamon before, Shellmon’s data split in two—one stream absorbed by Loretta-mon, the other swirling toward Qin Fei’s hand.

Sinking onto the soft sand, Qin Fei watched as a new card slowly formed in his palm, his face lighting up with satisfaction.

"Defense Module G, note: Defense enhancement?"

"So it’s not a Shellmon Digimon card?" Qin Fei was a little surprised to see a function card, but it was better than nothing.

"I wonder if the Digimon cards that Elder Genai collected can be used... Maybe next time I can ask him for a few..." He recalled how, in the anime, Elder Genai had given the children cards marked with Digimon that opened the way to the real world. With that, a mischievous idea began to take root.

"......"

"Qin Fei! There you are! Haha, I knew you’d be alright!"

Just as Qin Fei lay there pondering how to get a few cards from Elder Genai, Taichi’s familiar voice called out from not far away.

He hadn’t expected that someone would actually return to such a dangerous place to look for him.