Chapter 125: A Second Personality?

"It seems we're in for another brutal battle..."

Feeling the oppressive aura of a Digimon deep within the forest, Lolo's expression grew solemn. The day's fight against MetalPhantomon had made her realize that her strength after evolution was on par with a Perfect level Digimon. It was only with the support of Qin Fei's cards that she could successfully suppress some of these powerful foes. She knew that the entity approaching now was another Perfect level Digimon, and defeating it would not be a simple task.

"Should I wake the others?" Lolo asked suddenly, clearly intending to enlist the help of Daimon Masaru and his companions.

Qin Fei glanced at the Digivice in his hand, a strange look of anticipation crossing his face. Watching the giant vines slowly writhing in the distance, he shook his head. "No, let them sleep. We can handle this... it won't take long."

Under Lolo's puzzled gaze, Qin Fei slowly channeled his grayish-white Spirit of Digivolution into the D-3 Digivice.

"What are you planning?"

No sooner had she spoken than a wave of drowsiness washed over Lolo, causing her to collapse helplessly into Qin Fei's arms.

Caressing her delicate cheek, Qin Fei looked at the warning symbols flashing on his Digivice's screen with a complicated expression. For some reason, he found that he couldn't let go of Lolo's other personality. He harbored a selfish wish that both of her distinct personas would never vanish; the thought of losing either one left him feeling as though his heart were being torn apart.

Countless fine strands of spider silk materialized out of thin air, wrapping around Qin Fei and the slumbering Lolo, encasing them both within a cocoon.

Suddenly, Qin Fei felt a pair of long, perfect hands gently stroking his cheek, as tenderly as a lover's touch. He opened his eyes, startled, to find a familiar, breathtakingly beautiful—yet wickedly cruel—face smiling down at him.

"Hehe, I knew you couldn't bear to let me go."

The voice of Archnemon was unnervingly seductive, sending a tremor through Qin Fei's very core.

"An enemy is coming." Qin Fei forced himself to focus, looking anxiously toward the forest where the creeping vines were nearly upon them.

"I'll take care of it." Archnemon released him, then shot him a glance, her alluring eyes curving. "However, I need a small favor from you."

Qin Fei nodded, a sense of telepathic resonance passing between them, and he drew the Soulmon card. A flicker of electrical current surged through the Digivice. Archnemon vanished instantly, her destination unknown. Moments later, a familiar, soft sensation brushed against his lips, leaving Qin Fei dazed.

"..."

"Tsk, only one kid? I could have sworn I saw two earlier."

In the dark shadows of the woods, Petaldramon approached, casting a look of bewildered suspicion at the child standing by the campfire, who seemed lost in thought.

The boy stood motionless, appearing like easy prey. Yet, a deep sense of unease held the Digimon back; it felt as though something dangerous had marked it as a target. Petaldramon shuddered and whipped its head upward, but found nothing save for the night sky and the familiar branches.

"Am I hallucinating?"

After scanning the area cautiously for a long time and finding nothing, it turned its gaze back to the child by the fire. But Petaldramon's expression shifted—the boy was staring directly at it, unmoving. It was as if he had spotted the beast all along.

"Can't let him wake the others. Finish him first!"

Petaldramon hesitated no longer. All its surrounding vine-like tentacles erupted, lashing out at the expressionless child. But in the next second, the beast's expression soured, quickly twisting into one of sheer terror.

"It seems the prey has finally fallen into the net."

An incredibly seductive female voice echoed beside Petaldramon. Bound tightly by countless invisible threads, the beast found itself unable to move a muscle. Like a fragile, stiff doll, it remained frozen, causing Archnemon to reach out with excitement.

"Hrk... hrk..." Petaldramon tried to cry out, but its mouth had been sealed by invisible silk, rendering it mute.

"Shh." A beautiful, wicked face appeared out of thin air before the beast, a finger pressed to her lips in a gesture for silence. Petaldramon's pupils constricted; there was nothing left in its eyes but raw fear.

"What a beautiful flower... I wonder how many petals it can lose before it falls apart?"

Petaldramon felt a slender hand grip the flower atop its head.

"He loves me... he loves me not... he loves me..."

As a petal fell to the ground... "Hrk..."

Archnemon's cruel laughter, combined with the agonizing pain of the petals being torn away, finally broke the beast.

Qin Fei lowered his head, unable to imagine what was happening deep in the woods, knowing only that Archnemon and Petaldramon were there. The trees seemed to sway violently as if buffeted by a "wind." Yet, Qin Fei heard not a whisper of wind, nor the sounds of a Digimon. Like a silent film, a Perfect level Digimon was being butchered at the hands of the Champion-level Archnemon, helpless as fish on a cutting board.

Time passed until the "wind" finally died down. Archnemon emerged from the forest, looking satisfied, with a lingering trace of madness in her expression.

Qin Fei watched her approach with an air of elegance, a sudden, inexplicable doubt creeping into his mind: had releasing her been a mistake?

"Did you take care of it?"

"Mm, it was a decent toy. It took being dismantled into ten thousand pieces before it finally broke."

Qin Fei: "..."

"Then, can you return Lolo to me?" Qin Fei asked earnestly.

"I am Lolo. What's the matter? Don't you like this version of me?" Archnemon leaned over, giggling, her movements dizzying.

"..."

"Hehe, I love it when you look at me like that."

Qin Fei: "..."

"Actually, I called you out this time because I wanted to say something." After calming his racing heart, Qin Fei spoke.

"What is it?" Archnemon smiled like a blooming flower.

"Whether it's Lolo or you, both of you are incredibly important to me. I hope... that you can both continue to be by my side in the future. I don't want to lose either one of you."

"..."

Archnemon listened, then smiled as if she had realized something. "Did you think I would fight the other me for control of this body?"

Qin Fei remained silent, looking at her with an earnest gaze that suggested that was exactly what he had feared.

"My little fool, my little boy..." Archnemon sighed, then leaned in to sniff Qin Fei's hair. "I am Lolo. I am not someone else, nor am I just a second personality."

"It's just that... she hasn't truly accepted my existence yet."

With those words, Archnemon closed her eyes, reverted to Lolo's petite form, and drifted back to sleep in Qin Fei's arms.