Chapter Thirty-One: The Wounded Demon Beast

“Loretta Beast, let’s go.” After glancing at the vanished group, Qin Fei and Loretta Beast headed off in another direction.

...

“Chosen children... Defeat them.”
Elsewhere, a Digimon with a lion’s head and a human body gripped a short sword in reverse and approached the children, mumbling stiff, awkward words as if its mind were influenced by some external force.

Ahead of them, a green Digimon with two horns and a gaping maw also eyed them menacingly.

“This is bad, we’re surrounded!” Matt said anxiously, his body already tensed and alert.

“From the very start, we fell right into their trap,” Izzy explained, just as wary, his eyes darting between the enemies before and behind.

“This is just too weird. How could this be? Leomon and Ogremon are supposed to be sworn enemies!” Biyomon exclaimed, her wings flapping involuntarily in agitation.

“Bone Stick!”
“Lion King Slash!”

Before the children could make sense of the situation, both Leomon and Ogremon lunged at them with ferocity.

“Everyone, get ready!” Tai shouted, his Digivice flashing with white light.

“Agumon, Digivolve...”
“Gabumon, Digivolve...”
“Palmon, Digivolve...”

In the blink of an eye, Greymon, Garurumon, and Togemon emerged from the light of evolution and confronted Leomon.

“Biyomon, Digivolve...”
“Kabuterimon, Digivolve...”
“Gomamon, Digivolve...”

On the other side, Birdramon, Kabuterimon, and Ikkakumon faced off against Ogremon.

Three against one—Leomon and Ogremon were immediately overwhelmed, the advantage of numbers all too clear.

...

“So, they can all Digivolve now?” A voice filled with suspicion and surprise drifted down from the summit above the children.

A tall, gaunt, and terrifying black figure stood there like a demon risen from the depths, its grotesque, twisted arms crossed over its chest, a pair of tattered black wings adding to its chilling presence.

It simply observed everything from the mountaintop in utter silence, unseen by the children below.

“T.K., over here! Stay behind me!” Matt’s shout caught the Demon Beast’s attention. Its gaze landed on the still small Patamon beside T.K., and a strange, menacing smile crept onto its face.

Among the chosen children, it seemed there was still one who hadn’t managed to Digivolve.

“Go, Greymon!”

At Tai’s command, Greymon unleashed his Mega Flame at Leomon, but Leomon blocked it with his short sword.

“Needle Spray!”

Yet, no matter how agile Leomon was, he couldn’t withstand attacks from all sides. In a flash, he was struck by countless needles, suffering serious injuries.

Ogremon, too, stood no chance against the trio of Champion-level Digimon.

“Excellent! Let’s press the attack!” Tai’s fists clenched in excitement—he was clearly enjoying the thrill of a group battle.

Meanwhile, the Demon Beast, watching from above, decided the moment had come.

“Two against six... as I thought, it’s too much for them,” the Demon Beast muttered, waving his ghastly claw, preparing to rescue his two “trusted assistants.”

“Holy Shot!”

But before he could shatter the stone beneath his feet, a blazing bullet whizzed toward his heart from behind.

“What?!”

Sensing danger, the Demon Beast instantly melted into the rock as a shadow.

“Tsk. Missed.” Loretta Beast spun her flintlock, reloading as she closed her eyes, sensing the Demon Beast’s aura lurking in the darkness.

“Watch the ground!” Qin Fei warned Loretta Beast, recalling how Leomon had been caught off guard in the cartoon.

They stood back to back, warily guarding against a sudden assault from below.

Bang!

Loretta Beast’s eyes snapped open and she fired decisively at the ground beneath Qin Fei’s feet.

“Argh!”

A black shadow flashed. The Demon Beast’s cry of pain came from the earth, then quickly withdrew to a distance.

“Chosen children? No... That’s not right!” The Demon Beast’s lanky form slowly rose from the ground not far away, staring in disbelief at the unfamiliar Digimon and Qin Fei who had ambushed him.

“Who are you?”

Seeing the Demon Beast’s wounded shoulder and claw, Qin Fei’s mood lifted. Clearly, the surprise attack had not been in vain.

“You may consider me one of Heaven’s favored children,” Qin Fei replied, quietly shifting his position behind Loretta Beast.

“I see now. You don’t carry the aura of the Holy Plan; no wonder I didn’t notice you.” The Demon Beast panted, glaring at Qin Fei with venomous hatred.

Those two shots, filled with the essence of light, still tormented him. One arm hung uselessly from the shoulder down, the other hand burning with pain.

Yet the unfamiliar Digimon before him clearly radiated the virus attribute he knew so well.

Why, then, could she use a vaccine attack that suppressed him so effectively?

Puzzling over this, the Demon Beast’s gaze returned to Qin Fei.

It had to be this human—he had to have found some way for the unfamiliar Digimon to use such unorthodox abilities.

“I must eliminate him. He’s a terrifying threat. This human child cannot be allowed to grow stronger—he must not be allowed to grow stronger!” The Demon Beast’s rage and hatred bordered on madness.

Qin Fei felt a chill; he knew the Demon Beast now harbored murderous intent toward him.

Loretta Beast stepped forward, raising her flintlock and aiming it directly at the Demon Beast.

She, too, sensed the tangible hatred the Demon Beast directed at her Tamer—and she would protect Qin Fei at all costs.

“Well, well. What makes you stoop to serve this human child? I can sense it—you have the same darkness in you as I do.” The Demon Beast eyed the barrel warily, yet tried to tempt Loretta Beast.

“Join us. The darkness is where you truly belong. Soon, the Digital World will be shrouded in darkness, and you could serve the master. We could share this world together—even the human world.”

Bang!

Her only answer was another resolute gunshot.

The Demon Beast vanished again, clearly retreating underground.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!” The Demon Beast’s furious voice echoed all around, a sign that he had been wounded once more.

“You will learn soon enough—on File Island, I am the master! Darkness will devour this place, bit by bit.”

“Qin Fei!”

A shout cut through the air—Tai and the others, having defeated Leomon and Ogremon, had noticed the battle here and hurried over.

“What happened?” Tai asked anxiously.

“It was the Demon Beast!” Leomon, now restored to normal, answered through clenched teeth.

“It really was the Demon Beast!” Kabuterimon and the others showed no surprise.

“Did he get away?”

As the children discussed their next move, the ground began to tremble.

Countless black gears emerged from the earth, from the mountains, and from the shattered cliff faces—File Island had clearly fallen completely under the control of the black gears.

“Boy, I’ll make you taste true pain,” came the Demon Beast’s voice from afar. His gaze ignored the other chosen children, focusing all his seething hatred solely on Qin Fei.