"What is going on?!" Cody clutched at Davis's shirt in fear, his body trembling uncontrollably from panic.
"Come on out, you coward! Stop hiding! If you've got the guts, show yourself and fight! Come out! Come out!" Davis yelled into the dark forest.
The black fog grew thicker and thicker. Before, Darcmon's glow could light up an area of several dozen meters, but now only a little over twenty meters was visible. Beyond that, they could only see the black mist boiling and rolling.
"We need to fall back to the searchlights!" Darcmon noticed it first and immediately shouted to the kids.
The kids sprinted toward the searchlights, while Darcmon used her own light to illuminate the path around them, guarding against attacks from the unseen assailants.
It was less than a hundred meters—normally a distance you could stroll in under two minutes—but the kids ran it in thirty seconds, and the whole way felt like walking through a nightmare. Every step had them on edge, expecting an attack at any moment. The suffocating atmosphere weighed down the entire group.
If the enemy was visible, no matter how strong, they wouldn't have been this terrified. But the fact that it was unknown—unseen—made it far worse, like a ghost. You know it shouldn't exist, but because you can't see it, it feels even more terrifying.
When they finally reached the searchlights, they didn't even have time to catch their breath. They immediately started sweeping the beams around, desperate to catch a glimpse of the attacker.
Davis and Veemon cranked the searchlight hard, scanning for movement—when suddenly, a shadow flickered through the light for a split second.
"I got it!" Davis shouted excitedly. "I lit it up!"
"I saw one too!" Cody yelled.
"Me too!" Mimi and Yolei called out at the same time.
A chill crawled up everyone's spine. That was already four they'd spotted—so how many more were hiding out there in the forest, still unseen?
"I… I want to go home…" Yolei crouched down in fear and started crying.
"It's okay, Yolei." Mimi crouched with her and comforted her gently. "I'm right here. Don't be scared. There's nothing to be scared of… really."
"Let's all Digivolve together and flush them out," T.K. said solemnly.
"Yeah."
"Patamon, Armor Digivolve—the flying hope… Pegasusmon!"
"Veemon, Armor Digivolve—the courage that burns… Flamedramon!"
"Armadillomon, Armor Digivolve—the steel-like wisdom… Digmon!"
Three Digimon took to the air, while the other three stayed on the ground, forming a full 3D defensive formation around the kids. The kids kept cranking the searchlights and sweeping the area, searching for the attackers.
Suddenly, Kari's searchlight beam rippled—just for an instant. But Darcmon, completely focused, caught it.
With a sharp whistle, Darcmon hurled her sword downward.
"RAAAGH!" A pained cry rang out, and a Digimon with a long, long tail slowly appeared in everyone's view—like an image suddenly forming on a blank sheet of paper.
Its tail was pinned to the ground by Darcmon's blade. No matter how hard it struggled, it couldn't pull free. Then it stopped struggling and began making a rhythmic sound. At once, the air nearby rippled in several spots—and three more identical Digimon appeared around it.
"It's like a chameleon…" Kari murmured, staring at how they revealed themselves.
Chameleonmon is a reptile-type Armor Digimon that Armor Digivolves through the power of the Digi-Egg of Kindness. Its skin has a special structure that allows its coloration to blend into the surrounding environment. It excels at stealth operations and can even slip into highly secure databases that Digimon usually can't breach—making it useful for infiltrating rival companies' databases and stealing information. Its eyes contain scanning devices that let it survey a full 360 degrees, and it can fire red lasers to injure its opponents. Its special move is Tongue Whip, a powerful tongue attack that extends and retracts like a whip. Its flexible tail can strike from even farther away with an even stronger whipping blow.
The four Chameleonmon glared angrily at the kids and their Digimon. With a flick of their tails, three of them slapped Darcmon's sword free, knocking it off to the side.
Under everyone's eyes, they vanished again, fading from view. Darcmon extended her right hand, and the sword lifted from the ground and flew back into her palm.
Eight red lasers suddenly shot out from deep within the dark forest, aimed at Pegasusmon in midair. Pegasusmon was caught off guard. It barely dodged four of them, but the remaining beams struck home. Pegasusmon cried out and fell, de-Armor Digivolving into Patamon before it even hit the ground.
"Patamon!" T.K. rushed forward and caught Patamon as it dropped.
"Come out!" Halsemon kept firing Red Sun from its eyes into the forest. Without realizing it, it drifted closer and closer to the trees.
"Watch out!" Darcmon shouted, beating her wings and rushing toward Halsemon.
But it was too late.
"Shhk! Shhk!" Several sharp sounds rang out. Halsemon was hit by invisible attacks, tumbling through the air—then de-Armor Digivolving into Hawkmon, which fell, rolled across the ground a few times, and collapsed.
"Damn it…" Flamedramon, Togemon, and Digmon hadn't detected anything at all—and Pegasusmon and Halsemon were already down.
Darcmon suddenly halted mid-flight and twisted her body hard—just as six red lasers skimmed past her wings and tore into the air beyond. Even so, her wings were still injured, and her agility dropped sharply.
"Darcmon, are you okay?!" Kari shouted in panic.
"I'm fine, Kari," Darcmon said, forcing the words out through the pain.
"Damn it!" Davis hammered his fist into the ground in fury.
With a sharp shhk, Digmon suddenly thrust one forelimb toward the forest—while its other drills stabbed into the earth, anchoring its body in place.
"Got you." Flamedramon's furious voice rang out. The instant Digmon reacted, Flamedramon charged in and grabbed an invisible tail. Together with Digmon, it yanked hard—dragging a hidden Chameleonmon out of the darkness. The kids snapped their searchlights onto the spot, and a stretched shadow appeared on the ground.
"Knuckle Fire!" Flames scorched along the tail. Chameleonmon let out a tortured howl and couldn't maintain its invisibility anymore, fully revealing its body.
"AHH!" A cry of pain came from above.
Everyone looked up—Darcmon was falling from the sky and slammed into the ground.
When Flamedramon grabbed the Chameleonmon, the other Chameleonmon launched a surprise attack on Darcmon while she was still airborne. She dodged their laser fire again—but she couldn't avoid the tongue whip that followed, and it struck her hard.
"Darcmon!" Kari cried, dropping to her knees and hugging her partner. In the black fog, Darcmon's body gradually shrank, de-Armor Digivolving into Gatomon.
They had completely lost control of the skies. In this dark forest, Chameleonmon moved like it belonged here—attack, then vanish into the night. With the cover of the black woods, the Chameleonmon had effectively turned the entire area into a no-fly zone.
"Brother…" Kari whispered while holding Gatomon. Then her eyes widened. "Right—!"
She suddenly remembered the Digi-Armor Tai had given her. She immediately began digging through her backpack.
The Chameleonmon that Flamedramon and Digmon had been holding suddenly snapped out its tongue and struck Flamedramon's wrist. Flamedramon jolted from the pain and loosened its grip for a moment. Chameleonmon instantly retracted its tail from Digmon's forelimb and disappeared into the forest darkness again.
"Kari, what are you doing?" Yolei asked in confusion, watching Kari rummage through her bag.
"Found it!" Kari shouted with relief. She pulled out the Digi-Armor Tai had given her. "This is what my brother told me to give you before he left." She placed it into Yolei's hands.
"This…" Yolei stared at the green Digi-Armor in her palms, inlaid with the Crest of Sincerity. "Let's try it. Hawkmon, Armor Digivolve!"
"Hawkmon, Armor Digivolve—the springing purity… Shurimon!"
Shurimon is a mutant-type Armor Digimon that Armor Digivolves through the power of the Digi-Egg of Sincerity. The Digi-Egg of Sincerity possesses the attribute of "Plants," and using it grants the ability to harmonize with nature. Like leaves dancing in the wind, it can strike accurately from an enemy's blind spot. Its appearance can truly be called ninja-like. Its signature technique is Momiji Oroshi, where it extends its arms and legs and spins the shuriken at the tips to attack the enemy. Its special move is Kusanagi, throwing the giant shuriken from its back down from above.
Shurimon's appearance was unbelievably cool. Its face was covered by a white mask, its limbs were shaped like shuriken, and a massive shuriken was strapped to its back.
The moment Shurimon appeared, it kicked off and shot toward the dark forest, landing atop a thick, towering branch. It stood perfectly still—and even closed its eyes.
The kids stared at each other, totally lost. Even after everything T.K. and Kari had been through, they'd never seen anyone fight like this.
"Shhk!"
Shurimon simply shifted its body slightly to the side, and Chameleonmon's attack missed.
"Shhk—shhk—shhk!"
Three more sharp sounds rang out. Shurimon still kept its eyes closed, flipping smoothly through the air—dodging every strike again.
"So strong…" That was the shared thought of every kid and every Digimon there.
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