A blue light began to flicker on Matt's chest, gradually growing brighter and brighter, until it finally formed a shining blue Crest of Friendship that bathed Garurumon in its glow.
"Garurumon, Digivolve to WereGarurumon!"
"What?! It actually evolved!" Ken's eyes went wide as he stared at the newly appeared WereGarurumon.
"Kaiser Nail!"
"Kaiser Nail!"
Two identical blood-red claw strikes slammed into each other. The blue WereGarurumon and the black BlackWereGarurumon both trembled in their hind legs from the sheer force, but neither backed down—each one grinding its power forward with everything it had.
Punch for punch, kick for kick, the two WereGarurumon fought in a furious clash. Their strength was evenly matched, and the battle locked into a deadlock.
Meanwhile, MetalGreymon opened the launcher in its chest.
"Giga Destroyer!"
Two missiles screamed toward MetalTyrannomon. MetalTyrannomon raised its right arm and fired back with two "Giga Destroyer II" missiles of its own.
The four missiles collided midair, erupting into a blinding fireball with a thunderous explosion.
"Nuclear Laser!"
MetalTyrannomon's left-arm laser cannon charged and fired a powerful beam that tore through the flames and smoke—dust along its path was instantly vaporized.
"Trident Arm!"
MetalGreymon's left hand spun out on its cable like a drill-tipped spear, shredding and dispersing the incoming laser. The spinning claw then latched onto MetalTyrannomon's neck. The cable snapped tight—MetalGreymon's legs sank into the ground as it anchored itself—and MetalTyrannomon was yanked uncontrollably forward.
MetalGreymon's right claw slammed down on the Dark Spiral Ring at MetalTyrannomon's neck, smashing it to pieces. With the ring destroyed, MetalTyrannomon was engulfed in black light and devolved into Tyrannomon.
At the same time, high in the sky, CannonBeemon tangled relentlessly with Darcmon, Aquilamon, Pegasusmon, and Birdramon.
"Sky Rocket ∞!"
The hive-shaped missile containers on CannonBeemon's back opened wide, unleashing a flood of countless missiles that howled toward Darcmon and the others.
"Shooting Star!"
"Meteor Wing!"
"Hurricane Wing!"
"Dancing Sword (Love Baptism)!"
The Digimon fired their attacks one after another, detonating the incoming missile swarm early. Explosions boomed without pause, and the sky filled with countless blazing fireballs.
"Nitro Stinger!"
CannonBeemon's tail lifted. The large-caliber laser cannon mounted at the end gathered energy, then unleashed a massive pillar of light. It punched through everything in its path—missiles that hadn't detonated yet were sliced clean in half, their cut surfaces so smooth they looked like mirrors.
"Danger!" Darcmon beat its wings and darted in front of Pegasusmon, crossing its twin swords to block the laser pillar.
"Sss—sss!" Darcmon strained to hold the line. The impact was immense—its wings trembled violently under the pressure.
"Holy Needle Rain!" Pegasusmon quickly counterattacked, but the white needle-like barrage pinged off CannonBeemon's body and fell away with useless clinks, doing no damage at all.
"Mach Impulse!" Aquilamon seized the opening and struck. A red shockwave slammed into CannonBeemon's neck, shattering the Dark Spiral Ring there.
CannonBeemon's laser stopped instantly. Black light surged over its body as it devolved into Waspmon.
Darcmon finally exhaled and lowered its swords—both blades had turned glowing red-hot, the heat so intense it was shocking to look at.
Down on the ground, the black and blue WereGarurumon collided again and again, like two streaks of dark and azure light crashing together. WereGarurumon managed to tackle BlackWereGarurumon to the ground—only to be kicked off with brutal force.
Before WereGarurumon could even rise, Raidramon lunged in. Blue lightning hammered into BlackWereGarurumon as Raidramon roared, pouring out electricity in a furious storm. Blue sparks danced across BlackWereGarurumon's body.
BlackWereGarurumon howled, ignoring the numbing paralysis, and blasted Raidramon away with a single punch.
And then the ground beneath BlackWereGarurumon cracked open—one of its feet jammed into the split.
Digmon's drill had pierced into the earth; it was Digmon that had torn the ground apart.
Before BlackWereGarurumon could wrench its foot free, it felt a sharp claw slam onto the back of its neck. It snapped its head around—and WereGarurumon's savage grin and razor claws were already right in front of its eyes.
WereGarurumon struck in one clean motion, shattering the Dark Spiral Ring on BlackWereGarurumon's neck. Black light flared, and BlackWereGarurumon devolved into Garurumon.
WereGarurumon barely had time to catch its breath before it devolved as well—into Gabumon—collapsing unconscious on the spot. Matt rushed over and gathered Gabumon into his arms.
"You useless trash… all of you," Ken spat.
Then he mounted Airdramon and vanished into the distance.
"This time, I'll create the strongest Digimon. I'll combine the strongest parts of Digimon together—then what I create will be absolutely unbeatable! No one will be able to defeat it! And then I'll rule this world! I'm the king of the Digital World!"
Ken roared as screen after screen behind him displayed data—each one showing the strongest parts of different Digimon.
"Goodbye!" Matt and Gabumon called to the Garurumon that had been controlled earlier.
With the Dark Spiral Ring removed, that Garurumon thanked them, then left to return to where it originally belonged.
The kids watched the sun sink in the distance, replaying everything that had happened today—it felt unreal, like a lifetime ago.
"By the way, Matt… Gabumon," Tai asked, looking at them. "How did Garurumon suddenly evolve into WereGarurumon back there?"
"I don't know," Matt said quietly, staring into the sunset. "I just felt something surge up inside me, and then the Crest of Friendship appeared over my chest."
He held up the Crest and Tag hanging at his neck. A faint, flickering glow shimmered within them.
"I felt Matt's power flow into me," Gabumon said excitedly. "And then I could evolve!"
"Then what about now?" Tai asked again.
Gabumon's head drooped. "It doesn't work anymore. I can still feel the power… but I can't use it."
"It's okay, Gabumon," Matt said quickly, comforting it.
"Then Sora—what about you and Biyomon?" Tai turned and asked.
Sora exchanged a look with Biyomon and nodded. "Yeah. Lately, whenever I'm with Biyomon, I feel this connection I can't really explain."
"Then my guess was right," Tai murmured, thoughtful.
"Brother… what is it?" Kari stepped closer, worried.
Tai smiled and gently patted Kari's head. "It's nothing. It just looks like everyone's Crest power has recovered a little… at least to some degree."
"Really?!" T.K. said, delighted.
"Wait—what exactly is 'Crest power'?" Cody asked, trying hard to remember. "Tai, you've mentioned it a lot."
"Back then, we used up all the power in our Crests," Kari said, lifting the Crest hanging at her neck. It was still dim and lifeless. "To repair the Digital World, all the power in the Crests disappeared… so our Digimon couldn't evolve into Mega or Ultimate anymore."
"And Gabumon evolving into an Ultimate just now means the Crest's power has recovered," Tai continued. "In other words, Crest power is usable again."
"But why are my Crest and Kari's still not restored?" T.K. asked anxiously, clutching his own equally dim Crest.
When he saw that Matt's, Sora's, and Tai's Crests were shining again while his and Kari's were still dull, he couldn't help panicking.
"Do you remember what your Crests are?" Tai asked.
"Hope," T.K. answered.
"Light," Kari said.
"Then look at the Digital World right now," Tai said.
The kids glanced around at the barren wasteland. Tai continued, "Do you see even a shred of hope or light in a Digital World like this?"
"So… if we restore the Digital World to how it was, it'll work?" T.K. asked.
"Which means we have to destroy every Control Spire," Davis said.
"Exactly," Tai replied, looking at the kids. "Restoring hope and light—that's the fundamental reason you were chosen."
"But then why still can't Biyomon evolve to an Ultimate?" Sora frowned.
"That's because of the Control Spires," Tai explained. "All the light in the Digital World is being suppressed. Without Kari's Light of Evolution, evolving to Ultimate using only Crest power is extremely difficult."
"Unless you use the Holy Ring, the only way is to manifest the Crest directly like Gabumon did—forcing power through," Tai continued. "But most of that power gets consumed breaking through the dark suppression. Even evolving once drains a lot of Crest power."
"And even if you try to evolve again that way, it becomes incredibly hard," Tai said. "That's why Biyomon can feel the power but still can't use it."
"So from now on, everyone's job is to clear out the Control Spires in the Digital World," Tai concluded. "But the most important thing is still defeating Ken Ichijouji."
"Ah! It's already really late!" Yolei glanced at the time and shouted. "We have to hurry back or our parents are going to lecture us again!"
"Right—okay! Starting tomorrow, we'll work hard!" Davis said, full of energy again.
"Yeah!!"
By the time they returned to the computer lab, the city lights were already coming on. Izzy had been waiting at the computers so long he was practically falling asleep. After sneaking out of school again, the kids split up and rushed home.
In a place drowned in darkness, a massive body rose from black water. Three enormous heads stared into the distance. Golden runes coiled and rotated around the exposed upper body in endless loops.
"The seed of darkness has already sprouted… and the time to harvest is near."
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