"We called you here so you could help us. That way, we can break free from the control of the new god. With you, we can return to the deep sea, find our original god, and swear our loyalty again." That pitch-black thing spoke in a chilling, gloomy tone.
"How could something like that be possible?!" Kari snapped angrily.
"Don't waste words on them, Kari." Tai raised the Holy Sword: Genesis Blade in his hand. The blade burst with boundless radiance—yet the moment the light left the sword, it scattered and vanished.
"What?!" Tai stared at the dissipating glow in shock.
"It's useless. This place is a gathering ground of countless darkness. Light is insignificant here."
"This is incredible!" Davis pressed his face to the elevator's glass, marveling. Following Agumon, they had entered Tai City. Andromon led them into a towering building and into an elevator that descended underground. After dropping only ten meters, the kids were already stunned by what they saw—a gigantic space opened beneath them. An elevator three meters across looked tiny inside this place, and elevators like it appeared every hundred meters, stretching so far the end couldn't be seen. Countless steel machines rose like skyscrapers, and the roar of machinery echoed through the entire expanse.
When they got off, they arrived at a platform where dozens of Locomon were parked. Andromon boarded one of them first. With a thunderous rumble, Locomon charged into a tunnel. After traveling for a long time, it finally came to a stop.
When the doors opened, Datamon was waiting on the platform. Datamon looked the children and Digimon up and down, then said, "Come with me." After that, Datamon turned and walked toward a large door without even checking whether anyone followed.
The kids—who had never dealt with Machine Digimon before—froze in place and exchanged looks. All of them saw the same surprise in each other's eyes. Only Agumon and Gatomon followed immediately the moment Datamon turned around.
Agumon and Gatomon walked a few steps behind Datamon, then looked back and saw the kids still standing there. Agumon asked in confusion, "Why aren't you following?"
"We're coming!"
They entered an empty hall—at least a hundred meters wide, with a ceiling dozens of meters high. Golden patterns were drawn across the floor.
"Stand in the middle. I'll activate the machine and send you to the Dark Ocean," Datamon said, then turned and left.
"Hey! Hold on—explain that properly! Hey, don't just walk away! Hey, are you even listening to me?!" Davis hopped in place, fuming as he watched Datamon leave.
"Everyone, get over here!" Agumon called out. Davis could only swallow his frustration and follow Agumon to the center.
The golden patterns lit up. Slowly, they began to rise, becoming three-dimensional, while countless points of light raced through the glowing lines. As the light intensified, the patterns folded inward like a dome, closing around Agumon and the others and surrounding them completely. Agumon and Gatomon looked utterly unfazed, as if they'd seen it all before, while Davis stared around in panic at the closing light.
When the radiance finally dispersed, Agumon and the others were standing in a black forest, wrapped in white mist.
"Isn't this the forest from last time?!" Yolei recognized it immediately and shouted.
"That's right. This is where I used Sincerity Armor to defeat Chamelemon," Hawkmon confirmed.
"Agumon, why are we here?" Davis asked suspiciously.
"This forest connects to the Dark Ocean. If we pass through it, we'll find Tai and the others," Agumon said, then stepped into the black forest first.
Davis and the others exchanged glances and followed. To be honest, walking through this forest took real courage—because in the entire forest, aside from their own footsteps and breathing, they couldn't hear anything at all. It was like only they existed here.
"Hey, Agumon, why is this place like this? Why is it so quiet? It's creepy." Davis hugged his shoulders, anxiously scanning the misty darkness.
"Yeah! Just standing at the edge last time was scary enough—now we have to cross the whole thing. Agumon, isn't there any other way?" Yolei hurried up beside Agumon.
"There isn't. This forest has been seeped through by darkness and has already separated from the Digital World, so we can only teleport to the edge and walk in from there," Agumon said helplessly.
"There's something I've always wanted to ask," Cody said as they walked. "How does Tai know so much? And that city just now—wasn't it the same city as last time? Why is it named after Tai?"
Hearing that, Agumon stopped. He lowered his head and stared at the ground, as if lost in thought.
"What's wrong, Agumon?" Davis asked, puzzled.
"Because that city was ruled by Tai back then. Isn't it normal for it to be named after him?" Gatomon shrugged, completely calm.
"Ruled? That city is huge!" Davis's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"Huge? Before that war, Tai City was even bigger. What you saw now isn't even a third of what it used to be," Gatomon said, looking at Davis like he was hopeless.
"That war?" Yolei immediately caught the key point.
Agumon started walking again. The kids quickly followed, and Agumon spoke as he went.
"Back then, Tai City was the pride of the Digital World. It had the strongest Digimon, the toughest defenses, and the largest mechanical legions. That war began when the Dark Army invaded—led by Daemon, Lilithmon, and Leviamon, three of the Seven Great Demon Lords from the Dark Area."
"We won. Aside from Daemon, the Dark Army was wiped out here… but Tai City was nearly destroyed as well. And my closest comrade, Machinedramon, vanished during that battle. No matter how we searched, we couldn't find him."
"After the war, Tai didn't restore Tai City to its former scale. He only repaired it enough to function, then sealed it off. After that, he turned to researching space technology and Digi-Armor."
"Tai is really amazing," Davis said, stunned.
"Of course. Tai is the one who founded the Metal Empire," Gatomon said proudly.
"Metal Empire?"
"That's right. An empire that once dominated the entire Digital World—people said no matter how strong you were, the endless ocean of mechanical legions could drown you," Gatomon continued.
"That's incredible," Cody murmured in awe.
"Yeah… the Digimon Emperor can't even compare to Tai," Davis said. He thought about the Digimon Emperor, then thought about the Metal Empire Agumon and Gatomon described, and realized the two weren't even on the same level.
Tai held the Holy Sword: Genesis Blade in front of him as several black energy blasts slammed into the blade. Those bizarre creatures swarmed Tai, trying to snatch Kari away.
A spherical barrier enclosed Tai and Kari, blocking the attacks from all sides. Tai twisted his right wrist and swung—an energy blade shot out and cleaved one of the black creatures in half. The two severed pieces melted like wax, turning into black runoff that streamed into the Dark Ocean.
The other creatures acted as if they hadn't even seen their companion die, continuing to attack without pause. Tai kept swinging the Holy Sword: Genesis Blade, cutting down one dark creature after another. Every single one melted into black liquid after death, flowing into the Dark Ocean—merging with it until it was impossible to tell them apart.
The dark creatures were all gone, but Tai didn't relax even slightly.
The minions were done.
Now it was time for the boss.
"Grrrrrr…"
A rumbling sound rose from the Dark Ocean. The sea began to boil. A massive silhouette rose up—its enormous body wrapped in the same black, unknown substance as the creatures before. Pitch-black water streamed down its form.
"So tall…" In front of it, Tai and Kari were like ants—tiny and insignificant. That figure was nearly a hundred meters high, even larger than VenomMyotismon.
"So you finally decided to come out," Tai said with a cold laugh, staring up at the shadow.
"So pure… such pure light." The black figure opened its mouth, its voice booming like thunder as it spoke greedily to itself, as if what it wanted was already reality. "This legendary Light of Evolution will finally belong to me. With it, I'll become the strongest. Then whether it's the Dark Area or the Digital World—everything will be mine!"
Dark Dagomon was an evil god Digimon known as the "heretic monk of the deep sea." It was believed to have evolved from a computer virus that infected ships' computers and threw off their direction and navigation routes. However, its true origin was said to be the evolved form of a bizarre Software-type Digimon. Originally, it was an Ultimate-level Digimon—but after obtaining a fragment from Millenniumon, the origin of Dark Digimon, it absorbed the Dark Ocean's power and evolved into Mega, its body expanding to a colossal size.
It had a bad habit: after defeating an opponent, it would remove the prayer beads from around its neck, press its hands together, and pose as if offering condolences. It was said that with endlessly growing tentacles, it could bind its body into a humanoid shape—but that was only legend, because no Digimon that ever witnessed Dark Dagomon's true released form survived.
Legend also claimed that Dark Dagomon was one with the lost Dark Ocean. To defeat it, one would first have to shatter the Dark Ocean itself—but no Digimon could do that. In the Dark Ocean, Dark Dagomon was an invincible existence.
Its signature attack was Forbidden Trident, hurling a trident with savage force; Thousand Whips, lashing enemies with countless tentacles; and Precept Break, infecting foes with its powerful computer virus, robbing them of the ability to fight.
"So you're the one who's been calling to Kari all this time," Tai said, raising the Holy Sword: Genesis Blade in his hands. "Then die."
The moment the last word left his mouth, Tai stomped hard off the ground. His body shot upward. With both hands, he lifted the Holy Sword: Genesis Blade above his head, then swung down with full force. A massive energy blade—dozens of meters long—blasted from the sword and slammed into Dark Dagomon's chest.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion erupted across its torso. The impact forced Dark Dagomon to stagger back several steps, and the sea churned into raging waves from its movement.
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