After accumulating strength over half a month, the data within Hajime was finally enough to sustain her evolution.
Now, witnessing a scene nearly identical to when her friend had been harmed, the shock she experienced fully ignited her latent potential.
Her will to fight and protect her companions became the key to unlocking the door of digivolution…
Amid dazzling rays of light appeared a figure whose body was entirely covered in intertwined stripes of silver and blue. The elegant wolf opened its eyes, let out an angry roar, and leaped forward, knocking aside the Andromon who was about to deliver a crushing blow.
That silver wolf was none other than the direct evolved form of Hajime—one of the Digimon franchise's renowned icon, the famous Garurumon!
Normally, Hajime's evolution alone wouldn't have significantly changed the situation. After all, even with her, it was just two Champions facing a single Ultimate—there was still an insurmountable power gap.
However, as Hajime completed her evolution, two beams of light burst forth from the Digivice in Rina's hand, simultaneously targeting Hajime and Zero.
At that instant, Zero and Hajime clearly felt their DigiCores throb powerfully twice. Red and blue lights began to envelop their bodies, briefly forming patterns resembling Crests beneath their feet.
The Crest shining beneath Zero was golden, shaped like a blazing sun, radiating passionate, fiery heat…
…While Hajime's Crest was a gentle, soothing blue pattern, resembling two overlapping magatama, exuding a warm and reassuring aura.
Although these two Crests appeared only fleetingly, Zero and Hajime both felt a constant surge of power from within.
Hajime and Rina couldn't understand what had just happened, but Zero saw it crystal clear.
The Crest of Courage and the Crest of Friendship? Why did the Crests appear directly… Well, if the emotions themselves are intense enough, it's indeed possible for the Crests to form spontaneously…
At the climax of the original Adventure series, even after Apocalymon destroyed both the Tags and Crests, the children had still managed to trigger their evolutions by drawing out the power of their Crests through their own emotions.
This proved the Crests weren't essential, merely emotional "amplifiers" that made it easier for their holders to manifest certain qualities.
But if those emotions themselves were intense enough, even without the amplification of Crests, evolution could still be triggered.
Tags and Crests were the original eight Chosen Children's medium and key to reaching the Ultimate level.
Now, Crests appeared beneath Zero and Hajime. Although they didn't push the duo to the Ultimate level, they nevertheless brought them a significant power boost.
As expected, Crests were never necessary—just auxiliary devices. If the emotional demand is strong enough, one can form a Crest naturally!
While thoughts flashed through Zero's mind, he had already rushed forward to cooperate with the newly evolved Hajime.
Thanks to the amplification from the Crests, his injuries had fully healed, and he even felt much stronger than before.
…We can do this!
If it's us now, maybe we really can suppress Andromon together!
On the other side, Andromon had lost control due to emotional rampage, completely abandoning battle tactics, like having a berserk buff activated. Although this indeed boosted certain attributes, it erased any cool-headed strategic thinking.
From that perspective, it was difficult to say whether it was an upgrade or downgrade—but certainly, in many games… berserk itself counted as a debuff.
Meanwhile, the Crest buffs Zero and Hajime received were genuine "protagonist halos," top-tier buffs that ranked among the strongest possible!
Zero unleashed his Mega Flame, charging forward fiercely. Andromon raised both arms to block, but with a heavy boom, his body was pushed back several steps by Zero's charge.
Being knocked aside by Hajime previously could be attributed to being caught off guard, but this time Andromon had clearly used all his strength with both hands and was still momentarily suppressed by Zero.
Clearly, the battle momentum had shifted, tipping the scales of victory.
Zero and Andromon clashed, their immense strength shattering the ground beneath their feet, forming spider-web cracks. At this moment, their forces were evenly matched, locked in stalemate.
Right then, Hajime struck from the side without hesitation, decisively becoming the proverbial last straw, knocking Andromon flying once again…
…Immediately after, Zero and Hajime simultaneously opened their mouths, red and blue lights gathering within.
The thrown-back Andromon shakily got to his feet. He held his head with one hand, red lights flickering violently in his eyes, while his right hand rose slowly, its palm rapidly spinning…
Blue energy gathered quickly, forming a Spiral Sword that clashed directly with Zero and Hajime's combined red-blue flames.
The collision set off a terrifying explosion.
Before the heat and shockwaves from the blast had dissipated, Zero and Hajime charged once again, while Andromon furiously swung his arms, charging straight towards them.
"Uooooooohhhhhh!!!"
Zero and Hajime, blood boiling, no longer cared about anything else, while Andromon had completely lost control due to his rampage. The three sides brutally collided—at that moment, their movements froze, then they swiftly passed by each other.
Zero and Hajime staggered and knelt to the ground. Meanwhile, Andromon, eyes blood-red, slowly turned around…
"!"
Rina, having recovered her ability to move, felt her breath catch seeing this. But unexpectedly, after taking just one step toward Zero and Hajime, Andromon's body burst into blinding electrical sparks.
Smoke poured from his joints as he wobbled once, then fell straight to the ground.
"Rina!"
"I got it, I got it!"
No need for reminders—Rina had already aimed her Digivice at Andromon, white light pouring forth recklessly.
Now utterly defenseless, Andromon released more than ten Black Gears from his body under the Digivice's scan, all shattering into nothing.
At the same time, Zero and Hajime exchanged a glance, then simultaneously glowed as they reverted to their Rookie forms, promptly collapsing together.
"I'm exhausted! I almost thought we were goners this time, but…"
Zero turned to Hajime, whose eyes were filled with uncontainable excitement.
"…Congratulations on evolving. Looks like we've taken another step closer to our goal~"
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T/N: woahhhhhh emotions