Two against three—the situation had deteriorated to the point that holding back any trump cards was impossible. Without hesitation, Rina drew two slender cards, carefully aligning their barcode-like edges against the reader slot on her Digivice.
"[CARD SLASH]!"
As the cards slid swiftly through the reader slot, vibrant light spilled forth.
Electric currents sparked through the Digivice as the cards dissolved slowly into shimmering particles of data, pouring out in streams of luminous energy that rapidly flowed onto Zero's right claw and Hajime's back.
The streams of data solidified. On Zero's right claw appeared a brilliantly shining silver Trident Revolver, its massive black barrel gleaming menacingly—just looking at it delivered a powerful visual shock.
On Hajime's back, the data formed a shoulder-mounted grenade launcher, its sleek jets extending out into wing-like thrusters.
Seeing these two pieces of equipment emerge, even Devimon showed a slight shift in his expression.
"So that's how it is. Seems it was you lot messing up my plans back at the factory… Heh heh. Perfect. Now I can take it all back in one go!"
Devimon's voice seethed with fury beneath his mocking laughter. Understandable, given these two items were made from Chrome Digizoid—the absolute top-tier material of the Digital World.
Even later in history, equipment forged from Chrome Digizoid was practically the baseline for entering top-tier combat. If your gear wasn't Chrome Digizoid, you'd at least better have attacks that could pierce through it.
Otherwise, battles would be hopeless if you couldn't even break through your opponent's defenses.
Andromon's production line had halted long ago, partly due to lack of materials. Chrome Digizoid—even for the immensely wealthy Metal Empire—represented a staggering cost in both production and consumption.
Devimon had painstakingly gathered these precious materials to restart the stalled factory. Yet now, the divine equipment he'd struggled to produce had been intercepted by these interlopers midway—
—Tell me, wouldn't you be pissed?
Honestly, if Devimon wasn't still trying to maintain his dignified boss façade, he wouldn't just have shouted profanities aloud; he'd have scribbled "Go die!" on their foreheads too.
Meanwhile, Leomon and Ogremon took the initiative and charged forward first. These two, eternal rivals who usually wanted nothing more than to rip each other apart, had astonishingly smooth teamwork under Black Gear control.
Leomon clenched his fist, flames blazing intensely between his fingers. With a single punch, the air itself howled fiercely—like a lion's roar given form—
The gathered flames erupted forth, taking shape into a roaring lion's head that surged straight toward them.
Beside him, Ogremon's fist also flared with purple energy as he hurled his own fierce projectile forward.
One "Fist of the Beast King," one "Pummel Whack"—these two even had matching signature moves. Zero nearly burst into tears at the scene.
Ah, I really miss those innocent childhood days, when all I wanted was Ultraman fighting monsters. Who cared about dating back then...?
Thinking about how Adventure's two main fighters had so many high-quality girls surrounding them yet still ended up paired with each other used to fill Zero with righteous indignation. Only now, reminiscing, did he realize why it took him until adulthood to notice those girls were there at all.
Because back then, damn it, all my attention was focused solely on Ultraman fighting monsters, too.
Despite these lightning-fast thoughts, Zero didn't hesitate in his movements. The gear he now wielded wasn't part of his natural evolution—it was external equipment. If damaged, it could only be repaired back at Andromon's factory. And without extra Chrome Digizoid on hand, repairs might not even be possible.
Thus, it had to be conserved—exactly why he hadn't pulled it out immediately upon encountering Devimon.
The Trident Revolver's firepower was immense, but firing it placed tremendous strain on the barrel. Yet even without firing, the cannon itself—two stories tall and made entirely of Chrome Digizoid—was a fearsome weapon in its own right.
Beside him, Hajime's jets fired to life, blue flames thrusting her nimbly into the air. She swiftly zigzagged, elegantly dodging both incoming energy blasts.
Zero charged straight ahead. Swinging the massive gleaming barrel in a broad arc, he smashed both incoming projectiles aside effortlessly.
In Adventure's later stages, MetalEtemon had relied on his full-body Chrome Digizoid coating. Even the Dark Master Puppetmon and SaberLeomon had failed to breach his defenses—only Zudomon's suddenly-introduced Chrome Digizoid hammer had finally broken through.
To be honest, that had felt rather like plot convenience: Zudomon's hammer hadn't even been mentioned as special before, and then suddenly it was conveniently made of Chrome Digizoid, as if hastily written in five minutes earlier just to defeat MetalEtemon.
Yet no matter how contrived, the strength of Chrome Digizoid had been clearly demonstrated. Without special methods, even powerful Ultimate-level Digimon couldn't penetrate it.
And that included specialized attackers like Puppetmon, one of the Dark Masters, and SaberLeomon, renowned for his incredible offensive prowess.
Thus, Zero confidently swung the cannon barrel, unconcerned about damaging it from the impact alone. Unless he overloaded it from firing internally, no attack on File Island currently could break this weapon externally.
Leomon quickly drew his massive sword; Ogremon brandished his bleached bone club. Only by combining their strength, weapons clashing with a harsh metallic screech, could they barely halt Zero's crushing blow.
While Zero single-handedly tied down Leomon and Ogremon, Hajime had already flown straight past them, closing in on Devimon, who had been leisurely watching from behind.
She spat a blast of blue fire directly at him. Devimon calmly spread his wings, shielding himself. The flames crashed into his wings, scattering harmlessly with a single flap.
But Hajime's flames had merely been a feint—the real attack came afterward.
The shoulder-mounted grenade launcher fired with a violent burst of flame and smoke, sending a volley of grenades roaring toward Devimon. Hajime swiftly used the recoil and her jets to gracefully somersault backwards, retreating at once.
Hit and run—that's my style!
Even with Devimon's strength, he clearly understood the grenades couldn't be blocked head-on.
He immediately moved to dodge, but to his surprise, the grenades came much faster than anticipated, forming a rapid circle around him and trapping him completely.
Deafening explosions rang out one after another. Flames soared skyward, completely swallowing Devimon's figure…
Amidst the surging fire and heatwaves, Hajime gracefully touched down outside the explosion's radius, her jets entering cooldown as she landed neatly on the ground.
But before she could even take a breath, the fiery explosion suddenly split apart—and from within the billowing smoke and flame, a pitch-black claw shot forward—