Digimon: I really didn't want to be the Digimon Emperor!

Click!

A chilling cracking sound rang out! A deep gash had been cleaved open on the Berserker Lion's arm, which was covered in black armor! Thick, chaotic streams of scarlet data gushed out like blood!

"Roar—!!!"

A lion's roar, ten times more terrifying than any of its previous roars, suddenly exploded out!

The solid sound waves, like countless heavy hammers, slammed into the depths of Cheng Yuan, Guan Yan, and the two Digimon's consciousness!

This roar was the true awakening of the mad lion beast! The sleeping ferocious beast opened its crimson eyes completely!

"Roar—!!!" The berserk lion beast roared in extreme pain and rage! The intense pain seemed to cause a momentary lag in its chaotic data core!

Its massive, dark gold ramming horns and ferocious shoulder spikes erupted with blinding, ferocious light! A visible, violent energy shockwave, a mixture of scarlet and grayish-black, exploded out from its center!

Boom!

Where the shockwave passed, the remains of several nearby soldier beasts and mud beasts were instantly torn apart and annihilated into the most primitive data dust! Not even a trace was left!

The oppressive force of the [Roar of the Mad Lion] made Cheng Yuan's heart sink to the bottom. The false sense of advantage he had gained from the hard collision that severed his opponent's arm vanished, and an unprecedented pressure squeezed his heart as if it were real.

"Cheng Yuan, hold on, don't let its mental pressure overwhelm you!" The goat-beast gritted its teeth and persevered, while the sound of the mysterious bell rang in Cheng Yuan's ears at the same time, keeping him awake.

However, the mysterious bell's resistance seemed to completely ignite the rage of the berserk lion beast!

Its enormous body transformed into a destructive storm of crimson and dark gold, moving at more than twice the speed of before!

"Roar!" A frenzied tearing apart!

The enormous claws transformed into a blur that tore through space! Their speed was beyond visual perception!

The air was sliced ​​apart, emitting a piercing shriek! The claw shadows were incredibly sharp and powerful! Each claw shadow contained terrifying power capable of tearing through digital alloy and a highly corrosive, toxic substance!

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Cheng Yuan's Shadow Shield was shattered instantly. He swung his two demonic swords into a crimson halo that was impenetrable to water, but it still couldn't stop the mad lion beast's claws. Every time the claws touched his body, they brought sparks and tears to his black armor.

The immense force made his armored arms go numb, and the hard black rock beneath his feet cracked inch by inch!

Even more terrifying, the highly toxic corrosive data contained in the claw wind was constantly corroding his armor and demon sword, making a "sizzling" sound and sending up black smoke!

"Ugh!" The dark beast groaned as a claw broke through its defenses and slammed into its breastplate!

Inside the breastplate was a scarlet blood-red eye.

With a piercing metallic tearing sound, the breastplate gradually deformed, and the corrosive claws drilled into the crimson blood-red eyes. Instant pain shot through Cheng Yuan; this was the Dark Beast Armor's warning to him.

The situation took a sharp turn for the worse! The fully awakened, berserk Lionmon displayed its terrifying and overwhelming power at its semi-complete form!

"Cheng Yuan!" Guan Yan exclaimed in shock, her heart leaping into her throat. Baronmon's Eye of Insight was still flashing wildly, but the Berserker Lionmon's attacks were completely unpredictable, purely an outpouring of its berserk instincts. Its weak points changed in an instant, making them difficult to pinpoint!

"Baa!" The goat-beast launched its Holy Charge again, attempting to rescue Cheng Yuan. But the mad lion-beast countered with its other hand, unleashing the Beast King's Fallen Fist, releasing the deathly aura of its black lion face, and biting at the goat-beast, blasting it directly into the rocks, causing the holy light on its horns to dim slightly.

"Three inches below the seam of the left shoulder armor! That's the core disorder point, that's its digital core!!" Baronmon's Eye of Insight finally caught Lionmon's weakness, and it shouted sharply!

Just as Cheng Yuan was being lifted up by the lion beast's breastplate, ready to crush it in one fell swoop, Cheng Yuan suddenly raised his head. The seven blood-red eyes on the armor were locked on the mad lion beast's gray eyes, which were filled with destructive desire!

[A dark twilight!]

It was no longer hypnosis, but rather all the dark mental energy and chaotic will, like invisible poisonous spikes, were pierced fiercely into the already chaotic data core of the mad lion beast through the blood-red eyes!

Om-!

The mad lion's enormous body suddenly stiffened!

Within those crimson blood-red eyes, a raging, destructive desire surged and twisted violently, like a lake tossed with a boulder! The chaotic spiritual energy injected into those blood-red eyes acted like a fuse, instantly igniting fragments of memories that had been buried deep within their core for who knows how long, completely obliterated by the virus and madness!

A series of shattered images flashed explosively across its scarlet field of vision:

On a sunny grassland, a human girl, a beast tamer, has a warm smile on her face...

Fight side by side against the raging roar of the Dark Zone...

In the darkness of falling into the underworld, data pollution is like a leech clinging to one's bones...

The pain of viral infection is causing the dam of reason to collapse...

Finally… it was its own claws, shrouded in darkness and out of control, that tore apart the closest partner that stood in front of it, trying to awaken it… The girl’s shock, sorrow, and finally, her eyes dissipated into data… became its eternal hell!

Chapter 148 Liberation

“No… Roar…” A low, painful sob, filled with endless regret and despair, was squeezed out with difficulty from the mad lion beast’s mouth full of sharp teeth! This sob was more chilling than any of the previous roars!

The dark twilight that the Dark Beast encountered did not drive it even crazier; instead, it acted like a key, unexpectedly unlocking the last vestige of rationality within its "Lion Beast" consciousness, which had been sealed away deep within its being!

The despair of having killed its partner with its own hands and the eternal self-curse were painfully awakened at this moment!

The destructive desire in its eyes still exists, but it now contains a new kind of... liberation through death!

"Now! Left chest! All-out attack!" Cheng Yuan caught a fleeting glimpse of pain and a hint of... relief in the other's eyes. He didn't have time to think it through; this was the only chance of survival! He let out a desperate roar!

The "White Curse" Baron Beast's long-awaited pure white beam of light, like a spear of dawn tearing through the darkness, shot towards the left chest of the Mad Lion Beast!

"Divine Impact - Evil Breaker!" The goat beast poured all its divine power into its golden horns, transforming them into a dazzling meteor of holy light that followed closely behind, crashing into the same spot!

Cheng Yuan, half-lifted in the air, regained his movements. He suddenly drew his Blood Blade Evolution, one blade stabbing into his own thigh, frantically absorbing his own blood to replenish his energy, while the other blade stabbed into the heart of the mad lion beast.

However, faced with these attacks, the massive body of the Mad Lion Beast...did not make any move to dodge or block!

The white spear pierced the chest armor, and the divine impact amplified the force, shattering the mad lion beast's chest armor.

The crimson evolution, imbued with the energy of the Dark Beast's blood, suddenly pierced the heart of the berserk lion beast! Cheng Yuan only felt the demonic blade strike a hard object.

The mad lion beast stared intently at the dark beast in the air, its blood-red eyes a mixture of rage and pain that eventually transformed into a strange calm and a longing for liberation.

Through its blood-red eyes, the Dark Beast actually read these images and instantly understood! The other party was seeking death! With its last remaining sanity, it gave up resisting!

“Alright, I’ll free you!” Cheng Yuan was shocked, but he didn’t hesitate for a moment. He activated “Blood Assault” and the dark energy in his body transformed into a blood blade that cleaved the mad lion beast from the inside out.

The demonic blade on his thigh continued to frantically draw his blood, and the "blood evolution" erupted with an unprecedented, eerie blood light that pierced the sky!

The seven evil eyes embedded in the armor opened simultaneously, emitting greedy and excited hiss!

[Blood Assault]!

The berserk lionmon unleashed a black and red blood blade from its body, shattering its body along with its digital core.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

"Roar……"

A soft, almost inaudible sigh, carrying a sense of relief, escaped its mouth.

There was no madness, no resentment.

Those blood-red eyes dimmed completely, his massive body convulsed violently a few times, and finally stopped moving, crashing to the ground along with Cheng Yuan.

The demon sword "Blood Evolution" emitted a deafening, almost frenzied roar of joy! The gushing torrent of scarlet blood was frantically devoured and absorbed by the demon sword!

The blood-red light on the blade surged and solidified at a visible speed, even beginning to spread to the dark armor, leaving deeper and more sinister blood-red patterns on it!

Cheng Yuan felt an indescribable, violent, and pure torrent of power surging wildly into his body along with the demonic blade! This power far exceeded the sum of all the undead he had absorbed before!

As the power was drained, the massive body of the mad lion beast rapidly collapsed and disintegrated like a sandcastle. The dark purple fur, dark armor, and scarlet data streams that made up its body were all rapidly decomposing and dissipating, turning into countless blood-red specks of light that drifted through the sky.

Only a few huge, dull, white bone armor fragments remained in the original location.

The battle is over.

Cheng Yuan lay on the ground, panting heavily. The greedy absorption of the demonic sword "Blood Evolution" finally stopped, becoming more profound and restrained, yet radiating a chillingly evil pressure. Cheng Yuan felt the low groans and twitching laughter in his head become even more intense.

The battlefield was a scene of devastation, littered with data fragments and skeletal remains left behind by the dead Digimon.

He struggled to his feet. Although he had absorbed the power, the demonic sword had also drained a significant amount of energy from his thighs. This constant draining and extraction placed an immense burden on his body.

Guan Yan's face was pale behind the wall of light from Baron Beast.

The goat beast walked up to the shadow beast and gently nuzzled its head against his armored arm.

"Let's go! Let's climb the mountain!" Cheng Yuan de-evolved, his face pale, but fortunately, the wound from that slash was inflicted on the body of the Dark Beast, and his own body was unaffected. However, the Dark Warrior's Soul also needed time to repair and digest the dark and frenzied energy it had absorbed, so it couldn't immediately re-evolve.

He glanced at the spot where the mad lion beast had vanished, then looked at the volcano that pierced the black mist of death, without lingering for a moment.

Stepping onto the winding, upward-facing black stone path, the aura of death instantly intensifies and chills to the bone.

Starting from a height of one thousand meters, the devastating, deathly gale is ever-present.

At first, the cold wind cut through the skin like ice blades, but the higher you go, the stronger the wind becomes. The gray-black air currents mixed in with the wind are like millions of high-speed rotating grinding wheels, frantically tearing and grinding everything!

Cheng Yuan rode on the broad, warm back of the goat.

The goat beast's name contains the word "mountain," and it truly lives up to its reputation as a Digimon adept at climbing. Even on steep, slippery, and windswept black rocks, its four hooves remain extremely steady. With each step, tiny ripples of holy light emanate from beneath its hooves, dispelling the corrosive death data.

"Guan Yan, come up here!" Cheng Yuan stretched out his hand.

With the help of Baron, Guan Yan also rode on the broad and sturdy back of Goat.

The Baron beast gripped the rock firmly with its huge claws and climbed steadily.

"Baa!" The goat-beast let out a long bleat, its sacred halo expanding to form a milky-white light shield several meters in diameter, barely enveloping Cheng Yuan, Guan Yan, and the Baron-beast.

Outside the light barrier, the dark gray death wind raged like a furious dragon, making a teeth-grinding grinding sound. The light barrier fluctuated violently, flickering as if it would shatter at any moment.

Inside the light shield, although it was still bitterly cold and the wind howled, the deadly cutting power was greatly reduced.

Like a small boat in a raging storm, they struggled upwards along the path of death leading to the pinnacle of hell, protected by a divine aura.

Above, a black fog of death data rolled endlessly, accompanied by thunder and lightning, like a gaping maw ready to devour its prey.

Chapter 149 Sacred Ruins and Relics

The goat-beast walked at the forefront, its body radiating a soft, milky-white halo that formed a thin, sacred barrier, struggling to dispel the thick, ink-like "black fog of death data" surrounding it.

Cheng Yuan, in his dark beast form, carried Guan Yan on his back, each step landing on the rugged, steep rocks.

This black fog contains extremely strong corrosive power; even through the barrier, one can feel its chilling, soul-freezing aura and the nauseating, decaying scent of data.

However, this peace did not last long.

Waaaaah!

Like the mournful howls of millions of vengeful spirits, a chilling wind suddenly swept down from the higher mountain peak! A deathly gale roared!

This is no ordinary wind, but a destructive torrent formed from highly condensed death data and violent energy!

The dark gray airflow, like millions of high-speed spinning boning steel knives, with the power to tear everything apart, slashed fiercely at the sacred barrier of the goat beast!

A piercing, teeth-grinding scraping sound exploded!

The goat-beast let out a long bellow, and the sacred ring around its neck burst forth with an even more dazzling barrier, barely withstanding the first and most violent wave of gale.

The light from the Sacred Ring and Sacred Bell dimmed rapidly, and the goat beast's breathing became heavy.

They had been climbing for a long time on the mountainside, during which waves of strong winds came one after another, like the breathing of a giant beast.

With each gust of wind, the light of the sacred barrier dimmed a little, and the goat-beast's breathing became a little heavier.

Another fierce gust of wind swept in! The goat beast squeezed out the last bit of divine energy in its body and stretched the barrier to its limit!

Click—!

The sacred barrier, like glass that could not withstand the weight, was covered with spiderweb-like cracks on its surface, and finally shattered under the relentless tearing of the gale!

Goatmon exhausted its sacred and radiant data and reverted back to Puppymon. Puppymon collapsed limply to the ground, too weak to even stand up.

Cheng Yuan used the power of the Dark Beast to open the barrier of darkness, firmly supporting Guan Yan with one hand, while instantly scooping up the limp little dog beast from the ground with the other, carefully placing it on his broad, cold shoulder armor. "Leave the rest to me! Hold on!"

At this moment, they had climbed to the highest point of the extinct volcano, seemingly only a step away from the crater that spewed endless black mist.

But without the protection of the sacred energy of the goat beast, the terrifying black fog of death and the intermittent death winds gnawed at them like maggots clinging to their bones.

Guan Yan's condition deteriorated rapidly. Her fingertips began to blur, flickering with tiny data mosaics like an old television signal, and a few strands of hair also showed an unnatural pixelated breakage.

Baron staggered, the fangs on his lion dance mask grew even more menacing, and his eyes occasionally flashed red light.

With a sudden thought, Cheng Yuan encapsulated the Seed of Light into a chip, inserted it into the Arc Light Machine, and summoned the Sacred Realm.

Within the domain, it was as if one were bathed in warm sunlight! The viscous black fog of death, as if encountering its nemesis, emitted a sizzling burning sound and was forcibly repelled and purified! The suffocating feeling of data erosion and chilling coldness vanished almost instantly!

"It works!" Cheng Yuan's heart leaped with joy. But he knew that this sacred domain had limited effectiveness in resisting the deathly gale.

Whenever the howling wind grew louder, Cheng Yuan would immediately lead his men to blast open cracks in the old cellar or forcefully create fissures in the hard black rocks to use as cover.

Once the devastating storm subsided and the wind weakened, they climbed upwards like geckos, using both hands and feet. They repeated this process, slowly and dangerously moving towards the crater.