Knights of the Digital World

"You seem like a worthy opponent. I am the Slayer of Beasts. Tell me your name!"

Parad never expected that his casually fired bullet could harm a top-tier ultimate-level being. Even if he was already injured and weakened, it wouldn't matter.

She simply wanted to draw the beast's attention away, preventing it from harming them. After all, even a direct hit from her bullets would be very painful for beings of this level.

Seeing that the Beast Slayer had blocked the bullets as she had planned, Palad breathed a sigh of relief and landed directly in front of them. Then, she heard the Beast Slayer's question.

In response, Parad puffed out his chest proudly and replied, "I am Belstarmon, and my name is Parad!"

"This is a Digimon I've never seen before. But that's alright. Come on, let's fight! Let me feel your power!"

The beast, Zhanfa, called out a loud invitation.

Parad also responded:

"as you wish!"

Chapter Twenty-Six: Palad vs. the Slayer Beast

Parad's answer made the Slayer Beast laugh with satisfaction.

Amidst wild laughter, Zhanfa Beast spurred its warhorse and charged towards Palad, flicking the demonic sword in its left hand and unleashing a burst of energy.

Parad snorted coldly, and the lotus root fired repeatedly, the energy-filled bullets exploding upon impact with the energy waves. She herself also shook the lotus root, and the sharp blades attached to it sprang out, meeting the beast's attack head-on.

Although her main weapon is a gun, that doesn't mean she's weak in close combat!

Parad's decision not to distance himself but instead to actively engage puzzled the Slayer Beast. However, he wouldn't hold back. Giving it his all was the greatest respect he could show!

This is what Zhanfashou thought, and this is what he always did. He raised his massive, imposing sword in his right hand, and the resentment of countless dragon beasts rose within him. Even without additional targeted damage, the Dragon Slayer Maru was still a first-rate divine weapon!

"Break down the prison gate!"

As the greatsword swung down, surging energy gathered on its blade, as if to cleave Palad in two.

"Double Claws!"

The blades on Parad's twin spears also shimmered with an aura of energy. However, Parad did not confront the Slayer Beast's attack head-on. Instead, he lowered his body and slashed the knee joints of the Slayer Beast's warhorse.

Although the warhorse of the beast-slaying beast possessed considerable fighting power due to its fusion with its rider, it was unable to withstand Parad's targeted attack. It let out a mournful cry, its front legs buckling, nearly collapsing to its knees.

This sudden turn of events threw the Slayer Beast's attack off course, failing to strike Parad as intended. However, he remained calm, instead praising, "You're quite experienced in combat, able to utilize your size advantage so skillfully and think so flexibly, not bound by conventions!"

Parad didn't intend to reply. Although she hadn't fought many battles, each one she faced was against formidable opponents. Apart from the evil warriors she fought when she returned to the beginning of the fourth part of the world, who were only at the mature or perfect level, her remaining opponents were all top-tier ultimate level beings.

Even those evil warriors possess combat power far exceeding their level. Weak Ultimate-level beings might not even be their match.

Such high-quality battles naturally allowed Parad to accumulate a wealth of combat experience. Even in later battles where her strength advanced too rapidly to participate, Parad observed the entire process and absorbed a great deal of knowledge from them.

She learned a very important lesson from these battles—don't waste words!

Taking advantage of the beast's inability to move, Parad raised the lotus root and pressed it against the warhorse's belly, firing bullets in rapid succession. His entire body's energy, combined with the impact of the firearms, was used to tear the beast's body apart!

However, the Beastmaster, having fought its way up to the top-tier Ultimate level, had encountered opponents like Parad before, and Parad had its own methods of counterattacking.

The moment Palad's pistol touched the horse's belly, the Beast Slayer sensed it. He immediately mobilized all his energy, forming an energy shield around the horse's belly to block the first wave of attacks.

Then, disregarding the injury to its front leg, the Beast of Slaying used its two powerful hind legs to propel itself backward. At the same time, the warhorse lowered its head and exhaled a breath of energy, sending raging flames towards Palad.

The Slayer Beast and the warhorse were one entity, so the warhorse's breath was no different from an attack launched by the Slayer Beast itself. Palad dared not take it head-on and quickly retreated to dodge.

While the warhorse's breath attack is powerful and deals considerable damage, its attack speed is rather slow. This is perhaps why the Slayer Beast doesn't use this move much.

However, because of Parad's somewhat awkward position, he rolled on the ground twice while dodging, barely managing to avoid the breath attack.

After dodging, Parad stood up again, ready to defend herself. She believed her previous attack wasn't enough to cause significant damage to a top-tier Ultimate level being. Even if he was already injured, it wouldn't matter.

"Hey, not bad, right? After fighting those dragon beasts all this time, my warhorse has learned their breath attacks. Sometimes, they can be surprisingly effective."

Unlike Parad, the Slayer enjoys communicating with his opponents during battle. This might involve expressing admiration, regret, or criticism. It's his way of enjoying combat.

In addition, although the damage Parad had inflicted on him earlier wasn't severe, it had indeed hindered his movements. Therefore, the Slayer Beast was happy to exchange a few more words with Parad to buy himself some time to recover from his injuries.

Zhanfa Beast dislikes using underhanded methods like poisoning or sneak attacks in battle, believing that such battles offer no glory or enjoyment.

However, he does not reject tactics like Parad's that exploit the enemy's physical weaknesses, and considers them a manifestation of combat wisdom.

He's using words to stall for time now, which is the same thing.

…………

"Wow, Parad looks to be evenly matched with Slashmon. It seems like I don't need to intervene. ShineGreymon, what do you think?"

The battle between Parad and the Slayer Beast is complicated to describe, but in reality it only lasted a few minutes.

Da watched from the side and let out a sigh. There was a hint of regret in his voice.

"What you say is absolutely right, brother. However, I can't hold on any longer."

"ShinyGreymon said weakly."

The next moment, ShineGreymon turned into data and dissipated, leaving behind a small yellow dinosaur covered in wounds and looking exhausted, sitting on the ground.

"Agumon!"

With a startled cry, she rushed over, looking anxiously at the weakened Agumon, yet somewhat at a loss for what to do.

"Hey, you idiot! Hurry up and put Agumon back into the Digivice!"

Just then, a helpless voice came from above. A huge dragon beast carrying an eleven or twelve-year-old boy slowly landed; it was DoruGreymon and Emu.

"Oh, right! You can do that too. I've never used it in the Digital World, I'd completely forgotten."

Suddenly realizing what was happening, he quickly pointed the Digivice at Agumon, took him into the Digivice's space, and stabilized his injuries.

"Big brother, I don't like staying in there. It's too small and too stuffy."

Even though he was seriously injured, Agumon still patted the space inside the Digivice and expressed his dissatisfaction.

"Oh dear, just bear with it. It's your own fault for getting such a serious injury," Da comforted her.

Agumon knew this wasn't the time to be temperamental, so it grunted a couple of times and lay down in the space to rest.

Emu climbed off DoruGreymon, and DoruGreymon reverted back to Lionmon. After watching Dai finish doing all this, Emu smiled and said, "Dai, you haven't changed at all."

When he saw his long-lost best friend, he smiled broadly and said, "Haha, I can't help it, that's just the kind of person I am."

The two laughed heartily, Dai extended his hand, and Emu reached out to shake it:

"Long time no see, welcome back!"

"Long time no see, I'm back!"

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Stalemate

Although Emu and Dai hadn't seen each other for a long time, their friendship remained unchanged and sincere.

After chatting with his old friends for a while, Emu suddenly remembered something, bent down and picked up the cub, laughing:

"Oh, by the way, let me introduce you. This is my other partner, Lion Cub!"

"Hello."

The young lion instinctively struggled, feeling somewhat embarrassed by Emu's introduction. However, fearing it might hurt Emu, it didn't exert any force. It merely gave Emu a slightly annoyed glare and waved its right paw at Emu in a friendly manner.

"Oh? You can have two partners? I didn't know that." Dai exclaimed in surprise, then waved to the cub and said heartily, "Hello, I'm Daimon Masaru! I'm the number one fighting gang leader in Japan! Feel free to come to me if you want to fight!"

Then, he took out the Digivice, showed the screen to Leomon, and said, "The guy in here is my little brother, Agumon! He's injured right now and it's not convenient for him to meet you. I'll introduce you to him when he's healed."

The lion cub sensed the great friendliness and smiled, saying, "Okay."

As the two sides were exchanging words, Parad and the Slayer Beast, who had been locked in a standoff, resumed their battle. The energy fluctuations that followed abruptly interrupted their conversation.

"Emu, Parad has gotten stronger again. It feels like it's on par with ShineGreymon's Burst Mode. I don't think the current Slashmon is a match for Parad. Although I think their auras are about the same, he is injured after all."

Da observed the two sides engaged in battle and offered his opinion.

"Hmm, right now Parad and the Slash Beast are about the same energy level. However, the Slash Beast is, after all, a top-tier ultimate form. Even if its strength has declined due to its injuries, we don't know if it has any trump cards up its sleeve. We still can't be careless."

Emu watched the battle intently and responded.

Da nodded, then stopped talking and focused on watching the battle.

He's been preparing all along. If Palad is ever defeated, his iron fist is ready to strike at any moment!

The gates and imposing beasts are ready!

…………

The beast's attempt to stall for time with words quickly failed. Palad remained silent, refusing to utter a single word.

Moreover, after a brief observation, she had already discerned Zhan Fashou's plan and knew that he was trying to buy time to recover from his injuries.

Realizing this, Palad immediately switched from defense to offense, unleashing a furious barrage of bullets from her "Lotus Root" pistol. Countless bullets whistled towards the beast-slaying machine. Though it was a pistol, she fired it with the effect of a machine gun.

"A fly pellet!"

"Hey, you figured it out."

Despite the barrage of missiles raining down on him, Zhanfa remained unfazed, even managing a self-deprecating remark: "I'm really not that good at this. I always like to say a few words, but I never manage to attract anyone's attention. What a pity."

As he spoke, Zhan Fa Shou casually brandished his weapons. Whether it was the thick, wild saber in his right hand or the small, slender demon sword in his right, he used them with perfect precision, deflecting every bullet aimed at him.

This is the superb martial skill that Zhanfa Beast has honed through constant battles; it is his proudest ability!

"Although some parts haven't fully recovered and movement is a bit difficult, it's enough."

Slashmon assessed the recovery of his injuries. The injuries inflicted by ShineGreymon, which had caused his energy level to drop, naturally wouldn't heal so quickly, but the injuries Parad had inflicted on his warhorse had almost completely healed.

After blocking the last bullet, the Slayer saw Parad letting his beloved gun cool down.

Although the lotus root isn't an ordinary handgun—its attacks don't even require live ammunition, only energy projectiles converted from energy to unleash tremendous destructive power—after Parad's frenzied, continuous firing, its barrel needed cooling down. Parad's own abilities also needed to recover.

The Beast Slayer seized the opportunity. A cold glint flashed in his eyes, and his warhorse suddenly let out a painful neigh, bursting forth with unimaginable speed, instantly bridging the distance between the Beast Slayer and Palad, and bringing the Beast Slayer to Palad's side.

The Slayer Beast had already gathered its power beforehand, and the moment it appeared before Palad, it swung its demonic sword in its left hand, unleashing an energy wave:

"Ten-Character Slash!"

Before Palad could react, the demonic blade's attack had already struck her. A cross-shaped wound appeared on her chest, and she was forced back several steps by the force of the beast-slaying attack.

However, the pain did not frighten Palad; instead, it fueled his anger.

After regaining her footing, she flicked the sharp blades from the lotus root again, closing in on the beast and launching a frenzied attack, wielding the lotus root with both hands:

"Double Claws!"

This time, Zhanfashou did not use the Dragon Slash Maru in his right hand, but instead wielded the demon sword in his left hand to accurately block Palad's attack.