Knights of the Digital World

The snake quickly raised its head and said very enthusiastically.

This time, Turtle Head didn't refute either, and instead looked at the few Digimon that hadn't appeared before:

"You didn't show up before, probably because your strength hasn't reached the Ultimate level yet, right? I'll give each of you a Digital Core, which should be helpful."

As they spoke, six more of the remaining eight digital cores flew out from around the large tree surrounding the Xuanwu Beast's back, including those belonging to Emu and Ruki.

Emu and Ruki exchanged a surprised glance. Genbumon's gentle and kind nature was indeed true; he gave away such an important digital core so readily.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the Four Holy Beasts possess twelve Digicores, and that Xuanwu even burned four of them in a desperate struggle, into thinking that Digicores are unimportant to them. In reality, the Digicores are the source of their power and their life force. Once their Digicores are depleted, they too will die.

Of course, as long as there is one Digicore left, the Four Holy Beasts can slowly recover over time. However, the fewer Digicores left, the longer the recovery time will be, and the more painful and difficult the process will be.

As for the Xuanwu Beast, it was already overexerted, and burning four digital cores severely damaged its vitality. Its recovery time is estimated to be measured in years. If it were to give away another six digital cores, it would only have two left, and its recovery time would likely start at a hundred or even a thousand years. It is even possible that it will never be able to return to its peak.

However, in Xuanwu Beast's eyes, he didn't care about his own strength; he was more concerned about the safety of the Digital World and the children.

Giving away the Digicores would increase the children's strength, improve their self-defense capabilities, and enable them to better deal with the Masters and protect the Digital World. Therefore, Genbumon gave them away without much hesitation, which shows his character.

"Thank you, Xuanwu Beast. However, Ruki and I don't need this Digicore. Our partner also has the power of an Ultimate level, so we don't need it."

Emu and Ruki had no intention of taking advantage of Genbumon. Their partner was already capable of evolving into an Ultimate level, so they weren't particularly eager for Genbumon's Digicore. Moreover, as visitors from another world, they hadn't yet made any contributions to this Digital World, and accepting the Digicore would be undeserved.

The Xuanwu Beast stared at the two of them with its four eyes for a moment in surprise, then withdrew its digital core without saying anything more.

"You two probably don't have an Ultimate-level partner like those two, right? Then please accept this as a token of my appreciation. I hope you can return safely from your battle with the Elite Four."

Seeing that the other children were struggling for a while and were about to return the digital cores to him, Xuanwu Beast gently persuaded them.

"Thank you, Xuanwu Beast. We'll definitely do our best!"

Ajo, Mimi, Takeru, and Hikari nodded vigorously, assuring the Xuanwu Beast, and also incorporated the Digicore into the Holy Project.

"Hehe, the most important thing is your own safety. Alright, go ahead, kids. Good luck!"

The Xuanwu beast's turtle head smiled gently as it spoke.

Goodbye, Xuanwu Beast! We'll come back to see you again!

The children waved goodbye to the Xuanwu Beast, boarded the Dark Ship, and headed towards their next destination.

Watching the Dark Ship depart with its whistle blaring, the Xuanwu Beast stood silently in place for a while, as thick fog rose around it.

He also needs to rest.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Target Two - Metal Seadramon

"Taiichi, who's our next target? Mugendramon or MetalSeadramon? Mugendramon is closer, but also stronger. MetalSeadramon is much farther away, but weaker."

Koushiro typed on the keyboard, marking Mugendramon, who was fighting White Tigermon in the west, and MetalSeadramon, who was fighting Vermilion Birdmon in the south, and asked a question.

As for Piedmon, who is recognized as the strongest, the children had already agreed to deal with him last.

"MetalSeadramon, please. First of all, we just went through a major battle and need time to recover. Also, Joe and the others need time to use the Digicores given to them by Xuanwumon. It's a long distance and time to get to MetalSeadramon, so it'll come in handy."

Furthermore, our plan did not take into account the consumption of the Four Divine Beasts. Even if we defeat the enemy, we will not be able to obtain the help of the Four Divine Beasts, which means that our strength will only be on our own.

MetalSeadramon is weaker, so defeating him should leave us with considerable strength enough to fight Mugendramon. Mugendramon, on the other hand, is much stronger, meaning defeating him will require a greater sacrifice. Whether we'll even have the strength to fight Mugendramon then is uncertain.

Taiyi already had a plan in mind, so he spoke directly.

“But Taiyi, this is based on continuous battles. In reality, we can rest and recover for a period of time after a battle, so we don’t have to worry about injuries.”

Ahe proposed a new solution.

"Ahe, your plan is indeed easier than the continuous battles we're facing now, but you've overlooked one thing: if the Four Divine Beasts can't hold on, we probably won't have that much time."

Taiyi sighed. As the leader of the small team, he had grown the most among the children, and his vision had become more far-sighted with each judgment.

"We were too optimistic about the situation of the Four Divine Beasts, which is why we made the initial plan. But the experience of the Xuanwu Beast has proven that our optimism was too blind."

Xuanwu Beast has been forced to burn its Digicore, so how much better off can the other three of the Four Holy Beasts be?

Time is running out! We still have at least one of the Four Holy Beasts drawing the attention of the Four Heavenly Kings. But once the Four Holy Beasts are defeated, we'll face the full force of the Four Heavenly Kings!

Think back to Puppetmon. Even though we gained the upper hand and froze him in ice, he wasn't seriously injured. If it weren't for Xuanwu's warning, we probably would have been defeated by Puppetmon. I have no doubt that he has that ability! After all, even when severely injured, he could still unleash a barrage of firepower for about three minutes!

Puppetmon is the weakest of the Four Masters, at least the weakest. If he's this difficult to defeat, how strong must Mugendramon be? And how strong must Piedmon, widely considered the most terrifying, be? These are all things we need to consider!

Only Taiichi's voice remained in the carriage. The children listened silently to Taiichi's analysis, and a look of realization flashed across their eyes.

"You're right, I hadn't thought of any of that, Taiyi. Let's do it your way."

Awa nodded, agreeing with Taichi's analysis.

Taiyi looked around, his voice softening considerably, and said:

"Alright, we've wasted a lot of time talking, everyone should take a break. We have another battle waiting for us!"

Everyone nodded. The children who had fought earlier closed their eyes and leaned back in their seats to rest. The other children, meanwhile, were discussing in hushed tones with their partners how to use the Digicore of the Mystic Code.

Seeing that Taichi was also preparing to rest, Emu reminded him:

"Taiichi, you can use Divine Plan to achieve Ultimate Evolution against MetalSeadramon and Mugendramon, which is more suitable than BlitzGreymon."

Taiyi paused for a moment, then quickly nodded and said:

“Okay, I’ve got it. Emu, thank you all for your help these past few months. I’ve always remembered your training and the Dark Ship’s assistance, and I believe Sora and the others feel the same way.”

Logically, I shouldn't ask you for anything more, but I'd still like to shamelessly ask you one more thing: if any of us are in danger, please save us.

"You're being too polite. I'm friends with everyone, and I won't stand idly by if needed."

Emu replied with a smile.

Taiichi's expression relaxed considerably. Although he had not yet witnessed Emu's strength, receiving Emu's promise gave him a strange sense of security.

So now, we can focus on dealing with MetalSeadramon!

"That idiot Puppetmon's aura is gone, he's dead?! Tsk, what an idiot! Even at this level, how could he let the Four Holy Beasts turn the tables?!"

MetalSeadramon, who was battling Suzakumon, noticed Puppetmon's presence fading. The Four Heavenly Kings had been drawing energy from their connection with Apocalymon. Even from a great distance, they could sense each other's presence.

Apocalymon is a product of the resentment of all Digimon that failed to evolve and died in the Digital World, as well as the negative emotions of humans. As long as there are Digimon that failed to evolve and died, and as long as there are negative emotions of humans, its power will not be extinguished.

With the help of Apocalymon's power, the Elite Four's energy is inexhaustible. Even though the Ultimate level beings themselves have an extremely fast energy recovery rate, it can't compare to the speed of this kind of direct extraction that doesn't require recovery.

In this situation, the Four Heavenly Kings maintained a firm advantage. They were just waiting for the Four Divine Beasts to weaken further before eliminating them in one fell swoop.

Unexpectedly, at this critical juncture, the puppet beast went awry!

MetalSeadramon and Puppetmon have never gotten along. Both of them are domineering and self-centered. Compared to the taciturn Mugendramon and the enigmatic Piedmon, they argue the most.

But precisely because of this, MetalSeadramon was well aware of Puppetmon's strength. Even though he kept calling Puppetmon an idiot, he knew that Puppetmon's strength was comparable to his own.

Now that Puppetmon has been inexplicably defeated and killed, perhaps a new force has intervened. I need to be careful.

Another possibility is that the Xuanwu Beast, which was fighting the Puppet Beast, unleashed its power and reversed the course of the battle.

Although MetalSeadramon thought the possibility was very small, and that the Four Holy Beasts' power was gradually weakening and they shouldn't be able to do such a thing, they still had to be on guard.

What if?

MetalSeadramon's decision manifested in the battle by becoming more conservative, giving up many opportunities to pursue.

This also allowed the Vermilion Bird to catch its breath.

As a sacred beast that wields the power of fire, Suzakumon possesses unparalleled combat strength and explosive power. At least in a fair fight, MetalSeadramon would be no match for it.

Unfortunately, the current situation is unfair. MetalSeadramon has unlimited energy and also has an attribute advantage. On the other hand, Suzakumon's excellent explosive power comes at the cost of slightly inferior endurance.

Even though Suzakumon's raw strength surpassed MetalSeadramon's, it gradually fell behind as time went on.

In fact, he had already been considering burning his Digicore and unleashing a powerful attack. However, before he could act, MetalSeadramon's offensive slowed down, giving him a chance to catch his breath.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Hello

To be fair, all four Holy Beasts are wolf-like monsters. For other Digimon, burning their Digivices is a carefully considered, desperate measure, but for the four Holy Beasts, it's practically a routine skill.

There's no way around it, having more digital cores means you can do whatever you want.

However, as mentioned before, the Digicores are not insignificant to the Four Holy Beasts. They are unwilling to burn their Digicores indiscriminately unless their bottom line is crossed.

After all, this kind of thing is troublesome to recover from, and nobody wants to spend decades or hundreds of years recuperating from an injury.

MetalSeadramon had already crossed the line with Suzakumon. If MetalSeadramon continues its previous aggressive stance, Suzakumon will not hesitate to burn its Digicore.

However, MetalSeadramon's sudden surrender gave Suzakumon a chance to catch its breath and also made it abandon its plan to burn its Digicore.

However, while Suzakumon breathed a sigh of relief, it also wondered what had caused MetalSeadramon to change.

Although Suzaku always presents itself as a hot-tempered and easily angered man, it also has a thoughtful and meticulous side.

If he were just a simple-minded brute, the Vermilion Bird wouldn't have gotten to where it is now.

"Metal Seadramon seems wary of something. His gaze towards me has become more alert. And it's not just me; he's also observing the surroundings. Why? Is he worried that someone might join the battle?"

Suzakumon observed MetalSeadramon's actions, pondering inwardly:

"Is he more wary of me because he's worried I might have some kind of comeback plan? Why didn't he care before? What made him suddenly change his mind?"

And he's worried that someone might join the battle because he thinks I'll receive reinforcements? How did he make that judgment?

"I've carefully reviewed the various circumstances of the previous battle, and I'm certain that there are no conditions around here that would allow MetalSeadramon to make these judgments. This means that the conditions for his judgments came from elsewhere! Perhaps, from the other Elite Four!"

"That's right, that should be the reason. The Four Heavenly Kings have inexhaustible energy, and there must be another powerful being behind them. However, this being may be subject to some restrictions and cannot directly attack the Digital World, so it used the Four Heavenly Kings to start this battle. If that's the case, it's normal that the Four Heavenly Kings can sense each other's approximate state."

"MetalSeadramon is so nervous, it must mean another Master Four has died? Who could it be? First, we can rule out Piedmon. If Piedmon were dead, MetalSeadramon would have run away immediately; he should know the difference in strength between himself and Piedmon. If even Piedmon couldn't stop an enemy, he certainly couldn't be a match for him."

The fact that he dared to stay and continue fighting shows that he believed his strength was no less than that of the defeated Four Heavenly Kings, and that he still had a chance of victory.

"Thinking about it that way, the Infinite Dragon Beast can also be ruled out. Although that guy is taciturn and has little presence, he once made me feel danger. Even without the support of infinite energy, he is not an easy opponent to deal with."

"If we calculate it that way, only Puppet Beast is left!"

The Vermilion Bird's four red eyes lit up slightly, indicating it was about 80% certain.

Having battled for so many years, the Four Holy Beasts had a good idea of ​​the strength of the Four Heavenly Kings. Since they guessed that there might be a problem among the Four Heavenly Kings, they easily focused their attention on Puppetmon.

"MetalSeadramon, are you scared?"

The Vermilion Bird suddenly spoke up in a mocking tone.

"Hmph, what nonsense are you spouting, you little turkey? You think you're some kind of monster? Believe me or not, I'll slaughter you right now and make you into a turkey feast!"

MetalSeadramon scoffed. Suzakumon might be stronger, but it had more energy. It was the one with the upper hand now; why would it back down after such a verbal battle?

"Heh, aren't you really afraid? How do you think Puppet Beast died?"