Knights of the Digital World

"Emiya, judging from Apocalypse Beast's current state, it's impossible to stop it from self-destructing. The power of its self-destruction will be terrifying... I feel a very serious sense of crisis! What should we do?"

"Tsk, Tai and the others can't unleash their Mind Light to stop Apocalymon's explosion anymore, it's up to us. Alphamon, let's unleash the 'First Power' once again—at any cost!"

"……knew!"

Alphamon took a deep breath, and a huge magic circle appeared beneath its feet. It quickly rose up, swept over Alphamon's entire body, and restored Alphamon to its original size.

Alphamon felt the extra energy within its body, raised the King Dragon Sword, aimed it at the pitch-black sphere that Apocalymon had transformed into, squeezed out all its power, even overdrawing its own power, and once again activated the "First Power".

"Break open for me!"

Alphamon roared, and countless slashes combined, striking the black sphere.

The black sphere, which had been spinning continuously, froze instantly when it was struck by Alphamon's "First Power." Cracks appeared on the sphere, and most of its energy dissipated in an instant.

"Was it successful?"

After Alphamon used its "First Power," it transformed back into Emu and Lionmon in an orange-yellow light, floating in the boundless darkness, barely able to see the cracked sphere.

The next moment, the black sphere completely shattered, and the energy that was about to reach the critical point of explosion quickly dissipated. The explosion that could have destroyed the entire Digital World was reduced to a single energy aftershock that burst out in all directions, sending Emu and Lionmon flying and rolling.

After exhausting her energy, Emu already felt sore all over. Now, after being hit by the aftershocks of the energy, she felt as if she had been run over by a truck, and the pain was unbearable.

However, he could not suppress his joy and, despite the excruciating pain, burst into laughter.

They succeeded!

"Wow!"

With a cry, the Phoenix Beast arrived beside them, carefully enveloping Eternal Dream and Lion Cub with its energy, and flew towards them.

With the demise of the Apocalypse Beast, the Dark Zone it released was also completely destroyed. The boundless darkness quickly receded, and everyone reappeared in the territory of the Azure Dragon Beast.

"Emu! Lion Cub! How are you feeling?"

As soon as the phoenix returned, the children swarmed around it. They all looked tired, but their faces were full of concern.

"I feel alright... It'll only be a matter of lying in bed for about a month. I'm used to it."

Emu made a comment.

The children didn't get Emu's flaws, but seeing that Emu seemed to be in good spirits, they were relieved. They looked at each other and finally showed joyful smiles after their victory.

However, before the children could enjoy their happiness for long, a voice suddenly rang out:

"Huh? Am I late?"

Then, a dimensional barrier appeared around the children, and a knight dressed entirely in crimson stepped out from it.

"Who are you?! Another new enemy?!"

The children tensed up immediately, realizing that a new enemy had appeared. They all clenched their fists and stood in front of Emu and the lion cub, their eyes filled with hostility.

This wasn't the first time they'd learned an even stronger opponent awaited them after defeating a formidable foe. This guy's appearance was so strange; he might be some kind of villain!

"Uh... there's no need to be so nervous, is there? I didn't do anything."

The magenta knight couldn't understand the children's thoughts. Seeing a group of kids looking at him with hostility, he felt a bit of a headache and quickly took two steps back, raising his hands to show that he had no hostility.

"Brother Shi, is that you?"

At that moment, Ruki stepped out from behind the children and asked with some surprise.

"Huh? Your name is... Ruki, right? What are you doing here? Where's your junior?"

The magenta rider was none other than Tsukasa Kadoya in his Decade form. He was pleasantly surprised to run into an acquaintance here.

"Don't worry, everyone. This is a senior member of Yongmeng. He is very strong and can be trusted."

Ruki first spoke a few words to the other children to ease their wariness of Tsukasa Kadoya, and then answered:

"Brother Shi, Emu and I just happened to be traveling in this world, and we didn't expect to run into you here. By the way, Brother Shi, Emu is seriously injured, and we don't know what to do right now. Could you please take a look at him?"

"Travel? Oh, you mean that tram's ability. Okay, let me take a look."

Without much thought, Tsukasa Kadoya nodded in agreement.

The children relaxed when they saw that it was someone they knew, smiled shyly at Tsukasa Kadoya, and made way for him.

Tsukasa Kadoya didn't care about this misunderstanding and swaggered over to Emu. After looking him over, he couldn't help but laugh:

"Pfft, junior, why do you always look so disheveled every time I see you?"

Emu looked at Tsukasa Kadoya with a resentful gaze and slowly said:

"Brother Shi, who do you think is responsible for my current sorry state?!"

Chapter Seventy-Three: Devastating News

After hearing about Emu's ordeal, Tsukasa Kadoya couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. He scratched his head and said:

"This... is truly an accident. I have indeed been searching for the last fragment of the system, but the sensation has been very vague... Perhaps it's because it was devoured by the Apocalypse Beast you mentioned, and too many negative emotions have obscured its own fluctuations, which is why this situation has occurred."

"Besides looking for fragments, you didn't do anything else?"

Emu cast a distrustful glance at Tsukasa Kadoya. While Tsukasa was generally reliable when it came to important matters, he was usually quite a troublemaker.

"Cough... I also visited a few other film sets, making cameo appearances and mentoring younger actors... Oh, it's just normal activity! It didn't stop me from finding the film fragments! Don't look at me like that!"

Tsukasa Kadoya coughed twice, feeling increasingly embarrassed under Emu's gaze.

"Alright, alright, as compensation, you can have the system fragments you got. Anyway, the remnant souls inside have already dissipated with the explosion. By the way, these fragments have the aura of the corresponding Knight World, you can go and explore them if you're interested."

Tsukasa Kadoya changed the subject.

"Going to the Knight World? Hmm... sounds good... But, Shige, this fragment was originally stolen, right? How did it become a gift from you?"

"Don't worry about the details! Alright, let me take a look at your injuries! Masked Ride, Drive!"

"KamenRide! Drive!"

"Tire Koukan! Mad Doctor!"

Tsukasa Kadoya instantly transformed into Kamen Rider Drive-type Speed ​​Doctor, a rare form with healing abilities. The only drawback, perhaps, is that the healing process is extremely painful.

"Are you ready, Emu!"

Tsukasa Kadoya twisted his head and wrist and said with a smile.

Emu also remembered the characteristics of Tsukasa Kadoya's current form, and his expression changed drastically, letting out a desperate wail:

"Don't come any closer!!!"

"Don't avoid seeking medical help! Accept treatment obediently! Accelerator of healing!"

"Awooo—!!!"

…………

A month has passed in the blink of an eye, and all of Emu, Lionmon, and the children's other Digimon have recovered their health under Brother Ming's "exquisite" medical skills.

However, this caused a side effect: now, whenever Agumon and the others see Tsukasa Kadoya, they instinctively tremble all over, howl, and run around, leaving Tsukasa quite helpless.

Of course, Tsukasa Kadoya was only speechless when such things happened; he didn't actually take it to heart at all. Not long after healing everyone, he went off to wander off to other places again.

According to him, he was making a cameo appearance on another film set.

Before leaving, he once again sincerely invited Emu to visit the Kamen Rider world, repeatedly stating that as a Kamen Rider, one is not a qualified Rider without experiencing several suit battles. Emu should go to the Kamen Rider world and fight other Riders more often.

Yongmeng was tempted by these words, but hesitated. He had been traveling from world to world these past few days, and apart from the time he was injured and lying dead, and the initial period of teaching the children, he had been fighting almost constantly, and was actually quite exhausted. He had originally planned to rest for a while after this world ended, so his trip to the Knight World would have to be postponed.

Speaking of which, Gennai, who has been offline for a long time, seems to have sent an email to call all the children over, saying that he had something to discuss... Could it be that he's going to kick the children out again, just like in the original story?

Emu felt it was necessary for him to go and take a look. After all, as an Ex-Aid, wasn't his job to change everyone's fate?

……

"Children, I have something important to tell you."

Xuan Nei stood with his hands behind his back and said solemnly.

"Grandpa Gennai, what's the important matter? Is it good news or bad news?"

The children looked at each other, and finally Taiyi asked the question.

"In fact, after Apocalymon appeared, the flow of time in the Digital World gradually synchronized with the flow of time in the Human World. Today, the flow of time is completely the same. Look at the sun in the sky."

"sun?"

Gennai pointed to the sky, and the children all looked up and exclaimed in surprise:

"Ah! Is this a solar eclipse? This is the first time I've ever seen one!"

"So beautiful! I want to take a picture!"

"Mimi, we're out of cameras... Hey, Koushiro, can the Divine Project function as a camera?"

"This... let me think about it..."

Gennai, looking exasperated at the children's shouting and yelling, quickly coughed twice to steer the conversation back on track:

"Children, this is not an ordinary solar eclipse. It signifies that the gate between the human world and the digital world is gradually closing. There is about an hour and a half left until the eclipse ends. At that time, the gate connecting the two worlds will be completely closed! Before that, you must leave the digital world!"

"Leaving the Digital World? That means we have to leave Agumon/Gabumon/Biyomon/Tentomon/Palmmon/Gomamon/Patamon/Gatomon and the others?!"

The children suddenly fell silent. After a while, Ahe asked in a strained voice:

"It shouldn't be a big deal, right? We can wait for the next gate to open... Until then, we can stay in the Digital World..."

"No, that won't work. Nobody knows when the gate will open again. Closing the gate might be a way to protect both worlds... But after the gate closes, your data will be completely deleted as foreign objects... Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it."

Gennei said in a very serious tone.

"This……"

The children were all downcast, and looking at their partners, their eyes reddened, and they almost burst into tears.

Seeing this, Gennai decided not to stay and become an eyesore, and left with his hands behind his back.

"Why do you all look like you're about to cry?"

Not long after Gennai left, Emu ran over. Seeing everyone's dejected expressions, she knew her guess was correct. After mentally cursing Gennai, Emu pretended to be unaware of the situation and asked with a smile.

"Emu...we can't stay in the Digital World anymore...we have to part ways with our partners...we..."

Taiichi suppressed his emotions as he answered Emu's question, his heart growing heavier with each word. Before he could finish, several girls around him burst into tears, and Takeru hugged Patamon and sobbed uncontrollably.