Knights of the Digital World

"That makes sense. We'd better run now. Who knows when Cherubimon will arrive?"

The children heard the shouts behind them and began to talk amongst themselves. But they never stopped running, not even bothering to look back at the dozen or so beasts.

The Cherubim might arrive at any time, and it's far more terrifying than a dozen beasts.

Let's run.

At first, the dozen beasts saw the children nodding and exchanging words, and could faintly hear phrases like "what a pity," "defeat," and "opportunity," which filled the dozen beasts with anticipation, and they silently murmured:

"Yes! That's right! Come back and defeat me! I'll show you what terror really is..."

Before the dozen or so beasts could finish their thoughts, they saw the group of children continue running, without even looking back, as if they hadn't called out before.

They ran farther and farther, faster and faster, until they were out of sight of the dozen or so beasts.

At that moment, a sense of desolation inexplicably arose in the hearts of the dozen or so beasts.

Even though there was no wind, I felt a chill on my body.

Why did it turn out like this? For the first time, the plan progressed smoothly; for the first time, there was absolute certainty of victory. Two joyful things overlapped, bringing even more joy. What should have been a dreamlike, blissful time… But why did it turn out like this…?

Why are you all running away?!

The dozen beasts were so angry that they became white-collar scholars, feeling so frustrated that they were about to vomit blood.

However, he was still making excuses for the children and comforting himself:

"Perhaps they don't know my identity. Yes, that must be it. If they knew I was a Steel Warrior, they would definitely stay and fight me—they still need to collect Warrior Souls."

So, I'll just tell them my identity! That way, they'll definitely stay and fight me! Then I'll show them what terror is!

The dozen or so beasts successfully convinced themselves, curled their bodies into a ball, took to the air, and chased after the children in the direction they had gone.

The dozen or so beasts possessed ten different types of energy and had also read and analyzed a large amount of data about the children. Their flight speed was not slow, and they soon saw the children's backs and gradually closed the distance.

Feeling somewhat relieved, the dozen or so beasts immediately shouted:

"Human brats, stop right there! Come back and defeat me! You don't know who I am, do you? Let me tell you! I am the Dot Beast, the Beast-type Steel Warrior! You wanted to collect Warrior Souls, didn't you? Don't you want the Steel Warrior Souls anymore?!"

The children never expected the battle between the dozen or so beasts to be so intense. They chased after them so diligently even after they had all left.

The way he shouted was like a street vendor hawking his wares. He seemed desperate to sell himself.

"Brother Takuya, Brother Kouji, why are those dozen beasts still chasing us? Do they really think they can beat the six of us?"

Yuki finally couldn't help but turn his head to look at the dozen or so beasts that were flying and chasing him in strange postures, and asked.

After these days of travel, Takuya and Kouji have become more outstanding in both combat skills and decision-making. The children trust their judgment and are now turning their attention to them.

"He might really think that way."

The War Wolf Beast answered first.

"According to the information Emu gave us, after collecting our data, the Dozen Beasts can perfectly replicate our skills, and our attacks cannot even harm them."

“Among us, only Takuya has kept some data to himself; the data on the rest of us has probably been collected and analyzed by him. This means that we are of no use against the Ten Beasts. In that case, the Ten Beasts are essentially fighting the Fire Dragon Beast one-on-one, so he naturally has nothing to fear.”

"Even if the dozen beasts aren't as exaggerated as Emu's intelligence reports, our attacks will be significantly weakened and pose no threat to them."

Fire Dragon Beast added:

"Moreover, he's probably afraid that if he misses this opportunity, he won't be a match for us anymore. After all, we're constantly evolving. The data we collect this time might be outdated next time. Of course, he wants to seize this opportunity."

The children nodded, agreeing with the two men's assessment.

Koizumi asked:

"So what should we do now? Ignore him?"

"Of course. Ignoring him is a waste of time. Never mind, let's run! Shuzmon, give us a speed boost!"

Shuzmon nodded, using her wind control abilities to adjust the wind direction, reducing the resistance the children experienced and increasing the thrust, allowing the children to increase their speed again and widen the distance between them and the dozen beasts.

Actually, the reason why the dozen or so beasts chased after him, besides the reasons mentioned by Warwomon and Firedramon, was that he was influenced by the soul of the Beast Warrior.

Besides its evolved appearance resembling that of a wild beast, the Beast Warrior's Soul retains a primal, untamed nature at its core. Without subduing this wildness, one cannot control the Beast Warrior's Soul.

In the original work, Takuya was once controlled by the Beast Warrior's Soul and went berserk, leaving him with a large psychological scar. It was only with great difficulty that he overcame the shadow and wildness and gained control of the Beast Warrior's Soul.

As a veteran fighter, Silver Mirror Beast had naturally subdued the soul of the beast-type fighter. However, he was still affected by his wild nature, though he could control it through willpower.

However, Silver Mirrormon was recently defeated and scanned by Firedramon. This also affected Dotmon. He can still control his wild instincts and maintain his clear consciousness and memories, but inevitably, his wild instincts also take effect on him.

The wildness of the dozen beasts is quite unique. Unlike the ferocious fire dragon beast that destroys everything in its path, it is a pursuit of perfect execution of plans—an almost obsessive pursuit.

Under the subtle influence of this wildness, and for the reasons mentioned by Firedramon and Warwomon, the dozen beasts gradually turned their original plan of "making the children feel fear and defeating them" into an obsession, and they were determined to make it happen no matter what.

This is the real reason why the dozen or so beasts are working so hard!

Chapter 30, Takuya's Decision

The dozen beasts really worked hard.

He not only chased after the kids with all his might, but he also frantically promoted himself, constantly emphasizing his importance, just hoping that the kids would turn around and look at him, and have a fight with him.

Unfortunately, the hopes of the dozen or so beasts were destined to be dashed; the children were all heartless and had no intention of turning back.

"A bunch of eyeballs rolling around, how disgusting!"

After glancing over secretly, Shuz said this, which further discouraged the children from looking back.

The dozen or so beasts chased after the children for a while longer, but found that they could not close the distance with them. Their words, full of sincere feelings, could not move the children's hard-hearted hearts. They finally realized that this could not go on.

then--

"Coronavirus Shockwave!"

"Solar laser!"

"Gale Tornado!"

"Snowball bombardment!"

"Ultimate Thunder Explosion!"

"Black Thunder!"

……

The eyes of the dozen or so beasts darted around, while the ten warriors unleashed a barrage of long-range attacks, firing them toward the direction the children were running.

These special moves were no less damaging than the original. When they came crashing down in a chaotic barrage, the children dared not take them head-on and scattered in all directions to avoid the attacks.

The special attack landed on the path ahead, exploding with a deafening roar, sending up countless stones and dust that blocked the children's way.

"Hahaha! You can't escape now! Come back and defeat me!"

The dozen or so beasts, seeing the children had stopped, burst into excited laughter, their eyes darting around, and quickly chased after the children.

"Damn it! Takuya, let's go defeat him! Otherwise, with him harassing us like this, we won't be able to escape!"

Thunderlight Beast angrily slammed its fist into the ground, offering its advice.

"No! That's too risky! Besides, your data has been completely analyzed, so you're no match for him!"

The fire dragon beast shook its head in refusal.

"What should we do?! We can't just let him do what he wants! With him attacking us like this, we can't speed up at all, and we might even be exposed. We might as well go back and fight it out!"

Junpei said indignantly.

“I know. So you guys keep running, I'll take care of him.”

The Fire Dragon Beast remained calm, as if it had already made its decision long ago.

"Takuya, do you really want to be all alone?!"

Shuzmon stepped forward, his emotions running high.

"It's not a matter of whether I want to or not, but that only I can do it. Only if my data isn't completely read can I defeat him. Besides, I'm the strongest right now. So, I'll just stay."

Firedramon remained calm, even pondering further. He took out his Digivice, pressed it twice, and the Fighter's Soul (excluding the Fire attribute) stored within it entered Warwomon's Digivice via a data stream.

"Kouji, these warrior souls are yours for now. Take good care of them. I'll come back for them when I get back."

The fire dragon beast revealed a slight smile.

War Wolf Beast remained silent, knowing why Fire Dragon Beast was doing this—he feared he would encounter Cherubimon, causing these warrior souls to be stolen.

"Takuya-nii, why don't we go together..."

Despite its enormous size, Bassamon is now acting cute, hoping that Firedramon will change its mind.

"That's enough. You all need to leave quickly. I'll deal with the dozen or so beasts and catch up with you as soon as possible."

The Fire Dragon Beast turned around to face the dozen or so beasts that were rushing towards it. Its fiery wings unfurled with a "whoosh," and its Ultimate-level aura erupted.

"Takuya-nii..."

"Let's go, Yuki."

KaiserLeomon extended its claw, stopping Barzamon from speaking:

"Trust Takuya."

After saying that, Huiyi rushed out first.

Kouji glanced silently at the Digivice in his hand, gritted his teeth, and followed.

"..."

Junpei, Yuki, and Koizumi took one last look at the figure of the Fire Dragon Beast covered in fire wings, then silently followed and left.

Takuya made the most appropriate decision. His will is unchangeable.

In this situation, any procrastination or hesitation would only waste the opportunity that Takuya had created.

The fire dragon beast sensed the receding movement behind it and a smile appeared on its lips.

Immediately, his smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression. Looking at the dozen or so beasts that had approached, he roared:

"Ten beasts, since you're so eager to be beaten, I'll grant your wish! I'll be your opponent, and I'll defeat you!"

"Just one child? But it doesn't matter! Come on, I'll show you what terror is!"

The dozen or so beasts were slightly dissatisfied, but when they remembered that there hadn't been any before, they became very satisfied and pounced on him with a strange laugh.

"Then, let's give it a try!"