Knights of the Digital World

"It's over, Cherubimon! Fire Dragon Flame Fist!"

The Vulcan released Shuzmon's hand, and its holy flames surged, sending a dragon-shaped flame toward Cherubimon's forehead.

Cherubimon finally understood what Eternal Dream wanted to do: he was using himself as a chain to restrict his movements!

But what good would it do to understand now? He had no time to break free from the shackles of Eternal Dream! He could only watch as the flames drew ever closer, his life, his ambition, his atrocities, everything about him slipping away with them!

"Do not!!!"

The Cherubimon let out a sharp, desperate wail, but it could not change the fact that was about to happen.

"Ode!"

The Fire Dragon Flame Fist struck Cherubim squarely on the forehead, and holy flames surged and spread throughout Cherubim's body. Streams of data dispersed in all directions.

Emu quickly released his grip and moved away from the Cherubim, fearing he would be implicated.

He's not Goku, who can be resurrected with the Dragon Balls. The situation is already settled; there's no need to personally experience the terror of the firewall.

The holy flames burned for only a few seconds before the Cherubimon's body suddenly turned into a black silhouette, and rings of dazzling data streams appeared, completely enveloping it.

With a flick of its wrist, Vulcan produced a Digivice and calmly said, "You filthy and evil soul! Let me use this Digivice to purify you! Digivice, scan!"

Everyone relaxed when they saw that Cherubimon's data had been scanned by Gengarmon, leaving only a Digi-Egg.

The battle is over!

Chapter 44, The Mastermind

"it's over!"

Seraphimon clutched his chest, staggered to his feet, and said with a strange expression.

To be honest, there's a strong element of mysticism involved with Seraphimon. Even if Cherubimon's power had increased significantly, his attacks should have been dispersed, so Seraphimon shouldn't have been lying on the ground for so long.

However, under the influence of a mysterious force, Cherubimon's scattered attacks still managed to penetrate several vital points of Seraphimon, leaving him lying on the ground for a long time before he could catch his breath.

Angewomon flew into the sky, embraced the Digi-Egg that was about to fly away, gently stroked it, and whispered, "This is the reincarnation of Cherubimon... I hope he won't go astray again in the future."

Vulcanmon and Shuzmon landed on the ground, data streams flashing on their bodies, and they transformed back into humans. They quickly ran to where Kouji and Kouichi had fallen and helped them up.

"Kouji, Kouichi! We won! Cherubimon has been defeated, it's all over!"

The two brothers, Koichi and Koji, wore identical joyful smiles: "We saw it! Takuya, well done!"

Yuki helped Junpei walk over and called out from afar, "Takuya-nii, I knew you could do it!"

Takuya, supporting Kouji with one hand and scratching the back of his head with the other, laughed happily, "Hahaha, I just did what I was supposed to do. Actually, I should thank Emu. If Emu hadn't controlled Cherubimon, I wouldn't have been able to defeat him. By the way, where's Emu?"

The children only realized then that Emu had disappeared.

They looked around, and Koizumi was the first to spot her. He pointed and exclaimed, "Look, Emu's over there!"

The children looked in that direction and discovered that Emu had not deactivated his transformation; he was simply floating in the air, looking down at the deep pit.

Because Cherubimon absorbed compressed data from the Digital World, the surrounding terrain has changed drastically. The most significant change is the appearance of a bottomless crater.

The children walked over curiously, and Palad was standing at the edge of the pit, looking down as well.

They stopped beside Palad and asked:

"Sister Palad, what are you looking at?"

Parad had also reverted to her Witch Beast form. Upon hearing this, she shrugged and said, "I don't know what I was looking at. I just saw Emu looking down, so I looked too."

"Hey, Emu! What are you looking at?"

Takuya cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted loudly.

For him, asking questions when he doesn't understand is a waste of time; guessing is just that.

Hearing the call, Emu flew back to the children, reached out and took the cassette tape, exhaled, and said:

"I'm trying to find the mastermind behind this. Unfortunately... it's too deep, I can't see it at all."

"The mastermind?"

The children looked at each other, their heads full of question marks.

Takuya, as the children's de facto leader, asked:

"What mastermind? Wasn't Cherubimon the one who caused all this? Didn't we already defeat him? Hasn't Cherubimon been defeated yet?"

The two archangels were reminiscing about the past while holding the Cherubim's egg when they suddenly overheard the children's conversation. They exchanged a glance and came over as well.

Seraphimon said, "Cherubimon has definitely been defeated. Ophanimon and I are not mistaken. This egg is Cherubimon's egg. Now that even a Digi-Egg has appeared, there can be no more surprises."

Emu nodded and said:

"Indeed, Cherubimon has been defeated. But who says Cherubimon is the mastermind? He was just a pawn... Haven't you ever suspected that Cherubimon has fallen into darkness?"

UltimateAngemon pondered, "This matter has indeed been hard for us to believe. After all, Cherubimon was so kind before. However, the relationship between humanoid and beast-type Digimon was tense at that time, and Cherubimon had accumulated a lot of resentment. It is a fact that it fell into darkness. In addition, later... we didn't investigate it any further."

UltimateAngemon didn't explain in detail, but the children all understood. These two archangels, one in a deep sleep and the other imprisoned, had no time to delve into the reasons for Cherubimon's fall; their priority was to quickly set things right.

By now, if Emu hadn't brought it up, they would have all forgotten about the issue.

Emu shook his head, knowing he couldn't blame the two archangels. Given their circumstances, they truly didn't have the energy to consider these issues. In fact, if he hadn't possessed the prophetic ability, he would have certainly concluded that the cherubimon was simply weak-willed and had fallen into depravity.

"Actually, if you think about it carefully, you'll find many strange things about Cherubim's fall. You yourselves are archangels; you should know how steadfast the minds of holy angels are. Especially Cherubim, a kind-hearted seraph. Is it likely that he fell?"

"Furthermore, according to you, Cherubimon became dissatisfied because Beast-type Digimon repeatedly suffered losses in conflicts between Humanoid and Beast-type Digimon. This dissatisfaction should have accumulated gradually. So, even if Cherubimon were to fall, it should have fallen gradually. But Cherubimon fell suddenly, and even used this as an excuse to launch a surprise attack on Seraphimon. Didn't you consider this point?"

Listening to Emu's analysis, Seraphimon and Angewomon also sensed that something was wrong. They weren't stupid; they just hadn't had time to analyze it before. After defeating Cherubimon, they were immersed in the complex emotions of losing their best friend and being saved from the Digital World, and hadn't had the mind to think about it.

Now that Emu has completed the analysis for them, if they still can't figure something out, they would truly be unworthy of the title of Archangel.

"Emu, stop keeping us in suspense and tell us everything you're thinking."

Angewomon said with a serious expression.

The children nodded in agreement. Their curiosity had been piqued as well. Who would have thought that there was another entity behind Cherubimon?

Emu sat down on the ground, patted the earth, and said, "Sit down and let's talk. Everyone's tired from the battle just now. Seraphimon, Angewomon, please help everyone recover. There might be more battles later."

The children obediently sat down; they were either injured or exhausted, and they were indeed feeling tired.

UltimateAngemon and Ophanimon did not refuse. They spread their wings, and a gentle golden light shone on everyone, helping them recover.

Yongmeng, bathed in golden light, closed his eyes, feeling his injuries and strength rapidly healing, and sighed contentedly. Then, he opened his eyes, glanced around, and said:

"I suspect that the mastermind behind Cherubim is..."

Emu paused for a few seconds, then fixed his gaze on the two archangels:

"Light Beast!"

Chapter 45, The Royal Knights, Mobilized

Dark area.

The data that had scattered when Cherubimon was defeated has re-condensed and disappeared into the purple sphere of light at the center of the dark area.

A clear, childlike voice sighed contentedly and said:

"Cherubimon, poor thing. But enough. Because of the data you've collected, my resurrection is near..."

"Then, the rest is up to you."

"Royal Knights, I'm looking forward to seeing you!"

As the child's voice spoke, two orbs of light, one blue and one purple, shot out from the darkness and landed on the ground, revealing two figures—

Royal Knight, Lord Knight Beast!

Royal Knight, Monarch Beast!

The Royal Knights are on the move!

…………

"A Light Beast?!"

Upon hearing Emu's deduction, both Seraphimon and Angewomon trembled their wings, somewhat shocked. However, they quickly nodded and said:

“If it’s Lucemon… he certainly can do it.”

"After all, he created us. It wouldn't be difficult for him to corrupt Cherubimon."

"Wait, wait, wait, wasn't Lucemon defeated by the Ten Warriors?"

The children were completely confused, so Takuya quickly asked.

"It wasn't defeated. Lucemon's strength is beyond your imagination. Even if the Ten Warriors risked their lives, they could only seal him away..."

UltimateAngemon shook his head and explained.

“Emu, we still hope that your guess is just a guess. Lucemon… is too strong! If it really is him… we probably can’t stop him.”

Seraphimon said discouraging things, but her attitude was very serious. Angewomon didn't refute her.

As creations of Lucemon, they both personally experienced Lucemon's rule and participated in the rebellion that overthrew Lucemon's tyranny. Their assessment of Lucemon's strength is undoubtedly true and reliable.

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

"Well, Emu's statement is just speculation, right? It might not be true. There's no need for everyone to be so tense," Junpei tried to lighten the mood.

"No, Emu's guess might be right. Look, everyone, the earth hasn't recovered. The data that was scattered after defeating Cherubimon hasn't returned to where it should be!"

At this moment, Hui Er, who had been calmly observing and thinking, spoke up, pointing to the crater beside him with a serious expression:

"The mastermind behind this really exists, and this isn't over yet. We need to figure out how to defeat Lucemon."

As soon as Hui Er finished speaking, a large mountain not far away was transformed into a data stream and absorbed by people.

The disappearance of the mountain triggered a fierce storm that swept outwards.

"What is this?! Has Lucemon already appeared?!"

The children covered their eyes with their hands and exclaimed in surprise.

"No, it can't be Lucemon! Lucemon should still be sealed away."

Angewomon denied this, saying, "Seraphimon and I can sense that the seal still exists. Lucemon has not yet broken the seal."

"Even if they aren't Lucemon, they are Lucemon's subordinates. They might be collecting data from the Digital World, trying to break Lucemon's seal."

Huiyi speculated.