Knights of the Digital World

"Hahaha, Seraphimon, you're still as rigid as ever. But, who told me I'm your creator? Even if you betrayed me before, I can give you another chance. Present your final data, and I'll allow you to submit once more!"

The Light Beast burst into laughter, but there was no hint of amusement in its eyes.

"Your words are completely unbelievable! Didn't you promise Lordmon and LordKnightmon the key to the human world? In reality, you never intended to do that!"

Yongmeng remembered the information from the original work and shouted loudly.

"They're just incompetent. If they could successfully obtain the final data and witness my resurrection alive, I naturally wouldn't break my promise. Even now, I will keep my promise and bring their data into the human world. That's my mercy!"

"The Light Beast said arrogantly."

Then, he said impatiently:

"Enough. You all dare to point fingers at me? I am the Emperor of the Digital World! Now, Angewomon, Seraphimon, tell me your choice!"

Angewomon was also trying her best to suppress her trembling, but still answered firmly:

"We made our choice long ago. We will never again submit to a tyrant like you! We will not hand over the data for the final region!"

"Hmph, good answer, really good answer. I'm almost moved by your spirit."

The Light Beast's expression turned completely cold, and it raised its hand to clap mockingly:

"I have shown you my mercy, but you do not appreciate it and actually trouble me to fetch it myself. This is a capital offense!"

The Light Beast's voice was chilling. It glared fiercely towards the castle, and a purple beam shot towards the final area.

"careful!"

When Seraphimon and Angewomon saw the beam of light shooting towards them, they both cried out in alarm and raised their hands to erect two barriers to block the beam's path.

This beam of light looked ordinary, but its power was astonishing, easily breaking through the barrier erected by the two archangels.

Without hesitation, the two archangels rushed forward and shielded the beam of light from the beam.

The beam of light exploded in their chests, and the two archangels screamed as they were thrown out together.

"Ultimate Seraphimon! Ophanimon! How are you!?"

The children gasped in surprise.

The Light Beast glanced at the two archangels still lying on the ground, shook its head listlessly, and said:

"So many years have passed, and you haven't made much progress. I'm really disappointed."

"You bastard!"

Lucemon's words thoroughly enraged the children. Based on their combat experience, they could see that it wasn't that the two archangels were so weak, but rather that Lucemon was far too effective against them.

As the creator of the three archangels, Lucemon knew their abilities intimately. His beam of light had precisely targeted the weaknesses of the two archangels, easily breaking through their defenses.

The two archangels, for the sake of the children, did not avoid the attack but instead sacrificed themselves to block it, which is why they ended up in this state.

Lucemon was not unaware of this principle, yet he deliberately mocked the two archangels, which only angered the children.

"The Ten Warriors were able to suppress and seal you back then, and as inheritors of their power, so are we! Die, Lucemon!"

The children, caught up in their excitement, lost all fear of Lucemon. Takuya and Kouji, without even returning their Fighter Souls to their partner, immediately picked up their Digivices and underwent Super Soul Evolution amidst a dazzling stream of data.

KaiserGreymon and MagnaGarurumon have reappeared, challenging the emperor of the Digital World!

Chapter Sixty-Seven, The Terrifying Beast of Light

"Wait! Takuya, Kouji, don't be impulsive!"

When Emu saw the dazzling data stream, he knew something was wrong and quickly shouted to try to stop the two from acting impulsively.

With their current strength, they are no match for Lucemon. What they should do now is find an opportunity to escape, rely on Takuya's connection with Vulcanmon, and under Vulcanmon's guidance, achieve a breakthrough, evolve their Ancient Soul into Valkyrie, and then return to fight Lucemon. This is the safest approach!

This has always been Emu's practice: to prepare thoroughly before taking action.

Emu did the same thing from the very beginning, guiding the children to become familiar with and master the power of the Ten Warriors, and later in the battles against the evil warriors and Cherubimon.

Rushing in like this is just suicide!

However, as Emu shouted to stop them, KaiserGreymon and MagnaGarurumon had already torn through the data stream and soared into the sky, heading straight for Lucemon!

Emu stomped his feet in anger and quickly took out his Digimon Machine and Infinity Gacha, ready to save the day.

In the sky, the two warriors had already launched their attack on the Light Beast:

"Destroy the machine gun!"

Without a word, MagnaGarurumon unleashed its full armor in an instant. Countless missiles rained down on Lucemon.

Beside him, KaiserGreymon also took the Dragon Soul Sword from its back, pointed the tip at Lucemon, and pulled the trigger, shooting scorching flames towards Lucemon:

"Flaming Dragon Strike!"

Facing the full-force attacks of the two warriors, Lucemon remained unfazed, not even raising a hand. A purple light shield automatically appeared around his body, blocking all the attacks.

That protective barrier was so stable and indestructible. All of MagnaGarurumon's missiles struck it, without even managing to make it tremble. Even KaiserGreymon's full-force Flame Dragon Strike only caused a brief ripple on its surface before being blocked.

And this was merely a light shield that the Light Beast had casually created!

The difference in power between Lucemon and them far exceeded the children's imagination!

"Hmph, daring to attack the Emperor, this is treason! A capital offense! And using the power of the Ten Warriors, which reminds me of unpleasant things, making your crime even more serious! Very well, I will personally send you on your way!"

The Light Beast, high above, arrogantly pronounced judgment on the children's crimes.

After the verdict was announced, the Light Beast opened its arms, and a miniature universe unfolded behind it. Nine planets and a star were arranged in the shape of a cross, releasing endless light and heat as they crashed down!

KaiserGreymon and MagnaGarurumon could sense the terrifying power contained in this attack, but they couldn't dodge it. They had to protect what was behind them!

KaiserGreymon held the Dragon Soul Sword upright in front of him, and MagnaGarurumon did not remove its empty weapon, but used it as a shield in front of itself.

The two unleashed their full energy, connecting their powers to raise their defenses to the maximum, attempting to withstand the attack.

However, the power of Lucemon exceeded their expectations.

The cross formed from celestial bodies shattered the energy of the two warriors the moment it made contact with their defenses. Afterwards, neither KaiserGreymon's Dragon Soul Sword nor MagnaGarurumon's weapon could withstand the light and heat emanating from the cross, and both began to melt in the intense heat.

Even KaiserGreymon and MagnaGarurumon couldn't withstand the pressure from the cross. After struggling to resist for a few seconds with low growls, they finally couldn't hold on any longer and were crushed into the sky by the cross amidst screams.

Their armor began to melt in the heat and light of the cross. After reaching their limit, two streams of data flashed across their bodies, and they turned back into humans, falling from the sky.

Parad, who had evolved into Belstarmon, quickly flew up and caught the two in his arms. Emu also transformed into Tyrannosaurus Rex Action Player, soaring into the sky and roaring as he unleashed all his energy, shattering the remaining power of the magnificent cross.

Even so, the aftershocks of the energy spread in all directions. The land in the last area was plowed again, becoming several meters lower than before.

Parad and the two archangels, who had barely managed to get up, released their energy and erected a protective shield that shielded the children, but the palace could not be protected.

The towering palace shattered and collapsed in the aftershocks of the energy, sending countless bricks and stones flying. Some of the endless books hidden within were also blasted out of the palace and flew through the air.

Nefertimon, who served as the area key, did not leave the palace and also died there.

Now, the digital password for the final area can be obtained at will.

Emu fell from the sky, reached out and pulled out his cassette tape, knelt on the ground, and gasped for breath.

In order to block the magnificent cross, Emu had drained his energy in an instant, leaving him weak in the limbs and unable to maintain his Tyrannosaurus Action Player form.

Even after turning back into a human, Emu still felt as if she had just run more than ten kilometers. Her throat was dry, her whole body was weak, and she had no strength left.

And the attack that Lucemon had painstakingly broken through was one that had already been weakened by KaiserGreymon and MagnaGarurumon!

Just how exaggerated is Lucemon's true strength?

The protective shield around the children dissipated, and Palad rushed over, pulling Emu back into the children's arms.

Angewomon and Seraphimon pushed themselves to their limits, releasing holy light from their bodies to heal Emu and the others. However, their own expressions grew increasingly grim, and their wings drooped.

"You actually managed to survive my attack."

The Light Beast looked rather grim, as if he felt he had lost face by failing to fulfill his promise to send the children on their way.

However, after seeing Neferpitou's death and realizing there were no longer any obstacles to seizing the data in the final area, a joyful smile appeared on his face, and he arrogantly said:

"Fine, I'll first completely eliminate this corrupt world and then create a beautiful digital world that belongs only to me. I'll be merciful and grant you some more time to live."

Having said that, Lucemon completely ignored the children's reactions and waved towards the last area. The data in that area immediately transformed into a data stream under his power and flowed into Lucemon's body.

The children glared angrily, but were powerless to stop it.

The Light Beast closed its eyes, enjoying the pleasure of data flowing into its body, and its aura continued to rise.

Finally, after reaching another limit, a dazzling stream of data erupted from Lucemon—

He evolved!

Chapter Sixty-Eight, Schrödinger's Cassette Tape

In the original story, after Lucemon broke free of its seal, it absorbed the data of the Royal Knights. The demonic nature that had been sealed in the dark region for many years merged with its own divinity. With the support of the massive data, it evolved into a powerful demon king who combined light and darkness—Lucemon: Fallen Mode!

Now, the Royal Knights' data has been used by Lucemon to unseal it. However, Lucemon absorbed the data from the final area, gaining access to even more massive amounts of data, and thus began his own evolution!

"Evolution...? Can Lucemon continue to evolve? He's already incredibly strong now, how strong will he become if he evolves again?"

Seeing the dazzling data stream on the Light Beast, everyone felt heavy-hearted and began to despair.

For Digimon, evolution is a leap in the essence of life, and most of them will experience an increase in strength. At the very least, their abilities will change.

Unless one has insufficient resources or is extremely unlucky, they will fail to evolve and become creatures like Poop Beasts or Snot Beasts.

Lucemon obviously wouldn't exhibit this behavior.

With his years of accumulated knowledge and the support of a massive amount of data, Lucemon's evolution will proceed without any surprises; he will be even more powerful than he is now!

It will also be more difficult to resist, leaving people without hope!

Unlike the others, Emu knew very well the evolved form of Lucemon. He also knew how Lucemon Fallen Mode was defeated by Valkyrie in the original story. Therefore, he was not as desperate as the others.

However, he was also hesitant and conflicted about what to do.

He interfered with the plot of Part 4, and indeed, the storyline changed. However, Emu's strength was insufficient, and his teammates in Part 4 were the three archangels—weak fighters—far less capable than the Royal Knights in Part 5.

Therefore, in Part 5, Emu could help the DATs nip Kurata's ambitions in the bud, completely changing the plot of Part 5. However, in Part 4, no matter how Emu planned and designed things, he couldn't escape the plot framework of Part 4 when he was no match for the Royal Knights and Lucemon.

The data from the Digital World was still stolen, and Lucemon was still resurrected.

Although the process was slightly different, the final result remained the same.

And the situation may be even worse.

In the original story, Lucemon at least had two subordinates to help him deal with the children. After seizing the data and evolving, he became obsessed with ruling the human world and didn't even care whether the children died or not.

If the children hadn't rushed out to protect the world, Lucemon might have truly forgotten about them.