Digital Hackers' Memories

Even now, with members of the Royal Knights falling one after another in the human world, the remaining forces of the Royal Knights in the Digital World cannot simply stand by and watch Terminal 7D6 be lost outside.

Most importantly, Alphamon and Omegamon had only just returned to the Digital World when they encountered a battle-damaged Terminal 7D6.

Furthermore, considering that the damaged Terminal 7D6 was not recovered, and even the Seven Demon Lords, who always enjoyed watching the drama unfold, did not take the opportunity to "pick up" Terminal 7D6, Omegamon suddenly had an ominous premonition.

"How many 7D6 devices have been destroyed in today's digital world?"

Upon hearing this, not only Alphamon fell silent, but even the four little ones who knew nothing about it showed blank expressions.

As the embodiment of a god, the vessel through which the World Tree travels in the mortal world, and the terminal 7D6, which is roughly equivalent to the highest combat power in the Digital World, could there be more than one?

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Meanwhile, just as Omegamon and Alphamon returned to the Digital World...

On the outer edge of the Void Arena, at the border connecting the "Divine Realm" and the Digital World, the white WarGreymon looked around with an air of arrogance.

The weariness on his face and the injuries on his body could not conceal WarGreymon's innate ferocity and arrogance.

At his feet, several Terminal 7D6s lay quietly, their bodies bearing the marks of being torn apart by claws and swept by raging winds.

As for more 7D6 terminals?

It had already been knocked off this "realm of the gods" in the previous battle and fallen into the lower digital world, becoming part of the countless fallen "debris".

At first, the Digimon living in the Digital World were somewhat surprised by the white crystal creations that fell from the sky.

However, when those broken void arena "wreckage" fell from the sky one after another, even the most curious Digimon restrained their curiosity and carefully avoided the falling objects.

After all, the Digimon that still exist in the Digital World today, even the boldest ones, are extremely vigilant.

That was the experience gained from the eight-year standoff with the invaders, and it's also the reason why these Digimon have been able to survive until now, even when the world was destroyed.

"That madman..."

Looking up at the "wreckage" falling from the sky, even the notoriously stubborn and arrogant Bancho Spiked Beast couldn't help but tremble.

Beside it, Bancho Yurimon, another of the "Five Banchos," silently watched the crystals and stones from the "Divine Realm."

"He actually succeeded."

After a long while, Bancho-Godmon, whose body was missing most of its length but still as majestic as a demon god, took over the topic.

"That WarGreymon actually made it to the Void Arena, where no Digimon other than the Royal Knights have ever been able to enter."

The Void Arena is also known as the "Realm of Gods" or the "Royal Judgment Realm".

It is said that in the past, before the Digital World was as stable as it is today, Yggdrasil created a dueling arena specifically to resolve internal disputes among members of the Royal Knights.

According to the Digital World's narrative, the Void Arena is the most stable space in the entire Digital World; even if all thirteen Royal Knights fought together, they could not completely destroy it.

However, with the passage of time and the prosperity of the digital world, the dueling arena that was specifically used to resolve internal disputes within the Royal Knights has not been used for a long time.

The most recent use of it dates back to the birth of Alphamon, when Alphamon and Omegamon fought together against their dark side, Deathmon.

"So, where did that WarGreymon come from?"

The last one to speak was Beanmon, the weakest of the five bosses, but whose strength was among the best.

"Can the current digital world still give birth to such a powerful Ultimate form?"

Speaking of Ultimate-level WarGreymon, the five Digimon known as "Gobancho" have encountered them before. Their combative or meddlesome nature means that their battles with other Ultimate-level Digimon have never stopped.

But even Omegamon's clone—the one known as "Born Warrior" WarGreymon—could not possibly display the same ferocity as the white WarGreymon.

"But he still defeated the four of us, didn't he?"

A hint of resentment flashed in her eyes as Bancho Yurimon, who had been silent all along, spoke these words.

"Perhaps only BanchoLeomon, who has traveled to another world, can fight him!"

Chapter Three, Fifth Boss

Throughout the long history of the digital world, countless forces and organizations have emerged.

The Royal Knights, officially designated by Yggdrasil as the legitimate order to maintain the existing order of the Digital World...

The "Seven Demon Lords," lurking in the dark corners of the digital world, intend to overthrow the existing order...

The "Four Great Dragons," whose mission of enduring trials for dragons has been passed down since the Age of Dragon Beasts...

And the "Twelve Gods," born in a parallel world that was annexed by the World Tree, possessing the same rank as the World Tree...

However, among these numerous forces, there was a loose alliance that was out of step with all the others—the Five Chieftains.

The term "Gobancho" originally referred to five ultimate beings who fought against powerful opponents without wavering in their hearts and continued to win.

However, at some point, these five incredibly powerful Ultimate-level Digimon stood out from their kind and were given the title of "Bancho" by the many Digimon they saved.

However, all of these events are merely the personal stories of the "Five Bosses".

What truly made the "Five Chiefs" famous throughout the Digital World and officially listed them as a top organization in the Digital World was the "Tower of the Seven Deadly Sins" incident that led to the birth of Arkadimon.

In that incident, the five gang leaders, originally located around the world, joined forces to attack Mount Infinity, and almost forced the World Tree to self-destruct.

In a sense, in the current Digital World, the invincible "Five Chiefs" can be said to be the only Digimon besides the Royal Knights and the Seven Deadly Sins who knows the location of the Void Arena.

In this context, it's not hard to understand why WarGreymon, wanting to reach the core of the World Tree and retrieve Priestmon X, would promptly seek them out.

The only problem is that the four bosses who remain in the Digital World didn't expect WarGreymon to be so ruthless.

They not only eliminated Terminal 7D6, who was responsible for guarding the Void Arena, but also dismantled the entire Void Arena.

"In the end, someone has to go and meet the World Tree, even if it's not us."

Ultimately, it was BanchoGolemMon, the most composed of the five bosses, who defined WarGreymon's behavior.

Despite suffering the greatest damage in the previous battle against WarGreymon, BanchoGolemmon remains a hero with the world in his heart.

For the vast majority of Digimon, they are unaware that the Infiltrators have already corrupted the World Tree and even begun to invade another parallel material world.

In the eyes of the "Five Chiefs," the appearance of the Invaders is just like the previous Digital Crisis, nothing more than a bug that appears in the normal operation of the Digital World.

If we can find the World Tree and understand the whole story, we might be able to resolve this eight-year-long "apocalyptic disaster."

It's hard to say whether such thinking is self-deception, but there's no doubt that everyone, including the most fearless Bancho Golemmon, firmly believes in this.

Perhaps the only one who noticed something amiss was the leader of the "Five Chiefs" in the eyes of outsiders—Bancho Lionmon.

It was under these circumstances that BanchoLeomon, who had been wandering all over the world, took the initiative to venture into another world in search of the "truth" when Fragrancemon opened the gate to another world.

"But was this crisis really caused by the World Tree?"

The only female among the five captains, and also the captain with the most delicate heart, Yurimon murmured to herself.

If this crisis is indeed like the past, caused by some kind of bug in the World Tree's daily operation, then fixing the World Tree will naturally resolve this crisis.

The problem now is that, ever since the day the Invaders appeared eight years ago, the Royal Knights have been trying to find a way to limit their expansion.

Theoretically speaking, if this crisis is indeed caused by the World Tree, then given the Royal Knights' usual behavior, at least one-third of the members would stand on the World Tree's side and "aid and abet the evildoer."

But the truth is that for the past eight years, the legions under the Royal Knights have been working hard to resolve the crisis brought about by the invaders, rather than fighting each other first as they had done in the past.

"Perhaps this crisis is not as simple as we imagine."

Sensing the subtext in Bancho Yurimon's words, Bancho Spikemon calmly revealed a fact that no one wanted to think about.

"The rampant spread of those invaders is just a symptom; the real crisis lies with the World Tree."

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"Are those... all Terminal 7D6?"

Watching helplessly as another white crystal streaked across the sky like a meteor and plummeted straight to the earth, even Nokia, the least aware of the danger among the four, seemed to realize the seriousness of the situation.

In just less than half an hour, the group had already seen three 7D6 terminals "falling from the sky".

As for the other miscellaneous remnants of the Void Arena, there were so many that they were too lazy to even count them.

"What exactly happened to the Digital Tree?"

Still unable to connect what was happening with the white WarGreymon, Omegamon simply raised its head blankly, its eyes filled with unprecedented despair.

Terminal 7D6 is the security system of the digital world, and an embodiment of the World Tree.

Such a large-scale 7D6 massacre can only mean that the core of the World Tree—the Void Arena—has been invaded by an unknown entity.

Most importantly, just now, Omegamon has used its authority as a member of the Royal Knights to try to open a passage to the Void Arena.

However, there was no response from the Void Arena, as if the World Tree had already revoked Omegamon's login privileges.

"Even you can't enter the Void Arena anymore. It seems things are more serious than we thought."

Alphamon naturally understood what Omegamon's actions meant, so it was even more surprised than Omegamon itself.

If the permissions of the Void Arena were also tiered, the one who is always in hiding and whose every appearance is a challenge to the world's most powerful self would definitely be the lowest tier.

Omegamon, who always respects Yggdrasil's decisions and never attacks Yggdrasil even in the most desperate moments, is undoubtedly an SVIP member of the Void Arena.

Now, even Omegamon, who is deeply trusted by Yggdrasil, is unable to directly enter the Void Arena, which would have been an impossible thing in the past.

"Has the World Tree been completely corrupted?"

Chapter Four: The Stubborn Beast

Has the World Tree been completely eroded?

It's no wonder that Alphamon made such a remark.

Prior to this, due to the actions of the Fragrant Beasts in attempting to summon the World Tree, Alpha Beast assumed that the World Tree still retained its most core authority.

At the very least, the fact that the Digital World hasn't completely become a "nest" for the invaders shows that the war between the World Tree and the invaders is still ongoing.

However, even under these circumstances, the World Tree proactively shut down the only void arena that connects to its core area, which inevitably led those in the know to make some ominous assumptions.

"It's a pity that Examon doesn't know the specific plans of Aromon and the others, otherwise they might be able to know something about the current situation of the World Tree."

After being severely injured by WarGreymon, Examon, who was on the verge of going berserk, was forcibly suppressed by the combined efforts of Omegamon and Alphamon.

Examon regained some of its rationality afterward and was no longer just a puppet to be manipulated as before.

However, considering that a major war was about to break out in the human world, in order to ensure that a large-scale war would not break out between the Digimon and humans, Examon, whose injuries had not yet fully recovered, was left in the human world.

This was partly to deter the human army, which was already poised to attack, and partly to prevent Examon from causing any more trouble.

After all, although most of the Royal Knights of the Fragrant Beast faction died in the real world, the Skull Beast, known as the "World Tree Guardian," never appeared on the final battlefield.

Given the uncertainty surrounding whether Skullmon possesses the ability to control Digiwave, allowing Examon, who was previously controlled, to return to the Digital World is itself the biggest destabilizing factor.

Of course, what Kyoko Kuroi, who made this suggestion, didn't mention was that keeping Examon in the real world was also to counterbalance Magnamon and Jesmon.

The Ultimate V-Dragon, originating from another parallel world, is not worried about any malice it might harbor towards humans, thanks to the presence of Lily as its "host."

However, Kyoko Kuroi, one of the other two Royal Knights born from Digimon, couldn't guarantee that they wouldn't become the spark that ignites a major war when faced with human hostility.

Having them counterbalance each other with Examon remaining in the human world is far more reassuring for Kyoko Kuroi than simply relying on the personalities of the Digimon themselves.

"In any case, the most urgent task now is to return to the Void Arena."

After a brief silence, Omegamon withdrew its slightly bewildered gaze, and its expression became serious again.

Let's go to Mount Infinite!

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The Infinity Mountain of the Digital World is a "pillar of heaven" that was born during a digital crisis that changed the landscape of the Digital World.

At the foot of Mount Infinity lies the intersection of more than a dozen adaptive domains, possessing the most complete and smallest collection of adaptive domains in the digital world.

Forests, steel, oceans, glaciers, nightmares, sacred...

Every extreme environment you can imagine coexists in an incredible way on the endless mountains.

This place is like a microcosm of the entire Digital World, connecting to the Royal Knights' forbidden area and the Void Arena, which is closest to the World Tree.

However, just like the various extreme environments here, not all Digimon can reach this place, let alone climb Mount Infinity.

So far, besides the Seven Demon Kings, only the Fifth Master has actually conquered Mount Infinity and almost entered the Void Arena.

Of course, Mount Infinite is not as prosperous as it used to be.

Nowadays, only the hordes of invaders on Mount Infinite form thick tendrils that intertwine and twist like roots, reaching straight to the sky.

"That WarGreymon did indeed set foot on Mount Infinity."

Standing at the foot of Mount Infinity, gazing at this Mount Infinity that was so different from what she remembered, the blue nun-beast, who had once met Chen Ze, murmured these words.

Standing beside her was none other than the "Strongest Royal Knight" candidate, the stubborn beast, who looked no different from an ordinary human uncle.