Chapter 23 – Servants of the Gods
She lay comfortably under the meter-high tree and stretched her legs away. She enjoyed the rustling of the leaves as she revelled in memories. She thought back to the time when she was still arguing with Dynasmon. After a while they became very good friends until she was killed by a certain digimon. Now, ten thousand years later, she was finally reborn. She herself quickly digivolved to her ultimate-level and found some of her old comrades. So she served and executed the orders of King Drasil and nothing and no one would be able to stop their loyalty to the god...
Except perhaps her best friend, if he would meet her and tell her that following King Drasil was the wrong way to go. However, she would then try to convince him that this path was the best for everyone. She then wondered if they would fight.
With a sigh, she jumped up and stretched out. Sometimes she wondered if it was right to follow King Drasil without hesitation. But she had sworn her allegiance to him. Suddenly she heard another Digimon coming. When she saw this, she recognized him. It was a comrade of her and served like her King Drasil.
UlforceVeedramon was partially wrapped in blue Chrome-Digizoid armour, which multiplied his speed. Not without reason he was respectfully called the fastest digimon in the digital world. When UlforceVeedramon folded out its blue wings slightly, the pink inside appeared. The golden V on his chest looked almost like a collar, but in truth it was none. On the contrary, the V used this digimon to ignite an attack. His chest, abdomen and legs were covered in white Chrome Digizoid, everything else except his arms, but were wrapped in blue Chrome Digizoid. The hands were in protectors that reached to elbow. On the gloves, UlforceVeedramon wore other protectors, which also served as a weapon. From these he could extend green blades, which cut almost everything. The feet ended in three silver claws.
"Hey!" he shouted, landing right in front of her.
"What do you want, UlforceVeedramon?" she asked, slightly irritated.
"King Drasil calls us," he replied.
"And? What does he want from us?" she looked to the side.
"What do I know. He just calls us..."
"Well," she shrugged.
"You should behave better in his presence, Crusadermon."
"Yes, yes."
Crusadermon started and then flew into the air. UlforceVeedramon tacitly followed her and modelled her appearance.
She herself was clad in complete pink armour, some of which could be seen wearing a white fabric underneath. The pink armour on the chest, lower legs, part of the upper legs, shoulders, the back of the helmet and on the back of the hand was slightly darker than the usual pink. Yellow ribbons were attached to her shoulders with the help of buttons. She could form these ribbons as desired. So she could form a sword or even tie someone.
There were yellow embellishments on the chest guard. At the upper and middle base of the leg guards was a yellow edge. At the edge of the middle approach sat a square yellow knee saver. Crusadermon's shoes ran pointed and featured a heel. On her elbow sat a pink, pointed metal part with which she could attack her opponent if necessary. There was a yellow bracelet around her left wrist, while the entire right forearm carried a shield. On it was a pink cross with a blue jewel in the middle. The shield served not only in her defence but also for the attack.
The top of the helmet resembled that of a bird. So he was pointed at the front and back. At the temples there was a small yellow wing on each side, which served no real purpose. The mouth was covered by a white guard with a pink border.
The two Royal Knights flew faster and faster towards the World Tree. After a good five minutes they finally reached King Drasil, who had manifested himself as a tree in the digital world. The tree itself had many branches and a leaves.
Crusadermon and UlforceVeedramon landed in front of the tree and knelt down. They waited until King Drasil began to talk to them. This lasted three minutes, so the pink knight slowly became impatient.
"You're late," King Drasil said.
"I know, King Drasil," said the blue knight.
"So... What do you want?" asked Crusadermon, rising.
"I want you to persecute a traitor," the God replied.
"A traitor? Who do you mean?" was UlforceVeedramon's question: "We have some traitors."
"Sleipmon. She's alone at the moment. Find her and kill her," King Drasil ordered.
"Why?" asked the pink knight.
"She works with the Homeostasis. She is currently on the Server continent. You don't need to know more, my faithful knights."
"Understood, King Drasil!" cried the blue knight.
/Sleipmon.../, Crusadermon thought: /You will pay for your betrayal!/
With this, the two Royal Knights moved away and flew to the server continent. On their way there, the two took a short break on a deserted island in the sea. UlforceVeedramon rested and dozed in front of it, while the pink knight looked into the sky and watched the clouds. She wondered what her best friend was doing from her previous life.
She had no idea, however, that he had sided with the Homeostasis and was working against King Drasil. She had no idea that Dynasmon had a human partner. Crusadermon wanted to see him, even though she didn't know about it. She wanted to see him and fight him. She wanted to fight by his side and support him... After just over an hour, the two Royal Knights had rested enough and continued their journey to the server continent.
Sleipmon looked to the sky. Several bird digimon seemed to be upset about something. Not good at all... Something was in the air, she guessed. She suspected that King Drasil was looking for her and would punish her for treason. Heavily sighing, she closed her eyes and pawed a little bit with her front left hoof on the sandy ground. She always did that when she was restless. It removed her nervousness. She just hoped Gallantmon would come back soon. Then she would not be alone if King Drasil or his subordinates were to come.
Sleipmon looked into the distance and recognized a huge ship that she knew was being guided by a cocoon. She did not want to involve the digimon in the area in the fight, because it was a fight of a special kind. The opponents would be very strong and lay the whole area in ruins if it was too violent. She pondered whether she should simply stand still if King Drasil's subordinates attacked her so that they would quickly kill her. But she would regret that. Sleipmon didn't really want to fight. She never wanted to fight. She was very peace-loving.
"What has become of us?" she wondered, before she sighed heavily: "We want to destroy each other..."
Her purple eyes looked into the sky again. Several Saberdramon were still circling over her and shouting at each other.
"I wish I wasn't a Royal Knight... I just don't want to fight my mates," she said, closing her eyelids.
Again, she pawed on the ground with her left hoof.
Each black hoof was adorned with a gold ring that glistened in the desert sun. The front sides of the six lower legs were protected by red Digizoid plates with a grey-blue edge. The rear sides were covered by grey metal plates. Her upper legs were covered by black fabric, which ended in a thick red armour piece. For decoration, there was a blue S on it. Sleipmon's body was elongated and was protected by grey armour. On the back were two black boxes, bordered with a light brown-gold and knotted cord, which ended in a golden capsule.
Although she herself closely resembled a horse, her torso resembled that of a human... at least in terms of structure. She actually wore a wolf-like red head with a pink muzzle and green eyes on her chest. Under this head ran a white piece of fabric, which reached up to her lower legs. On the fabric were a blue, mirror-inverted S and four other symbols that could not be described so well. A black belt was slung at the top of the torso, which prevented the piece of fabric from getting in her way when she moved quickly.
Two large yellow wings perched on the back of her torso. They looked majestic and Sleipmon used them to fly. Grey, heavy-looking shoulder plates protected them from further attacks. Her two upper arms were wrapped in a black fabric, while her forearms were again protected by red Digizoid.
She herself carried a different weapon on each arm. On the right she had a large red shield, which she called Niflheim. Muspellsheim, a crossbow of gigantic size, sat on her other arm.
Her neck was protected by silver metal. The head covered in red Digizoid resembled that of a horse. However, it looked ridiculously small compared to her entire body. On the forehead of the head, as well as with her leg guards and piece of fabric, there was a blue S. This was mirror-inverted. The upper part of the mouth was silver, the lower part red. At the temples there was a golden piece of metal for decoration, which had similarities to a sickle moon. Sleipmon had a long purple mane and a long white tail.
The six-footed horse set in motion and walked away majestically. She raised only one hoof at a time. She knew that someone would come soon and try to kill her. She just knew. As she wandered through the desert, her ears suddenly heard a cry for help. Immediately she accelerated her pace until she fell into a gallop. When she arrived at the scene, she saw a Lopmon and a Devidramon trying to kill the hare digimon.
"Bifröst!" shouted Sleipmon, firing an arrow at the Devidramon.
He howled briefly before turning to the arrival.
"Get lost!" she commanded him with a harsh tone of command: "Otherwise I will show no mercy with you."
The black dragon growled furiously before hitting his flights and rising in the air. Then he rushed away. The six-footed horse followed him with her eyes before turning to Lopmon.
"Is everything okay?" she asked softly.
"Yes. Thank you," the hare-digimon bowed to her: "You saved my life."
"No problem. I always like to help," Sleipmon said: "I have a question. Are you living here somewhere?"
"Yes!" cried Lopmon, pointing in one direction with one of his ears: "I live there with my friends!"
"Then I bring you to them, what do you think?"
"Really?" the bunny digimon smiled broadly: "Thank you! It's dangerous to walk alone! This also applies to you!"
"Unlike you, however, I am an ultimate-level digimon. I'm strong," she said, before Lopmon tried to jump on her back.
But he was unable to do so and so the six-footed horse had to help the hare-digimon. She stretched out her hand before him. Lopmon jumped on it and Sleipmon led her hand to her back, causing the little digimon to hop on her back. Then she started to move. One step at a time, she moved to the village. Already from a distance, the inhabitants recognized the six-footed horse and panicked.
When Sleipmon finally reached the gate, Lopmon shouted:
"Don't worry! She helped me."
A Terriermon separated from the group and responded with delight:
"Lopmon! Where were you?"
"I just wanted to explore something, a Devidramon attacked me."
"And then what? Has this Devidramon digivolved to this digimon you're riding on now?"
"No. This Digimon here helped me. Say... Who are you?" the bunny digimon asked.
"My name is Sleipmon," she introduced herself to the others.
"Do you want to stay with us for a while, Sleipmon?" asked Terriermon.
"Unfortunately, that's not possible," she waved.
"Why?" was Lopmon's question.
"Why?" several other residents repeated.
"I am being persecuted... If I stay here, my persecutors will attack you. That's why I have to go now..." explained the six-footed horse.
"You'll come to visit us again, or Lady Sleipmon?" asked Terriermon.
"Unfortunately, that's not possible either," she sighed: "Forget that I've ever been here. Forget my name. Forget my existence. You shouldn't know about it."
"But," Lopmon began.
"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to me."
"I didn't mean that..." the hare-digimon looked down: "We want you to protect the city, Lady Sleipmon."
"That's not possible," she replied softly, and began to move: "Live well. And forget that you met me."
With this she flew into the air and disappeared from the field of view of the digimon in a few seconds. She herself wanted to stay, but it would only hurt the digimon. Because she felt that she was being persecuted by someone. But she didn't know who exactly... All she knew was that King Drasil and his subordinates were looking for her. If they found them, they would kill them. Sleipmon was sure of this.
After a while, Sleipmon landed exhausted from the long flight. She was still in the desert, and far and wide she saw only streams, cacti and dunes. The sun meanwhile tilted towards the western horizon. So it would soon be night. The sky itself was now shrouded in a beautiful reddish colour. The six-footed horse lay down on the hot sand and looked into the sky. She found it very beautiful and she wished she could just rest for a few hours.
But the longer she stayed at one point, the higher the chance that her pursuers would find her. And that was the case. Shortly after she lay down to rest, she registered two well-known smells that she hadn't smelled for a long time. Sleipmon straightened up and got ready. These smells belonged to Crusadermon and UlforceVeedramon. So she was right to assume that King Drasil was looking for her and wanted to kill her. The two royal knights landed in front of her and there was a brief silence.
"Finally we have you," said the pink knight, stepping back with her right foot as she pointed her left arm and her shield at the six-footed horse.
"I knew King Drasil was chasing me," Sleipmon raved, pointing Muspellsheim at UlforceVeedramon.
"That it would come to this, Sleipmon," he replied.
Two transparent blades appeared from his arm rings.
"That's the way it is. Don't think I'll show mercy against my old comrades!" the six-footed horse shouted, firing an arrow at the blue knight.
He divided the bullet with its blades. Meanwhile, Crusadermon raced towards Sleipmon and wanted to hit her by the side with her shield. But the six-footed horse blocked the attack with her shield and then hurled the opponent away from her. Sleipmon observed the situation. Two Royal Knights, both almost as fast as she was. She estimated her chances of survival at 10 percent. Nothing more.
Now the blue knight came to her and wanted to bring her down with a punch in the face. But she dodged in the air and fired two arrows at her former comrades. They dodged the bullets and rushed after her.
"Odin's Breath!" the six-footed horse shouted, pointing her sign upwards, creating a blizzard.
"Spiral Masquerade!", Crusadermon moved barely visible to the eye and injured Sleipmon with her ligaments several times, so she had to interrupt her attack: "Urgent Fear!"
Now the pink knight rammed her shield into the six-footed horse and hurled her to the ground. A dull bang created a sand cloud and caused Sleipmon to disappear for several seconds. UlforceVeedramon raced into the cloud, but couldn't see anything. But he heard that the opponent was approaching.
However, he reacted too late. Sleipmon kicked him with her back hooves and hurled him several meters away. The blue knight rose up again and crossed his arms in front of the golden V. Then he let go of a bright beam. The six-footed horse held her shield in front of her and blocked the attack. She then shot an arrow at UlforceVeedramon. Again he divided it with his blades. Sleipmon was now looking for Crusadermon, who had apparently disappeared without a trace... But she knew each other. The pink knight wanted to attack her in a blind spot. But where? Where did Crusadermon want to attack them? Suddenly she felt a burning wound on her right hind leg.
/She uses her Spiral Masquerade.../, she thought to herself and lifted her shield in the air: "Odin's Breath!"
Sleipmon knew this was the best way to prevent the pink knight from continuing her attack. A blizzard swirled around the six-footed horse, slowing Crusadermon's movements down a lot. When Sleipmon saw her, she rammed her massive body into hers and hurled her away. At that very moment UlforceVeedramon rushed to her and injured her with his blades on her middle left leg. He wanted to injure another leg, but the six-footed horse shot an arrow at him. The blue knight jumped away, so the bullet missed him. Meanwhile, Crusadermon had risen up again and threw several red petals at her. Sleipmon was a little confused. Why should the pink knight throw petals at her? Then it came to her mind. It was one of her attacks! But before she could react, the leaves collided with her body, inflicting serious injuries on her.
"Damn... it..." she quipped: "I'm... not done... yet..."
"You are done," Crusadermon said simply, stepping toward her.
Sleipmon fired another arrow at her, but she split it with one of her tapes. The Royal Knight came closer and closer to the six-footed horse. She brought her down with her shield. When Sleipmon wanted to rise up, the pink knight chased her shield into her again. UlforceVeedramon also came and held the six-footed horse's body to the ground with his hands. She slapped her tail after the blue knight, but he was unimpressed. Sleipmon closed her eyes when she saw the pink knight aiming one of her ribbons at her neck.
"Odin's... Breath..." she created an ice storm around herself and the two opponents.
"What?!" said UlforceVeedramon, terrified.
"You!" hissed Crusadermon.
"You will now freeze with me in the eternal ice!" the six-footed horse cried, "See this as your punishment to fight against the good of the world!"
"You're an idiot, Sleipmon!" the pink knight raved: "The Homeostasis is nothing but a myth, so you can impose your will! Urgent Fear!"
Again, she rammed her shield into Sleipmon's body. However, she was prepared for this and did not interrupt the attack. Slowly, the ice of her attack began to settle on the three digimon. Suddenly a fourth voice shouted:
"Final Elysium!"
An energy blast hurled Crusadermon and UlforceVeedramon from Sleipmon. She ended her attack and straightened up. Then she shook her body to get rid of the ice. Next to her appeared Gallantmon, who had his shield in front of him, ready to ignite another attack.
"Thank you..." said the six-footed horse.
"The next time you want to freeze yourself and your opponents, please don't do it in the desert," the white knight replied.
"Ah...", now she understood it: "Because of the heat... That's why my attack was so weak."
"You're a good fighter, but you don't pay much attention to the weather..."
"Do you have to say that again, Gallantmon?" she asked.
However, she sounded very pleased with his rescue.
"Good. Two against two," UlforceVeedramon said.
"You can still escape, my old comrades. It would be wise if you did that," Gallantmon said.
"Why?" was Crusadermon's question.
"High in the clouds there is a third digimon standing on our side," the white knight explained, looking briefly into the sky.
The two Royal Knights followed his gaze, but could not see anything.
"You bluff, Gallantmon. I thought you couldn't bluff," said the pink knight.
"I don't bluff, Crusadermon... The third digimon is up there. If you really want to know, fly up and look for the digimon. But I am sure that he will destroy you. So withdraw! I'm reluctant to attack former comrades."
UlforceVeedramon crunched his teeth before hitting his wings. Then he flew into the air and sped off over the heads of Sleipmon and Gallantmon. Crusadermon immediately followed him, but briefly glanced over her shoulder at the two. Then she rushed away.
"I really didn't know you could bluff so well, Gallantmon," Sleipmon said after the two Royal Knights disappeared from their fields of vision.
"I don't either," he replied, "but it worked."
He sighed heavily.
"I can imagine what you want to say now," she let her weapons disappear and put a hand on her comrade's shoulder.
"Once again we have to fight against our comrades..." he said, his eyes closed.
"You can't change it... I don't want to either," she sighed heavily, looking into the distance.
Apart from dunes, cacti and stream edits, she could see nothing. Perhaps she saw a digimon wandering through the area. But maybe she just imagined it. Again, a heavy sigh escaped her throat. She recalled when she passed on information about King Drasil and his plans to Davis and his friends as Kudamon. Then she recalled that she had once fought her former comrades.
"I don't want to fight our former comrades..." she repeated, looking at the sandy ground.
"Sleipmon..." Gallantmon said.
"Why? I don't want all of this..."
"If we remain neutral, King Drasil will have a better chance of winning... Unfortunately, that is the case. And we both don't want him to win," he folded his arms in front of his chest.
"I hope the DigiDestined can finally defeat King Drasil."
"Speaking of the DigiDestined. We have received an order from the Homeostasis..."
"Really?" she looked at him: "Well. What is the order?"
The white knight began to report the order from their God. Sleipmon listened silently and nodded her head. When Gallantmon had finished the news, the six-footed horse said:
"Good... Then we step into action."
"You let Sleipmon escaped?!" thundered King Drasil's voice.
Crusadermon and UlforceVeedramon shrugged a bit at the hard tone. In addition to the two were two other digimon, Craniamon, who always guarded the tree and did not leave it, and Gankoomon, who was barely at his lord' house.
Craniamon's hips, legs, chest and arms were covered in purple Chrome-Digizoid, the metal that had strong resistance. Under the armour wore a light purple fabric. His five-fingered hands held a double-edged spear in one hand. He used it for one of his attacks. Craniamon had a golden skull belt, from which hung down a piece of fabric with embroidery. Behind his shoulder plates, the outer edge of which was purple and the middle black with a golden skull in the middle, was a sting on his shoulder. The golden skull on his shoulder plates was framed by a red "ring" a few centimetres wide. The toes of this digimon were deformed to light purple claws. The helmet looked like a skull. Behind the slits, two blood-red eyes stared out, while the mouth was protected by a golden shield that looked like a row of teeth. Two horns with a purple tuft of hair also protruded from the helmet. In general, his figure seemed very devilish and frightening.
Gankoomon himself resembled a man which was too big. His hair and beard resembled fire in colour and revealed his temperament. In addition to the nasal wings, there were also two black hairs that seemed to override every law of physics, as they only moved when Gankoomon spoke. His eyes were obscured by a silver visor. Gankoomon was much smaller than the other three Royal Knights present. If Omnimon had been placed by his side, he would only come to his lower part of the chest. The digimon herself wore a black full-body suit that showed off her muscles well. He wore a silver plate on his chest to protect against attack, while casually hanging a white jacket from his shoulders. His two feet were also in red getas, Japanese sandals.
"Gallantmon came to her aid," the blue knight said.
"Your apologies are of no use to you! I have given you an order that you have disregarded!" cried the God.
"King Drasil," said the pink knight: "Gallantmon really came to her rescue."
"And then you can't even fight both?!" King Drasil screamed angrily.
"We are sorry that we failed, King Drasil," UlforceVeedramon apologized.
Gankoomon laughed.
"If you had taken us with you, we could have killed the two," he said.
"Instead, they escaped and we can't find them anywhere now," Craniamon said, entwining his arms in front of his chest.
"And you could have done it, couldn't you?" UlforceVeedramon looked angrily at the man.
"Sure," he replied ironically, laughing at him.
"You two are looking for speed," the purple knight explained: "Sleipmon is also pretty quick, which is why she managed to escape you."
"But it wasn't like that!" Crusadermon exclaimed angrily: "We had Sleipmon and wanted to give her the death blow when Gallantmon showed up and helped her."
"Furthermore, Gallantmon said they had a third ally who would help them high up in the clouds," UlforceVeedramon said.
"Silence!," King Drasil's voice thundered: "I have a play. Listen closely."
The God reported on his plan. When he was finished, the blue knight bowed and flew away. Gankoomon himself briefly changed his eyes with the other two knights before turning around and walking.
"Very well," Crusadermon bowed and flew away.
A few minutes later, she landed in front of a cave and stepped in a little. She sat down and watched as it began to rain. Drop by drop fell from the sky to earth. If she had known that the cave had served as a shelter for the DigiDestined a year ago, she would have left the cave immediately.
King Drasil let his subordinates design their own free time. Some moved around the country, others spent their time training. But in both cases the Royal Knights waited for orders from the God. The pink knight began to remember something from her previous life.
Crusadermon wandered through the digital world. She had no goal. So she wandered aimlessly through the area. Sometimes she versed or sang for fun for herself. Her poems or songs were often about her as she travelled the digital world.
"Alone through the world
Let's see what it thinks of me
I wander on bright stone
My fate is mine," she said.
Suddenly, she caught the figure of a lying digimon. The body of this was obscured by its large, purple wings. One of the purple wings appeared to have been dislocated, as it lay like a blanket over the body of the unknown digimon. The pink knight immediately rushed to the stranger and knelt down to him. She shook his shoulder to wake him up.
"Hey... wake up!" she said, shaking the digimon.
"Hm... ow...", the digimon moaned.
"Wake up!" cried Crusadermon.
"I'm awake. Don't shake me to death..."
"Ah, sorry," she paused for a moment, before asking, "What happened to you? You're pretty badly hurt..."
"So what about it?!"
"I just want to help you. But if you don't need my help then…" she trailed off.
"Tch. I'm way too weakened to get upset about it," the stranger replied, trying to get up.
An unbelievable pain shrugged his body and left him banging on the floor again.
"What happened to you now?" she impatiently demanded the answer.
"Tch... An Ornithmon caught me when I flew through the air. It pierced my right wing with one of its attacks, so I fell into the depths. I thought I was going to die..."
"Hm... I can see that the wing is dislocated," she said, groping at the base of the wing in question.
Immediately, the stranger digimon growled in pain and slapped her with the other wing.
"Hey!" she complained when near the wings had hit her: "I'm trying to help you!"
"By inflicting pain on me?"
"By trying to adjust your wing! If it stays in this position, it will inflict even more pain on you."
"Well... Then do it..."
"Good," she nodded and grabbed the narrow part of it with her two hands.
Then she pulled jerky on the wing and made sure that the stranger gave a sound of pain before letting go of the wing.
"Argh! Do you want to kill me?!" the digimon shouted.
"For being an ultimate-level digimon, you're pretty sensitive," she shrugged defiantly.
"Fight for once against an Ornithmon..." he growled.
"I have done this already... They are quite strong... Especially what lives on the top of Mountain Infinity."
"I know…"
"Should I help you?"
"Would be nice."
As he got up, she put an arm around her shoulder, helping him to stand more stable. Then they began to move, with every step of the stranger causing him pain. After just over four minutes, Crusadermon saw something.
"Ah!" she said: "So that's growing here..."
"What?" he asked angrily.
"This herb there," she pointed out with a head gesture: "It has a numbing effect. If I had seen it earlier, I would have given you something against the pain of dislocated the wing."
"And you don't see that until now?!"
"I've never been here... Um... What is your name?"
"Why do you want to know?!"
"I helped you," she replied with an arrogant-sounding tone.
"Fine... Dynasmon is my name."
„Crusadermon."
"I have heard of you before."
"Really?" she tilted her head a little to the side.
"Yes... You are called The Pink Flash."
"Oh yes... That title I never wanted. I call myself the Red Rose, which doesn't wither. She always wanders on unknown paths-"
"Stop! I can't take it..." he sounded a little disreputable.
"What? It's fun."
"Okay."
The two then began to continue on their way together. It would certainly take a long time for them to be recognised as Royal Knights. At the moment, their friendship grew with each passing day. They supported each other in fights and told each other all sorts of things. Although sometimes they argued, especially then Dynasmon lost to her. Then he always insulted her. But Crusadermon took it easy, knowing they would get along again.
Crusadermon scared up... She must have fallen asleep in the cave. She had dreamed of meeting Dynasmon for the first time. How long ago that was... And although she was reborn, she remembered him, her best friend, who always got her back. She had no idea that he was actively working against King Drasil and had allied himself with a human being. But surely she would find out one day.