Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, this was supposed to be out about a few weeks ago. But I've gotten really ill (recovered now.) so I took a break. Anyway, time to showcase another Digital Extra chapter stat!
lightpokemonking: Haha, I'm glad you're enjoying the story a lot! I'm having fun writing the moments between Hakuno and Blackwargreymon. As for Archer, he'll have plenty of screentime and reactions to what as occurred in his absence in the future.
Gundam-Knight-Chris: Trust me, I've debated internally on a BlackMetalgarurumon for a while. I still haven't decided whether or not to add one, though I'm edging towards not, as it would seem too predictable an inclusion.
Testarossacain: Yeah, the power scaling is not favoring our protagonist and her friends, hopefully, the Digidestined can power up soon!
"After an endless dream, in this world of nothingness. It seems as if our beloved dreams will lose. Even with these unreliable wings, covered in images that tend to stay. I'm sure we can fly, on my love!"
Digital/Extra
Chapter 89: Faction Movement
Arukenimon was surprisingly calm given the events that transpired over the last few days. The rebellion of her own creation, Blackwargreymon, was an unforeseen circumstance. That brat, Hakuno Kishinami, had once again foiled her short-term scheme by preventing the Control Spire creation from eliminating the Digidestined once and for all, along with the girl's own partner.
But it had not been a total defeat for Arukenimon.
After all, the original goal before Blackwargreymon's creation was to take Hakuno Kishinami off the game board. Which while had been a temporary set-back, she unexpectedly recovered quickly. However, now the girl was trapped at his side, unable to directly interfere with circumstances outside her immediate location.
While there was still the issue that her unnatural partners could still aid the Digidestined, by Arukenimon's collected knowledge, those Servants should be weakened without the child's presence.
Servants… A term that Arukenimon had become increasingly knowing about. The 'human' version of a Digimon so to speak, lacking in power but having odd powers.
Almost like herself in a way.
With both the pilfering of information from that foolish boy's own notes and Daemon's own know-how on the topic. It became understandable why Hakuno was such a threat to her and her master's plan and solved a few mysteries surrounding the girl.
A Digital Human.
Not a digimon, not a human, but a different entity. A foreign piece in the Digital World, restricted from accessing the Real World in a similarity that her own creator couldn't enter the Digital World. She had abilities to support her partners, something which Arukenimon had become quite familiar with in her observation of the battle with Blackwargreymon.
As Daemon explained, the faction belonging to Yggdrasil had taken interest in the activities of Hakuno Kishinami. So much so that what should have otherwise been her enemy now ignored her and the Control Spires in favor of pursuing Kishinami, her Servants, and by proxy the Digidestined.
Which, combined with the girl's now limited movement, allowed Arukenimon a moment of reprieve from their interference.
"So, these Destiny Stones," Arukenimon spoke up from the noise of the four-wheeled vehicle, driving through arid wasteland while accompanied by Daemon in the passenger seat. "We need access to them to open a connection between the Digital World and the Dark Ocean."
"By opening a path, I will not only be able to restore more of my former strength, but also allow my master's choice minions to come through," Daemon explained, his red hood barely covering the shadow of his presumed face and glimmering red eyes. "Your false digimon creations, while durable, lack control and power. Only your latest served any true purpose yet you hold no sway over it."
Arukenimon's hands gripped the steering wheel tighter, a sign of irritation at Daemon's blatant insult at her lack of control over Blackwargreymon. She dearly wished to bite back, but stayed her sharp tongue, the weakened mega-level ally was still superior in terms of raw power.
"Those brats were in these regions before," Arukenimon continued. "But apparently were none too close to the stone's presumed location."
"On track, but not exact," Daemon said. "The Digidestined hold a significant sway over the world's denizens, a positive reputation they are using to gain information about the Destiny Stones."
"And you've found this out how?" She asked curiously.
"Interrogation," He replied with a dark chuckle.
She glanced away from him, eyes taking a look over the few Dark Towers the dotted the landscape. The numbers of these black constructs were starting to decrease with each passing day, as the Digidestined continued to destroy them at every opportunity. Thankfully, there were still quite the number, but without a way to replenish or repair them, it was beginning to become a major issue. Without their presence disrupting the boundaries between worlds, her own master's plans would go out the window.
"Do you not have a method to construct more Control Spires?" Daemon questioned.
"Without the brat's dark digivice, it's impossible," She answered.
"It's a change created by the Dark Ocean," He replied. "I might be able to repair destroyed Control Spires once we open a connection," He offered. "They serve to aid my purpose."
Arukenimon felt a shiver from her questionable ally's tone.
Ken Ichijoji shifted uncomfortably, although he had agreed to accompany the Digidestined, he wouldn't deny the anxiousness felt in their presence for his past identity as the Digimon Emperor. Now, it wasn't the whole normal crew, instead, he and Daisuke were also with some of the older generation, who were Taichi and Yamato. There were two other groups out in the Digital World, one of which also had Hakuno's partner, Caster, with them.
The plan was straightforward but only possible with the extra manpower that the older kids provided. They were chasing what was basically rumors and myths in the eyes of the native digimon, the Holy Stones, or Destiny Stones as they were also known. But while the other two groups were focused on that task, Ken's own group instead had a different goal.
To locate Archer.
He hoped that by helping Hakuno Kishinami find her lost partner, it would serve as forgiveness. Even though Ken intellectually knew that the girl didn't hold it against him for his time as the Digimon Emperor, Ken held himself accountable.
However, there was a problem.
They didn't exactly have a solid direction to where Archer had appeared.
Hakuno's connection to her partner was unique in many ways, and one of those ways happened to be some sort of mental awareness of their general well-being. The older Digidestined explained that they felt a similar connection back in the day when post-Champion digivolution was still possible for them. There was a deeper tie between human and digimon partner which allowed for higher evolution.
Ken could theoretically have the same with Wormmon in the future, given that he had the Crest of Kindness. But as explained by the older kids, without the tag to channel the Crests, it was significantly harder to use it as a means of digivolution. The tags served as a type of training wheels, a way to allow an easier method before the Digidestined could use their crests' powers without needing them.
In a way, Hakuno was in a similar circumstance. She had the Crest of Miracles, but unlike Ken's, it was an artificially-created Crest born through his own. The coincidence was not lost on the boy that an artificial Crest would now be tied to a Digital Human.
However, that connection between Hakuno and Archer didn't give her an awareness of the Heroic Spirit's location. Fortunately, there was a vague idea of where Archer appeared, accomplished through a chance observation of the Digital World's regions by Koushiro Izumi. The area in question had pulsed for a lack of a better term, which was followed by Hakuno's message on the D-Terminal.
"Hey Ken! You done staring into space?" Daisuke's voice shouted and knocked Ken Ichijoji out of his stupor.
"Don't mind me, I'll catch up," He replied, raising his voice only a bit for the not-so-distant boy to hear.
"Alright!" Daisuke shouted and continued his way to Yamato and Taichi.
Wormmon walked by his side, "Penny for your thoughts, Ken?" He asked.
"It's nothing Wormmon, just thinking about some differences," Ken answered his partner. He pulled out his black D-3, its coloration haunting him for a brief moment before he mentally pushed past it. The digivice beeped with a subtle rhythm, its screen pinpointing the nearby digivices belonging to his group. This functionality allowed him to detect the location of other Digidestined, with the exception of Hakuno Kishinami, who lacked a digivice.
"Perhaps finding her partner will help," Wormmon suggested. "We did come out here for that reason."
"Exactly, though it's more for my own case, still, Archer will help immensely against Arukenimon," Ken replied.
"Wandering through this area aimlessly searching," Wormmon commented. "Doesn't look like we have any lead."
"Well rumor is that there could be a Destiny Stone in this region or the surrounding ones," Ken remarked, knowing that such information was gathered due in part to the older Digidestined and the free digimon that offered to gather it.
That was another reason as to why they were here.
Ken shifted, "Still, I feel as if something will happen."
The successful escape of the prisoner marked the reputation of the Royal Knights under King Drasil, even in spite of the fact they were currently dedigivolved due to particular circumstances involving the Wall of Fire, for two prisoners to escape from the very halls of their lord infuriated some members.
But despite that, King Drasil didn't punish its knights, instead, called them to address a different topic.
However, Dorugreymon felt personally responsible for the failure and sought redemption or punishment.
But he also knew that they couldn't afford to lose more members.
It was countless years ago now, back when Dorugreymon still had his form as Alphamon, before the Wall of Fire and the Dark Masters from it. King Drasil had an interest in alternate worlds that would brush against their own for only a fleeting moment, realms that unlike those attached to theirs like the humans' Real World or the menacing Dark Ocean, had their own attachments and differing alternate takes on the Digital World.
King Drasil had shown to Alphamon a particular version of their world where a group known as Royal Knights existed.
Inspired by that, Alphamon sought to create his own variant of the Royal Knights, and slowly grew his numbers of protectors over the years… Then the Wall of Fire happened, and they were not prepared.
It resorted to Homeostasis creating the original Digidestined, who barely succeeded in their task, before dropping them in favor of a newer, larger Digidestined.
A group that would create Omegamon, a member that Alphamon never managed to locate, neither did he find Magnamon, Ulforceveedramon, Imperialdramon, and a few others.
He had an incomplete Royal Knights, only six members… Five now, considering one's betrayal to Homeostasis.
"Knight. Approach."
His Lord's voice called from the other side of a massive gate that separates the rest of King Drasil's domain from the main hub. Dorugreymon entered through the gate, his sight greeted by the leviathan-sized room with a pulsing supercomputer in its center illuminated by a glowing barrier that surrounded it at all times, not even Dorugreymon's strongest attack could so much as scratch its surface.
This was King Drasil's true form: Yggdrasil.
The de facto leader of the Royal Knights bowed.
"You have called for me, King Drasil?"
"Prior topic. Forgiveness of escapees."
"You… Forgive my failure?" Dorugreymon questioned in confusion.
"Affirmative. Focus on newly given mission."
His Lord had a new mission for him?
"What's the mission details?" He asked.
"Capture Target Classification: Digital Human, Victor, Inheritor, Admin. Identity: Kishinami Hakuno. Reason: Restricted."
So, it concerned that entity again? Knightmon had failed recently on trying to locate the Digital Human, Homeostasis's Chosen Children along with the entity's own partner had forced Knightmon to return to King Drasil's domain. However, Dorugremon knew Knightmon was quite headstrong, someone with more discipline would likely prevail where she failed.
"Understood, it may take some time, the target has proven to be elusive," Dorugreymon responded.
"Status Homeostasis. Allied with the foreign entity."
"We know, I shall spare some caution. Although restricted, Homeostasis still holds some sway on the Digital World."
It wasn't like this before, in fact, Homeostasis' imprisonment was quite recent, coinciding with the Digital Human's arrival. Though it was only a matter of time before it happened anyway, the arrival only accelerated that action.
"Destiny Stones. Lost contact with two of seven."
"I will endeavor to learn of their current fates."
With that, Dorugremon left the Yggdrasil Main Hub, he had to talk with two of the Royal Knights, the first being Knightmon, the other, Hiandromon.
Hakuno Kishinami felt relieved that they made it through the open area and into a glacier forest. This area didn't really have any trees, rather it was a multitude of ice structures in jagged designs taking the place of the trees. However, because of this, they were quite large and blocked the harsh wind better than an average tree would. This is why the Digital Human felt relieved, as she wouldn't have to feel the sharp cold of the wind.
Her companion, on the other hand, remained as impassive as ever against the frigid weather.
She felt a bit envious of the digimon's seemingly lack of notice of the temperature. Hakuno knew that digimon would normally be affected by the weather as well, but it seems that Blackwargreymon might be an exception to that rule, possibly due to his artificial origins.
He did shield her from the worst of it. Blackwargreymon didn't have to but did anyway, it was a mark of progress, whether intentionally done or not.
The young girl took out the Portable Terminal from her pocket, it's screen lit up as she brought it up and examined the explored map of the current region. There didn't seem to be an indication that a Holy Stone could be nearby, but if those constructs were easy to find then she would already be in the Real World by now. Hakuno knew that a Holy Stone was in a glacier region, it was the only hint she obtained from her previous interaction with one, aside from the rumors of the arid region's own.
Now that she thought about it, each of them was in regions that marked different environments from one another. By that logic, a Holy Stone wouldn't be in the same type of environment as another. The Digital World was vast, but it had a distinct lack of biodiversity in comparison to the Earth. The environments were more akin to a base perception of Earth's own variants, with a few possible unique ones scattered here and there.
Rather than having a variety of different deserts, it was just a standardized desert biome in the center of the Server Continent.
"We shall continue," Blackwargreymon spoke out from the silence.
Hakuno looked at him, "Wait, let me rest for a bit first," She said.
"We do not make progress by stopping," He continued, eyes staring down at the brown-haired girl. "These Destiny Stones must be found."
"They are not so easily located," Hakuno replied, lowering the Portable Terminal and directing her full attention towards the Control Spire creation. "Something is on your mind." She stated.
His eyes widened ever so slightly, confirming Hakuno's suspicion. Over the past few hours, Blackwargreymon had been completely silent, and while he never talked much, the artificial digimon had never been so utterly quiet as to not make a single noise. It was uncharacteristic of him, Hakuno began to wonder if perhaps his thoughts had shifted after her interaction with the Holy Stone.
She continued, "What recent thoughts fill your mind?" The Digital Human questioned.
"When you interacted with the Destiny Stone," Blackwargreymon began. "It felt like my entire being was drawn to the rock."
"The Control Spires were created to disrupt the Digital World's boundaries," Hakuno explained. "The Destiny Stones are objects which balance that boundary."
"So my purpose lies with those stones?" He questioned.
"No," Hakuno answered. "You might be created from Control Spires, but you are able to choose your own purpose." She looked over to a distant Dark Tower, looming over the horizon, yet part of its black structure was covered in white snow. "I was created to be a background character in a deadly event, yet instead, I gained the ability to choose differently."
"You choose a path not tied to your created purpose," Blackwargreymon said.
"Yes, hard as it was, I've accepted it," Hakuno replied, memories of the Holy Grail War passed through her mind, both before and after the realization of her true origins. "Though, now I have a different goal than back then."
"One can change their desires again? Mhm… Whichever purpose I find might not be my only one…" He debated with himself.
"I accomplished my first goal, to end that event, now I have another," Hakuno smiled at him, "Though, I can't exactly rush it."
"..." He remained silent for a bit. "Rest then, I want to be alone for a bit."
Blackwargreymon turned and walked away into the open area, where the snow briefly covered Hakuno's vision of the massive digimon. Still, this was a large moment, Blackwargreymon actually left Hakuno Kishinami by her lonesome on his own account, instead of by her wishes.
Her smile widened a bit as she brought back up her Portable Terminal to message the Digidestined.