Daipenmon was the first one to unleash an attack once Jesmon was in range. He raised his axe and gripped it a bit tighter as snowballs began to spiral forth from the tip. Jesmon, who was still recovering from the damage that he had done to the ground, was hit in the side by Daipenmon's attack. It didn't do as much damage as Daipenmon had been hoping though, and instead of actually being hurt significantly, Jesmon simply slid backwards across the ground before recovering once again.
Cybelemon snarled in Jesmon's direction and shook their head. "You shouldn't be doing this. I don't care what the hell Lucemon has been promising you in the past few centuries, but destroying the Digital World isn't worth it. You're just going to reinstate a tyrant and watch the world crumble. Have you ever considered that there won't be a Digital World left for him to rule over if you completely destroy it the way that you and the rest of your aggravating comrades have been?" they questioned.
Jesmon charged towards Cybelemon, one sword outstretched in front of his body. Cybelemon held up their claws to block the attack from making contact. They closed their hand around the edge of the blade, only kept from being cut thanks the dark armor surrounding their body. Cybelemon threw Jesmon backwards over their head with all the strength that they possessed, and Cybelemon had to admit that they were quietly impressed with how much raw power they had come to possess since arriving in the Digital World.
Jesmon was caught by surprise by Cybelemon's bold action as well, and he glared in response. "Lord Lucemon can create this world a thousand times over if he so pleases. How do you think the Digital World was able to recover after the Human and Beast Digimon stopped fighting in the initial war that Lord Lucemon stopped? He allowed this land to recover because he had the power to bring it back to its previous state. Lord Lucemon is the only one who will be able to save this world. No other creature will be able to restore it to what it once was," he explained.
Cybelemon continued to snarl at Jesmon, unwilling to give him even a single sign of weakness. They really didn't want to believe that he was correct about Lucemon being the only one able to restore the Digital World to its former state. Perhaps that was why Lucemon and his proxies had been so bold with destroying the Digital World. They knew that he would be able to bring it back from the brink of destruction as soon as he was ready to do so. It made a striking amount of sense, but it wasn't as if Cybelemon was actually going to admit that to Jesmon. They couldn't lose nerve after coming so far. The Digital World was going to find a way to recover without Lucemon's influence even if it took a thousand generations for the realm to get back to being the splendid place that it had once been.
Zephyrmon raised one hand in the air before dropping it down confidently. A spiral of wind appeared in front of their torso before spiraling towards Jesmon. The Royal Knight shrugged it off easily before glancing up to her with uncaring eyes. Jesmon launched himself in her direction before attempting to stab in her direction.
Luckily, Zephyrmon was far faster than Jesmon was, and she was able to swoop beneath his attack before bursting upwards and delivering a mighty slash to Jesmon's back when his defenses were lowered due to the strike he was attempting to deal. Jesmon growled at her before whirling around, and his cape struck her torso before he kicked at her. Zephyrmon wasn't able to avoid this attack in time due to how suddenly it had been crafted, causing her to plummet through the skies and hit the ground below. A few seconds later, Zephyrmon rose from the fiery leaves below, her wings still beating powerfully.
"You're outmatched, and you have to be aware of that," Jesmon remarked. "Give up the Fractal Code of this area or face the consequences. I don't know why you would want to try and stand up to me. There's no point for you to try and succeed in this fight. I'm going to defeat you one way or another, but you can survive to fight another day if you leave now. I won't even chase after you if you surrender the Fractal Code of Flame Terminal to the Royal Knights."
Cybelemon had to resist the urge to give their eyes a dramatic roll. "You're clearly not aware of the kind of people that we are," they muttered under their breath. "You were the one who came here and picked a fight with us, and we're not going to let that go so easily. If it's a fight that you want, then it's a fight you're going to get."
Jesmon stared at Cybelemon before rushing towards them and slashing his sword in a grand arc. Cybelemon threw up their armored claws to keep from taking too much damage, and they were forced backwards along the ground due to the impact. Still, it was better than it could have been, and Cybelemon was willing to accept it as opposed to the alternative.
"You shouldn't have bothered with any of this," Jesmon continued to say. "You could have simply allowed me to take the Fractal Code of this region and then moved on with your life, but in attempting to fight back, you have placed yourselves in danger. This is not a cause worth fighting for. I might not wish to kill you, but I understand that sometimes, there is no other option but to resort to drastic measures. My loyalty lies only with my liege, and the other Royal Knights are not here to keep me from doing anything that they would regret."
Cybelemon huffed angrily before rushing towards Jesmon. They feinted with a pair of slashes before ducking low and giving a sweeping kick at Jesmon's feet. The Royal Knight stumbled backwards since he wasn't prepared to take such damage, giving Daipenmon the perfect chance to jump on his moment of weakness. He lashed out with axe, delivering a mighty blow to Jesmon's back.
Jesmon jumped into the air, seamlessly landing about three yards away from where Cybelemon and Daipenmon were standing together. "You have a Hybrid form and two Beast Spirits. Do you truly believe that will be enough to defeat a Royal Knight?" he questioned, and his tone sounded almost disappointed. Cybelemon couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Jesmon had been looking for a more exciting battle than the one he was being given.
Still, Cybelemon had to admit that Jesmon had a point about one thing. Only the Hybrid forms would be able to deliver significant enough damage to the Royal Knights to actually end the conflict. Zephyrmon and Cybelemon were the Beast Spirits who had been around the longest without yet evolving to the Hybrid level, so it stood to reason that they were the strongest of the Beasts. Despite this, they still weren't strong enough to defeat Jesmon. Daipenmon alone couldn't carry all of the weight that Zephyrmon and Cybelemon had by not yet being at the Hybrid level.
Cybelemon closed their eyes and began to consider the possibilities of the fight, knowing that Daipenmon and Zephyrmon had their back. Technically, they were fully able to utilize their Hybrid form whenever they so pleased. In his final moments of clarity, Cherubimon had granted both Cybelemon and Calanthemon the ability to reach the Hybrid level when he gave them his blessing of strength. Previously, it had seemed as if the rest of the Legendary Warriors were able to reach this level when they concentrated their determination on accomplishing a specific goal, and if there was anything worth being determined and stubborn about, it was defeating the Royal Knights while they were divided and rampaging across the Digital World individually.
At first, Cybelemon didn't even notice the glow of Fractal Code that had come to surround them, but when their eyes opened, all they saw was white, blue, and purple blending together in a splendid image. They smiled to themselves at the knowledge that they were going to be able to do more with their newfound Hybrid form. This was certainly going to close the gap in power level quickly.
Their hair was the same dark brown color that faded out at the edges that they were used to having as Cybelemon. Green stripes ran down their face and neck as well, and their dragon helmet still covered the upper half of their face. Their purple eyes glimmered, the same color as a pendant attached to their waist at an orange sash. A red scarf was wrapped around their neck, and it flowed delicately behind them.
A white top with the appearance of bandages appeared over their chest, and their muscles became incredibly defined the way that they were when they were in the form of Aeoelmon. Fragments of stone appeared across their legs, forming an armor-like covering before ending in a chunk of black with claws protruding from it. They wore gauntlets as well, though they were far smaller than the weapons that they utilized while fighting as Aeoelmon. Three scratch marks of brown could be seen coming over their right shoulder. Marks of green, purple, brown, and orange with the same scratching pattern covered their upper arms.
"Yaiamon!"
As the Fractal Code began to fade away, the Hybrid Warrior of Earth came into full view. Yaiamon glanced down at their new ensemble before a smirk appeared on their face, and they rushed towards Jesmon, easily closing the distance between them. Somehow, they felt faster than they had been as both Aeoelmon and Cybelemon, and while it was different from what they were used to, that didn't mean that they disliked it. In fact, they were sure that this increase in speed was going to be what they needed exactly to defeat Jesmon.
"You did it!" Daipenmon cried out, and he started to move towards Jesmon while lagging behind Yaiamon by a few feet. He created ice beneath his feet to increase his movement speed, and the two arrived at Jesmon's side not long afterward.
Yaiamon raised their hands into the air, and claws appeared from their gauntlets. They slashed at Jesmon's armor before the claws retreated into the earthen weapons once again, prompting Yaiamon to deliver a swift series of punches. The adaptive shifting of the gauntlets to possess claws or not was certainly something they enjoyed already, seamlessly combining the fighting styles of both Aeoelmon and Cybelemon. Yaiamon truly was a Hybrid in every sense of the word.
Jesmon retreated when he began to feel that Yaiamon was getting a bit too close, and he sneered before stabbing towards them with one sharpened arm. Yaiamon jumped to the side to avoid the attack at the last minute, and they slammed one foot against the ground. The metal began to stir, and a series of rocks burst forth from the steel that covered the fiery forest outside Flame Terminal. The rocks pelted Jesmon from all sides, distracting him easily.
Daipenmon took advantage of this moment of weakness to raise his axe, and he unleashed a series of snowballs from the tip of his weapon. The snow solidified into large chunks of ice upon making contact with Jesmon, freezing the Royal Knight to the spot. Jesmon's sharpened body made it clear that he was going to escape soon afterwards, but that didn't stop Daipenmon in the slightest.
In fact, Daipenmon was more than happy to help Jesmon break out of the ice himself. He raised his axe before swinging it towards Jesmon, sending the Royal Knight flying backwards. Jesmon's spine slammed into a nearby tree, snapping the trunk of metal in half immediately. The fiery leaves that tipped the tree branches extinguished as soon as their source of energy was taken away, and the flames gave one last whisper before dying out completely.
Jesmon didn't even give the fallen metallic tree a second glance. Instead, he rose to his feet and began to charge towards the Legendary Warriors once again. Yaiamon created a large column of earth just before he could make contact with them, and Daipenmon did the same with a series of icicles that rose into the air.
Jesmon was forced to slide to a halt to keep from barreling into the stone, and Zephyrmon saw this for what it was: a chance to attack. She once again raised her hands before creating a pulse of wind that slammed into Jesmon's body. While the wind itself didn't do much damage to the Royal Knight, it forced him off balance, and Jesmon was forced into the column of rock that Yaiamon had created a moment later.
Yaiamon jumped off the platform and squeezed their hands together, giving the silent cue for the rocks to start flying in every direction surrounding them. Daipenmon created a shield of ice that deflected the jagged stones towards Jesmon, but Zephyrmon didn't have to worry about being hit since she was in the air and thus out of range.
Jesmon seemed aggravated by the onslaught of rocks nearly immediately, and he growled under his breath before he took to slashing his sword at the stones. He was clearly waiting for an opening that would allow him to slip through without his armor being chipped more than it already had been. Jesmon's desperation became increasingly clear as his gaze hardened into a glare. If not for Yaiamon's rock attack, he would have already started stabbing at the nearest target.
Yaiamon dropped through the ground, allowing the earth to swallow them. When they were released from the ground, they were standing on the ground behind Jesmon. They kicked at the Royal Knight before following up with a punch that sent the Royal Knight into another chunk of scattered stones. Daipenmon jumped backwards to keep from getting too close to Jesmon, understanding that the Royal Knight's power came in close combat. Doing damage from far away was going to be their best bet at defeating him, hence why the rock attack had been so effective.
Zephyrmon also took advantage of Yaiamon and Daipenmon's attacks, and after the rock attack drew to a close, she held her hands close to her chest before spreading them wide. A tornado of swirling pink energy traveled towards Jesmon, threatening to pull him in towards its core. The Royal Knight attempted to jump backwards to avoid the attack, but that didn't work out the way that he had hoped.
Yaiamon had created a barrier of stone to keep from being pulled into the twister, and Daipenmon stood beside them so that he was defended as well. When Jesmon attempted to retreat, he hit the shield with his side. The Royal Knight growled, seeming to realize that he was stuck with no easy way to escape through the air.
Jesmon allowed himself to be swallowed by the storm that Zephyrmon had created, and he was tossed around at the twister's core as he attempted to get a grip on himself once again. Jesmon's blade glittered ominously before he slashed outward, and the wind began to disperse, leaving Jesmon to fall to the ground far from where the other three participants of the fight could be located. He slowly rose to his feet, his eyes set in a clear glare. The instant that he was able to strike once again, he was going to do everything in his power to stop the Legendary Warriors. There was no chance that he was going to hold back.
Yaiamon allowed the rock wall to fall back into the ground, and they took a small step towards Jesmon, still uncertain of how to handle this situation. This fight was going to be far from easy, but they were determined to succeed regardless. Even without reinforcements, Yaiamon, Daipenmon, and Zephyrmon were going to do what they could to come out on top.
In the fleeting moment between Jesmon's attacks, Yaiamon couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the rest of the group. They knew that they wouldn't be able to count on reinforcements appearing, but they were curious regardless, and they hoped with everything they had that the other Legendary Warriors were okay.
Saki, Takuya, and Haroi had been walking for quite some time since arriving back on the main planet of the Digital World. Saki watched the way that their footsteps left indents in the grass below as they navigated in the direction of the signals that were appearing on their D-Tector's radars. As soon as they touched down on the planet itself, they had decided to see if anyone was nearby, and their D-Tectors revealed that Chihiro, Tomoki, and Izumi were all close by. The other six members of the team were still out of range it seemed, and that left an awful feeling in Saki's stomach. None of the other Warriors had been on Flavo. They would have known if anyone else had appeared in the region, but nobody had. That left the main planet of the Digital World and the other two moons, Rubrum and Caeruleum, as their primary suspects for where the other Legendary Warriors could be found.
Saki, for the first time in many years, found themselves anxious and wanting to talk to someone. They were used to operating on their own and ignoring the assistance that others offered them, but the Digital World had changed them. Junpei had encouraged them to open up about their issues, and they had taken his advice much to their own surprise. It wasn't something they had ever anticipated doing, but they found themselves oddly relieved once the weight was off their chest. It was a secret that they had been keeping throughout their entire life, but there was no reason to block out the truth of their past from the rest of the Legendary Warriors. After all, they were safe there, and that was what mattered.
Junpei's signal not appearing left Saki unsettled, and they absolutely hated the sensation of having a knot in their stomach constantly. There were five other members of the team to worry about alongside Junpei, and that didn't even factor in their Digimon guides. Still, despite the worry that constantly clubbed at the inside of their head with a thousand needles, Saki managed to ground themselves, and they continued to count their footsteps as they moved in the direction of the three Legendary Warriors who they could actually locate.
Saki did their best to shove away the possibility of the Royal Knights making an appearance before the other members of the team. They were fully aware of how capable the other Legendary Warriors were, but that didn't mean that Saki wished for them to run into trouble unnecessarily. In fact, all they really wanted was for everyone to be safe. They hated the idea of anyone stumbling into danger, though Saki supposed that it couldn't be avoided given the atmosphere that they found themselves in. The Digital World was a dangerous place, and they were going to have to be careful until they were sure that all of the Royal Knights had been disposed of.
Saki's counting of footsteps was disturbed when Junpei appeared in their mind's eye once again. They were going to have to thank him once the group was back together, something Saki never expected that they would have to do. After years of operating solely on their own terms, the concept of reaching out in such a way was foreign to them, but that wasn't going to stop them from at least trying to tell Junpei how much help he had been. If not for his words, Saki was sure that they would have drifted through the rest of life without breathing even a letter of their history.
Onyxmon was a peculiar case in Saki's eyes. They had come to control their Beast Spirit, and their emotions as a whole, out of a matter of necessity. They had never been given a chance to step away from their need for dominion over both themselves and the world around them. Allowing their control to slip away was allowing for others to take advantages of their weaknesses, and that was something that Saki simply could not tolerate. It still bothered them in a way that they didn't know how to describe that Cherubimon had been able to use them for his own purposes.
It wasn't anyone's fault but Lucemon's that the situation had unfolded in such a way, but that didn't stop Saki from hating the memory of what they had done while stuck in the form of Lyramon. Cherubimon had manipulated them, taking advantage of the authority that he possessed with raw power, and Saki wasn't going to be able to forget it anytime soon. It wasn't as if it was Cherubimon's issue either; Lucemon had been responsible, and Saki was fully aware of it, but the bitter pettiness still tore at their insides.
Their issues with control had nothing to do with Cherubimon, and they had explained as much to Takuya. They simply disliked it when people in positions of authority in general used the power that they had been given. It had been one of Saki's targets for animosity for many years, and Cherubimon was simply the most recent one to press their buttons the wrong way. Lucemon was to blame for it, but that didn't completely erase the memory of Cherubimon's action from their mind.
Saki glanced down to the floor next to their right foot, and they saw Lopmon walking at their side. Lopmon had been quiet ever since they left behind the Village of Beginnings, only responding when he was spoken to. He had a polite aura about him that contrasted the warmongering and blunt nature of Cherubimon greatly. If Saki didn't know any better, they would have been convinced that the two creatures couldn't have ever been connected.
They continued to watch Lopmon, and a small sigh left their lips. They wouldn't ever be able to forget what happened with Cherubimon, but the sooner they accepted that Lopmon was a separate entity, the better off everyone would be. Saki was a petty person by nature, and they weren't above resorting to underhanded tactics to get their point across when it came to people they despised. Still, the young Lopmon was incredibly different from the family members who had spent so many years tearing them down until there was next to nothing left. They would never be able to forgive their relatives, but Lopmon was a different case due to his somber innocence and misunderstanding of his past incarnation. Lucemon was the one who had harmed Saki so terribly from an emotional perspective. Cherubimon, and by extension, Lopmon, had merely been a vessel for Lucemon's twisted desires.
Saki didn't say anything to Lopmon directly, instead they simply stared down at him for a long time. Lopmon didn't understand what had happened, and Saki wasn't about to deliberately confuse him by saying that they forgave him for something that they didn't remember and wasn't their fault. Instead of speaking about their emotions, Saki internalized them, and a light smile of pure sincerity spread across their lips. The time had come for them to let go of what happened with Cherubimon. They would never be able to recover if they didn't at least make an attempt to move past it.
Saki was fully aware of the grip that the past could have on a person. After all, it was because of the past that they didn't trust anyone at a first glance. It took time for anyone to make their way into the small circle of individuals that Saki trusted, and the Legendary Warriors were the first who had ever managed to break through all of the walls that Saki had spent so many years carefully constructed. They had finally been able to open up about the issues that ripped them apart from the inside out thanks to the Legendary Warriors, and Saki couldn't help but be silently thankful for them.
Their leg nudged gently against Lopmon, and the young rabbit Digimon glanced up at them with solemn and wide eyes. Saki simply gave him a smile before continuing to move. Lopmon didn't say anything, but Saki could tell that their message of silent care towards Lopmon had certainly gotten across. Forgiveness, something that Saki had never given out so freely, felt far nicer than they had anticipated. They didn't think that they would ever be able to move past what their relatives had done to them, but this was still a start to becoming a better person and evolving in a positive way. It was incredible in a way they didn't think they would ever be able to convey.
Saki knew that they would never be able to forget about the events of the Digital World, and that included their issues with Cherubimon. Still, it was possible to remember another person's faults and forgive them regardless. It was something that Saki had struggled with for a great many years, but they were finally moving towards improvement, and this silent step in the right direction meant a lot more to them than anyone else would ever be able to say.
Their gaze fell back on the radar of their D-Tector, and they frowned at the sight of the three signals once again. They had a bad feeling about all of this, and their stomach knotted itself a few times over despite their attempts to relax. Saki hoped that Izumi, Tomoki, and Chihiro hadn't gotten themselves into too much trouble, but they wouldn't be able to say for sure what had happened until after the group reunited. It was concerning that the trio wasn't moving, but for all Saki knew, they were simply taking time to rest and recuperate after the fight with Alphamon.
Somehow, Saki knew that was a lie as soon as the idea came to mind, and their stomach churned once again.
Zephyrmon swerved through the sky to dodge another attack from Jesmon, barely managing to duck beneath his blade before he could pierce one of her feathery wings. She lashed out with a fierce kick as soon as she got the chance, and while the attack itself didn't do much damage, the force of the wind around her body managed to shove him a small distance away. She was more than willing to accept that as a net positive, and she raised her claws before slamming them down through the air in a scratching motion, sending out a series of thin pink tornadoes in Jesmon's direction. She engaged in a hasty retreat soon afterwards, desperate to get out of his immediate vicinity.
Jesmon cut his blade through the air once again to dispel the twisters as he had done with the larger attack from before, and he attempted to charge in Zephyrmon's direction once again. The Warrior of Wind ducked down to keep away from him, narrowly managing to avoid a barrage of snowballs being fired from Daipenmon's axe. She could feel the cold whistle past the exposed skin on her upper cheek, and she did her best to hide her symptoms of distress. If she showed even the slightest sign of weakness, Jesmon would attempt to capitalize on it, and that was the last thing that they could afford given the situation.
Yaiamon was the next one to attack, and they shoved their hands through the air, sending a series of small rocks in Jesmon's direction. The pebbles bounced ineffectively off his armor, but they began to solidify after they stopped attacking Jesmon. A large axe made of rock appeared from the lighter stones, and it swung powerfully at Jesmon. The Royal Knight, who hadn't even noticed what Yaiamon's plan was, didn't have time to react. He was hit square in the back and sent sprawling forward.
Zephyrmon couldn't help but cringe at the sound of Jesmon's body hitting the ground below once again. She threw up her arms to keep from being knocked off course by the ensuing shockwave, and she glanced down to see that Yaiamon and Daipenmon had managed to keep themselves anchored even in the face of Jesmon's sheer force. Zephyrmon supposed that it made sense given how both the Warriors of Earth and Ice were naturally heavier than she was. Zephyrmon was the incarnate of air itself, and Yaiamon and Daipenmon were among the group's strongest physical fighters. It only made sense that there was a stark contrast between them.
Jesmon managed to peel himself from the ground, and he glared angrily at Yaiamon and Daipenmon. Zephyrmon could sense something different about him all of a sudden, but she wasn't sure of how to describe it. As far as she could tell, Jesmon had been holding back to some degree up until that point, but he had given up on simply breezing through the fight. Jesmon had managed to effortlessly succeed in the past, but without the aid of the other Royal Knights and their natural dynamic, he was less powerful than he had anticipated. It seemed to Zephyrmon that Jesmon had finally realized what a terrible mistake it had been to split up in the first place.
"You're going to regret standing against us, you know," Jesmon finally declared. His previous detached aura had started to melt away, leaving only unrestrained frustration beneath it. He raised his sword and pointed it in the direction of Yaiamon and Daipenmon. "I've had enough of playing games with you. Since you're so intent on standing in the way of Lord Lucemon's return, I have no choice but to eliminate you. To hell with the morality of the others. If you're going to stop us, then I'll take you out by force!"
Contrary to what was expected, Jesmon swerved his focus away from Yaiamon and Daipenmon just before he could start charging in their direction. Instead, he looked up to where Zephyrmon was flying, and he followed his blade upwards towards her, kicking off the ground in a powerful sweeping motion.
Zephyrmon's eyes went wide instinctively, and she flew backwards to keep from taking significant damage. Still, she was left incredibly disoriented as a result of Jesmon's attack, and she knew that the Royal Knight was going to be able to take advantage of that. Sure enough, it only took a few seconds for Jesmon to move towards her once again, and the Warrior of Wind conjured a gust of wind to push him backwards.
Jesmon was left to fall back down to the ground, his red cape swirling around him. He landed in a crouch, and Zephyrmon watched him from afar. She didn't think that she would be able to fight against him more if their power levels remained so far apart. Jesmon had a serious advantage over her, and she couldn't leave it up to Yaiamon and Daipenmon to make up for the weakness that she had in not having a Hybrid form. Jesmon was strong, so she was going to have to bring all of the force that she had in her wheelhouse if she wanted to have a chance of defeating him.
Much to Zephyrmon's own surprise, it was at this point that Fractal Code appeared around her body, completely masking her from the outside world. She wasn't sure of what was happening with Jesmon below, but she couldn't bring herself to care. After all, this was exactly what she needed to find victory in the coming battle.
The chest area of hear armor began to shift, and there was less metal than before, but a layer of sheer fabric covered her chest. Her shorts shifted into a brighter pink color to match the same shade of her armor when she was in the form of Kazemon. Her arms and legs, both of which were covered in silver and dark pink armor, remained the same, though her claws seemed to grow reinforced under the power of her new evolution.
Her wings were the next things to change, and the brown feathers that Zephyrmon was used to became the beautiful butterfly pattern of Kazemon's transparent mint green wings. Her hair began to grow far longer than before, turning a vibrant violet color in the process. The mask over the lower half of her face faded away, but green markings appeared diagonally on the lower parts of her cheeks. Her teeth were sharper than those of a regular human, implying that they were what rested beneath the mask that Zephyrmon regularly wore.
Her eyes remained the same bright blue color as before, but her short pale silvery sapphire hair began to give way to the purple of the length that had grown from below. The wings that stuck out from either side of her head remained though, replacing the regular visor that Kazemon was known to wear. A black scarf was wrapped around her neck, though it was larger than the fabric that she wore as Zephyr, and it seemed to swallow part of the bottom half of her face.
"Aeromon!"
As the transformation was completed, the wind came together to praise its evolved mistress. Aeromon glanced down at herself, and her eyes narrowed with determination before she unleashed a blast of wind in Jesmon's direction. She felt far faster than before, and that was certainly saying something given that she had already been the fastest out of the Legendary Warriors.
Aeromon heard a holler from down below, and she saw that Yaiamon had pumped their fist into the air encouragingly. She couldn't help but smile to herself, and despite the sharpened teeth that were shown to the world, everything about the grin was beautiful and calm. She turned her attention back to the fight at hand when she realized that she was getting distracted, and she focused on the battle once again just in time to see her windy attack slam into Jesmon and send him into a nearby metallic tree.
Aeromon landed beside Yaiamon and Daipenmon a moment later, and the three shared a brief nod before charging towards Jesmon. He was still struggling to regain his balance after hitting the tree with far more force than anticipated, and anger burned in his eyes. As soon as he had returned to his full height, he pointed a blade in the direction of his three enemies, showing that he had no intentions of holding back if they got any closer.
Luckily, they didn't need to get much closer to him than they already were. Daipenmon raised his axe and unleashed a series of snowballs before hurling the sword through the air. It followed a pattern similar to that of a boomerang, swinging through the air with incredible force before landing back in Daipenmon's hand. The power of the weapon was more than enough to earn Jesmon's attention, and his armor was left chipped in a few places. Aeromon couldn't help but take silent pride that they were doing so much to harm a Digimon who claimed to be able to outpace them so readily.
Yaiamon slammed one foot into the ground before sliding forward. The earth below understood their command and began to shift before rising up from beneath the metal below to grab at Jesmon. No matter how much the Royal Knight struggled, he was unable to fully escape the grip of the stones that Yaiamon had summoned. A few cracks began to form, but Yaiamon quickly covered for the weaknesses that appeared, and their stubborn determination remained unflinching even in the face of Jesmon's raw strength.
Aeromon decided to take this as her cue to unleash another attack, and she jumped into the air before spinning in place, creating a series of windy daggers that fanned out in all directions. A moment later, they seemed to understand who their target was though, and they began to hone in on Jesmon. Aeromon watched them with a smirk, impressed at the new power surging through her body.
Jesmon did his best to continue trying to break free while still avoiding the daggers, but such was far easier said than done, and his armor was once again clipped by the strikes from the Legendary Warriors. In a few places, chunks of silver armor fell away from his body before joining the metal of the ground below. Jesmon didn't ever cry out in pain, but the agony in his eyes was more than enough to show how distressed he was by the raw strength of his foes.
It wasn't until after Aeromon had finished her assault that Yaiamon once again moved, and they raised one hand into the air, prompting the appendage of rock to rise before throwing Jesmon back onto the ground. The Royal Knight was released roughly, and he slid backwards across the dark silvery gray below. When he started to rise to his feet once again, it was clear that he lacked the confidence that he had once possessed.
Even without confidence though, Jesmon had stubborn anger, and it continued to burn in his bright eyes as he moved towards the Legendary Warriors. He was starting to run out of energy, and it wasn't going to take much more for him to completely fall apart. Victory was within sight, but Aeromon knew better than to get caught up in her excitement regarding the upcoming triumph. After all, Jesmon wasn't going to be completely safe to be around until after he had been neutralized, and she wasn't about to start celebrating prematurely.
Jesmon crossed his arms in front of his body, and churning green energy began to form from between his hands before spiraling towards the Legendary Warriors. There were two orbs that split off from the original one, creating a total of three spheres that were rocketing through the air at impossible speeds towards their targets. Jesmon watched them go for a brief moment before he started following the orb that was going in Daipenmon's direction.
Aeromon was able to dodge the homing attack at first, but when it swerved back to try and hit her once again, she flew around a tree. The green orb slammed into the upper half of the plant, and the tree immediately groaned with the creak of metal at absorbing the hit. Aeromon was, in all honesty, surprised that it had managed to remain standing at all, and she couldn't help but cringe at the mournful scream of the tree.
Yaiamon had a far simpler solution, and all it took was them throwing up a barrier of rocks to keep from getting hit. Stray pieces of stone were sent in every direction after the sphere made contact, but none of them were large enough to hurt anyone more than a small cut. Daipenmon was too heavily armored to be impacted, and Yaiamon was immune to the effect that their element could have had on them.
Daipenmon noticed that Jesmon was coming his way, so he used his axe to slice through the green orb easily. The weapon was far stronger than Aeromon had expected, and it didn't falter even under the immense strength of Jesmon's attack. Daipenmon didn't even wait for the axe to return to its regular position at his side before he acted once again, and he threw his free arm into the air, creating an icy column that sent him flying upwards.
When Daipenmon landed, it was about five yards away from where he had been. This left Jesmon to slide to a halt right in front of the icy column that Daipenmon had used as a spring. The Royal Knight was right next to Yaiamon, and he took this as an opportunity to unleash a stab in their direction.
Unfortunately for him, Yaiamon was faster than ever before, and they were easily able to jump backwards out of the way to avoid being hit. Their gauntlets gained claws, and they slashed in Jesmon's direction before the sharpened points descended back into the weapons. The gauntlets gained mass until they were larger than usual, and Yaiamon took this as a cue to unleash countless punches on Jesmon. As soon as they had done enough to hurt Jesmon's body and pride, they jumped backwards, landing in a crouch as they slid across the metal before rising to their full height once again.
Jesmon was left stuck at the center of the triangle formed by the Legendary Warriors. None of them were particularly close to him, but if he moved too much in any given direction, he would be opening himself up to attack from some, if not all, of them. Jesmon remained still for a long time, simply trying to figure out what the best option for escape was.
He took a bit too long to debate his options, and Aeromon raised her claws into the air, ready to summon another attack of pink wind to send in his direction. She followed through with it a moment later, creating a funnel that twisted with incredible force as it traveled towards the Royal Knight. Aeromon shared a brief glance with Yaiamon and Daipenmon to show that she wanted them to follow her lead.
Sure enough, they went along with her plan, and Daipenmon inhaled before unleashing a breath of frozen air. He angled it around Jesmon so that it mixed with the tornado that Aeromon had created. Snowflakes began to stir in with the writhing air of the twister. Daipenmon continued to feed snowballs into the natural wonder even after he was finished with his initial contribution.
Yaiamon took a different approach to joining in on the attack, instead using the large pillars of earth that they had summoned below. Yaiamon kicked and punched at their defensive structures, leaving the rocks to transform into smaller chips of stone that flew through the air haphazardly. Many were sucked in by the funnel that Aeromon had conjured, and they rocketed towards Jesmon along with the wind and snow.
Jesmon attempted to run from the scene, and he threw up his cape to block when he realized that he wouldn't be able to fully escape. Unfortunately, his attempts at a defense still could not save him, and once again, chips of his armor were forced away from his body and onto the ground below. This time, he did verbalize his pain, though he did little more than groan and growl in his frustration.
Aeromon wound up having to raise her arms to keep from being hit by stray pieces of rock, and she was unable to see what was happening to Jesmon at the center of the tornado of her own creation. It wasn't until after the winds had begun to calm that she felt comfortable lowering her arms to see fully what damage had been caused.
Jesmon had taken severe damage, and there wasn't a way that Aeromon could see that he would be able to worm his way out of this one. There were a few places where his data could be seen through his bright silver armor, the most notable patches being on his right shoulder, left leg, and the side of his torso. Jesmon held at his third and most prominent wound, and he breathed heavily. Each exhale of air spoke of unreleased anger, and even though he didn't say a word, his pure rage could be felt all across the battlefield.
Yaiamon was the first one to react to the damage that Jesmon had taken, and they started to charge towards him. Their right gauntlet grew claws, and they allowed themselves to follow the sharpened weapon forward. The ground seemed to shake with each step that they took, almost as if the earth itself was bending to the whims of the one it called its proxy. Aeromon almost had a hard time keeping track of Yaiamon as they wove between the metallic trees of the forested area. She was far from used to seeing the Warrior of Earth, traditionally one of the slower fighters out of the Legendary Warriors group, moving so quickly.
However, it was unmistakable what Yaiamon's aim was, and as soon as they emerged from between the flaming leaves a final time, Aeromon saw them complete their goal. Their claws had been shoved through the center of Jesmon's torso, and the tips of the claws could be seen on the other side of Jesmon's body. The Royal Knight was perfectly still, his eyes wide in a portrait of pure shock. Aeromon couldn't tell if he was too afraid to move or if he simply couldn't do anything aside from stand there, suspended on the edge of Yaiamon's gauntlet.
All it took was one final swift motion from Yaiamon to completely change everything. They pulled backwards, and Jesmon's body slouched forward. The Royal Knight couldn't even unleash a final show of his murderous intentions before he began to dissipate into nothing more than data. His silhouette filled with shadows, and a ring of Fractal Code formed around his torso.
Yaiamon held out their hand and watched as the blue, purple, and white illumination brought by the data flowed into their palm. They continued to stare as Jesmon's figure began to disappear inside out, leaving behind only a crumbling outline of an egg. The white mass of data was left suspended in midair as Yaiamon's fingers clenched into a fist, a display of finality that the battle was over once and for all.
Aeromon expected the egg to blur past her to find its regular place in the sky, but much to her surprise, it did nothing of the sort. Instead, the egg moved towards the train station, and Aeromon chased it on pure instinct. It was going too fast for her to even hope to grab onto it, but it wasn't as if she wanted to in the first place.
She came to a halt when the egg changed direction, and it began to descend into the ground below. The wide chasm near the Flame Terminal station, the one that she had first entered the Digital World through, swallowed the mass of data in a matter of seconds. The glow of the egg was gone in the blink of an eye, and no matter how long Aeromon stared down into the void, she never saw it again. Part of her was expecting it to rise once again, but such never happened. Aeromon wasn't sure of how long she had been looking down at the place where the egg disappeared from sight, but she eventually decided that it wasn't worth watching the chasm anymore. She pivoted midair and flew back to where Yaiamon and Daipenmon were waiting before dropping to the ground. Fractal Code appeared around her in a gentle cocoon.
Izumi was left in the place of the Hybrid Warrior of Wind, and she ran one hair through her blonde hair as soon as she realized that it had gone into a state of uncontrolled messiness when she wasn't paying attention. She watched as Daipenmon and Yaiamon returned to being Tomoki and Chihiro respectively. Both of them had relief written clearly on their faces, but Izumi could also tell that they were absolutely exhausted. The fight with Jesmon had left them all more tired than they could hav ever anticipated.
Still, that didn't stop them from moving back towards the train station where Neemon was waiting. Izumi smiled as the small Digimon came into view, and she could see that he had been sitting on the edge of the metallic platform, watching the battle with Jesmon from the nearest spot he could while still remaining safe. Neemon didn't jump to his feet when he saw the Legendary Warriors, instead remaining where he was with a content smile on his face. He understood that they would be together soon enough, and that was all that mattered.
As soon as she was back at the station, Izumi practically collapsed onto the bench near the entrance of the loading platform. Her eyes had gone heavy and were practically begging for her to take a nap, but she simply couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she allowed her head to slip backwards as she looked up at the ceiling. If she dared to close her eyes, she wasn't going to want to move again, and that was the last thing they could afford.
A gasp from Tomoki earned Izumi's attention a moment later, and she glanced over to see that he was sitting off to her left. Neemon sat on his other side, and Chihiro took up the far right of the bench next to Izumi. All eyes were on Tomoki, who had pulled out his D-Tector. He had taken to pulling up the radar hologram, and he was watching it with wide, excited eyes. Despite his exhaustion, he still looked giddy beyond imagination.
Before Izumi had the chance to ask Tomoki what had him so excited, the younger boy explained. "The others are showing up on the D-Tector again!" he cried out. He held his D-Tector out so that everyone would be able to see it, and sure enough, Izumi could see a cluster of three signals gathered together in the distance. They were slowly but surely getting closer, and her heart swelled with the idea of a reunion.
"Red, purple, and silver," Chihiro commented under their breath. "That's Takuya, Saki, and Haroi. I guess that they were able to meet up after we were forced apart. It's good to know that they're safe at least... I don't get why they didn't show up until just now though. Maybe they were out of range and we simply didn't know it."
"I don't know if our D-Tectors were made to communicate location over large distances... I mean, the Continent of Darkness is one thing, but it seems like we've been blasted to another corner of the Digital World compared to where we were when we were in Abraxas," Tomoki pointed out. He shrugged and shook his head to dismiss his curiosity. "I guess that it doesn't matter now though. After all, we know that they're safe, and that's more than enough for me. We should move in their direction as soon as we're feeling up to it."
Chihiro let out an exhausted bark of a laugh. "That's going to take a while," they admitted. "I feel like I'm not going to be able to move for hours. Then again, I suppose that's natural given that we only had one meat apple each before moving into battle against Jesmon. Our Spirits make us stronger than the average person, but not having enough food is still a bad thing."
"We should go on and have something else to eat then," Neemon suggested, hopping off the bench. "There was more food in that abandoned stand, and I bet that we could bring some along with us if we wanted to. You all look tired, so let's get to it." He didn't wait for anyone to object before he started walking in the direction of the stand he had mentioned, and Izumi could tell that he was expecting everyone else to trail behind him without question.
Tomoki was the first to start moving, and he placed his D-Tector back in its regular place at his waistband before trailing after Tomoki. That left only Izumi and Chihiro on the bench outside the train station, though neither one of them seemed particularly willing to move at first.
For a long moment, there was nothing but silence between them. Chihiro was the one to break it, and they nudged Izumi with a playful smirk on their face. "Hybrid evolution is pretty damn awesome, huh?" they asked, though Izumi could tell that they already knew what she was going to say.
Izumi let out a laugh and nodded. "It is," she agreed before forcing herself to her feet. Her body protested, but she didn't pay it much heed. For that moment, she felt on top of the world. They had defeated a member of the Royal Knights, and she and Chihiro had reached the Hybrid level. Even if they were separated from the rest of the group, Izumi thought that they were doing rather well for themselves, and she couldn't help the pride that found a perfect home in her chest as she navigated over to the stand with Tomoki and Neemon.
Izumi was certainly feeling better by the time that she had started moving around once again. She, Tomoki, Chihiro, and Neemon had eaten as much as they could stand before packing up the extra supplies into a bag that Chihiro had slung over one shoulder. They were walking through the forest of fire where their battle against Jesmon had taken place, and Izumi could feel a smile playing at her lips. Nothing that she tried could suppress it.
The first time that she had been in this area, she had learned from Bokomon and Neemon that she was one of the Legendary Warriors reincarnated from ancient times. They were on the run from Cherubimon's armies, and she had been terrified. Izumi had felt alone and nervous, afraid of what could await her if they slipped up even once. This was the place where she had met Koji as well, and she had seen him transform into Lobomon after a hole formed in the Fractal Code.
It truly was a nostalgic place to be. Izumi recognized Flame Terminal as a mark of how far she had come, and she didn't ever want to go back to the person that she had been before her adventures in the Digital World. She had seen a lot and gone through more than she could ever hope to tell the rest of the world at large about, but she was still happy with the person that she had become. The words she had shared with Chihiro were nothing short of completely honest.
Izumi glanced down to her D-Tector and watched as the trio of signals belonging to herself, Tomoki, and Chihiro moved towards Takuya, Saki, and Haroi. They were going to be apart for quite a while yet, but they were getting closer, and that was more than enough for Izumi. She was still thriving off the emotional high of having toppled a Royal Knight. Izumi had been worried for a while that it would be impossible to defeat the opposing faction, but her battle with Tomoki and Chihiro earlier that day had shown that the Royal Knights were far from being invincible. Divided, they were weaker, and the Legendary Warriors simply had to exploit that hole in their defenses until they were gone. The safety of both the Digital World and Earth was counting on it. This was the only way to prevent the resurrection of Lucemon, after all, and Izumi was determined to follow through with defending both realms.
She gave a brief glance over to Tomoki, Chihiro, and Neemon before letting out a breathless sigh. This truly was one experience that she would never be able to forget. It was incredible in a way that no person on Earth would ever comprehend. Izumi, who had once been lonely in her perceived perfection, had found a place to belong. On top of that, she was happy beyond explanation, something that she had never expected to experience in full after spending so many years dancing around the matter with her masks of stability.
The Digital World was everything that she had ever needed, but she hadn't realized the truth until it was presented to her directly. Izumi was glad that she had discovered it though, and she didn't ever want to return to the person that she once had been. She had changed for the better, and she never wanted to reverse her personal evolution no matter what the universe decided to throw at her in the future.
"They're getting closer."
Haroi glanced up when Saki's voice pierced the air, and he tilted his head to the side until he realized what they were looking at. Saki's gaze was locked firmly on their D-Tector, and the holographic radar had been pulled up. Haroi wasn't sure of when Saki had grabbed their D-Tector since he had been so focused on staring at his own. He had spaced out along the way though, and he didn't recognize what was taking place until Saki offered an explanation.
Haroi realized that they were right after a brief moment of observation. The three signals that had appeared on the horizon quite some time ago belonging to Izumi, Tomoki, and Chihiro were most certainly getting closer. Haroi suspected that Saki had taken so long to bring it up because of how slight the difference was. They had been moving for quite a while, and it wouldn't have been an impossible thought to believe that wishful thinking would shift their perception of location after spending so long walking.
"That's good to hear," Bokomon said from his place near Haroi's feet. Lopmon stood beside Bokomon, watching the rest of the group with dimmed curiosity since he was still unused to the dynamic of the Legendary Warriors even after being introduced to them formally.
"I have to wonder what could have made them stop for so long in the first place," Takuya remarked before shrugging. "I'm sure that we can get them to explain as soon as we meet up. After that, we can try to figure out where the hell everybody else is. I mean, it's been ages since we started walking, and we still haven't seen any signs of half of our team."
"We'll figure it out," Haroi said. He was admittedly unsure of where the words came from, but he suspected that it was because the confidence of the rest of the group was starting to rub off on him. "For now, we should focus on seeing them again. Maybe they'll have more news for us when it comes to the Royal Knights."
"They could have been stationary for so long because they got into a fight," Saki said with a frown. "If that's the case, we can certainly take their motion to be a good thing. It's not like they're in any rush. If they were running from something, they would be going a lot faster than they are right now. They're getting closer, and that's what matters. We can see about what they've been up to when we see them again like Haroi said."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Takuya grinned. He had taken his D-Tector off and started staring at it as well, a sign of how eager he was to meet up with the rest of the group. Haroi couldn't blame him in the slightest, and the Warrior of Cosmos found a small smile blossoming across his features as he examined Takuya from afar.
Haroi took in a deep breath before letting it out. Alphamon's attack had thrown their plan into disarray, but they were still managing to pull the pieces together. Soon enough, the group would be back together once again, and Haroi couldn't wait for that point. He was excited to hear about what they had all been through since the divide, and he was sure that they would be able to defeat a few more members of the Royal Knights once they were fully reunited. They were stronger together, and Haroi was positive that they would fare better than before since they were no longer feeling the exhaustion of the Royal Knights' first assault.
The end to their battle with the Royal Knights was in sight, and Haroi couldn't wait to see what fruits the future had to offer them.
The adventures of the second group are finished for the time being! Woohoo!
This is another battle chapter that mostly speaks for itself. I loved working on the two evolution sequences for Yaiamon and Aeromon since those two have the largest gap between finding their Beast Spirits and reaching the Hybrid level. Cybelemon first appeared in chapter six while Zephyrmon showed up in chapter nineteen. Poor Chihiro had to wait nearly forty chapters to reach the next level, though I suppose it evens out since there was about a ten chapter gap in them finding their Beast Spirit and actually being able to control it. All's well that ends well, I suppose.
As for why Aeromon took so long to appear, this is a matter of personal bias. I wanted to utilize Zephyrmon for as long as I possibly could because she's easily my favorite out of the Legendary Warrior Digimon. She's in my top five Digimon as a whole, and I was hoping to get as much mileage out of her as I could. Yes, I'm biased, but it all worked out. There's a gap compared to when the other Seraphimon Warriors reached the Hybrid level where Izumi is concerned, but at least she's there now, and that leaves only Yumiko to unlock the Hybrid form.
Aeromon's name and redesign are similar in reasoning to Thundramon if you guys remember that. I wanted the Legendary Warriors to be unique from other Digimon, hence why her name was changed. JetSilphymon doesn't bear much resemblance to Kazemon and Zephyrmon, so her design was altered as well. I have been fantasizing about Aeromon's badass design for ages, and I'm so glad that you all get to see it (well, read about it) now. The Warrior of Wind is just *chef's kiss* and deserves all the attention I give her.
I enjoyed the scene with Saki halfway through this chapter too. I like it better when chapters aren't strictly combat and contain a few character beats as well, so I simply had to throw that in to break up the constant fighting. It's a nice moment for their development, and I liked working on it overall. We appreciate Saki in all of their unique glory.
That's all there really is for me to say about this chapter. Once I finish ranting about Aeromon and Yaiamon, there's not much left to talk about in the author's note. With that said, I'll be back next week for the next character chapter of act four. For now, I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter. Feedback is always appreciated. Have a nice day, everyone!
-Digital