(A/N: Sorry this is a little late. Whatever they were doing with the website, I couldn't get onto my account, but everything seems to be working now. So, for this chapter title, we have some play on words. In case you don't get it, Daemon is the Demon Lord of Wrath. Get it? Huh? Huh? Ah, let's just get to the chapter.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 174: Wrath of the Demon
There was a calm, pleased smile present on Daemon's face, but it was chilling in how sinister it was. Daemon slowly raised his hands to his face, gently caressing his cheeks as he closed his eyes in delight. He was clearly relishing in his new form as he ran his claws down his body.
The DigiDestined stared, more horrified than ever at the Demon Lord of Wrath. They had thought they had seen the last of him when Arcadiamon had absorbed him, but now here he stood, more powerful than ever.
"Om-OmniShoutmon," Gallantmon X croaked out, his voice barely above a whisper, "what happened? How did he… he…?"
The dragon Digimon shook his head, looking terrified beyond reason. "I don't… I don't know… This is… This is completely unprecedented…"
"I can hear you whispering," Daemon replied, and opened his eyes, looking down at the DigiDestined. "You're wondering how I pulled off the near impossible, how I managed to Digivolve to the Ultra level." He spread his enormous wings, giving them a small bow. "It's certainly a tale worth telling, one I would be happy to share with you. After all, you've fought so hard, you deserve to know how your end will soon come about."
He opened his hand, and a flame appeared in his palm. He crushed it, and fire shot out of the space between his fingers, making him chuckle. "I knew that my Digivolution line possessed an Ultra level, but I also knew how out of reach it was. I debated for a long while of whether to give up on achieving it and settle for an X Evolution instead, but I just couldn't let it go. The power if the Ultra level was too great to resist, so I committed myself to obtaining it."
He turned to the side and breathed a mouthful of fire. The flames burned a trail as far as the eye could see, disappearing into the distance. Daemon chuckled and looked back to the DigiDestined, his grin widening at the looks on their faces.
"Of course, I knew how near impossible that was. Even for a Demon Lord, gaining that much data was completely outlandish. It could take tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years. It was truly a fool's dream, but it was one I was determined to fulfill. So I found a way. A way to gather all the data I needed quickly. Or at least at a much faster rate."
OmniShoutmon's hands clenched in an attempt to stop them from shaking. "How? How did you do this?"
Daemon chuckled. "Arcadiamon. He was the key. I told you that it was I who created him, who designed him to be the creature that he was. It took ages, but I finally managed to pull it off. And with his ability to absorb other Digimon, I could get him to Digivolve quickly since he could obtain all their power by absorbing actual Digimon rather than just absorbing the lingering data left behind when a Digimon is destroyed. But even then, it took a very long time to get him to the point I needed him to be at."
He looked down at his hands, seemingly lost in admiring himself once more. "Of course, there was the dilemma of it being Arcadiamon, not me, who gathered all that data and power. If I destroyed him, all the power he gained would have been destroyed with him, and I would have been left with only the bit of data he broke down into rather than all the power he obtained. So I had to get to it a different way. From the inside."
Seraphimon gasped. "You let Arcadiamon absorb you! We thought he turned on you, but you had him do it."
Daemon grinned at him. "Very good, little human. As unpleasant as it was, it was my only way to gain access to Arcadiamon's power. My own strength also allowed him to Digivolve to the Mega level. And for the icing on the cake, I had Boltboutamon use a Digimental to Digivolve him to the Ultra level, bringing Arcadiamon to his final Digivolution."
"Then you planned this?" Imperialdramon exclaimed. "All of this, from the very beginning."
Daemon laughed. "There's a reason Arcadiamon was designed to not have a will of his own. If he could think for himself, I would have been trapped within him, and he would have assimilated my data. But with no will, I was able to survive long enough to dominate him from the inside, to take all his power and data for myself, and it allowed me to Digivolve to the Ultra level. And now you stand before the most powerful Demon Lord of all. Stronger even than Lucemon or Bagramon."
A growl escaped Susanoomon. "So he's basically as strong as the Mega level Daemon, plus Arcadiamon Ultra's power stacked on top of that."
"Stronger," Daemon laughed. "As my power has been amplified even further through Digivolution to my own Ultra level. So unless you humans wish to experience truly horrific deaths, surrender and bow down to me, and I might make your deaths mercifully quick."
Their responses should have been immediate and automatic, but they weren't, as the DigiDestined actually gave pause. Not because they were considering surrendering, but because they knew what not surrendering meant; facing Daemon at the Ultra level.
Eventually though, Imperialdramon pointed his sword at the Demon Lord and mustered up all the courage he had. "That's not going to happen, big guy. So you might as well stop asking."
Daemon raised an eyebrow, curious. "You still seek to defy me? Why?"
"Because we really don't have any other option," Omnimon stated plainly. "And if death is certain either way, then we'll die standing on our feet, fighting for what we believe in."
The Demon Lord considered them for a short while. "How interesting. You have the choice of having a relatively painless death or an excruciating one, and yet you pick the latter out of a sense of stubbornness and pride." He let out a menacing chuckle. "Let's see how long that lasts."
"See this!" Imperialdramon cried. "Hyper Prominence!"
He fired a ball of black electricity from his chest. It exploded against Daemon, and the Demon Lord stumbled back. But then a wicked chuckle escaped him and he stepped forward out of the cloud of smoke, then continued towards the DigiDestined.
"Strike of the seven Stars!"
"Air Sefirot Crystal!"
The angel Digimon's attack blasted against the Demon Lord. He stumbled once more, but continued laughing and made his way towards them again.
"Stay back!" OmniShoutmon shouted. "Heavy Metal Vulcan!"
He brought forth a firewall that separated the DigiDestined from Daemon. The Demon Lord chuckled once more as he carelessly approached it. "Dark Spreader!"
A pixilation appeared around his hand as a dark virus manifested in it, and he reached out towards the firewall. His pixelating hand cut straight through it, and the firewall began to disperse, allowing him to continue on his way.
"Fearsome Blade!" Omnimon cried, and swiped his sword.
A cutting band of energy extended from his sword, and he whipped it at Daemon. The Demon Lord's had shot out, catching the energy blade, and he gave the knight Digimon an arrogant grin. "Now how about that. The blade is actually cutting into my palm."
"Let's see how this cuts you," Susanoomon declared. "Celestial Blade!"
Manifesting his ZERO-ARMS: Orochi, he brought forth his massive blade and swung it at the Demon Lord. Keeping hold of Omnimon's energy blade, Daemon reached out with his other hand and grasped Susanoomon's blade as well.
"Dark Spreader!" he cried.
Both hands pixelated, and the pixilation spread over both blades, causing them to disperse. Daemon let out a chuckle and spread his hands, as if encouraging them.
"ZERO-ARMS: Orcohi!" Susanoomon cried, and fired his mighty weapon.
The blast exploded against Daemon, and he was knocked off his feet, crashing to the ground. Susanoomon's weapon powered down, but he kept it at the ready.
"Whoa, you got him," said Imperialdramon.
But Daemon just laughed some more and sat up. "Congratulations. I actually felt that one. Let's see if you can feel this. Dark Spreader!"
Pixilation formed around his hands, and he swiped it through the air. The pixilation flew from his hand and made contact with Susanoomon's ZERO-ARMS: Orochi, which began to pixelate as well. Susanoomon released the weapon and watched as it disassembled into data.
Daemon finally rose to his feet. "Are you beginning to understand the futility of your situation?"
"Here's some futility for you," said Gallantmon X, holding up his shield. "Final Elysion!"
"Holy Destroy!"
"Flame Cannon!"
The three attacks slammed into Daemon, pushing him back slightly. He just took another step forward against the attacks.
"Hallowed Knuckle!" Seraphimon cried, and began punching out balls of light. They exploded against Daemon's chest, but seemed completely ineffective.
"How cute," Daemon commented, and swiped at the attacks, causing them to disperse.
"Is this cute?" Susanoomon asked. "Heaven's Thunder!"
Lighting dragons came down and wrapped around the Demon Lord. Daemon just chuckled against them as Imperialdramon flew forward. "Omni Sword!"
He stabbed with his glowing blade. Daemon swiped with his claw, and the blade shattered like glass. Then his hand shot out and grabbed hold of the dragon Digimon. He broke free of the lightning dragons, then pulled his fist back and delivered a punch that sent Imperialdramon flying backwards so fast that he was a mere blur.
The DigiDestined barely missed being hit by Imperialdramon as he shot past them and crashed to the ground. They looked back at the Demon Lord with growing dread as he stalked towards them.
"How are we going to do this?" Ophanimon C asked. "He's so powerful. An Ultra. How can we beat a level beyond a Mega?"
"We beat OmegaArmamon," Seraphimon pointed out, "and he was in Burst Mode, and that's a power that's beyond a Mega."
"Yeah," said Gallantmon X, "but he still wasn't an Ultra. Plus, that was after Chronomon dealt a bunch of damage to him."
"Not only that," Omnimon reluctantly added, "we've been fighting for awhile, and against pretty powerful opponents too. First Daemon at the Mega level, then Arcadiamon at the Mega, then at the Ultra level, and now Daemon again at the Ultra level." He looked down at himself. "And I'm not sure how much longer our power will last."
Grunting in pain, Imperialdramon hovered back over to them, clutching where he had been punched. "But we have to keep going, there's no other choice."
Daemon stopped walking and laughed. "Actually, you do have another option. You can all burn. Algol's Flame!"
An orb of fire appeared in his mouth, and he spat it at the DigiDestined. They flew out of its path, and the fireball hit the ground. Immediately, the flames erupted outward, spreading in all directions as if the ground were soaked in gasoline, the fire going as far as the eye could see. It only burned for a few seconds, but once the flames flickered out, only a burnt, barren wasteland remained. Everything around had been reduced to black charcoal in seconds, leaving nothing but ashes behind for miles.
Daemon laughed at the destruction as the DigiDestined looked back at him in horror.
"You monster!" Susanoomon shouted. "You burned everything! How could you?"
The Demon Lord just kept laughing. If anything, he laughed louder. "On the contraire, I could argue that since you dodged, you're the ones responsible for everything burning."
"I'll show you burning!" Ophanimon C raged. "Call Dramon!"
Her fire dragon appeared and breathed its flames upon Daemon. The Demon Lord just grinned as the flames washed over him.
"Are these flames meant to be hot?" he taunted. "Perhaps you need another demonstration of what real fire is."
"Here's fire for you!" Omnimon cried. "Flame Sphere!"
He unleashed a huge enchanted flame that struck the Demon Lord. Even with magic added to it, Daemon proceeded to walk through the fire, his seemingly deliberately slow pace meant to intimidate. And it was working.
With a flap of his mighty wings, Daemon sent the flames scattering, then sped over to the dragon, reached out, and clamped his hand around Ophanimon's dragon's neck, cutting off its fire breath. With a flick of his writs, he broke the dragon's neck, and it burst into data. Then he turned back to the DigiDestined and held out his arms, motioning with his hands for them to give him more.
"Oh, I'll come at you," Susanoomon declared, and flew forward "Fist of the Gods!"
He began rapidly raining punches against Daemon's gut. The Demon Lord let out grunts with each hit, but otherwise looked down at the god Digimon in amusement.
"Don't you smile at me!" Susanoomon shouted. "Heavy Tackle!"
He flew straight up, slamming into Daemon's face, causing the Demon Lord's head to snap back, then his fist began glowing as he delivered a Flash Punch to the Demon Lord's face, causing his head to snap to the side.
Slowly, Daemon's head turned back to Susanoomon, and he grinned. Then his hand shot out, and he grabbed hold of the god Digimon, bringing him close to his face. "This is going to hurt. Dark Spreader!"
The hand holding Susanoomon pixelated, and the pixilation spread to the god Digimon. Susanoomon cried out and his body began shifting from static to solid. Daemon laughed and carelessly tossed him aside, then turned back to the DigiDestined.
"Hit him!" OmniShoutmon shouted. "Hit him! Everyone, hit him! Omni Core Fusion!"
"Graceful Cannon!"
"Giga Crusher!"
"Zeig Saber!"
"Volcano Napalm!"
"Strike of the Seven Stars!"
The attacks exploded against Daemon, obscuring him with smoke, but the loud crash of the Demon Lord hitting the ground was heard. The DigiDestined paused in their attacking, though they held no illusions that their assault had taken him down; they could only hope to have caused some damage.
Laughter came from within the smoke, and the DigiDestined panicked.
"Shoot! Shoot!" Omnimon shouted. "Inferno!"
"Super Positron Laser!"
"Royal Saber!"
"Shining Laser III!"
"Hard Rock Spirit!"
As their attacks flew into the cloud of smoke, Daemon suddenly came flying out. His hand shot out, his claws digging into Imperialdramon's chest, and he shoved him to the ground. Keeping a grip on him, Daemon repeatedly slammed the dragon Digimon into the ground, cracking it beneath him.
Ophanimon C and OmniShoutmon fired their Holy Destroy and Victorize Banking at Daemon's back, and he stopped slamming down Imperialdramon. Slowly, he looked back at the two of them, grinning, then swiped at them. OmniShoutmon was knocked aside, but Ophanimon C managed to block with her Unicorn Shield.
Daemon stabbed forward with his claws, but Seraphimon flew into his hand's path and blocked with his Excalibur. Daemon's grin widened, and he used his Dark Spreader, the virus traveling from him, through Seraphimon's sword, and into the angel Digimon.
He cried out as the virus affected him. Ophanimon C grabbed onto him to pull him back, but this proved to be a mistake as the virus infected her too. Daemon sneered before stomping down on Imperialdramon and then taking to the air, smacking both angel Digimon from the sky. He then opened his mouth to launch his Algol's Flame at them, his fireball appearing in his mouth.
"Bastard!" Gallantmon X shouted, flying at him. "Saint Knuckle!"
His blow struck Daemon's jaw, forcing his mouth shut. Streams of fire flew from the space between Daemon's teeth in all different directions, and Gallantmon X pulled back to avoid them.
Daemon's gaze shifted to the knight Digimon. He exhaled, breathing out a trail of smoke, before grinning broadly. He flew over and threw a punch. Gallantmon X raised his shield, and Daemon's giant fist slammed against it. It didn't do much good though, as the Demon Lord's fist dented the shield inward and pushed Gallantmon X down until he was smashed against the ground.
A pained groan left the knight Digimon as Daemon chuckled down at him before suddenly leaping into the air and coming down on Imperialdramon. The dragon Digimon cried out before becoming Davis once more.
Still grinning, Daemon looked up at Omnimon, who was frozen in mid-air, and chuckled. "Does my power have you so stunned that you can't even react?"
That seemed to snap Omnimon out of his stupor, and he let out an animalistic growl at the Demon Lord, who merely sneered in response.
Down on the ground, Susanoomon struggled to bare the agony of Daemon's dark virus as it messed with his data processing. He managed to regain enough awareness to see that Ophanimon C and Seraphimon were suffering the same affects. They, however, were not at his level of power, and soon reverted to their human forms, which, mercifully, seemed to rid them of the virus.
A groan escaped Susanoomon as he forced himself to stand up. "Not like this… We can't lose here… Ah! This better work. Status Barrier!"
His body began glowing, and he felt the virus disappear from his system as his status disorders were canceled out. He breathed heavily as the pain faded, but knew there was no time to waste, and quickly joined Omnimon in the air.
"You ok?" the knight Digimon asked.
Susanoomon felt anything but ok, but he put on a brave front. "If you're asking if I can still fight, then the answer is yes."
Daemon chuckled. "I'll have to fix that. Algol's Flame!"
He spewed out an orb of fire that flew up at them. Omnimon pointed his cannon at it and fired his Graceful Cannon. The cutting energy beam tunneled through the approaching fireball, and it erupted, setting the entire sky ablaze as the fire exploded outward. Both Omnimon and Susanoomon recoiled as the flames swallowed them, and they were lost amongst the blaze. Daemon's grin widened as he looked up at the burning sky and he held out his arms, twirling around as if he found the scene enrapturing.
OmniShoutmon groaned and got to his feet, still feeling dazed from the blow he had taken. Seeing the sky on fire though was enough to return him to his senses, and he let out a horrified cry as he saw Tai ad Takuya fall out of the flames in the sky, their clothes smoking.
Wasting no time, he flew up and caught them, then immediately looked around for the others. He gasped in horror each time he spotted another one of them in human form, and suddenly realized that he was all alone.
"I couldn't have been out of it for more than a minute!" he exclaimed. "How did we lose already?"
In his arms, Tai groaned. "He was too strong, and we've been fighting for too long."
OmniShoutmon landed and set his friends down. "We're going to have to retreat. There's no way we can win at this ra-"
He was suddenly grabbed from behind and lifted into the air. Daemon chuckled as he held the dragon Digimon in his hand, turning him around to face him. The grin on his face was malicious and arrogant as he brought OmniShoutmon in close.
"Is this it?" he asked tauntingly. "Is this really the power that defeated five of the Demon Lords and all seven Chaos Generals? What a joke. You truly must have had luck on your side when you gained those victories. You fools could never be a real threat to us."
"Put him down!" Kari shouted as she got shakily to her feet.
Daemon just sneered, not looking away from the dragon Digimon. "Oh, I'll put him down, but first I want to hear him admit defeat. Come on, your majesty, admit to the futility of your efforts and beg for mercy. I want to hear it."
Groaning in the Demon Lord's tight grip, OmniShoutmon glared at him. "It wasn't futile. Even if we die the most horrible deaths imaginable, we put a major dent in your forces. That alone was more than worth it."
Daemon's other hand came up, wrapping around the one holding OmniShoutmon, and he tightened his grip. "You've changed nothing. Removed a good portion of us from the picture, yes, but in the end, you changed nothing. The Demon Lords still rule, with me stronger than ever, and the darkness shall reign supreme. You failed, my friend. But there never was any alternative. You were fighting a losing battle all this time, and I want to hear you admit that. Come on, say it. Say it!"
Another pained groan escaped the dragon Digimon, but he managed to give the Demon Lord another glare. "Still obsessed with your little fetish. Even with all your power, you still crave to have your ego stoked."
"Heh. Brave words, but let's see if I can squeeze the ones I want to hear out of you."
And he began to do just that, crushing OmniShoutmon in his grasp. OmniShoutmon began to emit a pained yell as Daemon's hold on him tightened, and the Demon Lord chuckled.
"Yes, it's high time you suffered for your defiance. If only you would have subjugated yourself to us sooner, then you wouldn't have to feel this pain. May this be a valuable lesson to you. Now, give me what I want."
He squeezed tighter, and the scream emitting from OmniShoutmon slowly faded out as the Demon Lord's grip got so tight that he could no longer make any noise.
"Stop it!" Takato shouted. "You're killing him!"
Daemon smirked. "That's the idea. Death was always certain. It was simply a matter of how, and he's opted for a difficult end."
Davis grabbed a handful of the charcoal ground and threw it at the Demon Lord; it didn't even reach him. "Because he won't admit defeat? That's because he still believes there's hope. Even if you kill us all, he still believes the light will triumph in the end. So you're just asking him to lie. Is that the satisfaction you want, a lie?"
Much to their surprise, Daemon stopped squeezing OmniShoutmon and actually seemed to consider Davis' words. "Hope, you say. How interesting. It really is rather baffling as to how you can still have any kind of hope."
He opened his hands, letting OmniShoutmon drop to the ground. The dragon Digimon hit with a grunt, and a pained moan escaped him.
Daemon snickered. "Perhaps you need to see the full extent of my plan before the last shreds of your hope breaks."
Takuya's eyes widened. "Full extent? You mean this wasn't it?"
The Demon Lord threw back his head and laughed. "Foolish creatures. This is just the beginning. As a matter of fact, I'm glad I didn't kill any of you just yet. I want you to witness me achieve my ultimate victory before you die. You've managed to buy yourself a little time, for all the good it will do you. Death hangs over you, humans, and it shall claim you whenever I see fit." His grin widened. "And it will be soon."
His wings stretched out and he took to the sky, laughing all the while as he flew off. The teens didn't dare to move until the Demon Lord was completely out of sight, then they rushed over to OmniShoutmon.
"OmniShoutmon, are you ok?" Takuya asked. "Never mind, dumb question, of course you're no ok."
The dragon Digimon groaned and cracked open an eye. "Believe it or not, I've had worse off. I think he might have crushed my ribs though."
Kari frowned. "Better DeDigivolve then. That should fix things, right?"
OmniShoutmon gave a small nod and reverted to Shoutmon, but still let out a moan. "That was unpleasant."
Takato sighed. "I think we should count ourselves lucky considering what went down here."
TK gave Davis a smile. "Yeah, lucky Davis said what he did at the time, otherwise Daemon might have just killed us. Nice job using his ego against him like that."
Looking bashful, Davis rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks, but I actually wasn't planning anything strategic; I was just talking at random, and those words just came out."
Takuya gave him a thumbs-up. "Well, it still worked in our favor, so thanks for that."
"You guys, stop!" Tai snapped suddenly. "We may have dodged a bullet here, but we're still just as screwed as before. An Ultra level Digimon, and it being Daemon at that. And what else could he possibly be planning?"
Shoutmon shook his head. "I haven't the foggiest idea." He looked in the direction the Demon Lord had flown off in. "But whatever it is, it can't be good."
(A/N: Well how about that. Our heroes actually lost. I mean, it's not really surprising considering who they were fighting against. Fortunately though, Daemon didn't kill them. He's still planning something else, and he wants them to see it before he kills them. And like Shoutmon said, whatever it is. It isn't going to be good. Stay tuned to see where things go from here.)