(A/N: Been looking forward to this battle. It was certainly interesting to write, and it's going to make for an interesting fight. Sorry, was trying to do some wordplay there. Leeeet's just get started.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 180: Sin Manifested

The creature that appeared was possibly the most hideous thing the teens had ever seen. Giant in size, it resembled a scaly spider-like beast crossed with a dragon with numerous eyes. Lethal talons were at the ends of each of its abnormally large legs that stretched up high, almost making it resemble a UFO. At the top of the knee on each of its legs, a sword seemed to be protruding from it, upon which one of the Crowns of the Seven Deadly Sins floated just above the hilt of each sword.

All seven of its eyes, all located beneath a thigh, darted all around as an eighth eye on its face became fixated on the teens. It opened its mouth, exposing shark-like teeth, and let out a horrendous roar that shook the land. The teens stared at the monstrous creature in absolute shock, their stupor broken when a horrified sputtering sound escaped Shoutmon.

TK looked back at the dragon Digimon. "Shoutmon, what is that thing?"

Shoutmon just shook his head, unable to form actual words as he trembled and sputtered fearfully. "O-O-O-Ogudomon!"

The incarnation Digimon roared again and leapt off the tower it had been standing on. It landed on top of a section of the castle and made its way over to the tower the teens were at the top of, and then began climbing like a spider.

Tai pulled out his Digivice. "Get ready, guys. This battle just got a lot more complicated."

"We have to retreat," Shoutmon told them. "We can't win. Ogudomon can't be defeated."

"Yeah, yeah," Davis grumbled, taking out his Digivice as well. "You've been saying that from the beginning about all the Demon Lords."

"No, you don't understand-"

"Execute! Spirit Evolution… Omnimon Merciful Mode!"

"Execute! Spirit Evolution… Imperialdramon Paladin Mode!"

"Execute! Spirit Evolution… Gallantmon X!"

"Execute! Spirit Evolution… Susanoomon!"

"Execute! Spirit Evolution… Seraphimon!"

"Execute! Spirit Evolution… Ophanimon C!"

Shoutmon, however, did not Digivolve, and only proceeded to wave his arms around. "No, stop you fools! I'm telling you, we literally can't beat him!"

"Watch us," said Susanoomon.

"Yeah, show some optimism," Omnimon agreed, taking aim with his cannon. "Graceful Cannon!"

He fired a freezing, cutting beam. Ogudomon didn't even slow his ascension, or look the least bit bothered by the incoming attack. And just before the beam would have hit, coming so close it looked as if it had actually made contact, it vanished, leaving Ogudomon completely unharmed.

"What the hell!?" Omnimon gasped.

"Let me try," said Seraphimon. "Hallowed Ascension!"

Lightning came down, but just like before, it disappeared a second before it would have hit the Super Demon Lord. Ogudomon let out a cruel laugh as he neared the top of the tower.

"It's no good," Shoutmon insisted. "Ogudomon is pure evil incarnate. He's a manifestation of all the sins of the Digital World."

"Good to know," Imperialdramon told him uncaringly. "Then it's a good thing we're taking him down. Hyper Prominence!"

He fired a ball of black electricity as Ogudomon closed the distance between them. But instead of erupting into a powerful blast like the dragon Digimon had been expecting, it too vanished a moment before impact.

Ogudomon laughed as he came to a stop and swiped at the DigiDestined with a giant claw. Seraphimon snatched up Shoutmon as he and the others scattered a moment before Ogudomon's claw tore through the tower wall.

"What's going on?" Susanoomon exclaimed. "Why aren't our attacks working?"

"I told you," Shoutmon shouted. "He's made up of all the Digital World's sins."

"So what?" Gallantmon X demanded. "What's that have to do with anything?"

"It gives him the power to atone for those sins. This lets him negate attacks."

"It what!?" Ophanimon C gasped.

"Yes! Any attack used against him that contains even a hint of malice will be offset."

"B-But… But every attack contains some trace of malice," Omnimon exclaimed, shocked to hear his own voice tremble. "That's the whole point of attacks, to attack, to cause harm. Of course they contain malice. They can't not contain malice. You're telling me he can negate them all?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. That's why I said that he can't be defeated. We have to retreat. Shoutmon Digivolve to… OmniShoutmon!"

A sneer spread across Ogudomon's face as he hopped from the side of the tower he was on to the top of another, heedless of the damage he was doing to the castle.

Imperialdramon tried desperately to come up with a solution. "W-Well… maybe we can still take him. He must be extremely weakened. After all, Lucemon and Daemon had been fighting for, what was it, two days? Longer?"

OmniShoutmon glared at him. "It doesn't matter. If we can't damage him, it doesn't matter how weak or low on power he is, we simply can't win."

"That's bull crap!" Gallantmon X shouted. "How is anyone supposed to fight something like that?"

"They're not. And even if he didn't have that ability, he's even more powerful than Chronomon."

Imperialdramon's eyes widened. "Stronger than-"

"Catedral!" Ogudomon cried, opening his mouth and firing a burst of dark energy. It flew at the DigiDestined, and they moved to avoid it. Even so, the blast exploded into a powerful shockwave that completely decimated everything in its path, reducing a section of the castle to rubble. The DigiDestined were blasted backwards as the shockwave flowed over them.

"The hell…" Susanoomon grumbled as he shakily tried to rise. "I feel like I was just hit by a train and then run over by it, and the actual attack didn't even hit us."

"Gradus!" Ogudomon cried, and his claws started to glow.

He leapt off the castle to land on the DigiDestined. Ignoring the pain they were in, they scattered, and Ogudomon's glowing claws stomped down on the ground, shattering the landscape. He roared and turned to the nearest DigiDestined, raising a claw.

"Gradus!" he cried again, his glowing claw shooting out.

"Unicorn Shield!" Ophanimon C cried.

Her barrier did nothing to help as Ogudomon's claw shattered it instantly and easily, the force of the impact sending her spinning through the air.

Gallantmon X flew up behind the Super Demon Lord, keeping his distance. "Final Elysion!"

His beam flew at Ogudomon, hitting him in the back. Or at least it would have if the beam hadn't disappeared a moment before making contact. The Super Demon Lord turned to him and roared before grabbing a large piece of the castle and throwing it at the knight Digimon.

"Darn," Gallantmon X grumbled, dodging the debris. "Even attacks he doesn't see coming are neutralized. I hoped they wouldn't be if he didn't know he was being attacked."

Ogudomon reached out with multiple legs and scooped up several more pieces of the castle and threw them at the knight Digimon. Before Gallantmon X could react, Imperialdramon flew in front of him and sliced apart the rubble with his sword.

"Maybe a more physical attack will work," he wondered out loud, swiping his sword through the air. "And if this one does, it'll split him back into Lucemon and Daemon again. Omni Sword!"

He flew forward, his sword glowing. Ogudomon did nothing as he let the dragon Digimon approach. Imperialdramon stabbed forward, and for a moment he thought it worked. But then his sword bounced off, as if an invisible barrier were surrounding Ogudomon just above his skin.

Imperialdramon let out a growl and began rapidly swiping at the Super Demon Lord, to no avail. Ogudomon just laughed as he allowed Imperialdramon to futilely attack. Finally though, Imperialdramon gave up. "Ok, maybe another kind of physical attack. Imperial Kick!"

He delivered a kick to Ogudomon's head, only to feel his foot bounce off the barrier, and the dragon Digimon growled in frustration. "Fine then, just a regular punch."

He did just that, delivering a regular punch that was not one of his attacks, but his fist just bounced off Ogudomon. The Super Demon Lord raised a leg and brought his balled claw down on Imperialdramon, knocking him to the ground.

"Gradus!" he cried, moving to stomp down on the dragon Digimon.

Imperialdramon flew out from underneath him, and Ogudomon's claw smashed into the ground.

"What if it's not actually us attacking?" Ophanimon C suggested.

"What, you mean by getting him to attack himself somehow?" OmniShoutmon asked, then shook his head. "That won't work either. Ogudomon's attacks contain malice as well."

"No, I meant like this. Call Dramon!"

Her fire dragon appeared. Ogudomon turned to it and snarled. The dragon breathed fire at him, but its flames vanished before they made contact. Ogudomon then pounced on the dragon, his claws digging in, and he tore the dragon to pieces.

Ophanimon C grit her teeth, not for the first time being grateful that her dragon resurrected every time she summoned it. "That didn't work either. Nothing does."

"I told you," OmniShoutmon scolded. "It's impossible to defeat him."

"Hold on," Susanoomon declared, flying up with a large section of a collapsed tower held above his head. "I've got one more idea. Take this!

He threw the rubble, but alas, it shattered apart before making contact, the pieces bouncing off Ogudomon's neutralizing barrier. The Super Demon Lord just sneered.

"Seriously!?" Imperialdramon exclaimed. "There's really no way to hurt him? That's the cheapest load of crap ever!"

"And this may have been our only chance to defeat him," said Gallantmon X. "He's tired and weak from Lucemon and Daemon fighting each other for days. We may never get an opportunity like this again."

"It's not an opportunity," OmniShoutmon insisted. "There is no opportunity to defeat Ogudomon. None. This isn't like with the other battles where it's been 'impossible' to defeat them because they're so far out of our league. It's literally impossible to defeat him. He's invincible."

Ogudomon raised two of his claws and roared to the sky. "Oratio Grandiloqua!"

He suddenly charged forward, each leg moving in a way that also allowed him to slash with his claws as he ran around lustfully. For being so large, he moved incredibly fast, rushing at the DigiDestined.

He went after Susanoomon first, lashing out at him as a carnivorous insect would its prey, and the god Digimon was knocked out of the sky, his armor shredded. Then he went after Gallantmon X, who raised his shield, but was also knocked away, his shield splitting in two.

One after another he went at, attacking each of them in the span of a few seconds. Ophanimon C and OmniShoutmon's Unicorn Shield and Heavy Metal Vulcan did nothing to protect them. Imperialdramon tried futilely to hit him with his Giga Crusher, only to have his attack neutralized, and then get trampled on. Seraphimon brought down lightning with his Hallowed Ascension, surrounding himself with lightning as Ogudomon came at him, but the Super Demon Lord charged straight through it, unharmed, and struck him as well.

Omnimon stood his ground, trying a new tactic as Ogudomon turned his attack on him. He attempted to use his Cross-Counter to counter Ogudomon's Oratio Grandiloqua, but it too proved to be useless, and he also ended up flattened on the ground.

Ogudomon finally came to a stop, ending his assault, and roared loudly. He turned to the DigiDestined as they laid on the ground, sneering at them.

"Geez, what was that?" Imperialdramon grumbled. "He having some kind of frenzy freak out?"

"No," OmniShoutmon groaned. "That was his Oratio Grandiloqua attack, where he runs wildly after his own lust."

"I'm not even sure what that means," Gallantmon X muttered as he forced himself up, "but it really hurt."

Ogudomon roared again, raising his claws to the sky. Lightning suddenly started raining down all around. The DigiDestined took off, avoiding the bolts of lightning as it came down around them. Ogudomon waved his claws, and the lightning heeded his command, flying after the them.

"Great, he can control electricity too," Omnimon complained.

"Electricity fire, water, earth, darkness, gravity," OmniShoutmon rattled off. "You have no idea how strong he is."

"Well, we can at least stop this," Seraphimon replied. "Hallowed Ascension!"

He called down his own lightning to counteract Ogudomon's, but the Super Demon Lord seized control of his attack and redirected it at him and his friends. They cried out as they were struck by both Seraphimon's attack and the lightning Ogudomon had called down, dropping from the sky.

Laughing, Ogudomon gathered up a handful of rubble from the castle and tossed it at them. They took to the air, avoiding the pile of rubble from crushing them. Ogudomon proceeded to snatch up pieces of the castle and throw them at the DigiDestined at speeds so fast they were almost invisible.

"He's playing with us," said Ophanimon C as a chunk of rubble whizzed by her.

"Of course he is," Omnimon growled. "Why wouldn't he? Fearsome Blade!"

His sword became a long-range energy blade that he began swiping through the air like a whip, cutting apart the pieces of rubble Ogudomon was throwing at them. The Super Demon Lord just kept laughing as he began throwing the pieces faster, using more claws so Omnimon couldn't keep up.

And that's when it happened. As Ogudomon threw another chunk of the castle and Omnimon swiped at it, his long whip-like energy blade reached Ogudomon, striking him, making contact. The Super Demon Lord cried out and stumbled back, tripping over his own feet and falling down.

Omnimon blinked, so caught off guard that he stopped attacking. "What?"

Imperialdramon flew over. "Dude, did you just hit him?"

OmniShoutmon shook his head. "Can't be. It's impossible to harm him. He must have just tripped."

"No," Ophanimon C objected. "I saw it. Omnimon's attack hit. Ogudomon recoiled from it and that's when he tripped."

The Super Demon Lord got to his feet, roaring at the DigiDestined. However, there was indeed a cut where Omnimon's attack had hit. OmniShoutmon's eyes were wide as he stared at it in disbelief.

"Do it again," Seraphimon insisted. "Use the same attack. See what happens."

Omnimon nodded. "Right. Fearsome Blade!"

He swung his whipping energy blade at Ogudomon as the others watched in anticipation. Much to their dismay, his attack bounced right off Ogudomon, just like before.

"It didn't work," said Ophanimon C. "Why not?"

"Catedral!"

A burst of darkness flew out of his mouth and erupted. The DigiDestined retreated from it as the shockwave emerged from the blast. OmniShoutmon attempted to block it with his Heavy Metal Vulcan, somehow managing to create a small safe space for them as the shockwave passed by them.

"I told you attacks won't work," he reprimanded.

"But it did," Gallantmon X insisted. "We saw that it did. Something must have happened for Omnimon's attack to work."

"I say we all use a bunch of different attacks and see what happens," Susanoomon suggested.

"We've got nothing to lose," Imperialdramon agreed.

OmniShoutmon looked at each of his friends, noting their hopeful looks, and sighed. "Ok, fine, I guess it's worth a shot."

Omnimon nodded. "Right, follow my lead. Graceful Cannon!"

"Super Positron Laser!"

"Zeig Saber!"

"Celestial Blade!"

"Holy Destroy!"

"Strike of the seven Stars!"

"Omni Core Fusion!"

Their series of attacks flew at Ogudomon, but one after another, they were neutralized. As the DigiDestined looked on in dismay, Ogudomon roared at them.

"Keep going!" Imperialdramon cried. "Use every kind of attack you have! See if anything works!"

They all began firing, using every kind of attack they had. Ogudomon just stood there, letting them attack, taking everything they threw at him, not harmed in the least. Finally, when their last attack was used, and Ogudomon still stood unharmed, not having been hit once, despair began to set in.

"Nothing," Omnimon said in disbelief. "Not a single attack landed."

Susanoomon's fists clenched. "No long-range attack. Let's see how he likes this. Texture Blow!"

He flew at Ogudomon, a pixilation forming around his fist. He punched the Super Demon Lord, going for his pointy nose, but to no avail. His attack was neutralized and his punch was deflected, just like all the others.

One of Ogudomon's legs came up, knocking Susanoomon away. The god Digimon went flying through the air before stopping his momentum. Before he could recover though, Ogudomon opened his mouth and breathed a massive stream of fire.

Seraphimon quickly flew in front of Susanoomon and fired his Strike of the Seven Stars at the incoming flames, hoping to buy a few seconds. His attack collided with the flames, pushing them back for a brief moment, just long enough for the angel and god Digimon to get out of the way before the fire pushed onward.

However, Seraphimon's full attack had not hit Ogudomon's flames head on. And while six of the seven balls of light had collided with the flames, one of them had flown down the side of the stream of fire to collide with Ogudomon's face, exploding against him. The Super Demon Lord stepped back in surprise, then roared furiously.

"Look!" Imperialdramon cried pointing. "Did you see that?" He glanced at OmniShoutmon. "You had to have seen that one. His attack hit."

Floating nearby, OmniShoutmon gave a small nod. "Yes. Yes, I saw it. The attack hit. But how? That shouldn't be possible."

"He used the same attack before, but it didn't work then," Ophanimon C recalled. "Something must have been different this time to allow it to hit."

The gears in Gallantmon X's head were turning as he tried to make sense of this. He thought back to what he just saw and then to when Omnimon's attack had hit, and suddenly it clicked.

"That's it!" he shouted. "I've got it!"

The others looked at him. "What is?" Susanoomon asked.

"Don't you see? It's so simple. Ogudomon's power neutralizes any attack that had any maliciousness in them, right?"

Seraphimon nodded. "Yes, we saw that first hand."

Gallantmon X pointed at him. "But that's not what you were doing. Yes, you used an attack, but you weren't trying to attack or hurt anyone, you were just trying to hold back Ogudomon's flames; that one ball of light that hit him was just an accident. But there was no maliciousness in it because you were using it for defense, not harm."

He turned to Omnimon. "And you. You weren't trying to hit him before either. You were just cutting up the debris he was throwing, and he got caught in the crossfire. There was no intent to harm in it, no maliciousness to neutralize. That's why it worked."

The others exchanged bewildered looks. It was crazy, but what he said made sense. It offered a loophole to Ogudomon's invincibility. But it still left them with a major dilemma.

"So the only way we can actually hurt him is if we do it by accident?" Susanoomon exclaimed in disbelief. "That's crazy! How are we supposed to pull that off?"

"It beats not being able to hurt him at all," Seraphimon pointed out.

"Oratio Grandiloqua!"

The Super Demon Lord charged at them wildly. The DigiDestined rose into the air, out of his range, but Ogudomon leapt up after them, swiping at them with his claws. They attempted to dodge, as blocking would have been pointless with the amount of power the incarnation Digimon possessed.

"Catedral!" Ogudomon cried, opening his mouth and firing a blast of darkness.

They were too close, there would be no avoiding the attack this time, so instead they fired their own attacks at the incoming blast. The impact caused the darkness to exploded prematurely, the darkness erupting outward. OmniShoutmon used his Heavy Metal Vulcan, but it was unable to hold back the blast, and all seven of them were sent crashing to the ground.

Ogudomon roared loudly, looking down at them, his body posed to charge. He raised his claws, and they began glowing in preparation to attack. Susanoomon forced himself to sit up and used his Magna Thunder, surrounding the Super Demon Lord in a cage of light while Ophanimon C used her Volcano Napalm to create pillars of fire in from of the electric cage. Ogudomon just snarled and charged forward, bursting straight through the cage of lightning and pillars of fire.

The brief second it had taken to break through the fire and electric barriers had been the time the DigiDestined needed to take to the air again as Ogudomon used his Gradus attack, his claws just missing them as they smashed the ground where they had been lying. He turned as they flew past him and opened his mouth, breathing out a massive stream of fire. The DigiDestined swerved to avoid it, and Ogudomon raised his claws, calling down more lightning that they maneuvered around.

"Ok, I have an idea," Imperialdramon declared. "Half of us will pick up pieces of Lucemon's castle and randomly throw them in the air. The other half will blast the pieces with our strongest attacks."

Omnimon gave him a bewildered look. "How will that help?"

"Because we'll have one of us lure Ogudomon in front of the attacks. That way we won't have been attacking him, we'll just be destroying the pieces of the castle being thrown in the air, and he'll accidentally get caught in the crossfire."

Ophanimon C shook her head. "That's a creative idea, but it wouldn't work. We might not be attacking him like you say, but we'll still be hoping or planning to have our attacks hit him. That's an intent to harm, so our attacks will still have maliciousness in them and be neutralized."

"So what can we do?" Susanoomon cried.

"Catedral!"

Ogudomon fired a blast of darkness. They were far enough away that it exploded before reaching them, but they were still caught up in the shockwave that flowed over them, hitting them with the force of a thousand wrecking balls, nearly knocking them out of the sky.

Omnimon groaned and looked back at Ogudomon. "I think OmniShoutmon is right. We can't win this one. Even those shockwaves will take us down eventually. We'll have to retreat and wait for Lucemon and Daemon to separate, then fight them individually."

Seraphimon looked at the Super Demon Lord as well. Even with his optimism, he too had to admit that this was an impossible battle. They would indeed be better off cutting their losses and running. Live to fight another day, or so the saying went. However, there was something he had to do first before he could leave.

"Hold up a minute, guys," he said with determination. "I'll be right back."

"Seraphimon, no!" Ophanimon C cried.

He ignored her and flew back at Ogudomon. He punched out several balls of light with his Hallowed Knuckle that were neutralized, but they had just been a distraction. He flew past Ogudomon, who turned to him as he shot past, and sped towards Lucemon's castle. Ogudomon used his Oratio Grandiloqua and charged after him. Seraphimon heard him coming up behind him, closing the distance, but he continued onward, not looking back.

Bracing himself, he slammed into the towers he and his friends had been climbing before, breaking through the wall. Calumon jumped from within his crystal prison, looking up at the angel Digimon. Seraphimon glanced at the giant Digivice hanging from the ceiling and used his Hallowed Knuckle. The ball of light struck the giant Digivice, and it exploded. The machine interior of the tower began to go haywire, sending bolts of electricity flowing and flying everywhere as small explosions went off against the walls.

Seraphimon flew over to Calumon, breaking through his crystal prison. Outside, he heard Ogudomon roar furiously as the Super Demon Lord began tearing down the tower. It began to collapse as Seraphimon scooped up Calumon. A moment later, the entire tower came down on top of the two of them.

Ogudomon moved back as the tower came down. He let out a roar before he used his Catedral, blasting the collapsing tower and reducing it to rubble.

(A/N: Ok, so good news and bad news. Bad news, Ogudomon is basically invincible. Good news, our heroes found a small loophole to get around his invincibility. More bad news, the loophole is basically impossible to exploit and won't really help them. So they've opted for retreat, but first Seraphimon has attempted to rescue Calumon. But Ogudomon wasn't going to let that happen. Will Seraphimon and Calumon be alright? And how are our heroes going to deal with Ogudomon. More to come soon.)