The humans waited for the army of NeoVamdemon to approach them. They were approaching Sparrowmon.

The Digimons were out of their Xros Loader, ready to take care of them.

Dorulumon gazed at Taiki, "You'll tell me later why Dorbickmon was in your Xros Loader Taiki," he then gazed forward.

The boy forgot about that when they went in the plan. He nervously scratched the back of his head, "Sorry. We are so busy that we never found the time or have a moment to tell you," he gazed down.

Nene added, "Dorbickmon was a Death General. He was controlled by the Darkness Xros Loader. How it worked on his mind, I don't know."

DarkKnightmon grumbled, "We need all the help and power we can get against Bagramon."

The Digimon nodded, "I'll hear the rest later. I know I can believe in your good judgement," he didn't add that it was for now.

They focused on the waiting game.

Akari gulped as she felt the pressure. She couldn't help anyone from now on. She yelped when Cutemon jumped on her head, "W-what is it?"

"I can't see anything," Cutemon replied as he tried to look at the horizon.

Nene gazed at her Xros Loader, "Sparrowmon will cross path with them very soon. Stay ready," she saw her partner quickly turning back towards them, "They are coming!"

Everyone went into cover. Darkknightmon was the one who had to be the most careful due to his size. Still, the hill he hid behind was large enough for a Digimon of his stature.

Chapter 35: Hunting The Army Down

Sparrowmon had shot a few times at the evil Digimons. They were all chasing after her because of her foolish attempt to turn them into bits. She was a little worried about how easily they went after her. Still, from the insults she got from them, she believed they might be quite arrogant and believed they could get her on their own.

She avoided many attacks with ease. She hoped there wasn't a lucky shot ready to hit her on the back. She made sure not to be too fast or they would lose her and gave up. She noticed a few took flight towards her.

Sparrowmon dodged the grasps of those Digimons and accelerated a little. She went down and almost touched the ground. She gazed back and noticed them approaching her. She gained altitude and used her senses to detect them above her. She avoided more attacks.

"Don't let her escape!" one of the evil Digimons ordered.

She smirked when she noticed the two hills, "I have my chance," she suddenly accelerated, as if she planned to use those hills to escape.

The flying Digimons recklessly hunt her down. They wanted to capture her as prisoners.

Behind the hills, Taiki and Nene carefully observed. They saw Sparrowmon approaching with many big Digimons after her. They were a little nervous as they were moving in closer.

Akari took a peek with Cutemon on her head, "Come on. You can do it Sparrowmon."

Nene was a little nervous as a few attacks were a little too close. She paled a little, but kept focus as her partner was close. She gazed at Darkknightmon who tensed up a little.

The dark knight Digimon held his twin spear and waited for the chance to get them by surprise.

Nene told her partner, "Pass between the hills. Darkknightmon is ready for them."

The Digimon in question prepared to attack them by surprise. He was ready to kill them in one swing. He calmly breath as he held his weapon tightly. His yellow eyes shined brightly. He focused on his attack. He waited for his chance to take them down.

Sparrowmon passed between the two hills and quickly flew away.

A few of the soldiers of NeoVamdemon were too eager and passed through the same path without looking.

Darkknightmon dropped his twin spear just a few seconds ago. He impaled three of them and killed them in one hit.

The others were wiser and came around the hill. They immediately noticed the dark knight Digimon.

"Charge!" Shoutmon yelled as he jumped on the closest Digimon and stroke him with his mic.

The others did the same and the battle began. The Digimons fought against the army of the Dark General.

Dorulumon drilled one of them who was close to him. He dodged a few claws and other attack at him. He rolled on the ground when another one tried to attack him. He quickly rushed away and quickly gazed at Cutemon, who was away and safe.

Ballistamon punched one quickly and dodged as a few closed on them.

Taiki raised his Xros Loader, "Shoutmon! Ballistamon! Digi Xros!"

The two fused together and became one, "Shoutmon X2!" The two charged and continued their punches at many who approached them.

Sparrowmon turned around and fired at the few who tried to target the other Digimons by surprise.

The battle quickly progressed to the advantage of the heroes as the squadron of the evil digimons couldn't succeed in their attacks.

Dorulumon let out a small smile as the advantage was on their side. Still, it was only the small minions. He saw a few attacks from a Devimon who used his claws at him. He quickly dodged them and dashed on the hand. He quickly approached the face and bit the face of the demon Digimon. He jumped away when more attacks came to him.

Shoutmon X2 let out a war cry as he turned another one into bytes.

Darkknightmon grunted when claws hit his chest and took a few steps back. He blocked more claws coming at him and with one swing, slashed them away.

It wasn't long before they defeated the enemies.

The group panted.

"Everyone's okay?" Taiki asked as he slid down the hill with Akari, who had Cutemon on her head.

"We're fine," Shoutmon X2 replied.

Nene checked on her Xros Loader, "Not for long. More are coming this way. Another squadron."

"We got a few hits," Sparrowmon commented as she gazed at Darkknightmon.

"I'll help you," Cutemon declared as she jumped from the girl's head and was near the dark knight. She used her power to heal him.

The Digimons and the humans noticed the scratches and damages on the armor disappeared as if he never fought those Devimon.

"His body… is the armor, right?" Akari asked uncertain.

Nene thought about it, "I don't know if there is anything under his armor. Anyway, that's not the point. Digimons are different from us."

"I would appreciate if you didn't talk about my body in my back like that. Even if you aren't doing that," the knight warned them.

"We need to be ready for them. We cannot count on a surprise attack," Taiki said.

"They aren't the strongest. We took the best troop, from what we know," Nene replied. She slid down and joined them, "I guess we have to face them head on."

"This is going to be a long day," the other girl sighed. She took a deep breath, "Maybe we can still surprise them a little? They will see Darkknightmon, but not the others," she suggested.

"Good idea. Darkknightmon will get them here. They will suspect an ambush, but just stopping them on their track for a second will be enough," Taiki quickly said his improvised plan.

The Digimons quickly took cover and hid at the top of the hills, while Darkknightmon stood tall and waited.

The dark knight sighed, as he never agreed to be a decoy. His yellow eyes shined brightly as he waited.

A squadron of the Death General came into view. They weren't as numerous than the previous one.

Darkknightmon knew that they took care of one of their strongest squadrons. This one wouldn't be difficult to handle.

The knight cape flew by the wind as he noticed the enemies charging at him. They were cautious as they did so, expecting an ambush. He blocked the attacks of the first one near him and struggled as the others jumped at him. No one came to help him.

The dark knight wondered if they set him up, but quickly noticed they dropped their guards.

"He's alone!" one declared.

Darkknightmon understood the plan.

The Digimons of Taiki and Nene went on the offensive and hit them hard from behind. The battle was a short and quick one. They were quickly defeated and only particles of data remained for a few more seconds.

The group sighed.

The girl quickly checked on her Xros Loader if more were coming, "Another squadron is coming."

And they repeated the plan. It worked once again. The Digimons were showing some sighs of exhaustion. As that battle was a little harder than the previous one.

"Tell me it's over soon," Akari asked as she sat on the ground.

Nene checked on her Xros Loader. She frowned, "No enemies are coming towards us. The Monitamon has a group on sight and they are currently not moving."

"They got caught of our strategy," Taiki concluded.

Shoutmon X2 unfused. Shoutmon asked, "You mean they are all coming together at us?"

The girl nodded negatively, "No. They aren't coming after us. The Monitamons said they are returning to the castle."

Darkknightmon huffed, "He decided to focus on the defense and not the offense."

"He knows we will get them out one by one. Still, I wished we could have defeated more before we attack the castle," Taiki concluded.

Akari sighed, "Still, I'm glad they can take a break before we attack the castle. Since they are in there, maybe everyone will be safe for now," she suggested.

"I think some of them are still outside, but we can still prepare for the attack safely," Nene replied.

"It's a victory anyway!" Shoutmon raised his hand in victory.

Cutemon jumped happily, "We won!"

"We defeated them bro!" Ballistamon added.

The others sighed, but had a small smile.

Dorulumon looked around, "Still, the next battle will be the last one. NeoVamdemon surely has something prepared for us."

The dark knight agreed, "His defense will be strong. The barrier is gone, but he can still fight back. Still, if he is still, immortal, the battle will be difficult."

"Even if he is immortal, he can still defeat him and break the Darkkness Xros Loader. It worked for Dorbickmon and maybe something will happen with NeoVamdemon."

Nene thought back, "The Darkness Xros Loader is a source of their strength. If we get rid of it, he will lose a lot of his power. If he isn't purely evil, we can try something else."

"Like with Dorbickmon," Taiki replied as he gazed at his Xros Loader.

Dracomon sat down, "He's still not okay hum?"

"He will be back soon Dracomon. You were really brave in those fights. You weren't scared that much," Shoutmon smiled and gave a thumbs up.

The blue dragon nodded.

Cutemon went to heal anyone who was wounded. Once he was done, he rested on the ground, exhausted.

Dorulumon rested down and thought about what he heard. He asked, "The Darkness Xros Loader… Are they similar to yours?"

The humans gazed at each other's. They didn't know that much about it.

Taiki asked, "What do you mean?"

"The Darkness Xros Loaders corrupted the Digimons who are in possession of it. You said a little like it is turning Digimons evil. With what Lunamon said about NeoVamdemon… He might turn back to his normal self."

Darkknightmon commented, "Maybe not all of them. He chose them because they were powerful Digimons on their own."

The wolf Digimon gazed at the knight, "And you were spared?"

"No. Bagramon just wanted to kill me, but he failed," he darkly replied.

There was obviously more between Darkkknightmon and Bagramon.

Taiki slapped his hands, "Okay. We need to plan our attack. Nene. What do you have about the castle?"

The woman nodded and checked, "The Monitamon didn't really observed it, but the defenses are strong against Digimons who walks, like a usual castle. Still, the defense for any other way will be strong too."

The boy nodded and began to formulate a plan, with the support of everyone as they rested.

AC: This is the end of this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it.

Next: Castle Siege.

The plan of the heroes is put into motions and begins sieging the castle.