Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, nor do I own Kibomon, Aiwemon, Velinemon, or Gessmon, who were created by RoyalKnightX, Shire Folk, Silver Kitsune Lunara, and Miss Anonymous hp respectively.
A/N: I know the last few chapters have had a lot of information to take in at once, but we're getting to the end of the history lesson, and it will all start to tie into the present soon. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.
Following the Footsteps of Destiny
Chapter 254: The Fallen One
Ryoko Ishida
Hikarigaoka, Japan, Earth
Ryoko remained silent as he took a moment to absorb Mai's words, but since it didn't look as if anyone else knew what to say next, he decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. Turning his sapphire gaze on Tal, he raised his blond eyebrows and said calmly, "I take it this is where those Demon Lords mentioned in the prophecy finally decided to make an entrance?"
Tal looked momentarily surprised by such a blunt assessment to the situation, and giving himself a shake, he said in return, "You're right, though it would have been nice if we had figured that out a lot sooner than we did."
"When we got back to the Digital World, we hardly recognized the place," Inca said sadly, looking lost in thought. "We had arrived back on File Island, but it wasn't the same File Island we remembered. A group of helpful digimon who were passing by were kind enough to tell us a little of what was going on. It was then when we discovered that hundreds and hundreds of years had passed since we were last in the Digital World, and during that time all four continents had become shrouded in darkness."
"We were also wondering what had become of Gennai and his counterparts, but the digimon who helped us didn't know," Mai explained. "Apparently they hadn't seen Gennai in a long time."
"On top of that we were also wondering what had become of LadyDevimon, NeoDevimon, and Astamon, but the digimon didn't know anything about them either," Seta added. "It was like they had just disappeared after Gennai drove them away from their base with Azulongmon's Digicore."
"Those digimon did tell us that a lot of other digimon were no longer distrustful of humans anymore because of the darkness that had descended over the Digital World after we left. Out of the chaos that occurred in the years following our disappearance, a group of digimon known only as the Dark Ones appeared, and they began to terrorize the Digital World," Kenji said quietly, holding Halomon tightly in his arms. "We suspected those digimon might be LadyDevimon and her remaining allies, but the digimon told us it wasn't them."
"How wrong they were," Inca said softly, shaking her head.
"What do you mean by that?" Takara asked curiously.
"You'll see."
"Those helpful digimon didn't know exactly how many of the Dark Ones there were, but most digimon lived in fear of them," Tal explained. "Though there were some who followed the Dark Ones, most digimon wanted nothing to do with them, and they had begun to rethink their entire view on humans. Without us they had been suffering, and many were regretful of their behaviour towards us."
"It was only later that we found out these Dark Ones the digimon had referred to were actually the Demon Lords, who were acting on GranDracmon's orders," Aiwemon spoke up. "All of the digimon in the Digital World were living in fear of GranDracmon and his Demon Lords, though that wouldn't become public knowledge until after the fact. GranDracmon still had his followers, though, and they were quick to do his bidding at the command of the Demon Lords."
"And we were about to find out just how powerful the Demon Lords could be," Inca warned. "We weren't back on File Island for very long before we were attacked by a female digimon who was obviously at the mega level. She caught us completely off guard, and without even introducing herself she managed to steal all of our Data Cores at once."
"Seriously?" Matty gasped.
"Unfortunately," Mai replied, making a face. "We were completely stunned, and we didn't know what to do. And we were also confused over the fact that she hadn't tried to kill us all, even though she probably would have been more than capable of doing so."
"We took refuge in a small digimon village to collect ourselves, and while we were there the village elder told us that even though the Entity's attempt to protect the breach many years ago had strengthened the barrier somewhat, along with the power of our Data Cores, it was still weakening at a steady rate. Our efforts had only prolonged the inevitable. According to him it was only a matter of time before more rips began to appear in the barrier, and if something wasn't done about the darkness threatening the Digital World, the barrier would eventually collapse and shatter completely," Tal said, his expression serious. "Can you imagine how we must have felt then? Our Data Cores had just been stolen, and the Digital World was on the brink of destruction. We were helpless and scared, and we had no idea what to do next."
"But you kept us going, and you wouldn't give up, even though our morale was at an all time low," Kenji said quietly, his green gaze studying Tal's face. "You were the one that kept us moving, and with Mai's spirit and determination we were able to carry on. You insisted that we needed to speak to Gennai again and see if there was anything he could do to help us get our Data Cores back. You were the one that kept us all together, united in reaching a single goal."
"Maybe, but really it was you who kept us going, not me, even if you couldn't see it at the time," Tal said softly, smiling at Kenji.
"Because of what had happened we were in a very difficult situation," Inca explained, carrying on with the story. "Without our Data Cores we couldn't digivolve to ultimate so easily, and if that female digimon ever came back for us, we knew we didn't stand a chance against her."
"So you went looking for Gennai?" Makku asked.
"Yes, but not before he found us first," Seta laughed.
"Only before he did somebody else decided to pay us a visit," Tal interrupted, his smile fading at the memory.
"Belphemon?" Izzy guessed.
Tal nodded in agreement, his silver eyes growing dark. "Like the female digimon who stole our Data Cores, he didn't attempt to kill us. Instead his master had sent him to give us a warning."
"He came to warn you what would happen if you interfered," Mickey murmured, having remembered the scene from the video they had witnessed on Gennai's monitor back on Server.
"We suspected immediately that he was working with the female digimon who had stolen our Data Cores," Kenji informed them. "And he pretty much confirmed our suspicions when he boasted about how there were others like him working for their master. He called himself the Demon of Sloth."
"So he was one of those Seven Great Demon Lords mentioned in the prophecy?" Sam asked.
Kenji nodded, a frown on his face. "Though we didn't yet know it at the time, Belphemon was one of the Seven Great Demon Lords who was working for GranDracmon. The female digimon who stole our Data Cores was a Demon Lord as well. Her name was Lilithmon, and she was known as the Demon of Lust. Belphemon was quick to inform us that they wanted the Data Cores in order to gather the rest of their comrades, as he put it."
"What does that mean?" Ema demanded to know.
"We'll get to that," Tal replied. "At that point we didn't know how many friends Belphemon had on his side, but we knew they were megas, we knew they referred to their master as the Ruler of Darkness, and we knew they had our Data Cores."
"Or in other words, we knew we were in big trouble," Mai snorted.
"After Belphemon left us we got a surprise visit from Airdramon," Tal continued. "You can imagine how relieved we were to see him. He told us that Gennai had sent him to find us, and he'd been instructed to take us back to Server to meet with Gennai at his house."
"And that is where the video you all saw in Gennai's house comes from," Seta finished. "What you saw was a piece of the conversation we shared with Gennai after Belphemon kindly came to visit us."
"When we got there Kenji freaked on Gennai about the time difference between the human world and the Digital World," Mai laughed, rolling her eyes. "He still couldn't get over the fact that hundreds of years had passed in the Digital World while on Earth it was still the same day we left."
"Yeah, we could tell Kenji was pretty upset, not that we blame him," Sam replied, smiling at the raven-haired Digidestined, who smiled faintly in return.
"Kenji insisted that our Data Cores never would have gotten stolen if Gennai had been there on our return to the Digital World," Inca continued, also smiling at Kenji. "He felt that if Gennai had been there to warn us about the Ruler of Darkness and these new mega digimon we were facing then we would have been better prepared to defend ourselves. As far as Kenji was concerned, if we had known all of this ahead of time we might have been able to prevent our Data Cores from getting stolen."
"But instead Gennai chose to contact us after our Data Cores had already been stolen, so I can't really blame Kenji for getting mad," Mai laughed.
Inca gave her friend a look and said, "As I told everyone then, we can't blame Gennai for what happened. We were just as much at fault as he was. More so, in fact, since we were the ones who let our guard down."
"I know, I know," Mai groaned, making a face.
"You guys didn't see the whole conversation, but we can fill in the blanks," Tal spoke up. "It was at this time that Gennai finally told us he had suspected earlier that LadyDevimon and her allies had also had a master, and he believed that their master was the same master that Belphemon and his allies were working for. Gennai was sure that this Ruler of Darkness was the one behind all the attempts to turn digimon against humans, as he had suspected back then that there was more going on than what appeared to be happening at first sight."
"And now LadyDevimon's master had revealed himself at last, and Belphemon and his allies were determined to give him our Data Cores!" Mai said dramatically, throwing up her arms.
Ryoko frowned, and speaking slowly, he said, "So let me get this straight. GranDracmon was LadyDevimon's master, and her group were the ones trying to turn the digimon in the Digital World against the humans, but GranDracmon was also the master that Belphemon and the rest of the Demon Lords followed?"
"That's right," Inca replied, beaming at him. "We asked Gennai what ever became of LadyDevimon, NeoDevimon, and Astamon, but even Gennai didn't know. He told us he had his suspicions, but he couldn't be sure yet. It wasn't until later that we found out what his suspicions were, and not surprisingly it turned out his theory was correct."
"And remember like us Gennai didn't know yet that the Ruler of Darkness was GranDracmon," Tal reminded them.
"After our conversation with Gennai it was time to search for our Data Cores," Kenji said, continuing on with the story. "Luckily we had some help. Gennai had gotten in contact with his counterparts and many of his digimon friends, and together we were able to discover the location of the Data Cores. Lilithmon had hidden them inside a huge volcano on the continent of Net in the Northern Hemisphere. They were being held there for safe keeping until they could be delivered to GranDracmon's castle, which was located in the World of Darkness. Apparently GranDracmon had been out on a mission searching for several Demon Lords that had not yet joined his cause, and Lilithmon, Belphemon, and two other Demon Lords were waiting for his return so they could deliver the Data Cores."
"With Airdramon's help we traveled to the continent of Net in secret and snuck our way into the volcano," Tal explained. "Belphemon and Lilithmon weren't there, but unfortunately they had sent another Demon Lord in their place to guard the Data Cores."
"Leviamon, the Demon of Envy," Mai said, looking rather indignant. "We battled against him, but we were seriously losing until Sorcermon showed up with one of Azulongmon's Digicores."
"Sorcermon was able to distract Leviamon with the Digicore long enough for us to get our Data Cores back, and once we had them Sorcermon infused them with the power of Azulongmon's Digicore," Inca explained. "It was a gift from Gennai and the Guardian of the Eastern Hemisphere. With that extra bit of power from Azulongmon that was infused within our Data Cores, it gave our digimon the power to digivolve to the mega level."
"Wow, are you serious?" Dai asked, his dark eyes sparkling with sudden excitement.
"Needless to say, Leviamon wasn't too happy with us," Kenji said dryly, shaking his head. "He proceeded to attack us in full force, but once again it was like with Lilithmon. We felt like he was holding back. But despite that he was still too powerful for us to defeat, and we almost lost our lives to the boiling lava down below. Unfortunately for Leviamon, though, Kibomon was in his element. It was then when Kobushimon digivolved to his mega form of KaneRyujinmon and saved us all."
"I was so cool," Kibomon boasted, earning himself another smack from Halomon.
"We were unable to defeat Leviamon, but with Sorcermon's help we managed to escape from the volcano unharmed," Inca said softly. "After our battle we found a safe place to talk with Sorcermon, and that was when he told us about the prophecy of the Seven Great Demon Lords."
"Apparently Seermon had been seeing the prophecy of the Demon Lords for quite a while, but after it became so persistent on our return to the Digital World she knew she had to act," Seta explained. "That was why she sent Sorcermon to find us. She wanted to warn us about the prophecy because she knew somehow that we were involved in it, and it was becoming more apparent that the words of the prophecy were beginning to come to pass."
"Sorcermon had been in contact with Gennai earlier, and that was how he found us. And that was where he got Azulongmon's Digicore from," Inca continued. "He was the one who told us that Lilithmon, Leviamon, and Belphemon were three of the Demon Lords from the prophecy. He suspected that their master, the Ruler of Darkness, was the digimon of immense power that the prophecy mentions, who would attempt to gather the Demon Lords under his command."
"The world will become shrouded in darkness, and beings known as the Seven Great Demon Lords shall walk the land. In time, a digimon with immense power will appear out of that darkness, and he will have the power to unite the forces of evil. When the Seven Demon Lords gather under his command, the worlds of both humans and digimon will be at his mercy, and those under his reign will tremble with fear, for he is the source of evil that slumbers within the hearts of the guilty and the innocent," Mickey quoted softly, repeating DarkAngelicmon's words with ease.
They all took a moment to absorb the words of the prophecy, and frowning again, Ryoko said, "So GranDracmon was seeking to fulfill the words of the prophecy?"
"That's right," Kenji said slowly. "The balance of power in the Digital World began to shift slightly when the Demon Lords began to walk the land, but without a master to unite them they were not yet a serious threat. So, though the balance of power was beginning to slowly shift in favour of the darkness it wasn't until GranDracmon emerged from behind the Wall of Fire that the gates to the Digital World finally opened. Once GranDracmon appeared the threat became immense, and we became the first children who were chosen to take on the roll of Digidestined. When GranDracmon learned of the ancient prophecy about the Demon Lords, he knew it was his opportunity to become the ruler of both worlds, and once he had managed to gather some followers, including three Demon Lords, the gates opened. After all, if he could fulfill the prophecy there would be no one to stand in his way."
"I thought you said there were four Demon Lords working for him," Taniko interrupted.
"Three when the gates opened, four later," Inca corrected. "Which we'll explain in a bit."
"As Kenji just said, with the prophecy in mind, GranDracmon had begun to seek out the Demon Lords to gather them under his command," Tal continued. "With their power and his own he would be able to rule over both worlds, and there would be no one able to stop him."
"No one except the Digidestined, that is," Mai corrected. "He also knew of the prophecy about humans coming to the Digital World, and in order to counteract it he sent his servants out to corrupt the minds of innocent digimon into believing that humans were evil. By the time we got to the Digital World, LadyDevimon and her buddies had already put his plan into full force."
"His original plan was to kill all the Digidestined by using his servants and the human hating digimon who were instructed to destroy us," Kenji continued. "And by turning the digimon against us it would mean we'd have less help in the Digital World, which would increase his chances of thwarting the prophecy of the Digidestined. On top of that he wanted to steal our Data Cores. He believed that by corrupting the power of the Data Cores he could use their power to gather the remaining Demon Lords and bind them to his will."
"But, I thought the Demon Lords were already with him," Takara interrupted, sounding confused.
"As Kenji said earlier, not all seven of them were under his command," Tal corrected. "Though we didn't know it yet at that point, GranDracmon had only managed to get four of the Seven Demon Lords to call him master. There were three others he had yet to even find, let alone persuade into joining his cause, and apparently they were proving to be a troublesome trio. But by using the Powers of Darkness to corrupt the nature of our Data Cores, he believed he could use that power to bend the remaining three Demon Lords to his will."
"His ultimate goal was to eventually become the ruler of both the human world and the Digital World, and with the Seven Demon Lords on his side and his army of human hating digimon, we humans and any digimon who opposed him would be at his mercy," Seta said slowly, as if weighing the measure of his own words. "And thus the prophecy would be fulfilled and both worlds would be covered in darkness. And at the same time he could prevent the prophecy of the Digidestined from being entirely fulfilled."
"Wow, so all this time the prophecy was referring to GranDracmon," Noah spoke up, looking shocked.
"Well, that was certainly how it seemed in the past," Kenji replied, exchanging a look with Tal. "But after the story Izzy just told us we're starting to wonder if maybe the prophecy might be more complicated than that. Prophecies are subjective, and it may not have been referring in particular to GranDracmon."
"I assume you're going to expand more on that later?" Izzy asked.
"We will," Tal assured the computer expert.
"You said that was GranDracmon's original plan," Matt said slowly, his sapphires eyes settling on Kenji. "What did you mean by that?"
"Before the Highton View Terrace incident, those were GranDracmon's original goals," Kenji explained, gazing calmly at the former musician. "But while we were in the human world attempting to repair the barrier, GranDracmon had had many years to continue building his army. He'd also been given a lot of time to use his powers to strengthen the Demon Lords he'd managed to gather under his command, while at the same time he was still searching for the missing three he still needed. When we got back to the Digital World, his main goals were still the same, but they had altered slightly."
"Instead of outright trying to kill us, GranDracmon now believed he could find some use for us," Tal said quietly, his grey eyes watching Kenji. "He no longer seeked to prevent the prophecy of the Digidestined by taking our lives. Instead he sought to use the Powers of Darkness on our Data Cores not just to obtain the remaining three Demon Lords, but also to corrupt us. If we were to succumb to the Powers of Darkness and he could bend us to his will, then he could use us, the Digidestined, along with the human hating digimon to help him take over the human world. With our powers he could set us loose on the humans, and no one would suspect us. We could catch them off guard and proceed to hand GranDracmon the human world with our very own hands."
"And that's why Lilithmon, Belphemon, and Leviamon were holding back," Taniko concluded. "They were under orders from GranDracmon not to kill you because he wanted to make use of the Digidestined for his own agenda."
"That's horrible," Mickey whispered. "How could he do such a thing, especially when...when.."
"When humans are so vulnerable to darkness?" Kenji said quietly, finishing Mickey's thought.
His green eyes were burning into Mickey's amber ones, and letting out a gasp Mickey quickly nodded before turning his face away. The older twin looked miserable, and letting out a deep sigh Matty quickly put a supportive arm around his brother.
"GranDracmon was without mercy, and he didn't fear the darkness," Kenji said simply, his green gaze growing dark. "He knew darkness was our greatest weakness, and don't think he didn't try to take advantage of that. He not only tried, he almost succeeded."
"What?" Matty choked out, his amber eyes growing wide with horror.
"You'll see," Kenji replied, turning his face away. "Anyways, GranDracmon's vision was to have complete control over both humans and digimon, and he wasn't about to let anyone stand in his way, especially not a bunch of kids and their digimon partners."
"It was a while before we actually learned all of this, but Sorcermon was able to tell us a few things," Mai said. "He also told us that Gennai had suspected Lilithmon and Belphemon might be two of the Demon Lords from the prophecy and that the Ruler of Darkness might be the one the prophecy was referring to."
"And later we would find out another one of Gennai's secrets," Seta laughed. "But for now it's time to get back to the story."
"After talking with Sorcermon we knew what we needed to do next," Tal continued. "Our goal was clear. Defeat the Ruler of Darkness and his Demon Lords, and in doing so we could save both worlds and finally go home again. After all that time, Seermon's words finally made sense to us, and we were finally able to understand what her visions meant."
"We had met three of the four Demon Lords by this time, but we were about to meet the last one," Inca said, her tone becoming very serious. "Sorcermon had arrived on Net on Seadramon's back, and Seadramon was waiting for us at the shore. How Sorcermon managed to reach us so quickly we'll never know, but his powers rival that of Seermon's so we didn't question it. It took us several days to travel through the snow, and along the way we were attacked by the fourth Demon Lord under GranDracmon's command."
"The Demon of Wrath," Kenji said, his green gaze steady. "His name was Daemon."
There was a collective gasp around the courtyard, and Ryoko felt his jaw drop open in shock.
Could it be?
"Daemon," Ken whispered, his sapphire eyes sparkling with fear. "You don't think..."
"Yes, we do," Kenji interrupted, his green gaze becoming more sympathetic as he turned to address Ken. "We have no proof, but there are clues. We believe that the Daemon we fought is the same Daemon who wanted to harvest the Dark Spores for reasons all of you were never able to find out. The Daemon we fought is the same Daemon you sent to the World of Darkness."
"But how?" Ken asked, shaking his head in denial. "How can they be the same?"
"And if they are the same Daemon then all this time he was really a Demon Lord?" Davis said incredulously, shaking his head in disbelief.
"At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we'll get to that," Tal replied, smiling slightly. "But first let's finish the story. It was through Daemon that we found out GranDracmon only had four Demon Lords working for him, and he was still looking for the remaining three. And it was Daemon who told us Gennai's other secret. Remember how we were wondering what had happened to LadyDevimon, NeoDevimon, and Astamon? Well, we finally got our answer. They didn't just disappear as we had thought. While we were away during the Highton View Terrace incident, GranDracmon was using the Powers of Darkness to strengthen his Demon Lords, which we mentioned earlier. Thanks to him, LadyDevimon, NeoDevimon, and Astamon were able to digivolve to the mega level. LadyDevimon became Lilithmon, Astamon became Belphemon, and NeoDevimon became Daemon. Gennai had suspected earlier that might be the case, but since he could not be sure he hadn't made any mention of it."
"So that's what Kenji meant when you said you were sure we had met NeoDevimon before," T.K. said slowly. "It's because we had met Daemon, not Devimon."
"That's right," Kenji agreed. "And it was during that time when GranDracmon searched the seas to seek out Leviamon, who eventually ended up joining his cause."
"Our old enemies had now become our new enemies, and they were bringing in reinforcements," Mai snorted. "We were shocked, to say the least, but we knew our goals were still the same."
"Daemon attacked us, so we had no choice but to fight back," Tal continued. "He almost got Seta, but thanks to Azulongmon's Digicore Aiwemon was able to reach the mega level. MaltaOhtarmon digivolved to his mega form of OhtarAranmon, and with KaneRyujinmon's help we were able to escape on Seadramon. We parted ways with Sorcermon once we got back to Server, and heading back to Gennai's place we had another long conversation with him about the Demon Lords."
"Kenji yelled at him a lot for keeping more secrets from us that we ended up finding out from somebody else, but after much discussion we figured out a plan of what to do next," Mai smirked. "Apparently the Demon Lords seemed to be hanging around File Island a lot, and Gennai's friends suspected they might be guarding something there. We knew we needed to stop them before GranDracmon managed to gather the rest of the Demon Lords, so off we went to File Island."
"When we got there the digimon on File Island were quick to point us in the right direction, and we ended up going through a place called the Maze of Mirrors that was supposed to lead to the new castle that Lilithmon had constructed for herself," Inca said, continuing the story. "Her guards found out what was going on, and they chased us through the maze. We managed to take them all out, but thanks to our efforts Lilithmon came after us herself."
"And boy was she ever mad," Mai laughed, winking at her husband. "Not only had we managed to get all of our Data Cores back from her little hiding spot, but we also now had the nerve to storm her castle! She attempted to capture us and steal our Data Cores back, but due to her recklessness I almost lost my life. Lucky for me HolyGabrielmon digivolved to his mega form of Metatramon and saved my life."
"Metatramon," Mickey said softly, his gaze coming to rest on Palelymon.
"A heavenly scribe who records all the deeds of creation," Kenji murmured, watching Mickey closely. "He who sits behind the throne of Heaven."
Mickey smiled, and hugging Palelymon tightly to his chest, he said, "One day I'll be like you."
"No," Kenji said simply, his voice never wavering. "One day you will be stronger, and so will your brother."
Mickey beamed at the raven-haired Digidestined, but Ryoko was quick to note that Matty looked doubtful.
As much as he believes in Mickey, he doesn't believe in himself...
"Somehow we managed to get away from Lilithmon, but after the fight that had carried over from the maze into her castle, the place was ruined," Inca said, looking regretful. "But since our goal had been to defeat Lilithmon, we didn't feel as if we had won any kind of victory. But we had to get out of there or the castle would have collapsed in on us."
"The good news was we were getting closer to whatever they were guarding," Mai continued. "We hid out for a few days to gain back our strength, and then continuing on our journey we had to pass through a place known as the Lake of Fire where Belphemon had been spotted. Like Lilithmon he had constructed himself a castle that acted as a guard post. Before our eyes we had come upon a sea of molten lava, and the grass and trees were burned all around it. Let me tell you it brought back some unpleasant memories of the volcano!"
"The fight was fierce, and if it wasn't for Mai we probably would have had our Data Cores stolen again," Inca spoke up. "Belphemon managed to get a hold of Kenji and Tal, both of whom he was panning to deliver to the Ruler of Darkness, and it was then when Mai's partner Bakenekomon digivolved to her mega form of Nekomatamon to save both them and their Data Cores."
"By then we weren't in any condition to fight anymore, so we had no choice but to escape," Mai complained. "Tal thought it would be best to regroup and try again."
"And he was right," Kenji insisted. "Luckily we had managed to get past Belphemon's stronghold. We took some time to rest, and heading out on our journey again we found ourselves following a stream that seemed to lead towards this huge city made of stone in the distance."
"But in order to reach it we needed to cross this huge lake," Seta continued. "We were going to have our digimon fly us there, but before they could Leviamon attacked us."
"Like the others he tried to capture us and steal our Data Cores, but Seta's partner Erethimon digivolved to his mega form of MetalErethimon, and that was when the battle turned in our favour," Tal said, smiling at Seta. "With five megas now on our side and a little bit of luck we were able to defeat Leviamon."
"It was an important victory for us," Kenji continued, looking serious. "We knew then that the city was the thing Lilithmon and her allies had been guarding, and whatever it was they were trying to protect we knew it was our key to saving the Digital World."
"There was only one problem," Inca spoke up. "We had just defeated one of the four Demon Lords that GranDracmon had managed to bend to his will, and he was not happy about it at all."
"After we made it across the lake we decided to rest to gain back our strength, and we also used the time to spy on the city," Tal continued. "Although we had defeated Leviamon, we didn't know what else would be waiting for us it the city, so we knew we had to be careful."
"After watching the city for an entire day and night, we were able to conclude that it was deserted," Inca informed them. "We had sent our digimon our scouting, but they weren't able to locate any signs of life."
"No doubt it was another city that had been attacked by GranDracmon's army, just like the city where Halomon had first digivolved to Gabrielmon," Kenji murmured. "GranDracmon himself told us that. Though we were still uneasy we had no choice but to keep going. The city was huge, and it took us a whole day to navigate our way through its streets on foot. Along the way we met up with Belphemon again, and we knew then that we were getting close to our destination. Our battle turned the city streets into a pile of rubble, but in the end we were able to defeat Belphemon with our combined power."
"We were down to two Demon Lords now, but we knew we needed to be extra careful," Inca warned. "By this time GranDracmon was furious, and he would stop at nothing to get his hands on us."
"Another day of traveling finally brought us to our destination," Seta continued. "At the centre of the city there was an elaborate building that looked like a giant temple. When we entered the temple we were shocked by what we saw. Behind the altar there was this strange glowing doorway that appeared to be oozing some kind of purple goo. It looked very similar to the scene Izzy described to us that took place in Ken's old base."
"It was a gateway," Ken said quietly, unable to look away from Seta. "A gateway to the World of Darkness."
Kenji nodded silently, and green eyes growing dark, he said, "The gateway was our final destination, and we knew that if we entered the portal it would lead us to the Ruler of Darkness."
"But before we could step through the gateway Lilithmon appeared to try and stop us," Tal said, smiling slightly. "And it was then when we finally learned the entire truth about what was going on. She was the one who told us about the World of Darkness, and she told us her master's true name. She also told us about GranDracmon's history and the Wall of Fire. She told us about his plans for the prophecy and pretty much everything else that was going on, and because of her we knew we were about to set foot in the World of Darkness where GranDracmon had built his castle."
"Now that we knew the truth, we had no choice but to stop her," Mai said with determination. "We attacked her, and she was quick to retaliate. She almost captured us and got her hands on our Data Cores, but miraculously we were able to defeat her."
"And thanks to Lilithmon we knew that the gate was GranDracmon's means of traveling between the World of Darkness and the Digital World," Tal finished. "He had been using the gateway to wreak havoc on the Digital World, and he also used it to find and gather his Demon Lords who walked the four hemispheres of the Digital World. Somewhere on the other side he was waiting for us in the castle he had built for himself, and it was time we finally confronted him in person."
"And so gathering all of our courage and strength we stepped through the gateway and found ourselves in the World of Darkness," Kenji said quietly.
Mickey and Matty looked at each other before quickly looking away, and Ryoko could tell that they were troubled. The looks on their faces were enough to cause him physical pain, but though he wanted to comfort them he knew now wasn't the time.
"As you all know it was a dark and fearful place," Tal said slowly, frowning at the memory. "We could see GranDracmon's castle in the distance, but we needed to travel through a dark forest to reach it. It was during our journey through the forest that we finally met up with Daemon again."
"He attacked us relentlessly, but we didn't give up," Kenji continued. "We had come so far by this time, and there was no way we were going to allow ourselves to be captured or to have our Data Cores stolen again. Eventually we were finally able to subdue Daemon. He was out of energy, and there were bits of data floating off his body, but just when we were about to deliver the finishing blow, he slipped away from us and disappeared into the forest."
"We never saw him again after that, though we believe he escaped back to the Digital World before GranDracmon's portal disappeared," Mai informed them. "So even though we eventually defeated GranDracmon, his servant Daemon was never defeated."
"And that's why you believe that the Daemon we met years later is the same one you were unable to defeat," Ken said quietly, looking troubled.
"Exactly," Tal replied. "And remember time wasn't synchronized then. Daemon had had thousands of years to plot and plan his return. Unfortunately for him it was cut short when you sealed him away in the World of Darkness."
"For now," Matty said slowly, earning himself a few surprised looks.
There was a moment of silence, and after a minute or two of reflection, Tal picked up the story again. "After our run in with Daemon we rested a while before finally reaching GranDracmon's castle. We were forced to take on all of his guards, but after defeating them only GranDracmon himself was left standing in our way."
"And he was seriously angry," Mai laughed. "We had just trampled the four Demon Lords he had managed to gain on his side, and since he'd been unsuccessful in finding the remaining three Demon Lords he had no servants left to fight for him. His dreams for fulfilling the prophecy of the Demon Lords was crumbling right before his very eyes, and since we were the cause of it he decided to take his anger out on us."
"By this time he was so furious that he no longer desired to use us for his own personal gain," Tal informed them. "Instead he chose to revert back to his original plan of getting us out of the way."
"So he tried to kil you all?" Sora gasped.
Inca nodded, and all of a sudden her dark eyes filled with immense pain. "He still wanted our Data Cores for his plan, and he was determined to get them. He was even still planning to use them to corrupt us with the Powers of Darkness, but for a different purpose now. It wasn't for using us against the human world anymore, it was for using us against each other. During our battle, he got his hands on the Data Core of Integrity, and he was successful in corrupting it with the Powers of Darkness. Kenji was still hurting at this point, and GranDracmon used that to his advantage."
"Kenji's heart succumbed to the darkness, and HolyGabrielmon changed into ShadowGabrielmon," Tal said quietly, reaching out to put an arm around the raven-haired Digidestined who was his closest friend. "And with the Powers of Darkness now tainting his soul, Kenji tried to destroy us all."