We're starting to reach the end of all this, hard to believe.

Shoutout to Whiteling, DigimonAT0318, and MadDogLucario96 for the reviews.

Don't really have much to add for this one so let's continue on.

Chapter 42: The Holy Dragon of the East! Qinglongmon!

Digital World. November 6th, 2002. 1622 Hours.
P.O.V. – Ross McGlathery

Another eleventh hour evolution and at good timing as the four Jogress Digimon stared down BlackWarGreymon who slightly took a small step back. It was barely noticeable, but Shakkoumon actually intimidated him. Now of course it remained to be seen if we now finally had the final piece to the puzzle that was combating BlackWarGreymon. Shakkoumon looked like he may be able to soak up some damage but with BlackWarGreymon, it's any ones guess. I just really hope to be right about this one.
"We did it!" I heard Iori cheer a bit more silently as we looked straight ahead towards the Dark Tower Ultimate. "Finally… we can finally fight alongside Paildramon, MechaRaptormon and Silphymon!" He sure sounded excited about this.
"Yeah." Takeru agreed with him. "We're counting on you, Shakkoumon!" He yelled.
"Leave it to me, dagyaa!" The holy golem responded in a voice that was a combination of Ankylomon and Angemon's voices… with a hint of Ankylomon's mannerisms thanks to that little 'dagyaa'.

BlackWarGreymon recovered once more from the shock of the Jogress and took a step forward as he clearly was ready for the fight once more.
"Get out of my way." He ordered. Does he really think after all this we'll just step aside?
"We won't." Silphymon told him.
"Move!"
"The battle starts now!" Paildramon informed.
"I won't ask this again. Move aside and let me destroy the Holy Stone or else!" BlackWarGreymon threatened as we were clearly trying his patience.
"We'll pick 'or else.'" MechaRaptormon tempted. BlackWarGreymon roared and started charging up a Gaia Force.
"If you don't move, I'll make you move!" He threw the attack and Shakkoumon moved forward and took the full brunt of the attack. Our eyes were wide opened as we couldn't really see what had happened. Did he get destroyed?

"It's no use! He'll defeat us!" Ken began to worry.
"Dammit!" Daisuke cursed as we kept our eyes closed from the bright light of the attack.
"Shakkoumon!" Iori called out for his partner. We all gasped in surprise as we could now see Shakkoumon with his arms up and easily handling the attack. It suddenly dispersed as Shakkoumon sucked up the attack into his body before releasing it all harmlessly back into the air through the top of his head like an exhaust port.
"What!?" exclaimed BlackWarGreymon who was also surprised by this recent turn.
"Shakkoumon!" Iori cheered once more.
"He absorbed BlackWarGreymon's Gaia Force!" Takeru shouted.
"Awesome!" Daisuke pumped his fist.
"What was that you said about needing the defense, Ross-kun?" Osamu asked me. I smirked.
"For once, I'm glad I was right!"

"Harmonious Spirit!" Shakkoumon's eyes opened wide and large red-orange beams shot out fast that struck BlackWarGreymon in both his shoulder guards and actually caused him pain as they had cut through the armor!
"Now!" Paildramon ordered for the rest of the Digimon to continue the attack. Paildramon and Silphymon charged forward while MechaRaptormon stayed back to provide assistance to Shakkoumon.
"No matter what…" Silphymon determined.
"We won't let you destroy the Holy Stone!" Paildramon cried. "Let's go!"
"Dual Sonic!" BlackWarGreymon regrouped and swung his claw at the incoming attack, causing it to disperse.
"Why?" He questioned as he jumped up to meet them. He then grabbed Paildramon's arm and swung him down to the ground.
"Paildramon!" Daisuke called out to his partner. BlackWarGreymon turned around and slapped Silphymon right across the face with the back of his arm guard and caused her to crash right next to Paildramon. However, they quickly got back up.
"Why are you going this far…" BlackWarGreymon wondered.

"Howitzer Blast!" BlackWarGreymon's distraction cost him as MechaRaptormon fired and his round blew off the right leg guard on BlackWarGreymon.
"Ruling Spirit!" The large sun looking object on Shakkoumon opened up and the sharp bladed discs soon flew out and towards the Dark Tower Digimon. He pulled out his back shield and brought it forward to cause the disks to bounce off and explode but they severely cracked the shield.
"To protect the Holy Stone?" He finished the sentence he was saying before the two attacks were launched at him.
"To protect the Digital World!" All four Digimon answered him in unison as Paildramon, Silphymon and now MechaRaptormon charged again.
"Desperado Blaster!" BlackWarGreymon held up the shield as pieces of it were chipping away.
"How can you act so boldly without hesitation?" BlackWarGreymon clearly still has a lot to learn about us.
"Top Gun!" The shot blasted apart the shield giving MechaRaptormon an opening.
"Mecha Strike!" MechaRaptormon's tail glowed white and he spun around in midair and struck BlackWarGreymon sending him flying in pain.

"We got him?" Silphymon questioned as we saw BlackWarGreymon beginning to fall into the bamboo forest.
"Why? Do they have something I don't have?" He thought to himself as he fell to Earth and crashed hard.
"Did we get him?" Daisuke asked the same question. Let's hold on to that thought, Daisuke, we've assumed that before. We were all shocked when he came crawling out the forest and pulling himself back up. His injuries were insane. Much of his armor was wrecked, especially his helmet which had shattered in half and we could now see half of his reptile like face. He was also bleeding black blood everywhere all over his body… even WarGreymon's injuries weren't as bad when he was nearly killed by Piemon! There's no stopping him! He's hell-bent on either destroying that stone or dying!
"Why? How can you live like that? Tell me. Why was I born?" He questioned as some different black fluid was spewing out, I don't even want to know what that stuff is. "Why am I so different from you?" Has he still not figure he was just a pawn in Archnemon's game? "If I cannot know why, I don't care if this world ends! Tell me!" He screamed as he got back onto his feet.

"He's sad… So deeply…" Hikari observed. That's sadness, Hikari? It's a bit hard to tell with all that anger.
"I'll destroy the Holy Stone." He growled as I positioned himself for a charge. "The answer lies beyond that!" He stepped back forward as our Digimon got in his way again.
"We won't let you!" They shouted once more.
"It's useless." BlackWarGreymon stepped forward as Silphymon ran up to him only to get tossed aside. Paildramon followed suit as he reached him and was thrown away too. MechaRaptormon tried as well but the result was the same. Despite all his injuries, BlackWarGreymon was fighting harder than he had before.
"It's no good… we can't stop him!" worried Osamu.
"But if the Holy Stone is destroyed, the Digital World will…"
"We know, Hikari!" I interrupted her. "We're in trouble here!"
"It won't just be the Digital World, our Real World too…" informed Iori.

"If that's how it is…" Daisuke grumbled in anger at the fact that we just couldn't win. "Wait… what if we tried moving it somehow?" Daisuke suggested.
"Huh?" We all said as Silphymon was slammed into the bamboo.
"What do you mean?" Ken asked him.
"While Paildramon and the others hold him off, we'll take the Holy Stone somewhere else!" Paildramon was knocked down again as he said that.
"But that's crazy!" Takeru told him.
"We won't know until we try, right?" Now, MechaRaptormon was crushed into the ground. "Anyway, let's try!" Soon, Shakkoumon was dragged down as well.
"Yeah, we can't just sit here and watch." Miyako agreed as we all continued to look at the floating stone.

"There's no way you can do something like that." We heard Archnemon's taunting voice and turned around to see her and Mummymon back again. Ugh, how much I really just want Guilmon or any of his evolutions to cut that bitch's head off! "Give up."
"Shut up, spider woman!" Daisuke shouted at her.
"We're not letting you get your way!" Osamu got in front of us all. He held more aggression at her then any of considering he was just another pawn to her like BlackWarGreymon. She just laughed at his words.
"Can you afford to be so cocky with me? Mummymon." Mummymon chuckled and turned into his Digimon form once again before walking forward.
"This time I'll make sure you stop breathing! Which one do you want? Strangulation or your guts hanging out after I blast them!" He then fired his rifle at us.

"Double Nightmare Syndrome!" Digitamamon's attack flew right in front of us and took all the energy that was fired into its mouth. He and that tapir Digimon soon hopped in front of us.
"We don't forgive those who taint the holy Chinese soup spring!" Wait, is that what that water is? Never mind, thank you Digitamamon!
"Cold ramen!" They charged forward at the gruesome twosome and sent them back into the bamboo.
"Children, protect the Holy Stone!" Digitamamon ordered us.
"Got it!" Daisuke said.
"Thanks, Digitamamon and your friend!" Miyako praised.
"It's our chance!" Ken informed and we turned back to the stone. "But… how?" That was really stumping us. How exactly do we move this thing? Daisuke looked deep in thought before he came up with something.
"That's it! Let's try aiming our D-3s at it!" We all nod with him. Best idea we've got so might as well try it.

We all stepped forward and soon held up our D-3s to the Holy Stone. Nothing happened for a moment until the stone suddenly began shining once again like it had several minutes earlier. We then looked to the sky above and saw six other lights shine across before they all connected together.
"Those lights…" observed Hikari.
"They're gathering from all over." Iori added. The large light soon split into eight different beams and shot towards our D-3s.
"Wh-what's going on?" Daisuke inquired. Our D-3s then shined lights that were colored like our D-3s and connected with the rock. It glowed in an aura of rainbow light before it shot upwards into the sky and sailed over. Everyone in the area focused their attention on it. Soon dark clouds began to gather in the sky before golden beams of light came from the sky. It was if Heaven was opening up. And out of the clouds came that Digimon we saw before. A large snake-like dragon with a large beard as it began to fill the sky. It's body was mostly clear except for the chains that wrapped around it and the small white wings. I'll admit, that's probably one of the most awe inspiring things I have ever seen in my life.

"Back then… the Digimon we saw when the fourth Holy Stone was destroyed…" Hikari remembered.
"It's an incredibly big Digimon…" Daisuke said. That's really understating it, Daisuke.
"Is this what BlackWarGreymon was waiting for?" Takeru wondered.
"You may be right… but if he wants to take that thing on in his condition…" I told him.
"You're finally here…" BlackWarGreymon stared down the giant Digimon. "I've been waiting for this day to come. The day I would meet you." The dragon stared him down as well.
"The one who holds the cursed dark soul…" He spoke in a titanic and demanding voice.
"Cursed dark soul?" BlackWarGreymon questioned. "You mean me?"
"Why have you done this? Why have you destroyed the Holy Stones?"
"I came all this way only to fight you." There is just no reasoning with that guy. He's probably going to get eviscerated in a second if he fights that dragon now. "You're stronger than any other Digimon I've seen before, aren't you?"
"Do you know who I am?" I, myself have a few guesses, but hopefully he'll explain.
"I don't. I don't need to!"

"My name is Qinglongmon." Aw, something of a Digital World's answer to an ancient Chinese dragon. Shares the part of the same name with the Qing Dynasty. Come to think of it, he looks pretty similar to the dragon on the Qing flag.
"Qinglongmon?"
"I protect the Eastern area of this world and hold the spheres of Light and Hope." Light and Hope? I quickly looked to Takeru and Hikari as those were their Crests. "Because you destroyed the Holy Stones, the harmony of this world is in disorder. Do you understand what you have done?"
"That means nothing to me!" Okay, I think it's official. BlackWarGreymon has a death wish; now would be the perfect time to for him to back off before things get really nasty. Of course, he's expressed that he doesn't care about any of that so… "Fight me, Qinglongmon!" We all watched as BlackWarGreymon flew up right towards him.
"Fool." That was all Qinglongmon said before a bright light glowed from his body and hit BlackWarGreymon, paralyzing him in pain.

"You did all this just for that purpose?" He asked as BlackWarGreymon just floated there. "Your dark existence seals my powers and brings disorder to the harmony of this world!"
"My existence!?"
"Haven't you realized? The towers of darkness to the East are what seal my powers." I then looked to Osamu who now looked slightly nervous. I gave him a quick pat on the back to give him a reassuring look. He may have built them, but Archnemon was the puppet master with all of it. "You were created from one hundred of them, making your existence darkness itself!"
"What?"
"The Dark Towers seal his power?" Daisuke questioned.
"What is the meaning of this?" BlackWarGreymon turned to us.

We turned around too as we heard slowly clapping from behind. We saw Archnemon and Mummymon approaching again, with him holding a defeated Digitamamon and his tapir sidekick in his hands.
"Oh well, you found out."
"Archnemon!" Osamu growled.
"Building as many Dark Towers as possible and destroying this world's balance. That's our goal."
"And that's why you used me as the Digimon Kaiser! To get me to build your vast array of Dark Towers!"
"Yeah, that's right. Of course, I said before that any of you little insects would've been just as well suited to becoming Kaisers or Kaiserins. All of you would've just been used to build up the Dark Towers… But then you got the wrong idea, had your little brother bring you back to the light, joined the Chosen Children and started to destroy them." She laughed which really just made us all more angry. "That's why I created you." She turned to look up at BlackWarGreymon. "And now you wonder about your life's purpose? How stupid. Dark Tower Digimon don't need a will or a soul."

In a flash, BlackWarGreymon was suddenly right beside us and grabbed Archnemon by the neck and was slowly strangling the life out of her.
"H-help me!" She choked out. Please, this is what I've been wanting for a month now. You poking the bear too much that your own creation destroys you. Aw, sweet irony. "I had no ill intentions! It just couldn't be helped! This was all part of your destiny!"
"Destiny? Then why am I here? Is that destiny as well?"
"BlackWarGreymon." Qinglongmon spoke up once more. He turned his head back to him. "No one can answer that but yourself."
"Myself?"
"No matter what it takes to reach that answer, there is a reason for every being's existence."
"So there is a reason for my existence?"
"Yes. But the only one who can find it is you. That is all I can tell you." BlackWarGreymon turned his attention back to Archnemon and threw her onto the ground. Damn.
"Archnemon!" Mummymon ran over to her.

BlackWarGreymon once again turned his attention back towards Qinglongmon.
"I'm glad I met you." He said, much to almost everyone's surprise. "You told me that even my existence has a meaning." He then looked to us. "Even if that meaning is to be hated." He then just started to walk away, walking right by us and kept on going.
"Where are you going?" Daisuke asked him.
"To somewhere that is nowhere…" He gave us a pretty vague answer.
"To somewhere that is nowhere…?" repeated Daisuke.
"What?! Let's go, Mummymon!" Archnemon exclaimed as she got back up.
"Eh? Where?"
"Isn't it obvious? To stop him!" They soon ran right past us. "You better remember this, because it's not over yet!"
"Your sour grapes don't scare us!" Daisuke taunted.
"So long, Musashi and Kojirō!" I couldn't help but join in the taunting. And of course, comparing them to Team Rocket caused a few members of our group to chuckle.

Our Digimon devolved and soon returned to us, most of them were normal, except for Takeru's and Iori's. Takeru was now holding Tokomon while Iori held something that looked similar to Upamon but he only had one tall fin thing on his head.
"Chosen Children!" Qinglongmon turned his attention to us now. We looked at him. "I am one of the four Ultimate Digimon who exist to maintain the balance of this world. I protect the Eastern area. Xuanwumon protects the North, Zhuqiaomon to the South, and Baihumon to the West."
"Ah, it's like in Kyoto…" Miyako pointed out.
"Kyoto?" Daisuke questioned.
"I talked a bit about it when I got back from Kyoto. Four sacred beasts protect Kyoto in all directions."
"Yes. There are many similarities between this world and yours. Also, the four of us answer to an even mightier Digimon named Huanglongmon who serves as God." Whoa, hold up there! "Though, I think even he answers to something stronger than him…" Oh, phew, crisis of faith averted.

"Wait, if you protect the Digital World… where were you when we needed help in our adventures?" Takeru asked him.
"To answer, after a long battle, we were sealed by the four Dark Masters. It was then that eight of the nine Chosen Children came to this world." August 1st, 1999. An unforgettable day for all of us. As he said that, the memories of our adventures just flooded my mind. "After the eight returned to their world, the Dark Masters analyzed this world and reintegrated it."
"That was Spiral Mountain, right?" Hikari questioned.
"The nine children and their Digimon defeated the Dark Masters, but that did not break our seal. The reason is that this world's power was used to bring itself back to its original state. To break our seal, we had to borrow the power of the Chosen Children's Crests." There's an added reason of why Gennai asked us to give them up. The old coot probably knew the entire time. "For that reason, the Digimon need our help in order to reach Perfect-Level."
"So that's why they can only reach Perfect-Level at certain times…" Takeru figured it out.

"That's what Koushiro-san explained to us a while back, right?" inquired Iori. "He was talking about Qinglongmon and the others."
"When the towers of darkness began to rise in this world and their dark power prevented Digimon from evolving, in the hopes of returning harmony to this world, we decided to use the power of a lost ancient evolution." Qinglongmon continued.
"Armor Evolution, correct? It was all an attempt to work around the power of the Dark Towers." Ken said.
"We put a few Digimon who had the ancient powers to sleep, and created three new Digivices to fight against the power of darkness. Then we sent them to new children."
"That must be us!" Well, no duh, Daisuke.
"Yeah. Daisuke, me, and…" Miyako looked over.
"Myself." interrupted Iori.
"However, there was something we had not anticipated. You had a device that saved the Digimental's information. With that, you were not limited to one Digimental. The three Digimon were able to evolve with other Crests, and so, when the power of the Digimentals of Friendship, Purity and Sincerity was needed, it was sent over. In addition, in order to bring the one swallowed by darkness back, it was necessary to temporarily create the Digimental of Miracles with the Crest of Compassion engulfed by darkness."

The conversation was stopped when we heard BlackWarGreymon roar out in the distance. We soon saw him flying back into the sky, going to wherever he wishes to go to find himself… or to just be alone.
"What a sad voice…" pitied Hikari.
"You who were born with the burden of an unfortunate destiny…" Qinglongmon looked over. "No matter how many long months it may take, I pray for the day you find your answer to come.
"So, now you can recover your lost power, right?" I asked him.
"Not right away. This world's balance has already crumbled. However, where the Holy Stones once stood, I will plant seeds of light."
"Seeds of light?" wondered Osamu.
"When the seeds sprout and grow, they will one day take the Holy Stones' place."
"That's great…" Miyako gave out a sigh of relief.
"So this world will slowly regain its balance, right?" Hikari asked once more.
"We worked so hard!" Daisuke wiped the sweat from brow as he also sighed.
"You're right." Takeru nodded.
"Right? Right?"

"Hey, what's wrong, Onii-san?" Ken tapped him on the shoulder as he was looking down. "Come on, if you have something to say, then just say it."
"Well… I was thinking that unless all the darkness was destroyed, it will eventually absorb its surroundings and grow larger, creating another sad life like BlackWarGreymon."
"Osamu-chan…" Monodramon muttered.
"Wait, Osamu, you mean…?" I spoke up but couldn't finish. We could all tell he was talking about himself along with BlackWarGreymon. He was talking about how he was taken in by the power of darkness and created a Digimon like Chimairamon.
"I don't think so." Takeru got our attention. "Sure, darkness is frightening, and we would feel at ease if we could get rid of it completely, but I'm sure that's impossible."
"Impossible?" Osamu questioned.
"Where there's light, there's always darkness."
"The brighter the light, the darker the shadow, right?" Hikari followed along.
"Yes. That's why I think it's important not to lose sight of the light inside you, no matter how dark it is." Where was this advice when I nearly jumped off the roof? That certainly would've helped.
"Not losing sight of the light inside you…" Osamu muttered.

"Yes. That truly is hope." Qinglongmon spoke once more. "No matter how dark, keep the light inside your heart lit. That is what it means to hold the Crest of Hope."
"The light inside your heart?" repeated Hikari.
"The Crests that freed me from my seal after the Dark Masters' defeat were your two Crests: Light and Hope."
"Mine and Takeru-kun's Crest?"
"Yes, Xuanwumon holds the traits of Sincerity and Knowledge." That's Jou and Koushiro, along with Iori. "Zhuqiaomon, Love and Purity." Sora and Mimi, as well as Miyako. "Finally, Baihumon bares Courage and Friendship." Taichi, Yamato and Daisuke.
"Wait?" I inquired once again. "What about us three?" I motioned to myself, Ken and Osamu. "Honor, Kindness and Compassion? Those belong to Huanglongmon?"
"You would be correct. However, he carries the opposites as well. He remains asleep so as to keep balance as he is both good and evil." Well, that's nice to know that as well as my trait is carried by the god of Digimon. "When the Dark Digivice appeared in this world, we could only find three Digimon that were able to use the ancient evolution. But among the children who held the original Crests, the Digimon were able to use it too. We changed the shape of your Digivices so you could use the ancient evolution."

"That explains why all of our Digimon can Armor Evolve too…" Takeru said.
"However, your two Crests, Light and Hope, are somewhat different from the others. Courage… Love… Knowledge… All powers that the child's heart holds. But light is what gives life to this world… And hope means not to lose the light, even when engulfed by darkness. When your hearts become one, a new power is born and the light shines brighter. That light leads to evolution." He then took a short pause in his speech. "Chosen Children, BlackWarGreymon has left and I shall regain my powers… However, it does not mean that all threats have been eliminated." Everyone gasped. Knew we weren't done yet.
"What do you mean?" Miyako questioned.
"The evil that tried to seal me has not disappeared."
"Is that Archnemon and Mummymon?" Iori wondered.
"No, it is not something they can think of themselves. There is a far greater evil, filled with hatred."
"What?! You mean to tell us that Archnemon and Mummymon are also pawns on the chess board? Then who's moving the pieces then!?" I shouted.
"That evil is what made me…" Osamu muttered once again.

"You mission is not over yet. Do not let your guard down!" Qinglongmon advised before he started to fly back in the clouds.
"Okay, we'll be careful!" Daisuke told him on behalf of all of us.
"Then, until we meet again." He soon vanished.
"Goodbye!" Hikari waved and we soon all joined in as well. After a few minutes, we found ourselves back at Digitamamon's restaurant.
"Thanks to you all, we can safely start business again!" He told us.
"Pork ramen!"
"It's not much, but this is a token of our appreciation." He pulled out a large plate of dumplings.

"Thanks for the meal!" We all said. Daisuke reached forward before Miyako grabbed his head.
"Hey, Daisuke! I was gonna eat that one!"
"They're all the same!" The two started to fight.
"Osamu…" I tapped him. "They're delicious. Eat one with us, won't you?" He smiled and nodded.
"Thanks." He then split it in half and handed one half to Monodramon. "Is it good?"
"Yeah! Osamu-chan, eating with friends is great, isn't it?" He said that line similar to what he said back when they stayed the night at the apartment. "Being with friends is great, isn't it Osamu-chan?"
"You're right."
"I just said I want that one!" Looks like Daisuke's now starting to horde the dumplings.
"You ain't getting it!"
"Break it up you two before I break both of you!" I stood up to stop the fighting, only causing Ken, Osamu, Hikari, Iori and Takeru to laugh at it all.

We started to walk back home after returning to back to the Real World.
"The Chinese buns were great!" Daisuke rubbed his belly as he was clearly full.
"Hey, you ate one more than I did!" Miyako augured. Oh, here we go again…
"You were counting?"
"I hold terrible grudges when it comes to food!" Both of them huffed and looked away before Daisuke suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
"Call me crazy… but I could've sworn I just saw a Dark Tower over there…"
"I think you need a few days… the stress of all our work in the Digital World is probably catching up with you." I assured him.
"Yeah… I think you might be right… I hope…" He said that last part under his breath. With BlackWarGreymon no longer a threat and the Holy Stones now safe, we could turn our attention back to destroying Dark Towers and putting Archnemon's plan on ice.

One question still remains though; who's truly pulling her strings…?

We all know who, but no spoilers!

Anyways, this was a good one to write and nice to close up the Holy Stone arc... now comes the real challenge when the stakes hit closer to home.

Take care, folks, see you next time.

"Push the button, Frank."