Holy War

by Griff4823

The sequel to "A Dragon in Shining Armour". The Royal Knights secured victory, and peace set over the continent, but it isn't to last. The autocratic Metal Empire, a team of amoral mercenaries, and a mysterious Digimon in the shadows; it's up to the Order of the Royal Knights to intervene. Can they stop things from spiralling out of control, all while dealing with their own issues?

64. Chapter 44: The Call of the Void

(Author's Note: Chapter 44 is finally out. Get ready for it. Also, Happy Odaiba Day coming up!)

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Chapter 44: The Call of the Void

The Demon Lord of Wrath hovered above the besieged city of New Terminal. His baleful, violet eyes surveyed the battlefield, keeping tabs on where they were gaining ground and where they were losing it. He was the front-line commander, so as much as Demon relished in separating Digimon from their data, a bit of perspective was necessary to make sure that things were going as planned.

And he determined that things were going well. They had breached the northern walls of the city and they were pushing south. The First and Second Legions had pushed down the main road with acceptable casualties. The Third and Fourth Legions had gained ground on the left flank to the east and they were reaching towards the river. However, the Seventh and Eighth Legions were stalled and being pushed back on the right flank, towards the Argent Mountains. It seemed that the defenders were wisely using the mountains as a defensive strong point.

To the south, Leviamon had done well in splitting the city down the middle, but he was facing attacks from UlforceVeedramon and others. Beelzebumon was off harrying the front lines on the right flank. He was currently in combat with Gankoomon. As usual, Beelzebumon was thinking only of his own desires, rather than the bigger picture. However, in this case it was beneficial to tie up the Royal Knights with stronger opponents so that the weaker soldiers could ignore them and keep breaking deeper into the city.

It was up to Demon to lead the charge towards their main tactical objective: the downtown district that surrounded the Fountain River. If they could take the political and financial heart of the city and hold the ground there, they would have a tactical advantage as well as a symbolic one.

And so, Demon led the Nightmare Soldiers through the sky of New Terminal, pushing south. He commanded the vanguard of the Demon Lords' army. He burned to ash anybody who got in his way.

He flew over the burning buildings, looking around with cold dispassion. Ahead of them was a brigade of Order soldiers. There were several large teams of aerial soldiers flying in the sky, launching attacks down on the Nightmare Soldiers. There were also Republican soldiers clotting the large roads at strategic positions. They were in his way, so Demon decided that they had to die.

"Kill them!" Demon commanded his soldiers. "Break through those lines! Show no mercy!"

Leading the charge, Demon flung himself into the din of battle. Attacks were fired all around him. Fire, ice, lightning, earth, darkness, light, bullets, shells, arrows… They all hurdled through the air. Some whizzed past his head. Some impacted his arms and legs, but he simply brushed them off. Most of the attacks were nothing to him. It would take an Ultimate level to even cut him.

A Garudamon ahead of him unleashed a Shadow Wing on him. A fiery phoenix spirit erupted from the avian humanoid and swooped towards the bestial demon lord. Demon looked up and raised his large hand. "Algol's Flame."

The dark flames of hell surged from Demon's palm and consumed the phoenix before it could touch him. The flames enveloped and swallowed it, before continuing on and consuming the Garudamon who fired it. He moved his hand and started fanning the flames outwards, hoping to catch more of the soldiers in the inferno as well.

"Spread out! The Demon Lord is dangerous!" a command was issued to the Republic's troops. "Wait until Alphamon gets here!"

"I said attack!" Demon shouted angrily to his troops, pointing forwards.

The Nightmare Soldiers complied and started racing forwards, launching their natural ranged attacks and surging forwards in a wave attack. Many were felled by the concentrated blasts of the Republic's soldiers, but those who didn't punctured through the lines and started engaging the enemies in close range, causing havoc. It was a costly strategy, but it was proving effective. The defenders' lines were constantly being compromised and they continually were pushed back in order to consolidate their defences. It was capitalizing on the Nightmare Soldiers' natural blood frenzy – Demon hardly even needed to use his Wrath aura to get them into that state. He did, however, give them that extra push they needed…

Demon surged forwards and ploughed his magical knuckles into the cheek of a Shakkoumon, shattering its head entirely. Deep within the ranks of the Republican soldiers, he spun around and grabbed the neck of a virus type MetalGreymon. With amazing strength, he lifted the thirty foot dinosaur off of the ground and crushed his throat, metal circuits and all.

The ireful Demon Lord raised his hands and summoned a crackling, black maelstrom within his palms. "Chaos Flare!" Demon shouted. Fire exploded from his palms and swept through the sky in the form of a twisting, roaring, black inferno.

The infernal torrent howled as it burnt the very air and consumed three Republican soldiers unlucky enough to be unable to evade. They were swallowed up by the flames and crushed under Demon's dark might, obliterated within seconds. As their data began to float away, Demon suddenly rushed forwards and loaded the data into his body. He snarled and began taking in data from all those that were dying around him, friend and foe alike.

Demon snarled with satisfaction. He felt just a little bit stronger. They would need the strength of the defeated in order to succeed in their goals. Demon needed to be stronger so that he could take revenge against God itself.

It was then that he felt something. Pain. A slight stabbing pain in his back – no more than a pin prick. Demon wondered if it was from loading the data.

The Demon Lord of Wrath slowly turned around. Hovering in place behind him was Paildramon, who glared up at him with malevolent hatred. She had driven her Esgrima spikes into Demon's back. Due to Demon being a very powerful Ultimate level, he had a very high concentration of data, which meant that his defences were resistant to most Perfect levels. However, Paildramon had stabbed him with such intensity, that the wrist spikes were able to dig into his fur-covered skin. It was only a centimeter deep, but just enough to draw two beads of blood.

Demon observed her coldly. He was about to spin around and crush her skull. However, he hesitated for a moment. There was something about her that resonated with him. He stared into her eyes with his irritated violet ones. She stared up at him, unwavering. There was no fear. Only anger. Pure and utter rage.

Demon raised his eyebrow, and there was a glimmer of interest in his otherwise callous gaze. It was as if he could see something in her that others couldn't. "…Such… fury…" he murmured. He sounded amused… maybe even impressed.

Paildramon didn't respond. She merely aimed her hip cannons and started pummeling him with beam bullets at point blank range. The blasts tore into him again and again, splitting apart against his fur and sending the smoke of positrons wafting up around them.

"You're in my way," he grunted, unperturbed by her savage attack.

He swung his giant arm around and slammed it into Paildramon's side. He hit with such strength, though not even close to his full power, that he easily swatted her out of the air. Paildramon was sent flying into the stone wall of a building.

Her armoured back crashed against the side of the building and the stone split around her. Her helmet rang, her back ached, and her wing and tail were scraped. She slid down the side of the building and crashed onto the sidewalk.

Paildramon hunched over and coughed, wind and saliva sputtering out of her mouth and against her helmet from the brutal impact. She knew that he had hit her with only a fraction of his true strength. She had only been an annoyance to him. "So… strong…" she whispered, grimacing as she tried to compose herself.

"Over here! This one's hurt!" a scraggly voice yelled out. Paildramon looked up and saw an Evilmon pointing at her, trying to get his demon comrades to gang up on her. "Get h—"

Paildramon silenced him with a single shot through the imp's gaping mouth. She pulled herself to her feet and flapped her wings. Her anger fueled her resolve. She was focused on only one thing: Demon.

Narrowing her eyes, she propelled herself through the air like a rocket. Paildramon beat her sore wings and soared down the chaotic, concrete valley. "Desperado Blaster!" she shouted, strafing whatever demon Digimon was closest to her as she passed them. As two Adult-level demons fell around her, perforated by laser bullets, she continued rising in the sky.

She was fixated on Demon. She watched as the Lord of Wrath drove his claws through a Yatagaramon's stomach before throwing the crow aside. As the giant bird crumpled to the ground, images of ExVeemon flashed through her mind. She wondered if that's how he died, or if it was something even worse.

Her pure rage only deepened. Her blood boiled. All she could think about was hurting Demon.

A NeoDevimon got in between her and Demon, extending his long, gangly arm towards her, which was wreathed with black energy. "Guilty Claw!" he shouted.

At the same time, an Astamon flew up to her right and began spraying homing bullets towards her.

Paildramon sneered derisively at the threats, who she viewed merely as obstacles at this point. She dextrously swerved to the right to avoid the plunging claw. She looked up at the NeoDevimon, the closer and more immediate danger.

"Wire Punch!" she yelled, firing her wire-guided claws towards the demon. The masked devil tried his best to dodge them, but the wires surrounded him and wrapped around his arms and body. With her target ensnared, Paildramon began retracting the wires as fast as possible. She pulled the NeoDevimon against her body and angled him towards the Astamon, just in time to use him as a shield against the Astamon's homing bullets.

The aristocratic demon's bullets plunged into the NeoDevimon's chest; Paildramon raised her own cannons on both sides of the snarling, writhing fallen angel. "Desperado Blaster!" Paildramon shouted from behind her hostage, unleashing a flurry of beam bullets at the Astamon.

The Astamon snarled as he was shot through the shin and immediately returned fire. The bullets continued to pierce through the NeoDevimon's body, with a few of them getting all the way through and hitting Paildramon's armour. Continuing to use her demonic meat shield, Paildramon fired the wires from her other hand, wrapping them around the Astamon's submachine gun and tearing it from his grasp.

With the Astamon wounded and disarmed, she began riddling his body with a continuous burst of beam bullets. As the bloodied goat-headed demon began breaking apart in the sky, Paildramon quickly and methodically drove her wrist spike through the back of the NeoDevimon's skull before releasing him too.

The two obstacles now deleted, Paildramon turned back towards her real target: Demon. She looked around the dark and chaotic sky, trying to reorient herself.

After a moment, she spotted the dark, violet body of Demon against the fire-hued sky. She watched as Demon crushed the skull of a struggling AeroVeedramon soldier within his massive, fiery claws before casting the body aside.

Seeing this, Paildramon rage intensified and she snarled furiously. She chased after him from behind, though he was already moving away from her, further down the road.

Paildramon tore towards him, both of her wrist spikes extended. She closed in on him, poising her arms with the intention of driving her spikes through his neck. "Die," she thought, starting to push her arms forwards.

Demon nonchalantly swerved and the spikes stabbed harmlessly though his stygian hair. The Demon Lord of Wrath spun around and, as if batting away an annoying fly, bashed her across the face with the side of his claws. His hand exploded with magic when it hit her in the cheek, and all she could see was a flash of red. The impact sent a thin crack in the side of her red helmet and sent her crashing clear through the wall of a building.

As the wall crumbled around her, Paildramon crashed to the stone-covered floor, unmoving at first. After a few moments of grimacing, she opened her bloodshot eyes. Her vision of blurry and flickering with stars. There was an intense pain in her jaw. She placed her claws against the floor and pushed herself up slowly. As she did, she could feel blood drip down from her cheek to her chin, pooling in the basin of her helmet. Though painful, the cut wasn't very bad. She brushed it off.

The dragon woman got to her hands and knees and stared out the hole that Demon had thrown her through. Demon cast her a cruel, pitiable gaze over his shoulder as he raised a hand ignited with purple flames.

"You are so very angry… but what good is anger if you don't have the power to do anything with it?" Demon scorned derisively. "Without strength, you are nothing more than a bug… beating feebly against the wind until your wings are torn off."

At Demon's mocking, Paildramon's head seemed to burn. Her mind went numb and her blood pumped to her head. She pulled herself to her feet and spread her wings, still looking at the floor. As a single drop of blood trickled down her neck from under her helmet, Paildramon raised her head to reveal her blood red eyes, pupils narrowed, glaring with feral rage at Demon.

"Power…?" she whispered, staggering towards the crumbling hole in the fifth floor of the building. As she moved, her body flickered with a dark grey aura. "You want power…?"

Paildramon spread her wings and jumped into the air. She snarled and raced towards Demon. That same grey aura started to emerge around her form, seeping out of the gaps in her armour. Paildramon's body became enshrouded in the dark grey haze.

Then the cloud erupted in a blast of light, like a thundercloud flickering with lightning. "I'll show you my power!" Paildramon shouted, her frenzied face becoming engulfed in the blinding white light of evolution. "Kyuukyoku Shinka!" she shouted.

The white light of holy, draconic power seemed to blot and turn as grey as the dark clouds overhead. Even so, her form grew in size, becoming that of a true dragon. Her azure body, armoured in black and gold armour, burst from the pillar of light, snarling with rage. Tendrils of dark light drifted off of her red helmet and wings as she tore through the night sky.

"…Imperialdramon!"

Power coursed through her body. The pure, unadulterated power of a dragon. The power bestowed on her by Qinglongmon. When she evolved to this form, she felt like she was throwing off heavy shackles. She felt like she could let loose. All of the constraints that society placed on her… that her father placed on her… that she placed on herself. They all seemed to melt away.

It was a form of overwhelming strength. So great, that it would crush the weak and unworthy. She wasn't weak. She conquered this form when she first evolved to it. She bent its power to her will. She tamed it and harnessed it. She was strong…

So strong…

The power coursed through her veins. It pulsed in her head. She would show Demon just how strong she was… by tearing him to pieces.

She released a roar that cracked through the sky like a thunderclap following a bolt of lightning. Paildramon – Imperialdramon – soared down the street like a raging tempest. The long blades on her forelegs tore through any demon Digimon that she passed, while her massive, armoured body bowled over any foolish enough or slow enough to get in her way.

With her remarkable speed, she closed the distance on Demon in no time. Her mind was a hot crimson and she fixated on Demon with tunnel vision. Despite her myopic focus, her instincts were at an all time high. Without even looking, she slammed her heavy tail into the body of a Phelesmon that tried to jump her from behind. Imperialdramon would not be stopped.

Demon, having already turned his attention away from her in order to survey the battlefield, couldn't help but turn around when he sensed an extreme aura of power behind him. As he turned his horned, demonic head, Demon didn't have time to react as Imperialdramon ploughed her powerful body into him.

She drove her horned forehead and clawed foot into his body, carrying him through the air and crushing him clear into the building across the street. As their bodies crashed into the stone walls, the entire building gave way and collapsed around them in a thick cloud of dust.

The heavy pieces of stone on top of her body were nothing to Imperialdramon, and she began to shake them off. She could feel a mass of fur squirming beneath her. The dragon snarled and began to build up energy within her mouth. If she could fire at Demon at point blank range…

Before she could finish that thought, she felt a fist dig deep into her scaled belly. Her blank, red eyes widened with pain, and the fist impacted her hard enough to lift her off the ground.

As Demon held Imperialdramon over his head, he gazed up at her with a withering glare. "Do you truly believe that this evens the playing field?" he asked her, twisting his fist in her gut painfully. "Your nascent power is laughable… You are but a pebble in my way – an irritant on my righteous quest to destroy God." His eyes cruelly burned with infernal, blue flames. "I am Demon. I am the Demon Lord of Wrath. Whatever anger you feel withers in comparison to mine." His eyes glowed with a dangerous, blue gleam.

"Squirm, wither, and die in your insignificance," he scathingly told her. "Flame Inferno."

A pillar of fire flowed from his hands and coursed across Imperialdramon's body at point blank range. The streams of fire coursed across her body and parted around her. A roar of pain and anger bellowed from her throat.

"Over-sergeant!" a voice shouted.

A black knight descended from the night sky, a holy sword in one hand, and the other glowing with energy. An emerald beam shot across the street horizontally and crashed into Demon. The Demon Lord was forcibly thrown away and Imperialdramon retreated into the air.

Though her body smoked with lingering embers, Imperialdramon shrugged off the pain. She refused to waste her chance. She spread her wings wide and unleashed a powerful gust of explosive energy into the place where the building collapsed. "Eternal Zeal!" she shouted, flapping her wings, and watching as the entire area below her erupted in a massive explosion.

The blast consumed Demon and he was pressed against the ground. However, he resisted and pushed against it, straining his body against the flames. When the fiery blast began to die down, Demon rose up with a gentle snarl and dusted himself off. He stared up at Imperialdramon, and watched as Alphamon flew over to her.

"Over-sergeant. Imperialdramon. Are you okay?" he asked her, flying up beside her face. "You need to retreat."

"No!" Imperialdramon snarled, glaring down as Demon rose. Her frustration only deepened when he seemed to brush off her attack once again. She was about to dive down, but Alphamon placed a hand on her shoulder armour.

"Stop!" he told her, his voice growing forceful and serious. "Demon's too powerful. You can't take him alone. And not in this form either; your attacks are too destructive. There will be too much collateral damage."

"I don't care about that!" Imperialdramon growled, shaking off his hand. Her features darkened as her toothy scowl deepened. "I need to kill them."

Alphamon was taken aback. He stared at her with confusion and concern, trying to deduce what had caused such a dramatic shift in her personality. "Imperialdramon… What happened?" he asked weightily.

Imperialdramon stalled. Her teeth clenched and a black mist escaped her mouth as she released an uneven breath. She looked like she was about to reply.

However, her attention refocused when Demon flapped his wings. He began hurdling towards them.

"Damn you…" Imperialdramon breathed, flying forwards. She angled her back-mounted cannon down and prepared to fire it at the rising demon. "Positron Laser!" she shouted. Her cannon exploded with positronic energy and sent a giant, spiralling beam towards Demon.

"Imperialdramon, wait—" Alphamon attempted to stop her.

Demon flapped his wings and veered out of the way of the beam's path. Imperialdramon tried to alter her shot, but Demon swerved in at an angle and closed in too quickly. "Hammer Knuckle!" he shouted, driving his mighty fist into Imperialdramon's side.

The dragon was sent crashing out of the air, the sudden blow causing her beam to veer off course and start tearing through buildings and down the middle of the street. The beam dissipated as she skidded across the ground on her armoured side. Two buildings that she split in half began collapsing.

Alphamon narrowed his eyes and raised his hand towards Demon. "Digitalize of Soul!" he shouted, beginning to fire a volley of green lasers from his palm at the Demon Lord. Demon grunted and climbed swiftly to avoid the blasts, kept at bay by Alphamon's suppressing fire.

Imperialdramon snarled and dragged herself to her feet. She stared up at Demon and began to take off.

Alphamon noticed her attack and flapped his own wings, veering directly in front of her path. "Stop!" he ordered her, his words booming. "Hold your attack, over-sergeant!"

Imperialdramon just barely stopped in front of him, the barest glimmer of her rational mind restraining her. "But…"

"You aren't strong enough to fight him!" Alphamon chastised her as he raced through the sky, chasing down Demon. "He is a Demon Lord. His power exceeds that even of a normal Ultimate level! If you fight him, you will only put yourself in unnecessary danger. Go find the Greymon Five; you are supposed to be leading them!"

These words struck deep into Imperialdramon's core. They were enough to stop her in her place. A painful chord was struck, and it started bringing back all of the emotions that she had been burying.

"Not strong enough…?" she thought to herself as she flew in place. The previous ten minutes replayed in her mind. Each time she had tried to attack Demon, he had beaten her handily. He had struck her down repeatedly. She hadn't been able to lay a claw on him…

Intense feelings of helplessness began to come flooding back. It was the familiar feeling of doubt and hopelessness… the feeling that she couldn't accomplish anything. It was these same feelings that she felt whenever she confronted her father.

"…He's right. I'm not strong enough…" she realised. "I will never amount to anything… I will never be anything that can bring pride to our family… I wasn't strong enough to save ExVeemon. I'm not even strong enough to take revenge for him. I will never be able to show my worth. Not when I'm so weak…"

The image of her smiling brother passed through her racing mind. However, he faded, and became replaced with her father towering over her, staring down at her judgmentally.

"If only Father accepted… If only he understood… If only he wasn't so… If only he…If only he… It's all because of him… If it weren't for him… He wouldn't be…!"

As these broken thoughts passed through Imperialdramon's clouded mind, she stared blankly into the chaotic abyss in front of her. Black mist escaped her mouth and began seeping from her armour.

Rather than sorrow, her heart felt nothing but emptiness. She didn't care what happened to the city. She didn't care what happened to anybody else. She didn't care what happened to herself. All she cared about… was vengeance.

A heavy snarl rumbled in her throat. Within the empty void of her heart, a tiny flame reignited. The flame of hatred. The flame got bigger… and bigger… and bigger. It grew into an inferno that began to consume her. Her form flickered blackly.

Her stunned, lethargic state shattered, and Imperialdramon burst into action, reinvigorated. She turned away from Alphamon and Demon and began looking around fervently. She took in the scent of battle, and looked for enemies with ultra alert perception.

She beat her wings and zipped down the length of the road. If she couldn't fight Demon… there were many she could fight.

A few attacks deflected off her armour. Most of the weaker demons were avoiding the Ultimate level, but several of the Perfect levels felt brave enough to attack her.

She swerved out of the way of a beam and stabbed her Splendor Blade through a MarineDevimon's chest. As blood and ink leaked out, she threw the demon off of her claws.

When she did, something caught her eye in the distance. She was barely able to spot his black form against the dark sky. However, once she caught sight of him, his body was unmistakable. The jagged claws… the red eye… the long pincers…

Her blood-hued eyes widened with fury as they landed on the distant bug. He seemed to be standing still, talking to somebody.

As she turned, more stygian smoke began pouring out of her form, and the red glow of her eyes bled into the darkness around her.

"Grandis…Kuwagamon…"

---

A black figure weaved through the shadows. His wings fluttered like propellers, carrying his body left and right through the chaotic skyscape. Beams, bullets, and arcs of energy shot past him, licking at his heels. He deftly swerved and climbed at just the right times to avoid getting hit.

GrandisKuwagamon looked around rapidly. He panted, sucking in air and breathing out just as fast. Sweat dripped down from his hair before getting flicked away in drops as his head snapped back and forth. His arms tingled; they were taut like elastic bands, ready to release their kinetic energy at a moment's notice.

Around him were flames - billowing flames that consumed buildings. The surroundings were houses that were destroyed, crumbling, collapsing under the power of the assault. The streets below were cracked and scarred by attacks. Impact craters and furrows caused by beams littered the landscape. The scene around him carried a dark nostalgia. But he didn't look. He didn't acknowledge the carnage. He was focused on only one thing – his own survival.

GrandisKuwagamon had thought that he could escape once the attack started, but he couldn't. Every which way he turned, he was faced with Republican soldiers. The order got out that he was to be considered an enemy combatant. He couldn't fight his way through them all, so he didn't try to. He attempted to simply escape, but he was thwarted at every turn.

Now, the battle had caught up with him. The demons had reached far south enough – halfway between the northern gate and the Fountain River – that they had caught up to him. GrandisKuwagamon was now on the front lines, trying to navigate his way somewhere safe, but it was chaos.

He moved like a well-oiled fighting machine. However, his movements were not the calculated algorithms of a machine Digimon, but pure, primal, combat instincts. He acted and reacted. He was improvising as he went. The scarab mercenary didn't have a plan beyond the next thirty seconds. He simply didn't have time to think, and with his adrenaline pumping and his life on the line, his survival instincts took over.

GrandisKuwagamon deflected a burning arrow with the back of his Gran Killer. It took him only a second to spot the Pajiramon a dozen meters away who fired at him from behind a stone barrier. A threat, he mentally catalogued as he drove his foot into a Minotaurmon that tried to punch him with its mechanical fist. The bull tumbled back and then jumped away as an Infermon began raining shells down onto them from its perch atop a twisted lamp post.

The black armoured mercenary jumped away as well as the projectiles threatened to consume him as well. The explosions started to burn at his feet. He merely hissed and flew diagonally upwards. He sensed something behind him. He spun around just in time to block the strike of a lunging SaberLeomon. The giant smilodon snarled and tried to claw at GrandisKuwagamon's chest, but the insect crossed his Gran Killers in front of the feline's claws to block the strike. Using the giant cat's momentum, GrandisKuwagamon back-flipped, causing the SaberLeomon to flip with him, and as they were upside down, GrandisKuwagamon kicked the SaberLeomon in the belly. The Ultimate level feline soldier was thrown away, but landed on his feet on the street below.

"Sir, why are you attacking him?" a Gryzmon called out to the SaberLeomon, glancing up at GrandisKuwagamon. "He's not a demon!"

"As good as! He's working for the Demon Lords," the SaberLeomon snarled back. "He's got no insignia, and we've been told that a GrandisKuwagamon without an insignia is to be considered hostile. Got it?!"

GrandisKuwagamon hissed. He was about to dive down to attack, but another incandescent arrow shot towards him, forcing the fugitive to halt and recoil. As the bolt passed in front of him, GrandisKuwagamon turned back towards the Pajiramon. "Grandis Scissors!" he shouted, unleashing an arcing blast of dark energy from his pincers. The crescent blast sailed towards the Pajiramon and crashed into the stone barrier, causing it to explode and forcing the lamb archer to jump gracefully away.

The black insect looked around him rapidly. His brain was keenly reacting to multiple stimuli at once, and making snap movements in the moment. His highly trained combat instincts were serving him well. He was able to duck, dodge, and counterattack with remarkable reflexes. The spacial awareness of his mind and compound eye were nearly second to none. However, he was focused solely on what was in front of him – on the immediate. Right now, he was unable to think about the bigger picture. He lacked perspective.

After slashing against the metal body of a Maildramon, pushing the armoured Pegasus away, GrandisKuwagamon spun around as a MachGaogamon jetted up to attack him from behind. As the canine Digimon zoomed towards him with his jet pack, there was a sudden snarl behind him, coming from up the street. The MachGaogamon suddenly redirected his path and spun around to take a defensive posture.

GrandisKuwagamon turned and saw a fresh squadron of aerial Nightmare Soldiers speeding towards them. At the front of the platoon was a demonic clown, who summoned swords him out of nowhere and began hurling them towards both GrandisKuwagamon and the Republican soldiers. "Die! Trump Sword!" the Piemon shouted with a wicked smirk as he unleashed his swords towards them.

"What?" GrandisKuwagamon hissed as a sword came flying towards him. He reacted swiftly enough that he was able to dodge, causing the sword to merely knick his arm.

A Phelesmon soldier then descended on GrandisKuwagamon to follow up the attack, fully intending on skewering his face on his pitchfork. GrandisKuwagamon's eye widened as the pitchfork came down. Acting on pure instinct, he swerved to the side, the pitchfork scratching along his shoulder armour, and he plunged his Gran Killer straight through the Phelesmon's chest.

As blood spurted onto his Gran Killer, GrandisKuwagamon snarled angrily. "Damn it! I'm on your side, you idiots!" he shouted to the demons and the dying Phelesmon.

"Kill them! Team up against the bug and the cat!" the Piemon officer shouted, not recognizing GrandisKuwagamon as an ally.

GrandisKuwagamon swore as he started catching fire from the Infermon again. Several fresh barrages of attacks came sailing down on him from the troupe of Nightmare Soldiers. Meanwhile, behind him he had to dodge the attacks fired into the air from the Republican soldiers behind him.

An arrow stabbed into the back of his shoulder, digging into his carapace. He cussed up a storm and yanked the shining bolt out, while also zigzagging back and forth through the air. He was sandwiched between two groups that viewed him as an enemy. Neither side recognised him as an ally. He began to recognise the grim reality of his situation, if only slightly. He still focused solely on protecting himself.

Rather than fighting the two sides, GrandisKuwagamon turned around and started flying away. He had to extract himself from the situation, and fast. He swerved around the side of a building, and started flying down an intersecting street. He tried to ignore the explosions and the fires around him.

It was him against the world. He was used to that, he thought.

Then why did he have a sinking feeling in his chest? It was like he was getting sucked down and had no power to stop himself. The feeling was sickening familiar…

Was this the control that he sold his soul to gain?

---

VictoryGreymon wandered aimlessly down the street. Pieces of stone and wood littered the road. The attacks streaking across the sky ahead served as a cue that he was heading in the right direction. He had heard that the Demon Lords were pressing deeper into the heart of the city, so he decided to head towards the front lines like he was supposed to. Although his legs moved, his mind was elsewhere.

He was in a state of shock. His heart still ached from seeing the dreadful state of his father, and all he could think about was whether or not his dad would live or die. The worry and heartache that he was feeling was indescribable. He only barely remembered that the battle was still raging on. He had had just enough presence of mind to pick up his Dramon Breaker as he was leaving the remains of the brewery.

A stray attack barrelled out of the sky and impacted the ground several meters beside him. Although he was unharmed, the loud crash and the concussive wave caused him to stumble to the side. This knocked him out of his trance. VictoryGreymon held his sword and tail out for balance, and he shook his head.

It reminded him that there was still a battle going on. People still needed him. The Royal Knights were depending on him. More than that, his best friends were fighting. VictoryGreymon realised that he needed to find them. He wasn't going to let another person that he loved get hurt. He had to make sure they were alright.

He knew that he had to fight.

VictoryGreymon's teary, emerald eyes tightened and burned with the fire of determination. He gripped the Dramon Breaker tightly in his hands, recently wiped clean of his father's blood. With a renewed resolve, VictoryGreymon began running.

He dashed down the street towards where the fighting was. He could tell that that was where he needed to be by the sound of shouting and explosions, as well as the flying Digimon trading attacks with each other in the sky. Even though it was dark out, the beams and bursts of digital power illuminated the night.

The dragon warrior hoped that his friends were in this direction, but he wasn't sure how much the front lines had shifted. The battle was fluid, and different units had to react accordingly by moving to different locations on the fly. Even he knew that.

VictoryGreymon readied the Dramon Breaker as he ran past the next intersection. He continued charging down the road. As he blinked away the residual tears in his eyes, he kept focused on the sky ahead of him.

He could see a string of attacks fan the sky above. VictoryGreymon stopped and looked up. The barrage of lasers seemed to be targeting something in particular. The dragon man squinted and peered into the cloudy night sky. He could barely make out a silhouette twisting and turning acrobatically to avoid the attacks.

The sound of gunfire increased in volume. VictoryGreymon looked to his left and saw a MetalGarurumon X-Antibody running out from a side street and into the intersection ahead of him. He watched as the MetalGarurumon X-Antibody fired a barrage of bullets at the figure from his arm-mounted Gatling gun up.

"I'll get you…" the bipedal MetalGarurumon growled. "Take this!"

A high calibre beam coursed from the cyborg's shoulder cannon. The white beam streaked into the dark abyss, aiming at the shrouded figure.

The dark, misty figure turned and dove out of the way at the last moment. He burst out of the fog that seemed to be following him around, and his figure was illuminated by the flash of light. The light revealed the black, reflective carapace of a humanoid beetle.

It was GrandisKuwagamon.

VictoryGreymon stopped in his tracks, his stomach tightening and his heart skipping a beat. His reddened eyes went wide as he recognised the Digimon. "G-Grandis…?"

He stalled. His minds were filled with questions. What was GrandisKuwagamon doing there? He was supposed to be on the run. Was he hiding out in New Terminal and got caught up in the attack?

Although VictoryGreymon knew he was technically an enemy – he did fight him and try to escape the last time they met, after all – he still didn't want the Republic's soldiers shooting at him. Maybe they were fighting on the same side this time. Maybe he could talk to him. Maybe…

As the thoughts raced through his mind and feelings rushed through his heart, VictoryGreymon simply knew that he had to act. Without thinking, VictoryGreymon ran down the street and dashed up beside the MetalGarurumon X-Antibody. "Hey! Wait!" VictoryGreymon shouted, catching the MetalGarurumon's attention. "Stop firing! Please! He's not a demon!"

The metallic, cyborg wolf looked down at VictoryGreymon with a mixture of confusion and irritation. "What? Didn't you hear?" he asked VictoryGreymon. "That GrandisKuwagamon is working for the Demon Lords! He's the bastard who unlocked the gate! He's a traitor!"

These words hit VictoryGreymon like a tonne of bricks. They seemed to sink down his throat, into his heart, and then down into the depths of his stomach. "W…What…?" he asked, utterly stunned. VictoryGreymon stared up into the darkness at GrandisKuwagamon, watching as the beetle looped down to avoid attacks being thrown at him from the demons. "I don't understand…"

"He…"

The image of his mortally wounded father flashed in his mind.

"He's the one…"

VictoryGreymon looked around at the ruined city, watching the flames pouring up into the sky.

"He did this…?"

A fire ignited in VictoryGreymon's aching heart. His pupils shrunk and an uncharacteristic, terrifying look of rage appeared on the dragon's face.

"Stay back. Go to the front lines," VictoryGreymon told the MetalGarurumon X-Antibody. He shouldered the Dramon Breaker and began to jog down the street. "I'll handle him!"

"What? On your own? Are you sure?" the MetalGarurumon sceptically asked.

"It's something I need to do!" VictoryGreymon shouted back, picking up speed as he ran. His eyes were fixed on the shadowy figure dancing in the dark sky.

Once he reached a full sprint, VictoryGreymon leapt off the ground, soaring into the air using the metallic wings on his back. Although he was a bulky, muscular Digimon, he wasn't slow. Once he picked up speed, he was like a charging Rhinomon. VictoryGreymon hurled himself through the sky, making a direct path towards the mercenary who he had called a friend.

"Why?"

VictoryGreymon's angry eyes glistened as the flames of a nearby building reflected in his irises. All the pain that he felt… all the pain that surrounded him. He had to know why. He had to know his reasons… even if he had to fight him to hear them.

GrandisKuwagamon swiftly brought up his Gran Killers in front of his face to protect himself from a salvo of bullets, fired at him from an Infermon. "Fucking demons!" GrandisKuwagamon spat. "Who do you think opened that damn gate for you?!"

The black insect, unaware of the dragon man speeding towards him from behind, swerved around another string of shots and started diving towards the spider-like virus Digimon that was clinging onto the side of a building. As GrandisKuwagamon neared the Infermon, the demonic spider lunged from one building to the other, losing sight of GrandisKuwagamon in the process.

The Infermon climbed up to the roof for a better vantage point. However, as soon as it climbed onto the ledge of the roof, GrandisKuwagamon was already there, waiting. GrandisKuwagamon snarled and snapped his pincers shut around the Infermon, who tucked its long neck and legs into its shell for protections.

"This is your own damn fault!" GrandisKuwagamon yelled in frustration, tightening his mandibles against the thick shell. "Grandis Scissors!"

With a massive amount of force, GrandisKuwagamon tightened his pincers. The dimension-cutting nature of his blades was able to break through. The pincers broke through the Infermon's sturdy cocoon and cut the creature in half with a burst of black goo and electricity. As the two pieces fell onto the roof and began to degrade into data, GrandisKuwagamon hovered in place for just a moment. He needed to catch his breath.

He took in breath, and hovered in place. In the corner of his eye, he could see flames. Flames all around him. For a moment, he thought he could feel the heat against his shell. The distant din of battle began to morph into something else. He could have sworn that he heard a child's cries.

He wasn't sure why, but he began to feel a deep unease.

Then, his instincts kicked in again. He felt the separation of air. Before he knew it, there was a hulking figure closing in on him from behind. He began to spin around in an attempt to stab whatever was behind him. He reacted too slowly.

"GRANDIIIIIIIS!" a deep voice bellowed.

GrandisKuwagamon spun around to face a hulking dragon. In the brief milliseconds that passed in that moment, GrandisKuwagamon recognised the form of VictoryGreymon about to plough into him. In the flicker of time, his eye widened.

And then VictoryGreymon slammed into him. He drove his broad, armoured shoulder into GrandisKuwagamon's gut and tackled him through the air. VictoryGreymon hooked his arms under the insect Digimon's shoulders and held onto him, flying them down the street.

"Oof!" GrandisKuwagamon gasped, doubling over as the wind escaped his throat. He felt like he had been hit by a Locomon. He tried to move his Gran Killers, but he was unable to stab down due to VictoryGreymon's hold. He attempted to beat his wings hard enough to resist, but it barely made a difference against the sheer momentum of VictoryGreymon's charge. He barely had time to think as VictoryGreymon carried him through the battle-torn sky.

VictoryGreymon kept a tight hold on GrandisKuwagamon and kept tackling him. He drove them down the length of the road. He didn't have any particular area that he was taking them. He was just so focused on GrandisKuwagamon that he knew he had to keep going until he was stopped. VictoryGreymon just kept a tight hold on GrandisKuwagamon and noticed a large building ahead of them. Even if he wanted to, there was no stopping now. He had to fight him. It was the only way.

VictoryGreymon let out a deep snarl of determination and careened towards the building. With a shout, VictoryGreymon drove the pair of them into the building's stone wall. They impacted the wall with enough power that they burst clear through the stone surface, shattered the wall, and proceeded to the other side. VictoryGreymon grunted as the fracturing rock rung against his chrome digizoid helmet, but he kept going. He burst through a few more of the building walls before finally bursting out the stone exterior.

GrandisKuwagamon grunted with pain as his head and back collided with the thick stone. It was when they crashed through the opposite side of the building that VictoryGreymon's hold was loose enough that the bug Digimon was able to kick himself away.

The two separated and recoiled, each wavering in the air. Both panting, they took a moment to get their bearings. They were hovering over a wide intersection over the main thoroughfare. It was a few blocks south of the front lines, and a decent distance away from the river where Leviamon was fighting. The streets below them showed the damage of battle. While the ground was mostly flat, there were a few craters puncturing different areas across the road. It was also devoid of Digimon, as most of the fighting was going on further north. The area was wide enough for them to fight without holding back.

"Victory… Greymon…?" GrandisKuwagamon asked, breathing in as he recovered from the brutal attack. "What the hell are you doing here?"

VictoryGreymon merely stared into GrandisKuwagamon's eyes with a determination that Grandis had never seen from him before. "Grandis… I'm going to stop you," he told him.

GrandisKuwagamon nearly laughed. "Stop me…? You think I'm gonna let you stop me now? After everything I've done to escape?" he challenged him.

VictoryGreymon took the Dramon Breaker in both hands, bringing it down and pointing the tip at GrandisKuwagamon. "This is your last chance, Grandis. Surrender now… or I'm going to have to fight you."

At this threat, GrandisKuwagamon merely smirked and took a fighting stance. "I won't surrender. In fact, I've been itching for a round two with you. Except, things are going to be different this time. This time, you're going down!"

With that declaration, GrandisKuwagamon began zipping towards VictoryGreymon at high speeds. He plunged his Gran Killers towards VictoryGreymon's side, but the dragon warrior was ready. He moved the Dramon Breaker to block the swift stab and then charged forwards, slamming the broad side of the claymore into Grandis' body.

GrandisKuwagamon hissed and darted to the side, slamming his foot into VictoryGreymon's back as he passed by. VictoryGreymon spun around, heaving the massive sword around horizontally at GrandisKuwagamon. The mercenary brought up his Gran Killers to block the attack, but he was barely able to defend himself against the heavy blow. The hunk of metal slammed into his armoured forearms with enough power to send Grandis hurdling back several meters in the air. With a massive scuff along his bracers, Grandis noted that he couldn't block those attacks; he had to dodge them.

"Why are you doing this?!" VictoryGreymon shouted at him as he beset on GrandisKuwagamon with another strike.

"Why do you think?!" GrandisKuwagamon fired back, watching as the Dramon Breaker swung over VictoryGreymon's head and descended. He timed his dodge just right, swerving to the side in time to dodge the vertical slash. With VictoryGreymon vulnerable while recovering, GrandisKuwagamon took the chance. He back handed VictoryGreymon across his face with his metal gauntlet. The metal pounded VictoryGreymon's cheek and knocked him to the side, but he responded by lashing his arm out and karate chopping GrandisKuwagamon across the face.

GrandisKuwagamon winced at the powerful strike, but he used the momentum of his spinning to drive his foot into VictoryGreymon's side. He kicked off of the dragon and performed a backwards flip, his pincer shining with energy. "Grandis Scissors!" he shouted, unleashing an arc of space-cutting dark energy from his forceps. The crescent arc slammed into VictoryGreymon's armoured side painfully before splitting around it. It sent a spider-like crack against the thick plate armour, but didn't break through, a testament to the durability of chrome digizoid.

"My armour's chrome digizoid, Grandis!" VictoryGreymon shouted, spinning towards him and bringing the Dramon Breaker down.

Grandis saw the falling sword and reacted by swerving to the side, but he wasn't able to avoid it entirely. The heavy broadsword crashed down on Grandis' armoured shoulder. The metal screeched against the black pauldron and left a nasty dent in it. The impact was powerful that Grandis felt his shoulder strain against its socket. "Rrrgh!" he snarled in pain, plummeting to the ground from the sheer weight of the blow.

He landed on the stone road and looked up. He watched as VictoryGreymon followed up by descending after him. The dragon warrior held the Dramon Breaker in an underhand stance, planning to crush GrandisKuwagamon into the ground.

GrandisKuwagamon lunged and rolled out of the way as the massive sword crashed into the spot where he had been standing. It hit the ground with enough force that a there was an explosion of dust and stone, and a small fissure formed down the street when the Dramon Breaker dug into the road. Again, VictoryGreymon was slow to recover – the downside of using such a powerful and heavy weapon like the Dramon Breaker.

The beetle mercenary took full advantage. He closed in and stabbed his right Gran Killer in the same spot at VictoryGreymon's waste that he hit with his Grandis Scissors. This time, the Gran Killer was able to penetrate just a few centimeters – enough to breach VictoryGreymon's scales with a burst of sharp pain and three drops of blood.

"You might have chrome digizoid armour, but my Gran Killers are more than a match. Everything breaks eventually, with enough pressure," GrandisKuwagamon smugly pointed out.

VictoryGreymon winced as the pin pricks hit his scales. He lashed out and drove his elbow into Grandis' face. GrandisKuwagamon's snarled as the bone cracked against his nose. His gaze blurred for a moment and he smelled blood.

VictoryGreymon followed up on his advantage, shouting mightily. He lunged at GrandisKuwagamon and cracked his knuckles across the mercenary's cheek. A punch from VictoryGreymon was like a being bit by a tree trunk. It was hard enough to send GrandisKuwagamon staggering off his feet. As GrandisKuwagamon stumbled to the side, VictoryGreymon raised the Dramon Breaker and held it out to catch Grandis against the metal. With GrandisKuwagamon where he wanted him, VictoryGreymon raced forwards and cracked his knuckles across GrandisKuwagamon's mouth. The impact was strong enough that VictoryGreymon decked GrandisKuwagamon to the ground.

The scarab warrior fell right on his winged back. He tasted blood and felt it trickling out of the corner of his mouth. However, he wasn't down for long. With VictoryGreymon looming over him, GrandisKuwagamon swept his feet out, kicking out VictoryGreymon's leg while also spinning himself around in a break-dance style helicopter kick so that he could flip to his feet.

With VictoryGreymon on a knee, and GrandisKuwagamon standing over him, the insect decided to raise his foot and drive it into VictoryGreymon's snout. VictoryGreymon's head jerked back, and the dark mercenary pressed his advantage. He tried to get in another stomp, but this time, the dragon was ready. VictoryGreymon caught the sole of his foot in his crushing grip. He held on hard enough that GrandisKuwagamon couldn't pull his foot away.

"Stop this…" VictoryGreymon warned him, staring up at GrandisKuwagamon. "Just stop already! Or else I'll stop you myself!"

"I'll stop when you're on the ground," GrandisKuwagamon retorted acerbically. With one leg restrained, he decided to jump up and kick his free leg across VictoryGreymon's face. The dragon man was forced to let go as his head jerked sideways. He planted his sword against the ground and stood to his feet. He was ready to swing at GrandisKuwagamon, but the mobile insect had already vanished from sight.

A presence loomed behind him. Before VictoryGreymon could reach, a set of pincers snapped shut around his arms, pinning his biceps to his sides. "Agh!" VictoryGreymon cried out as the forceps clamped him tightly. They began to cut off circulation and they threatened to dig into his scales. The worst part was that he couldn't move his arms to defend himself.

"Hah! You're too damn slow. Too slow and stupid!" GrandisKuwagamon taunted him. "You can't beat me just with pure strength like last time. You got lucky, but I'm smarter than you. I've got you outclassed at every angle." For emphasis, he squeezed VictoryGreymon with his mandibles tighter. "I've got you."

VictoryGreymon grimaced helplessly and hunched over, trying to wiggle free. As hard as his muscles strained against Grandis' tight hold, he couldn't break free, even with his sheer strength. However, as Grandis spoke, something crossed his mind.

"Ungh… You might be smarter than me… but being smart isn't everything. Just like… how strength isn't everything." VictoryGreymon spoke through pained groans. "It's about… what you do… in the moment… with what you have."

GrandisKuwagamon was about to retort, but VictoryGreymon wasn't finished. VictoryGreymon raised his head and stood up straight. Although his biceps were pinned, he could still move his forearms upwards. "And, Grandis…?"

"I've got you." VictoryGreymon released the Dramon Breaker from his grasp and reached up to grab GrandisKuwagamon's mandibles. He gripped them tightly, and he refused to let go. As the Dramon Breaker crashed the ground, VictoryGreymon suddenly pushed his legs and threw them both into the air. With his strength, he was able to lift GrandisKuwagamon off the ground. He started flying towards the buildings on one of the corners of the intersection.

"H-Hey!" GrandisKuwagamon stammered as he was lifted up against his will. "Bastard. What do you think you're-" GrandisKuwagamon looked up and saw the pair of them speeding towards the building. "Damn it…!" He desperately started to release VictoryGreymon from his grasp. Although the pressure was alleviated from VictoryGreymon's arms, the dragon man was holding onto his mandibles tightly enough to keep him in place.

He struggled to free his pincers, but VictoryGreymon was too powerful. The dragon man drove them into the corner of the building, curving in a way that GrandisKuwagamon would hit the building instead of him. The scarab crashed into the stone corner spine-first, the rock scraping down his winged back. VictoryGreymon winced at the contact; GrandisKuwagamon hit the building hard enough to release him from his grasp, his pincers cutting along VictoryGreymon's biceps as they pulled away.

GrandisKuwagamon fell towards the ground but he started beating his battered and pained wings. He glared up at VictoryGreymon with a dangerous, crimson glow in his eye. He wondered where VictoryGreymon's sudden resolve came from. He had to take him seriously. It couldn't be like last time.

"You… stupid… lizard…" the beetle hissed malevolently, his breath shaking. "If you think I'm gonna let you defeat me again… you're even stupider than I thought!"

GrandisKuwagamon started zipping towards VictoryGreymon. As he did, a fog suddenly began to roll in from around the corners of the buildings. Despite the battle happening blocks away, GrandisKuwagamon conjured the mist of out thin air. He flew in an erratic, zigzag pattern that made his movements hard to predict. As he closed in on VictoryGreymon, he began circling around him like a predator.

VictoryGreymon tried his best to keep track of the evasive enemy. He was aware that Grandis had a speed advantage over him. He knew he'd have to change his tactics up to better match the agile enemy.

GrandisKuwagamon swooped in from behind and stabbed at VictoryGreymon's back. The dragon warrior reacted with breakneck speed, detaching the metal wings from his back and forming a large shield. He gripped the shield in his hand and spun around to block the Gran Killer strike.

The mercenary was already on the move. Grandis had moved around VictoryGreymon and slashed his Gran Killers across his back and right shoulder.

"Idiot! You don't even have a weapon!" GrandisKuwagamon taunted, hoping to get a psychological advantage over his enemy. He flew upwards, and kicked VictoryGreymon in the back of the head.

VictoryGreymon stumbled through the air and winced. "Yes… I do!" he exclaimed. "Dramon Breaker! Assault Mode!"

The Dramon Breaker that lay on the ground below him suddenly glowed and raised into the air. The blade and crossguard detached from each other and both started flying towards VictoryGreymon. The three-pronged blade slotted into VictoryGreymon's right bracer, while the hilt and the cross guard fitted into his left one.

GrandisKuwagamon tried to go in for a hit, but VictoryGreymon, more mobile now, was able to slash his arm out and cut across GrandisKuwagamon's carapace.

The black insect hissed as the sword scuffed along his chest, and he flew backwards. However, a smirk formed on his face and he receded into the thick mist that shrouded the wide intersection.

"You shouldn't have done that…" GrandisKuwagamon's voice echoed from within the mist.

VictoryGreymon looked around cagily. He was completely enveloped in the mist. He couldn't see past the end of his word. The soldier couldn't see GrandisKuwagamon, but he knew that he would try to attack soon. He had to be mindful of every angle.

"You gave up your advantage. You should have stuck with the strength and leverage you had with the Dramon Breaker," GrandisKuwagamon's voice spoke, from behind VictoryGreymon this time. VictoryGreymon spun around, but he couldn't see the mercenary there either.

"You're trying to match my mobility and flexibility with that Assault Mode," his voice taunted from the right. "But your greatest strength is your sheer power and reach. Maybe you could have kept me at bay."

"However," his voice said, this time from right beside VictoryGreymon's left ear.

VictoryGreymon spun around. There was nothing there.

"Now the roles are reversed."

A massive, insect-shaped shadow emerged in the mist behind VictoryGreymon, looming over him like a predator would its prey. VictoryGreymon's eyes widened and he spun around, slashing with the blade of the Dramon Breaker.

As his blade cut through the mist, it merely sliced through a shadow, with the fog curling around his passing blade.

A GranKuwagamon clamped his pincers around VictoryGreymon's legs and yanked him downwards. GrandisKuwagamon – now in his much larger GranKuwagamon form – released VictoryGreymon from his grip and sent him crashing into the concrete.

VictoryGreymon felt his back collide painfully with the hard surface, the wind nearly leaving his throat. GranKuwagamon hovered high above him, the mist not even moving in response to his wing beats. The massive insect smirked and angled his pincers down towards him. "Dimension Scissors!" he shouted, releasing an arc of energy down on him.

As the crescent-shaped arc sailed down, the dragon man quickly raised his sword, causing it to fan out protectively. "Victory Charge!" he called out, managing to create a reflective barrier at the last minute.

"Not this time!" GranKuwagamon shouted, speeding out of the way as his attack came shooting back at him. He retreated into the mist and began circling around.

VictoryGreymon quickly pulled himself to his feet. He barely had time to catch his breath before GranKuwagamon came speeding towards him from across the ground. The dragon man turned and caught GranKuwagamon's pincers right as the large beetle tried to drive them into him. VictoryGreymon snarled and his feet dragged along the ground as he resisted GranKuwagamon's charge. He began to try to lift GranKuwagamon up.

But this time, GranKuwagamon was ready. "Catastrophe."

GranKuwagamon's mouth and wings exploded with dark energy, pouring over VictoryGreymon at point blank range. There was a massive explosion that threw VictoryGreymon through the air and crashing across the sidewalk.

VictoryGreymon coughed and winced, his body smoking from the attack. "Grandis… Enough…"

"Not a chance…" GranKuwagamon smirked. He started flying towards where VictoryGreymon landed, spinning in the air, whipping himself into a black tornado. "Grand Death Screw!"

VictoryGreymon wobbled to his feet and stared at the horizontal cyclone that was ripping towards him. "Please… Enough…"

He raised his arms towards GranKuwagamon. He aimed the two blades straight at black tornado. VictoryGreymon began to gather energy between the blades. He was planning to fire Trident Gaia, just like last time. GranKuwagamon was moving slowly enough and he had reduced turning power, so he was sure he could hit him.

However… There was a brief gap in the mist behind GranKuwagamon. VictoryGreymon looked through that gap and he could see the building on the other side of the street. That was when he knew.

He knew he couldn't fire Trident Gaia. If he did, he would destroy the building… He'd destroy many buildings. VictoryGreymon knew that he'd be destroying the city that he loved so much. There was already so much pain and agony going on around him. He couldn't bring himself to add to it.

As GranKuwagamon raged towards him, VictoryGreymon hesitated. The dark tornado of claws and pincers closed in and threatened to rip through VictoryGreymon. All he could do was bring his swords up and block against the tip of the Grand Death Screw. VictoryGreymon grimaced as the spinning blades and claws started tearing against his crossed swords. Sparks started showering over him, and he was pushed back until he was pressed up against the building behind him.

"You're no good for anything! You think that you can be a hero with just ideals alone?!" GrandisKuwagamon taunted him from within the ebony whirlwind. He tried his best to get into his head. "You've got no skills. No sense of independent thought! You just do whatever you're told to do like a good soldier! You think you can ever be a hero like that?!"

"Rrrr… agh!" he shouted, grimacing. It took every ounce of his upper body strength to hold firm against GranKuwagamon's screw attack. Even so, an arm would intermittently lash out from the vortex and cleave against his armour. Still, VictoryGreymon held firm.

The tornado began to decrease in speed and momentum, and suddenly there was a glow within the dark tornado. "You're just a stupid… naïve… meat-headed dinosaur… You can't do anything but hit things with your sword and spout off meaningless phrases you got from knightly romance stories! You're not hero material. You're nothing special. You're never going to be a Royal Knight, VictoryGreymon!" GrandisKuwagamon cruelly told him. "Dimension Scissor!"

The spinning pincers suddenly expanded, pulling VictoryGreymon's arms apart and started tearing into VictoryGreymon's chrome digizoid breastplate. VictoryGreymon cried out as a hole was drilled into his armour, cutting against his flesh with thin cuts.

"I said… ENOUGH!" VictoryGreymon lashed out with his sword, catching GranKuwagamon in the cheek. He struck him hard enough to bash GranKuwagamon in the air. As the blade cracked along the insect's face, it released some of its built-up atmospheric beam energy. This resulted in a massive thunderclap that sent the mist shooting away from the area. There was now a large enough gap in the shroud that the two enemies could clearly see each other from across the street.

GranKuwagamon skidded along the ground for tens of meters, his black body screeching against the pavement. For a few moments, he lay there, unmoving. During this time, the mist that he created started to recede. However, he raised his head, and blood leaked down his face and onto the ground.

"I… I know…" VictoryGreymon panted, staggering forwards a step from the wall that he had been pinned against. He looked across the street at GrandisKuwagamon, his eyes pained, but flickering with determination. "I know that I'm nothing special!" he shouted.

"I… I know that I can't become a Royal Knight. I know I'm not smart enough… not strong enough… not good enough…" VictoryGreymon spoke, his green eyes shimmering. "I know that I'm clumsy. I trip over my own feet all the time. I know that I'm not a great tactician or an inspiring leader. I know that all I can really do is hit stuff really hard with my sword…" VictoryGreymon looked down at his feet with sad reflection, his pained muscles slackening. "I… I know that I'll never be the Royal Knight I dreamed I'd be when I was a kid…"

"Even so…"

VictoryGreymon clenched his fist. "Even so...! I… I can still try to be like the Royal Knights to the best of my ability!" he shouted. "I can still do my best to help people… to save people! I can be there for my friends and even for people who I don't know very well! I can be brave! I can be kind! I can do my best, even if I screw up sometimes!"

VictoryGreymon weakly took a step forwards, staring GranKuwagamon in the eyes. "Even if I'm nothing special…" he spoke, his voice quivering with emotion and drive. "I'm still going to do this! I'm still going to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life! Even if you're my friend… I'm still going to take you down! Because that's what friends do!" Despite his aching muscles barely keeping him up, VictoryGreymon's eyes shone with a fire that showed he wouldn't back down. He gripped the hilt of the Dramon Breaker and used the claymore to keep himself standing. "And you… You're messing with the Brick Wall of Fire!"

GranKuwagamon raised one of his arms and wiped the place where he had been struck. Blood smeared across his large claws.

"Slide Evolution…" he hissed.

GranKuwagamon's large form glowed and shrunk into the more compact GrandisKuwagamon form. The now humanoid beetle slowly stood to his feet. He dusted himself off and slowly turned around. There was a large, nasty-looking cut across his cheek from there VictoryGreymon had hit him. There was also a baleful stare in his eye.

GrandisKuwagamon began running at VictoryGreymon, who was slowly picking himself up from the fractured wall he was pressed against.

VictoryGreymon looked up at GrandisKuwagamon tiredly. Although the mist was receding, his vision was still foggy. He weakly raised his sword arms to defend himself.

GrandisKuwagamon closed the distance and as VictoryGreymon tried to swipe at him with his broad sword, the insect caught his arm with his Gran Killer and bashed it aside. VictoryGreymon then attempted to catch GrandisKuwagamon's arm with the separating hilt-blade on his left arm, but the mercenary swiped his arm to the right, leaving VictoryGreymon's armoured chest exposed.

"That's the problem! You've got a bad axis of movement in this form!" GrandisKuwagamon taunted, snapping his pincers shut around VictoryGreymon's neck. They didn't break through his neck armour, but they pinned him in place as GrandisKuwagamon began swiping and stabbing with his Gran Killers.

VictoryGreymon's defences were breached. He grunted with pain as GrandisKuwagamon's slashed against his armoured chest unopposed. He tried to defend himself, but he couldn't get his arms close enough. GrandisKuwagamon moved too quickly for him to defend himself. Grandis' attacks mercilessly tore into his armour, sending chunks of chrome digizoid flying off, and cutting along his chest scales.

GrandisKuwagamon didn't let up his relentless attack. He tore VictoryGreymon's armour apart, leaving his chest exposed and riddled with cuts. Once he was satisfied that he was winning, GrandisKuwagamon released the dragon man form his grasp. He kicked VictoryGreymon in the gut and jumped back.

VictoryGreymon leaned against the building wall. As pieces of metal and drops of blood fell from his form, he fell to his hands and knees.

GrandisKuwagamon smirked and folded his arms as he looked down condescendingly at the defeated VictoryGreymon. "There… I think we're just about even now… Just about…"

VictoryGreymon groaned and started to raise his head.

The black-shelled mercenary grinned a bit more and readied his Gran Killers. "What? Still not done ye-?"

He trailed off when he stared down at VictoryGreymon's face. Rather than the anger that Grandis had seen in his green eyes before, he saw something else.

Tears.

GrandisKuwagamon frowned with confusion at VictoryGreymon stared up at him with sorrow. VictoryGreymon's emerald eyes were red and watery, and his breathing was uneven.

"Grandis… Please…"

VictoryGreymon winced. He was defeated. He knew he was. But… that wasn't why he was crying. All the anger that he had felt had melted away into sorrow. As the mist cleared, he could see all the carnage around him. The crumbling buildings, the fire, the death… All he could see around him was needless destruction.

"Enough…"

GrandisKuwagamon looked down at VictoryGreymon with a taken aback, slightly uncomfortable expression. "…Really? This is just pathetic… Begging for your life?" he asked, his voice belying disappointment, like he had lost even more respect for VictoryGreymon.

VictoryGreymon slowly shook his head as tears rested on his eyes. He simply pulled himself to his feet with a groan. To GrandisKuwagamon's surprise, he dropped the two components of the Dramon Breaker to the ground.

"You… really can't see it, can you…?" VictoryGreymon asked him, his voice pained yet genuine.

GrandisKuwagamon stared at VictoryGreymon with bored confusion. "See what?" he asked, although being mindful of any potential immediate threats. With VictoryGreymon disarmed, he at least knew he wasn't one.

VictoryGreymon stared into his eye sorrowfully. "…Open your eyes." He weakly raised his arm and gestured around them. "Look around you, Grandis… Just… look…"

GrandisKuwagamon frowned with confusion and briefly looked around him. He couldn't see anything.

There was nothing around but empty roads and destroyed buildings. Just dark, desolate city streets, with the sound of war going on in the distance.

He didn't know what VictoryGreymon was talking about. There wasn't anything of note. Just semi-damaged buildings… Buildings that were collapsing under devastating attacks. Distant explosions… Flames pouring out of windows… Some buildings that were completely engulfed in an inferno.

GrandisKuwagamon's mouth began to go dry and his insides began to churn. However, his gaze hardened and he glared at VictoryGreymon. "W…What are you talking about…?"

"Is… Is this what you wanted, Grandis…?" VictoryGreymon asked tearfully, gesturing at the destruction all around. All around him, all he could see was devastation. The ruined city… the flickering night sky growing black with smoke… New Terminal turned into a war zone… "Is this freedom?"

"I… What are you…?" GrandisKuwagamon stammered, unable to shake the sick feeling that was forming inside of him.

"I get why you betrayed us… You escaped so that you could have freedom…" VictoryGreymon said sadly. "But… then you joined the Demon Lords… and you helped them get into this city… W…Why? Is this… for your freedom too?"

The question stabbed through GrandisKuwagamon's form harder than VictoryGreymon's sword ever could.

"Why? Why'd you come here… and start destroying innocent lives? They… they didn't do anything to you. They didn't do anything to deserve this! All these innocent people… they had lives… families… dreams…" Tears began rolling down VictoryGreymon's face and he fought back a sob. "You burned their homes… you destroyed their lives… their families…"

VictoryGreymon shut his eyes as his tears trickled down and met at the chin of his snout. "My… My dad's dying right now! I don't know if I'll ever see him again! And it's not just me either! How many other people are going to lose people they love?! That's what the Demon Lords are doing right now! Can't… can't you see…? Is this what you call freedom, Grandis?!"

GrandisKuwagamon didn't have a reply. He stood there stunned. The words are sinking in and twisting his insides apart. He looked around him. The ground shook with the reverberations of explosions. The windows shook and cracked. The foundations of the buildings wavered uneasily. He smelled the pungent scent of plasma and ash. The choking, smoky air. Suffocating.

A flash entered his mind. A familiar village. Burning.

"I… I… had to…" he stammered half-heartedly. "I…"

"You had to…? But… that isn't freedom. Is that the control that you wanted?" VictoryGreymon grievously asked him.

There was no response.

"That… that's not freedom. That's being controlled! You think you're in control, but you're not!" VictoryGreymon cried out as a tear dripped off his snout. "You're a slave to yourself! You're so desperate to be in control, that you're doing stuff that I know you don't want to do!"

GrandisKuwagamon's gaze hardened and he extended his Gran Killers. He started walking towards VictoryGreymon menacingly. "You… You don't know what you're talking about!" he asked, getting ready to punch him.

VictoryGreymon stared at him, tearful, but unafraid. "When I asked why you were doing this… you asked me what I think. …I think you're scared, Grandis. You're scared to not be in control… You're scared to rely on people, because you think they'll let you down. You've been on your own for so long that… that you don't have a place to call home. That's why… you don't feel like you have anywhere to go. That's why you feel trapped."

"You… You don't know anything about me!" GrandisKuwagamon shouted, getting ready to stab him.

"We're friends, Grandis…" VictoryGreymon told him with a pained smile.

GrandisKuwagamon hesitated. Why was he hesitating? Why were VictoryGreymon's words affecting him so much? Why couldn't he shake this sinking feeling?

"That's why… you do have somewhere to go. You do have a place to call home…" VictoryGreymon told him. "It's with us. Come back to us, Grandis."

"How… How the hell can you stand there and say that?!" GrandisKuwagamon shouted at him desperately. "You don't know anything about me! You don't know the things that I've done! How the hell can you say that we're friends after everything that I've done?! How can I have anywhere to go back to?!"

"Because… it doesn't matter. I forgive you." VictoryGreymon smiled at him genuinely, despite his pain and sadness. "…You think that all this will fill that emptiness inside you, don't you? You think that… as long as you're in control… as long as you have a purpose… it'll fill that void. You think that… the only thing you're good for is for fighting… for killing… You think that's all that matters… You think that's all you know how to do, so that's why you keep taking jobs like this…"

"You're doing this for yourself, Grandis… You feel like it's your only purpose… Like it's the only place you can go…" VictoryGreymon softly spoke, his voice quavering. "Like if you can fill the emptiness of everything you lost on that day… maybe you can feel like you have a purpose… like you belong… But… there's other ways… All you need to do…"

"…is open your eyes."

The words continued to strike GrandisKuwagamon deep. He raised his head and took a good look around him. The mist had receded, and he was seeing the situation for what it was… carnage. The city was alight with flames. Beams tore through buildings and people. Walls crumbled indiscriminately. Soldiers were stabbed. Civilians were caught in the cross fire. Demons were absorbing their data. The sounds of attacks, crashing, booming, the sucking in and subsequent thunder of blasts. And shouts. He could hear the shouts. The screams.

And then… for a moment… he was back home on that one night. He was trapped under the rubble of his house. He was a Tentomon - terrified, as buildings around him were being ripped apart… watching as his brother was caught up in an explosion. Scouring the ruins of his home, looking for any sign that his family was alive. Except… it was different this time…

This time… he was the MetalTyrannomon.

He was the one responsible. He was the one who came here and allowed this to happen. All so that he would be okay. All so that he had the control that he was robbed of so long ago.

He had become the monster that he so hated. He had become the creature that plagued his nightmares, that cackled as he took everything from him.

"No…" GrandisKuwagamon whispered, staring down at his palms. He hadn't realised it, but his hands were trembling. His breathing was fast and erratic, shaking as he realised. His throat tightened and he felt like he was unable to breathe. "That… isn't…"

His face was a pained grimace. His eye was tight and his teeth her clenched. "You're… wrong…" he feebly replied.

"No… you're wrong, Grandis," VictoryGreymon responded. He slowly began to walk towards GrandisKuwagamon, barely able to stand on his own feet.

GrandisKuwagamon weakly raised his weapons to defend himself, but VictoryGreymon just kept walking.

He remembered the horror of when his village was destroyed. In the back of his mind, he heard the distant memory of his father's voice.

"No, Tentomon. Stay here with your brother. You're not strong enough. Stay here while your mother and I go."

He then remembered his mother's voice.

"We love you both. Protect each other, okay?"

And then Kokuwamon's voice.

"I have to make sure Mom and Dad are okay! Stay here, Tentomon!"

Finally… he remembered being all alone. He remembered the words that he whimpered when he was terrified, hiding under a table, waiting for the nightmare to end.

"Wh-Why… won't anybody help us…?"

Were these the thoughts going through the Digimon of New Terminal right now? He knew that they were. He knew that he was the one causing all of the pain that he felt that night. His heart was aching, and the tightness in his throat was making it harder to swallow.

He realised… he wasn't in control at all. He was lost… lonely… and just as helpless as he was that night. The only difference was that he was causing that same sorrow to others. He had become the very thing that he hated.

When VictoryGreymon got close to him, GrandisKuwagamon didn't move. He merely stood still as VictoryGreymon closed in. The tightness in his chest got unbearable, and his eye began to sting.

"You're wrong… thinking that there's nothing for you anywhere, Grandis. That you don't matter… that you don't have a home… Me, SaviorHackmon, Paildramon… even Dorbickmon… We're a team. And we care about you," VictoryGreymon softly spoke, gently pushing aside the mercenary's Gran Killers and getting within striking distance.

GrandisKuwagamon still didn't react. It was as if he was paralyzed by the dragon man's words. The loneliness… the self-disgust… the trauma flooding back. All he could focus on were VictoryGreymon's words. He remembered the team… He remembered that he had actually had fun on their mission. He didn't think he would feel that way again after being betrayed by Blitzmon and Bolgmon. Despite his anger towards the pair, he missed them. He missed being part of Black Pincer Company. Or maybe he missed being with people who he felt like he could drop his guard around. Or people who understood him…

Bloodied, but determined, VictoryGreymon closed the distance. He raised his arms… and pulled GrandisKuwagamon into the biggest, warmest hug. "To us, you are important. You do have a home… With us, you do have friends… You still have people who care about you."

Despite his pain, VictoryGreymon smiled tenderly at the bug in his arms. "Come back, Grandis… to where you belong..."

At these heartfelt words and this unexpected warmth, GrandisKuwagamon's guard finally fractured. And he broke down.

As VictoryGreymon pulled him into a warm, comforting embrace, the tear that GrandisKuwagamon had been holding back fell from his eye. His Gran Killers fell to his sides, and he released an anguished cry over what he had become.

VictoryGreymon closed his eyes and simply held him, rubbing his winged back. "It's… okay… There's a way back now…" he murmured gently.

Despite all the coldness he felt inside, VictoryGreymon's kindness had managed to spark an ember of warmth inside of him. Until then, there had been nothing but the chill of darkness running through him. GrandisKuwagamon couldn't do anything but lean against the bloodied dragon man, letting out a few, shaky breaths as a tear rolled down VictoryGreymon's shoulder.

After a minute, GrandisKuwagamon felt ready enough, and he made to pull away, prompting VictoryGreymon to let go of him. GrandisKuwagamon took a step away from him and turned around, not wanting him to look at his face. He took in a long, shaky breath to center himself and he stood up straight. He felt like he had to regain his dignity.

With his back turned away from VictoryGreymon, he merely took the Gran Killers off his arms and dropped them at his feet. The mercenary raised his hands above his head. "…I… I surrender. No tricks this time," he said in a flat, defeated voice.

He looked down at the charred road beneath him. He watched as glowing ashes blew from under his shadow in the breeze, carried by the gust of a nearby explosion.

VictoryGreymon merely approached him from behind and placed his hands on Grandis' arms, lowering them to his sides.

"…You're my friend, Grandis. Friends… are there for each other… Right?"

GrandisKuwagamon lowered his arms and turned around to face him. His semi-moist eye stared at him gratefully. "…Thanks," he told him sincerely. GrandisKuwagamon reached down and picked up his Gran Killers, sliding them on his wrists. He put his emotions aside and pulled himself back to the present. There was still a battle going on – that hadn't changed, even if he did. "It won't be that simple though."

"Yeah… but still… until this battle's done, we're gonna need you," VictoryGreymon told him with a small, but warm smile. "Will you fight with us?"

GrandisKuwagamon turned and looked across the dark, besieged city. "…Yeah. I need to fix this…" he answered. "It won't be enough… but it's a start."

The dark insect took a slow breath. With that, he began walking towards the battle, standing beside VictoryGreymon.

VictoryGreymon smiled as he looked over at Grandis. Despite the pain that he felt, both inside and outside, there was a soft pulse of warmth inside of him. A sense of accomplishment… pride, even. VictoryGreymon had always been told that he was an idiot. He knew he wasn't the brightest bulb, and he often made dumb decisions. He sometimes wondered if he was good for anything other than his strength.

Now, after getting through to GrandisKuwagamon, he began to feel like, with this one thing that he did…

…Maybe he was good for something. Maybe he wasn't such an idiot, after all.