(Author's Notes: Hey, all! I hope you're all doing well. I'm making progress writing and I've reached a part of the story that I'm particularly excited for. Anyways, here's Chapter 72. It's a two parter, so I'll have the next part up in a week. Hopefully this'll help with the Ghost Game hiatus. Enjoy and let me know what you think!)
Chapter 72: The Moon Dyed Black (Part I)
Light and dark clashed in the midnight sky. The previously-eclipsed blood moons radiated faint, crimson light that funneled in through the breaches within the savage thunderstorm.
The frigid air of the Cathode Tundra turned warm as barrages of fire and light traded back and forth above the cliff side. The falling flakes of snow melted under the heat of battle and spattered the frigid ground. The crimson lightning that flashed within the thunderheads intensified and began striking the ground all over the barren, snow-covered plain.
Sleipmon and Examon were stunned to suddenly find themselves the third party in the middle of a pitched battle. They had been struggling to fight the Demon Lords in their attempt to stop them from capturing the Arcane Ruins. The arrival of the corrupted Cherubimon had thrown a wrench in their plans, and the two Royal Knights had found themselves outnumbered with the tide of battle turning against them. What they had not been expecting was a sudden wave of support in the form of the Heavenly Choir, led by Seraphimon and Ophanimon themselves.
The Powers of the Heavenly Choir arrived in their Sky Fortress, backed by a halo of holy light that breached the perilous clouds. They descended from the night sky in a spearhead formation, each row launching their attacks in a disciplined sequence. The streaks of light glimmered like an aurora against the dark sky as the holy energy barraged the ranks of the Nightmare Soldiers below.
The forces of God clashed with those who rebelled against it. It was a battle in which the old grudges of the Heavenly War finally resurfaced, having simmered beneath the surface for over half a century.
Lucemon watched as his Legion was bombarded by beams of holy light. The flashes tore through several demon soldiers, 'purifying' them through deletion. As he watched a handful of his soldiers vanish into dust, Lucemon took to the sky and swept his arm outwards commandingly.
"Get yourselves together! Don't forget: this is the moment that we have been waiting for! Finally, the time has come to take the fight to 'God's chosen' with all of our righteous fury!" Lucemon shouted to the surprised demons in order to rally them. "This is nothing compared to the eternity that we spent fighting within the depths of the Dark Area! We are battle-tested from years of warfare, our bodies, consecrated in the waters of Phlegathon! Our muscles, tempered by the flames of hell itself! Rise up with courage, and bring these hollow adulators of God down from their clouds! Rip their wings apart and drag them back down to earth with the rest of us!"
Lucemon's charismatic oration was enough to re-ignite something within the beset legion. His fiery inflection stirred their anger, his triumphant words roused their confidence. In the momentary silence after the first barrage, the Nightmare Soldiers unleashed reinvigorated roars. Lucemon had reclaimed their fighting spirit.
"Dukes, Counts, get your soldiers in order!" Lucemon commanded to the generals, knowing that there were always short intervals between the Powers' initial attacks. "Spread out and take the fight to the sky! Don't let them control the air or else we'll be crushed against the cliffs! Split their attention and attack their flanks!"
"Yes, Lord Lucemon!" one of the high-ranking demons, a VenomVamdemon, responded before taking off the ground and ordering half of the legion to come with him.
Lucemon ascended towards the thunderous sky, his calm blue eyes locking onto the archangel at the forefront of the wedge. A grin curled onto his face as he watched the gold and blue angel descend in his direction. "Leave Seraphimon to me…" he spoke.
At the same time, Lilithmon looked up with an annoyed scowl at the interlopers who were interrupting their work. The sight of the Heavenly Choir attacking them caused her shadowed eyes to narrow. "Damned Choir. Of all the times to attack us, it had to be now, in this freezing hellscape?" she murmured with frustration.
Lilithmon heard that Lucemon was already rallying the troops, so she considered her own next move. Should she take this chance to finish off one of the Royal Knights? Should she try to deal maximum damage upon the Powers? Or, perhaps…
Lilithmon scanned the dark, distempered sky, picking out individuals amongst the collective formation of angels. Her calm, pensive eyes stopped on one particular figure who was flying above the main assault formation.
She recognised the turquoise armour immediately, embellished by a radiant silhouette of gold that glimmered beautifully in the moonlight. As Lilithmon set her sights on the archangel's slender body, a dark and malevolent smirk crept onto her violet lips.
The mere sight of Ophanimon gliding down from the heavens was enough to draw Lilithmon's interest. She decided she knew exactly what she should do.
"So, you finally decided to get off your throne and do something…" Lilithmon murmured, her eyes watching Ophanimon's every movement with interest. She noticed that, not far off, was Seraphimon, who was leading the Powers from the front. This realisation prompted Lilithmon to glance in the direction of a certain fallen angel rabbit, and then back up at the archangels with a devilish grin.
The Demon Lord of Lust flapped her wings and took off towards the sky, extending the Nazar Nail from under her sleeve.
"Why, this might just be fun after all!" Lilithmon exclaimed with a dark laugh, soaring higher with vigor, moving on a direct course with the Archangel of Mercy…
"Purify the heretics!" Seraphimon commanded with zealous thunder. "Spare nobody!"
Streaks of light descended from the sky behind him, strafing the ground and into the ranks of the Nightmare Soldiers. After the initial surprise attack, however, the Nightmare Soldiers were beginning to reorganize and counterattack. Seeing that the Nightmare Soldiers were separating into two groups, Seraphimon signalled to the Powers to strengthen their flanks.
"Captain Valkyrimon, fill the hole in your formation! Press the assault on the lesser demons; leave the Demon Lords to Ophanimon and I!" Seraphimon ordered as lightning flashed above him. As he dove through the storm of attacks, he could see that the Nightmare Soldiers weren't falling as easily now. With their discipline strengthened and the prospect of a broken retreat gone, he prepared for a protracted fight.
The moonlight and lightning glistened off of Seraphimon's featureless helmet as he turned his head and surveyed the battlefield. He could see Lucemon far below him, rising off of the ground. However, halfway between the two enemies was a large, gun-toting dragon that was in the process of reassessing the situation.
Examon dodged around the beams that were being traded back and forth. His wings moved in swift bursts and at dynamic angles, blocking what he was unable to dodge. Knowing he had to get out of the line of fire, he shot downwards, diving below the diagonal salvos of projectiles.
It seemed that the two armies were now focused mainly on each other, as the attacks didn't seem to follow him specifically. However, as Examon looked up, he could see Seraphimon descending straight towards him. Examon waited with bated breath as the archangel closed in on him, but he held his fire.
To his relief, Seraphimon tilted his body back and spread his ten wings outwards, coming to a gradual halt ahead of him. The Archangel of Judgement held his hands out to indicate that he meant no aggression towards him, but Seraphimon's posture still seemed rigid and hostile.
"Seraphimon," Examon greeted him with a cool but appreciative nod. He glanced at him only for a few moments before returning his focus to the battle. "This was unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome. If it had been only us for much longer, we probably would have had to abandon the ruins and escape." He turned back to the archangel and looked him in the face. "Thank you."
Seraphimon stared back down at him. With no discernible expression for Examon to gauge his emotion, he conveyed himself though his cold, authoritative posture. "Mistake us not, Royal Knight," Seraphimon answered sharply, his deep, ethereal voice resonating like thunder. "We did not come here to save you nor those ruins."
Examon blinked and raised his brow curiously. While not especially offended by Seraphimon's terse response, he was surprised. "Then why are you here?" he wondered, looking down at the golden seraph.
"We are acting on information gathered by our scouts that corroborates the information that you passed on to Cherubimon," Seraphimon answered.
"The information that Leviamon told us," Examon confirmed. "Then you knew that we would be here."
"It seems as though that demon is capable of telling the truth when it serves him…" the Archangel of Judgement bitterly conceded. "It was our intention to attack the Demon Lords regardless. We determined that this was our best chance to strike. Our decision was based on the knowledge that the Demon Lords are suffering internal divisions and their main army will be too busy engaging that of the Royal Knights to reinforce them here."
"A sound military judgement," Examon agreed. Although the answer made sense, a confused frown formed on the dragon's face. "But I would have thought that Cherubimon might factor into it too…"
For emphasis, Examon turned and looked behind him. He saw Cherubimon clashing with Sleipmon in the sky above the cliffs. The massive, dark angel hurled bolt after bolt of lightning at the cavalier, who dashed across the sky, pulsing blasts of ice from his shield. Examon couldn't help but feel his teeth tighten together as he watched his friend fighting so desperately.
"Cherubimon?" Seraphimon asked with confusion. He followed his gaze to the huge, fallen angel, who was almost hidden against the dark, violet-grey clouds were it not for the bolts of lightning intermittently highlighting his form.
"What…?" the archangel demanded, staring with offence and confusion at the fallen angel. "What is that abomination? A twisted facsimile of Cherubimon? Tell me with haste, Royal Knight, is that supposed to be some sort of mockery or a hollow attempt to replicate his power?"
At the archangel's words, Examon looked at him with surprised. It appeared to him that they had no idea about Cherubimon at all. The grim realisation dawned on him that he had to be the one to tell him. "…Seraphimon, that is no facsimile," Examon explained, not bothering to mince his words. "That is Cherubimon."
For a moment, the leading seraph went quiet. He looked at Examon, trying to perceive any trace of falsehood in his expression. Seraphimon then slowly turned his gaze back towards the fallen angel that was tearing up the sky.
"…What vexed words speaketh you?" Seraphimon demanded, his voice colder and sharper than any glacier around them. "That cannot possibly be our Cherubimon. What game doest thou play, Royal Knight? Thou must be mistaken."
Examon narrowed his eyes and looked at him straight. "If that isn't Cherubimon, then where is he?" he inquired. "Why isn't he with you and Ophanimon now?"
Seraphimon stalled and turned his attention back to the battle, watching as the Powers closed in on the Legion and began trading attacks at a medium range. "He… absconded one of our meetings two nights ago," he admitted, the pieces starting to come together to form a terrible picture. "There has been nary a trace of him since… I… assumed that he went somewhere to sulk… or to convene with Sleipmon."
"No," Examon confirmed grimly. "I don't know what happened, but Sleipmon has confirmed that he is, without a doubt, the Cherubimon that you know."
As the realisation began to sink in, Seraphimon watched the fallen angel move. He saw his stained fur, the eerie glow in his malevolent eyes, and the menacing smile on his face. His face, while so very different from the archangel that he knew, was unmistakeably that of Cherubimon.
The horrific revelation washed over the seraphim Digimon. It sunk into his form like a paralytic agent. The Archangel of Judgement became as still as a statue as he struggled to keep on top of the fury that was bubbling inside of him.
Examon watched as Seraphimon slowly pulled his eyes away from Cherubimon. Every inch that he moved felt like knife cutting the air. The atmosphere around them was colder than the arctic winds of the tundra. The archangel's fists tightened into trembling balls that looked capable of crushing chrome digizoid. Examon felt as though Seraphimon might explode at any seconds.
However, Seraphimon's discipline held, just barely. With trembling arms and his body exuding with righteous ire, Seraphimon refocused his attention onto the battlefield. He looked past the blasts and explosions, setting the focus on his concentrated anger onto one Digimon in particular.
Seraphimon glared down at the Demon Lord of Pride with calm fury.
"Lucemon…!" he whispered.
A bolt of holy lightning flashed behind the seraph, igniting his body and painting the umbrous sky with the light of divine judgement. As the thunder boomed, Seraphimon suddenly dove towards the Demon Lord in a headlong charge.
He aimed to bring the full weight of heaven down upon him.
Lightning flashed in the sky. The storm worsened.
The two forces clashed in violent confrontation. Light beamed down from the angels in the sky, searing the dark bodies of the demons. Meanwhile, the Nightmare Soldiers counterattacked with renewed zeal, hurling shadow and fire and tearing at them with their claws. A pillar of light tore straight through a NeoDevimon, reducing him to a cloud of ash and data.
The distance closed between the two armies, until they were nearly close enough to fight hand-to-hand. A Phantomon made the first blow, cutting down an Angemon with his scythe.
Within that fray, Bagramon tore through the night sky.
He penetrated the ranks of the Powers, bashing through their line with a mighty sweep of his arm. The wooden hand enlarged to twice its size, his massive fist acting as a giant cudgel that he used to plow through the Powers' orderly ranks. Three angel Digimon were sent hurdling through the air from the herculean blow. In that moment of confrontation, the nearby celestial soldiers turned on him, counterattacking with their rods and swords.
Bagramon didn't hesitate. With calm resolve, the fallen archangel of death continued onward, cutting through the Powers. He raked the jagged claws of his artificial hand across the body of an Angemon, deleting him instantly.
The Sage of Death soared deeper into the ranks of the spearhead formation, cutting across them horizontally to try and thrown them into disarray. Bagramon swatted an Angewomon towards the ground and flicked a Piccolomon away before tearing his arm across a Silphymon.
His Invisible Snake-Eye flashed presciently and Bagramon immediately swung around, drawing a black sword from his belt and blocking a Dominimon's blade before it could hit him from behind.
"Choujigen Storm," Bagramon spoke. Knowing the lesser seraph was at too close of a range for him to hit, Bagramon whipped up a violet cyclone behind his foe. The tornado grew into a towering pillar of wind and clouds, and the dark maelstrom began to crackle with warping, spatial energy. He threw his arm, cut from the World Tree's wood, into the cyclone.
As soon as it disappeared, his hand came shooting back outwards in the opposite direction. "Astral Snatcher!" he thundered while keeping the Dominimon busy with their blade struggle. His bony, wooden arm extended rapidly and his claws pierced through the Dominimon's back. His dimension-cutting fingers bypassed his flesh and matter, instead closing around something else. Bagramon's hand became a tight fist, and he ripped out an intangible flash of light from out of the angel's back.
The light began to disintegrate in Bagramon's hand, and he watched as the spirit drained out of the Dominimon's form, his body becoming limp and hollow, before finally starting to break down into particles. Bagramon stared at the fading angel with emotionless eyes as he carried out his former duties of sending the Digimon's soul to the afterlife.
Bagramon continued flying into the battle, but his eye stared down at his hand, which dripped with blood and data.
"If it be that I must stain this hand with blood in order to overthrow God and this unjust world, then so be it. I shall gladly do so and atone for my sins after my work is done," Bagramon thought to himself.
His eyes darkened with zealous resolve as he plunged his hand through the chest of a HolyAngemon. "…It is impossible for me to hold back from doing what is necessary any longer. The plan has reached too critical of a stage for anything less."
Bagramon swept his arm out and discarded the scattering soul from his hand. "The suffering that I cause is but a necessary drop compared to the needless ocean of agony induced by God."
The fallen angel burst though the other side of the Powers' formation, ascending towards the night sky as the moons neared their zenith. Bagramon stopped in the air and turned around to survey the battlefield.
His eyes landed on Seraphimon, who clashed with Lucemon in a resonant storm of light and darkness. Bagramon turned to face him, knowing who he needed to focus on.
"Seraphimon… Why do you continue to slavishly obey a god who has abandoned you?" the Sage of Death wondered with bitterness in his eye.
Bagramon began diving towards the pitched duel, his bloodstained hand tightening defiantly. "If you insist upon mindlessly upholding the cruel and bloody status quo, then I will end you myself…"
"You deplorable demon!" Seraphimon thundered. "Seven Heavens!"
Seraphimon brought his hands together, forming seven radiant balls of light in a seven-point star. With a powerful thrust, he fired the celestial orbs one after the other in quick succession. His target was Lucemon, who he launched the cleaning light at with cold anger.
Lucemon laughed as he flapped his wings, elegantly dancing between the volley of spheres without any show of concern. "My, my. That is quite the display of emotion from you, Seraphimon. How very unseemly," the fallen angel mocked him, barely reacting as one of the burning spheres whizzed past his head. "What has gotten you so riled up, I wonder? What happened to the calm dispassion befitting of God's right hand?"
"Thou are well aware of thy vile actions!" Seraphimon retorted. The Archangel of Justice closed the distance with Lucemon, and his fist began to crackle with a field of divine lightning. With a mighty punch, Seraphimon threw his fist towards Lucemon, unleashing a torrent of electricity. "Divine Breaker!"
Lucemon swiftly summoned a magical circle in front of his body to shield himself from the attack. As the lightning raged around him, the tendrils of electrons whipping past his body around the edges of the barrier, a mocking smirk formed on his face. "Oh? And what actions are those?!" he called out over the static cacophony of electricity. "Daring to raise my hand to your precious master?! Or giving the dispossessed a voice to speak out against the hierarchy's oppression?!"
"Do not dare to play innocent with me, Lucemon!" Seraphimon accused him, ceasing the stream of electricity from his fist when he realised he wasn't getting through the magical field. He swept his arm out and pointed behind him, directing Lucemon's attention to Cherubimon as the corrupted angel hurled his lightning at the two Royal Knights. "What have you done to Cherubimon?!"
"Me?" Lucemon innocently wondered as he dispelled his magical barrier. "What makes you think that I had anything to do with that?"
The Demon Lord of Pride flicked back his golden locks of hair and fixed the red cuffs of his sleeves. His smug smile inched wider as he looked directly at the Great Angel. "I had nothing to do with the Great Angel's fall… Cherubimon had already fallen by the time that he arrived here. In fact, he sought us out, Seraphimon," Lucemon explained, not technically lying, but twisting the reality with his half-truths.
Seraphimon paused, hovering in place with disbelief as he processed Lucemon's words. It was true that he and Cherubimon had a falling out during their last meeting. It was also true that Cherubimon had always been sympathetic to the Demon Lords' cause… However, despite all that, Seraphimon couldn't bring himself to believe that Cherubimon would willingly betray them. He didn't want to believe it. More than that, he couldn't bring himself to believe the words of a Demon Lord.
"Stay thy deceitful tongue! I will not believe the lies of a Demon Lord!" Seraphimon rebuffed him angrily. Not wanting to waste any more time arguing, Seraphimon beat his wings against the frigid air and dove towards Lucemon.
"The angel doth protest too much, methinks!" Lucemon exclaimed, meeting Seraphimon's charge head-on.
"Heaven's Kick!"
"Terrible Dance!"
The Archangel and Demon Lord clashed in the sky. They both simultaneously lashed out with a mighty roundhouse kick. Their legs struck each other like crossed swords, and the metal covering their legs rung out like a bell. The sheer impact of their magic-imbued kicks created a massive shockwave between them, powerful enough to impress a crater into the ground beneath them and to tear up the surrounding snow.
With his hair and jacket rippling violently from the blast, Lucemon scoffed and pressed his attack. "Paradise Lost!" he shouted. With a blitzkrieg attack, Lucemon began launching a rapid barrage of kicks and punches against Seraphimon's body. The flurry of kicks was so overwhelming that all Seraphimon could do was cross his arms across his chest to brace himself.
"I am sorry to say, Seraphimon, but Cherubimon betrayed you of his own free will!" Lucemon taunted the seraph as he pummeled him. "Not even one of the Great Angels can be expected to blindly obey the mindless determinism of God forever!"
Seraphimon didn't allow himself an utterance of pain as the armour of his forearms and torso was pelted by kicks and punches. The sustained attack caused dents to begin to form in Seraphimon's armour, bruising the skin below. "Ungh… C-Curse you, Lucemon…!" Seraphimon grunted, the front of his body becoming numb with throbbing pain. His hands began to glow, and, suddenly, he broke his guard, sweeping his arms outwards and throwing Lucemon backwards. "Seven Heavens!"
Seven orbs of light burst from his hands and plowed into Lucemon's chest at point blank range. Stunned by the light exploding against his midsection, Lucemon doubled over and was thrown backwards through the air. Pressing his attack, Seraphimon surged after him, pulling his right arm out in front of him. Suddenly, a glowing beam extended from underneath Seraphimon's gauntlet, materializing into the shape of an energy sword.
"Excalibur!" he shouted, sweeping his arm outwards and swiping at Lucemon with his holy blade.
With rapid reflexes and acrobatic flexibility, Lucemon bent backwards just as the sword was poised to cut his neck. The energy blade sliced along his left cheek, but Lucemon was ready. A concentrated ball of negative energy formed in his left hand. When Seraphimon was close enough from his attack, Lucemon used the opportunity to his advantage. "Dead or Alive!" Lucemon spoke, lashing out with his hand and ramming the compressed ball of darkness into the side of Seraphimon's head.
Seraphimon's head bent to the side as the shadows pulsed and burned against the side of his face, breaking pieces off the rim of his helmet and tearing against the skin of his jaw. With all the discipline of the Choir's Supreme Commander, he plunged his sword towards Lucemon's chest, forcing the Demon Lord to kick him back in order to put some space between them.
Seraphimon recoiled as well, crossing his blade defensively in front of his body, while his off-hand gleamed with holy light. Blood dripped down the side of his head, starting to mat some of his light blond hair underneath the fractured rim of his helmet. He stared at Lucemon with calm and discipline, despite the anger that stirred within him.
Lucemon raised his hand to his stinging cheek. Blood leaked out of the cut on his fair face and dripped down to his chin. Placing his gloved hand against the wound, he wiped the blood off. The fallen angel calmly looked down at the bright red fluid staining the palm of his pure white glove. Rather than anger, an ironic smile crawled onto his face.
"I suppose if anybody were able to make me draw blood, it would have to be you, Seraphimon," Lucemon mused with idle amusement.
"I have defeated you before, and I will defeat you again," Seraphimon confidently challenged him.
Lucemon: Falldown Mode looked back at him. His smile disappeared and a look of haughty derision took its place. "Really? You won't be so lucky without the newt and mongrel here to help you this time... What's more; I was weaker then. That was the only reason why I lost and the Rebellion failed." Lucemon squeezed his bloody hand, and light energy gathered in his palm. "You may have won the Heavenly War, Seraphimon, but in your victory, you grew self-satisfied and complacent. Believing your cause was just, you became so certain of your own righteousness that you became blinded to reality. Victors always do…"
Lucemon extended his other hand, and dark energy began to materialize in tandem with the light. "As for me… I grew stronger. When I lost and I was deleted to that hell hole called the Dark Area, I learned from my mistakes. I was determined never to let the same defeat happen again. You see, Seraphimon, from my loss, I will attain victory. From your victory, you are doomed to suffer only defeat."
Seraphimon brought his hands together, and seven stars began burning in front of his body like will-o'-the-wisps. "I will do more than make you bleed, Lucemon," he warned him as the radiant spheres intensified in the night. "Release Cherubimon from the spell that you cast upon him! Do so or suffer the wrath of God!"
"The wrath of God, you say?" the Demon Lord of Pride sardonically wondered, smiling as he gazed at Seraphimon. "Pardon me, but I was under the impression that 'Wrath' was a sin. If God is so wrathful against those who were once his chosen Digimon, then does that not mean that he, too, is sinful? Why, I thought that Demon was cast down for that very sin."
Seraphimon's frigid posture intensified and he reared back his hands in preparation. He was in no mood for Lucemon's debates that serve no purpose other than to get a rise out of him. "There is the Wrath incited by rampant emotion and then there is righteous judgement," Seraphimon explained unflinchingly. "I shall impart the latter unto you for corrupting one of God's archangels."
Lucemon smirked as he continued to calmly gaze at Seraphimon. His eyes imperceptibly shifted from looking at Seraphimon to looking past the archangel. "He was already corrupt," Lucemon answered. "As for this 'righteous judgement', is that the same judgement that you used to cut down your former friends and compatriots in the purge? Or was that simply you wanting vengeance?"
Seraphimon tightened the tension of his hands, intensifying his potential energy. He wasn't sure why Lucemon was debating him in the middle of battle, but if Lucemon wanted to spout philosophy rather than fight, he wasn't going to stop him. "I am the executor of God's law. It is my duty to see that His judgement is carried out. I am both God's sword and God's scales," he answered, on the verge of firing. "My actions in the Heavenly War were nothing compared to the bloodshed that you inflicted, Lucemon. The punishments that I carried out were justified."
Lucemon smiled at him, completely underwhelmed by both his answer and the seven spheres that Seraphimon was about to fire at him. He looked past Seraphimon to the figure who was closing in from behind him. "Then you are a hypocrite as well as a fool."
Seraphimon's body tightened when he sensed a fluctuation in the air currents behind him. He immediately knew that he was in danger. He fired three of the orbs of light at Lucemon and then hurriedly tried to spin around so that he could shoot the remaining four at his attacker.
He was able to launch one of the orbs, but it impacted solid wood. A massive, wooden hand closed in and surrounded him. The thick digits of hallowed wood closed around his body in a tight grip, snuffing out the remaining orbs of light. The skeletal hand squeezed his winged body tightly, crushing his limbs together painfully.
"Lucemon!" Bagramon called out as he held the struggling seraph in his tight grasp.
Lucemon dodged two of the three orbs, but the third one grazed two of his angelic wings, searing them and clipping several feathers off. Despite the scorching pain in two of his wings, Lucemon reacted with clarity. "Keep him steady…!" the Demon Lord of Pride commanded Bagramon. "Dead or Alive!"
Lucemon flung the two orbs in his hands forwards. The orb of darkness and the orb of light spiralled around one another in a double helix, expanding and orbiting each other as they sailed towards Seraphimon. The sphere of black crackled with negative energy, gravitating close to the ball of blinding, angelic light. The two spheres suddenly clashed and melded into one another, forming into a twisting ball of white and black that inflated in size.
Bagramon watched as the combined light and darkness formed a massive, segmented ball of gyrating symbols inundated with magical energy. When smoke started pouring from the palm of his hand, Bagramon hurled Seraphimon towards the magical circle, releasing him from his grasp.
Before Seraphimon could catch himself, he felt his back slam into the hard surface of the sphere. The orb offered little resistance before consuming the angel in its folds. "No…!" Seraphimon protested, looking around to see that he was trapped inside the sphere from all sides. He lashed out with his hand, trying to break through the cage, only to find energy shoot up his arm from the inside. The magical sphere had some sort of one-way barrier that suspended him in the air.
Lucemon watched with smug satisfaction as his enemy was trapped within his magical circle. "That was sloppy, Seraphimon. You were too fixated on me," the fallen angel taunted him, flying close enough to peer through the gaps between the magical symbols. "Now… I am sure that you are strong enough to avoid being killed instantly in the fifty percent chance that this attack is particularly lethal… but I can promise you that it will still greatly hurt."
"Lucemon!" Seraphimon shouted, attempting to cut through the sphere with his Excalibur.
Bagramon hovered over while keeping an eye on the battle around them. "You shouldn't struggle, Seraphimon," Bagramon said to him, his voice as cold as ice as he approached the sphere.
Seraphimon turned around to stare at the owner of the familiar voice. "What…? Is that… Bagramon…?!" he demanded, his fists tightening into balls.
Bagramon levelled an empty smile at him. "Ah, that's right... I suppose I must look very different from how I did when we last saw each other. I have had a bit of a makeover…" he explained, his voice a desert of irony. "I'm surprised you recognised me without the other half of my body."
Seraphimon grimaced behind his helmet with a mixture of anger and regret. "You… You are behind all of this…!" he exclaimed. "You released the Demon Lords from the Dark Area, did you not?!"
"Yes, I did," Bagramon confirmed, glaring at him calmly.
"You traitor…" Seraphimon whispered bitterly. "I should have—"
"Had me killed?" Bagramon cynically finished his sentence. His eye narrowed softly as it gazed directly at Seraphimon's face. His hand of flesh tightened into a trembling fist, while his wooden claws loomed threateningly over the circle. He was unable but to help feel a tide of anger returning to him, after decades of playing the reclusive sage.
"Yes, Seraphimon, you should have. You should have deleted me along with all of the other 'heretics' that you decided in your judgement not to spare. You should have spared me the grace of mutilating me and simply finished me off with all the others who didn't beg for God's mercy," Bagramon growled, staring through the bars at the trapped archangel. "But no, you made the mistake of leaving me to crawl the Digital World with only half of my body burnt to a crisp."
"You… wouldn't repent," Seraphimon told him, not without traces of regret in his otherwise obstinate voice. "If you had… I wouldn't have had to execute God's punishment. I… God would have forgiven you, Bagramon… Even though you were one of the instigators…"
For just a moment, a scowl began to form on Bagramon's face. However, he immediately centered himself and offered Seraphimon a serene smile in its stead.
"I do not want its forgiveness, Seraphimon," he calmly explained. He raised his hand and gestured to the skeletal half of his body. "You did me a favour when you destroyed half of my body… I found myself a new body from Yggdrasil's tree, you see… I want to thank you, Seraphimon, for if you hadn't, I never would have been able to free the Demon Lords and begin a new rebellion against God."
"Bagramon…!" Seraphimon thundered, stabbing his energy sword deep into the barrier.
"Bagramon, if you are quite done…" Lucemon spoke up, although he had been enjoying the show. He raised his hand towards the magical circle, his fingers spread wide as if grasping the ball with his hand. "I cannot keep him contained forever."
Bagramon nodded and hovered backwards, putting enough space between him and Seraphimon so that only his artificial arm was within his reaching distance. He prepared to brace himself for the attack to conclude, and he prepared to follow up on his own. "Whenever you are ready."
"I am ready," Lucemon answered. He stared into the magical sphere with derisive contempt, taking a moment to relish in the pain he was about to cause. Then, he closed his hand into a tight fist.
The magical sphere suddenly imploded in on itself. The holy and demonic energy reacted with each other, collapsing inwards around the sphere's occupant. Seraphimon let out a yell of pain as the barrier imploded around him, crushing him within the might of the duelling energies.
As the orb dissipated in a haze of wisps and data, the silhouette of Seraphimon's body could just merely be seen within the fading light. The archangel slumped forwards with agony. Smoke wafted up from his body. His once-pristine armour was riddled with fractures and dents. His wings were twisted and golden feathers floated down from around his body. His body was wracked with pain and he struggled to remain floating in the sky after Lucemon's overwhelming attack.
Seraphimon slowly raised his head. Blood trickled down from his ears and fingers, but he forced himself to remain standing. He wasn't broken yet. As much pain as he felt in his muscles, he refused to give up here. He refused to be defeated.
The Archangel of Judgement slowly raised his arm and extended the Excalibur sword once again. "…Y-You were right… It will take more than that… to defeat me," Seraphimon informed the Demon Lord of Pride, refusing to show Lucemon his true pain. He turned and looked over his shoulder at the Powers, who were locked in mortal combat with the Nightmare Soldiers. "Fight onwards! Break their ranks and scatter them!"
"Tsk," Lucemon scoffed, scowling with annoyance upon seeing Seraphimon's renewed vigor. "You always were a stubborn fool. Learn to know when you are beaten." Taking advantage of his pain, the foremost fallen angel raced towards the injured seraph and planned to unleash a beating on him before he could fully recover.
Bagramon watched with a narrowed eye as Seraphimon fought through the pain. It seemed one of the Three Great Angels wouldn't fall so easily, even to such a powerful attack. Knowing he had to act quickly, he reached out with the Astral Snatcher, intending to plunge his claws into Seraphimon's back.
"Lord Seraphimon!" a voice echoed out.
A streak of grey and blue whizzed across Lucemon's path. A tear suddenly appeared across the sleeve of Lucemon's extended arm, and a strand of blood spurted out from underneath the fabric. Lucemon hissed with pain and stopped his charge, retracting his arm.
In front of him appeared the bladed, militant body of SlashAngemon. The Commander of the Powers intercepted Lucemon, putting himself between him and Seraphimon. He extended his bladed wings outwards protectively and crossed his massive sword arms in front of his body.
At the same time, an archangel donning two, large shields over his arms flew into the path of Bagramon's grasping hand. The angel pointed the green sword extending from the wrist at Bagramon and unleashed a powerful pulse of light that blasted Bagramon backwards.
Dominimon, the commander of the Dominions, took up a defensive stance on the opposite side of Seraphimon, putting up a protective barrier between him and SlashAngemon with Seraphimon in the middle.
"You looked as though you needed some aid, Supreme Commander," Dominimon spoke, although not taking his eyes off Bagramon for a moment.
Seraphimon sighed and took the reprieve to collect himself after the devastating attack. "Yes. Thank you, commanders," Seraphimon gratefully answered. "SlashAngemon, how is the battle progressing?"
"It is hard-fought and we have taken casualties. However, the Powers are holding fast and we have been slowly pushing the heretics back from the excavation site," Celestial Commander SlashAngemon explained. "Ophanimon is engaged in combat with Lilithmon. It appears that that Cherubimon is occupied fighting the Royal Knights, but they appear to be weakening against him."
Seraphimon grimaced and looked over to where the violet rabbit was busy fighting Sleipmon and Examon at the same time. They were at the epicenter of the raging lightning storm, dancing between the crimson bolts while they did battle. He could see the spires of lightning hit them every so often. By looking at their movements, he could see that they were starting to struggle.
"It is imperative that I go and deal with Cherubimon," Seraphimon spoke, clenching his fists tightly. He glanced at Lucemon and Bagramon nearby, who were facing off the pair of archangels. "However…"
"Leave these demons to us, Seraphimon," Dominimon assured him, readying his blade as he watched Bagramon. "We will keep them busy for you."
SlashAngemon nodded and hunched forwards, preparing himself to charge forwards at a moment's notice. "Yes, they won't get past us easily. Do what it is that you must do, Seraphimon."
"Thank you…" Seraphimon answered. He turned and looked towards Cherubimon with unflappable determination and burgeoning anger. "I fear that I will have to do just that…"
SlashAngemon nodded and holy energy began to trace the tips of his blades. "Dominimon, let us give him his chance," he informed his comrade as searing light poured into his swords. "…Go! Holy Espada!" he shouted, unleashing a cross-shaped beam towards Lucemon.
"Final Excalibur!" Dominimon called out in unison, pouring a stream of light from his blade towards Bagramon.
As soon as the light ignited the dark sky around him, Seraphimon took off, tearing through the sky like a shooting star. Behind him, SlashAngemon surged towards Lucemon, suppressing him in a frenetic dance of blades, while Dominimon set upon Bagramon, with a rapid series of thrusts from his energy sword.
Seraphimon trusted the two commanders to the Demon Lords. For him, right now, Lucemon and Bagramon were mere distractions. He became solely focused on Cherubimon. He had to confront him. He had to know what happened. The more that he thought about it, the more he felt the need to ask why.
As Seraphimon soared through the sky, his pained body became rigid with rage. He charged straight towards Cherubimon at the other side of the battlefield. He refused to wait any longer…
"Cherubimon…" he thought to himself as holy fire burned within him. "Have you betrayed us too?"
"Get out of my way!"
Cherubimon Vice swept his arm out, clenching his fist to shatter the ice that coated his hand and forearm. He slammed his gigantic arm into Sleipmon's side, bashing the armoured Royal Knight out of his way as he attempted to fly towards the distant Seraphimon.
Sleipmon was able to catch himself and he started circling back around at a tight angle. His body ached and half of his body felt numb with bruises. The grimace on his face hardened as he watched Cherubimon trying to break away from him. Now that the Heavenly Choir was here, he knew he couldn't let him get loose from their isolated duel. He wouldn't let Cherubimon do something that he would regret.
Sleipmon raised his wounded, bloodied arm and aimed his frost-crusted shield ahead of him. "Odin's Breath!"
Seven pillars of thick ice extended from the ground, growing high into the sky. Cherubimon stopped sharply before he could hit them, watching the sturdy columns shoot up above him and obstruct his path. A dark, irritated growl rolled out of his throat. He whirled around and glared at Sleipmon with utter disdain.
"Haven't you had enough yet, lackey of Yggdrasil?" Cherubimon demanded. He turned around to face him fully, giving the Royal Knight his complete attention. He materialised an oversized Lightning Spear into his hand and he pointed it at Sleipmon threateningly. "You are bothering me now. If you are so keen to die, then so be it. You will fall by my hand!"
Sleipmon watched as Cherubimon bolted towards him with surprising speed for his large body. He raised his shield up and placed his crossbow in the Niflheimr's slot in order to protect himself while aiming. "I won't fall… Not until you're the old Cherubimon again!" he declared as he lined up his shot. "Bifröst!"
"Then you will die a naïve and obstinate fool!" Cherubimon roared, readying his arm to sling the jagged spear at his former pupil.
Sleipmon saw his opening and he fired. Aiming carefully despite his pain, Sleipmon let loose the incandescent bolt. The arrow lit up the darkness between them. With a streak of light and marksman-like precision, the bolt cut across the back of Cherubimon's hand, searing his hand and forcing him to drop the spear that he was about to throw.
Cherubimon snarled and clutched his hand for a moment. "Do you really think that that is enough to stop me, Royal Knight?" the violet-stained angel scoffed. His hands erupted with ruby electricity and the clouds flashed above him. A pair of shorter Lightning Spears appeared in his hands like short swords. "It seems that I have been going too easy on you, for you are not taking me seriously enough. Make no mistake, Sleipmon; I will bring down the sky itself!"
Cherubimon launched himself at Sleipmon yet again, closing the distance between them swiftly. The Royal Knight was about to bolt away in order to put distance between them, but a bolt of lightning cut through the sky beside him, cutting off his path. He had no choice but to turn and defend himself. "Cherubimon!" he yelled out in desperation.
The fallen angel set upon him, his huge body of darkness looming over him. Cherubimon stabbed one of his spears downwards in an attempt to skewer Sleipmon's upper body. The agile knight reacted quickly, blocking the stab with the Niflheimr in a flurry of electric sparks.
He knew that it was a feint. He watched Cherubimon's other hand thrust the other blade towards his midsection in an underhanded stab. Sleipmon fired a Bifröst from the Muspellsheimr right in front of Cherubimon's face, the flare flashing in his eyes. With barely milliseconds to act, Sleipmon allowed himself to drop underneath Cherubimon, releasing the pressure of the fallen angel's attack, before dashing to the side to avoid the two spears.
"Cherubimon, you have to listen to me! The darkness has taken hold of you! You have to fight its control!" Sleipmon pleaded with him as he dashed around behind him. "Whatever the Demon Lords have said to you, it isn't true! They're manipulating you with their words and magic!"
Cherubimon growled and swung around, hurling the two shorter spears in Sleipmon's direction. "Do not speak of what you do not understand!" he bellowed. "My true enemies are right in front of me, and you are protecting them! You, who spout immature ideals while walking the land with your eyes closed, have no right to lecture me about deceit! I can finally see what I always knew to be true! Heaven's Judgement!"
Sleipmon glowered with frustration and he was forced to stop and spin around in the air to block the first spear with his shield, before deflecting the second. There was a flash above him, followed by a series of deafening cracks. Sleipmon looked up and his eyes widened.
He watched as the raging storm above them began unleashing a salvo of lightning bolts down towards him. The Royal Knight took off in an erratic evasion pattern as crimson lightning rained down around him. The electricity grazed his arm, static laced his armour and hair, and the thunder buffeted his eardrums. He dashed back and forth, able to evade one bolt as it flashed beside him. He was able to dodge another – two, three, four… Until finally, the erratic nature of the lightning and the wounds that slowed his body stopped him.
Sleipmon was able to dodge a fifth and final bolt of lightning, before a violent surge of red pierced the air above him. The lightning bolt struck his back and electricity coursed through his body, dragging a fractured cry of pain from his lungs. Sleipmon's body arched back and his muscles trembled. After a few moments of scorching agony, Sleipmon slumped forwards in place, his red digizoid armour smoking.
Cherubimon scowled and summoned a Lightning Spear in his hand. Seeing his chance to hit the elusory archer, Cherubimon took careful aim and hurled the unholy javelin at him with the intent to kill.
Sleipmon remained in place, his limbs seized and uncooperative. The numb pain that was shooting through his body prevented him from escaping. He could only watch through grimacing, spot-filled eyes as the javelin closed in on him.
Then, a wall of red appeared in his vision. At first, he thought it was the spear, but his vision was too dark. It was then that he heard the electricity splitting around him, recognizing the violent hiss, but none of the pain.
Sleipmon looked up to see Examon floating in front of him. His chrome digizoid-plated wing was extended outwards, furling around their bodies protectively like a shield. Smoke drifted up from his outer wing and electricity danced along the metal, but the Caledfwlch successfully blocked the javelin.
"Examon…" Sleipmon exclaimed with pained relief, his eyes wide with surprise upon seeing the dragon come to his rescue.
Examon glanced at his friend as he held his wing steady, taking stock of Sleipmon's wounds. "Sleipmon, you're hurt," the Dragon Emperor noted with concern, noticing the deep wounds in his elbow and leg. He swept his smoking wing outwards and pointed the Ambrosius at Cherubimon. "Why don't you leave this to me?"
"No, I'll be okay," Sleipmon insisted, grunting with effort as he shook off the electricity and the pain. He forced himself forwards, flying up beside Examon and readying his shield once again. "I need to be the one to get through to him."
Out of the corner of his eye, Examon glanced at Sleipmon uncertainly. He couldn't ignore his hesitation and scepticism any longer.
"I'm not sure if that's wise," Examon plainly stated, although attempting to be somewhat diplomatic. "You have been fighting inefficiently, Sleipmon. I think it would be best if you act as support for me while I deal with him."
Sleipmon immediately felt his guard go up upon hearing the ambiguous phrase: 'deal with him'. His unease and distrust began to stir inside of him. "What do you mean by that, Examon?" he asked him, looking over at the taller dragon suspiciously. "Cherubimon is my friend. If anybody has the best chance of getting through to him, it's me."
Examon looked back at Cherubimon, watching as the fallen angel summoned another Lightning Spear in his hand. His green eyes narrowed coldly and he took careful aim with his lance. "That's just it. You're not focused on fighting him because you're too focused on talking to him. You aren't fighting as hard as you should be, and you're going to lose because of it."
"I cannot exactly talk him around if I'm plugging him full of arrows, Examon," Sleipmon sharply retorted. "I won't. I realise it won't be easy, but I'll manage. I'll weather through it with my armour and my shield until I can make him remember who he is."
At Sleipmon's flippant words, Examon narrowed his eyes with irritation. "You think that just because you're covered in red digizoid, you can afford to be reckless?" Examon angrily challenged him. He glanced at Sleipmon's wounds and then back at Cherubimon, watching as the fallen angel prepared to attack them. "Cherubimon is aiming for the gaps between your armour, Sleipmon. He knows how you fight. If you keep this up much longer, he's going to kill you."
"Then what do you expect me to do?" Sleipmon replied, doing his best to keep his cool. "Kill him? Leave him to the whims of the Demon Lords? I can't do that. It's my responsibility to save him."
"You aren't going to save anybody like this, Sleipmon, despite your best intentions," Examon frostily informed him. He gripped the Ambrosius and pointed it at Cherubimon, who was propelling himself towards them. "You're intentionally fighting with your hands tied behind your back, just so that you don't hurt him. I don't see how you can think that this half-hearted pacifism is going to save Cherubimon. You can't afford to hold back."
"Half-hearted?" Sleipmon incredulously asked, his already-heightened emotions intensifying further. His violet eyes tightened as he watched Cherubimon racing towards them. "I have been putting all of my heart into getting through to him, Examon. There is a lot more to this than just defeating him in combat! Not everything's always that simple!"
"Then you should realise by now that it isn't working. He's too far-gone now. He can't be reasoned with!" Examon stated, suppressing a growl as he watched Cherubimon hurl his Lightning Spear towards them. "Break!"
The two Royal Knights split off in different directions, allowing the crackling bolt to cut between them. They both circled around Cherubimon, trying to link up behind him. Cherubimon whirled around and caused numerous bolts of lightning to rain down from the sky in an attempt to hit the two Royal Knights.
Sleipmon glowered as he was forced to dodge in a zigzag pattern, weaving around the bolts in sharp, sudden turns. He ignored the strain the g-forces put on his aching body and danced between the surges of electricity. He tried to think of a way in which he could get close enough to Cherubimon to talk to him again.
Meanwhile, Examon's Caledfwlch wings were acting at full capacity in an attempt to dodge the blasts of lightning. They propelled his body up, down, and sideways in sharp, erratic bursts to try to keep the bolts from striking his large body. As they prioritised his movement, Examon focused on aiming, and he launched a powerful laser from his lance that swept past Cherubimon, intercepting him and searing along his shoulder. Cherubimon growled and hurled a crimson javelin towards him, but Examon was just able to dive out of the way.
Sleipmon dashed through the sky and stopped in front of Examon, raising his shield to protect the dragon. "You're wrong, Examon. He can be reasoned with. I know he can," Sleipmon insisted, glancing over his shoulder for a mere second. "I won't give up yet!"
"Then fight like you mean it!" Examon spoke up, swerving past Sleipmon and firing three shells from his lance at Cherubimon from behind the shield. "If you can't fight to win, then you should leave this to me! Otherwise, you will just be a target."
"If I leave it to you, will you spare him?" Sleipmon challenged him, side-eyeing Examon as he loaded a bolt inside his crossbow.
Examon gritted his teeth, watching as Cherubimon summoned three lightning bolts down to detonate his shells before they could get close to him. "I can't promise that. He's a danger; an enemy. His heart's too steeped in darkness," he bitterly replied. "My priority is the mission."
Sleipmon stepped forwards and raised the Muspellsheimr towards the fallen angel. "Then I won't let you," he coolly informed him, though not without a touch of sadness. "I can't trust you with his life."
"Why won't you be reasonable, Sleipmon?" Examon demanded with frustration. "There is a full scale battle going on around us! The Heavenly Choir is no guarantee of victory. If we don't stop him, we could die!"
Sleipmon grimaced and balled his fists into tight, trembling balls. For a few moments, he didn't answer. He watched as Cherubimon's darkened body flicked with blood-red lightning. He could see the anger and resentment in the fallen archangel's eyes. But… he could only think about Cherubimon's smiling face. He wasn't ready to let go of who his mentor was. He believed that he was still in there.
"…What if Alphamon had given up on Omegamon? What if you had given up on Dorbickmon?" Sleipmon questioned, glancing at his fellow knight.
"That… was different," Examon answered with a wince. "This battle is going against us. We don't have the luxury of being able to make mistakes."
"I don't see how it's different," the equine knight coldly replied. "Examon, you said that I have been fighting half-heartedly, but I think that you are the one whose heart isn't in this." He looked ahead into the darkness, lightning flashes reflecting in his eyes. "…Yes, it is hard. You don't know how hard it is trying to avoid killing your enemy in the middle of battle. It takes pain and discipline, but it's worth it. I know you have no qualms about killing, Examon, but I do. You may prefer to take the easy way out, but I won't."
Examon growled with irritation at his friend's reasoning. "So, while you're dragging your feet in the middle of a battle, it's okay to let your allies pick up the slack? You're putting good Digimon in peril if you care more about the enemy. Who do you think you're helping, Sleipmon? For every enemy you save today, they will come back to fight you tomorrow. Do you think they'll be grateful to you?" the dragon knight demanded, finding himself on the verge of losing his temper. "If you don't fight to kill, Sleipmon, then you, or me, or our friends and subordinates might die instead! Or are you saying that some moral code is more important? Or is this about your ego?"
At Examon's biting castigation, Sleipmon felt his own pain and anger bubble to the surface. "I can't believe that you would think that this is about my ego or my code!" the shield-bearing Royal Knight exclaimed with incredulity and hurt in his voice. He turned and looked Examon in the eyes, showing him the intense emotions within them. "This is about Cherubimon – my friend. …I refuse to let him die, Examon! I won't let the Demon Lords win by using my friend against us!"
Examon grimaced faintly. Although he still didn't agree with him, he could tell from his emotions that Sleipmon really was thinking about Cherubimon. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty that he accused him otherwise.
"…Then I'll follow your lead and support you," Examon submitted, tightening his grip around the hilt of the Ambrosius. "But you can't afford to hold back against him."
Sleipmon's eyes softened and he nodded with thanks. He looked back at the dark simulacrum of the archangel ahead of them. "…I won't. I promise," he solemnly agreed.
Cherubimon's glowing eyes narrowed with bitter annoyance. His anger intensified within him as he grew impatient with these obstacles to the true targets of his revenge. "I am finished with you pests," he growled deeply. "Heaven's Judgement!"
Sleipmon and Examon broke away from each other as powerful bolts of lightning ignited the air around them. "Examon, Comet Formation!" Sleipmon called out over the resounding thunder.
Without hesitation, Examon barrel-rolled forwards with his wings furled around his body, the lightning glancing off his plated wings. He swept his wings out and climbed high into the sky.
Meanwhile, Sleipmon raced forwards with frost trailing behind him. He fired bolts from his crossbow at Cherubimon, keeping him distracted, while he began pouring cold energy from the Niflheimr.
Cherubimon growled as he dodged around the glimmering arrows, all while his body was subjected to an arctic blizzard. The biting temperatures and the intense wind caused his movements to slow, and layers of ice began to form on Cherubimon's joints.
The fallen archangel glowered and attempted to shake the ice off, but it continued to build. He was starting to be frozen in place by the Odin's Breath.
Then, Cherubimon noticed something in his vision. He looked up and saw something hurdling towards him from the sky.
It was Examon. The dragon knight fell from the sky like a meteor, his wings wrapped around his body to shield himself and cut down on wind resistance. Cherubimon saw that the dragon was on a collision course with him, and he tried to break free from the layers of ice.
"Dragonic Impact," Examon whispered as he descended towards Cherubimon like a comet. While he didn't have the height nor the velocity to cause critical damage to the fallen angel, he had enough confidence in his momentum that he would be able to hit Cherubimon with the force of a Locomon. He knew that Sleipmon wanted him to force the demonic rabbit to the ground.
Cherubimon wrenched his head back and forth as he tried to break through the ice crystallizing across his body, but he was unable to gain enough leverage. He looked up with an enraged scowl as Examon descended on him. He was unable to escape in time.
The large dragon rammed into Cherubimon's sizeable body with immense force. The ice around him shattered from the impact, the fallen angel's limbs torn from their confines of the entrapping ice. Examon body impacted Cherubimon like a meteor, and he crushed him into the frozen ground.
The permafrost beneath them split and tremors coursed through the ground, strong enough to shake the Breakdramon. The land beneath collapsed into a shallow crater. A blast of wintery snow and powdered ice exploded out from the point of impact, obscuring their bodies from vision.
Sleipmon tried to see into the snow-white haze, but he was unable to detect either of the two inside the cloud of debris. He circled around it, passing back to the front. He hoped Examon hadn't hit him too hard…
It was then that he saw Examon burst through the snow, flying backwards with his lance trained on the clouded crater. "Examon!" Sleipmon called out to him.
Examon stopped, hovering in place while keeping the Ambrosius aimed. "He's alive, but he should be hurt. I think I hit him hard enough to down him," he informed him.
Sleipmon nodded and raised his shield, heading back towards Examon. If he could freeze Cherubimon to the ground to incapacitate him, that would be the chance that he needed. He prepared to follow up Examon's attack with a second blizzard.
Something caught his eye. Sleipmon turned his attention towards the crater, and he suddenly heard a deep, raspy growl rumbling from within it. The sound of thumping and crashing ice filled the air. Within the haze of white, he could see a dark silhouette rising up from the ground. Sleipmon felt a sick feeling in his stomach. From within that mist, he could sense a being inundated with malice.
Examon's eyes narrowed as he watched the shadow rise taller and taller. He couldn't believe it. Even though it wasn't a full-powered attack, Cherubimon shouldn't have been able to brush it off so easily. Examon immediately locked a shell into the chamber and prepared to pull the trigger of the Ambrosius. "Sleipmo-!"
A guttural howl of rage erupted from within the cloud. Before either of them could react, a blood red spear pierced through the haze and hurdled towards Examon.
His sentient wings didn't react in time. The electric javelin sliced along Examon's right shoulder and pierced through his wing. Examon snarled in pain and the fresh wound caused his aim to skew right, causing him to pump the munitions imprecisely into the dust.
"Examon!" Sleipmon called out, racing over to his friend's aid.
Using his immense speed, Sleipmon closed the distance, preparing to place himself protectively in front of Examon. But, right as he was about to reach Examon, a giant, purple arm burst out of the mist and intercepted him.
Cherubimon swept his gigantic arm towards him, and, unable to slow himself or divert course, Sleipmon collided with the back of his hand. With a mighty swing, Cherubimon smashed Sleipmon away, knocking the armoured horse across the ground.
Ignoring the cuts that opened in the back of his hand from the impact, Cherubimon snarled and burst out of the crater like a Digimon possessed. He closed in on Examon and plunged his fist into the dragon's belly. As Examon's eyes widened with pain, Cherubimon continued putting all of his strength into the punch, until he finally released all of his force and sent Examon careening into the dark sky.
Examon's wind was knocked right out of him and he was sent flying at such speeds that the Caledfwlch were unable to catch him. Cherubimon watched as Examon hurdled into the darkness, and he brought his hand down, calling a lightning bolt right in front of Examon's path. The lightning surged through the dragon knight's body, drawing a roar from his throat.
"You have wasted my time for long enough…" Cherubimon glowered cruelly as he watched Examon's body flash with lightning and stall in the night sky. He bent his legs and bounced off the ground, throwing himself after Examon like a cannonball. "Now perish, servant of Yggdrasil!"
"I won't let you hurt him!" Sleipmon shouted, speeding across the sky in a red afterimage. He stopped in Cherubimon's path, blood trickling down his face from his forehead and mouth. Sleipmon glowered and stared up at Cherubimon with desperate resolve. He tentatively raised his crossbow.
"Get out of my way!" Cherubimon shouted, raising his fists without any of the compunctions that Sleipmon had. He clasped his hands together and held them over his head. With a massive swing, he brought his fists down on Sleipmon, his hands impacted his head and back. Cherubimon smashed Sleipmon downwards, spiking him into the ground in a wave of snow and ice.
The Royal Knight's legs buckled and Sleipmon collapsed onto the ground. Without waiting to see if Sleipmon would get up, Cherubimon scowled and turns his attention back to Examon. He propelled himself upwards with the added momentum from his punch and he hurled himself towards the static dragon, whose wings were still sparking with electricity.
Grimacing in pain and trying to shake the effects of the lightning off, Examon turned to see Cherubimon closing in on him, but he could barely move his arm to defend himself. He was too slow.
Cherubimon set upon him, grabbing Examon by the face and swinging him around. He released him and sent the dragon sailing in the direction of the mountain. Making the most of his chance, Cherubimon chased after Examon aggressively before he could recover. He caught up to the Royal Knight mid-flight and slammed his fist into Examon's chest, doubling his momentum and sending him crashing into the side of the cliffs.
Examon let out a winded gasp as his winged back collided against the cliff. He felt the rock compress beneath his data-rich body and his back formed a crater behind him.
Cherubimon snarled and flew backwards, putting both Examon and Sleipmon in front of him. "I have had enough of you Royal Knights!" he shouted angrily. "You have interfered one too many times. This will put you down for good!"
The dark archangel swept his arms upwards and there was an intense flash of blood red behind him. Suddenly Lightning Spears began to form around him. Not one, not two, but dozens. A plethora of the crimson bolts flashed into existence above and around Cherubimon's body. And they continued multiplying… Soon, hundreds of Lightning Spears had come into existence, all of them pointed towards the two Royal Knights.
Sleipmon grimaced and looked up as he weakly pushed himself up from the ground. He was barely able to move. "Ch-Cherubimon… Don't…" he pleaded with him.
Cherubimon beheld the two Royal Knights with contempt and malice. He floated in the sky, backed by an overwhelming arsenal of spears. His only response was a bitter squint before he threw his hands forwards.
"Thousand Spear!"
Sleipmon watched hopelessly as the myriad unholy javelins began descending towards them, turning the sky and the snow red. With so many projectiles in the sky, there was no need to aim. Cherubimon merely launched them all in the general area of the Royal Knights. There were enough that he was certain he would hit them.
The Lightning Spears descended like a shroud of arrows. They started stabbing deep into the ice, hitting all around. Examon grimaced as he lifted his head weakly, watching as the swarm of lightning bolts began hurdling towards him. They started hitting the cliff above him, shearing pieces of rock off.
Knowing he had to act quickly, Examon hastily furled his wings in front of his body like a shield, right before the spears began tearing against him. They pounded against his outer wings, scraping against the chrome digizoid, which deflected the first volley of spears around him. They tore up the rocks around him, almost forming a silhouette around his curled body.
Meanwhile, the torrent of javelins began raining down on top of Sleipmon. Wincing, Sleipmon got to a stand and raised the Niflheimr over his head, holding it with both hands. The storm of bolts inundated him, roaring against his shield as they began ripping the ground around him to shreds. He let out a strained yell as his arms strained and trembled, taking all of his strength to hold his shield firm.
"I can't… give up…" Sleipmon said in a strained murmur. His legs trembled with effort, his hooves digging into the ice. Every ounce of his body was under enormous pressure, so there was no sparing his wounds. His pierced elbow and leg were beginning to weaken under the intense strain.
The ground around him was inundated with spears. They pierced from the ground like spikes. The deluge continued around him, fracturing the ice and splitting fissures in the ground. Sleipmon held remarkably steady against the onslaught, but the continued pressure was overwhelming. His guard was beginning to break and he was being pushed to his knees by the intense force.
The slightest slip was enough. The pain in his elbow caused a breach in his guard, and the Niflheimr skewed slightly. A spear whizzed past his shield and plunged straight through the ankle of his bent knee. A howl of pain erupted from Sleipmon's throat and his guard broke, his knees buckling. Dozens of spears descended on him, tearing against his armour and cutting through his skin.
The spears stabbed through his six legs, penetrating through the gaps in his armour and pinning them to the ground. A javelin stabbed through his left bicep while another tore into his right shoulder. Sleipmon thundered with agony as his legs were fastened to the ground by jagged spears. Blood leaked out from his limbs and stained the snow as his body was wracked by extreme pain.
The only thing that spared him was the fortune of the robust, red digizoid armour that protected the vital areas of his body.
At the same time, Examon was busy trying to shield himself against the endless salvo of spears. Although his chrome digizoid wings were holding well, he was unable to move and his guard was even more precarious than Sleipmon's was. He could feel the Caledfwlch slowly being pulled apart by the continued onslaught.
Suddenly, Examon felt his wings spreading too far apart for his comfort, and he knew the weaker tips of his wings couldn't hold. After a few more strained seconds, his wings broke open and he desperately attempted to fly up to escape, but he was caught.
A Lightning Spear stabbed through his left thigh, knocking him back against the cliff. Examon was beset by several more spears. One pierced the wing that attached to his left arm, another stabbed through the base of his tail, while six other javelins pierced through his gigantic wing span at various points.
An intense snarl of pain rolled from Examon's throat as the javelins pierced through his scales and pinned him to the cliff behind him. His wings twitched and he couldn't free them from the spears, and his left arm and leg were immobile as the spears pinned them to the cliff face. He was trapped in place.
Despite the pain in his body, he clutched the Ambrosius in a vice grip, refusing to let it drop from his right hand.
The Thousand Spears ended, with the rest of the spears stabbing haphazardly into the ground. Cherubimon Vice panted with effort and observed the Royal Knights from the sky, seeing them both wounded and helpless before him. A slight smirk formed on his face and he formed one more Lightning Spear in his hand. "That's more like it…"
"Ch-Cherubimon…" Sleipmon stammered, wincing through the extreme pain. Although he couldn't move his legs at all, his arms were still free, although it burned to move them. He weakly raised his head and looked up at the sky, watching as lightning flashed behind Cherubimon. "This… isn't you…"
"No, I'm not the one that you know. Not any longer," Cherubimon answered. He raised the Lightning Spear over his head and aimed carefully at Sleipmon, preparing to finish him off. "…Farewell, dear Sleipmon."
"Lightning Spear."
Sleipmon's eyes widened as light flashed above Cherubimon's head. He braced himself as the javelin began to leave the fallen angel's fingers.
"Ascension Hallow!"
A bolt of divine lightning erupted from the darkened sky. Different from the blood red bolts, the pure, white and blue streak descended and struck Cherubimon's hand. The electricity coursed through his fingers and caused the crimson Lightning Spear to burst and dissipate.
Cherubimon let out a shocked yell and retracted his smoking hand. "What?!" he demanded, spinning around.
To his surprise, an archangel Digimon was flying across from him, his golden, humanoid body basked in harsh light while his hand crackled with electricity. The Digimon hovering before him was none other than the one he had been searching for: Seraphimon.
"…Well?" Seraphimon asked, his voice cold and resonant. "It is I that you seek, is it not, old friend?"
Cherubimon's moon-like eyes widened with shock before lightening with perverse glee. "Seraphimon…" he spoke. "It is about time…"
Seraphimon's body tightened fiercely and he raised his fist in front of his body. "Cherubimon… What in God's name have you done?" he demanded, his voice trembling with rage.
Cherubimon smiled widely. "What you were too afraid to do," he answered. "Now… Let us settle this once and for all."
As hellish lightning flashed all around Cherubimon, Seraphimon prepared himself, his own heavenly thunder raging behind him. The clouds parted and congregated around each archangel, all while the double full moons shone between them.
Seraphimon glared at his old friend with tempered rage.
"Very well… Let's."