79

The Demoness

"It was murder – strangulation – but one need not say that the claw-mark on [her] throat could not have come from her husband's or any other human hand, or that upon the white wall there flickered for an instant in hateful red a legend which, later copied from memory, seems to have been nothing less than the fearsome Chaldee letters of the word 'LILITH.'" – H. P. Lovecraft, "The Horror at Red Hook"

MetalGarurumon could only watch in horror as Lilithmon raised an arm, and the five humans ascended with it. They were trapped in a cloud of grayness that was emanating from the demoness, a blotch on the background of black as if the darkness had some awful leprous disease.

"Darkness Love!"

A wave of the grayness swept outward from Lilithmon's body, playing about the surface of MetalGarurumon's. He remembered that she had used the same attack last night to degenerate Gabumon into Tsunomon. But this time, at the Ultimate level, and not worn out from a night of battle, he was ready to fight it. He could feel his power beginning to ebb away, but he held on to it tightly. He clenched his jaws as if to clamp down on the energy his enemy was trying to drain.

"Well, are you just going to stand there?" Lilithmon mocked. She glanced up to where the Chosen Children were suspended above her head, writhing in the grayness. "It's not nice to keep these cuties waiting."

Aloft, the humans had been pulled horizontal by the gray mistiness, so that when they opened their eyes they were now staring upwards into blackness. They could feel Lilithmon's energies running through their minds and bodies, unpleasantly pleasant.

Yamato choked out, "Metal…Garurumon!"

The other four partner Digimon had recovered from Lilithmon's initial attack, and had approached her again, but they hesitated to take action. They didn't quite trust their accuracy. With their partners so close to Lilithmon, a Shadow Wing or Horn Buster might easily damage everyone.

In the meantime, MetalGarurumon was still trying to maintain his current form, but Lilithmon's taunt and Yamato's plea galvanized him into action. Unlike the other Digimon, he had precision weapons at his command. Four beams of blue light issued from the laser sights on his snout, hitting Lilithmon in the stomach. Letting out a grunt, she recoiled. The five teens went limp as the grayness about them faded without entirely disappearing.

"So you do have some tricks up your sleeve," Lilithmon said, leaning forward again and smiling. "But it looks like it's my turn again. Phantom Pain!"

MetalGarurumon's vision of Lilithmon was partially obscured by a black pattern of interlocking squares and circles. It was the same perfect blackness as the void they hung in, and so when the bolts of black energy leapt from it he had no means of seeing them and dodging. His sensors caught them, but the range was too close. The blasts hit him from a number of directions, and again it was all he could do to remain at the Ultimate level.

Growling in pain, he tried to refocus his attention on Lilithmon. He could see that she was still smiling. It wasn't a manic, angry smile now, but a self-satisfied one. Her opponent was still standing, but she looked as smug as if the battle were already won. MetalGarurumon didn't know what she was thinking, but he had noticed that something was wrong. The initial pain of the attack had not lessened afterwards. If anything, it seemed to be slowly spreading from the points of impact to nearby parts of his body.

"What's the matter?" Lilithmon asked. "Are you not feeling good? Poor thing. It only gets worse from here."

"Flower Cannon!"

Lilithmon's expression faltered as Lilimon's attack hit her from behind. She looked back over her shoulder to see Mimi's partner, whose weapon could still be seen peeking out from the petals at her wrists.

"Don't forget about us!" Lilimon said.

"You?" Lilithmon said, looked around incredulously at her opponents. Garudamon, AtlurKabuterimon, and Zudomon shifted their positions as if preparing to attack, but they still couldn't risk their partners by making a move. "Perfect-level Digimon? Don't make me laugh."

"Lilithmon," MetalGarurumon said, trying to recapture her attention, "We're not done with our fight yet."

"We may as well be," she said, glancing at him. "My magic is already eating away at your data. Before long you'll have been completely consumed." She indulged herself in a bubbly laugh. "But the best part is, the pain doesn't stop even then!"

Yamato's partner knew that she was telling the truth. He could feel the poison – or whatever it was – of Lilithmon's attack burrowing deeper into his muscles. He didn't have time to examine himself, but he had a feeling that he was already beginning the process of a slow disintegration. Would he die? He couldn't afford to now, not yet, not when Yamato and the others needed him. He drew on what strength he could muster. A Cocytus Breath at this point might kill him, but if he could lunge forward and hit Lilithmon with it at point-blank range, it should be able to do serious damage. He prepared to launch himself at his enemy, but before he was ready the situation changed.

Lilithmon's gray radiance was strengthening itself again, and the Chosen Children were feeling it, sliding over them like an oily second skin. Essentially weightless, they were unable to escape from it. Upon hearing her partner's voice, Mimi began moving her limbs in an attempt to get a purchase on the slippery air, but all it amounted to was ineffectual flailing. Then, as Lilithmon finished talking to MetalGarurumon, the air suddenly seemed to get a tighter grip on her, and she was pulled downwards, her body being reoriented.

The other children couldn't see her descent, but they sensed it. With their eyes stuck aimed at darkness, they listened for any sound that might tell them what Lilithmon was about to do with their friend. And it was as they were listening that there was change in the blackness before them, at first almost imperceptible. In the distance a crack of light appeared and widened into a rectangle. And something came through it.

Lilithmon smiled knowingly at MetalGarurumon as she drew Mimi to her. Cocytus Breath was no longer an option. He racked his mind for a new strategy, but all his thoughts were clouded by the ever-deepening pain.

Lilithmon refocused her attention on Lilimon, as with her left arm she pulled Mimi to her side. Lilimon tensed and brought the Flower Cannon up again.

"Let go of Mimi!"

"In a minute," Lilithmon purred. "Maybe."

Mimi couldn't move anymore, the gray luminescence wouldn't allow her to, but she still shuddered as Lilithmon lightly drew her long, pointed fingernails across the girl's exposed stomach. Then Lilithmon reached up and grabbed a fistful of Mimi's hair, pointing her captive's frightened gaze in Lilimon's direction.

"Watch very closely now," Lilithmon said, raising her right hand. "Your little Digimon gets to be first to die."

"Lilimon, run!" Mimi screamed, managing to break the spell's hold on her voice in the panic of the moment.

"Phantom Pain!"

Mimi saw a black pattern trace itself in the air, with her partner at its center. Lilimon hesitated, as if trying to decide how to dodge what was coming, and not coming up with an answer. The unseen bolts lanced towards her. But in the next instant they could be seen – no longer black on black but black on gold, slamming into WarGreymon's Brave Shield and rebounding harmlessly into the abyss. He had appeared so quickly that it took a moment for Mimi and the Digimon to grasp what had happened, and that moment was enough time for him to separate the shield into its constituent halves and whip one of them at Lilithmon's head, clearing Mimi by a few inches and knocking the demon lord away from her.

In spite of his pain, MetalGarurumon was first to recover. He jerked his body around to face Lilithmon's new position.

"Grace Cross Freezer!"

The gun ports and launchers concealed within him flipped open, unleashing a volley of missiles at the stunned Lilithmon. Leaving trails of ice-blue light behind them, they converged on their target, and she vanished for an instant in the white glare of the impact.

The Chosen Children were free once more from the smothering influence of Lilithmon's aura. As they found their equilibrium, Taichi fell slowly towards them from the door he had opened into the abyss.

"Is everyone alright, guys?" he called.

"Great timing, Taichi!" Sora called back.

"I…I think I'm okay," Mimi said, as Lilimon rejoined her.

"And Yamato's here too," Taichi noted, descending to where his friends waited. "Now we can finish this."

The six of them turned to look at Lilithmon as their partner Digimon gathered protectively around them. The demoness hung in the air, most of her body encased in jagged ice, glaring back at them without speaking. Turning her head to one side, she spit out a spray of blood, the red drops hovering vividly against the black background.

"Alright," she said. Her beautiful features were twisted by simmering fury. "No more games, then. No more tricks. No more screwing around." Loud, sharp cracks could be heard now from within the ice, and fissures began to appear in its surface. "I'll kill you all. I'll damn you all." The ice shattered, and Lilithmon reared back, her size seeming to double in her rage. "And I'll do it now!"

The last word became a scream, and Lilithmon raised both hands over her head. Between them a large purplish mass of crackling, sparking energy formed, and she hurled it towards the mass of her enemies. Its size increased rapidly as it sped towards them; Garudamon, Zudomon, and AtlurKabuterimon moved to block it, and all three were caught in it before it exploded. For a moment there was pandemonium as the released energy ran riot in the void. The partner Digimon flashed yellow and devolved to their Child forms, and the children were blown backwards.

Lilithmon let out a savage yell of triumph as she saw her scattered opponents hang motionless in the void. She noticed that two of her opponents had not devolved. She wasn't worried. WarGreymon still stood, but his armor was cracked and tarnished. MetalGarurumon had been spared the worst of the blast, but he was in no condition to fight. Chunks of his body had now disappeared entirely, but from the glazed look of his eyes she could see that he still felt them hurt.

Lilithmon began to laugh, and laugh harder, great peals of laughter shrilling through the nothingness around her. She laughed at those who had thought they might stand up to her. She laughed at their inadequate strength and their useless, stupid virtues. She laughed and laughed, and there was nothing of the girlish in it, or the womanish, or even the human. This was Lilithmon the Demon Lord – evil unrepentant, unabashed – triumphant over weak flesh and petty morality.

"This is it, Chosen Children!" she screamed through sharpened teeth. "This is the end, fools!" she howled, and there was only blackness in her eyes. "Thought you could challenge me!? ME!?"

There was no answer. She stood there, in perfect silence, daring any of them to reply. Saliva that was dark with blood dribbled from between her saw-blade teeth and down her chin. Her skin was now corpse-white instead of pink. Her sensuous veneer had vanished to reveal the monster beneath.

"Lilithmon."

WarGreymon's voice surprised her. She jerked forward, pointing like an attack dog, gnashing her teeth.

"It's not over yet," WarGreymon continued. He spoke slowly, but there was strength behind his words. "We're not dead. We can still fight. We have something to fight for, and people to protect. You have nothing. I'll prove it."

Behind him, the Chosen Children and their partners began to stir.

"WarGreymon…" Taichi murmured, trying to cut through the shock that the last attack had left him in.

"Come on, Lilithmon!" WarGreymon cried. With Dramon Killers at the ready, he charged towards her.