Author's Note: Updating more quickly than usual to make up for yesterday. Keeping the author's notes shorter as well. Enjoy the chapter!
Shakkoumon groaned as his punch missed Piedmon by a few inches. After Imperialdramon's quick defeat and everybody else's disappearance, he and MegaSeadramon had been forced to rely on close-quarters combat against the Demon Man Digimon. Not that Shakkoumon expected any form of physical strike he inflicted to do serious damage, but at least Piedmon couldn't easily reflect a physical strike like he had with Imperialdramon's Positron Laser. While MegaSeadramon at least had his Dramon Attack and Thunder Blade to rely on, Shakkoumon was forced to resort to an awkward attempt at martial arts if he didn't want to be on the receiving end of his own attack. While Shakkoumon was definitely not built for this kind of fight, he pushed forward, drawing encouragement from two things. The first of these was the fact that he and MegaSeadramon had been doing the same routine for a couple of minutes, and Piedmon had only been dodging attacks instead of fighting back. This told Shakkoumon that while Piedmon had the ability to warp reality within Masks Square, it took a lot of focus to maintain that attack. This tied in to the second source of encouragement: since Masks Square took a lot of focus to maintain, even the weakest of hits, such as a punch, would jar Piedmon's focus enough that they would be able to land bigger hits and hopefully do some serious damage.
While Cody was intently focused on the battling Digimon, Michael began trying a new tactic to hopefully break free of Masks Square. While the Digimon were currently employing a strategy that might result in victory if they got one lucky hit in, the DigiDestined of Pride was working on a way to speed up the first hit. After all, Sigma claimed Masks Square was his world, and he was constantly typing into his computer before Piedmon warped away, so maybe he was just as much a factor in keeping the attack running smoothly as Piedmon was. Luckily, Michael was intimately familiar with a slew of action movies where people talked their way out of impossible situations, so it was time to see just how well his acting career translated into real life.
"You do realize you're going to lose this, right? From the looks of it, Piedmon can't really do too much while running this little pocket dimension of his, and that's after only a couple of minutes. Eventually, we'll be able to land a hit, and when we do, this whole place is going to crumble. So, why don't you just stop delaying the inevitable and put an end to this charade?"
Sigma didn't even bother turning to face Michael, though he did type in a response. "You may be right about me delaying the inevitable, but I can't lose this. My mission is to stall you, not defeat you. And Piedmon is only putting so much effort into maintaining this attack because he is controlling space and time. We may only have been here for a couple minutes, but to the outside world it has been much longer than that. By the time you eventually are free, Neo will have advanced too far to be stopped. Even if you defeat me and Piedmon in this battle, you will have already lost the war."
Mari barely even noticed her surroundings as she arrived in Daemon's castle, instead focusing on giving Rosemon much better treatment than she had been able to give in the midst of the battlefield. It was only after she was certain Rosemon had received decent emergency care that she turned her attention elsewhere and saw she wasn't in the usual location of Daemon's throne room. Instead, she was in a large open room, with Daemon sitting behind a large glass window halfway up the wall. Apart from Rosemon, the only other things in the room were Neo and a strange Digimon Mari could only assume was the newly hatched Super Ultimate. For as much as Neo and Daemon had raved about this creature, it didn't look very intimidating: it was basically a silver leech, only it had six legs and glowing red eyes. Its eyes were fixed on Rosemon, and it began shuddering and letting out little "Gigi" noises. It qualified as creepy, but it was still clearly a low-level Digimon, which made it much less impressive to an experienced Tamer like Mari.
Much like Mari, Neo had also been a little disappointed with this so-called Super Ultimate monster. He didn't doubt that it would be a major power when it Digivolved beyond the Mega level like it supposedly could, but at this point, all he had was a monster that had been very difficult to analyze. Even with full access to its data, he had very little idea of what this monster could actually do. So, until he had evidence to back up Daemon's claim that even in its Baby form this Digimon could defeat a Mega level, he wasn't going to march into battle. Which was why he and Mari were here now. Between Sigma's ability to warp reality with Masks Square and the raw power of Hideto's Omegamon, Mari had had the highest chance of losing to the DigiDestined, even in her own opinion. So, Neo wasn't exactly surprised when she and Rosemon were the ones Daemon summoned in order to conduct this little test.
"Mari, do you think Rosemon would be up for a little sparring match? Daemon claims not even Mega Digimon can compare to this newly-hatched monster in power, but I personally have my doubts. I know Rosemon isn't anywhere near 100 percent, but maybe in her current state the fight can actually teach me something interesting instead of having Rosemon just win instantaneously."
After quickly scanning her Digivice, Mari responded. "Well, I'm not too sure if Rosemon can fight at the level of an Ultimate at the moment, but I doubt this little leech thing can fight at anything approaching the Champion level if he's as young as he looks. I'm sure she'll be fine. Though, would you mind filling me in a little bit on what this guy even is? My Digivice isn't giving me anything."
"Don't feel so bad- I had this monster's entire data to examine and even I can't tell you everything about it. All I really know is it's a Baby level at the moment, and its attack is much like Rosemon's Fascination in that it absorbs the life energy of the target. I call the attack Data Drain, but I've never seen it in action. Other than that, I couldn't even get a name, type, attribute, or family for this monster. I've taken to calling it Arkadimon. After all, it's supposed to be the key that allows us to build our own Arcadia here in the Digital World. Assuming it can show me enough to warrant me keeping it around and not just cause me to delete it right away."
With that, Mari and Neo moved to opposite ends of the room, while Rosemon and Arkadimon remained facing each other in the center. Arkadimon continued making its "Gi" sound effect in such a way that Rosemon felt it was looking at her as nothing more than a meal instead of an opponent. Even in her weakened state, Rosemon didn't take kindly to being underestimated. "I might be injured, but I'm still a Mega. There's no way I'm going to lose to you!" Following Mari's command, she flew in with her Rose's Rapier attack, but before the attack could connect, Arkadimon opened a fanged mouth on top of its head, and a crablike arm extended out and impaled Rosemon. Before she or Mari could react to the speed of the attack, Arkadimon moved right into his Data Drain attack, and absorbed all of Rosemon's data, not even leaving a DigiEgg behind. While Daemon began laughing uproariously at the spectacle, Neo almost looked sick. He had wanted to test Arkadimon's power, but he hadn't wanted to destroy Rosemon, especially not in such a brutal manner. When it came to most Digimon, he didn't really care how they got deleted. However, the other Aliases all had much closer relationships with their partners, and he didn't want to hurt his friends and eliminate a useful monster in one fell swoop. He didn't really pay attention as Arkadimon began glowing, instead focusing solely on Mari.
The look on Mari's face was something Neo hadn't seen in years: the look of somebody who was absolutely broken inside. Instantly, Neo flashed back four years ago, when this look was the only thing he saw on both his and Hideto's faces after Rei's accident. Then, he flashed back to two years ago, when the funding for the medical research he was working on to find a cure dried up, seemingly eliminating any hope of recovery. The whole reason for him being in the Digital World was to create a new world where nobody would have to experience that feeling ever again. He glanced back at Arkadimon, who seemed to have assumed a new form, but he couldn't quite make out any details before it glowed again and started changing. This was the tool needed to create a world without suffering, yet it had just done the opposite. Mari had agreed to become an Alias because she wanted a fresh start, as her entire life with the exception of her Digimon had essentially fallen apart. Now, she had just witnessed the one thing she viewed as holding her life together destroyed before her very eyes. Rosemon may have been a Digimon, but she was still something of a friend to Mari and a useful ally. Daemon may have found such suffering enjoyable, but not Neo.
"Mari… I'm sorry. I didn't know how strong Arkadimon was… I thought Rosemon would have won the fight. I didn't mean to destroy her…" Hearing the sincerity in Neo's voice, Mari managed to pull herself together a little bit. "Well, we did agree that some Digimon would have to die to make this work, right? I mean, they all come back anyway, so I just have to find Rosemon's DigiEgg and we can start over in the perfect world." From her voice, it was clear she didn't fully believe what she was saying, and was almost trying to convince herself that everything was going to be okay. Neo was about to respond, but Daemon's voice rang through the room. "What's the matter, human? You should be proud! Your partner's data is now trapped within Arkadimon, and shall remain there for all eternity. From the looks of things, she was a tasty meal- Arkadimon has Digivolved to his Rookie form! You should be happy your sacrifice has ensured the success of our plan."
Hearing this, Neo immediately turned towards Daemon's window in anger. "Wait, you knew this would happen? Did you set this whole thing up on purpose just to feed one of our partners to Arkadimon?" Daemon let out a quick chuckle. "Of course I knew about this. After all, the ability to absorb data has always been a hallmark of a Demon Lord. I sensed the ability within Arkadimon before he even hatched. And why are you so worried that one of your partners was destroyed? I seem to recall you planned on eliminating everything living in the Digital World in order for you to reformat it into your own personal paradise. Why should the Digimon who happened to be partners with your friends be spared while everybody else has to die?"
Neo was taken aback by Daemon's comment, and wasn't as confident sounding in his retort as he wanted to be. "Rosemon was still a valuable ally. I'm not one to toss away those that have proven their worth and can still help me. I may be hard to impress, but once a monster impresses me I don't turn my back on them. And Rosemon won't be trapped inside Arkadimon forever. I'll find a way to free her data, and I will bring her back. I promise, Mari." Mari gave a small smile, but Daemon once again interrupted.
"Don't expect to be able to keep that promise, Neo. Even if you free her data, you'll need help reformatting it into a DigiEgg. After all, she didn't experience a standard death, so she won't experience the standard easy reincarnation. There are very few beings in this world that have the power to restore a fallen Digimon at that point, and I doubt you'll be able to find them, let alone convince them to help you. Then again, your girlfriend is used to being lied to and used by everybody, so I'm sure she won't mind if you break your promise. Now, you really ought to get moving. You've wasted enough time as it is, and my army has already begun the assault on Holy Angel Castle. I'm sure they are wondering why their general is skipping out on the battle. Plus, the whole point of the Aliases was to stall the DigiDestined while you stormed the castle. Mari's opponents are already on their way to support the castle, so the clock is ticking."
After hearing the order, Neo managed to return to his calmer, more controlled personality. "That sounded like an order, Daemon. I believe I've discussed this with you before. I will fight your battles for you, but only under my own terms. And one of those terms was I wanted to know all about Arkadimon before I brought him into the middle of a battlefield. Though Arkadimon did beat Rosemon, he did so acting without my direct order. That's a trait I do not approve of in any of my monsters. Plus, he's now Digivolved twice. I'll need to see what I can dig up about this new form before I go out to fight. In the interest of time, I'll reduce it to a few scans instead of a full demonstration, but—"
Daemon continued his annoying habit of cutting off Neo by causing him and Arkadimon to start flickering away. "Your objections are noted, but I've gotten the hang of this whole banishing technique. So, you really don't have a choice when I tell you that you are going to Holy Angel Castle right now. Just be sure to feed that fool HolyAngemon to Arkadimon. It would be a shame to let the data of one so strong go to waste." With that, Daemon got the last word as Neo fully disappeared. He turned away from the window, leaving Mari alone to process everything that had just happened. Daemon allowed himself to revel in the joy of a plan coming together. Arkadimon was already a Rookie, and would most likely be an Ultimate by the time Neo returned from the castle. At that point, he would most likely be too strong for the DigiDestined to do much of anything, and the timing would be perfect to engage the critical step of the plan. As a side bonus, he had even managed to get the better of Neo in an argument. It was just what Daemon needed for Neo to finally shut up, and it also showed the arrogant human exactly what insubordination felt like. It might have even taught him a lesson, but Daemon secretly hoped it hadn't. After all, Neo's role in the big picture was best served if he didn't blindly follow Daemon's orders, and it would be extremely satisfying when Neo thought he was serving his own interests while playing directly into Daemon's hands.
When Neo arrived at Holy Angel Castle, the battle was well underway. The aerial battle was already going in favor of Daemon's forces, with the Angemon and Kuwagamon defenders struggling against the numerically superior combination of Devimon, Devidramon, and Airdramon. By the looks of things, Daemon may have overestimated his foes, as he had a Megadramon, a Gigadramon, a Gryphonmon, a VenomMyotismon, and a Boltmon who were essentially staring down the commander of the defending force, a lone IceLeomon. From the looks of things, this battle was overkill well before Arkadimon arrived on the scene. Still, at least he'd have time to analyze Arkadimon's data instead of throwing him directly into a fight.
As Neo started scanning Arkadimon's data with his Digivice, a squadron of Knightmon showed up to back up the IceLeomon. Perhaps emboldened by the newly arrived reinforcements, IceLeomon addressed Neo. "So, this is the great human Tamer Daemon called in as his whipping boy. I'm guessing that little pink mantis thing next to you is the Super Ultimate, then? For a being of untold destruction, he certainly doesn't look the part." Neo didn't even bother looking up from his Digivice. "Yes, this is Arkadimon, and I can assure you, it is well beyond your feeble concepts of power. I'd like to tell you you'll eat your words when Arkadimon Digivolves, but that would mean you'd live long enough to see that happen."
With this, Megadramon and Gigadramon charged, only for two Knightmon to follow suit. Using their Berserk Sword attacks, they actually managed to cut the opposing dragons in half, quickly slaying them. "It looks like Commander Leo won't even have to get involved here. Now who's next?" Shaking his head at the confidence of the two Knightmon, Boltmon stepped forward. "Showoffs. Let me show you how it's done! Tomahawk Crush!" Throwing his massive battleax like it was a boomerang, Boltmon cut one Knightmon in half before decapitating the other. Catching his axe easily, he continued shaking his head. "Ultimate levels. Always so sure of themselves until a Mega level comes around and shows them what true power is. Now, time to take care of the commander."
Boltmon charged with his battleax, while Leo merely drew his sword. The Mega level used his Battle Tomahawk attack, unleashing a mighty blow capable of reducing most targets into data if they were Digimon and powder if they weren't. Leo didn't particularly seem to care, and blocked the blow with his sword. Seeing this, Boltmon commented "Hmph- you blocked my ax. Oh well, anybody can get lucky once. Tomahawk Knuckle!" The Cyborg Digimon launched into a berserk frenzy with his ax, but Leo always seemed to be one step ahead of him, managing to block or evade every attack. As the Tomahawk Knuckle attack ended, Boltmon began panting from exertion. "That's… impossible… there's no way… an Ultimate like you… could have so much power…"
Leo merely responded by blasting Boltmon in the chest with his Fist of Ice attack. As his opponent staggered back and began to be encased in a frozen block, he growled out a more specific answer towards Neo. "You'll find that all of the defenders of Holy Angel Castle have such power. We are willing to defend this castle with our lives, as this castle is the light of this cruel world. Only the strong survive in this world, and many monsters die young. Here, they can be reborn, and this small light of hope for the future is what gives us strength." Turning back towards the now frozen Boltmon, he brandished his sword, and vertically bisected his helpless foe. "I will not allow your filthy hands to tarnish the light!"
Neo allowed a small smile to cross his face. "Well, I must say I'm surprised. I didn't think Boltmon would last long enough for me to finish my initial scans. Still, it never hurts to double check, so I'm afraid your next opponent won't be—"
Before Neo could even finish his sentence, the VenomMyotismon had tried to smash Leo into the ground, but the commander easily dodged. This didn't seem to faze the Demon Beast, as he began laughing and repeating the word "Kill." Hearing this, Leo turned back to Neo. "I can't say I'm surprised that such an uncouth monster is working with Daemon, but I am a bit surprised that you are working with him. From what I've heard, this guy doesn't exactly live up to your standards."
Neo sighed. "Don't look at me. He's acting on his own. What you see before you was once known as Vamdemon, master of illusions. He got destroyed, but his hatred lived on and allowed him to assume this new form. He even got stronger, but at the cost of his intelligence and sense of self. He's just a slave to his impulse to kill now- I'm surprised he even waited this long to join the fight. He isn't worthy of my time, but I don't have total control over who Daemon recruits. You'll know when I'm actually fighting against you."
Leo was about to respond, but he had to quickly jump out of the way before he could speak. Apparently, while he had been distracted talking to Neo, VenomMyotismon had a major opening, and most likely could have obliterated Leo with an attack. Instead, the Demon Beast had tried to eat the Beast Man Digimon, giving him a chance to jump out of the way right before the fangs closed around him. Not wanting to give his Mega level opponent another opening, Leo used his Fist of Ice attack again, though VenomMyotismon, acting either out of instinct or sheer luck, managed to stick his arm between his face and the attack. Instead of his head becoming frozen in ice as an easy target for Leo's sword, VenomMyotismon only lost the use of an arm and managed to straighten himself up, putting his head out of reach. Still, Leo wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to do serious damage and charged in anyway. While he was unable to decapitate the beast as was his original intention, Leo managed to cut a huge gash all along the monster's torso. "Power or no, there can be no victory without intelligence. Now, human, what do you say we stop fooling around and see what your pet abomination can do?"
Neo sighed. He had been hoping to just sit back and finish examining Arkadimon's data in peace, yet this lion continued to try and engage him in some form of banter. Now, Neo normally enjoyed the psychological combat typically expressed in trash talk, but there was a time for everything, and now was not that time. After all, VenomMyotismon wasn't finished. Countless red tentacles suddenly sprang out of the massive wound on his chest and wrapped around a surprised Leo, completely immobilizing him. Using his uninjured arm, VenomMyotismon then began playing with Leo like he was an action figure, though Leo's arm wasn't quite as durable as it needed to be for the beast's raw strength. As Leo screamed in pain from the broken arm, Neo finally finished going over Arkadimon's data. "Well, looks like I'm finally ready for you to join the fight, Arkadimon, but I'm afraid the commander is a bit detained at the moment. Looks like he didn't have enough intelligence to get around VenomMyotismon's raw power."
Neo was about to turn away and try to find another target worthy of facing Arkadimon when he was distracted by a high pitched voice shouting, "Let Leo go!" Turning to the source, he almost had to laugh as a Motimon led a Punimon and a Pabumon in using their Bubble Blow attacks against the Mega level. Surprisingly, such weak attacks actually had an effect on VenomMyotismon- they seemed to provoke a feeling of annoyance. He tried to step on what he viewed as insignificant fleas, but even though his foot missed the resulting shockwave still sent the In-Training and the two Babies flying. Seeing this, Leo began yelling at the injured Digimon. "Get back into the castle! I told you, it wasn't safe out here!" However, Motimon didn't seem to heed Leo's order, and he turned to face VenomMyotismon as he struggled to stay upright. "I'm sorry, Leo, but… I thought I could help. I couldn't just let you get hurt while I did nothing. If only I were stronger- I'd fight right next to you, and we wouldn't let the bad guys get their way!"
This speech seemed to awaken something within VenomMyotismon, as Motimon's words somehow triggered a flashback to the kind of selfless bond Yolei and Silphymon had possessed that lead to his death. In a fit of anger, VenomMyotismon seemed to regain some fragment of intelligence, as he managed to say a new word: "Crush." Not the most eloquent, perhaps, but he had still doubled his vocabulary. He started reaching toward Motimon, repeating "Crush," but Leo shouted out "I won't let that happen!" He began charging up his energy, and started glowing with a white aura. As the tentacles holding Leo in place began to freeze, the commander of Holy Angel Castle's started growling. "I won't let you die, Motimon. You are… the light that illuminates the future!"
As he finished his sentence, he unleashed a burst of energy that shattered the frozen tentacles. Landing on his feet, the aura took on an almost flame-like appearance as he stood with his sword in front of him in his one good arm. VenomMyotismon seemed to flinch back from his opponent, causing the lion to smile. "Looks like even your instinct is giving you an inkling of the ferocity of this attack. Reikiku Hazan! He leapt toward VenomMyotismon, ready to end the vampire with his ultimate attack. However, before the attack could connect, one of Arkadimon's sickles transformed into a giant spear and impaled Leo, stopping him in his tracks. Arkadimon began his Soul Absorption attack, feeding on Leo's data. Unable to move, Leo resorted to the last weapon he had: taunts. "A sneak attack… is the coward's way of fighting."
"Oh, really? In the human world, we have a saying that all is fair in love and war. We seem to be in the middle of a war right now, don't we? After all, this is different from the simple fights I'm used to seeing between Digital Monsters. Those are more one on one affairs, and both Digimon put forth maximum effort in a battle that allows both sides to show what they are made of. Here, we have two armies clashing together, and just in the past few minutes we've had how many Digimon destroyed in one hit? Excuse me for thinking that in a Digital War, the only thing that mattered was winning or losing." As Neo finished talking, Arkadimon let Leo fall to the ground. The commander was barely able to breathe, yet he was still alive. Seeing this, Neo broke out into a grin.
"Just be lucky that you aren't the first to fight against Arkadimon. Last time, I couldn't control his absorption ability, and he ended up killing an important ally. That's why it took me so long to send Arkadimon into the fight- I needed to make sure I wouldn't lose control of him again, and that I could control the strength of the attack. If it weren't for my preparation, you wouldn't be alive right now. Still, you did put up an entertaining fight, and you survived my little test. I think a reward is in order. I was originally planning on having Arkadimon completely absorb Lord HolyAngemon and everybody else in the castle, but now I think I'll leave HolyAngemon in the same state you are and leave the rest alive. That ought to show Daemon he can't order me around, at least for now. It won't be relevant for much longer. Now, do you think your general will eventually come out to greet me himself, or should I bust into the castle myself? I'd hate to resort to force, but I'm honestly growing bored of keeping up this monologue in order to give him time to come to me."
Within Holy Angel Castle, Geckovitch couldn't believe the result of the battle he had just witnessed. "Lord HolyAngemon, Leo has been defeated! There is nothing we can do now. We must evacuate immediately! If we go now, we can keep you and all the little ones safe. This castle is a lost cause, but as long as you are alive we have a hope for the future." As his advisor continued going on a frightened rant, HolyAngemon clenched his fists in anger. Taking a deep breath, he managed to calm himself and issued a command. "You are partially right, Geckovitch. Take everybody and get out of here. You must evacuate. However, I cannot. This mess is one of my own creation, and it is time for me to accept that responsibility."
"Sir, you… Please don't, my lord! You can't possibly join the fight yourself. You represent our last hope! And while you were indeed a mighty warrior, you sealed your power away so long ago. Are you still capable of fighting in this state?"
HolyAngemon gave a sad smile. "Indeed, it has been a long time since I revoked the way of battle and assumed Priest Mode. At the time, I believed such a move was necessary in order to provide a model of compassion and peace to the world after a time of war. However, by sitting on the sidelines and relying on the help of my army and kindhearted outsiders, I have allowed Daemon free reign on the world, and now he stands on the verge of wielding the legendary power of the Super Ultimate. I do not regret sealing away my power for battle, but now it is time I rejoin the fight." He began glowing with a white light as he Mode Changed. "Just like Leo, I am willing to put my life on the line so the light of the future will never be extinguished!" As the light faded, HolyAngemon had returned to his Battle Mode, the form all MagnaAngemon took when the world was skewed toward darkness. With eight wings, a beam shield, and the holy blade Excalibur, it was time for the ruler of Holy Angel Castle to restore balance to the continent of Folder.
Neo had been on the verge of having Arkadimon absorb VenomMyotismon out of sheer boredom when the door to Holy Angel Castle opened, revealing HolyAngemon was finally ready to fight. Leo could only stare in shock as he saw the leader of the castle had returned to his Battle Mode for the first time in a very long time. Remembering the reasons why HolyAngemon had locked away a good portion of his power, Leo realized that this was Holy Angel Castle's last stand. Leo only hoped that his leader would be strong enough to end the threat as he was, or at the very least strong enough to face his fear of unleashing his full power. However, instead of seeing a Digimon with a long personal history, Neo only saw an opponent to be destroyed. "It's about time you showed up. I was getting impatient. And I see you've decided to take this seriously, but don't think Battle Mode will help you. I've beaten many MagnaAngemon before, and in those fights my monsters were much weaker than Arkadimon is."
Ignoring Neo for the moment, HolyAngemon instead addressed the legions that remained of Daemon's army. "Reconsider your attack, evil ones, or else be purified by the holy light." All compassion was gone from his tone, and he instead spoke with a cold seriousness that unnerved Motimon and the other young Digimon present who had never heard their leader act in such a way. While the young Digimon were somewhat frightened by his tone of voice, MaloMyotismon began lumbering towards HolyAngemon, hissing in rage. Seeing this, Neo sent his first command to the brutal creature, ordering it to stop immediately. "You can kill whoever else you want, but this one belongs to Arkadimon."
Hearing this, HolyAngemon finally turned to Neo. "So, this is Arkadimon, is it? You should stop now, human. You do not realize the terror of the Super Ultimate. He has the energy to destroy the balance of all living things in this world. When he reaches his final form, nothing will be able to control him, especially not a human child. You are being used by Daemon, boy! He will discard you after you have raised the Super Ultimate and are no longer useful to him!"
Neo smirked. "So?" Beginning to chuckle, he continued. "He's using me? He is using me? What is it with Digimon here trying to warn me that Daemon's plans will hurt me in the long run? Do you really have that low of an opinion of my intelligence? I'm not a child, and I assure you, there is nothing mere about this particular human. I know full well that if I go along with Daemon's plan and raise Arkadimon in the normal way, he'll become an uncontrollable monster once he transcends the Mega level. But, there is another way to Digivolve beyond Mega. A holy artifact known as a Digimental, but not the run of the mill Digimental limited by its connection to a Crest. This is a true Digimental, with the power of Legends that will push any being beyond its limits."
Leo managed to struggle his way back into a sitting position. "That's impossible. Do you really think we'd fall for such a trick? The Digimental of Legends is named because it is nothing more than a legend. If such a thing were real, we would know about it." Neo immediately responded. "Oh, I assure you, this is no trick. And you're right. The Digimental of Legends would be known to your leader if it existed. Why don't you ask him if such a thing is real?"
HolyAngemon noticeably flinched back at this. "What are you? How could you possibly know that secret?" Neo shook his head. "What, are you surprised? Did you really think the protections on that shrine would keep me out? They may have worked on somebody like Daemon, but I am far too resourceful and working towards far too good of a cause to be kept out by your puny defenses. I know all about the Digimental, including how to find it. It won't be long until I have it, and then this world will be brushed aside in order to achieve perfection."
Hearing this, HolyAngemon immediately returned to his serious demeanor. "You dare profane a holy temple and then plot to use a relic of the Tathagata to destroy the world? I cannot allow this to continue! I shall seal Arkadimon away in another dimension, where he shall be lost for all eternity!" Using Excalibur, he traced a circle in the air, forming a round stone gate in the air. The gate opened, revealing a void that began pulling on Neo, causing him to lose focus as he braced himself. HolyAngemon seemed oblivious to this and yelled, "Gate of Destiny, suck in the evil ones!" The pull of the Gate intensified, drawing in many of the weaker members of Daemon's army. Arkadimon managed to resist for a short while, but even he was unable to withstand the power of HolyAngemon's ultimate attack. With the largest threat out of the way, HolyAngemon quickly closed the gate. While it still left some fairly powerful monsters fighting against him, it was more important to seal away the Super Ultimate than it was to stop VenomMyotismon and Gryphonmon. Turning to the slightly ruffled Neo, HolyAngemon sighed. "Don't think too badly about me, boy. It's over now."
Neo managed to smooth himself out before responding. "You know, for an ordinary monster, it would be over. But we're talking about Arkadimon, not an ordinary monster." Shocked at this statement, HolyAngemon and the defenders of Holy Angel Castle turned towards the Gate of Destiny, wondering what Neo could be talking about. Almost immediately, they saw why Neo was so confident: while anything that got shut within the Gate was banished forever, that required the Gate to close fully. In this case, Arkadimon had managed to hook its claws over the stone doors, keeping a small gap open. As the defenders could only watch in shock, Arkadimon slowly pulled the doors apart and then shattered the stone gate. Landing on its feet in front of HolyAngemon, Arkadimon merely gave a hungry look and a couple of "Gi" sounds. Neo, however, was much more talkative. "Oh please, enough with the act already. Is this really the best you can do?"
Hearing this, HolyAngemon sighed in defeat. "You're right. I swore I would never do this again, but you leave me no choice!" He began glowing with a white light much brighter than the light of Mode Changing. Within the glow, a powerful voice boomed out, "Mega Digivolution! Seraphimon!"
Author's Note: Looks like I was wrong last time- I thought this chapter had the end of the Sigma fight, but that must be next one. Instead, we got to see more out of Neo. And I'm sure anybody who read V-Tamer noticed a few changes from how this all happened. Anyway, Arkadimon makes its big appearance, and I hope I did just as good of a job at making it threatening as the original manga did. Once again, please leave any feedback you have, and I'll try to update again later tonight!