Chapter 5: The Shinigami
Tentomon had punched the wall with all his power for hours, but it was useless. Nothing happened at all. The insect was falling into deep despair and couldn't hold the tears.
"Isn't there anything you can do in order to open the gate?" Tentomon questioned Impmon, who just avoided to look at him and replied:
"I'm not supposed to open the gate."
Tentomon turned to the other, without understanding.
"What do you mean, Impmon? Didn't you say that there was a demon at the other side? Koushiro-han must be in danger now!"
"He went there knowing the risk. As far as we know, his intention is probably to free Barbamon, which makes the boy an enemy." Impmon was saying, but Tentomon jumped on him and smacked him hardly.
"What are you doing, you stupid insect?" Impmon inquired, annoyed, punching Tentomon back.
"Don't you dare call Koushiro-han an enemy! I WILL NOT TOLERATE THAT!" Tentomon threatened the other. During their fight, they rolled to the outside of the hut.
"Are you telling me that you didn't find his attitude suspicious? It was obvious that he was plotting something!" Impmon accused.
"If that's what you thought, then why didn't you do anything to stop him?" Tentomon questioned in fury.
"I didn't do anything because I didn't think someone had already taught that boy how to break the code!" Impmon answered, punching Tentomon one last time. A ball of air was shot against him from the sky, which made Impmon be thrown to the front, away from Tentomon.
"Tentomon! What's happening?" Tentomon heard a familiar voice talking to him. He took a glance at the bottom of the mountain and saw Yamato, Takeru and Tsunomon coming to where he was. Patamon was flying above him.
"You guys…" Tentomon muttered. Takeru quickly approached the insect in order to exam his wounds.
"Why were you fighting that other Digimon, Tentomon? Where's Koushiro?" Yamato asked, but Tentomon, after hearing Koushiro's name, instead of answering, shed tears. Impmon stood up and walked to Tentomon.
"Did you and that human boy meet someone during your trip?" The tiny black Digimon inquired seriously.
"Since Koushiro-han and I left the group, we were alone all the time." Tentomon said, wiping the tears.
"There must have been someone who instructed your friend with the information to break the code at the wall. Think harder! What happened in the last days?" Impmon questioned. Yamato and the others weren't understanding the situation.
"I had gotten hurt by desert urtiga… I passed out and then, when I woke up, Koushiro-han told me that someone had given him the medicine." Tentomon narrated, slowly.
"Did the boy tell you who gave him the medicine?" Impmon asked, seriously.
"No. He tried to, but he gasped when he was about to say… I think he did say a part of the name… a mer."
Impmon's eyes grew wide because of the shock. Then, he went to his hut in a hurry and, after entering the place, he began to search for something among the books.
Tentomon and the others followed him.
"What are you doing, Impmon?" The insect asked.
"I'm looking for my master's diary, where she wrote the way to break the code a long time ago. After I find it, I can open the gate and we can go look for the red-haired human." Impmon replied.
Tentomon looked at him, astonished, asking "But… why now?"
"If the one behind this is that guy, I just can't let he do what he wants. I wouldn't be able to face my master if I did so." Impmon stated, with fury in his eyes.
Meanwhile, at the sanctuary, Vademon had led Koushiro to a large library, where he pointed to a desk and a chair.
"In order to free Lord Barbamon, you must discover how to break the code written in the concentric circles around that door. The key to break the code can only be found in this library, which used to belong to Lord Barbamon." Vademon explained while the boy took a seat.
"There have been many individuals who have broken the code?" Koushiro asked in a controlled tone of voice, glancing at a bookcase nearby.
"Only the most intelligent Digimon were able to break the code at the mountain. Doing the same thing with this one was not such a difficult task for them. 99 individuals who came here had success in breaking the code." Vademon replied, taking a book that Koushiro was staring at, opening it and giving it to the boy, "Start with this book, page 35."
"I don't understand," Koushiro finally found the words he was looking for, "if 99 Digimon broke the code that seals the Demon Lord, how come Barbamon is still imprisoned?"
"Well," Vademon gave him a mischievous smile as he answered, "The seal that is imprisoning Lord Barbamon is very special. The process of breaking the code was elaborated originally as a way to get rid of my master forever. When someone breaks the code, this individual is sent to the dimension where Barbamon is trapped in and has to prove that he's wiser than the prisoner. If the individual proves it, then Barbamon will be destroyed forever. However, if the individual fails, he or she will be eaten alive by Barbamon and his or her soul will be imprisoned inside my master for the rest of his life, experiencing great pain. Every time a soul is eaten by Barbamon, he becomes stronger. Once he eats the 100th soul, he'll break free. He can't try to break free before that, though."
Koushiro felt extremely anxious, but didn't say a single word about it. Instead, he inquired:
"So all the Digimon who broke the code had the purpose to defeat Barbamon?"
"Some of them, but the major part was just trying to escape the sanctuary."
"Escape? Couldn't they just leave?"
"No. If you follow me, I'll show you why not." Vademon said. He led Koushiro through a path between two tall bookshelves. The path ended at the middle of the library. There, on top of a one meter tall rock pillar, there was a small statue of a mysterious creature totally covered by a black cloak.
"That is the Shinigami statue which guards this sanctuary. As you must know, Shinigami means God of Death," Vademon told Koushiro, "Anyone in a radius of 200 meters is put under the statue's curse. Once you're cursed, you must always be in a radius of 200 meters from the statue, otherwise the Shinigami will kill you in 48 hours and completely erase your soul."
Koushiro trembled a little after hearing that, but didn't make any commentary. After that, Vademon left the library, instructing the boy to work hard. Alone, Koushiro put both hands on his head and got lost on his thoughts.
Flash-back
"It's a very simple job what I have for you, Koushiro." The Merchant told the boy, taking from a nearby bookshelf a black knife, a pen and a silver ring, putting them on a table later, "You're going to find a small statue of a Shinigami in a sanctuary, at the top of a pillar. Once you find it, you'll write a code I'm going to teach you around the pillar with this pen. After you do so, you'll put the ring at the top of the statue."
"Why?" Koushiro questioned, intrigued. The Merchant took the ring and put it at the top of a lamp behind him. For Koushiro's surprise, the lamp was sucked into the ring, returning moments later, after the Merchant made a movement.
"This ring sucks things to a private dimension I created, you're going to put the statue in it." The Merchant explained, "You can even put the knife and the pen in the ring, so Vademon won't notice them when he finds you."
"Vademon?"
"Don't worry, Koushiro. I'm going to explain everything about that guy soon." The Merchant had a happy tone of voice that really freaked the child out. The boy had innumerous questions he wanted to ask, but he feared that he would have to pay another heavy price to get those answers. I have no choice but to trust him, he thought.
"About the knife," The Merchant began to talk again, "Once you've finished writing the code, you'll put the knife on the floor. It's made of a special material that allows you to travel through space and time."
"I'm going to be teleported to a place where you'll be waiting for me." Koushiro concluded, as if he was thinking in loud voice.
"Yes! After you give me the ring, I'll destroy the statue and everything will be just fine."
End of flash-back
He's going to destroy the statue and said that everything would be fine after that. It must mean that I won't get affected by the curse. He could have mentioned it, though. Just like he could have told me about the truth behind the code that seals Barbamon. Well, I think there's no reason to worry about that now. Soon this job will be over. I still wonder what he meant when he said, after that, that I would find in this mountain what I was seeking for. I should put the plan in action now.