Chapter 8

Gathering

Several days after Examon's defeat...

Four of the knights stood quietly in Alphamon's private chamber, the darkness of the night only combated by the lit flames that gently lapped against the shadows of his rather empty room. Alphamon, Omnimon, Craniamon, and Leopardmon all stood with a grim aura around their forms.

"I do not believe we have the time we need to ensure all the chosen will have access the level of megas by the time Lucemon and his forces arrive," Leopardmon's eyes couldn't meet the eyes of Alphamon as he spoke first, who stared at him with a look absent of judgment.

The leader of the royal knights would respond after some moment, "To lose Gankoomon this early in the campaign is... Truly a great loss... And have we yet heard anything from Jesmon or Examon?"

"We have heard not from Examon, but Jesmon has reported he has withdrawn his forces to the Dragon's Wall, although the enemy has not pursued," Leopardmon responded again as Craniamon and Omnimon listened.

"What of the eastern fronts?"

"Ulforce Veedramon's forces have reported that he left them on their own some days ago well before we lost contact with the extended front after detecting unusual activity in the desert some hours away by foot. Crusadermon and Kentaurosmon have both reported nothing on either of their fronts in comparison."

"Unusual activity in the desert to his west...? Odd of him to ignore our orders and pursue this on his own," Craniamon would bring a hand to the chin of his armor.

"He has always been arrogant because of the efforts of his priors," Omnimon noted aloud, "His solo victories have only reinforced his attitude. Slaying the gulfmon twins, dispersing one of the Demon Lord's cults, appealing to GranDracmon's sense of honor to have him withdraw, destroying the parasimon epidemic in the northern lands. His achievements never met an event that would humble him."

"I worry that he may meet the same fate as Gankoomon if two of the demon lords attack at once, as the Sistermon's reported," Alphamon responded, "Though my greater worry is of the knightmon we have brought among us."

Leopardmon crossed his arms, "Do you wish me to vet them, Lord Alphamon?"

"Do not bother, his spy would disappear the moment we began to do so," the leader of the knights responded, "It is why I brought us here rather than simply meeting in the greater chambers."

Craniamon would ask, "What should we do regarding the chosen's training?"

"This is not only about their training," Alphamon responded, "This is about the safety of King Yggdrasil's core, the very object that Lucemon likely pursues."

Omnimon would tilt his helm in response, "You wish to do as you feared regarding their growth."

"I had hoped we would have months before the demon lords made it past even a single border, but they have likely broken three at once. Our entire Western front may soon collapse and the Eastern front will be unable to return to us in-time. Thus, I present the plan that the chosen will have to be ejected into the world and bond with their partners through hardships over training. They will be split into two groups, one led by Gallantmon, and the other by Dynasmon, once both their wounds have fully healed."

"And of King Yggdrasil?"

"Our King has himself decided to create a disguise for his core, and will accompany Gallantmon's group of chosen."

This announcement caused the other three knights to shuffle anxiously, as such a choice would undoubtedly expose Yggdrasil to great danger, but it would certainly be less than if the demon lord's did make it to the king's castle.

"So we are creating a decoy group and a guardian group then?"

"Unfortunately so. Although our total goal is to have the chosen access the hidden power of their partners, the protection of Lord Yggdrasil must remain a higher priority for us. Leopardmon, I would like to let you decide the division of the groups, as I trust you will have a better grasp on their compatibility and ability to protect our lord."

"I already have the particular groups in mind, Lord Alphamon," Leopardmon replied, "Though may I ask. Do you wish this to be kept secret?"

"You may tell the other Royal Knights, but do not allow any of the digimon around the castle to overhear. In the case one does... We must take drastic measures to ensure knowledge of King Yggdrasil's choice does not become common knowledge to our foes. You have my authority to euthanize any who is not meant to hear of our choice."

Omnimon would then ask, "Lo-... No, Alphamon. I have a request."

Alphamon's eyes would settle on him, "What is it, Omnimon?"

"The girl with the unstable Wormmon, Cecilia. I would request that I accompany her group rather than Dynasmon or Gallantmon."

"... Apologies, Omnimon, but I must deny that to you. I am aware you seek to train her and her partners to adopt their instability as a strength, but to allow you to accompany her would draw more eyes than we wish. Gallantmon is adept at keeping his profile low, and Dynasmon's reputation is likely to ward off any rumors about his location. You however, are a symbol of strength like no other of our knights, second only to our founder himself. Where as Ulforce Veedramon may indeed be the fastest, Leopardmon the greatest strategist, and Craniamon an unfailing juggernaut. You are our symbol of hope, one that any digimon would approach on sight. To find any of us accompanying humans will create rumors, but with you, the effect would be multiplied on a scale that would reach the ears of our foes within hours from even the most out there digimon."

It was a flimsy response, and both of them knew it.

Craniamon would ask a more off topic question, "What of Chaos Gallantmon and the data he stole?"

"That," Alphamon responded, "is your assignment, Craniamon. You are not to engage him in the case he has found any of the locations within the data he stole, but you are to take note of any ally he has of either mega level or of mythical status, then report back. Your next objective is to then find and return with Ulforce Veedramon, assuming he has not already gotten himself slain."

Craniamon would simply respond, "Understood."

"Leopardmon, please allow the chosen a few days to rest before their journey begins, but do not alert them as to why until two days before they are to leave."

"Of course, Lord Alphamon."

Alphamon looked ready to dismiss them when Omnimon spoke again, "I do believe we should also be wary of telling Gallantmon that he will not be the one sent to search for his brother."

Craniamon's eyes would settle on his fellow knight, "... You are correct. I do not believe that Gallantmon will take being assigned to guarding some of the chosen as well as if Magnamon was assigned to watch over them."

Leopardmon crossed his arms, "Perhaps it would be better if we did as Omnimon wished, Lord Alphamon. He is more than capable of slaying anything short of a demon lord if it did come to that point."

Alphamon shuffled, as though he were hiding something about why he could not allow Omnimon to go with the chosen, "I will discuss a possible changing of roles with Lord Drasil. Although I cannot guarantee the roles will be changed."

"Whatever our King commands is what we shall follow," Craniamon responded before headed to the door, "I will inform Dynasmon and Gallantmon of our current developments immediately."

"Remember discretion, Craniamon," Leopardmon would say to the leaving knight before looking back to Alphamon, "Should I prepare personal training regimens for each of the chosen based around their future travels?"

"If you would, Leopardmon, it would be greatly appreciated, although they may individually not follow it, it will good for those who do when they are not moving," Alphamon responded, to which Leopardmon simply nodded before taking his leave.

Omnimon waited till his fellow knight left before saying in response to how much Alphamon did not want him to accompany the groups, "Is this about what we discussed with Craniamon?"

"It is," Alphamon would respond as he watched the door, making sure no one suddenly returned, "We have much to plan and discuss, and I imagine only a short amount of time to act upon it."

…...

"I feel like I'm dying," Avani groaned in her seat next to Cecilia, who was rubbing one of the sections between a content Eyesmon's eyes, as they rested at one of the tables made for human-sized digimon in one of the many courtyards of the castle.

"Well... Alizee did completely dominate you in the spar today."

"I thought I was gonna be kuwagamon or witchmon, not gatomon again... I didn't stand a chance against her..."

Eyesmon growled, which drew Cecilia's attention away from the groaning wormmon as she realized something, "Hm... I've made you wait a while for a name haven't I?"

The shadow digimon nodded in a comically exaggerated manner, displaying clear intelligence despite not being able to speak.

Cecilia took her time to think before offering a suggestion, "Okay... So... How about... Lancelot?"

Eyesmon would quickly begin to exaggeratedly shake its head up and down again, clearly eager to receive any name Cecilia could produce.

Avani narrowed her eyes at the newly named Lancelot before bouncing herself onto the table and in front of the eyesmon, "Just so you know, I'm the lead partner between us!"

Lancelot reacted like a dog, slurping Avani with its massive tongue and getting a yelp from the wormmon, who rolled away as fast as she could while Cecilia giggled at the two.

A pain hit her heart however as she winced, memories of a past she was iffy with invading her mind as she observed her two partners. The wormmon being the first to notice this as she wiped Lancelot's slobber off her face, "You okay, Cecilia?"

"Er, fine. Sorry, its just you two... and well, that name reminded me of my old home."

"Your 'old' home?"

Cecilia bit her lip, eyes growing a bit dreary compared to her normal attitude, "My sister and her tegu, he was named Lancelot actually..."

The eyesmon noticed her growing dreariness, and as any dog would, closed many of its eyes and snuggled up against her, the girl responding by rubbing its back.

"You say sister like she's... Er, like she's not in the human world anymore."

"She may as well not be honestly," Cecilia responded quietly as she continued to stroke Eyesmon's shadowy form, "The last time I spoke with her she disow-... It wasn't on the best terms with me. I-it was kind of a long time coming between my parents and her constantly fighting but I thought she and I were still close..."

"Family doesn't necessarily mean unconditional love like most want us to believe," the voice of Victor would come from behind Cecilia and almost made her jump out of her skin, the young man sitting down in the chair beside her away from Lancelot. A bit away, Sif quietly leaned against the wall as she observed her partner speak with the much younger individual.

"V-Victor, how much did-?"

"Apologies, Cecilia. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation and it struck a bit of a chord in me," Victor's face held great empathy for the girl, "Although I would rather not talk too much about my past, I'd like you to know you are not alone in the issue of poor families."

Cecilia looked downward, "W-well..."

"So she disowned you alongside your parents?"

"... I-it was a bought of rage from her I hadn't seen before," Cecilia admitted, "I think when I told her I'd go with her, she took that in offense."

Victor made a subtle mental note about that, acknowledging that it was likely whoever Cecilia's sister was had wanted her to stay with their parents to ensure their contentment, "You seem to miss her quite a bit."

"I do. She was the person I respected most in the world. She... She was always better than me, I mean she was a genius after all!" Her declaration was followed by a nervous laugh before she continued, "She had accomplished more by the time she was my age than anyone else I've ever even read about. Math, history, politics, athletics, mythology, beauty, simply being kind, whatever there was, she could conquer it. She was so close to perfect, I couldn't even begin to compare with her honestly. It seemed like she could do anything to me, but she and my parents... I still don't understand what went wrong back then."

Victor raised a brow at her lacking details about the divide, "How old were you when she left exactly?"

"Around eleven years. She was eighteen."

It made sense for her to not understand it exceptionally well but to still remember the event as a whole then, "I take it you haven't spoke with her since then?"

"No... I don't know much of anything about her now..."

Victor would quietly rub his chin for a moment to think about it, comparing the little he knew of the situation to one Cecilia had no idea of before responding, "Perhaps I have no room to say it since I know neither your parents or sister personally, but I don't believe your sister disowned you like your parents. It was likely a spur of the moment burst to get you to stay with them and for them to not react to your attempt to go with her."

Her face lightened slightly at his response although it was not a total removal of that negative stroke, "You think so?"

Subtly, a small bias told Victor it was likely that whoever Cecilia's sister was was in the right, but he did not voice it, he was usually quiet and kept to himself, and he was only intervening here cause he felt the need to lighten the mood of one who was to be his comrade as he simply responded, "I do."

Avani would then interject to know the answer to a particular question before Cecilia could respond to Victor, "What's her name?"

Cecilia offered a weaker smile as she responded with, "Her name's Milana. I really hope you're right about her intentions, Victor..."

…..

Milana took a deep breath as Spline set his left arm to the earth for her to slide off of, dusting herself off as she looked up at her massive partner, "Thank you, Spline."

She turned to face the entrance of the massive structure she and Spline were to enter. It vaguely resembled a smaller and decayed version of the castle of Yggdrasil. A version made by one of Lucemon's fellow rebelling angel digimon in mockery to the being that observed and kept the digital world from changing radically from the presence every mega level digimon or being that had sufficient enough power to potentially alter it. Although personally, Milana couldn't be bothered to remember the name of one who had failed and long passed, it had only been chosen as the place for all seven lords to meet due to its location being the closest between all the combined legions.

The gates that towered over Milana's form were easily pushed aside by her much larger partner, a variety of nightmare soldier-class digimon that were guarding the entrance hall bowing to the pair as they entered. The shadows flickered with life as they moved past, digimon capable of hiding within observing her and her partner to ensure they were the true Milana and Spline, even though it was without a doubt them as she strided with confidence in every step, and Spline loomed over as her ever present guardian.

As they walked down the hall, two digimon that had far more powerful presences than those around them bowed before Milana as she and Spline approached.

"Our lords," both would say at once to them.

The first was wolf-like and mechanical, most of her armor shining pearl white although her belly and jaw were a beautiful shade of blue. Blades and talons of gold jutted off of her body at specific points: her claws, her shoulders, her chest, and even on her back were wing-like blades of destruction. Her head had a constant scowl of perfectly aligned teeth, but her organic-appearing golden eyes held absolutely loyalty to the human woman before her. Her very presence was innately good, a sharp contrast to the digimon around her that were normally classed as evil.

"Your Kendo Garurumon, yours to command."

The second digimon was knight-like in appearance, and held a powerful presence that did not seem arrogant yet said that it could combat even those that should be far stronger than he. A black cape flowed intimidatingly behind him as he kneeled before Milana. The torso-section of his armor heavily resembled a skull, with a bolt of pure gold placed upon its brow above empty sockets. The jet black armor armor on its upper arms was heavily constrained and smooth, as though wound tightly around his musculature, though its gauntlets and vambraces were more general in appearance. On his left shoulder was a massive and rather outlandish pauldron with spines, resembling some great monster while in his right hand was blood-red dual-headed lance. His helm was primarily gold in color, with two horns coming off of the sides, though one seemed to be missing half of it, lost in a battle long past. The face-plate was silver, and vaguely resembled that of a skull as well, two simple orbs of yellow staring at Milana with unknown emotions.

"Dark Knightmon, here as you requested."

"Percival, Gawain. Allow me to thank you both for coming on such short notice. I do worry that the lords commanders will not be as willing to let tensions... Lay back as their masters would. Your presence will be a great balancer to keep them in line."

The two digimon would shuffle on being called those names. In the case of the kendo garurumon she called Percivial, she was clearly uncomfortable being called that, but in the case of the dark knightmon called Gawain, he seemed content or even joyful at being called by that name despite the emptiness of his hollow eyes. As though he reserved it for her and her alone to call him that.

The two stood as Milana and Spline passed, walking slightly behind them at their sides to act as further guardians for the chosen of Lucemon.

The silence was almost deafening as the guards and spies faded behind them, the deeper halls empty of any who might overhear something they weren't meant to.

She would hold her hand for her group to stop as a cloaked figure emerged from one of the side halls alongside three other beings.

"Lord Daemon," Milana would say in greeting, although her body language indicated she had no wish to deal with him.

"Lucemon's pet," the blue orbs under Daemon's hood stared Milana down, who simply offered him an apparently loyal smile, but to the demon lord, it was almost as though she were mocking him.

The chosen's eyes wandered briefly to settle on the three accompanying the demon lord. The first being the corrupted form of the angelic figure called Seraphimon. His armor seemed as though it should have been covered in symbols of holy meaning, but seemed cleaned of such things. What had once been blue plating turned a sickly green as bat-like wings emerged from his helm and back, replacing the angelic ones he was said to have. Milana couldn't tell much about the angel digimon behind the helm with an x on his face, but she somehow felt this was not of his will to be an underling of Daemon.

The second was a creature similar to a dragon fruit in appearance, although a plume of colored feathers emerged from his rear and a purple dinosaur-like maw from his front. Two purple legs with pink talons emerged from his belly, and two antennae-like wings burst from his head as well. Milana remembered him quite well, between his attitude and being the only digimon among the chosen to not bear a human name: Pomumon. The small digimon's green eyes were staring at her companions, as though envious of the strength they showed by merely being present.

The third was another of the chosen, a boy coming of age, clearly at least eighteen years of age. On first glance, he was an intimidating individual who was above average in height that let him loom over most, a good six feet and an inch(185.4 cm) to Milana's five feet six inches(167.6 cm). His hair was buzz cut and black in coloration, a small bit of stubble upon his chin. His eyes were a cold, dark brown which were currently moving between looking at Daemon and Milana. His stature was bulky, with pale skin that lightly showed small scars around his face, though most were located around his cheeks although the most notable one cut through his left eyebrow. His green and orange bomber army jacket was over a red sleeveless shirt, brown slacks held up by a beige colored belt that had a golden pocket watch held onto the belt by a chain of the same color. The ends of his pants were tucked into dark brown combat boots with red shoelaces that had clearly seen their usage.

Any initial look would surely convince someone that this individual was a rugged and villainous character, but someone like Milana wasn't the type to judge on appearances, plus the boy before her had been the first other human to be called to this world after she had been present for nearly four months. Her eyes noted the bags under his eyes, and that his body seemed to want to wane despite the initial appearance he gave off.

Milana returned her eyes to Daemon as she asked, "You've been overdrawing Boris in combat again?"

"It is war, Milana," Daemon would respond with a hint of irritation, "and weapons are meant to be used."

"War is about tactics and logistics. Of which a key point is not driving your troops and their morale into the dirt."

"The best troops are those with no morale to lose to begin with."

"Boris isn't a troopmon or raremon, Daemon."

"I feed him, give him a bed to sleep in, and allow him the freedom of interaction. Is that not good enough?"

"No," Milana responded with a hint of venom, "It isn't."

The demon lord's hand clenched, clearly keeping his rage from bursting just interacting for a few moments with her, only for Seraphimon to place a hand on his lord's shoulder and grasp. The demon lord digimon taking a deep breath as his eyes settled on the three digimon accompanying Milana, all clearly ready to defend her from him if he tried anything. The sheer level of killing intent radiating from him overwhelming to any normal human as Pomumon stepped in front of Boris, as though he were going to defend him if Daemon lost his cool.

He could surely kill the two ultimates with little difficulty, but the Machinedramon would be an actual issue if he attempted to kill her.

Not to mention, Lucemon's anger would end his plan before he could attain the power he needed if he slew the oldest of the chosen here.

He turned away, beginning to walk away to where the lords and their commanders were to meet, "Tend to him yourself then, Milana. Seraphimon, watch over him and Pomumon as she does so."

The black angel did not respond to his master as Daemon quickly faded down the hall, Milana waiting for him to be but a dot down that way before looking to Boris.

Pomumon was reassuring his partner at the moment, "Don't worry, Boris! Like I've said before, I'd kick his ass to the dark area and back if he attempted anything!"

Milana pitied the digimon, he was after all one of the three chosen digimon among the demon lord's allies to still not have found the capacity to reach the level of a mega yet his flaunts eventually and certainly would land him in trouble. Although he was better off than Alph and Aurelia, who she certainly pitied without any doubt in comparison to Boris. The girl's concerns seemed to be the clear answer to Milana about why Alph was unable to digivolve beyond Paledramon, and why Lilithmon certainly saw her as something to be in the back.

Milana would produce a set of snacks similar to protein bars and offer them to Boris, "Here."

He would try to politely refuse them with a voice that was deep and scarred, "I am fine, really."

Milana's face softened slightly to show her concern, "Boris. I can tell you're absolutely exhausted. Please, take these and eat them for your own health."

He looked down at her hand then back to her before nodding and hesitantly taking them, opening one and slowly eating as Milana sighed, "What happened to the upgrade Spline made for your digivice?"

"It did not function after a few days."

Milana let out a hum as suspicion filled her mind about one of Daemon's commanders, but she did not vocalize it, instead asking, "Do you want to take a rest instead of meeting up with the rest of the lords and chosen? I'm certain Lord Lucemon would be willing to allow you to skip it if you are as exhausted as you look."

Boris obviously considered the offer, almost saying yes until Seraphimon leaned towards him. A feeling as though Daemon were still in the room looming over him causing Boris to shake his head, "Best not. Would be wrong to miss a gathering this important."

Milana's eyes settled on the corrupted angel, waving Boris to walk beside her but not before she commanded, "Seraphimon, would you mind walking behind Spline, please?"

Her please was no more than show to not offend the mind behind the helm, and her three guardians quietly maneuvered in front of him despite whatever protest he may have had. Boris worriedly glancing back at Seraphimon, the helm tilting forward as though to say he was watching him.

Pomumon would seem to want to butt in-between the two, but a quick glare from Milana would keep the plant digimon begrudgingly quiet as they walked.

"It's a funny thing, Boris," Milana would start a new conversation as the side halls moved by, "Despite being the second of the chosen brought here by Lord Lucemon. Our interactions have essentially been just business, and Daemon has certainly ensured it remains that way by restricting your leave of his armies."

His eyes would move down as she said this, "I do not know any of the others well beyond... Work."

He said the word work with surprising venom.

Milana's eyes focused on his body language, garnering what she could from reading it, "I could always have Lord Lucemon pressure-"

"Please. Do not endanger yourself for my sake," the group stopped as Milana's eyes looked into Boris', the eighteen year old with a calm but serious look upon his face, "He has a low limit."

"... So it seems," Milana responded with narrowed eyes and a deeply set frown, "If you need anything. You need only ask."

She whispered a second part, "Don't let compassion for all of us be the end of you..."

Behind the towering machinedramon, Seraphimon leaned back as though he were making a decision in that moment.

The rest of the walk was sorrowfully quiet.

…...

Daemon stopped and growled as though he were seeing and hearing a conversation far away, his human-like stature easily slamming a massive gateway open with eerily surprising strength, belying what lay beneath his cloth. Every fiber in his being was screaming with rage, at least more than usual. He let it seethe into him rather than letting it flow, as a cold and calculated rage was far more something to fear than one of blind and burning fury.

As he was walking down the hall and the sound of voices became clear, a slightly smaller form would slam into him from the side after he heard giggling. The demon lord just barely resisting the instinctual urge to smash whoever it was into the dirt.

His blue orbs settled on the form of Mary Maher, who was rubbing her forehead from slamming into him face first before her eyes fluttered and settled on him. A look of awe coming over her as she responded, "Sooooorry, Uncle Daemon! I waaaas racing with Vulgar!"

The idea of being an uncle to her made Daemon want to puke, though his eyes followed behind her as a gasping Vulgar caught up. Now in the form of a hamster-like creature with white underfur and purple top fur. Goat-like golden eyes and a frown giving him a look that screamed he was constantly upset. The bat-like purple wings on his head flapped with frustration as he stumbled forward, attempting to catch his tamer.

It was clear to Daemon that the small digimon was miserable as he stated simply with a hint of disappointment, "You still require him to be a tsukaimon despite his possession of the spirits of darkness."

That hint of disappointment completely flew over Mary's head just like her obliviousness to Vulgar's not enjoying tag as she responded, "But he's juuuuust soooo adorable like this!"

Daemon knew Barbamon favored Mary for being easy to manipulate, but he couldn't handle the sheer level of dumb she displayed in his eyes.

As he opened his mouth to insult her however, the voice of a kindly old man rang out.

"Mary! Don't leave dear ole grandpa behind!"

Daemon growled at the obvious fake voice, head turning down that side hall to see Barbamon slowly making his way towards him. Long white beard flowing between his legs along with the flow of his hair. Blue pointed ears bouncing with every step as his over-sized nose twitched on his sickly orange face. Fanciful robe apparently threatening to trip him as a golden chain inlaid with massive red gems bounced alongside baggy brownish-green pants. His demonic red wings folded up behind him and his staff being used like a walking stick. Daemon noted that in-particular, his fellow demon lord had disguised his glowing red eyes, which now appeared rather human with a nice blue shade, fitting for one playing the role of grandfather.

The disgusting bluntness of the act perturbed Daemon on just how dull he believed Mary to be.

As the demon lord of greed waltzed up and slowly bent over like an ailing old man, he spoke to Mary and gave a smile that would have mortified any other girl, "Would you mind waiting for me up in the meeting hall ahead, my darling grand daughter? Malo Myotismon has a gift I gave him to hold for you earlier to keep you entertained while you wait."

Mary just smiled however, her brain taking at face value what Barbamon had to say before quickly moving away, "Okaaaaay, Grandpa Barba!"

Vulgar looked up at Barbamon, showing quite a bit more awareness than his tamer as he said, "You could actually try to play the role, you know?"

"Why bother putting the effort in when she takes every bit I say at face value, hm? You continue acting as her partner and guardian, Velgrmon, I continue acting as though we have a grandfatherly relationship, while the legion acts as though they are her friends. She will never be the wiser, and all of our wishes will be easily granted by her foolishness," Barbamon responded and commanded Vulgar, which got a scowl out of him.

"If it weren't that it would hurt Mary's feelings, I'd kick your ass."

"I somehow doubt that," Barbamon responded as the tsukaimon began to waddle after his partner.

Daemon watched as this occurred, waiting for it to be him and his fellow demon lord alone, before looking to Barbamon, "Any progress on finding Arcadiamon's prison?"

Barbamon didn't look to Daemon in return as he responded, "None, unfortunately. For it being said that he lurks in a place where life abounds yet death claims. None of the locations I've been able to see as possible answers have been it. The dynamo desert, firmware mountain, iteration sea, virus swamp, abyssal canyon, and more. None of them have any sign of any prisons."

"Yet somehow Leviamon has recruited EXO-Grimmon, and Lucemon commands the bringer of the end: Ordinemon. My frustrations mount by the day between the worthless human I was assigned and the failures to find my project."

"They are not yet failures, Daemon. You've always had an issue with patience, and the discovery of a hidden prison requires such patience. Much like how the centuries that passed and we waited through."

"At this rate we'll find the prison of the evil god before Arcadiamon," Daemon grumbled, "There's an unknown number of powerful imprisoned digimon, yet only a few have been freed for our cause. Much less the ones we ourselves created."

Barbamon stroked his beard, "In all likelihood, perhaps the Royal Knights kept the largest threats closest to home."

"You insult me with that statement."

"It's true. After all, it was not the Royal Knights to first imprison us, but the warrior ten, and then the four holy beasts and their followers after that. The Royal Knights are still a more recent addition to the puzzle of our victory in comparison to those already crushed, their clean up of the digital world was long after our own prisons had been decided. They had no choice with us, but they did with the other digimon that Yggdrasil deemed a threat to its stability."

Daemon was about to respond only to stop and wave his hand as he stated, "We will continue this later. Milana and her pets are coming."

"Of course, of course," Barbamon responded, "I wouldn't want to keep little Mary Maher waiting too long anyways."

Daemon grunted before quietly moving away from the demon lord of greed, glancing behind at the figures who had caught up already as he entered the massive chamber that was being used for the meeting.

The room wasn't exactly filled, although some of the digimon present took up more room than others, in particular Leviamon hadn't been able to compress himself enough to not take up nearly a quarter of its space. The open roof allowed two massive digimon to look down, one so large that only his black carapace-covered head could look in with a monstrous smile of disjointed teeth and large green eyes. The other a simple feminine silhouette far above, the massive pair of wings carrying her not needing to flap as she seemed to simply fly with no effort on her part.

Daemon's eyes wandered to look at the digimon his fellow lords had chosen as commanders. A metal ape, a warrior flowing with electricity, the metal dragon that could degrade digimon, even an angel digimon was present to his ire. These were but a few among the nineteen digimon present as commanders, although it should have been twenty one, a few demon lords had simply elected their chosen and their partners as commanders.

Which was an even more disgusting choice to Daemon than the angels presence, as to him, the chosen were merely weapons to be wielded against the Royal Knights. If they broke, even they could be replaced with proper time and energy.

"Lord Daemon."

The demon lord's eyes glanced to his left, the two commanders of his own that had not been accompanying him bowing in his presence.

The first was a balloon-like creature, colored a light green except for the odd machine on its belly. A thin and spindly neck ending in a bird-like mechanical head from which a crest of spines burst from behind its head. It's spindly arms carrying massive three-taloned claws as odd protrusions burst from its back that only vaguely resembled wings as it floated in place.

The second was a hulk of a humanoid, his shirtless build revealing blood red musculature that pulsed with fiery purple energy, a stomach absent as purple glow filled where his stomach should have been, bone emerging from his sides like teeth, the buckle on his belt that held up his black leather pants had an eye-like thing that seemed half alive, as though acting as his true eye. The massive gauntlets he wore were designed as though they were metallic and demonic skulls, dried blood apparently decorating them. His face was hidden by a purple mask with three long golden horns, glowing yellow holes where his eyes should have been, a flowing mane of purple fire bursting from the top and back of his head in place of hair.

"Have you found anything useful about what Lucemon intends to declare at this stage? Metamormon? Shroudmon?"

"No, apologies milord Daemon," Shroudmon spoke for both he and Metamormon, who seemed to be mute.

Daemon grunted, "This is passable this time. Since we'll be blatantly told. Continue to mingle among the other commanders, see if they have anything of import to say."

"Of course, Lord Daemon," the two digimon would then quickly vacate their lords gaze, obviously wary of his rage.

Daemon's eyes wandered to where the other lord's chosen and their partners had lined up.

The boy called Arshan Dillon was evidently terrified of Mary Maher, as he could observe from a distance, although he had no clue as to why he would be considering the girl was merely dense headed. His refined hearing picking up a few lines of their conversation.

"It's been sooo looooong, Arshan. I'm so glad to seeee you again!"

"M-me t-too, Mary," the sheer level of terror in Arshan's voice was blatant to all but Mary herself.

Her face brightened as the conversation continued, "Woooould you like to help me with photoooos later?"

"S-sure, M-Mary," his responses were deliberately short to try and keep the conversation limited.

Vulgar would mumble about Arshan to try and keep Mary from hearing, "You're the most pathetic human being I've ever seen..."

Daemon felt a bit exasperated that a boy like that could have Apollomon of all digimon as a partner, surely something like a numemon would have been more deserving. He was just as exasperated about Apollomon himself however, who Beelzemon let spare and recruit enemies into his legion simply so they could try fighting them again once they were strong enough, as he could see with a glance as he made out the figure of a darkdramon attempting to blend in among those present, clearly trying to avoid drawing too much attention to himself.

If he caught any of those from Beelzemon's legion on their own, perhaps he would make quick work of them himself to ensure nothing came of them.

His eyes settled on Katrina and Aurelia next, the two girls discussing something about 'the superior fish'.

"Trout, onion, and avacado. It's called trout stralus, and it's the best fish related dish there is," Aurelia would say first.

"That's a hard disagree," Katrina's voice was almost too quiet for Daemon to hear, but it was the voice of someone who clearly believed she knew facts over fiction, "Salmon is by far the superior fish for dishes. It goes with quite literally everything. If it's as simple as your stralus, grilled asparagus and herb roasted potatoes work well."

Alph would pipe in, who's form was now smaller than Aurelias and lacked much of the frozen form of Paledramon while having no wings at all, the form of the rookie digimon Blucomon, "Aren't salmon and trout of similar flavors though?"

Both girls would look at the blucomon, who gave a smile and shrugged.

Katrina would simply respond, "You're not... Entirely wrong."

Aurelia's face slowly began to curve into a smile, it was clear she was enjoying the conversation even as a small debate.

Daemon would be interrupted from his eavesdropping as the voice of Arthur Evans spoke up behind him, "Didn't take you for one to eavesdrop."

Daemon turned to face the human, "And I did not expect you of all the chosen to actually come."

"Big guys awake. Don't really get as much of a choice once he is," Arthur made a gesture to where Leviamon was, the demon lord of envy obviously tense as he spoke with the figure of the demon lord of sloth, Belphemon, who easily towered over the crocodilian's current size and filled nearly a tenth of the room as well. A being of absurdly muscular humanoid stature, his brown furred torso scarred with a red version of a mark of evil. His dobermann like head had two goat-like horns bursting from it as his empty red eyes made it impossible to tell who he was truly observing. Chains were wrapped around his form, barely binding him as the talons at the end of his digitigrade legs tore into the stone of the castle, his gauntlets with talons of their own scratching the earth as he arms hanged. The six monstrous wings from his back seemed barely functioning, and one could only wonder if they could truly carry the demon lord's form. His very aura seemed to scream barely held back rage, a level of it so far one could wonder if he was the true demon lord of wrath and not Daemon.

"It would seem his seal's power is fading rapidly then," Daemon would note with irritation, "It has only been a few days since he last entered rage mode."

"Seems to have had an effect on his focus too," Arthur would respond coolly to keep Daemon's rage focused away from him, "He's a lot more... Specific about who he wants to break than when I first saw him wake up. Keeps saying something about a kazemon."

"Unsurprising," Daemon responded, "I imagine that's who he wants to kill the most, considering Ancient Kazemon lead the first attack on him and allowed his seals placement."

"All of you were sealed by ancient digimon?"

Daemon listened to his question, trying to discern why he bothered speaking with him before answering, as he did not take Arthur as one for idle conversation with more dangerous individuals, "No. I was not. I was imprisoned by those I once called brothers in arms."

Arthur raised a brow, but noted Daemon's hand movements as the demon clenched them, instead going to soften the conversation so as to avoid anything negative in the future, "Sorry bout bringing up memories like that. I know most of us here don't have pleasant pasts."

"No. We do not," A bell would begin ringing as he said this, Daemon stating, "Stand among your fellow humans, Evans. Lest Belphemon grow irritated with you."

"Hey, don't need to tell me twice," Arthur responded casually as he walked past the demon lord of wrath, going to stand to the right of an arrived Boris. Who Daemon would narrow his eyes at, although Boris remained unaware of the demon lord glaring at him as Daemon began to move to where his fellow Demon Lords were present, despising the idea of being even near them as his eyes focused on Milana and Spline standing on the stage. His mind pleasing itself by imagining a gruesome demise for the duo, although subtly his mind was trying to focus on what he had discussed with Barbamon.

Arcadiamon's prison must be found sooner rather than later.

…...

The sound of digging filled the air of a desert, any villages within now silent as its even its defenders hid in fear of the titans that were combing the sands and dunes. The group called the UXGold Mercenary corp digging at various points to find the prison of a digimon sealed away by the Royal Knights long ago.

Chaos Gallantmon growled with impatience as Zeke Greymon's red eyes settled on him, "Be patient. The desert is vast, the sands of the Dynamo Desert have shifted, and the metal phantomon are soldiers, not miners. This will take time before we find it."

"We've been here for days now, Zeke Greymon. There has not been any sign of a prison. If there was one, it would seem the sands have consumed it so entirely and utterly that whatever digimon lay within is lost to us. At this point, I'm prepared to simply go the next location in the hopes that-"

"Sir, we believe we have the prisons exact location," a metal phantomon would suddenly speak to Zeke Greymon, who looked to Chaos Gallantmon.

"See? And in the middle of what was likely to be another long winded speech by you as well."

"I don't pay you to mouth off," Chaos Gallantmon responded before commanding the metal phantomon, "Show me. I'll dig it out myself before I spend another ten hours here waiting."

"Gallantmon, wait, you may risk-"

"First. State my full name, do not shorten my name and speak to me as though I am him," Chaos Gallantmon's draconic eyes settled on Zeke Greymon, "Second. Do not assume I am not in control of my power. I am. I fully know I risk destroying the prison and angering the digimon within."

The chaos knight quickly stormed after the metal phantomon that was guiding him, Zeke Greymon shaking his head in disapproval as he muttered, "This feels more like baby sitting than a contract..."

As the metal phantomon stopped moving several dozen meters away, Chaos Gallantmon began charging his shield as he approached, aiming it diagonally as he roared, "Judecca prison!"

The sands parted like ocean waves from the force of the attack, Chaos Gallantmon slowly moving it side to side it to create a great crevice in the sea of sand. Several metal phantomon slowly floated up beside him, and waiting for him to stop blasting away the dunes.

As he slowed down his blast, it revealed a yellowed ruin, covered in runes that were vaguely familiar to Chaos Gallantmon.

He slowly approached it alongside the metal phantomon, Zeke Greymon coming over the crest of the newly formed hill to follow Chaos Gallantmon down into it.

"These runes..."

Zeke Greymon loomed next to the chaos knight, "Do you recognize them, Chaos Gallantmon?"

"Something about them reminds me of the pictures I've seen of Ulforce Veedramon, although I've never met him myself to know. I don't recognize some of them at all though, like this one that resembles the human letter C with a circle within it."

"It would seem a past Ulforce was who sealed this tomb then," Zeke Greymon said with obviousness, "Metal phantomon. Rip it open."

The drone-like digimon did as Zeke Greymon commanded, using their scythes to attempt to tear open the door. There was no obvious effect in the slightest however, much to the ire of Chaos Gallantmon.

Zeke Greymon let out a hum before approaching the locked 'door' himself and impaling the top of it with surprising ease, the metal dragon then attempting to bring the door out with a roar only to find it stuck and requiring all the more force from him to even begin to pull it out inch by inch.

The two metal phantomon did not move as Zeke Greymon finally pulled the massive stone slab from the entryway, revealing it to be a dozen meters thick and covered in those same odd symbols.

"They really didn't want whatever's in here getting out, huh?"

Chaos Gallantmon didn't respond however, his eyes watching the darkness within the prison...

A burst of pink and red would flash out, impaling a metal phantomon's core with crab-like claws as the metal phantomon attempted to slash in retaliation. Only to be met with its form falling apart into 0's and 1's, the escaped digimon melting it down and absorbing it like how a spider melts down and consumes its prey.

Chaos Gallantmon observed it and made a gesture for Zeke Greymon to let it eat the other metal phantomon as well. The ultimate digimon unable to do a thing as the creature repeated its maneuver it did on the first one, its masters allowing it to fall.

As it finished consuming the second metal phantomon, Chaos Gallantmon got a good sight of its appearance, his eyes twisting to indicate a smile as he did.

The digimon was a demonic humanoid in appearance with a human-like torso, the crab-like claws making up half of its arms and its legs ending in singular talons. From it's back burst red spikes from its spine, a lone tendril flowing from its end like a tail. Two gray horns burst from its head as pupiless red eyes stared Chaos Gallantmon and Zeke Greymon down. It seemed impossible to tell what the creature was thinking, if it had any thoughts at the moment besides eating data, but this did not destroy Chaos Gallantmon's excitement.

"To think that our first prison would be this much of a treasure. To present to me Arcadiamon. It would seem the navi data I stole from the knights was correct," as he said this, the named creature attempted to flee between the two mega level digimon. Only for Chaos Gallantmon to grab onto him and wince as he felt his own data being jabbed at by Arcadiamon.

"Wait and listen my newfound ally, I have an offer you will certainly find enticing, I swear it upon my own data," Chaos Gallantmon attempted to communicate with Arcadiamon, who only let out muffled noises without a mouth though the mention of an offer did apparently have an effect as the damage to Chaos Gallantmon's data slowed then stopped.

He slowly let Arcadiamon go, watching the creature's body movements to see if it would make a run for it again. The digimon stood there, staring up at the one who had an offer to make instead of attempting to flee, stock still like a machine.

Chaos Gallantmon took a deep breath before explaining, "I know your tale, Arcadiamon, though I do not know you. So I cannot say if you bear the same grudge as myself or not, since some say you have no will of your own. I do offer you this however, camaraderie, revenge on the knights that imprisoned you and the demon lord who used you, and the filling to the appetite that haunts you. All in exchange, I ask that you aid me in accomplishing my own goal of similar purpose."

Arcadiamon simply stared at Chaos Gallantmon, its unmoving form impossible to read. Despite this, Chaos Gallantmon seemed to know what its answer was, much to the confusion of Zeke Greymon.

Chaos Gallantmon then glanced at Zeke Greymon, "How much for any metal phantomon I feed him?"

"More than you're able to pay."

"Then I suppose a common sacrifice will be necessary, where is the nearest town?"

Zeke Greymon had to take it in a moment as he knew what Chaos Gallantmon was suggesting, "Four kilometers west, but are you certain that-"

"I warned you of this when I hired your corp. I will go to any length I need to destroy all of them."

The deathly serious look in Chaos Gallantmon's eyes had Zeke Greymon relent immediately, especially since he, unlike his donor, feared the child level digimon before him.

"Come Arcadiamon, I imagine you're quite starved after being imprisoned for longer than any digimon can remember," Chaos Gallantmon offered a hand to the smaller but far more devastating digimon, "The beginning of our partnership begins here among these sands."

Arcadiamon did not take Chaos Gallantmon's hand, its eerie silence conveying no sense of what it desired to any but Chaos Gallantmon himself, the chaos knight withdrawing his hand and beginning to leave the tomb's entrance with the smaller digimon.

Zeke Greymon remained quiet as the newly formed duo walked out of the crevice in the sand, and as such a question found its way into his head in fear of what he had just allowed to happen.

If this nightmare was what lurked in just the first tomb they were to open, what lurked in the rest of them?

Authors note

Sorry this took so long.

To clarify, Dark Knightmon(Gawain), and Kendo Garurumon (Percival), despite having nicknames, are not partners of Milana. They are just respected soldiers under her and Spline's command, although Percival does wield the Beast Spirit of Light(The human spirit is in the RK's hands).

-I originally intended to name them after lesser known knights, but realized the references might go past readers heads.

-Funny tidbit, I originally was gonna have Arcadiamon appear as Daemon's underling but decided that'd be too redone. I then thought I would have him appear during C. Gallantmon v. Dynasmon and at ultimate level immediately rather than child level. But I decided to save his appearance and discovery for later instead.

This Arcadiamon is based on what I observed from Hacker's Memory Arcadiamon(IE, he does have his own will but its just hard as hell to tell what it is), rather than the V-tamer one that had no real will of its own.

-Apparently life is making a liar of me, as I don't think I'm gonna be able to do weekly updates for a while. Though I will try to have most chapters up within two weeks of each other. Which is hopefully more doable than what I've been doing. Updates may be more random.

-I swear I redid that scene with Cecilia twenty times. I realized I was putting several characters out of character trying to do that scene, so being honest, I kind of gave up and made it a smaller scene to try and characterize her, Avani, and Victor a little more. Ended up with 9,000 words instead of 12,000.

-Ya'll are on top of it about Daemon lmao.

Anyways, review questions response time.

To ShadowWolf223 and IAmRatBoy: Essentially the same question about Milana, hope I clarified it a bit with her thoughts of Pomumon and Boris being compared to Aurelia and Alph. She pities Aurelia and Alph to an extreme point that could be considered offensive.

To BlazePurple: The age on the form was 12 to 24 cause I never intended the system to actually function. It was brought up before that both Cecilia and Jordan are also under the age the RK intended, though the DL are much less likely to care.

Edit:

Credit goes to IAmRatBoy for Boris