Hi hi~ Before starting the chapter, I would like to share the image of relevant human characters of this story - sta . sh/035zbjfv8zx

Enjoy the chapter!

Komet opens her eyes, just to realize that she is in a big and empty dark space. Cold breeze goes through her skin, despite wearing clothes.

"So, you've decided to go down this path again. How pathetic…" says someone. The voice sounds slightly feminine and surly, and it echoes through the whole area, making it hard to pinpoint where it's coming from.

"Who's there?" asks Komet, while looking around nervously

"...but that's just your whole existence" finished the voice. At that moment, dark flames appear in the dark room, surrounding Komet.

"Who are you?" she asks

A pair of red eyes open in the middle of the dark flames. "Who are you? Who am I? What are we?". The flames get stronger and stronger. Hysterical people scream behind the flames. Silhouettes of desperate people running around and angry people swearing appear.

Komet tightly closes her eyes shut and puts her hand on her head. "N-no, stop… Make it stop!"

The dark flames get stronger and start to close in on Komet. She falls on her knees. The screaming gets louder and louder.

"Stop! STOOOOOOOOP!"

"Komet! Are you alright?"

Komet opens her eyes in shock. She looks around and notices that she is sitting, hyperventilating and sweating a lot. Sonne stands in front of her, his hand on her arm, looking very worried at her. She quickly looks around again, and sees they are just inside the burrow. A bit of sunlight can be seen going through Lua's camouflaged door.

"Komet?" Sonne asks again

"Oh… Hi, good morning…" Komet puts her hand on her head. "I'm fine now… It was just a nightmare…" In that moment, Komet feels her body hurting a lot, which makes her immediately lie down again. "Ouch! My body… Is not fine though… Ugh… Aaaargh"

Sonne sighs

"No, no, you don't need to say it, I got the message!" she says, while moaning in pain

Lua opens her eyes and slowly starts to float. "Yaaaawn… What was all that screaming…?" she rubs her eyes.

"Komet had a nightmare," says Sonne. "She also feels very sore"

"A nightmare…? It's been a long time since the last time we heard of them" she turns to the poor lady in pain. "What happened there?"

Komet groans. "I… would rather just… forget about it… for now…". She closes one of her eyes in pain. "Tch, this pain sure is helping with that, ugh…"

"My expectation is that you would at least attempt to stand up. Are you perchance not feeling the need to hurry to Cerranis anymore?" says Sonne

"Really…? Are you going to keep beating the dead dog…?"

"Dead dog…?" Sonne looks around trying to find a dog

Komet looks confused, until she realizes what the issue is. "Oh, I didn't mean literally-"

"Nah, don't bother, he will eventually learn," says Lua. She holds something under her arms, which looks folded. "Anyway, after you went sleep, Sonne told me about how you were super stubborn and really thought masochism would be the best choice"

"That is far from the truth" growls Sonne

"You just used a few different words. Okay, VERY different words, but they all mean the same in the end! Anyway, since Sonne said that you wouldn't be able to walk anytime soon, I decided to spend my sweet night doing something for you~" she opens the folded object, revealing a woven mat.

"Can you weave?" asks Komet. She looks closer, seeing all the nice details of the mat. "That's amazing! It looks lovely"

"Awn, thank you!" Lua blushes. "It's thanks to the useless information I found in the internet"

Sonne snorts. "This case is, unfortunately, an exception to the rule, but a welcoming one regardless". He looks at Komet. "You are very fortunate that Lua had… Erm… 'An ace up her sleeve'... as she requested me to say. We will use this to help you resume the journey"

Lua claps, very proud of herself. Then, Sonne and Lua grab Komet and carefully place her on the mat. The mat has handles and support for her feet, in case she needs to hold on to it, like in steep hills or in case of speeding up. It also has two ropes on one side of it. Komet lies on her belly and grips the handles. The two Digimons hold the ropes and pull it. They go up the burrow corridor, open the door and leave the cave. By looking at the sky, Komet can tell that the sun's been up for some time already, being maybe about two hours away from reaching the middle of the sky. She checks her smartwatch, but it shows an incorrect time, as if it's early in the evening, so she can't rely on it to know the time for now.

After walking for 9 minutes, they reach the main path to the town. Komet looks surprised at how easily they are pulling the mat, as this isn't hindering their pacing in any way. The main problem is the bumps that she has to feel when going over stones or roots, but she is aware that she has no right to complain about it. It's not like she is feeling like complaining anyway. In fact, she is actually feeling very grateful for being taken by them, with a little bit of guilt and a whole lot of pain. She isn't spending her idle time regretting overexercising, though. Instead, she is doing her best trying to forget the brief yet intense nightmare she had, and the rough path is being helpful, despite being painful. On their way to Cerranis, the team sees some Digimon going the opposite way, but nothing really out of the ordinary happens.

After about 6 hours, the entrance to Cerranis can finally be seen. Komet is currently sitting down. She is still very sore, but moving her limbs isn't as painful anymore.

"This place looks even bigger up close!" says Lua, impressed

"W-wait! Before we go in, let me stand up! Getting in like that would be embarrassing" says Komet

"As long as you don't overdo it again" says Sonne

"Yeah, yeah… Never again" she painfully laughs

Komet slowly stands up. Lua rolls the mat and gives it to Komet to store in her device. They walk towards the main gate of Cerranis, which is 15 minutes walk away. They cross a large stone bridge that goes over a large river with strong flow. The bridge has a lot of chip damage, which they believe is related to wild Digimon trying to break in, or maybe drunk Digimon fights, if they drink alcohol, that is. They arrive at large wooden gates, which are wide open and seemingly unguarded. They look around to see if there's really no one at the door. In fact, the gate area is way too quiet, but a lot of voices can be heard from farther inside the town. So they decide to step in and walk towards the voices.

When they approach the area, they see a commotion: a lot of curious - some confused and some slightly scared - Digimons form a circle around some other Digimon. The team shift their focus at the center, and see three little humanoids - about as small as Sonne - wearing white jumpsuits with a big zipper in the top, pink gloves, brown helmet which cover half of their face and a pair of yellow wings on their backs. The three little angel-like Digimons tell the other Digimons to stay away, carefully pushing away the more stubborn ones. In the very center of the circle, a Digimon, which looks like a humanoid pile of white stones, is shaking while on its knees with its hands on its head, apparently agonizing a lot. The stony man is only a bit taller than the angelic kids. The stubborn Digimons don't leave the place completely, as their curiosity speaks louder, but the little angels are successful in making the circle wide enough to at least guarantee a little bit of safety. Suddenly, a purple aura starts to emanate from the stony man's body, while its eyeballs roll up to the point where only the sclera can be seen.

"What on earth is happening…?" thinks Komet. She rolls her sleeve up and selects the 'identify' on her smartwatch. "Lua, the rock mon"

Lua focuses on the stony man. The image and information about the Digimon pops up on Komet's device. "It's an Insekimon. A Perfect level Digimon that's clad in ore that came from space, so it has very high defense. It can sometimes be a bit selfish, and when it's angered, it will rampage and throw meteors at you. I think this thing is just throwing a tantrum" says Lua

"No, that is certainly not the case!" points Sonne

At that moment, the Insekimon starts screaming. Pointy stones start to grow out of its body. The stone monster lets out a horrifying screech, and launches stones with purple aura at the people around, while dark miasma slowly falls from its body like a heavy fog. The little angels quickly deploy shields of light, protecting the people from the attack.

"I-it's the Corrosion Virus!" says Komet "We need to do something about it!"

Lua grabs Komet by her hoodie before she has the chance to run towards the Infected. "Wait! Isn't the Angel Army-"

Before she could finish, Team Twilight sees everyone panicking and running disorganized, a lot of them going in their direction. Some of them are big four-legged Digimon, which are big enough to accidentally crush them. Without thinking twice, they move out of the way and hide themselves in an alley. The crowd screams a lot, and all Komet hopes is that no one is stomped to death in that mess. It doesn't take long until the crowd is gone, so the team sticks their head out of the alley to inspect the situation.

The three little angels keep circling around Insekimon with their shields up, while Insekimon tries to attack them. Then, a different Digimon descends from the skies: an adult-looking angel, taller than Komet. It dresses mostly white, with a very long pink sash going around the body from the top to bottom, and a pink cloth hanging from the belt. It has a pair of wings, wears a metallic helmet that covers half of its face, long blond hair and it holds a long golden staff.

The adult angel points his rod at the Infected. "I am Pidmon of the Angel Army. It is I who shall purge this foul infection that consumes your soul"

"The Angel Army… So they are literally angels" says Komet

Lua raises one invisible eyebrow. "Why else would they be called 'Angel Army'?"

"Hey, I hadn't seen an actual human-like Digimon yet! I thought they would all be beasty or look like Bokomon at best!"

They look back at the confrontation. Insekimon roars at Pidmon and slams the floor, making some rocks erupt from it, and launches them like meteors at the angel. Pidmon flies backwards, spreads his wings wide open and launches a shower of feathers. "Fire Feather!". The feathers glow with an intense yellow light and hit the rocks, crumbling them down. Some extra feathers hit Insekimon, staggering it. The stony man roars at Pidmon even angrier, emanating a stronger aura. It stretches its arms up and opens some sort of cosmic portal. The angel sets his own rod on holy fire and spins it, waiting for the rocky Digimon to attack. Insekimon summons a meteor from the portal and launches it at Pidmon at high speed. Pidmon just flies towards the meteor and destroys it with the rod. He easily keeps the momentum while flying towards Insekimon.

"Disintegrate, damned body, and leave the poor soul in peace!" Pidmon says, as his fire-covered rod launches a fire tornado towards Insekimon. "Apollo Tornado!"

The stone Digimon puts its arms in front of the body to defend from the attack, but as soon as it's trapped by the tornado, it screeches in pain. With a swift movement, the angel strikes the Digimon with the flame rod, making it crumble down and dissipate into data. Along with the normal data, infected data starts to leave the pieces of rock like polygonal dark moths.

"May the holy light bath your tainted soul and guide you to a new beginning" says Pidmon, while holding his hands together.

Lua looks at Sonne and Komet and points at the dark months. "We need to catch that data without being noticed, quickly!"

But before they could do anything, Pidmon launches holy fire from his rod which instantly destroys the infected data. Sonne gets surprised by that. "This… This look awfully similar to what I've done in Village of Beginning"

Lua puts her hands on her face in shock. "The data… Is gone!"

"They are the kind of people who were supposed to fight Okuwamon back then… They didn't even break a sweat!" thinks Komet

Pidmon leaves the place the same way he arrived, while the little angels inspect the area, looking for damage to be fixed.

"I guess we should get going then" says Lua, still disappointed

Before they even get the chance to turn around, they hear someone that sounds like a squeaky kid yelling. "Hey you! Yeah, you three hiding over there! Identify yourselves!"

The three of them look around confused, not sure if it was directed to them. Sonne looks up and sees one of the little angels hovering over them. He points up, making Lua and Komet also look in the same direction.

"I, Luxmon from the Angel Army, demand an answer. Why would you be hiding in an alley, if not for being involved with suspicious matters?" asks the angel

Lua stares at the little angel for a few seconds and snorts in laughter. "Sorry but not sorry, but I don't think I can take you seriously!"

Komet flinches and quickly grabs Lua, covering her mouth. "A-ah, sorry, mister… misses… Uuuh… Crap! How am I supposed to talk to an angel?"

Sonne steps ahead while doing his best to hide his embarrassment. "Greetings, Luxmon from the Angel Army. First and foremost, apologies for my companion's misbehavior. We are travelers looking for a shelter. We intend to pause our journey in a safe place and resume it as soon as we are rested enough"

Luxmon looks at them top to bottom and rubs its chin. "If the words you speak are true… Then you must proceed to the entrance gate to get registered"

"Will do"

The team finally leaves the alley and walks towards the entrance gate, where it's now being guarded by other Luxmons. As soon as they reach the gate, the Luxmon that was interrogating them flies away. Komet, who is still holding Lua, finally uncovers her mouth.

"Please, you need to behave! They are some kind of authorities, and we shouldn't go around giving back talks to authorities, you know?" whispered Komet to Lua

"I'm sorry! Sometimes I can't hold my tongue! I will try my best, but no promises though"

Komet sighs, almost feeling like facepalming. Then she approaches Luxmon at the gate, still feeling a bit nervous about having to talk to another angel. "Hi! Erm… I was told by your colleague that we need registration to get in. How do we proceed?"

"Oh?" Luxmon grabs a clipboard and a quill and starts writing. "Newcomers, huh? I don't recall seeing any Digimon of your kind before. Care to identify yourselves?"

"This is Lua, the Lunamon. And that's Sonne, the Coronamon"

"New Digimons… I really never heard of your species before… Interesting. First time for everything, I guess!" The little angel looks at the silver haired lass. "And you are…?"

"She is Komet!" says Lua. "She is not a Digimon, she is actually a digital lifeform"

Luxmon nods while writing. "Where did you come from and where are you going to?"

"Is it really that necessary?"

"Yes"

"Why?"

Luxmon doesn't elaborate. Instead, it just stares at them waiting for an answer, although it's impossible to tell if it's really staring when a helmet covers the eyes.

"Sorry for my friend's behavior" says Komet, doing her best to not show her nervousness. "We came from the Village of Beginning, and we are heading northwest"

Luxmon writes it down and nods. "This is very important for us to keep this and other places safe. Now, if you please, wait right there. Another Luxmon will give you a tour to this beloved town!"

"Thank you very much" she bows down a bit. Then they go to the designated area and wait.

"Where are your manners, Lua? Your lack of tact could have put us in serious trouble" growls Sonne

"I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling good vibes coming from those guys. They want to know too much just from a simple 'I want to sleep'" Lua fires back

"If you refuse to leash your tongue, we might end up sleeping for eternity. Surely this is not what you wish for"

"Maybe making you sleep now is not a bad idea, you know?"

"Calm down you two! Were you always like that when I wasn't around?" asks Komet

Lua and Sonne face each other for some seconds and then look away, without answering.

Komet smiles nervously. "Look at that, a demonstration of true friendship, and maybe I'm not even being sarcastic. Anyway…". She scratches her head. "These are the guys who are used to dealing with infected monsters. It's a good idea if we keep it diplomatic, because if something goes wrong… Well, let's just not pick a fight with the angels, they are just doing their jobs, and they seem pretty good at it"

Sonne nods while Lua grumps. Meanwhile, at the gate, the Luxmon that found them talks to the gate Luxmon for some minutes. Gate Luxmon points at the team, and first Luxmon nods. First Luxmon flies towards the team, while gate Luxmon leaves its post, flying somewhere else. "Greetings again! I shall be the one who will accompany you around the town of Cerranis to your final destination"

"Thank you" says Komet

Sonne and Lua could tell that Komet isn't exactly comfortable with that. Lua really wants to tell Luxmon to just leave, but Sonne is already holding her by her arm to prevent her from doing anything stupid. They start following Luxmon, which starts presenting areas of the town. Just like they saw in the distance, Cerranis is way bigger than the Village of Beginning. There are shops selling food, tools and toys. There are humble houses where other Digimons live. In the streets, a lot of small Digimons run around without caring about their surroundings. They seem to be having fun. One of the buildings looks way bigger than the general buildings of the town. Some what seems to be injured monsters enter and leave the building, which has a sign written something in glyphs that looks similar to what she had seen in Anpu's pyramid. It has a red cross at the top. They keep walking and get to an area where less and less houses and people can be seen. That makes Komet feel more uncomfortable.

"So, where are the hotels?" asks Komet

"We are not done yet, you must keep following me" answered Luxmon, demonstrating more of an authority tone.

They look ahead and see nothing but an empty open and big area, with a very dense forest beyond a broken wooden wall. The wall has holes and movable planks, which seem to be used by some Digimons to get in and out. The team feels hesitant to keep following. Lua looks indignantly at Luxmon. "Why? There's literally nothing here!"

"That's correct. We shall prevent the town from taking any further damage" says someone in a familiar deep voice.

The three of them look around. Suddenly, two more Luxmons appear and immediately deploy their light shield and get closer to the team to corner them. Then, Pidmon descends from the skies and lands a few meters from them.

"I am Pidmon of the Angel Army" He looks at Lua, Sonne and then at Komet. "So, it's true. Your kin has descended to these lands, spreading the vile virus that is consuming poor souls at an alarming rating. Even with the presence of the Army, you still dare to show your face before us, and had the audacity to infect an innocent creature out in the open"

Pidmon's words alone are enough to make Komet tremble with fear. "What… What are you talking about…?"

"Do not feign ignorance, fiend," Pidmon points his rod at her. "It is I who shall end your villany, and it is the Army who shall expunge you devilish race with the sacred light. Now, perish. Fire Feather!"

Feathers bathed in golden fire are summoned from his wings and thrown at Komet. Instintivictely, Sonne jumps in front of her while covering his face with his arms, taking all the hits from the feathers. Being reminded of what these feathers did to Insekimon earlier, Komet screams in shock. Sonne falls on Komet's arms, but, surprisingly, he immediately recovers from the hit, with only some scratches.

Pidmon looks in shock when he sees that his attack barely dealt damage to a Child level. "But how? In no situation you could have resisted it. Unless… What are you? Where are you from?"

Sonne just growls at him, while also surprised for resisting the attack.

"Tear Shoot!". Lua doesn't think twice and launches a water ball from her antenna at one of the Luxmons, but the little angel is just pushed back by a little, since it has its shield of light up and holding strong. Sonne turns around and punches that same shield multiple times. Lua hurls another water ball at it, which finally breaks the shield, making the little angel fall prone. "Corona Knuckle!". Sonne fires three fire shots at Luxmon to finish it off, setting it on fire. But Luxmon easily breaks from Sonne's fire with little damage. Sonne looks shocked, while Luxmon looks confused but smiles. So the feline decides to just use brute force to punch the little angel in the face, which knocks it out. Komet doesn't think twice and uses this opening to run away. Pidmon, observing all that and realizing he will get no answer from the little feline, flies towards the fleeing lass, while setting his rod on fire. Lua flies after Pidmon and hurls a water ball at him, but a different Luxmon shields it.

"Aaargh! You guys are so effing annoying! Get out of my way! Luna Claw!" she yells as she scratches the shield with her claws imbued in dark power. The attack slashes through the shield like a knife in the butter. Before Luxmon could react, Lua hurls a water ball point blank at its face. The attack breaks its helmet and hits its head, making it fall flat on the floor while its body glitches. She looks at Pidmon, which is swinging his rod towards Komet. But before he could hit the lass, Sonne gets in the way again and blocks another hit, but this time the attack hurts Sonne, making him fall. Komet looks at that in shock, and she quickly turns around to pick Sonne up, leaving her open to Pidmon's attack. The angel raises his rod to strike Komet, but misses because of a projectile fired at his back, which made him stagger. He turns around and sees Lua floating over two damaged Luxmons.

"Leave them alone!" Lua yells, gritting her teeth while covering her claws in dark energy

Pidmon sees one of the damaged Luxmon slowly dissolving into data, while the other Luxmon yells "C-careful! That Digimon seems to be of devil origin!". That same Luxmon grabs a whistle and blows it with all its breath.

"So you are one evil creature that crawls in the shadows. As opposites, you cannot resist the power of the holy light" says Pidmon, while setting his rod in golden fire.

Lua notices that Komet and Sonne successfully escaped, since they can't be seen around anymore. At least this is what she is hoping for. She looks back at Pidmon, furious. "I have no hecking idea what you are talking about, but I'll not forgive you for trying to kill my friends for no reason!". With her claw covered in dark energy, she flies towards Pidmon. As she charges, she hears Komet communicating with her through the smartwatch, which she hears in her head like telepathy. "Run into the forest! We are not ready to face them! We have to hide!" says Komet

"But-" Lua shakes her head quickly. "Okay, understood!"

Pidmon readies his rod to strike Lua as soon as she gets close enough. But instead of attacking, she quickly maneuvers around Pidmon. The angel quickly turns around to defend from the attack and counterattack, just to see her flying into the forest instead.

Lua looks behind her back and sees more Luxmons appearing from different parts of the town, probably summoned by the whistle. They flash their shield to make their path brighter. When she looks ahead again, she gets hit by some branches, but quickly dodge the others. She notices that the forest is very dense, so she takes it as an opportunity to shake off the angels. She keeps flying around the trees and vines fast, while looking for Sonne and Komet. "I need to communicate with her, but how do I do it? Does it still work the same way as before?". She closes one of her eyes and concentrates. "Komet? Komet, can you hear me?". Half a minute passes. "No answer… Am I doing it wrong? Or was she captured?". She feels herself starting to panic, but she tries contact once more. This time, she gets answered. She hears the voice, which sounds very worried and tired.

"Lua! Thank god, you are fine!" says Komet

"Of course I am! But I have bad news, I saw more of those Luxmon appearing and I think they are coming in my direction! Where are you? Is Sonne with you?"

"I am here. My state is not the best, though my case is not a critical one. I might be slowing Komet down, since she's been taking me in her arms" says Sonne, letting out a disappointed sigh.

"I don't know if telling where I'm now will help much… It's a forest so dense that sun rays hardly go through it. It's lots of trees into lots of trees… I should have asked Professor for a tracker for each of us in case any of us gets lost, ugh" says Komet

"I'm gonna find a way to find you, don't worry!". Without needing to look behind, she notices that the flashes are starting to get closer, although she can't tell how much closer. Since she is flying at a high speed, she doesn't want to try looking behind her back again and end up splatting her face against a tree like a cartoon creature. "Crap! They are still on my tail! You two, do you see any flashes around?"

"I can see them… behind me, a bit… to the right. I am getting so tired…"

"Judging by the direction of the light and what you just have told us, you might find us if you turn a few degrees to the left. A battle is inevitable at this point, so regrouping is our best option" says Sonne

"That's bad… That's horrible… I don't think they have found me yet, but-" Lua looks ahead and sees Komet and Sonne running slower. Lua waves at them and flies even faster towards them. "Ah! Komet! Sonne! I found you two!"

Komet turns around, looks at Lua and smiles. The bunny opens her arms to get a hug, but she sees a big spider quickly coming down a tree and capturing both of them, and going back up as fast, while covering the lass' mouth. She can only hear Komet muffled screaming and Sonne growling.

Lua stops for a moment, looking shocked. "Hey! Release them!" she yells, as she flies towards the spider. But spider webs are shot at her, making her very sticky. During her struggle to get rid of the cobweb, a lot of smaller spiders jump on her, quickly closing her in a spider web cocoon.

Komet struggles to try to break free, but her efforts are useless, as the giant spider quickly ties her up with Sonne, leaving his fiery tail sticking out to not burn the cobweb. Little spiders approach her and shoot spider webs at her mouth to keep it shut. She starts panicking a lot, since this pretty much reminds her of the attack on her in her world. They quickly weave a cocoon tightly around her and Sonne, closing it almost entirely, leaving just a little space for her to see through and breathe. Komet looks around and sees another cocoon being brought up, which makes her panic even more. The poor lass starts breathing faster, but there's not much she or Sonne can do anymore, aside from start crying. She hears someone saying "shhhhh" next to her. She also hears Sonne growling in frustration. Then she sees the big spider going down, finally having a good look at it.

The big spider is black. It has long red hair and a golden helmet with 9 green eyes spread symmetrically around. The helm has a pair of large horns, and its mouth has big fangs. In the top of its abdomen, there's a pattern which seems to be a skull with crossbones. The smaller spiders also go down with it. Unlike the big one, the smaller ones are purple, have tiny horns and wear red gloves with a skull image. The big spider, along with the small ones, quickly make webs around the trees. Then she sees flashes approaching. Some Luxmons show up.

One of them looks around and gets some spider webs stuck in its mouth. "Agh, we entered a Dokugumon territory"

"You sure did," says the big spider, with a deep voice. "Did you gentlemen lose something or someone important around here? You seem in a hurry. Or maybe worried. I can't really tell, not with those helmets covering almost all of your holy faces"

"Tch, it's Dokugumon himself. You, of all people, making that remark? Whatever. We are here in the name of our master Pidmon of the Angel Army, so don't you try to mess with us, or a punishment will befall you" says one of the Luxmon

"I wouldn't dare under these circumstances. Tell me, what are you looking for?"

"Three creatures. One orange maned feline, one pink bunny and one white haired woman. They are fugitives. Oh, and they are a danger to your territory too!"

"Veeeeery dangerous!" says the other Luxmon

"Hmmm…" Dokugumon rubs his chin. He points to the other side of the forest. "I heard some yelling coming from that direction. I believe it was from at least two creatures, so it might have been them"

"Alright, forward!" says Luxmon. The group of little angels leaves, flashing their shields to bright their way through the dark forest.

Komet then sees the little spiders going in different directions, while the big spider stays on the floor for some time. At this point, she feels hopeless, but still waits for a tiny chance to run away, if that ever happens. Around two hours passes - although it feels a lot longer for the team - and the sun is ending its daily course. She feels her cocoon being moved, so she stays on alert. She feels fresh air coming from her back, and not long after, the rest of the cocoon is opened. She looks behind her, and sees the big spider - Dokugumon - gently untying her and Sonne.

"Don't worry, the angels are gone" says the spider

Komet swallows dry and swipes the cobwebs off her, still feeling very nervous. She looks to her left and sees the little spiders opening a different cocoon, revealing a distressed Lua, who starts grumbling already, assuming she ever stopped since she got tied up. She quickly rushes towards the bunny and hugs her tight. "I'm so glad to see you okay!"

Lua's expression changes to a smile of relief, and her muffled voice shows excitement. After realizing that Lua's mouth was still covered, Komet quickly removes the cobwebs.

"You are alive! During all that time, I thought you had become spider food!" says Lua. She then shoves her face on Komet

Meanwhile, Sonne uses his embers to quickly burn the remaining sticky web from his body. He approaches Dokugumon and asks "Introduce yourself. Why did you help us?"

"I am Dokugumon. These little ones are my servants, Kodokugumon. We saw confused travelers in trouble, so we decided to help. Would you like a cup of tea? You are probably very tired for running away and getting locked up for a few hours, in which I apologize in advance"

Komet turns around and looks at Dokugumon. "Ahm… Sure"

"'Sure'? Are you sure? What if it's a trap?" asks Lua

"Well, I don't think the tea will be poisoned or something. If they really wanted to kill us, they could have done so already, besides…" She sits down very quickly. "I'm drained…"

"I guess you are right… I want two cups of tea!"

Komet raises one eyebrow. "For someone that was suspicious seconds ago, you changed your mind pretty quickly"

Team Twilight sits close to each other. The forest is even darker, now that the sun is completely gone. Sonne covers the tip of his tail to muffle the flame, so that they can't be spotted by someone walking by.

"Don't worry about it, catmon. My servants are everywhere in this forest. If any of them approaches, I will immediately know" says Dokugumon

"Thank you very much for your kindness," says Komet. She looks at her two friends and whispers. "Why did the angels attack us like that? No… They wanted to kill me specifically… Are they aware of humans and my world? Did they realize I am a human?"

"I knew there was something suspicious about all that registration thing! It was just an interrogation!" Lua whispers back

"I recall Anpu stating that higher leveled are experienced enough to distinguish Digimons from intelligent digital lifeforms, but judging Luxmon prowess, I'd assume they are no more than Child level, thus perhaps this might not be the case. I'm aware that Prof. Bokomon is also a Child level, but Anpu ensured that is a case of exception." says Sonne

"Life sure loves some exceptions. Anyway, we can ask Anpu as soon as we leave. I do want to tell him about the Angel Army attack against us after all" says Komet

Dokugumon approaches the team holding a wooden tray with five cups of tea, and carefully leaves it on the floor. He gets his own cup, while the others grab their cups too. Komet smells the tea first and takes a sip.

"Wow, this tastes wonderful!" says Komet, amazed

"Every food is wonderful compared to all the junk food and instant food you buy, Komet" bluntly says Lua

"Hey, it's not my fault that I can't cook! Besides, I do eat healthy at Diamlock Tech's canteen, okay?"

Lua drinks half of her first cup of tea. "Are we leaving after we are done here?"

"Hold on," says the big spider. "It's very dark right now, too dangerous to just go wandering alone. Why don't you stay here until the next morning? We could chat and do some things together, don't you think?"

Komet looks at Dokugumon. "Thanks for your concern, but the thing is… We are a bit in a hurry… And since this is your territory, we will be safe for a while, right?"

"Oh. But the whole reason you came to Cerranis is that you could take a proper rest! So why change your mind now? You can't run away from the Angels if you are not properly rested, right?"

Lua raises one side of her invisible eyebrow. "We never said that! Or at least, we never told you that"

"Does that really matter? I can offer a nice place for you three to rest here, and I can also provide protection against the Angels"

Sonne places his tea on the tray and stands up, facing Dokugumon. "Tell me your motivation. Your aid is not purely for pity. You have second intentions"

Dokugumon sighs. "I guess speeding up the process won't hurt anyone, will it now?" he shrugs. "The reason why I helped is that I've seen enough of these angels destroying other Digimon for being different- no, evolving in a different way"

"Different…? Evolving differently? Do you speak of the Infected?"

Dokugumon crosses his arms. "'Infected' is what they call them to have a proper reason to destroy them without backlash. After all, they can't stand Digimon getting powers that surpass theirs"

"Jealousy is in fact a curse, but I have to inform you that this is not the case. The Corrosion Virus is in fact a danger to Digimon"

"This is what they want you to believe. Have you ever seen an 'Infected' up close? They get more powerful. They get new abilities! But I've never seen them living for a long time, do you know why? They are either killed by those bastards or possess a body that is too weak to handle the new power they are granted, because no one gives them a chance to grow stronger. But I…" he looks at his hands. "I know I could handle that power if I was given the chance. And with this power, I could finally overthrow Archnemon!"

Komet and Lua immediately get up. "Wait a second! Are you saying that you wish to get infected by the Corrosion Virus? That will drive you insane and kill you! You will lose your sense of self! Besides, what all of that has to do with helping us?" asks the lass

"Like I said, I am strong enough to handle the 'infection'. Now," Dokugumon points at Komet. "Creature whom the Angel Army calls 'fiend', I helped you and your friends escape from those filthy losers. Now, in a fair exchange, grant me the power of the Corrosion Virus, and make me stronger!"

"W-what? I don't have the power to do that!"

"Don't make a fool out of me. Did you forget I have my ears and eyes everywhere?" He opens his arms and a lot of Kodokugumons start approaching him. "I've been spying on the Angel Army since they've appeared in Cerranis, so that I could learn more about this mysterious power of the 'Infected', while waiting for the chance for me to get infected myself. But those filthy angels always ruined everything. I've heard them talking about creatures from another world causing this, and well, can you look at that! One of them is right in front of me! I know you are the one that granted the power to that Insekimon, woman! Or are you gonna tell me that was just a coincidence?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but the answer is 'yes'. Look, I understand you want to get stronger and all, and that you don't care about taking risks, but like I said, I don't have the power to just grant Corrosion Virus to people!"

Dokugumon raises his voice and takes heavy steps towards her. "Don't lie to me! We risked our life to save you, why can't you return the favor?"

Komet clenches her knuckles, and steps back as the spider steps forth. "Sonne, Lua, we must leave. There's no reasoning with him at this point"

Kodokugumons quickly surround them, some starting to make webs around the paths between trees. "You WILL NOT get away, ungrateful brat! Arachno Batoto!" He shoots webs from his abdomen, but Sonne reacts quickly enough. He whips his tail towards the web shot, burning it instantly. Komet summons Ogremon's club from the smartwatch and starts swinging around Kodokugumons' web threads, entangling her club with so much of it, along with leaves and sticks, that it gets very thick.

"Sonne, near me!" says Komet. Sonne quickly hops closer to her, and Komet swings the club at the tip at his tail, easily setting the club on fire because of the thick layer of cobweb. She swings the flaming club towards Kodokugumons, which makes them step back or run to the top of the trees. Dokugumon growls at them and climbs up a tree.

"Let's stay close to each other. Sonne and I will open our way through those stupid little spiders" Komet says. They continue to wave their fire to scare away the creatures and advance as the path opens.

"Attack them, my minions, don't let this chance go!" says Dokugumon, from somewhere atop the trees.

The Kodokugumons jump at them, readying their claws. They start slashing as soon as they get close. Komet keeps swinging her flaming club to hit the now attacking Kodokugumons. Sonne gives a few steps ahead and clad his body in flames. He punches the little spiders, destroying some of them in the process. Lua covers her claw in dark energy and slashes the spiders that jump on her. She gets frustrated that she can't use her ranged attacks, since they are water based and would actually mess with the fire.

"Okay. We are going to keep walking that direction while using fire in our favor! Lua, keep an eye out for Dokugumon" says Komet. Then she shakes her head. "Sorry, I don't actually a better plan than this"

"We are going to make out of this, don't worry!" says Lua

"We need to be faster, I cannot guarantee I am capable of keeping Petit Prominence up for much longer" says Sonne

"I will try to think about something in case we need to engage in a direct combat" says Komet

They slowly keep making their way through the forest, but the Kodokugumon swarm doesn't seem to have an end. A group of Kodokugumon mass attacks Komet's club. Some of them die because of the fire, but the others form a ball around it that puts out the fire. Komet quickly slams the club into the floor, destroying the rest of the spiders on it.

"Goddammit!" yells Komet. She looks at the club, which is now wet because of smashed spiders

"Watch your mouth, Komet" says Sonne, while burning other spiders

"Watch out!" yells Lua, pointing above them

Dokugumon jumped off the tree, launching himself towards them. He opens his mouth to bite whoever he reaches first. But Sonne still reacts quicker. "Petit Prominence!" He turns around and jumps towards the big spider, ramming into him with his body clad in flames. The big spider is launched away, near some bushes.

"Sonne, analyze!" shouted Komet, while still swinging her club at the little spiders, but this time less effective.

Sonne focuses on Dokugumon. He fetches the analysis right before the spider quickly runs into the bushes. "Dokugumon, Adult level. Its attacks revolves around using its webs, their minions Kodokugumon and poison attacks, by either spitting it or using its stinger"

"Tch, of course this monster is poisonous. We should be care-"

"Komet, watch out!" shouts Lua

Komet looks up, just to see Dokugumon falling in her direction with his stinger pointed at her. Lua flies in her direction, pushing Komet away just in time and taking the attack in her stead. The stinger pierces through her biggest ear and pins her on the floor, so Lua lets out a scream in pain. Some red liquid - which seems to be blood - starts to slowly run out of the bunny's ear, some of it becoming bits of data after some time. Dokugumon stands over her and laughs maniacally. Komet falls on her butt. This makes the big spider stand between Sonne and Komet, while holding Lua down.

"How were you able to recover so fast? I expected the damage would be enough to hinder your movement!" says Sonne in shock

"You are really underestimating my power and of my minions, aren't you? They are my eyes, my ears, my legs, my sword and my shield!" he says with a creepy smile. He turns at the silver haired lass, who is also in shock and placing her hands in front of her mouth. "Now now, I'm pretty sure you don't want your minion dead. So, be a good girl, and grant me the power of the Corrosion Virus! My poison will spread in her body and kill her in about one hour, so I'd recommend that you do it quickly if you want her alive"

"She already stated that she is not capable of such an act!" growls Sonne, while cladding his hands on fire. He shoots two fireballs from his fists, but two Kodokugumons jump in front of it, taking the hit for the big spider. "How many of them are still around?" yells Sonne, annoyed.

"You better stop attacking me," says Dokugumon. He snaps his fingers, and a swarm of little spiders appear and immediately jumps on Komet before she could finish getting up. They knock her prone and attack her with their claws. "Control your minion and give me the power, fiend, if you want it to be less painful for all of you. I promise I will forget everything you had done and said after you grant my wish"

Sonne looks at Komet, lost. He knows he has the right element to deal with pesky spiders, but now they are in a sticky situation. So he just clenches his fists, punches the floor and waits for a command, hoping there's a way out. Lua raises her head a bit, and squeezes her eyes shut in pain. She opens them again and looks at Komet very apologetic, and lowers it again, without being able to say a word. Komet slowly grabs her long braid and hugs it, while shaking in anger. She grabs her hoodie and covers her head. "Do you really want to see the power a 'fiend' can provide to a Digimon…? Fine, you win, I will do that. Set me on fire, Sonne"

Sonne flinches. "W-what? No!"

"It's an order!" yells Komet

Sonne swallows dry. He doesn't have the guts to refuse to follow an order, but even so, setting her on fire was too much. He clada his hand on fire, but he is still hesitant on doing what she says. Komet discreetly points at her back, where a whole lot of Kodokugumons are sitting while pestering her. He nods and clads his whole body on fire, then concentrates all the fire on his brow. He launches the fire at Komet's back like a flamethrower. The flames instantly incinerate the dozens of arachnids that were crawling and attacking on her back, leaving only fragments of their data floating. That exhausts Sonne, making him fall on her knees. He looks at Komet. Her back is on fire. She gets up and clenches her fists. The fire on her back gets mixed with the data of the destroyed Kodokugumons, transforming into a different kind of flame aura, which envelops her whole body, together with a flow of 0s and 1s circling her. Dokugumon opens his arms and a big smile.

"Finally! Shower me with this immense power, o fiend!" he says maniacally

"You will taste it," she says, showing anger in her voice. She screams and the aura bursts. She moves her hands towards Sonne and launches the aura at him. Sonne screams upon receiving it, becoming a giant and bright burst of fire. The burst is so strong that it topples Dokugumon over, freeing Lua from the pin. "I don't have minions that are my eyes, hair or whatever. But I have friends, which are very precious to me. And we will make you regret hurting us, you piece of shit"

The end of Komet's speech is followed by a deep roar coming from the flames.