The legendary battle of Armageddon

First train car

"My, this world truly is beautiful."

Akeno and Asia gazed out the window of the train car, gazing at the passing scenario. Right now, they were passing through a vast grassland, where a herd of dinosaur-like creatures, which Kanji explained were called Parasaurmon, were passing through.

"Yeah, I never thought I'd see something like this."

"Although it's a pity that Kiba isn't in a state to appreciate the view." She says, as she looked back on Kiba who was laid out on the opposite seat, groaning as he held his stomach, with Koneko at his side, pitying him for his mistake.

"I tried telling him not to drink coffee from Miss Kyoko, but he had already drunk an entire cup."

"I thought you were exaggerating when you said drinking her coffee was a hellish experience." Kiba groaned as he regretted his choices, having learned that the coffee had sriracha and horseradish.

The creator of said concoctions, Kyoko Kuremi, was sitting on the other side of the train car, opposite of Rias, Sona, Kanji, who had explained their reason for being in the Digital world.

"Interesting, I didn't realize there were such vile beings in town. Not only that, but they were in league with Digimon from the Dark Area."

"The dark area?" Rias was unfamiliar with that term.

"Ah, I guess I should explain. You see, the Digital World is a layered world, with dimensions laid over one another to make up a whole. The Digimon you encountered, Devimon, is a wicked Digimon that resides in the Dark Area, the graveyard of deleted data. It is a hostile place, comparable to the human concept of hell. Truly interesting, the ways the Digital World bears parallels to the real world."

"I'm curious, with what you've said and what Kanji said about Devimon being a fallen angel-species, are there also angelic digimon?" Sona leaned forward, eager to learn the answer.

"You'd be correct for thinking so. As a matter of fact, there are many digimon residing in the Dark Area who were once angelic Digimon and part of the angel army, until for one reason for another, they fell."

Kanji cleared his throat. "As nice as it is that you're helping my friends understand the digital world, I'd like to know why you're here. After all, I wasn't told we'd meet someone on the train, and I've never seen you around." He eyes her up. "You also don't have a digivice or a partner, so you're not a tamer either."

Kyoko chuckled. "I don't blame you for being weary of me, I'm a stranger after all who just happened to show up. I can assure you that I'm simply a detective who's an old friend of Mameo."

"Mameo?!" Kanji's eyes widened. His surprise made Rias Curious to who Kyoko was referring to.

"Who's Mameo?"

"Tanaka Mameo is one of the council members of the CPA, and the most senior member of the entire group. He's also my mentor as a tamer."

"Yes, he and I go way back. I knew him back when he was just a rookie tamer. It's been a while since I've personally gone to see him."

"Why now then?"

Kyoko took a sip of her coffee. "Because a while ago he had contacted me to look into something, and what I managed to find is something he needs to be told about personally."

"Is that so? Well, I guess I'll have to ask Mameo about this when we get there."

Sona looked out towards the passing scenery in thought. "You haven't really told us about where we're heading to. Is it like a base or secret hideout?"

"Well, Locomon is taking us to the base of the CPA, at File city. Apparently back in the day Mameo helped build up the city from a small village. Something that's hard to believe with how massive it is."

"Wow, sounds like a grand place, I can't wait for us to arrive so I can see it."

"Well, I hope you don't mind that we'll be making a stop along the way. There's a researcher that needs a ride back to the city along with an important package."

"Hmm, what exactly would he be researching out here?" Rias questioned Kanji, curious to learn more about the humans who've long made a place for themselves in this bizarre world.

"Well, there's a lot of things to study. Some people study the data of digimon while others study the world itself. The guy we're picking up, a fella called Stephen Charles, has been doing some research in some local ruins looking for any records of the ancient past, or at least that's what I'm told."

"You know Kanji, you don't seem to act like much of an intellectual, not being very interested or knowledgeable on the complex aspects of the Digital world, yet Sona says you've been a quick learner at chess."

"Oh, she has? Why'd she tell you about that? It's just a game after all."

"Well, you might not have realized it, but she actually made an agreement with her family, and it's related to chess. You see sh-" before Rias could say anything else, she found that Sona had covered her mouth with both her hands.

"I'm sorry Kanji, this is something between me and Rias, I hope you understand!"

"Sure. It's probably something silly anyway." Despite saying so, Kanji couldn't help but be curious as to what it was, especially as he felt daggers being glared at him.

A few seats behind them sat Issei, Impmon, Pulsemon, Guilmon, and Kiba, the latter seething with anger and jealousy as he watched Kanji chat with Sona. "Damn it, why did he get to sit next to Sona?! I swear he's trying to sweep her off her feet or something!"

"Come on dude, I wanted to sit next to Rias, but you don't see me complaining. Plus, I don't want to be involved in all that serious talk. So just relax."

Kiba settles back down into his seat. "You're right. He went out of his way to invite me and Sona. So Issei, what's it like being a tamer like Kanji?"

Impmon laughed. "Ha! Honestly you should be asking me. In my professional opinion, I'd say he's pretty average, and it's mostly me doing the heavy lifting in our battles!"

"Oh, shut it! It's pretty clear that between the two of us, I'm the one who can actually land a punch! Plus, I'm having to come up with excuses as to why food keeps disappearing, including dad's beer!"

"Hey, I gotta feed myself somehow! It's not like your dad even buys decent beer anyway!"

Kiba sweatdropped as he watched the two argue and fight. "I sure hope that if I become a tamer like Issei, I don't get a partner like this."

After he stopped fighting, Issei decided to change the subject. "So Saji, tell us about yourself. What's it like as a servant of Sona?"

"Oh it's great! Couldn't have a better master than Sona! Course I'm a big deal myself too. After all, she had to use four pawn pieces!" He crossed his arms proudly, expecting them to be impressed. Instead, Impmon began laughing while Issei was clearly trying to hold back his own laughter, meanwhile Guilmon was more confused than anything.

"Hahaha! That's rich! Listen here fella, while you can brag about needing four pawn pieces, Rias had to use all eight for Issei! So I guess that means you're worth half as much as this perverted dumbass! Hahahaha! What do you even have to offer?" Saji had to resist the temptation to hit Impmon.

"Well, just do you know, I have a powerful sacred gear with a dragon sealed inside, Absorption Line!"

"Wow, this is really turning into what you humans call a dick measuring contest! This dumbass also has a dragon in his sacred gear! Guess your boss doesn't have as good an eye for talent as Rias!" Suddenly, Impmon felt a blow to his head, as issei had used his hand to chop down on Impmon's head, which also resulted in Impmon biting his tongue.

"Could you not act like a dick to people? Sheesh." He looked to his side to look at Guilmon. "What about you, Guilmon? Who do you think is cooler?"

"Umm, I don't know. I really didn't understand a lot of what you were talking about." He tilted his head in confusion. "I guess Issei is cooler? He did help me and Impmon fight Allomon."

"Heh, I easily forget that you're not even a month old and don't know much about this devil stuff. I'm sure that Rias will teach you so you can understand this stuff."

Suddenly, Guilmon's stomach growled, which was followed by growls from the others around him. Issei rubbed the back of his neck, as he realized an issue, as he stood up and spoke to the others. "Um, by any chance did anyone bring food?"

"Don't worry, Locomon's third car has a kitchen and a chef to make food for passengers. They should probably be here soon, although they'll have to bring food to the prisoners." Kanji clarified for Issei."

Issei sat back down, pondering what Kanji just said. "Huh, I gotta wonder how it's going for the fallen angels."

•••

Second train car

Anger, frustration, embarrassment. These were the emotions that had been whirling around in Raynare's head, ever since her defeat by that damn devil. As she sat in her seat, the only thing she could hear was the movement of the train and her own thoughts. "How could this happen!? I should have won! I should be owning that town, challenging Azazel, but instead I'm here, at the mercy of devils, humans, and these blasted digimon!"

"Boss, what's that delicious smell?"

She was brought out of her musings as she looked above, where the lone surviving Evilmon was in a hanging cage. As much as she loathed to admit it, this one had become a bit of a confidant during her confinement, and to her surprise, learned that this one considered herself a girl, so Raynare had decided to name her Evi for the sake of convenience. "Grr, what are you talking about Evi?"

Just as she said that, however, she too began to smell a delectable aroma. She looked around to the back of the train car, and quickly found her subordinates had done the same. There, in front of the door connecting to the next car, was a cart carrying an assortment of food and drinks. Juicy burgers stacked on top of one another, an assortment of kebabs, ice cold soda cans, French fries, and more. The utter assortment had the fallen angels salivating at the sight, as they had not had any decent meals besides cheap store-bought bread and lemonade since their imprisonment.

As the trolley moved forward, they saw that it was being pushed by a bizarre digimon. It wore a chef's uniform and had a head that looked like an unpeeled onion. It looked at them with a smile as it stopped in front of them. "Alrighty then, time for lunch!"

Not wasting a second, Raynare stretched her arms out, desiring nothing more than to bite into one of those delicious looking burgers, only for her hands to get slapped away by the digimon. "No! This food is for the guests!" He then reached under the trolly table and took out a bowl of unappetizing soup. "This is what you naughty children are getting, plain soup." He then tossed a raw sausage into Evi's cage. "And a bit of protein for you, you dreadful little pest!"

He proceeded to set a bowl of soup for the rest of the fallen angels and moved on ahead to enter the next train car. Looking down at their meal, the stomachs of the fallen angels could only growl in disappointment. Soon enough, Mittelt began to bawl her eyes out.

"Waaah! I hate this! I got beaten up and covered in shit, locked up in a crummy room, and now I have to drink this slop while those damn devils get to eat all that delicious food!"

Kalawarner stomped on Mittelt's foot, causing her to scream in pain. "Shut the hell up! You've been acting like a brat ever since we've been caught! We're screwed no matter how you look at it, so stop acting like your whining will change anything!"

"We wouldn't be here if we hadn't listened to Raynare when she decided to betray Azazel and serve Devimon! It's her fault for promising us so much and failing even when she got that sacred gear!"

Dohnaseek spoke up. "She has a point, it's Raynare who failed to deliver, and because of her, we'll likely be executed."

The sound of silverware breaking echoed throughout the train car, as the trio looked over to the otherside, and saw that Raynare shattered her bowl in her hands, spilling its contents on the table, as she glared at them.

"You insolent peons! You're the ones who failed to kill that boy when you had the chance! Kalawarner, you fled like a coward the moment you saw his sacred gear, while you, Dohnaseek, shouldn't have wasted time toying with him! You most of all, Mittelt, utterly failed to prevent them from entering, and allowed them to utterly trounce our army of Evilmon! By shit eating bottom feeders of all things! So don't you dare to blame me!" She moved towards Mittelt, knowing that despite her restrained state, she could still easily choke her.

However, the Pawn Chessmon guards were quick to intercept her and pushed her back into her seat. "Stay in your seat prisoner!"

Knowing she was in no position to try to fight against them, she relented, and chose to bide her time, until she could escape and enact her revenge. "Just you wait Issei, I'll make you wish that you died that night. I will make you, that Saint, and everyone you love suffer."

If Raynare had looked out the window at that moment, she would have seen a black and purple tail swing by…

•••

First train car

"Wow, this is some good stuff!" Issei mumbled out of his mouth as he savored another bite of the burger that Burgamon, the chef that worked with Locomon on trips, had brought them. Everyone had gotten something to eat. He, Koneko, Impmon, and Guilmon had grabbed burgers, with Guilmon getting several of them.

"Yeah, this is delicious! My stomach even feels better!" Kiba, with some urging from Burgamon, had been eating a kebab, while Asia and Akeno enjoyed some fries. "Who'd have thought that fast food could taste as good as high-class restaurant food. Kudos to the chef."

"Oh, you don't need to compliment me, I'm happy so long as you enjoy your meals!" Burgamon, like many times before, humbly tried to downplay his skills.

Finally, Kanji, Rias, and Sona had chosen to eat some hotdogs with onion rings on the side. Kyoko, to the surprise of the others, had chosen nothing, claiming that she wasn't hungry.

As he enjoyed his meal, Issei couldn't help but be curious about something, so he leaned over and tapped Burgamon on the shoulder. "Hey Burgamon, mind answering a few questions."

"Oh, I don't mind. I'm actually used to being asked questions by new arrivals." He held his hand to his chin. "Hmmm, let me guess, you're curious where the meat came from, right?"

"How did you know?"

"I get asked the question more than others. As for the answer, well, here in the digital world, we cultivate meat at farms! Break a bone in half and spill out seeds! As a matter of fact, we should be passing by one such farm right now! Just look out the left side."

Everyone moved to look out the window and saw that he spoke the truth. Among several fields that had regular crops like corn and wheat, there were fields growing meat of all things, just growing out of the ground. There were some that produced sausage links on vines, palm trees that had ribs, and so much more.

"Damn, that's weird and cool at the same time!"

Impmon, who was hearing all this, couldn't help but be confused. "What's so special about all this? Don't humans grow meat as well?"

Issei scratched the back of his head. "Not really. We kinda have to slaughter animals like cows and pigs. It'd be nicer if we could just grow meat like they do here though."

"Heh, I can see. Your way of doing things also sounds really time consuming as well if you raise creatures for meat. Here in the digital world, you just need to find the raw ingredients."

Just then, the voice of Locomon echoed in the train car. "Attention passengers, we are now approaching World Scar Ruins Station. We will be stopping to pick up another passenger before departing towards File city station A." Hearing this, Bergamot began pushing the trolley back to the third car, happy to know that everyone had their fill.

"Damn, didn't expect the researcher we'd be picking up would be researching that place of all things." Kanji's reaction made Ria's curious.

"Doesn't sound like you like that place very much. Did you have a bad experience there or something? What exactly are these ruins like?"

"No, it's more like the place just gives me the heebie-Jeebies, like there's something wrong with the place. Makes me and Pulsemon just want to run as far away as possible."

"Is it that bad of a place? Why is it even called that, the World Scar ruins?"

"It's hard to explain why I don't like the place; you'd have to see for yourselves. Apparently, a legendary battle happened there ages ago, where the whole Digital World fought against a dark army. I guess Stephen must have been trying to uncover those events since we've found few records so far."

"A dark army, now that really sounds ominous. Now I'm curious about it myself. Hopefully this researcher managed to uncover something interesting to share."

"Well, we'll have to wait and see." As he said that, outside the window they saw that Locomon had entered a thick fog, clouding their sight, as they heard the chime of a bell, signifying their arrival.

As Locomon slowed down and stopped at the platform, it quickly became clear what Kanji had meant. The air was hauntingly cold, and surroundings were eerily quiet. Strangest of all, they didn't see anyone waiting at the platform. "We have arrived at World Scar ruins station."

"I don't see anyone. Do you think something may have happened to the researcher?" Asia said worryingly. Suddenly, the train car door opened, startling everyone. To their relief, however, a small green digimon with long ears entered, carrying a small box on his head using said ears.

"Hello hello! You must be here to pick up me and Stephen." The digimon waved his small hand at them, further reassuring them as he put the package down. Koneko in particular couldn't help but get closer to him and crouch down.

"… Cute."

The digimon scratched the back of his head and smiled. "Yeah, I get that a lot. It's nice to meet you all! I'm Terriermon, Stephen's partner and assistant."

"Um, so where's your partner?" Kanji quickly pointed out, causing Terriermon to sigh.

"Sorry about that. He tends to get so caught up in his work that he forgets things like this. He found something really amazing!"

Sona turned back in her seat to look towards Terriermon. "Oh, is that so? Must be quite a discovery for him to forget that he was being picked up."

"Yeah, he can get like that. This one time he forgot to get any sleep for two nights."

Issei walked over, looking down at Terriermon. "You know, we should probably go get him ourselves instead of waiting. Terriermon, mind leading us to him?"

"Sure, plus it'll give me a chance to show you guys the ruins! Come on!" Hearing this, Locomon decided he'd take a nap until they got back.

As everyone funneled out of the train car, they readied themselves for any kind of trouble, as they followed Terriermon to a path lit by lanterns. Unbeknownst to everyone, however, a small dark figure darted into the train car before the door closed.

•••

The trip to the ruins was unnerving. While visibility improved, it didn't make things less tense. Now they could see the surrounding area, which was covered in crumbling structures and gnarled trees. The ground itself was torn up in several places, showing signs of brutal fighting. Everyone tried their best to stay close together as they followed Terriermon.

"This place really isn't welcoming. I doubt anyone lived around here." Sona said as she felt another chill run down her spine.

Terriermon looked back at her. "You'd think so, but even a place like this can be the home of many digimon. Although most don't come close to this particular area."

"Why is that?"

"Well this area is kind of a memorial for the thousands of warriors that died in that war. It was truly a devastating battle, and few survived."

"It truly sounds like quite an ordeal. Strange then for there not to be much information."

"That's precisely why we chose to come here, as there had to be a reason for why the information was lost." They finally arrived at the entrance into an underground chamber, the path down illuminated by torches. "This is where we were conducting our research. Still got a bit to go so stay close."

As they entered the ruins, Impmon couldn't help but look behind, having felt like something was watching him. Seeing nothing, he moved along. Soon after, nearby rubble began to move…

•••

Second train car

Raynare couldn't fully comprehend what had just happened. She had watched those damn devils walk into the fog, and a few minutes later, what looked like a black cat had entered the train car. The Pawn Chessmon tried apprehending it, but this only resulted in the black one being knocked out while the white one was killed, having been slashed apart into data by the cat's claws.

"Mmm, you're quite a peculiar one. Clearly not a digimon, but neither human. I can see why my mistress was interested in you." The cat had been sitting on the table in front of Raynare, evaluating her for some reason.

"What are you?" Raynare hadn't even meant to say that, the words had simply slipped from her mouth.

"I am Black Gatomon. I should be asking you the questions though." She looks towards the other fallen angels, before looking back to Raynare. "If you and your friends are not humans, what are you?"

Raynare considered lying, but seeing how easily BlackGatomon killed one of the guards, decided it was better to be truthful. "We are fallen angels."

BlackGatomon giggled. "Oh, this keeps getting better and better. My mistress will love to have you around."

Raynare was surprised by the implications of what she just heard. "Does that mean you're going to free us?"

"Hmmm, no. At least not all of you."

She looks at the others once more. "My mistress is quite peculiar about those I bring her. She wouldn't like it if I brought her a geezer, a peon, and a brat."

Kalawarner and Mittelt moved to speak, but quickly chose not to when BlackGatomon raised her clawed paw.

Evi rattled her cage. "Hey, you'll get me out, right? I can be useful!"

She turned her attention to Evi. "While she normally doesn't bother with weaklings and bottom feeders like you, she might have some use for you, so I guess I can also free you."

She looked back to Raynare. "Of course, this all depends on if you're willing to come. Granted, I'll still take you to my mistress, but I'd prefer if you'd come willingly."

Raynare considered it. As much as she'd like to escape, she wasn't enthused to be in the service of another powerful being like Devimon. Until a certain thought occurred to her.

"If I serve your mistress, would it be possible to enact vengeance against someone who wronged me?"

BlackGatomon chuckled. "Of course, she more than happily rewards the wicked, and I see such a wicked heart behind your eyes."

"… Then I accept."

"I was hoping you'd say that." BlackGatomon jumped off the table and walked to the unconscious PawnChessmon, grabbing a set of keys from their side, before leaping up to Evilmon's cage and opening it. "These chumps really shouldn't use the same lock for all their cuffs and cages. It really makes things too easy."

"Wait!" Raynare looked to Mittelt, who looked like she was about to cry again. "Raynare, you can't leave us! We've always been loyal to you!"

She could only sneer at Mittelt and the others as Gatomon unlocked her cuffs and tore the tag from her back. "Loyal? You think that makes up for your failures? As far as I see it, you're all dead weight to me!"

Mittelt was reduced to sobs at this point, and cried into Kalawarner's arms, as her two fellows too realized that their leader had now chosen to abandon them.

BlackGatomon chuckled at the sight, knowing that she made a fine choice in freeing this girl. "By the way, who is it that you want to vengeance on?"

Before Raynare could respond, Evilmon flew in between them. "Ooh ooh, I know! It must be those pesky devils who ruined everything! Especially that one called Issei! He humiliated Raynare very badly after a-AAGH!" She quickly found her throat in Raynare's grip, though she quickly let go of Evilmon.

"What Evilmon said. I want them to pay for humiliating me, for trying to imprison me."

A mischievous glint appeared in BlackGatomon's eyes. "Is that so? They wouldn't happen to be that group that got off the train car perhaps?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

BlackGatomon grinned. "Because you might get your wish sooner than expected."

•••

Inner-ruins chambers

After walking down a flight of stairs and a hallway, they finally arrived at a large corridor with several murals, illuminated by various portable lights. Kyoko was the first to spot the person they were looking for, who was crouched down near a weathered tablet, writing down notes. "So you're the researcher we came to see."

Surprised, he stood up and turned towards them. He wore a lab coat over a shirt and blazer, as well as a pair of round glasses. He had curly brown hair that was covered in dust, which he dusted off as he looked at the sudden arrivals and waved. "Oh, sorry, I guessed I let time fly. I guess you already know this, but I'm Stephen Charles, a digimon researcher. Nice to meet you all."

Rias walked forward and gazed around the room. "Amazing. Is this chamber what you were researching?" She found it fascinating, with each mural being accompanied by a stone tablet, most likely telling a story.

"Ah, yes! This is actually a great discovery! This chamber actually has recordings of the great battle of legend!, precisely what I've been looking for! I even managed to translate the tablets! Not to mention the room ahead."

"That's probably why you lost track of time, right?" Terriermon walked over to him and climbed up to his shoulder. "Since they came all the way here, you might as well tell them what the murals say."

Stephen rubs his neck, somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry bud, you know how I am. You make a good point though."

"You can read this gibberish?" Issei pointed to one of the tablets, only to get slapped in the back of his head by Impmon.

"What you call gibberish is actually Digimogi, the written language of the digital world! Course an idiot like you wouldn't know how to read it!" He was then kicked from behind by Koneko, causing him to fly into the wall in front of them. He grimaced as he picked himself back up. "Hey, don't get mad when I state facts!"

Rather than allow things to escalate, Stephen decided to defuse the situation by clearing his throat. "Well, moving on. Let's start with the first part."

He walked over to the first mural from the left of where they entered. It depicted two armies facing one another, one side consisted of angelic and heroic looking digimon, while the other consisted of wicked and grotesque digimon. "The inscription reads: "the dark army emerges, and menaces the Digital world. The Angel army and countless others are called to action to defend it."

He then walked to the mural on the opposite side, which depicted members of the dark army bowing to what appeared to be a twisted two head dragon. "Here it reads: "heedless of the dangers and desiring victory at all costs, the dark army called forth the king of evil, Milleniummon, from the void between worlds, not as their champion, but as their ultimate weapon."

"Milleniummon huh? It sounds like it was quite a threat." Rias mused, wondering how powerful it must have been.

Stephen then walked over to the second mural, which depicted the Angel army alongside a group of knights facing Milleniummon and the dark army. Above them was a rift, from which figures appeared to be descending from. "Now this one is interesting: "Even with the might of the royal knights and the Angel army, the dark army's march could not be slowed. In its hour of need, the Creator called upon chosen children to save the digital world."

"The Royal Knights? Who are they?" Issei questioned, although the one who answered was not Stephen, but Kyoko.

"The Royal Knights are an elite group of 13 digimon, tasked with defending the digital world from great threats by the administrator of the digital world, Yggdrasil. Each one of them is incredibly powerful, so it says a lot that even they could not stop Milleniummon."

"Wow, wonder if we'll get to meet one."

Kyoko chuckled. "Oh that's unlikely to happen. They tend to keep to themselves, and most times, if you did run into one, it was because you were designated as a threat."

"So who's Yggdrasil? He doesn't sound like a digimon."

"No, he isn't, although he's still a digital lifeform. He was created by the creator of the digital world to act as a defense system in a sense. Think of him like an immune system."

Rias looked at the mural, contemplating the latter part of the tablet. "Hmm, "The Creator called upon chosen children"… Does that mean that this world has a god, and he summoned children from the real world?"

"Well, there's a few records of them, the army does serve the creator of the Digital World. Still, if this is true, that would confirm my theory that even long ago, there were humans who entered the digital world. This is truly fascinating!" Stephen gushed as his eyes sparkled with excitement.

He then moved on to the mural on the opposite side. This time depicting the rift from before widened, as a figure stood on the other side with a host of angelic beings, which notably appeared differently from the Angel army. "This one in particular really shakes things up!: "The call for aid did not go unnoticed by other powers, and so the imperious god of the real world came forth, desiring an answer to why children had gone missing. Their arrival would prove a boon, however."

"An imperious god, who could that be referring to? It couldn't possibly be the god the angels serve." Rias pondered, eager to know the truth.

The group then followed Stephen to the third mural on the lift. It depicted a united force from both worlds facing Milleniummon from all sides. "This one says: "Realizing the grave threat Milleniummon posed to both worlds, the imperious god aided the digital world in their battle. Alongside the chosen children, the tide was turned."

He then directed to the final mural on the right, depicting both the earth and digital world on opposite sides, Milleniummon's body chained on the left side, while the other side had several crystals. "This is where it ends: "After many sacrifices and losses, Milleniummon was defeated, yet not destroyed. The Imperious god then chose to seal its body in the real world, while milleniummon's mind and power was sealed and hidden in the digital world, never to reunite again."

Sona walked closer to the mural, intrigued by what she learned. "So even with the power of a god and their servants, they couldn't destroy it. To think that part of this monster lies hidden in the real world."

Stephen walked to the end of the corridor. "That's also why this place exists, it's a tomb to honor the followers of the imperious god and the chosen children who fell in the great battle. Come on, you'll want to see for yourself."

As they followed Stephen, they were amazed by what they saw. A massive circular chamber, the floor lined with large grave pedestals, potentially a hundred of them at first glance, many of them bearing the crucifix, the sight of which unnerved the devils. At the very center, meanwhile, was a much smaller gravestone, and laid in front of it were several digivices, bereft of color and covered in cracks.

"This confirms its then, it was the god of the church who came. Yet how come there's no knowledge of this back in the real world?" Rias mused as she gazed about.

"Oh, is that so? Well, if you manage to find any information, it'd be nice for you to send it my way." Stephen excitedly asked, giddy at the idea of learning even more about the great battle.

Terriermon tapped Stephen on the shoulder. "This was nice and all, but I think we ought to get back to Locomon and head to file city, especially since we've got that package."

"Shit, you're right! Gotta bring that to the council as soon as possible!"

The group then made its way back through the corridor, and soon arrived at the entrance. Before they walked through the entryway, Guilmon began growling, worrying Rias.

"What's wrong? Is it an enemy?" Wanting to make sure there was no danger, She picked up a stone, and threw it outside. This proved wise, as the moment it hit the ground, a large stone digimon landed on it, smashing the ground before looking back up, confused.

Without hesitation, Issei summoned Boosted gear and along with Koneko, charged forward and punched the digimon, sending it skidding backwards, allowing the others to come outside.

As they did, they then noticed that there were more digimon of the same species, many rising out of the ground.

"Golemon! This is gonna be a tough situation to fight out of!" Stephen said, as he held his digivice out and charged it, sending a light out which Terriermon leapt into.

"Terrier, digivolve to-! As the light enveloped him, a ring formed and passed over him, changing his body. As the light dissipated, he was now much larger and bulkier, wearing pants and having robotic arms with vulcans built in. "Galgomon!"

Following his example, issei, Rias, and Kanji took their digivices and digivolved their partners. As Growmon and Bulkmon stood at each side of the group, Wizarmon threw up a ball of light, dispelling the fog around them and showing that there were dozens of Golemon around them.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, I don't plan on dying here." Kiba said as he pulled out two swords as he readied himself, with the others following suit. Meanwhile Kanji, Sona, and Saji stood ready in front of Kyoko, Stephen, and Asia, knowing they couldn't defend themselves.

Galgomon leapt towards a group of Golemon, arms pointed forward. "Gatling arm!" A flurry of bullets flew out, shredding the Golemon as Galgomon landed. Another one tried attacking Galgomon, but it was swiftly pushed aside by Issei with a punch, leaving it open to a swift pommeling from Koneko, reducing it to mere data to be scattered to the wind.

A Golemon charged at Rias but was intercepted by Growmon. As they struggled against each other, Kiba leapt up and stabbed Golemon in the eye, causing it to stagger back, and allowing Growmon an opportunity to attack. Plasma blade! He charged forth, slashing at the Golemon's chest in an X formation, as it fell back and dissipated into data.

On the other side of the field, Akeno stood alongside Wizarmon as they were surrounded by Golemon, who held up his staff. Thunder cloud! Dark clouds gathered overhead, at which point Akeno raised her hand, sending a lightning bolt of her own, causing the clouds to increase in size and send down massive lightning bolts that reduced the Golemon to bits.

Bulkmon meanwhile managed to take down several Golemon and had one in a choke hold. Rias then shot it with a ball of destruction energy, as well as hitting two Golemon in the face that tried to attack Bulkmon from behind, obliterating their heads.

Soon enough, through the efforts of everyone, they managed to whittle down the number of Golemon to three, until a few remained. Everyone stood together, confident that they were almost out of it.

"Hell yeah, we're showing them who's boss! This is almost too easy!" Issei pumped his fist, feeling like they've won already.

That sense of victory was soon dashed, however, when a bellowing roar was heard from behind the Golemon.

"Pathetic! You had greater numbers, yet you still get trounced! It's clear that I cannot rely on you brick for brains! Raaah!"

From the fog emerged an imposing digimon, his body mostly made of rough stone, with crystals covering its back and arms, with his right arm ending in a massive crystal club, while a main of fiery red hair flowed out from under a crystal face guard on his head. It proceeded to smash two of the Golemon with pure strength alone, before grabbing the last one and crushing its head in his jaws.

Stephen took out his phone and activated the scanner. "Careful guys, that's Gogmamon, and he's a lot tougher than those Golemon since he's at the ultimate level!"

Rias walked forward, drawing Gogmamon's attention. "Why are you attacking us, and why would you so callously kill your own subordinates?!"

Gogmamog laughed. "Why am I attacking you? Because I was ordered to by the one I serve, and that's all that matters. As for why I killed those weaklings? Simple, weaklings like them don't deserve to live if they can't beat a bunch of runts like you!"

Bulkmon clenched his fist, irritated by Gogmamon's words. "Runts?! We'll show you who's the runt! Let's get him!" He, Growmon, Kiba, and Koneko rushed at Gogmamon.

Kanji held his hand out, realizing what was going to happen. "Stop, you can't take him on!"

Growmon charged forward, ignoring kanji's words. Plasma blade! He slashed at Gogmamon's chest, but instead of harming him, the plasma blades bounced off, not making even a scratch. Gogmamon then retaliated with a swing of its club arm, Growmon flying into a nearby wall, smashing it and causing him to revert to Guilmon.

Seeing this, Kiba used his speed to dodge a strike from Gogmamon, and quickly appeared next to his face and attacked, aiming for his eyes. His blades shattered upon hitting Gogmamon's eyes and was quickly caught in his crushing grip.

As Gogmamon began moving Kiba towards his jaws, Bulkman rushed to tackle him, causing him to lose his grip on Kiba, who was quickly picked up by Koneko, who was also carrying Guilmon, and rushed them to Asia.

Now on his own, Bulkmon stood his ground, intent on facing down Gogmamon. Electric fist! He charged forward, putting everything into the strike. Gogmamon, assured in his strength, makes no effort to dodge, and so is surprised when the strike connects, and he actually feels pain from it.

Clutching his chest, he can see that cracks have formed. He looks at Bulkmon, his eyes glowing red with anger. "Grr, you think that's enough?! I'll tear you apart!" He began walking towards Bulkmon, until he felt a shot at his back. He turns around to see Galgomon standing there, alongside his partner Stephen.

"Hey, why don't you fight someone your own size! Stephen, let's show him!"

Stephen then concentrated, as a dark green digisoul briefly enveloped him, before channeling it into his digivice which sent a large beam of light to Galgomon, enveloping him in light.

"Galgomon, super digivolve to-!" His body expands, as his torso lengthens and narrows in the middle, as his ears expand and a massive gun barrel appears on his back. As the light dissipates, his body is shown to have become fully mechanical. "Rapidmon!"

He flies towards Gogmamon, and shoots a hail of bullets at his chest, further damaging it. Gogmamon tries to swap him away, but his speed is too great. Distracted, he does not notice Bulkmon coming up behind him and grabbing him.

"Thunder dread!" Gogmamon screams in pain as he is electrocuted, unable to push Bulkmon away as he's assaulted by more bullets. Eventually, Bulkmon lets go, exhausted, as he reverts back to Pulsemon.

Barely able to fight anymore, Gogmamon tries to flee, only to find his escape path cut off by a stone wall erected by Wizarmon. "You're not getting out of this so easily".

As he turns back, he can only watch in fear as Rapidmon flies up to prepare a final attack. Golden triangle! Forming a triangle with his outstretched limbs, Rapidmon blasts Gogmamon with concentrated energy, leaving him on death's door.

Rapidmon then descended back to the Stephen, and reverted back to Terriermon, collapsed in exhaustion. "Man, I'm still not used to that."

Issei runs up to them, happy to see that they managed to defeat Gogmamon. "Wow dude, that was badass! Is that the kind of power Kanji meant by the ultimate level?!"

Stephen looked to Issei. "Yeah, although we're still not used to it. So far everytime he digivolves to ultimate he gets tuckered out."

While Asia tended to Pulsemon and Terriermon, Kanji walked over to Gogmamon. "So, since you're gonna croak, you wanna tell us who sent you?"

Gogmamon hoarsely chuckled. "Even now I refuse to betray her. Don't worry, you'll meet her, sooner or later, and you'll wish that you would have died at my hands."

"We'll see about that. Either way, you failed."

Gogmamon began laughing. "Actually, I'd say the opposite. After all, our objective was never strictly about killing you but obtaining that relic your friend found."

Hearing this, Stephen frantically rushed over. "What do you mean? How did you even know about that?!"

"Heh, it's too late anyway. My only regret is that I won't be able to watch as my mistress destroys you." With his final words, Gogmamon dissipated into data.

"We have to get to Locomon, quick!"

Issei was worried at how Stephen was panicking. "What's wrong, what exactly did you find?!"

"Something… something that should never fall in the wrong hands."

•••

World Scar station

By the time they arrived, they could see that the sun had begun to set. They quickly found Black PawnChessmon being supported by Burgamon. "Tamers! While you were away, we were attacked!"

They quickly brought him to Asia, who began healing them. While Stephen and terriermon entered the car to check on the package, Kanji knelt beside Black PawnChessmon. "What happened, who did this to you?"

Black PawnChessmon tried sitting up but was prevented by Kanji so he wouldn't hurt himself. "It was not long after you left. All I remember is hearing the door to the other car open, and then we saw her, a BlackGatomon. Me and my partner tried stopping her, but we didn't stand a chance. I survived, but my White PawnChessmon didn't make it. Ugh, that's not even the worst of it."

"What do you mean?"

"When I woke up, I found that everyone else had been cast asleep, and one of the prisoners was missing. The one called Raynare."

Issei's blood boiled when he heard that. "She escaped?! This means that she could be anywhere now!"

"No, there's only one place she could be."

Everyone looked towards Stephen who had come out.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because considering everything, including the relic BlackGatomon stole, the only place they could have gone is the Dark Area."

"Why would they go there? Isn't that place dangerous?"

Stephen had a grim look on his face. "That's because it's clear now, that the person behind this, was one of the Great Demon Lords…"

•••

"I've walked into a nightmare."

This thought repeated itself in Raynare's head as she and Evi followed behind BlackGatomon, carrying a small stone box. This place that she's been taken to is one where there is not a hint of light, only unfathomable darkness. The land was desolate, with nary a hint of life. Occasionally she'd see some digimon peeking at her from a distance but would hide as soon as BlackGatomon would look their way.

"Well, we're here."

Raynare was shaken out of her thoughts by BlackGatomon, as she looked up and realized that they were now standing before a lavish castle. As they walked towards the front gate, it opened on its own, as a serene seductive voice was heard.

"Welcome, to my humble abode."

As Raynare entered, she saw how the front area was lavishly decorated, vases laid out with beautiful flowers, and bowls full of tantalizing fruit. Once again, the voice spoke, beckoning her up the stairs, to the throne room.

"Come closer, so I may see you."

As she entered the torchlit throne room, she quickly saw the source of the voice, sitting on the throne. A Woman of inhumane beauty, wearing a purple and black dress, her black hair done up and held by a gold hair comb, as well as a golden clawed gauntlet worn on her right hand. Even if she did not bear four leathery wings and a pair of golden horns, it was clear she was not human by the sheer power she radiated, which caused Evi to hide behind Raynare out of utter fear.

"My, you truly are a beauty, BlackGatomon did well to bring you along."

She stood up from her throne, as she walked towards Raynare. Each step she took filled Raynare with more and more dread. "Don't be scared, you're among kindred spirits now."

"What… what are you?"

She stopped, as she held finger to her chin. "Ahh, so she does speak! As to answer your question, I am Lillithmon, Great Demon Lord of Lust.'

She closed the distance between them, and then grabbed Raynare by the chin as she examined her. "You truly have great potential. We have so much to discuss. But first.."

Lilithmon let go of Raynare's face, and grabbed the stone box from her hands, as she held it up to the light of the torches. "To think that they'd hide one there, in the last place one would look. Not that it matters now."

Lilithmon then crushed the stone box in her fist. As she unclenched her hand, she beheld a pitch-black gem. As Raynare looked upon it, she could have sworn she saw something slither from within.

As she gazed into the gem, Lillithmon smiled wickedly. "Oh, What fun we'll have with this."