(Author's Note: Chapter 47 is here! We return to the Royal Knights and the wider scope of the battle. Things come to a head.)
Chapter 47: Counterattack
"Let's go, Grani!"
Dukemon and Grani swooped down from the thick clouds. The pair burst through the mass of vapour, cloud data trailing behind Grani's wings like a jet stream. They were barely visible against the night sky, illuminated only by the flames of New Terminal that reflected off their armoured bodies.
The knight and his avian steed circled around, passing over Fountain River. In the midst of the river was a massive Demon Lord, thrashing in the water, pounding waves against the ruined riverside of New Terminal. Leviamon launched dark beams into the air and torrents of crushing water into the rubble-strewn streets. Dukemon watched Leviamon attack like a snarling beast, whipping his gigantic tails and snapping his crushing snout at his enemies.
Dukemon and Grani swerved and descended at a soft decline over the southern river bank. They could see Sleipmon ahead of them, lunging off a pile of rubble that was smashed to pieces by Leviamon's tail seconds after. Sleipmon launched himself into the air and began galloping across the wind towards Dukemon.
"Sleipmon! The bridge is out!" Dukemon called out to him, having to shout over the wind, the snarling demon, and his flapping cape.
Sleipmon looked behind him and waved at him with his shield arm. "I know! Leave it to me!" he shouted back. He gestured to Leviamon, who thrashed around in the river in an attempt to bite Sleipmon. "Keep that one busy."
"Got it!" Dukemon answered, diving towards the covetous Demon Lord. He angled the Gram spear and began pouring holy energy out of its metal surface. Light circled around the length of the lance before culminating at its tip. "Royal Sabre!"
A stream of light exploded from the Gram and impacted Leviamon's sturdy back. The crocodile demon roared as the radiance burnt his scales. Acting quickly, the gargantuan reptile dove underwater with a sucking splash. Dukemon continued descending towards the river, but suddenly a massive pillar of water exploded from the river and rushed towards him and Grani.
"Radically altering trajectory," Grani methodically said, swerving hard to the left.
Dukemon balanced himself as Grani banked abruptly. They moved just in time for the blast of water to rush past them, spraying them with a cascade of water droplets.
Leviamon surfaced from underwater, his yellow, reptilian eyes glaring up at Dukemon. "Well, well… If it isn't Dukemon of the Royal Knights!" he mockingly greeted. "I guess that must mean the rest of the Royal Knights are nearly here, huh…?"
"Any minute now," Dukemon replied, leering down at the Demon Lord as he circled around. "I'd surrender if I were you."
"Hah! You're a funny one! As if I'd surrender to the likes of you…" Leviamon replied with a dark smirk.
Dukemon made sure to keep Leviamon's attention as he moved behind the massive creature. "Why not?" he called down to the aquatic Demon Lord. "You're all alone out here. Did the Demon Lords decide to use you as a big red decoy for us?"
At this, Leviamon's facial features darkened and his giant mouth warped into a scowl. "What the hell do you know, Royal Knight?!" he snapped at him, twisting around and trying to literally snap at him with his jaws.
Dukemon grinned and rose with Grani just out of Leviamon's reach. "I'm just saying, it seems like they hung you out to dry. I don't see any reinforcements at all," he taunted, seeing that it was getting under Leviamon's scales.
Leviamon snarled. "They entrusted me with the responsibility of conquering this river! I'm the most important part of this whole operation! Without me taking the river, their whole plan would collapse!" Leviamon insisted defiantly.
"Really! Is that what they told you? It seems to me that you'll be the first one to die," Dukemon replied, raising his lance and shield.
Leviamon growled and glanced around the area. All he could see were the ruins of buildings he had destroyed and the dark river. He stared down one of the roads leading south. In the far distance, Leviamon spotted the faint silhouettes of many Digimon moving against the dark clouds. He knew that they were the Royal Knights' reinforcements. Meanwhile, he noticed that none of his allies were there to support him. They were nowhere in sight.
Leviamon snarled deeper and glared up at Dukemon. "You think you can get inside my head, Royal Knight?! You act all superior, flying around in your shiny armour and your stupid cape!"
"Stupid cape?" Dukemon asked, puzzled and a little offended.
"You're just an empty suit of armour, Dukemon!" Leviamon shouted, fixing him a captious glare. "No matter how you dress yourself up, you're no different from me," he explained to the dragon knight, regaining his confident composure. "You're all alone too."
At this pointed accusation, Dukemon narrowed his eyes faintly. He glanced down at Grani and then back at Leviamon. "You're wrong. I'm not alone."
"That's a lie and you know it, Dukemon," Leviamon said to him. "Your toy airplane doesn't count. Without him, you're alone."
Dukemon shook his head gently and confidently. "I'm not alone…" He grinned and then looked over his shoulder. "Do it, Sleipmon!"
Sleipmon, who positioned himself on the southern bank of the Fountain River, held the Niflheimr shield out in front of him. The kite shield began to radiate with frost and frigid air, dropping the temperature of the air around it. "Odin's Breath!" he shouted, rearing back on his hind legs dynamically.
The Niflheimr surged with wintery energy. The air in front of it became white with snow as the very data of water condensation froze in a snap. The concentrated blast of cold swept across the Fountain River to the other side, breezing over Leviamon as he was half-submerged in the water. The blizzard raged, and floes of ice began to emerge on the surface of the splashing river. More and more ice began to form across the surface of the river, the separate blocks of ice starting to freeze together as more of the water froze.
Leviamon felt the ice freezing around him. He struggled against it powerfully, but any ice that he moved away from him just thickened and expanded. The waves of his struggle began to harden into icebergs.
"What?!" he shouted as the ice formed a constricting ring around his thick neck. He tried to push against the ice with his forelegs, but he soon found that the slushy water he tried to push against swiftly hardened. The ice froze around his struggling legs from the surface down. The water around him hardened and froze rock solid as the storm continued. All loose water in the blizzard's path solidified into ice, and the very air began to sublimate into frost. Soon, Leviamon found his body completely encased in ice from the neck down, with only his head and the tips of his tails sticking out of the river.
"Damn it! You six-legged horse bastard!" he shouted desperately, struggling his head against the cold prison. "I'll rip you in half for this!"
Sleipmon lowered the Niflheimr and smiled at his handiwork. In addition to subduing Leviamon, he had successfully created an ice bridge across the Fountain River to the other side. The ice reached all the way down to the river bed, so it was sturdy enough for the Order's reinforcements to cross.
"Sorry, Leviamon," he said to the trapped Demon Lord. "Revenge is a dish best served cold."
Dukemon smirked and soared down to meet up with Sleipmon. He dove down along the riverbank and stopped beside Sleipmon on the stone embankment. "Nice going. I should go meet up with Duftmon and the others."
"There is no need," a third voice said from behind them.
Duftmon pounced over a pile of debris and landed beside the two Royal Knights in his Leopard Mode. The sleek, brown feline Digmon stopped at the edge of the stone embankment and peered down at the ice bridge that encased Leviamon and spanned the river for over a kilometer both ways. Duftmon: Leopard Mode turned his head and glanced at Sleipmon and Dukemon.
"Sufficient work. I surmised that the bridge would be destroyed, so I was about to suggest you do this very thing," Duftmon explained. "However, puns are unbefitting of a Royal Knight, Sleipmon."
Sleipmon smiled sheepishly, turning and looking down at the four-legged cat Digimon. "Sorry. …It's good to see you in your beast form for a change."
Duftmon: Leopard Mode bristled at the comment. "This is not a 'beast form' as you so crudely put it. This, in fact, is an 'alternative, tactical, mobility-oriented Mode Change'," he haughtily and emphatically insisted, pointing his head up indignantly.
A bead of sweat dripped down Sleipmon's head. "My mistake."
"Focus on the matter at hand, Sleipmon. The others are approximately three minutes away." Duftmon: Leopard Mode looked over his winged shoulder. "We must move ahead as planned as swiftly as possible."
Dukemon glanced over at Leviamon, who was still struggling in his icy confines. "What do we do about him?" he asked.
"Strategically, it would be best to kill him. However, tactically, a pitched battle with Leviamon would be detrimental to our immediate objective; our reinforcements must cross the river and link up with Alphamon before they are overrun," the leopard strategist explained. Duftmon shifted his paws on the mound of rubble and looked across the river, towards the burning northern districts. "What is the tactical situation ahead?"
As they spoke, Leviamon continued to struggle. Still stuck in the ice, Leviamon watched as the third Royal Knight appeared beside his comrades.
He glanced around, unable to see any trace of Demon Lords' reinforcements. He knew that more Royal Knights were on the way. It dawned on him that there would be up to eight Knights surrounding him if he didn't act quickly, not to mention entire brigades of Order soldiers. He was a massive target, and he wasn't sure he liked his odds against all of them. Trapped and alone, he was certain that they would all gang up on him and kill him if given the chance. He refused to die in such an inglorious way. The Demon Lord began to get desperate.
"Damn it…!" he rumbled, his entire body quaking. He wrenched and jerked his head and tails, even as the thick ice cut against his scales. He put all of his strength into wrenching his head around, not caring about the pain of the fact that the sharp edges of the ice dug into his neck. His immense strength and sheer weight was enough to send cracks through the ice around his throat. As he struggled, an immense blast of rainbow steam exited his mouth and nostrils.
"From what Grani and I could tell, the Demon Lords' left flank is the furthest advanced of their legions," Dukemon informed the strategist.
As Dukemon explained to Duftmon the positions of the Republican army and the Demon Lords, Sleipmon's attention began to turn back towards Leviamon's violent struggle in the center of the river. He could see fractures forming in the ice. It was a testament to Leviamon's power.
"…I think we might have a problem," Sleipmon interrupted, staring with concern at Leviamon.
Right as the three Royal Knights turned their attention to him, the Demon Lord of Envy wrenched his head up violently, sending bricks of ice shooting up from the back of his thick neck.
"Anima!" Leviamon roared, opening his maw wide. Stygian energy crackled with electricity and formed in the depths of his throat. With a mighty heave, he unleashed it in a cyclone of darkness. The raging funnel tore through ice in front of him, shattering the thick surface and allowing fractures to form in the ice surrounding his body.
"Duo Cauda!" Leviamon followed up, wrenching one of his front legs free. He jerked his body violently and rolled over. The mass of his crocodilian body broke through the cracked ice in an explosion of frigid shards. Once his midsection was free and the ice's integrity was damaged, he ripped his tails free and broke out of the ice that coated his lower back.
"I'm out of here!" Leviamon snarled angrily, scrambling out of the massive crater in the ice where his body was. He dug his talons into the slippery surface and awkwardly began scrambling and slipping down Fountain River.
The massive, crimson Demon Lord headed eastwards down the river, back the way that he came. His heavy feet caused the ice to fracture under his great weight, and he lost his footing as he neared the end of the patch of ice. His chin hit the ground, causing more ice to split beneath him, but he continued digging his talons into the ice as he made his escape.
"He's escaping!" Dukemon shouted, about to hop back on Grani's back.
Dukemon and Sleipmon both made to chase him, but Duftmon: Leopard Mode jumped in front their path, casting a stern gaze at the pair.
"Leave him," Duftmon ordered. "He is clearly retreating. In this situation, engaging Leviamon any further would be a waste of time and energy."
Dukemon frowned and looked down the river at Leviamon sceptically. It didn't seem right to let one of the Demon Lords escape when they had the number's advantage on him. It felt like they were letting him squirm through their fingers. "…I don't know. Are you sure, Duftmon?"
"Of course," Duftmon: Leopard Mode answered with all the confidence in the world. "We must link up with the defenders as promptly as possible before their defensive lines break. We must push the Demon Lords out of the city entirely, and we cannot afford to waste precious time with a protracted skirmish against that oversized lizard. With Leviamon gone from the field, we are free to strike Barbamon's legions and attempt to retake the right flank."
Dukemon and Sleipmon watched as Leviamon reached the end of the frozen section of the river. The Demon Lord of Envy slipped unceremoniously into the river with a titanic splash and continued swimming underwater. It was clear from the waves created by his finned back that Leviamon had no intentions of turning around. It seemed as though he was continuing to swim down the Fountain River away from the city as swiftly as possible.
The three Royal Knights watched as the crocodile raced down the length of the river, past the fluvial arch that connected the walls of New Terminal, and kept going. His crimson back was barely visible in the night, but the shimmering of the fire against the crests of the waves he created showed that the Demon Lord was definitely retreating.
"I guess he's really gone," Sleipmon mused. He was content to let him go for now. A battle with Leviamon in the center of a city was bound to have been deeply destructive, in addition to Duftmon's concerns.
Dukemon watched quietly as Leviamon disappeared from sight. He couldn't help but think about Leviamon's taunting words to him. The Royal Knight didn't know why Leviamon had acted so familiar with him. They had barely interacted up until now. He supposed he was just trying to distract him.
"We don't have time to waste," Duftmon: Leopard Mode told them. He looked over his winged shoulder and saw hundreds of Order soldiers advancing in the sky and running up the roads. He was able to clearly see the white form of Omegamon against the darkness of the night, leading their advance. The bulk of the reinforcements were finally there.
Duftmon nodded at Omegamon before turning his feline head towards the two Royal Knights beside him. "Sleipmon, cross the river and freeze that gap. When you have completed that task, bring Dukemon, Magnamon and half of the Aerial Strike Forces eastwards. I want you to strike Barbamon's flank. The rest of us will advance down the center."
"Alright," Sleipmon complied. The six-legged cavalier dashed out onto the ice, moving across the slippery surface with grace and agility. He came to a stop in front of the massive, frozen crater where Leviamon's body had been and began pouring ice and sub thermal energy from the Niflheimr shield. The ice began to build up and fill the crater, levelling it off into a crossable ice bridge.
As he did that, Dukemon continued to gaze down the river towards where Leviamon had fled. He could no longer see the giant Demon Lord in the dark of the night, but he was sure he would see him again. He wasn't sure why, but Dukemon was left with a gentle feeling of unease.
"Dukemon?"
Dukemon turned away and looked down at Grani, who waited patiently beside him. The Zero ARMS flew close to the ground, just low enough for Dukemon to jump onto his back.
The silver and crimson knight nodded and jumped onto Grani's wings, clenching the Gram and Aegis in his gauntleted hands. As Grani began to ascend to meet the other flyers of the Aerial Strike Forces, he watched as the Ground Strike Forces began to carefully cross the frozen Fountain River under the supervision of Sleipmon.
"Let's go, Grani. The battle isn't won yet," Dukemon told him.
With that, the two took back off into the infernal night.
The screech of tires, the thunderous bursts of gunfire, and the piercing shrieks of clashing metal filled the air. The sharp, discordant noises repeated in an arrhythmic tempo. It was a chorus of destruction.
Beelzebumon dragged the Behemoth across a stone courtyard in front of an old temple to Yggdrasil. The courtyard was a spacious, open area of flat stone. It was positioned adjacent to a city park, making the wide open area a strategic point.
The district was located in the northwest district of the New Terminal, not far from the base of the mountains. In the general area around him, Nightmare Soldiers and Republican soldiers were fighting it out in a bloody back-and-forth melee. Attacks streaked back and forth across the spacious courtyard and the extensive, verdant park nearby.
The Demon Lord of Gluttony wore a wicked smile of excitement on his face as he pumped lead out of his dual shotguns. The twin Berenjena snarled as metal slugs ejected from their muzzles in bursts of smoke. Beelzebumon had a couple bleeding cuts along his arms, but nothing serious. The pain only served to fuel his exhilaration.
He grinned as he fired his bullets at a long, golden dragon that was winding towards him. "You're not bad, draggy! Not bad at all!" he shouted, his laughs drowned out by his gunfire.
Ouryumon snarled as he deflected one of the bullets by crossing the Gairyu swords in front of one another. The dual scimitars exploded with sparks as the metal screeched against the metal. Like Beelzebumon, he had several bloody cuts along his arms and torso. Also like Beelzebumon, he wore a toothy, adrenaline-fuelled smirk on his face. "I don't need compliments from you, asshole!" he retorted as he closed in.
Ouryumon approached with erratic, wavy movements that only a body as long and flexible as his could allow. He moved like a kite in a storm. He plummeted towards Beelzebumon from the side, matching Beelzebumon's aggressive attacks with his own. He closed the distance and slashed his scimitars down onto the Demon Lord.
With snap combat instincts, Beelzebumon quick-drew and fired at Ouryumon. The metal shell drilled into Ouryumon's armoured shoulder, shattering the pauldron and nipping at the scales beneath. Ouryumon's arm twisted back, but he was still able to sweep his blades down.
Beelzebumon raised his arm, blocking the twin swords, one against the barrel of the Berenjena, and the other against his metal bracer. The blade slashed down the bracer and cut along Beelzebumon's grey skin, sending a sharp and intense pain through his arm as the Gairyu Sadaijin licked at his blood. Hissing with pain, Beelzebumon smirked and put his boot on the accelerator. He wheeled the Behemoth around, knowing Ouryumon back, and unleashed two more bursts from his shotguns.
Acting quickly, Ouryumon turned his back and used his Gaiba Daimeijin wings as a metal shield. The bullets rebounded off the bladed, crescent wings with a burst of sparks. "Have to do better than that, you three-eyed bastard!" he taunted, looking over his shoulder.
Beelzebumon smirked and revved his engine as he prepared to start charging Ouryumon. "Yeah?! My better is twice as good as your—huh?" Beelzebumon noticed a shadow pass over him and he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and saw a massive slab of cement road hurdling towards him. "Son of a—"
Acting quickly, the Demon Lord of Gluttony holstered his shotgun and stabbed his darkness-imbued claws straight through the middle of a huge hunk of rock. The three meter slab of stone split around him, but its fractured halves still crashed into the Behemoth and knocked him over, along with his bike.
Beelzebumon rolled into a kneeling position, still clutching one of his guns. He looked over the top of the fallen Behemoth and saw Gankoomon standing opposite him in the courtyard. The Royal Knight's fists were flaming and Hinukamui rose up out of Gankoomon's back.
"You better not have scratched my bike, asshole!" he shouted.
"I'll do more than just scratch it!" Gankoomon shouted back fierily.
"Back off, Gankoomon! He's mine!" Ouryumon growled possessively, leering at Beelzebumon like a predator. His adrenaline was pumping and sweat dripped down his body. Still, he was exhilarated. He loved combat, and there was nothing he loved more than fighting a worthy opponent. Trading blows… brawling in the thick of an endorphin-fuelled melee… fighting with somebody who viewed fighting as an art. It made his blood race.
"I was fighting him first!" Gankoomon fired back, charging towards Beelzebumon.
Beelzebumon smirked, raising his shotgun with one hand and brandishing his claws with another. "Now, now, guys. As much as I like havin' two good-looking men fighting over little ol' me, there's more than enough Beelzebumon to go around!"
He fired from his shotgun at Gankoomon, blasting scattershot at the Royal Knight before jumping on his motorcycle and charging towards Ouryumon.
Hinukamui swept his arms down and protected Gankoomon from the blast, melting the bullets inside his body. Gankoomon grunted and ran after Beelzebumon on his bike, knowing he'd have to slow down soon enough.
Meanwhile, Ouryumon welcomed Beelzebumon's challenge. He grinned and charged the Demon Lord head on. The two sped towards each other in a game of chicken. Neither intended on backing down. The two battle-hungry Digimon closed in on each other and passed by one another. Beelzebumon raked his claws down Ouryumon's serpentine side, while Ouryumon sliced his sword along Beelzebumon's hip.
As blood leaked out of their sides, they both spun around with wild grins.
"Double Impact!"
"Eiseiryuoujin!"
Ouryumon's body sparked as bullets grazed his armoured form, tearing chunks of gold off his body. As he withstood the barrage, he fired arcs of golden energy from his scimitars towards Beelzebumon.
The gluttonous Demon Lord slammed the accelerator and swerved. One of the crescent arcs sliced along his leg, cutting through the leather fabric and through his skin. The other blast slammed into the Behemoth's rear axle, ripping through the metal and crippling the motorcycle.
Beelzebumon snarled. The motorcycle wavered, but it was still able to keep moving. He tore across the stone courtyard and made a beeline for Ouryumon.
"You're getting it now, snake!" he shouted to him. The Demon Lord of Gluttony raised his Berenjena and took careful aim as he drove. He locked onto Ouryumon's chest with unflinching precision and prepared to fire at his vitals. "Heartbreak Shot!"
"Rinkageki."
Right as Beelzebumon pulled the trigger, an incandescent arrow illuminated the darkness in front of him. The phosphorous bolt pierced through Beelzebumon's right shoulder and exited the other side in a flash of light. As blood spurted out, Beelzebumon snarled with pain and fired, the sudden impact breaking his aim.
The Berenjena snarled and pumped a bullet from its muzzle. The bullet sailed through the air and grazed Ouryumon's face, cutting along his cheek and tearing some of his helmet away.
Beelzebumon growled with frustration and tried stabbing Ouryumon with his claws as he passed him. Although wincing with pain as blood flowed down his face, Ouryumon was able to slash Beelzebumon's hand away from him. He whipped around and tried following it up with a second strike, but his second Gairyu scimitar only caught the hem of Beelzebumon's jacket.
As the three-eyed demon passed by Ouryumon, he grabbed his second Berenjena and whirled around, hoping to give the dragon a parting shot. As soon as he aimed his gun, Gankoomon lunged and threw himself into Beelzebumon, tackling the Demon Lord into the ground.
Ouryumon spun around and saw Gankoomon pounding on Beelzebumon, only to receive cracks across the face from Beelzebumon's clawed fists in return. Finally with a moment to breathe, Ouryumon wondered who fired that arrow at Beelzebumon. He looked around the courtyard and saw a flicker of light on the roof on a building.
Standing at the edge of the temple was a draconic samurai garbed in black. Were it not for the light he created, he'd barely be visible against the night's darkness. Gaioumon used the vantage point to overlook the courtyard and the nearby park. He held his twin katana together to form a yumi, and he drew another phosphorous arrow pre-emptively. Gaioumon gazed down at Ouryumon with cold eyes.
"Captain, Ouryumon!" Gaioumon called out to him sternly.
"Oh, great…" Ouryumon grunted and flapped his wings. Putting the back of his gloved hand on his bloody face, he took to the sky. As he soared across the courtyard, he ducked under a diagonal beam and flew over to Gaioumon, stopping in the air beside him.
"Yeah? What is it?" he asked impatiently, eager to get back into the fight.
Gaioumon turned his critical yellow eyes towards Ouryumon. A cold aura emanated from his body as he spoke, enough to give Ouryumon a slight shiver. "Captain…" Gaioumon calmly spoke, although his swords were cold and pointed like an icicle. "Are you a brawler? Or are you a commander?"
"…Huh?" Ouryumon asked, blinking obliviously. He was taken aback by the commander's words. "Uh… both?"
"Incorrect," Gaioumon briskly said. "You are supposed to be a commander. All I have seen you do is throw yourself at the strongest enemy in your nearest vicinity. Now, I don't know if that's how the Royal Knights conduct things, but as long as I am in charge of this battle, you will do your job."
Ouryumon bristled at Gaioumon's cold and condescending words. "Now wait a sec!" he protested cholerically.
"No, you will listen to me… Instead of satisfying your primal desire to slice things apart, you should be acting like a leader. Do you even know where the Strike Forces are right now?" Gaioumon questioned harshly.
"Of course I do! They're fighting in the park!" Ouryumon fired back.
"Then you should be there with them. They require direction. They require a leader, not a brash thug," Gaioumon chastised him, his cold eyes piercing into him like icicles.
Ouryumon snarled angrily. "Grrr… You think you're so high and mighty?! Just because you're a general, that doesn't mean you can talk down to me, you smug bastard!"
Gaioumon calmly stared down Ouryumon, leering in the dragon's adrenalized violet eyes. "If I hadn't intervened, you would be dead right now. A dead soldier is a misfortune, but a dead commander can shift the tide of battle. You need to find the Greymon Five and put them to better use. Put yourself to better use. Fighting comes secondary. Understood, Captain?"
Ouryumon growled and looked away. His blood was pumping and he was furious at the advisor-turned-general, but he acknowledged that there was some merit in what Gaioumon said. He knew that the Greymon Five needed him right now.
"Tch… Fine…"
"I am glad that you have seen sense," Gaioumon said, turning his attention away from the dragon. He pointed his sword at Commander BlitzGreymon. "Commander! Fill in those gaps! Pierce straight through their lines along this street."
As Gaioumon ignored him and began commanding his soldiers, Ouryumon growled and looked down to the middle of the courtyard where Gankoomon was duking it out with Beelzebumon. "Hey, Red! You gonna be alright?!"
"Worry about your own ass!" Gankoomon hollered back, driving his knuckles across Beelzebumon's face. Hinukamui drove his fist into the road, sending fractures beneath Beelzebumon's feet. He then unleashed blasts of lightning and fire. "Jishin! Kaminari! Kaji! Oyaji!"
"Hah! Finally, some real action!" Beelzebumon cackled darkly, lunging away as the earth split beneath him.
Ouryumon watched jealously as Beelzebumon danced around the attacks and returned fire to Gankoomon. He turned his head and began flying around the half-destroyed temple. He dove towards the grassland of the park, which stretched for a couple kilometers.
The wooded grassland at the base of the mountain was a battlefield. Attacks and fire tore up the grass and shattered the trees. Flowers wilted under the flames of war.
As he flew, Ouryumon spotted four familiar Greymon in the thick of the fighting. He watched as the black and orange pair of WarGreymon stab their Dramon Killers through a crowd of Nightmare Soldiers. KaiserGreymon launched a beam from his Ryugonken and blasted through a trio of SkullSatamon like bowling pins. ShineGreymon flew overhead, firing a salvo of beams from his wings through a crowd of demons before plummeting his GeoGrey Sword into a NeoDevimon. As he watched them engage the enemy, Ouryumon quickly took stock of the situation.
"Guys!" Ouryumon shouted to them. "Greymon Five!"
KaiserGreymon looked over his shoulder, panting tiredly and sporting several cuts. "Captain, sir!"
Ouryumon hacked his swords through the neck of a Diablomon before he circled around and landed behind the four Greymon. "Where's VictoryGreymon and Paildramon?!" Ouryumon first demanded.
"We don't know!" WarGreymon hollered back, pain obvious in his gruff voice.
"You haven't seen him?!" ShineGreymon called over desperately.
"No… Okay, focus!" Ouryumon shouted at them. "You're all too spread out! We're beating them back here, but we're exposed! Everybody come together and attack in a fan formation!"
The four Ultimate level Greymon all withdrew and formed up around Ouryumon, grouping up so that they were standing side by side in a convex formation.
Ouryumon began building up energy within his scimitars, grinning to himself. "I'll show that smug bastard how good of a commander I am…" he thought as burning energy swelled in his blades. "Attacks ready?! Give 'em hell! Eiseiryuoujin!"
"Gaia Force!"
"Gaia Force!"
"Enryugeki!"
"Corona Blast!"
The five attacks all surged out from the tight formation in a fanning arc. The demons' defensive lines suddenly exploded in an eruption of flames. A massive wall of fire spread into the sky, incinerating nearly twenty Nightmare Soldiers at once.
Ouryumon smirked victoriously as he watched their formation attack successfully punched a hole through the demons' lines. As the flames began to fade, he could see the remaining Nightmare Soldiers beginning to flee from the park area. With that devastating final push, the Demon Lords' right flank broke and retreated.
The Greymon Five all breathed temporary sighs of relief. Meanwhile, Ouryumon swelled with pride. The golden dragon stabbed his swords into the ground and folded his arms. "Hey! Dipshit! Did you see that?!" Ouryumon shouted, looking up to the building that Gaioumon was standing on. "What was that you said before me not being a commander?! Well look at tha-"
Gaioumon wasn't even looking at him. The general had his back to Ouryumon and was commanding the Republican troops elsewhere.
Ouryumon's eye twitched. "HEY! Did you even see any of that, you ponytailed idiot?! I'm talking to you!"
Meanwhile, Beelzebumon staggered away from Gankoomon. Both the Demon Lord and Royal Knight panted with exhaustion. Blood leaked from their noses and the corners of their mouths from multiple punches. They both sported cuts and bruises all over their bodies.
Beelzebumon aimed a Berenjena shotgun at Gankoomon and wiped blood from his face with the back of his other hand. He gave a tertiary glance around and noticed that the Nightmare Soldiers he was working with were beginning to retreat. This third eye darted back and forth, seeing many of the demon Digimon break into a run, although some were disciplined enough to make a slow, firing retreat.
"Well, shit… I could do this all day, but it looks like my buddies are makin' a tactical retreat. I was having fun too. Real shame…" Beelzebumon explained, smirking nonchalantly.
The Demon Lord of Gluttony walked over to the Behemoth, whose engine was still revving, and hopped on.
"Running away…?" Gankoomon scoffed between pained breaths, although he was out of breath enough to have trouble stopping him.
"Moi? Running away? Nah. That's not my style." He grinned at the Royal Knight and shrugged. "Still, I'm not an idiot. I ain't gonna let myself get surrounded and ganged up on," Beelzebumon casually replied. "Gotta live to fight another day, isn't that right, 'Red', was it?"
Gankoomon spat out a mixture of saliva and blood. "Coward!" he taunted, trying to provoke the Demon Lord into staying against his better judgment.
"Yeah, yeah. Call it what you want," Beelzebumon replied, shuffling on his seat. "Well, it was a wild time fightin' you, Red. Love the mustache by the way! Real macho!" He smirked and revved the Behemoth's engines.
Gankoomon growled and charged at Beelzebumon, throwing a flaming fist forwards. "Get back here!"
As the Royal Knight lunged at him, Beelzebumon fired a blast from his shotgun into Gankoomon's chest. Gankoomon was blown onto his back, his armoured chest plate dented and smoking from the bullet.
"Catch ya later, asshole!" Beelzebumon called to him, doing a wheelie on the Behemoth before riding it off down the street.
Gankoomon slowly sat up, grimacing and swearing with pain. He clutched his bruised ribs and dragged himself to his feet. All around him were soldiers who were taking the momentary reprieve to catch their breaths.
Gaioumon jumped down and landed gracefully beside Gankoomon.
"What now?" Gankoomon asked the general, snarling as he dragged himself to his sandaled feet.
Gaioumon looked around and took stock of the situation. "It seems they are retreating back to their northernmost holdings of the city. With this flank crushed, we are on the cusp of victory. We need to press our advance," he said with cool calculation. Gaioumon broke his bow back into a pair of katana, spinning them around. He looked around at the gathered soldiers, his cool eyes observing their bloodied but determined forms.
"We will drive them out of this city."
"Move it! Move it! Hurry up, you fools! We don't have much time."
Barbamon stood in one of the vast courtyards in the heart of New Terminal's administrative district. The district was located in the downtown area of New Terminal, along the northeastern side of the Fountain River. It was home to many important buildings: Terminal Hall, the Court of Justice, the Timeless Library, among many other administrative and cultural touchstones. However, Barbamon didn't care about those. He had but one objective in mind: the Eniac Central Bank.
The Demon Lord of Greed oversaw his troops gathering before the massive stone building. The bank was made of polished, white stone, adorned with columns and a sculpted pediment.
As soon as the Nightmare Soldiers had captured the area, Barbamon had ordered his soldiers to set up a defensive perimeter around the courtyard that surrounded the entrance of the bank. As soon as that was achieved he ordered half a legion to blast into the bank and strip it of its valuables. He tapped the butt of his staff against the ground, a smirk of his bearded face as he watched them progress.
Nightmare Soldiers filed out of the bank one by one, each soldier carrying whatever wealth they could find. After an hour of pillaging, they managed to break through the chrome digizoid vault and begin looting the treasury. Bags of silver and gold bits, bars of bullion, gem crystals, precious metals, even paintings from inside. The demons loaded their ill-gotten gains into several carriages that were towed by Devidramon.
"As soon as one carriage is full, get it moving!" Barbamon commanded, pointing the Death Lure at one of the Devidramon. "Take them to Lucemon's siege camp outside of the city and don't stop for anything! If anybody gets in your way, run them over!"
As one of carriages was filled to capacity with loot, the Devidramon took off, heading north up the street with the carriage behind him.
"Good! Now, fill the rest of them too! Hurry it up! Move your sorry behinds!" Barbamon shouted, tapping his staff with his clawed and bony fingers.
The Demon Lord looked over his shoulder, eyeing the defensive barricade that the Nightmare Soldiers had created around the courtyard. Beams exploded around the barricade of stone rubble, upturned carts, and repurposed metal. The demons unleashed their own attacks over the tops of the barricades towards the Republican soldiers to the west. Their fight had slowed to a stalemate, with the Nightmare Soldiers holding their ground and the Republican defenders unable to breach their defences.
Barbamon turned back and watched his soldiers fill two more carriages with treasure. The sound of jangling riches was music to his ears. "That's it! Keep it moving!" Barbamon ordered them. "Don't dawdle now; there isn't much time left! If I find that any of you have been concealing any treasure for yourselves, I will personally break every bone in your hands!"
The Demon Lord of Greed oversaw the systematic looting of the bank, watching every piece of treasure that entered the carriages. As an avaricious smile grew on his lips, a Matadormon approached Barbamon's side.
The slender and colourful demon stopped beside him and tented his knife fingers together. "Erm, excuse me, Lord Barbamon…?" he tentatively spoke up.
"What is it?" Barbamon brusquely asked, barely casting him a glance. "There is no problem, is there?"
"Well, no, but…" the Matadormon hesitated. "Shouldn't we be focusing on attacking the enemy? Wouldn't it be better to loot the city after we win?"
Barbamon slowly turned to the Matadormon with a crooked smile. "Oh my… Viscount Matadormon… You're a genius, how have I not thought of that…?" he blithely wondered. He grew quiet and took on a pensive expression as if to say he was thinking. A tense moment of silence formed between the two demons.
And then, Barbamon suddenly scowled and smashed Matadormon over the skull with the head of his Death Lure staff. "You idiot! Of course I thought of that! What in the inferno do you think I am doing this for!" he shouted, beating the Matadormon between words with his stave.
Barbamon continued beating the Matadormon to the ground, his repeated beatings turning the viscount into a cowering ball at his feet. "The city's treasure is our objective! Do you really think that we can capture all of New Terminal with our current army, let alone hold it!? You short-sighted buffoon! Money is what we need to win this war! Money!"
After a few moments, Barbamon finally calmed down and ceased pummelling the Matadormon, who was bloodied and writhing on his hands and knees. "…Have I made myself perfectly clear, Viscount?" the Demon Lord questioned. His words were now calm, but the underlying message telling him not to question him again was unmistakeable.
"Y-Yes… m-my lord… Fo-Forgive me…" the bloodied and concussed Matadormon heaved, crawling away unevenly.
Annoyed that he had been distracted, Barbamon turned back to the central bank. He watched as two more of the carriages became loaded with bags of metal currency and valuables. He wondered if he could even fit it all in the carriages that they had. He grinned darkly and extended his staff towards the first of the two carriages.
"You! Get moving! Follow the same path as the other one. The one behind it, follow accordingly!" Barbamon ordered the pair of Devidramon.
The Devidramon carrying the first cart nodded and adjusted the harness around it. The large, winged, demonic dragon then began hauling the heavy cart down the street. As the second Devidramon began to follow it, it suddenly stopped and looked up.
A laser pierced through the clouds and plummeted down towards them. The column of light descended on the first Devidramon and engulfed it completely. The Devidramon was crushed into the ground and obliterated by the high powered laser. The suddenly driverless carriage began rolling backwards from the shockwave, nearly knocking it off its wheels.
In response to the unannounced attack on his treasure, Barbamon's jaw dropped and his eye twitched incredulously. He looked up at the night sky and saw a small hole in the clouds where the thinning laser particles came from. "That… damn… lizard!" he shouted, immediately deducing that the one behind the attack was none other than Examon.
The Demon Lord of Greed pointed at the Devidramon behind what was left of the first, the dragon's black scales blanched a pale grey. "You! Move! Now! The rest of you, move as fast as you can! Somebody start dragging that other cart!"
The nervous Devidramon complied and took off in a fierce run, his cart rocking back and forth behind him as he raced down the rubble-littered road. Meanwhile, Barbamon pointed his staff towards the sky where he calculated that Examon was. The crimson orb at the head of the Death Lure began to flicker and burn with magic.
"Pandemonium Lost!" Barbamon hissed. The crown of Greed suddenly appeared in front of the staff like a magical invocation circle. With a shout, he thrust the head of the staff into the glowing sigils. As soon as the skull-like head of the Death Lure struck the summoning circle, a massive beam of dark energy emerged from within the violet crown, conjured straight from the depths of the Dark Area.
The hellish beam coursed into the sky and swept through the clouds. Examon floated within a thin veil of cloud data. The cloud opened up and revealed him after his first shot. The Royal Knight took aim again, training his sight on the bank's courtyard and the adjoining road. It was then that he noticed the pillar of darkness raging towards him, growing progressively larger as it closed in on him.
Examon grunted and flapped his mighty wings, racing to the side. He was barely able to evade as the dark mass of power swept by him. He was forced to throw his digizoid-plated wings up around his body as the beam grazed him. The super-heated mass of black hellfire howled like a demonic beast, tearing at the Caledfwlch that he used to shield himself. As Examon soared out of the way, he flapped his smoking wings and fired another beam from the Ambrosius. This time, his target was Barbamon.
Barbamon watched as the beam plummeted towards him. Acting quickly, he flapped his six demonic wings and lunged backwards. The laser drilled into the courtyard at his feet in a powerful explosion, tearing up the rock and causing three of the remaining carriages to shake violently.
"Hurry up, you fools!" Barbamon shouted, shielding himself from the blast with his cloth chasuble. "HURRY! Load whatever you can!"
The Nightmare Soldiers began pouring out of the bank and started loading up the remaining three carriages as fast as they possibly could. The group of Devimon, Musyamon, Bakemon, Sangloupmon, and various other demons and undead dragged whatever they could out of the bank and pushed it into the carts.
Barbamon felt a cold breeze nearby. He swung towards the soldiers under his command and he noticed that his minions were inexplicably beginning to slow down. He scowled with impatience. This was no time for laziness. "What are you fools doing?! Hurry—"
It was then that Barbamon began to notice the ice that was creeping up their bodies. It had been barely noticeable in the darkness, but he could just make out the glossy shimmer of ice against their demonic forms.
Thick, frozen water began to form at their joints, freezing them to the ground. The ice continued upwards and gradually froze their entire bodies. Barbamon turned and saw that a wintery gale was sweeping across the courtyard from the direction of the river. Even the remaining carriages began to freeze to the ground, caking the wheels firmly to the ground. Barbamon watched as ice even started to seal the entrance to the bank shut.
"No!" he snarled, gripping his staff tightly. "Damn it! Who in the hell-?!
Barbamon spun towards the riverfront esplanade and was aghast to see the perpetrators.
It was Sleipmon, Dukemon, and Magnamon, standing dynamically at the far edge of the courtyard. The moonlight cast light faintly down on their armoured forms, framing them heroically against the backdrop of the Fountain River and its waterfront.
Sleipmon smiled boldly at the Demon Lord as he continued to pour ice from the surface of the Niflheimr shield. "Sorry, Barbamon. We're going to have to freeze your account."
Barbamon scowled furiously at the Royal Knights. "Damn it! Reinforcements!" he exclaimed. The demon strategist looked over to his subordinate commanders and pointed at the Royal Knights. "Fourth Legion, suppress them! Everybody else, retreat in an orderly fashion! And grab those carts!"
"The wheels are frozen, Lord Barbamon!" a Sangloupmon explained desperately, having managed to escape the frigid torrent.
"Then grab whatever's inside of them and retreat!" Barbamon ordered to the Nightmare Soldiers who were manning the barricades to his right. "With all of the Royal Knights here, we have to quit while we're ahead! Fall back to the northern wall!"
The demons' defensive line began to break and the Nightmare Soldiers began the pour through the courtyard. About two dozen of them descended on the frozen carriages and stripped them of whatever valuables they could wrench free from the ice. Meanwhile, about fifty demon Digimon rounded on Sleipmon, Dukemon, and Magnamon and began launching attacks at them while the others retreated.
"Looks like we've got company," Magnamon exclaimed as he opened up the missile ports on his golden armour. "Plasma Shoot!"
A barrage of missiles steamed from Magnamon's armour and arced into the midst of the charging demons' ranks. The missiles began erupting in golden explosions that tore holes through the wave of attacking demons.
Meanwhile, Examon soared overhead, spotting a lot of easy targets who were retreating below. He took aim with the Ambrosius and locked an anti-personnel shell into place. "Avalon's Gate," he said, pumping a series of munitions from his rifle.
The shells burst just above several of the fleeing demons. One unleashed a hail of ball bearings onto the demons below, riddling their bodies with metal. Another shell exploded with electricity at the front of the pack, causing the demons' bodies to start dancing as volts rushed through them. Another shell released compressed ice that froze several demons solid, adding them to the litter of living ice sculptures that Sleipmon had created.
Dukemon watched as the golden explosions blew several demons to pieces of data. As soon as Magnamon's explosions cleared with clouds of smoke, his Aegis began lighting up with holy radiance. He took careful aim at their main target, Barbamon, and dug his feet in to brace for recoil.
"Final Elysion!" he shouted. His shield pulsed and he was pushed back a few inches. A massive beam of holy light surged from the Aegis and ripped across the stone courtyard. The demon and undead Digimon who happened to get in the way were immediately reduced to ash. The beam continued through them seamlessly towards the Demon Lord at the center of the courtyard.
"Pandemonium Lost!" Barbamon shouted, summoning a magical circle in front of him and sending his own beam of unholy darkness back towards Dukemon, matching his attack with one of his own.
The columns of light and dark swept towards one another and collided. The radiance and the shadows roared and expanded, each tearing against one another. The conflux of holy and unholy energies created a violent reaction. The beams erupted in a contrasting explosion and split apart in rays of light and tendrils of darkness. The blast tore up the center of the courtyard in a massive crescendo of destruction.
Dukemon squinted his eyes and dug his heels in as the gathered knights were hit by the blast. As the light faded into darkness, Sleipmon jumped in front of them and raised his shield. Barbamon launched a second attack, and darkness and flames descended on the three Royal Knights in a continuous salvo. Sleipmon did his best to block the conflagration with his red digizoid shield.
"Dukemon!" Sleipmon called out to him as more explosions detonated around them.
Dukemon nodded and jumped beside Sleipmon, blocking a powerful beam with the Aegis. "They're making a run for it!" he exclaimed.
As they were bombarded by the suppressive blasts, Examon swooped down beside the suppressed trio of Royal Knights. He swiftly unfurled his Caledfwlch wings, using them as shields to help bolster their defences. "You guys made it. Thanks for coming. They were starting to overrun us," he greeted calmly as explosions erupted against his chrome digizoid-clad wings.
"Hey, Examon," Dukemon greeted with a momentary grin. "You're still in once piece?"
"A few cuts. Mild burns. Nothing serious," Examon responded. "What's the plan?"
"We take this flank," Magnamon responded, hovering in the air behind them. While the other three defended, the golden Royal Knight fired missiles and blasts of plasma from over the shield wall at the retreating legion of demons. "With them fleeing, we should keep pushing forward until they're out of the city."
Dukemon nodded and looked above his shield when there was a break in the explosions. As the infernal fire and shadows faded, he was able to see Barbamon flying after the fleeing soldiers. "Barbamon!" he called out in a frustrated snarl.
Barbamon looked over his shoulder at them with a sneer. "Do not mistake this for a victory, Royal Knights! This is merely the first step in our master plan! We may be retreating, but we have accomplished our objectives here! In time, you will be kneeling before us! One victory does not win a war!"
With that, Barbamon flapped his three pairs of infernal wings and flew as fast as he could down the road. He was sure to put other Nightmare Soldiers between himself and the Royal Knights, gaining ground on the retreating legions. He left one legion as a rear guard to harass the Royal Knights while they retreated to keep the pursuing knights from attacking the main force too closely.
Despite the fact that he was fleeing back to the main gates of New Terminal, Barbamon smirked as he looked down at the wealth-filled carriages. He wished he could have gotten more, but this was just fine.
"Have the city… I don't care…" he said in a hoarse murmur.
Barbamon tightened his ring-adorned fingers around the Death Lure. His golden mask and the precious gems that gilded his arms and vestments shimmered beautifully in the firelight of the burning city.
"I got what I wanted…"
Demon's knuckles drilled into Alphamon's fractured cheek.
The black knight's head jerked to the side, his neck straining as blood leaked out of his mouth and trickled down his chin. Alphamon's eyes glowed red as he glared at Demon with tempered rage. He retaliated by throwing his own punch right into Demon's maw. The fist pounded Demon's lips against his jagged teeth, causing dark blood to ooze out of his mouth.
The Royal Knight and Demon Lord continued to clash in the sky above New Terminal. Alphamon's glowing sword illuminated their bodies like a fallen star, while Demon accentuated their position with the blaze of hellfire.
Alphamon followed up his advantage by swiping the Seiken Grad Alpha forwards, intent of slicing it through Demon's side. Demon, seeing the light sweeping towards him, spun towards the blade. With unmatchable resolve and peerless ease, he caught the blade against his claws. He cushioned the impact using the black flames that coursed from his palms.
Demon slammed his clawed foot into Alphamon's bleeding abdomen, eliciting a grunt of pain from the black paladin. As Alphamon doubled over, Demon saw his opportunity. He raised his fists over his head and brought them down like a hammer. "Double Dust!" he snarled. As his fists slammed against Alphamon's winged back, they exploded with magic. The burst of power spiked Alphamon all the way down onto the stone street.
Alphamon collided with the rock hard enough for fractures to appear in the stone beneath him. Blood leaked down from his mouth and stomach, pooling into the craterous fissures beneath him. The black knight grimaced and struggled to push himself onto his hands and knees. His muscles strained and trembled from exhaustion but he pushed through the pain. It had been a long time since he fought a foe this powerful. Not since he fought DarkKnightmon and Omegamon Zwart...
"He's strong…" Alphamon thought to himself through the pain. "His desire for destruction is almost fanatical…"
As the leader of the Royal Knights dragged himself to his feet, he raised his head up and looked to the sky.
Demon was hovering over him. Black flames leaked from his mouth and hands, swelling into an inferno as he prepared to unleash his destructive might onto Alphamon.
"You are finished, Alphamon," Demon explained to him through a dark, fiery smirk. "You shall burn here, your body held up for all to see as you turn to ash. May your screams serve as a warning to all of our enemies."
Alphamon's eyes tightened into a defiant glower as he stared up at the Demon Lord's prepared inferno. Demon was seconds away from launching an inferno onto him. He didn't know if he would be able to escape it.
The only way he would be able to move quickly enough was if he used the Alpha inForce. If he did, he may be able to cut Demon down. However, he would be completely drained afterwards. Demon was only one of seven Demon Lords. If Alphamon burned his trump card here, he might be killed soon after. With that said, he realised he didn't have the luxury for making the optimal move. With the flames of Demon's dark judgment swelling above his head, he wasn't sure if he had a choice.
The raging tempest of flames began to surge from Demon's hand, illuminating his body and giving him a hellish visage. "Flame Inferno," he snarled.
Alphamon gripped his blade and watched as the flames came pouring towards him. He gripped his sword and prepared to concentrate. There was a sparkle in the ruby gem on his forehead.
"Brave Metal!"
Alphamon stared with shock as a Digimon encased with flames suddenly hurdled through the darkness and slammed right into Demon.
A clawed fist enhanced by the power of one's heart and soul drilled into Demon's face. The arch devil's cheek caved inwards and forced a rope of blood and saliva from his mouth. Wings wreathed with flames ignited the air, and an armoured body ploughed into the Demon Lord's furry chest. At the same time, a bladed tail sliced through Demon's wing.
DORUgoramon hammered Demon mercilessly with every inch of his body. His hands and feet buffeted the dark, furry body with rapid strikes and powerful blows. The draconic warrior slammed his fist into Demon's side and sent him crashing through the rubble of a building.
Alphamon extended his wings and flew backwards as the infernal flames were cut short by DORUgoramon's barrage. As he landed, the black knight steadied himself on his feet and readied his weapons, the glow in his Digicore Interface fading.
DORUgoramon watched as Demon crashed through a pile of stone in a violent plume of debris and smoke. The councillor waited for a few moments, making sure that Demon didn't just brush his attack off. When he was satisfied that Demon was sufficiently hurting from his attack, he turned towards Alphamon. DORUgoramon allowed the flames to disperse from his body, and he gently touched down on the battle-scarred street.
Alphamon watched as DORUgoramon landed about fifteen meters away from him. "…DORUgoramon… Thank you," he graciously replied, half-surprised at his intervention.
The metal dragon man glanced at Alphamon, looking his body up and down and inspecting the Royal Knight's injuries. DORUgoramon folded his smoking, metallic arms and grunted. "…Don't thank me. It would be unsightly to see the great leader of the Royal Knights lose in such an undignified way to a Demon Lord. I'm merely thinking about the optics of our city needing to be saved by somebody who can't hold his own against an angry furball," he insisted.
Despite his pain, Alphamon couldn't help but smirk and laugh. "Really, now... Is that the reason?" the dark Royal Knight asked, grinning at DORUgoramon. "It might be the blood in my ears, but did you just admit to needing to be saved by us?"
A cross between a scowl and a smirk appeared on DORUgoramon's draconic visage. "Alphamon?" he asked. "Shut up," he told the Royal Knight, unable to hide the smile on his face for long.
Not able to sit around and chat for long, Alphamon looked up and fired overhead, his green laser blasting a demonic Velgrmon out of the sky. "I think… we could all use a little bit of help at this point," he admitted.
"Then you're in luck," DORUgoramon informed him. "I have just received word that the rest of your Royal Knights have crossed the Fountain River and routed Leviamon. We may have hope yet."
This news was music to the Aloof Hermit's ears. Alphamon sighed with relief and glanced over his shoulder, gazing down the primary road that leading southwards. Indeed, he could see the faint silhouettes of Order Digimon against the dark sky. "Thank Yggdrasil…"
"No… Thank you," DORUgoramon spoke.
The leader of the Royal Knights looked back and was surprised to see DORUgoramon staring at him with earnest sincerity.
"If you and the Royal Knights hadn't showed up when you did, I'm not sure we could have lasted this long," DORUgoramon bitterly explained. He briefly glanced around his dark, fiery city. "All this destruction would have been far worse if you weren't here. I grieve for all the lives lost today."
"As do I, DORUgoramon…" Alphamon responded. "I know that we don't see eye-to-eye, but believe me when I say that our hearts are as one when it comes to this city. I care deeply about New Terminal, as I know you do too. That's why nothing will stop me from driving the Demon Lords out."
A small, toothy smile flashed onto DORUgoramon's snout as he stared at Alphamon. He was unaware of the shadow skulking in the dark behind him.
"On that, we can agree…" After a moment, he glanced down. "Alphamon… I know that much has happened between us. There has been… ill-will, suspicion, and bitterness on both sides. I admit, a large share is because of my own resentment… A great chasm emerged where we used to be as tight as brothers…"
Alphamon frowned and stared at DORUgoramon as they stood in the dark of the night. It was hard for him to see in the darkness anything past DORUgoramon's broad wings. "…Yes, I suppose it has. I hate that our separate paths have caused us so much antipathy."
DORUgoramon glanced up at Alphamon, a strange mixture of doubt and hope in his eyes. "We still have our own responsibilities. You're a Royal Knight. I'm a Councillor of the Republic. Maybe those positions are irreconcilable." He sighed and winced a little as he gazed at the black knight opposite him.
"But…" he began, "I would like if…"
Alphamon nodded gently. He allowed DORUgoramon to finish.
The steel dragon began to open his mouth to speak, but his mouth suddenly snapped shut. There was a soft, slow screech of metal behind DORUgoramon, like the sound of nails dragging on steel.
The dragon man's entire body became tight and tense. His eyes widened with shock and his jagged teeth gnashed together. He hastily tried to grab at something behind him, but wasn't able to physically reach over his shoulder. A course, agonised snarl bubbled from his throat.
Alphamon waited for a few seconds. He observed DORUgoramon's strange shift in body language and quickly realised that something was wrong. As he watched DORUgoramon's body tighten, his features shifted into a confused, wincing frown.
"…DORUgoramon?"
DORUgoramon suddenly collapsed to his knees. Saliva sputtered from his mouth and he gasped for air. There was a wet squish along with a second metallic scrape as DORUgoramon arched his back.
"DORUgoramon!"
"Ohoh! Oh my! Is this where you both confess your undying love for one another?" a female voice mockingly inquired.
A dark figure appeared from behind DORUgoramon's trembling wings. Wandering out of the darkness was Lilithmon, her form just barely illuminated by the nearby flames.
Lilithmon raised her bejewelled claws, the Nazar Nail, on her right hand. The gauntlet was dripping with dark, freshly-drawn blood.
"DORUgoramon!" Alphamon shouted, his eyes wide with horror. Without thinking, he started dashing forwards. He glared at Lilithmon with a quiet fury and squeezed the Seiken Grad Alpha in one hand. As he prepared to close the distance, he raised his left hand towards her, his palm gleaming with radiant light. "Digitalize of Soul…!"
A powerful emerald blast pumped from his hand towards the Demon Lord of Lust. The pillar of green light was strong enough to illuminate the entire street around him, banishing the darkness of the night and casting light against the fractured buildings. The powerful laser streamed through the air towards her like a flash of avenging lightning.
Expecting such a response, Lilithmon calmly glided back behind DORUgoramon. The laser zipped past her face, only singing the ends of a few of her hairs.
As the Demon Lord of Lust used the agonized dragon man as a shield, her facial features darkened. Acting quickly performed a powerful back kick into DORUgoramon's back, and sent him flying towards the pursuing Alphamon.
Alphamon quickly extinguished the Seiken Grad Alpha in a flash of light so as not to hurt him. He swept his arm out and caught DORUgoramon as he crashed into his chest. As he raised his opposite hand to fire another laser at Lilithmon, she jumped into the air and flew backwards in the night. The laser pierced the night sky beneath her feet, but she was swift enough to evade his attack.
The ebony knight glanced down and saw a deep, bloody wound in the center of DORUgoramon's back, right between the base of his wings and just below the protrusive spike. The edges of the bloody wound flickered with black data. He grimaced and looked up towards the immediate threat. "Digitalize of Soul!" he shouted, firing a volley of lasers at Lilithmon.
Lilithmon swerved back and forth through the black sky, her elegant body flowing like a night wind. She was agile enough to weave fluently between the lasers, each one seeming to just miss her as she danced in the sky.
She smirked as she gazed down at the wounded DORUgoramon in Alphamon's arms. "I do love a good tragedy. As much as I would so love to see this tragic scene play out…" She paused as a laser streaked by her body, singing the edge of one of her black wings. She winced with pain and scowled, a soft growl rolling in her throat. She realised she wasn't taking things seriously enough.
The Demon Lord of Lust wrenched her head to the side, her raven hair blowing in the smoky wind. She saw Demon rising up from the rubble, flames flickering along his bloodied and battered body. Despite his injuries, the zealous determination and anger in his violet eyes remained.
"Demon!" she called out to him. Glaring momentarily down at Alphamon, she regained her dignified composure. "…It's time that we made our retreat, don't you think?"
"Retreat?" Demon demanded, clutching a hand to his bloody shoulder, the fur there matted with black blood. "What are you babbling about?"
"What I am 'babbling' about is the Royal Knights' reinforcements," Lilithmon explained with mild irritation. She extended her bloody gauntlet outwards and gestured down the road. "See for yourself if you don't believe me."
Demon snarled and squinted his eyes. Indeed, in the far distance, he could see the outlines of Digimon racing up the road. There was one Digimon at the front, with a brawny, white body and broad, violet wings. "I can still fight… We haven't lost yet," he snarled with reluctance.
"Really, now… Is that a fact?" Lilithmon nonchalantly asked him. "I have been doing covert reconnaissance this whole time. Our right flank has crumbled into a complete rout, and Barbamon has ordered a full withdrawal back to the northern gate. If you continue fighting here, we will be outflanked from both sides." Lilithmon placed a hand on her hip and looked over to her burnt wing with a look for annoyance. "I think that the writing is on the wall for Barbamon's little adventure…"
Demon snarled in frustration. He glared down at Alphamon and saw the Royal Knight carefully setting DORUgoramon down on the ground. "Curses… Not until I take Alphamon's head!" he exclaimed defiantly.
Demon flapped his wings and dove towards Alphamon with a zealous intensity. The bestial devil surged towards the black knight and his wounded friend, black energy coursing from between his hands.
Alphamon looked up and saw Demon descending towards them, preparing to attack. He aimed his palm at Demon while drawing the Seiken Grad Alpha from a glowing circle. He was painfully aware that DORUgoramon was still next to him. He had to protect him, but he also had to fight off Demon. The battle was taking its toll, and he had to push himself to his limits to do both.
However, there was a sudden shout from behind him.
The Digimon who was soaring up the street towards them suddenly ignited in violet energy. The flying Digimon became like a cyan meteor who lit up the dark street around him. A bluish-purple aura erupted from the Digimon's back and formed into a massive dragon. The massive, draconic beast of light flapped its mighty wings and flew above his body.
"Breath of Wyvern!" Dynasmon shouted passionately, barreling straight towards Demon. Wyvern coursed from Dynasmon's body and surged through the sky towards both the charging Demon and the awaiting Lilithmon.
Demon growled and stopped in his tracks, beating his wings forwards as he saw the massive aura dragon tearing through the sky towards them. He knew that if he didn't do something, he would be consumed by the beast. He was forced to change tactics. "Chaos Flare!" he shouted, unleashing his built up energy.
A Cimmerian blast poured from his body and swept towards Wyvern in a massive, torrent of shadows. The aura dragon flew right into the dark tornado, ploughing through it several meters before slowing down as the shadows tore against his semi-corporeal body. Wyvern's draconic energy raged against Demon's darkness, fighting for dominance against the Demon Lord's wrath. Finally, the two attacks split and erupted in an earth-shaking explosion.
"Damn it…" Demon growled. Now that Dynasmon had arrived, he knew that the rest of the Royal Knights were sure to follow. The Demon Lord of Wrath realised that retreat was the only option now. "We must leave, Lilithmon. Sometimes the best offence is a good escape."
"Yes, that is what I have been saying," she dryly reminded him. She cast a devious glance towards Dynasmon before looking at Alphamon a final time. "Hmph. It has been fun, Royal Knights. I do hope you and your dear friend can patch things up before the end."
Without waiting for a reply, Lilithmon turned her back to them. Flapping her four, black wings, Lilithmon began flying down the embattled street. She made a direct route towards the northern courtyard that was located at the base of the gate.
Demon turned and glared darkly at both Alphamon and Dynasmon. "We will meet again, Royal Knights. When we do, I will pay you back for this. You heathen scum will be crumpled on your knees before me. I promise you that…"
With that ominous threat, Demon turned and flew after Lilithmon. As he retreated into the fiery darkness, he called out to the remaining legions. He sounded the order to make a gradual, firing retreat to the edge of the city.
Alphamon watched as Demon and Lilithmon melted into the shadows beyond the flames. He briefly considered chasing them, but he didn't think it was worth it at this point. They were retreating. That meant that the city was saved. However, he wasn't about to get complacent. Looking down at DORUgoramon beside his feet was all that was needed to bring Alphamon back down to earth.
The knight clad in dark armour looked up to see Dynasmon descending towards him. "Dynasmon…" he greeted, grimacing and panting heavily.
"Hey, Alphamon," Dynasmon responded, his deep voice resonant with concern. He frowned when noticed the various wounds on Alphamon's body. "Damn it, if even you're that beat up…" His eyes drifted down to DORUgoramon, who lay on the ground, groaning weakly. Blood was dripping out of a noxious looking wound. "Councillor DORUgoramon?" Dynasmon's eyes tightened. "…He looks in bad shape."
Alphamon kneeled down beside DORUgoramon and placed a hand on the bleeding wound on his back. On closer inspection, the metal armour around the hole was beginning to rust and corrode. Alphamon grimaced as he took a close look at the bloody wound. "He is… This is no ordinary wound, Dynasmon. I need a field physician to take him to the hospital immediately."
Dynasmon frowned and nodded affirmatively. "We brought Duskmon along with us. I saw a bunch of New Terminal physicians further back too," he explained. "You want to carry him to safety? I'll take care of things here. You look like you need patching up too."
Alphamon nodded and gently gathered DORUgoramon in his arms, making sure to be careful of his back wound. The dragon councillor groaned and growled, feebly pushing against Alphamon.
"Come on, Councillor… You're needed elsewhere," Alphamon gently told him. He stood to his feet with the critically wounded DORUgoramon in his arms. Gripping his rivalrous friend tightly, he spread his wings of black and gold.
Steeling himself, Alphamon took to the sky and began making his way to the rear lines. He flew along the darkened skyline and surveyed the destruction around him. The buildings of these northern districts had been blasted out. Some of them still burned. Others were shattered or half-destroyed. Only a handful of lucky ones had escaped damage, from what he could see.
New Terminal…
This was his home. Despite how big the sprawling capital was, he knew each of these streets. Growing up, he knew almost every corner of the foremost city of Eniac. Now, much of the area was indistinguishable. Even though the Demon Lords were retreating, the sheer impact of their assault could not be overstated. Their attack left grievous wounds on New Terminal and its inhabitants. Those scars would not fade easily.
Quietly, Alphamon allowed himself to think. Despite the pain that numbed his body, he allowed for a moment of silent reflection.
They had saved New Terminal, but at a hefty price. He wondered just how much they would have to sacrifice to defeat the Demon Lords for good.
It already began to feel like too much, but he knew that the alternative would be even more costly.
"This war could prove to be even more catastrophic than the Heavenly War," Alphamon thought direly. He gazed down at DORUgoramon, who fell into unconsciousness in his arms.
The Knight of the Empty Seat held him carefully and soared through the night, his ebony armour making him almost meld into the dark sky. As he retreated to meet their reinforcements, his eyes hardened with resolve. They couldn't allow this to happen again.
"And it is only the beginning."