Chapter 132: Before Returning to Reality

Feng Xue spent the entire day traveling south. At Behemoth’s speed, he could have crossed an entire country, but that was of little use in the Digital World. The Digital World was layered, and although there were quite a few passages capable of bridging the differences between layers, trying to find the right direction by relying on sheer luck was practically impossible.

Just as Feng Xue’s unease reached its peak, a ray of light suddenly flashed across the heavens—

At that instant, it seemed as though some kind of power had spread throughout the Digital World. Every Digimon in the central Digital World—the main world, excluding minor worlds such as the depths of the Net Ocean, the Dark Area, and the Dragon Domain—heard a voice:

“Come! Evolve! The Digital World needs you!”

The voice was desolate and ancient, as though an old sage who had witnessed the rise and fall of countless ages were whispering into their ears.

Every Digimon that heard the voice began to evolve. Even those still in their infancy grew into Mega-level Digimon in an instant.

Seeing this spectacle, how could Feng Xue fail to realize that Calumon had released the Light of Evolution?

Yet Feng Xue had only two words for it—

“Suicidal!”

If the Digital Reaper had merely been awakened by the Digital Crisis, then once it awoke and discovered that the amount of data had not actually exceeded the limit, it would have fallen dormant again.

But you released the Light of Evolution, causing every Digimon in the entire world, young and old alike, to become a Mega. Wouldn’t that make the network’s data explode?

In truth, the number was not quite as terrifying as it sounded, since large groups of Digimon living together would fuse into a single entity—just as countless Insect Gutsimon had ultimately fused into only three Diaboromon.

The Digital Reaper would awaken, take one look around, and think:

“What the hell? It’s already packed to the brim! Why did you call me only now? Are you people trying to ascend to the heavens?”

Then it would suddenly discover that there were several humans present and wonder:

“These things are my creators? Why does one of them look so sad? Come to think of it, what is sadness? Sounds worth studying. Let me possess her and take a look—”

And then it would see Jeri’s dark side: the part of her that wanted the entire world to perish together with Leomon.

It would see Jeri’s helplessness and terror in the face of fate.

And so the Digital Reaper would turn dark as well.

It would think:

“So I was created because of fate. My fate is to destroy the world. But if I destroy only the Digital World, the data created by humans will still pile up across the network, and I’ll have to destroy everything again. That’s too damn exhausting. I’ll do it once and for all!”

Thus, the Digital Reaper followed Jeri into the real world and decided to destroy humanity along with it. It did not need to wipe out the human race entirely; all it needed was to reduce humanity to scavenging in a wasteland, so that people would stop producing data for the network.

But at this point, it was no longer a question of whether the act was suicidal.

In the original story, Rika and Sakuyamon had stopped one eruption, buying the children enough time to take Calumon away from the Digital Reaper’s territory. Only then had the Light of Evolution been released.

But now Feng Xue was not at Rika’s side. How had they managed to get Calumon out?

Even setting Calumon aside, after Antylamon had devolved, Zhuqiaomon’s attacks had still required Taomon’s assistance to evade. Without him, how were the children supposed to withstand Zhuqiaomon’s assault?

And Rika, who always stubbornly forced herself forward at crucial moments—would she be in danger?

At that thought, Feng Xue felt a rush of heat shoot straight into his brain. Taking advantage of the blossoming Light of Evolution, Behemoth beneath him transformed into a stream of data and surged into his body.

At that moment, the short bow known as The Feast transformed into a crossbow resembling a highly modern electromagnetic cannon and locked itself onto Feng Xue’s left wrist. Beneath his original pair of enormous wings, another pair of black wings unfurled.

At the same time, Feng Xue’s clothing changed to something more suited for movement. His trench coat, which had previously resembled Lelouch’s style, transformed into the leather outfit of a ranger straight out of an online game.

“Beelzemon—Blitz Mode!”

Feng Xue had no time to inspect his new form. He beat all four wings toward the direction of the Light of Evolution, transforming into a streak of black radiance that shot toward the horizon…

…

The Tamers were in terrible shape.

Although Feng Xue was absent, Cyberdramon and Ryo Akiyama—who had somehow appeared at Zhuqiaomon’s castle—still helped the children survive the crisis. Ryo should have been in Baihumon’s territory at that point, but that was beside the point.

The subsequent rescue of Calumon, however, went far less smoothly.

Both Justimon and Gallantmon were Digimon renowned for close combat. They had no way to resist the Digital Reaper without making contact, as Sakuyamon had done. As a result, the two Mega-level Digimon were dealt severe injuries the instant they were contaminated by the Digital Reaper. In order to avoid being dissolved and devolving all the way to the Rookie stage, they had to withdraw from battle and would be unable to fight again for some time.

Yet the Digital Reaper, no longer suppressed by “magic,” remained in the midst of its eruption.

“Damn it! Turbulent Spray!”

An arrow infused with both holy and dark power shot violently into the Digital Reaper as it rose toward the heavens. Instead of exploding as expected, it seemed to be broken down and simply ceased to exist.

That was the power of holiness and evil—the strongest force in the Digital World.

“It’s Beelzemon!”

“Rika, are you all right?”

Feng Xue landed beside Rika and looked her over from head to toe. Only after confirming that she had not suffered the slightest injury did he finally relax.

“What could possibly happen to me? You’re the one who vanished without saying a word…”

Rika folded her arms across her chest, her expression displeased. Perhaps because she had previously heard about Feng Xue’s connection with Impmon, she did not mention the Piedmon who had appeared earlier.

“I didn’t want to disappear either!”

Feng Xue gave an helpless smile, then shifted the subject.

“It’s Calumon, then? So you’ve already accomplished your objective? What do we do now? Are we heading back to the real world?”

“Even if you put it that way… how are we supposed to—”

“Mr. Yamaki is calling!”

Just as Rika began wondering how they were supposed to return, Takato suddenly shouted, “Mr. Yamaki says he’s sending the Ark to pick us up!”

“The Ark? What’s that?”

“A means of transportation. Mr. Mizuno once had us ride in it.”

“It’s a boat…”

However, just as everyone was rejoicing at the prospect of finally going home, Feng Xue realized that something was wrong with Jeri.

“She’s already been possessed by the Digital Reaper?”

Feng Xue muttered to himself. He did not try to stop it, nor could he have stopped it. In his current Digimon body, the Digital Reaper was practically a deadly poison—touching it meant certain death.

There was no need to mention how everyone reached the rendezvous point with Qinglongmon’s help. Nor was there any need to mention how Feng Xue’s ability to fly allowed them to find Impmon, already covered in wounds, earlier than in the original story. And there was certainly no need to describe the tremendous effort made by the people in the real world to bring them home.

At that moment, Feng Xue and the others encountered an even greater danger—

“Damn it! Why is there a Digital Reaper here? Weren’t they still being suppressed inside the volcano?”

Feng Xue’s face darkened. If his memory served him correctly, no Digital Reaper had appeared here in the original story.

“Forget it! Get on the Ark!”

Takato gritted his teeth and pushed the puppet-like Jeri Kato into the Ark.

However…