Chapter 80: Battle

The main body of the Stegosaurus Beast resembled a rodent, yet its head and back were covered in thick armor. At the end of its slender tail sprouted two sharp metallic spikes, glinting with a cold luster, and along its back, five rows of viciously sharp blades gleamed menacingly.

As Feng Xue observed the Stegosaurus Beast, the creature also recognized its foe, emitting a strange, furious roar. Its massive body twisted violently, and the spiked tail lashed out toward Feng Xue.

Feng Xue, intent on testing the beast’s strength, allowed a portion of his cloak to break apart, dissolving into data that flowed into his veins. Beneath the white Quincy robe, lines of pale blue patterns appeared across his dark form.

Blood Silence Armor, activate!

As the Blood Silence Armor unfurled, the enormous spiked tail struck Feng Xue’s outstretched right hand. With a tremendous force, Feng Xue was hurled into the air, spinning twice before landing steadily on the ground.

He was astonished—not by the Stegosaurus Beast’s power, but by his own weakness. The Stegosaurus Beast possessed the attributes of Armor, Champion, and Ultimate levels, and even considering the weakest Champion form, its combat prowess should not be so feeble. What baffled Feng Xue most was the complete lack of reason in the creature!

“No rationality… Wait, could it be…” The thought flashed through Feng Xue’s mind, and relief began to well up within him.

“Ordinary Digimon rely on sufficient data to process both reason and combat experience!”

Indeed, when Digimon descend into the real world, they lose most of their data, retaining only the framework built by their core factors. This not only weakens their strength, but more terrifyingly, strips them of wisdom and experience.

No wonder, in the original story, most Digimon arriving in the real world never spoke. He had assumed this was merely a ploy by the writers to diminish the presence of minor Digimon, but now the true reason was clear. It also explained why those Digimon who survived in the real world for some time could eventually speak—after a period of battle and recovery, they managed to replenish some of their lost data...

“Don’t just stand there, Impmon!” With Ryuji’s near-screaming reminder, Feng Xue snapped back to the present. As the massive form barreled toward him, he stretched out his right hand with disdain—

“Heaven-Piercing Cannon!”

His fist, wholly disproportionate to the foe, carried the force of wind and thunder, smashing down onto the armored forehead of the Stegosaurus Beast, halting its powerful charge in its tracks.

“Amazing!” Ryuji exclaimed in awe at the scene, reminiscent of a tokusatsu film, and for the first time, she truly grasped the meaning of Digimon battles.

Realizing brute force alone would not suffice against his adversary, the Stegosaurus Beast suddenly leapt—a mere half-meter off the ground, but enough to make anyone’s heart tremble.

“Guillotine Wheel!” Spinning rapidly in midair, it transformed itself into a wheel of blades, rolling toward Feng Xue the instant it touched down.

“Watch out!”

Feng Xue knew well that he could not face this attack head-on. This move was the Stegosaurus Beast’s signature technique, instinctively mastered by any Digimon that evolved into this form. Its flaw was obvious: while spinning at high speed, it could not track its enemy visually.

In the Digital World, the Stegosaurus Beast would use data sensing to lock onto its target, but here, in the real world, such abilities were lost.

The sacred factor in his veins shifted to his feet—a flash of white light, and Feng Xue disappeared from sight. When Ryuji found him again, she saw that this enigmatic figure had somehow perched atop a nearby lamppost.

The Stegosaurus Beast, now a spinning blade wheel, failed to realize its target had moved—or perhaps it did, but was unable to change direction at such speed. It crashed headlong into a concrete planter, sending shards flying everywhere.

“Be careful!” Feng Xue suddenly appeared before Ryuji, shielding her from the flying debris. “Support personnel should stand well away from the main battlefield—this is basic common sense.”

“Hmph! Of course I know!” Ryuji retorted with a proud snort. She would never admit she’d been too caught up in the action to dodge.

It had to be said—the armored form was truly tough. Even after taking a full-force blow to the head, the Stegosaurus Beast returned to the fray without dizziness or disorientation.

Barely shaken, the beast extricated itself from the rubble of the planter, every blade on its body gleaming coldly.

With a bizarre roar, it seemed to activate some hidden mechanism—its entire form radiated danger, as if it had suddenly entered a berserk state.

“Going wild?” Feng Xue’s expression darkened. Beast-type Digimon were prone to losing control, but that usually happened only at the Ultimate level. Wait, wasn’t the Stegosaurus Beast also an Ultimate...?

“Is everything okay?” Ryuji watched Feng Xue with concern. The situation was growing more intense than she had expected. Even those who knew little of the Digital World understood the distinctions between Digimon levels—and she was the Queen of Digimon herself.

“Swap the cards. I’ll show you why I’m called the Demon of the Sacred Bow!” The data at Feng Xue’s feet returned to his cloak, and his left wrist guard began to transform. In an instant, a blue-and-white shortbow appeared, fixed to his wrist.

The bow was not ornate—if anything, it was quite simple. Its limbs, forged from white metallic material, were adorned only with a few pale blue lines, and where the string should be, there seemed to be nothing at all.

“Card swap?” Ryuji now noticed the slot on the side of the Arc Machine. As an experienced Digimon game player, she immediately understood the term. Drawing a card from the deck, she struck a stylish pose and slid it smoothly through the machine.

“Card Swap—[Speed Module D], speed upgrade!”

The chip-shaped icon dissolved into a cloud of data particles, infusing Feng Xue’s body. Yet, instead of allowing the card’s enhancement to take effect, he gathered the data in his hand, visible to the naked eye.

“What are you doing?” Ryuji asked, puzzled. In the next moment, she understood the meaning behind his earlier words—

[Let me show you why I’m called the Demon of the Sacred Bow!]

The [Speed Module D] data transformed into a white arrow, which Feng Xue nocked against the bow. In that instant, a bowstring appeared as if from nowhere.

“Take this—Holy Eradication Arrow!” At the call of the technique, a streak of white light tore through the sky. Before the Stegosaurus Beast could react, its entire body was pierced by the arrow and shattered into countless fragments...