Chapter Ninety-Three: Peril from the Dark Realm

"Recently, armored forms have been strangely weak—could it be because the ancient species’ genes are dwindling?" After obliterating a dragon beast in seconds, Feng Xue voiced her doubts. The armored stage is rather ambiguous; it evolves by using the framework of ancient armor and filling it with one’s own data, greatly reducing the uncertainty of evolution.

However, it must be noted that ancient armor was designed specifically for ancient Digimon species—or rather, when Digimon armor was first created, only ancient species existed. Modern Digimon, whether in size or strength, are much smaller than their ancient counterparts. Whether they possess ancient genes determines the level they can reach after armored evolution, and the quality of the armor itself is equally crucial.

So many variables result in vast differences in combat power among armored Digimon. The strongest can reach the level of Magnamon, matching top ultimate forms and standing among the Royal Knights, while the weakest, like that Lynxmon encountered earlier, are barely stronger than those in the mature stage.

After overcoming her inner demons, Feng Xue’s daily routine returned to hunting with Ryuji. This dragon beast wasn’t entirely incompetent, but at best, it merely approached the mature stage. For Feng Xue, such a level was nothing more than a snack.

"I knew it was you!" came a childish voice. Without looking, Feng Xue knew the other two protagonists had arrived.

"Impmon, let’s go!" Ryuji glanced at them, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

"Wait…" Kaito wanted to call out to Ryuji, but seemed to think better of it, and remained silent.

Suddenly, Feng Xue froze, then turned to look behind her, but found nothing.

"Impmon, Impmon!"

"Hm?" Only then did Feng Xue realize Ryuji was calling him and quickly responded.

"What’s wrong?" Ryuji asked, a little displeased, as if Feng Xue’s sudden absent-mindedness had thrown off her aura.

"I just felt like something was watching us," Feng Xue replied, his expression strange. The presence seemed familiar, but he couldn’t recall where he had encountered it.

"Is it a Digimon?" Ryuji asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice, though Feng Xue sensed more excitement than fear.

"I’m not sure. Maybe…" Feng Xue turned away and silently followed Ryuji.

"Honestly!" Ryuji grumbled, and the two walked off into the sunset. Feng Xue, however, did not notice the shadow that flickered silently atop the utility pole behind them…

…

"Impmon, don’t Digimon need to sleep?" Late at night, Ryuji lay on the tatami and suddenly spoke.

"Actually, we do need sleep. In the Digital World, it’s mostly to ease psychological fatigue, but in the real world, our bodies need sleep to recover," Feng Xue leaned against the wall, responding idly, clearly just as tired.

"Is that so? Impmon, tell me about Digi—hey!" Just as Ryuji began to speak, her Arc Machine suddenly glowed.

"Why now, of all times!" Ryuji cursed inwardly, quickly dressed, and called, "Impmon, let’s go!"

"Right." Feng Xue immediately summoned Ripple Breathing to accelerate blood flow and oxygen supply, banishing drowsiness.

But when they entered the suddenly appearing Digimon field, the scene before them startled them.

"This time, things are serious!" Feng Xue said gravely, shielding Ryuji behind him.

He never noticed while watching the anime, but experiencing it firsthand changed everything. This time, the Digimon’s arrival had dragged its entire habitat along!

"Arachnemon, mature stage, virus type," Ryuji reported, but Feng Xue didn’t listen. He recognized this regular background character from the Digimon series; in the Phantom Mist Zone, he’d often been chased by such creatures.

Yes, chased. Despite being a mere extra, its strength was considerable. In attack, defense, and speed, Arachnemon exceeded the average standard. Before Feng Xue had mastered the Spirit Bow, he had no way to harm it.

As one of the few powerful mature Digimon, this creature could crush a group of its peers single-handedly. If it had the terrain advantage, not even ultimate forms were guaranteed victory.

In the first series, even protagonist-level Digimon like WereGarurumon, backed by other mature Digimon, struggled against Arachnemon.

And this web-strewn forest was its domain.

"Should I evolve?" Feng Xue wondered silently, but found he couldn’t. It wasn’t the light of evolution or anything mystical; he simply lacked the data. His last evolution, brief as it was, had consumed much, and now, self-evolution was nearly impossible.

"Looks like I’ll have to rely on Sacred Destruction Arrow to decide this!" Feng Xue stared helplessly at the webs covering the forest. In such an environment, Arachnemon’s speed rivaled those Digimon who lived for speed alone, making it daunting to approach.

"Anyway, let’s test it first!" Feng Xue extended his left hand, and a vortex of air swirled on the ground. With a sudden swing, a pale violet fireball the size of a human head shot toward Arachnemon.

"Whoa!" Arachnemon screamed and spun around, spraying a web from behind to intercept the Night Fire. To block fire with a web seemed absurd, yet here, it worked! Such is the power of Digimon abilities, defying logic and rule.

"Damn!" Feng Xue sensed something amiss. Though this Arachnemon hadn’t spoken, its actions were purposeful—unlike the mindless wild Digimon, it acted and attacked with clear intent. Cunning, perhaps?

"What’s going on? Whether it’s Devimon or this Arachnemon, they’re acting strangely. They enter the real world yet retain their intelligence. If Devimon had only its core due to weak combat ability and couldn’t absorb data, Arachnemon makes no sense, especially since it brought its home turf too!" Feng Xue’s mind raced to connect the dots. Suddenly, a familiar term surfaced—

"Dark Domain?"

He seemed to have grasped a key point, but there was no time for further thought—the enemy before him was not one to allow daydreaming in battle!