"Gulp."
The gazes of all the passengers on the airliner focused squarely on Yamato.
That once handsome, noble youth with a trace of aristocratic blood.
"Cough, isn't this a bit too much... What right does he have to decide someone else's life or death?"
A heavily made-up, portly noblewoman leaned close to the man beside her and muttered pretentiously.
In truth, the noblewoman didn't actually sympathize with Yamato.
She just wanted to use this muttering to show the man her 'kind' side.
But unfortunately, the darkened Taichi despised hypocrites the most.
"Very good. Congratulations, the number of escape slots has increased by one."
A cruel curve lifted the corner of Taichi's mouth.
He slowly walked up to the heavily made-up noblewoman, lifted her plump body with one hand as if lifting a chick.
He kicked open the cabin door, and the howling cold wind rushed in.
"No! I was joking! Honey, save me! Aren't you the CEO of XZ Group?! Make him kneel down immediately! He wouldn't dare disobey your orders!"
The portly noblewoman was instantly scared out of her wits, crying and panicking.
However, to her disappointment, the pillar of her arrogance, that CEO husband who held power over life and death in the eyes of outsiders, simply covered his face with his sleeve, acting as if he didn't know her at all.
In the face of power, the laughable hierarchy built by money and status was as fragile as thin paper.
"Ah."
Taichi looked down at her, letting out a sarcastic, cold laugh.
Immediately after, he mercilessly kicked that ugly body out of the plane.
Whoosh!
The noblewoman's terrified screams echoed continuously at an altitude of ten thousand meters, stimulating the nerves of every passenger on the plane.
'He's not joking.'
'This man will really kill!'
"I'll go first! Hah, Ptooey!"
A man wearing glasses and a checkered shirt, who looked utterly honest programmer, stepped forward first.
Mustering his courage, he stood before Yamato and spat out a three-day-old loogie!
The dark brown liquid, mixed with some indistinct impurities, intertwined and fell stickily down Yamato's face.
Gag…
The programmer suppressed the urge to vomit, mustered all his strength, and kicked Yamato's lower body.
"AHHHHHH!!!"
An excruciating pain from the depths of his soul awakened Yamato, who had nearly lost consciousness.
A crimson liquid slowly flowed from his lower body, mixed with some residue.
"You completed my task. Here is your parachute. Live well."
Seeing the programmer finish all this, Taichi smiled slightly, patted his shoulder, and handed him a parachute.
"Thank you, thank you!"
The programmer thanked him profusely. As he lowered his head, a fanatical glint flashed in his glasses.
'So this...'
'This is the feeling of violence?'
The feeling of trampling others underfoot, wantonly controlling life...
It's like opium poppy… once tasted, you become obsessively infatuated with it!
The moment he parachuted out, a faint dark aura was released from behind him,
Continuously strengthening the power of the Seven Great Demon Lords and Apocalymon.
This was Taichi's goal!
Revenge on Yamato was only part of Taichi's plan.
As the Emperor reigning over the Digital World, he wouldn't do anything without benefit.
Inflicting violence was itself an outlet for emotions.
The people on this plane, in their most frenzied state, would erupt with the most extreme emotions.
The emotional power generated would be thousands of times greater than in their normal state.
That concentrated negative emotion could continuously enrich Koshiro's database and also strengthen the power of Apocalymon in the shadows, giving it enough power to wage war against Yggdrasil.
This way, the environment of the Digital Civil Strife would be stirred into even greater turmoil.
"Me next!"
"Get lost! Don't steal my chance to live!"
"Hah, Ptooey!"
With the programmer guy leading the way,
The over four hundred passengers on the plane instantly surged forward like a burst flood, frantically competing to be first.
Disgusting globs of phlegm even submerged Yamato, and not a single part of his body was left unsullied by the stench.
The passengers also showed no mercy in where they aimed their full-force blows.
In times of peace, everyone's violent genes were suppressed deep in their hearts.
Finally having a chance to vent, how could they easily let it go?
Lower body, face, waist, throat, abdomen...
Every part was struck dozens of times with heavy blows.
Blood and unidentifiable fluids gushed out, splattering down from tens of thousands of meters high, falling like a fine, dense rain.
And all of this…
Taichi just watched, not a shred of sympathy in his heart.
Perhaps some might think…
It was just stealing a girlfriend, was it necessary to make the other person suffer so much?
But no one knew what Taichi had truly experienced these past ten years...
Betrayed by friendship, trampled by love.
From a sunny youth who firmly believed in justice, step by step, darkening into an underground monarch who believed only in supreme power.
In a sense, Yamato and Sora had already killed one 'Taichi'.
The Taichi named 'Naivety', 'Purity'.
'Without experiencing another's suffering, do not urge them to be kind.'
In Agumon's view, if there had been more time, this level of retribution would still be far from enough to vent the anger and hatred in his heart.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Over three hundred consecutive heavy blows completely twisted Yamato's body.
Not a trace of human form remained.
The last breath had long since left him.
Dead.
"He's dead."
Taichi let out a long sigh, feeling as if the final shackle binding his heart had been completely unlocked.
Revenge was complete, and the power of the Crest should evolve now.
The dark Crest named 'Revenge', washed over by intense emotions, burst forth with a dazzling light.
The higher form of the power of Revenge is the origin point of all emotions.
Intricate, mysterious patterns were gradually engraved onto the new Crest.
Finally, it erupted with an immensely profound dark ripple, quietly landing in Taichi's hand.
"The new Crest is named 'Chaos'."
Taichi contemplated the new power brought by the Crest, murmuring softly.
Born from 'Revenge', opposed to 'Order', rising with 'War', embarking on the path of a new king's ascension.
The Crest of Chaos would be his greatest asset on the path to hegemony.
[Ding! Taichi's darkening progress has reached 70%. Reward: Expansion Data Pack 'Metal Empire'.]
[Ding, Your World Seed, Kurai, will undergo evolution for three days. After evolution, its strength will grow to Royal Knight level and it will possess all the knowledge and creations of the Metal Empire at its peak, capable of mass-producing mechanical armies."
At this moment, in the parallel world, Hattori heard the system prompts in his mind and nodded with satisfaction.
'Since the darkening progress reached 70%, it must mean Taichi completed that matter.'
'A decade-spanning tale of gratitude and grudges has finally concluded. One might sigh deeply, one might lament. If everything could return to the beginning, if friendship knew no betrayal, if love remained pure... would the future still turn out like this?'
Hattori looked out the window, smiled, and shook his head.
The most wonderful thing about the world is that there are no 'ifs'.