BOOM!
The crescent-shaped holy staff swung down from above, striking fiercely at the Eater hovering in mid-air with a combination of sacred light and scorching flames.
Facing the "anchor point" the Eater created above the trading center, Piddomon held nothing back from the outset, determined to repel it completely before the creature fully invaded.
Crack...crack...
Realizing the same urgency, the Eater, whose true form still resided in another digital space, responded instinctively. Its tentacle that pierced into the Digimon Black Market twisted and transformed drastically.
"Roar—!"
Very quickly, a blazing head materialized amidst those changes.
Like the earlier Meramon, this head formed entirely from fiery energy without a trace of mechanical substance.
BOOM!
The next moment, the violent collision between flame and flame instantly unleashed an inferno that surged several meters high.
Caught completely off-guard, Piddomon was blasted dozens of meters away by the powerful shockwave.
Crash!
Seizing this momentary chance, the Eater finally secured its grip on this space. Utilizing its capability to assimilate all forms of data, it carved an opening wide enough in the firewall for its entry.
Thus, the Eater (Enhanced Human Form), wreathed entirely in flame, formally appeared before everyone.
With both a humanoid figure and Meramon's overwhelming flames, this was the complete form of an Eater after fully digesting and absorbing internal data.
Whoosh!
Immediately after manifesting in this more powerful—and vengeful—enhanced form, the Eater pounced ferociously like a tiger towards Piddomon, who had yet to regain balance.
As it moved, the Eater's entire body continued to distort and adapt, seemingly adjusting itself to withstand the terrifying thousand-degree heat it now wielded.
"[FLAMEWALL]!"
Piddomon, a seasoned veteran of many battles, showed no panic. Its wings ignited with crimson flames once more, creating a robust fiery barrier around its body.
BOOOM!
Immediately afterward, an even more deafening explosion echoed from within the barrier.
Watching the scorching glow from afar, even Chen Ze and the others observing from below clearly felt the temperature rising sharply—as though a miniature artificial sun had erupted above their heads.
"You fool!"
An abrupt curse jolted Chen Ze and the others from their stunned state. Before they could even react, a massive shadow suddenly swept past above them.
"Devimon?!"
Renamon, who had maintained calm until now, was the first to recognize the sudden newcomer—a tall and imposing Devimon.
Or more precisely, this was a being who had pushed his power to the very limit, deeply tapping into the cruelest, most ruthless aspect of darkness—the icy calamity known as IceDevimon.
"That's… IceDevimon!"
Snowflakes inexplicably fluttered down from the sky, and a bone-chilling cold began spreading throughout the trading center…
At the core of this "Frozen Domain," wings outstretched, hovered the ice-born devil himself—a chilling calamity who appeared capable of freezing the entire space.
"Even after all this time, your idiocy hasn't changed a bit."
Hearing a familiar voice, Piddomon, whose "Flamewall" had just shattered, barely had time to look downward. There he saw a pale devil, no smaller than himself, firmly supporting his falling body.
"Tsukaimon?!"
Though his appearance had changed drastically, Piddomon immediately recognized him—this was none other than his twin brother.
"Hmph! Tsukaimon? You should call me nii-san."
Due to the brothers' strained relationship, each time Piddomon contacted Kei, Tsukaimon had always deliberately avoided him.
Thus, while Piddomon had known his brother had evolved and even guessed he might become Devimon, he had no idea about his specific evolutionary state.
Naturally, he couldn't have guessed that his brother had not only become a Devimon, but had further evolved into the strongest subspecies—IceDevimon.
Technically speaking, although IceDevimon was indeed a subspecies of Devimon, it wasn't typically an evolution directly from Rookie-level.
Rather, while some Rookie-level Digimon might evolve straight into IceDevimon, such cases were exceedingly rare.
Most commonly, IceDevimon evolved from Devimon itself—a special "Champion-to-Champion" evolution path.
Typically, only those Devimon who pursued greater power would give up the direct chance to evolve into Ultimate-level, choosing instead to delve deeper into the true essence of darkness.
Clearly, Piddomon's brother—Tsukaimon—was precisely such a Devimon.
"Nii-san? I hatched slightly earlier, so clearly, I'm the older brother here."
Instantly relaxing his tense muscles, Piddomon allowed IceDevimon to gently support his waist as they slowly descended, yet verbally countered as childishly as he had during their childhood arguments.
"A brat who always needed Kei and me to clean up his messes isn't qualified to call himself 'nii-san'."
Curling his lip in disdain, IceDevimon was all too familiar with his brother's behavior, so he merely threw a casual retort.
"You—"
But just as IceDevimon was about to continue speaking, the Eater—now fully entered into the Digimon Black Market—suddenly made its move.
Crash!
Perhaps due to its earlier series of invasions, this unusual Eater had evolved a strange new ability akin to "spatial displacement."
By merely extending an arm forward, its flaming fist instantly appeared directly in front of IceDevimon's chest.
Whoosh!
The vapor produced by the clash of ice and fire instantly obscured the area, and IceDevimon stared downward in disbelief, eyes wide with shock.
"Tsukaimon?!"
Piddomon initially failed to grasp the severity of what had happened. But upon seeing the fist penetrating IceDevimon's chest, his calm abruptly shifted into a storm of shock and rage.
"Eater!"
Fueled by his sudden surge of anger, Piddomon's flames, which had just begun fading, ignited fiercely once more, a strange radiance spreading from his body directly into IceDevimon's wound.
For any angel, healing and restoration were innate abilities.
Even Piddomon, known primarily for combat, could heal companions if necessary.
Yet, as he wasn't a nearly omnipotent Angel-type like Angemon, Piddomon's "healing" always carried some form of price.
But at this point, Piddomon couldn't care less.
His sacred light embodied his very will—he was more than willing to take upon himself the injuries inflicted upon IceDevimon.
—Holy Sacrifice!
..................
A/N: Initially intended for these two brothers to hold off the Eater heroically, allowing the protagonists to swoop in at the end. But after reconsideration, this arc was originally meant to highlight the protagonist's evolution form!
Having these two steal the spotlight wouldn't do, so they'll obediently take their bows here!