Shiko's gaze continued deeper into the city, entering Omegamon Arena.
He watched the matches unfolding with intense excitement across the battlefields and the spectators in the stands cheering enthusiastically.
He could feel the tournament's fiery atmosphere.
"As expected of the largest tournament in history."
"This scale truly is extraordinary."
Shiko sighed with emotion.
After watching for a while, he withdrew his attention and turned his gaze back toward the Digimon on the grass.
Suddenly, an interesting idea occurred to him.
"Hm?"
"I have nothing else to do lately anyway."
"I might as well have some fun."
At that thought, a playful smile immediately appeared on his face.
He was already beginning to look forward to what would happen next.
...
Omegamon Arena.
The first round of the morning had already concluded.
Himeko and the other senior officials of the Great Axia Alliance briefly convened a meeting.
The purpose of the meeting was to review the tournament's progress thus far.
Judging from the opening ceremony and the first round of matches that morning, everything had gone quite well overall.
However, a few details still needed improvement.
The senior officials present offered their respective opinions and suggestions regarding those issues.
The knockout stage was scheduled to have three rounds each day.
One round would be held in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening.
In other words, seventy-two competitors could enter the arena every day.
At this pace, the entire first phase of the knockout stage would be completed within fourteen days.
The number of competitors would also be reduced by half.
By the time the tournament reached its final stage, with only one hundred competitors remaining, approximately twenty-five days would have passed.
The remaining knockout matches would then be completed during the final week.
The schedule had been arranged perfectly.
After confirming that there were no problems, everyone prepared to temporarily end the meeting.
They intended to continue observing the afternoon and evening matches to see whether there were any other overlooked issues that needed improvement.
However, at that very moment, a white vortex of light suddenly appeared inside the enormous conference room.
The distorted vortex rapidly expanded.
Then, under everyone's startled and astonished gazes, a figure slowly stepped out of it.
Everyone recognized him with a single glance.
He was their savior.
The new Creator God of this world.
Omegamon!
The moment he appeared, everyone's attention was drawn toward him.
His white wings gently unfolded, radiating an incomparably intense and sacred brilliance.
The divine light emanating from his body illuminated the somewhat dim conference room.
The room remained silent for quite some time.
When everyone finally recovered from their stunned state, their bodies began trembling uncontrollably.
They were so overwhelmed that they could not even speak properly.
To them, such a supreme and exalted existence was someone they would ordinarily never have the opportunity to approach.
Yet today, he had personally descended upon this place and appeared before them.
"What brings you here?"
Himeko was ultimately the first to regain her composure.
She spoke with reverence and respect.
Shiko first swept his gaze around the conference room.
He was quite satisfied with everyone's respectful attitude.
Only then did he speak and explain the purpose of his visit.
After hearing his request, everyone revealed expressions of utter disbelief.
They exchanged stunned glances, unable to believe what they had just heard.
"Are you certain?"
Only after asking again and receiving an affirmative response did they realize that he was not joking.
He truly intended to do it.
"Since this is your request, we will do everything in our power to fulfill it!"
Although they found the situation rather unexpected, the Creator God had personally appeared before them and made a request.
Naturally, they had no reason to refuse.
After all, humanity's continued survival depended upon this being.
However, compared to Arceus, this new Creator possessed slightly less divine detachment and a little more humanity.
Because of that, everyone's vigilance and nervousness gradually eased.
The meeting ended immediately.
Everyone's highest priority was now to carry out Shiko's instructions.
They rapidly screened the extensive list of competitors participating in the tournament.
Before long, they found several suitable candidates.
Convincing one of them to withdraw from the tournament was not easy.
After all, each competitor had already passed the preliminary selection.
Anyone who had reached this stage was a powerful Trainer and an exceptionally rare talent.
Nevertheless, after the Alliance's senior officials patiently appealed to them and promised generous compensation, one competitor finally agreed.
The fortunate competitor received a substantial reward and withdrew from the tournament without suffering any losses.
He happily left the arena with his compensation.
Shiko then directly assumed the competitor's vacant position and continued participating in the tournament under his identity.
That was right.
Shiko, the Creator God himself, had suddenly decided to participate in this unprecedentedly grand tournament.
First, he was simply far too bored.
He needed to find something interesting to entertain himself.
Second, he had spent this entire life existing as either a Pokémon or a Digimon.
He also wanted to experience the thrill of being a Trainer.
As for his third reason—and the most important one—he wanted to demonstrate the power of Digimon during this tournament.
He wanted to see exactly what expressions these humans would reveal when Digimon appeared before them.
"Heh-heh!"
"Just thinking about it makes me look forward to it!"
Shiko's match was scheduled for that evening.
Although he was competing in another contestant's place, he had no intention of transforming himself to resemble that person.
He felt that it was unnecessary.
He was also too lazy to do it.
Instead, he merely put on a large robe and folded his wings in slightly, creating a simple disguise.
The Alliance's senior officials were terrified that someone might recognize Shiko and upset him.
After considering the matter, they decided to schedule all his matches at night.
Under the arena's nighttime lighting, his figure and outline would at least be somewhat obscured.
That would make it more difficult for anyone to see through his disguise.
Seven o'clock that evening.
Inside Omegamon Arena, the third round of the first-phase knockout stage officially began.
Although these were evening matches, the atmosphere remained extraordinarily lively.
Every seat in the arena was occupied.
Countless spectators had already begun applauding, shouting, and cheering.
Meanwhile, within the VIP section, Himeko and the other senior officials of the Great Axia Alliance were unbearably nervous.
Their gazes remained firmly fixed upon Battlefield No. 8.
They barely dared to breathe.
There was nothing they could do about it.
After all, that supremely important figure was currently competing there.
(End of Chapter)
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