Red and blue flames intertwined, surging forward alongside the roaring lion's blazing aura.
This combined triple attack was powerful enough that even an Ultimate-level might not easily withstand it. Yet Devimon neither dodged nor retreated, directly meeting them head-on with his Death Claw.
The solidified darkness between his five claws collided fiercely with their combined attack, and sparks and shockwaves instantly tore across the throne room's walls.
The massive impact blasted outward, even flipping the throne behind Devimon upside-down.
Devimon flapped his wings, dispersing the incoming wave of flames. Amidst the flickering firelight, Leomon sliced open a path with his blade—fist in the left hand, sword in the right, attacking with both simultaneously.
"...Begone!"
Though Leomon's offensive was powerful, Devimon sneered in disdain, crossing both arms in front of him to unleash a blood-red cross-shaped slash.
Leomon was forced back by the crimson cross, but immediately after came a wild roar—Zero charged forward low to the ground, his right claw fiercely slashing downward.
"[CARD SLASH]!"
Nearby, Rina flipped her wrist, spinning the Digivice deftly half a circle, revealing a card-reader slot. She swiftly slid a thin card through it, triggering a burst of electric light—
In an instant, the card disintegrated into pure data, surging out explosively—
Zero's descending claw was enveloped by this data, manifesting a gleaming silver cannon barrel.
Thus, what had just been a simple claw strike suddenly transformed into a Trident Revolver at point-blank range!
Devimon certainly wouldn't dare underestimate this—he'd already suffered heavily from this Chrome Digizoid cannon. As he urgently thought of how to respond, he suddenly felt a chilling danger approaching from behind.
Using her wings to accelerate into a midair cobra maneuver, Hajime unleashed a merciless full volley from her shoulder grenade launchers!
Grenades trailing fiery tails converged rapidly, erupting in an explosion that engulfed the entire mountaintop. The ancient black castle atop the desolate mountain erupted from within, shattered debris hurled skyward by the immense shockwave.
The castle soared into the air still largely intact, but when it fell back down, all that remained was scattered rubble.
Amidst the ruins, Devimon, his body ablaze and billowing thick smoke, swung his dark claws, slicing through the debris to clash fiercely with Zero's cannon barrel.
A sharp metallic clang echoed as the rubble trembled violently. Devimon's entire face twisted into a ferocious expression, contorting his arm at an impossible angle to send Zero flying away.
But before he could catch his breath, Leomon's Fist of the Beast King and Hajime's missles reached him once again—
After firing a full volley, Hajime would need considerable time to reload, rendering consecutive uses impossible. Luckily, the Jet Wings still functioned perfectly.
Utilizing their maneuverability, Hajime nimbly darted about, perfectly coordinating with Leomon to launch another fierce assault.
"Tch…"
If Devimon could just concentrate his strength to take one opponent down, this chaotic battle might become easier. But Zero's group clearly understood that too, attacking him in constant rotation, giving Devimon no chance to focus his power.
"As I thought…" Devimon confirmed his initial judgment was correct.
"…You're not opponents who can be easily dealt with."
"Oh?" Zero, while continuing his assault with Trident Revolver, casually replied, "...So, does that mean you're thinking of surrendering?"
Of course, surrender was impossible. This was just casual banter to lighten up the tough, exhausting battle.
Devimon obviously understood that as well. Normally, he'd ignore such meaningless talk, but this time, he unexpectedly sneered back.
"Do you know why I withdrew all my guards around the castle? Do you realize… why I chose to wait here, letting you willingly walk straight into my trap?"
"!"
These two questions were essentially one. Devimon had been injured, so naturally, this was their best chance to eliminate him.
Although now it appeared Devimon had somehow rapidly suppressed and healed his wounds, such methods surely came at tremendous cost. After all, that injury had nearly been fatal—this wasn't Dragon Ball, where one Senzu bean solved everything.
In short, Devimon, now healed, could have attacked actively, yet he still chose to passively wait in his castle.
Despite his army repeatedly failing outside, despite the advantage he'd carefully built crumbling bit by bit—
He remained calm and motionless. Initially, this could be explained by his injuries preventing him from acting, but now it was clear he'd already largely recovered.
Thus, his previous actions could be interpreted differently:
He'd been waiting—intentionally letting Zero's party approach him.
For this, he'd willingly given up his carefully built advantage. Clearly, he'd recognized Zero as the greatest threat to his plans. Sacrificing his other gains, he was determined to eliminate Zero here.
Then the answer was now perfectly clear…
…He deliberately lured them to his castle. This was his chosen battlefield—there must be an ambush prepared here.
Zero's group had already anticipated an ambush when climbing the mountain, but having ascended without encountering any trouble, and now engrossed in this fierce battle, they'd somewhat let that suspicion fade.
"...You must be wondering exactly where I set my ambush, correct?"
A hint of mockery filled Devimon's voice. Zero's mind jolted as he instantly realized something.
"…It's not about 'where' the ambush is. Rather, the moment we worried so carefully about 'where the ambush might be,' we'd already stepped right into it?"
"Hahaha!" Devimon's laughter echoed freely, shifting from mockery to appreciation. "How quickly you realized it. Truly a shame… we might've made excellent partners."
"Well, truth be told, I actually did consider asking you to join forces before…"
…Though, that option had barely lasted a second before Zero immediately discarded it himself.
"...Tch, really? What a shame."
Though Zero couldn't detect any genuine regret in Devimon's voice, his expression and attitude seemed to indicate he wasn't joking.
"Unfortunately, regret or not, there's no point dwelling on it now. After all, today not a single one of you will leave alive!"
As he spoke, a heavy rumble began resonating from beneath the mountaintop castle.
"Huh?" Outside the battle circle, Rina paused, glancing strangely down at her feet. "What's going on?"
Of course Devimon had set an ambush on the mountain. But just as Zero said, the moment they became overly concerned with "where on the mountain the ambush might be," they'd already blinded themselves to the real answer.
Because the ambush had always been right there—in the most obvious place from the start.
At that moment, the entire mountain itself began slowly cracking open from the peak down. Within the splitting rockface, what was revealed inside…
…Was an entire mountain completely filled with Black Gears!
---
T/N: WOAH
im back, did a poll on my patreon on the new schedule and releases for webnovel so yeah
beep boop