The Crests placed on the display podium simultaneously exploded with fiery brilliance.
The reinforced glass cover shattered instantly, even the entire podium exploding to pieces…
…Amidst that resounding explosion, two streaks of light soared toward Taichi and Hikari.
Before Taichi could even react, the evolution key hanging from his neck began emitting a soft white glow. The hollow pendant rose by itself, meeting the approaching radiance in midair.
The chip-like Crest neatly fitted into the hollow slot in the evolution key, perfectly snapping into place. At that instant, a crucial word surfaced clearly in Taichi's mind.
The Crest of Courage!
He hadn't expected the Crests to be hidden inside Etemon's underground base. Clearly, Nanomon had gathered these through information provided to Etemon.
It seemed Nanomon had wanted to study the Crests to replicate their power, but clearly, his research hadn't progressed well. After all, the Crests required human emotions to activate.
That's why Nanomon desperately sought human test subjects to explore the Crests' power.
Now, he certainly never anticipated the Crests would activate in this very manner.
As the Crests combined with their Tags, both Taichi and Hikari felt a sudden weight in their palms. White radiance gathered in their hands, solidifying into palm-sized white devices.
From this moment forward, they finally acquired their rightful power, truly becoming part of the greater plan.
These small white devices were the most crucial piece of that plan, symbols of the Chosen Children's identities—
—The Digivices!
On Hikari's side, as the Crest of Light fused with her Tag, her Digivice burst forth with brilliant radiance, enveloping Gatomon completely.
Instantly, Gatomon's wounds stopped bleeding, healing visibly with astonishing speed.
Though excessive blood loss meant Gatomon remained unconscious, her condition visibly improved.
"Ohhh! So this is…"
Nanomon's voice trembled with frenzied excitement. Witnessing this miracle-like phenomenon firsthand completely ignited his insatiable scientific curiosity.
Yet, he wasn't particularly worried. After all, the Digivice merely healed Gatomon's injuries—it didn't fully restore her. If it were only Taichi and Hikari here, he could still control the situation.
However…
Taichi, wrapped in the blazing glow of the Crest of Courage, broke through the electrified net's restraints. Seeing this, Nanomon sneered.
"So what if you break free, puny human?"
Clearly, he assumed humans were fragile creatures, incomparable to Digimon.
But Taichi, bathed entirely in the Crest of Courage's glow, dashed swiftly toward a large fragment that had broken off the podium.
That chunk was about the size of a human head, irregular in shape. Without hesitation, Taichi raced forward, raising his right foot.
"Then let me show you just what this 'puny human' can do!"
Accompanying his fierce roar, a flame-like brilliance surged rapidly into Taichi's right leg—had Rina been here, she would've instantly recognized it as the power of DigiSoul!
Engulfed by the DigiSoul's glow, Taichi kicked the fragment with full force, sending it rocketing like a meteor toward the control panel behind Nanomon.
"?!"
Startled, Nanomon hastily activated the four Gatling turrets, firing desperately to intercept—yet the flying shard effortlessly smashed through the rain of bullets. Panicking now, Nanomon triggered his final defense measure, forming a net of bluish-white electricity that intercepted the incoming projectile mid-flight.
But before he could catch his breath, Taichi had already slid into position beside another similar-sized fragment, swiftly kicking again!
As expected of the school soccer team's ace striker—this kick carried perfect precision, power, and determination, striking the electric net squarely.
Suffering two powerful hits in rapid succession, Nanomon's defensive network finally failed. With two brief flickers, it exploded into sparks, dissolving completely.
Immediately afterward, the second fragment crashed violently into the control panel, causing a deafening explosion.
"No! NO!!! Do you have any idea what you've done?! My research! My precious data!!"
Nanomon's voice turned hysterical. Today, he'd collected substantial combat data from the clash between Etemon and Zero using the Dark Towers. Yet, because the battle was ongoing, he hadn't had time to back up this precious data.
And now, Taichi's single kick obliterated all his painstaking efforts—akin to losing eight hours of unsaved work because someone yanked out the power cable…
…This resentment surpassed even revenge for a murdered father.
Nanomon's voice tore through the air in sheer agony. Blinded by rage, he raised his hand, fingers splitting apart rapidly, preparing to fire missiles—
—Yet, in this moment of madness, focusing entirely on killing the siblings for revenge, he failed to notice that as Taichi launched his second kick, a certain figure had vanished from the ground.
Now, that figure glided elegantly forward, claws flashing coldly, effortlessly piercing Nanomon's body from behind.
"!"
The legendary scientist froze in place. Electrical sparks erupted across his frame as he managed one last rasping cry:
"Only my research can stop the Dark Spiral Mountain program! Once the Dark Spiral Mountain is complete, both the Digital World and your human world will fall under 'their' control! You are no match for them… I'll be waiting in Hell! Hehe…hahahaha!!!"
With his final, hysterical laughter, his body exploded, dissolving into scattered data.
Gatomon watched Nanomon vanish completely, and only then allowed herself to fall backward limply. Her injuries were far from healed—she'd forced herself through sheer willpower to deliver that final strike.
But to Gatomon, enduring this level of pain was nothing. She'd survived situations ten times worse…
As she collapsed, someone swiftly caught her.
Without needing to turn her head, Gatomon knew exactly who it was.
"…Thank you, Hikari~"
With a faint whisper, she peacefully closed her eyes in Hikari's embrace.
"So… what do we do now?"
Taichi hesitated as he surveyed the scene. Nanomon was gone, and Gatomon was unconscious. But with the control panel destroyed, it should have also nullified the Dark Towers' effect. In other words, Zero would no longer be suppressed.
"That's right, Zero!"
Taichi urgently raised his head, staring at the monitors. Though the control panel was wrecked, the screens still functioned.
"ZERO… YOU CAN DO IT!!!"
...
Outside, Etemon spun around in alarm. The makeshift Spiral Mountain, created by the resonance of the four Dark Towers, had begun rapidly collapsing.
"What?! Does that mean… Nanomon got taken out?!"
Etemon's heart lurched. If Nanomon was down, it meant his entire base had been gutted—a truly terrifying thought.
But something even more frightening appeared in front of him—
A bright light burst from within the pyramid base, soaring toward Zero and enveloping him completely.
"Hm?"
Enveloped by this radiance, Zero clearly saw the Crest of Courage appear distinctly on his body.
Unlike when Rina activated it previously, this time the Crest's symbol was far more solid, more powerful…the light instantly reignited the Evolutionary Light inside him.
Heat like blazing flames surged through his Digicore. In that instant, Zero understood.
"Incredible… Taichi! Greymon… SUPER DIGIVOLUTION!"
Without the Dark Towers' suppression and with Taichi's Crest of Courage, Zero's body evolved swiftly within the brilliant radiance—once again transforming into MetalGreymon. But this time, rather than the deep blue of Virus-type, his armor was vivid orange, like the original Greymon's hue.
MetalGreymon (Vaccine-type)!
Simultaneously, Zero felt another form taking shape within this new body.
It surpassed the Greymon lineage's classic forms from Rookie onward, drawing closer to a humanoid shape.
An armored dragon-warrior, completely clad in Chrome Digizoid…
"What…is this…?"
Etemon was overwhelmed with terror. The pressure emanating from Zero now was inconceivable. MetalGreymon alone shouldn't produce such immense fear—this was almost comparable to "them"…
Could it be…
In this dark age, devoid of Evolutionary Light and with the Four Holy Beasts sealed away, had someone finally touched that ultimate power aside from those four devils?
That ultimate… strength!
"UNFORGIVABLE!"
Etemon roared furiously, his voice filled more with envy than fear or anger.
He'd fought countless battles hoping to grasp ultimate power. Seeing someone else reach that stage first, jealousy burned through his veins.
But Zero had no interest in Etemon's useless fury. Now having unlocked his latest cheat code, Zero raised his Trident Arm, charging at Etemon.
Wrapped in the Crest of Courage's glow, the arm seemed to take on a peculiar bladed form…
"[MEGA CLAW]!!!"
---
T/N: ah goddamnit, i thought he already had vaccine type before... sigh so he was using virus type the entire time as greymon...