With the launch of the "Wall" Project, the Dark Army unleashed a crazed offensive across cyberspace.
Given humanity's current firewall and encryption technologies, resisting a Digimon attack was virtually impossible. After all, it was an inherent disadvantage.
Against enemies who treated program code like snacks, conventional defense programs had zero effect. No matter how intricately built, they couldn't possibly stop the Digimon advance.
Thus, the heavy responsibility of resisting the Dark Army's invasion—at least until the Wall was fully operational—fell entirely on Zero's group.
Taking advantage of login jumps, Zero had spent the entire past week racing across cyberspace, fending off wave after wave of Dark Army assaults.
Spiral Mountain was a grand program completed by the Dark Masters, but the relay stations that formed the Wall were a miracle achieved by the Kamishiro Group's full mobilization of manpower and resources.
The Dark Masters weren't facing a single opponent—they were up against the vast cyberspace of the entire human world… the billions upon billions of data packets the Kamishiro Group could harness.
In other words, the Dark Masters were battling the entirety of the human world!
Though 99% of humanity had no clue this hidden war even existed, every internet visit, every online interaction generating new data—was humanity's contribution to this invisible battle.
This was humanity's greatest advantage against Digimon. Now, in the Information Age, billions of pieces of data flowed through cyberspace every second.
If Kamishiro could utilize even one percent of that immense data, it would already be a terrifying amount.
Digimon had the advantage in raw strength—every Rookie-level Digimon easily surpassed human combat power.
Direct combat was hopeless, but humanity had other strengths. Just like the "War Game" film, the global live-streamed final battle, where messages from around the world created miracles for the dying WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon to fuse into Omegamon.
Or in "Digimon Tamers," when humanity faced the D-Reaper's immense computational power that defied the world's strongest supercomputers. Volunteers worldwide connected their computers, collectively resolving the crisis.
Beyond mere data, the emotional resonance stirred by a global audience was an equally crucial catalyst…
Without Kamishiro's support, Zero alone could never complete the Wall.
Of course, Kamishiro's vast data was also derived from humanity's daily internet interactions. Ultimately, everything rested on the foundation of human society itself.
This was total war—collective power and extraordinary individuals were both vital, indispensable for victory.
Similarly, the Dark Army had clearly not expected humanity to mount such an effective counterattack.
Humanity's primary advantage was precisely its massive data reserves. For Digimon, data was the most critical resource. Humans, armed with this overwhelming amount of data, could complete a large-scale program equal to Spiral Mountain far quicker than the Dark Masters.
Despite Spiral Mountain being on the verge of completion, humanity was constructing the Wall at a stunning, nearly unbelievable pace.
And this was despite Digimon having a natural time advantage due to time-flow differences between worlds.
Precisely because of this, the Dark Masters became even greedier for the human world.
If humans, arriving later, could already match—or nearly surpass—the Dark Masters' preparations, fully mastering humanity's vast data would grant dominion over both worlds… and perhaps even enable conquest into unknown realms.
But first, the Dark Army could no longer remain stagnant. They needed a breakthrough…
And now, this critical task fell to one individual.
Or rather, it wasn't specifically entrusted to her; her actions merely aligned perfectly with the Dark Army's desperate timing.
The grand plan to invade the human world en masse had stalled, impossible until Spiral Mountain was complete.
However, the technology allowing small numbers of Digimon to enter the human world had made great progress.
Except for the Dark Masters themselves—whose immense data volumes made crossing the Real World barrier impossible—any other member of the Dark Army could now be sent through, provided it was just one individual…
It wasn't about "can or can't," only whether there was a need…
…And so, she arrived.
Stepping forward precisely when the Dark Army faced setbacks, she successfully crossed the Real World barrier, arriving in the human world.
A cloud of blood-red bats gathered together, transforming into a white-haired woman clad in black leather.
The instant she appeared, she staggered, body swaying uncontrollably. She barely managed to steady herself against a lamppost in the park.
"Ugh… Crossing the Real World barrier… took more strength than expected."
She weakly raised her head. After all, she'd forcibly evolved from Rookie to Ultimate thanks to Piedmon's power; her current strength was unstable.
"…I'm starving. I need to eat something."
The massive energy drain of crossing the barrier left her ravenous, desperate for nourishment.
At that moment, she heard footsteps approaching from behind.
It was past midnight. Aside from overworked office drones slogging through overtime, most ordinary people wouldn't roam the streets at this hour—especially not in this small park, far from bars or nightlife.
Under dim streetlights stood a pale-faced woman leaning weakly against a lamppost… a scenario filled with potential implications.
A salaryman carrying a briefcase paused briefly, stunned by the unexpected sight.
"Eh? Cosplay at this hour? There shouldn't be any events nearby…"
In Japan, where ACG was treated as a cultural industry, cosplay sightings were relatively common. Most citizens were used to young people occasionally wearing strange costumes in public.
Even if many passersby weren't personally into ACG culture, they'd long grown indifferent to bizarre outfits.
However, this oddly-dressed woman seemed exhausted, swaying dangerously against the lamppost, on the verge of collapse.
Concerned, the salaryman instinctively stepped forward.
"Miss… are you okay?"
"Hehe… Approaching a stranger at night like this… You're such a kind man~"
LadyDevimon raised her head, her scarlet eyes glinting eerily beneath the streetlights, radiating a faint, bloody glow.
"Huh?"
Meeting her gaze, the salaryman felt his mind grow instantly heavy, consciousness becoming hazy. His legs buckled, and he stumbled forward…
…Falling right into a warm embrace. Her soft, attractive figure pressed against him, the enchanting crimson eyes stripping away the last fragments of his reason.
"I'm a little hungry… Treat me to something tasty, won't you~?"
The woman's soft whisper brushed past his ear, and without any thought at all, he instinctively agreed.
"S-Sure…"
"Hehe, wonderful~ We have plenty of time… So tonight, please take good care of me~"
...
"Is it just me, or has the Dark Army's activity noticeably dropped over the past two days?"
A week and a half had passed since the Wall Project formally began. In the first week, the Dark Army's offensives were practically insane, like clockwork attacks lining up with every meal—breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, midnight snacks—all striking seven or eight times each…
…Forcing even a simple meal to be eaten in three parts, waking everyone up in the dead of night.
Luckily, Rina and the Yagami siblings were young enough to endure. As for Zero, as long as there was data to absorb, Digimon didn't need rest or sleep.
With the strength of his DigiCore, even without food, water, or rest, Zero could fight continuously for extended periods…
…So more annoying than lack of sleep were the unpredictable, random ambushes.
Yet the past two days clearly showed a drop-off in the Dark Army's attacks.
Had they suffered too many losses, and were feeling cautious now?
Zero instantly dismissed the thought. The Dark Army was essentially a heartless sweatshop—forget weekends, it wouldn't even offer basic benefits like overtime pay.
The Dark Masters' recruiting methods were straightforward: join and obey orders for potential rewards, or die right then and there.
They certainly weren't attracting recruits with employee benefits—otherwise, the Dark Army would've gone bankrupt long ago.
Although the Dark Masters' promises were hollow, their fists were painfully real. In this world, those fearing death always outnumbered those who didn't.
Joining the Dark Army at least meant a clear promotion path—as long as you survived, eventually you could reach a respectable position.
It was essentially a massive, ruthless training ground. Weaklings died off quickly, leaving only the strong behind.
Indeed, some powerful Digimon joined the Dark Army specifically seeking breakthroughs…
Thus, the Dark Army had no shortage of cannon fodder.
So if their attacks slowed down, there had to be another reason.
Like, for instance…
"…Eh? Midnight vampire urban legends?"
---
A/N: Speaking of which, why are so many of you asking for a genderbent Koushiro to ship with Taichi? Are you guys serious?
Well, it's not impossible to set Taichi up with someone. If you don't mind destroying childhoods, I don't care either (laughs)~
T/N: :eye: