After revising his plan, Narumi Akira didn't rush into action.
First, he released a batch of Sparrowmon to gather intelligence. Then he found a room inside the Metal Empire, rested, and waited for the perfect moment to take down two Mega-level Digimon in one sweep and make his name ring out across the Digital World.
Even though the Metal Empire was a city of mechanical and modified Digimon, its layout looked almost like a copy-pasted modern metropolis—supplies and facilities were oddly complete.
Akira couldn't tell whether Machinedramon had simply been too lazy to design something original, or whether it had prepared in advance for an eventual invasion of the human world.
While waiting, Akira would occasionally pull Puppetmon out for a "walk," teasing it for his own amusement.
After being defeated by a force that didn't even qualify as Negamon's "basic attack," Puppetmon—perhaps embarrassed by how humiliating the loss was, perhaps finally acknowledging the gap in power—had become unusually obedient. Even the darkness inside it had noticeably faded.
Watching Puppetmon like this, Akira felt he'd soon be able to start collecting "friendship fees."
Then—
a message finally arrived from Sparrowmon.
Narumi Akira-sama! Machinedramon has blocked Baihumon's path and is currently engaging it in battle!
Akira opened the Darkness Xros Loader, read the battlefield report Sparrowmon uploaded, and nodded in satisfaction.
Compared to Puppetmon's tantrum-child behavior, Machinedramon's command ability was on an entirely different level.
It knew it couldn't match Baihumon's speed, and its army couldn't meaningfully hurt Baihumon either.
So it didn't use conventional encirclement.
Instead, it ordered a scorched-earth contraction of the perimeter—and once Baihumon's coordinates were confirmed, it fired the Infinity Cannon for beyond-visual-range strikes.
Sure, Machinedramon's method was insanely expensive—an absolute "whale strategy," burning resources like water.
But Akira couldn't deny it: it was satisfying to watch.
Unfortunately—
battles in the Digital World had never been about technological sophistication.
Even if Machinedramon's tactics were correct, even if it had seriously wounded Baihumon with the Infinity Cannon before the melee—
once the two Mega-level Digimon actually clashed, the fight still became a stalemate.
Because even with power from both Apocalymon and Millenniummon, Machinedramon still couldn't easily take down Baihumon, the Sovereign famed for slaughter.
In fact, in direct combat against the injured Baihumon, Machinedramon was actually the one at a disadvantage.
Its body was fully metal, but it lacked the Chrome Digizoid of Time—the essential "strong Mega" material—so its defenses meant little against Baihumon's claws.
Akira frowned.
Why was Machinedramon doing this?
It had a range advantage. Why abandon ranged pressure and go for a head-on brawl?
Was it trying to "balance the game" by donating advantage to Baihumon? Or did it suddenly lose its mind and decide to throw?
Then Akira noticed something.
Wait—why are Machinedramon's eyes glowing red?
And why isn't it speaking at all?
That's not Machinedramon fighting.
That's Millenniummon logging into the account.
So it wants Machinedramon to break faster—to make fusion with Chimeramon more convenient, to secure its own birth?
Haja-Chi, you bastard…
After the mental rant, Akira looked to the partner beside him.
"Alice," he said, "open a gate."
"I understand."
The robot girl opened her eyes. Her long black hair stirred without wind—and sliced a dimensional rift through the void, leading straight to the battlefield.
"Well done." Akira patted her head in praise, then spoke more carefully. "For this battle… I want others to take the field. Is that okay?"
"Yes." Alice nodded gently. "I will protect you."
"Thanks."
With the tactics settled, Akira and his partner stepped through the rift and arrived at the edge of the battlefield.
The moment Akira's feet touched the war-scarred ground—
it was as though someone pressed pause.
Both Mega Digimon halted mid-motion.
Both retreated a short distance.
Both turned, in perfect unison, to stare at Akira.
It wasn't because their senses were so sharp that they could track the surroundings while locked in a deathmatch.
It was because Akira's presence was simply too overwhelming.
Akira raised the Darkness Xros Loader and issued a quiet command.
"Puppetmon. Hydramon. DigiXros—"
In an instant, the Digivice screen erupted with darkness that swallowed light, wrapping Puppetmon and Hydramon. Under the gaze of both the righteous and the wicked, the two Virus-type Mega Digimon fused into one.
It was a bizarre sight.
Two dangerous Virus-type Megas—within the same ominous black radiance—
gave birth to a holy white light.
When that sacred light dispersed, what stood at the center of the battlefield was a colossal stag—its head crowned with pipe-like antlers, its entire body radiating the breath of nature.
[Image: Cernumon]
The instant the holy stag descended, countless grasses and trees burst from the soil, blanketing the scorched earth and soothing the wounds left by war.
"A… Holy Beast-type Digimon?" Baihumon murmured.
Baihumon itself was a Holy Beast type, and yet it had never seen such a stag. Staring at Akira—who reeked of darkness yet had summoned a holy beast—it couldn't help asking:
"Are you… a Chosen Child?"
But Baihumon never received the answer it wanted.
"You're the partner Digimon who once belonged to Nishijima Daigo… Bearmon, right?" Akira said calmly.
"I'm not a Chosen Child—and I have no intention of 'saving' a Digital World that sacrificed Megadramon."
"So."
Akira smiled—and spoke words Baihumon should have refuted, yet somehow couldn't.
"I'm here to defeat you all… and establish a new order."
Then Akira looked to the holy stag at his side and spoke softly:
"Cernumon—Celtic Bind."
At the tamer's command, Cernumon's pipe-like antlers released a thunderous roar, forcing the stunned Baihumon and the severely injured Machinedramon to the ground.
Vines erupted from the earth, binding their bodies. They drank in the data leaking from wounds, deepening the restraint with every pulse.
Cernumon's binding was strong, but it couldn't completely suppress Baihumon's robust body.
If Baihumon wished, it could still tear the vines apart and break free.
But it didn't.
Even after five thousand years—after becoming the Digital World's guardian—Baihumon still could not forget the time it had once lived as Bearmon with its partner.
And it could never forget Himekawa Maki's tear-streaked face as she mourned Megadramon, sacrificed and gone forever—nor the grief and guilt in its partner's eyes.
Was this order—an order that demanded children's sacrifices—finally reaching its end?
…How strange.
Baihumon stared at the boy's young face, thoughts surging like waves.
In the end, all those thoughts collapsed into a single question:
"What kind of… order will you bring?"
"I don't know what the future will look like," Akira replied with a smile. "But the one thing I can promise is this: it won't be an order that requires children to be sacrificed."
"I see…"
Even though Baihumon's instincts screamed that the darkness behind this boy surpassed every enemy it had ever faced—
it still believed him.
Because the eyes that should have been brimming with ambition and desire were startlingly clear when he answered.
Baihumon stopped struggling. It condensed its power into a DigiCore, then offered it to the boy.
"Take it," the most slaughter-prone of the Sovereigns said, in a gentle voice that didn't match its form. "I hope this DigiCore will help the future."
"And you aren't afraid I'll use it for evil?" Akira asked quietly.
"Afraid… and what would it change?" Baihumon smiled faintly. "This world will have a new future. How could I stop it?"
Akira fell silent for a moment, then spoke with weight:
"Sleep, Baihumon. When you wake again… you'll reunite with your partner."
"Is that so?" Baihumon closed its eyes, whispering before it drifted off. "Then… I look forward to it…"
In its dream, it returned once more to the days when it was still Bearmon.
…
Akira hadn't lied to Baihumon—yet he also hadn't denied that he'd used a psychological blade.
Still, even he hadn't expected Baihumon to yield so decisively—handing over power that could push a Digimon to Mega-level evolution.
All he could do was sigh:
Homeostasis' "inhuman" way of doing things had become unbearable even for the Four Sovereigns.
After sealing Baihumon, Akira turned toward Machinedramon.
"Millenniummon," Akira said coldly, "you're in there, aren't you? You can't fool me."
As his words fell, the dark soul hidden inside Machinedramon's body burst out, gathering into the phantom outline of a two-headed demonic dragon.
Akira knew that this shadow was the demon king prophesied to destroy the Digital World.
He held respect for Millenniummon—at least as a Digimon fan.
Strictly speaking, the Millenniummon unique to Adventure and 02 was the "true" Millenniummon:
born from the millennium bug phenomenon, capable of interfering with time and space, forcibly devolving Digimon, even turning its own birth into a closed loop—an Ultra-level existence.
In a sense, it existed in past, present, and future at the same time—reviving again and again across different timeframes as long as it did not wish to die.
Even so, it wasn't an invincible being.
Its will was greater than its power.
At the very least, this demon king of legend had not yet reached a level that could compare to a being that had actually destroyed worlds: Destruction.
So Akira's "respect" was simply the respect a fan gives a legendary villain.
"Millenniummon," Akira demanded, "what do you want?"
The dragon phantom stared at him and spoke in a voice that was chaotic, distorted—yet somehow Akira understood it.
"Companion… of Destruction…" it said. "I need… to be born…"
"This world hasn't reached a second millennium," Akira replied. "You're overstepping. Do you want to taste Destruction?"
"I… cannot cross Destruction…" The phantom wavered. "I know… I cannot be your enemy… in the future…"
Akira's eyes narrowed.
Why did it specifically mention "future me"?
Was it saying that future Akira could defeat it even without relying on Negamon?
He suppressed that thread and pressed forward.
"If you already know you can't beat me, why interfere with time?" Akira demanded. "Don't tell me you're planning to go further into the past and kill me there."
"No… I do not have such intent…" The phantom grew more indistinct. "What I want… is only a promise…"
"What promise?"
"Do not destroy… my 'birth'…" Akira heard something like pleading in the broken voice. "I still want to see… my…"
"Akiyama Ryo, right?" Akira cut in. He knew the tangled love-hate bond between Millenniummon and Ryo. "You want to see him?"
"Yes… I want to see him…"
"So?" Akira asked bluntly. "What do I gain?"
"You… will obtain an entwined fate," the phantom prophesied. "It will bring you power… glory… and…"
"And what?"
Akira had to admit: even knowing Millenniummon was unbelievably cunning, he was still hooked by the prophecy.
But he didn't expect something this absurd.
"A partner…" the phantom declared. "A partner… that matches your requirements…"
"…?"
"…??"
"…???"
What?
Akira's head buzzed with static. He didn't even know where to start roasting this.
Bro, what are you babbling about?
Your "birth" isn't even that far from now! How do I suddenly have a partner?
Don't slander me out of thin air!
And what does "matches my requirements" even mean?!
Do you know I'm a committed bunny-head player?!
Is this "partner" strong? Useful? High-spec?
Now you've made me insanely curious!
Akira wanted to interrogate further—but he also felt that the moment he did, it would mean he'd already fallen for the bait.
So he cut the thread decisively and went straight for intent.
"You're so desperate to be born you're resorting to pimping?" Akira snapped. "What are you really after?"
"I… did not lie…" The phantom pointed toward Akira's partner. "Destruction's physical body… can confirm…"
"Yes," Negamon replied, taking over without hesitation. "It is not lying."
…What?
This ridiculous prophecy is actually true?
Having proven its words, the dragon phantom finally dispersed, leaving only broken farewell fragments behind.
"Until we meet again… in the near future… Companion of Destruction…"
After the farewell, Machinedramon fell silent.
Akira knew Millenniummon's will had fully withdrawn from this point in time.
But now he didn't want to care about that anymore.
"Xiao Ai…"
"I'm here."
"You…" Akira stared at his partner. "Can you also see the future?"
Xiao Ai didn't answer directly.
Instead, she asked calmly:
"Do you want to know the future?"
Akira froze.
To say he wasn't curious would be a lie he wouldn't even believe himself.
And yet—
he still shook his head.
Not because he feared becoming a slave to fate.
But because—
"The future me… what I'll become," Akira smiled, "you don't need to tell me."
"I'll see it myself."