Chapter 169: What I Cannot Forgive... Is My Own Powerlessness
The dust had barely settled, yet the heavy silence between WarGreymon X and Gallantmon threatened to ignite the battlefield all over again. The fleeting moment of peace shattered, replaced by a suffocating tension. On one side stood a holy knight bound by an unwavering, albeit shaken, faith. On the other stood a warrior consumed by the grief of his slaughtered kin. Neither could afford to take a single step back. Their convictions were etched into the very scars on their armor.
"WarGreymon X..." MetalGarurumon X began, his voice a low, metallic rumble. He took a deliberate step forward, his sensors locking onto his longtime comrade.
Before he could finish, WarGreymon X snapped his head around. His eyes burned with a volatile mix of sorrow and rage beneath his golden helmet. "Stay out of this, MetalGarurumon X! This has nothing to do with you!"
The cyborg wolf paused. His mechanical jaw parted slightly as he lowered his head, the glow of his optical visors dimming for a fraction of a second. "Nothing to do with me?" he murmured, the words catching in his throat.
But the hesitation vanished as quickly as it came. The heavy thud of his reinforced paws against the earth signaled his refusal to back down.
"How could it possibly have nothing to do with me?" MetalGarurumon X raised his head, his gaze piercing straight through his partner's fury. "I am a Digimon, too. Their blood is my blood."
He closed the distance between them. "I understand your anger, WarGreymon X. I feel that same burning need to carve out justice for the dead." His tone softened, carrying the weight of countless shared battles. "But you need to cool your core. Look at the bigger picture."
WarGreymon X's posture remained rigid, his Dramon Killers twitching with pent-up kinetic energy.
"Lord Yggdrasil has committed atrocities we can never forgive," MetalGarurumon X continued, his voice steady. "But doesn't it strike you as wrong? Why would the absolute ruler of the Digital World suddenly undergo such a violent, drastic shift in behavior?"
The golden dragon warrior narrowed his eyes. "What are you getting at?"
"I am saying that no matter what happens, I will stand by your side." MetalGarurumon X held his comrade's gaze, emphasizing every single syllable. "But you must stay rational. Do not let this blind fury hijack your will."
He shifted his optical sensors toward the silent, imposing figure of Gallantmon. Slowly, MetalGarurumon X raised his heavily modified left arm. The cold steel of his Gatling gun met the razor-sharp edge of WarGreymon X's right Dramon Killer, pressing the lethal weapon downward with firm, unyielding pressure.
"At the very least," the cyborg wolf rumbled, "do not mistake the true target your blades are meant to pierce."
Across the tense divide, Mizuki mirrored the gesture. He stepped right up to the towering Royal Knight, dwarfed by Gallantmon's massive crimson-and-white armor. Mizuki looked up, catching the knight's conflicted gaze, and simply shook his head. A faint, self-deprecating smirk tugged at the corner of the human's mouth—a silent acknowledgment that if he were just a few feet taller, he absolutely would have reached up and shoved the Holy Lance Gram toward the dirt himself.
Gallantmon stared down at the young man. Seeing the quiet, earnest persuasion in Mizuki's eyes, a sudden wave of nostalgia washed over the Royal Knight. The ruined battlefield seemed to fade for a split second, replaced by the bustling, alien streets of the Human World. He remembered walking those streets in human disguise alongside Lord Yggdrasil. Back then, his sovereign had looked at him with that exact same expression, gently advising him to temper his rigid zeal with calm observation.
Blinking away the phantom memory, Gallantmon refocused on the present. Two more figures had quietly moved into the dead zone between the opposing Ultimate-level warriors.
DoruGreymon stood tall, his massive beast-dragon frame radiating a solemn, heavy gravity. Beside him coiled Hisyaryumon. Unlike her serious companion, the majestic Eastern dragon looked between the two seasoned fighters with wide, innocent eyes that shimmered with a deep sadness.
"Don't... fight..."
The plea slipped from Hisyaryumon's jaws in a soft, distinctly childish voice. "Get along..."
It was a jarring contrast—hearing the innocent, pure-hearted tone of a frightened child echoing from the throat of a massive, heavily armored Ultimate-level dragon. She had grown so large, so powerful, yet her core remained as gentle as the little one she had been just days ago.
That simple, heartbreaking plea shattered the last remnants of hostility in the air. Gallantmon's rigid posture finally broke. He exhaled a long, shuddering breath, the absolute certainty of his holy mission crumbling into dust.
His armored fingers loosened.
Thud.
The Holy Lance Gram slipped from his grasp, its heavy tip crashing into the cracked earth. The impact echoed loudly in the sudden quiet.
For a long moment, the Royal Knight just stood there, staring at the weapon that had taken so many lives in the name of a flawed justice. Slowly, the proud warrior bowed his head toward the Digimon gathered before him.
"I..." Gallantmon's voice cracked, heavy with the weight of his sins. "I am sorry."
Hearing the Royal Knight's surrender, the fiery aura surrounding WarGreymon X finally extinguished. With the adrenaline and rage bleeding out of his system, the agonizing toll of his injuries rushed back in. His massive frame swayed dangerously. He would have collapsed right then and there if not for sheer, stubborn willpower—and the sturdy, metallic shoulder of MetalGarurumon X bracing him from the side.
WarGreymon X let out a ragged breath. "I must apologize to you as well, Gallantmon."
He raised his trembling hands, staring blankly at the bloodstained metal of his claws. "I... I was consumed by rage. I still cannot forgive those who slaughtered innocent Digimon..." His voice dropped to a hollow, broken whisper. "But... the one I am truly furious with... the one I absolutely cannot forgive... is myself."
He kept his gaze locked on his empty palms. That was the bitter truth festering beneath his fury. It wasn't just his hatred for Yggdrasil or the Royal Knights. It was the crushing, suffocating realization of his own impotence.
'Some battle-hardened hero,'he thought bitterly.'Some Ultimate-level powerhouse. What good is all this strength if I couldn't protect a single thing that mattered?'
As the golden warrior spiraled into his own guilt, a sudden, heavy weight pressed into his open palm.
He blinked, startled. It was the cold, reinforced barrel of a Gatling gun. MetalGarurumon X had deliberately placed his modified left arm into WarGreymon X's trembling hand.
WarGreymon X jerked his head up, meeting his partner's glowing optical visors.
"The past is written," MetalGarurumon X said, his mechanical voice surprisingly gentle. "Drowning in regret serves no purpose. We cannot rewind the clock or undo the bloodshed."
The cyborg wolf pressed his weapon firmly against WarGreymon X's palm, a physical anchor to pull him back from the brink. "What matters is right now. You have to take that regret, that crushing guilt, and forge it into the strength we need to keep."
He leaned in closer, his tone resolute. "Turn the agony of yesterday into the fuel for tomorrow. As long as we refuse to stop walking, the dawn will eventually break."
Leaving his comrade to process those words, MetalGarurumon X turned his attention back to the fallen knight. He reached out and lightly tapped the center of Gallantmon's pristine chest armor.
"—But that future," MetalGarurumon X added quietly, "is not something we can build by tearing each other apart."
Gallantmon looked at the cyborg wolf in deep silence. The chaotic storm of doubt and blind loyalty that had ravaged his mind for so long finally began to settle. The fog of confusion parted, leaving behind a quiet, absolute clarity.
Slowly, the Royal Knight gave a single, deep nod.
With that silent pact, the suffocating pressure that had choked the battlefield dissolved entirely. The war between them was truly over.
Sensing the shift in the air, Hisyaryumon let out a trill of pure, unadulterated joy. The massive Eastern dragon lunged forward, happily coiling her long, serpentine body around the three Ultimate-level warriors in a massive, inescapable group hug.
"Everyone... getting along!" she cheered, nuzzling her armored snout against them.
"Sigh... Hisyaryumon, please, let them breathe—" DoruGreymon muttered, shaking his heavy head with a helpless, fond sigh as he watched his partner's antics.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW! Watch the chassis! My armor hasn't repaired itself yet!" MetalGarurumon X yelped, his cool demeanor instantly shattering as the dragon squeezed his battered frame.
WarGreymon X, squished right next to him, couldn't help but let out a dry scoff. "You just delivered this incredibly deep, heroic speech, and now you're whining like a Rookie? You're being a bit pathetic, my friend."
Gallantmon, trapped in the same scaly embrace, observed the flailing cyborg wolf with a deadpan stare. "...A severe lack of endurance training," the Royal Knight evaluated heartlessly.
Standing a few paces away, Mizuki and Belle watched the legendary warriors bicker like overgrown children. The human and his partner exchanged a glance, a warm, knowing smile spreading across both their faces. The heavy burden of survival had lifted, replaced by a rare moment of genuine camaraderie.
They turned to quietly slip away and finally get some well-deserved rest, but they didn't even make it two steps.
A massive, scaly tail whipped out, wrapping gently around Mizuki's waist, while a heavy, furred claw clamped firmly onto Belle's shoulder.
"Big sister! Big brother!" Hisyaryumon chirped happily, reeling Mizuki into the center of the chaotic pile. "Stay together! Play together!"
"You're our comrades too," DoruGreymon added, his draconic face pulling into a distinctly teasing grin as he nudged Belle forward. "You don't get to run away and hide."
Belle blinked, her elegant features freezing in mild shock. "..."
Mizuki let out a long, defeated breath as he was squished against Gallantmon's cape. "..."
Surrounded by the innocent enthusiasm of the Eastern dragon and the smug amusement of the beast-dragon, Mizuki and Belle shared one last look. The sheer absurdity of being hugged to death by a group of terrifying, world-ending Digimon was too much to fight.
In perfect unison, the human and his partner just shrugged.
"Well, this is certainly..." Mizuki started, a helpless laugh escaping his lips.
"...Nothing we can do about it," Belle finished, leaning into the warmth of their newfound family.
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]