Chapter 207: The Star That Shoots Down the World
He plummeted from the upper atmosphere, a crimson meteor tearing through the stratosphere.
The blistering heat generated by the friction between his colossal, armor-clad body and the planet's atmosphere ignited into a raging inferno around him. The deafening roar of rushing air battered Examon's senses, a chaotic tempest of sound and fire. Yet, amidst the apocalyptic descent, his burning gaze remained entirely fixed on a single point far below.
The figure standing at the end of his destructive path.
What a piercing look in those eyes, Examon thought, the wind howling past his horned helm.
She was a Digimon born of the abyss, an entity steeped in dark data, yet her eyes burned with an entirely different light. That fierce, unwavering desperation to protect something precious... it was a mirror image of how he used to be.
If this were the past, Examon might have felt a twinge of sentimentality. He might have stayed his lance. But the Dragon Emperor of the present had already ripped out his own heart, personally incinerating his past along with every lingering notion of friendship and justice. He no longer possessed the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong. He only knew his duty.
Just die.
[Dragonic Impact!]
Far below, the oppressive heatwave heralded the Dragon Emperor's arrival. The air itself grew bone-dry, scorching Belle's lungs with every breath.
As expected of a monster whose strength ranks at the absolute pinnacle of the Royal Knights, she thought, her boots digging into the cracked earth.
However—
Belle took a deep, steadying breath. With a swift, practiced motion, she hoisted the vacant-eyed Magnamon up by his golden armor, holding him squarely in front of her like a human-sized riot shield.
"I have absolute faith in Magnamon's ability to block this!" she declared, her voice ringing with mock sincerity.
Magnamon: "..."
Under Magnamon's despairing, hollow gaze, the tip of Examon's colossal lance collided solidly with his golden chest plate.
The confrontation lasted for less than a fraction of a second before ending in the golden knight's utter defeat. The sheer kinetic force of a Royal Knight plunging from orbit was simply too massive. Even with the absolute strongest defense among his peers, asking Magnamon to halt the Dragon Emperor's atmospheric strike was a fool's errand.
'Good! Just like that, Examon!'Pinned beneath the crushing weight of the lance and driven violently toward the earth, a spark of vindictive hope ignited within Magnamon's dimming consciousness. He was the pinnacle of defense; he was confident his Digicore would survive the brunt of Examon's strike. But the damn woman hiding behind him?'That's it! Drive us both into the ground!'Magnamon roared in his mind.'Crush her completely!'
In truth, Magnamon's vicious internal prayer aligned perfectly with Examon's tactical calculation. The Dragon Emperor knew the enemy was using his comrade as a shield, but he also knew her frail body could never withstand the transferred kinetic shock. By driving Magnamon's indestructible armor directly into her, Examon intended to use his fellow knight as the very anvil upon which he would shatter her to pieces.
So, what is your next move? Examon's eyes narrowed, locked onto the tiny figure behind the golden armor.
A split second later, his draconic pupils contracted.
She abandoned him.
Realizing the transferred impact would pulverize her bones, Belle ruthlessly discarded her sturdy golden shield. She kicked off Magnamon's shoulder, using the recoil to launch herself directly up the shaft of Examon's descending lance.
Watching her sprint up his weapon, Examon immediately commanded his Digicore to surge. The colossal lance, already glowing a superheated cherry-red from atmospheric friction, flared with a blinding, toxic-green luminescence. In the blink of an eye, thousands of dense, concentrated laser pillars erupted from the shaft, forming an inescapable grid of annihilation aimed squarely at Belle.
[Pendragon's Glory!]
handling the sheer hurricane-force winds of Examon's descent was already pushing Belle to her absolute physical limits. Now, she had to weave through a blinding rain of high-density lasers—a task made infinitely harder by the fact that she was currently missing an arm.
The battlefield erupted into a chain of deafening explosions, the sky flashing white and green. The result seemed utterly absolute.
Or was it?
Rumble—!
As the smoke from the blanket bombardment cleared, a flash of genuine astonishment rippled through the Dragon Emperor's eyes. According to his tactical calculations, the enemy should have been vaporized into raw data. Yet, not only had she survived the point-blank barrage, but she had also used the explosions to propel herself even closer.
With that fragile body? It defies all logic.
Though he couldn't fathom how she had slipped through, Examon had no time for analysis. If energy projection couldn't erase her, he would crush her with overwhelming physical mass.
Examon raised his massive, red-hot dragon claw. To Belle, the descending strike was indistinguishable from an entire mountain range collapsing directly onto her head. The sky darkened. The pressure flipped her equilibrium. She wasn't just fighting an enemy; she was fighting the sheer weight of the "world" itself.
"This suffocating feeling... it really has been a long time..." Belle murmured, a dangerous, starlit glint flickering in her eyes.
Her jaw locked. To protect the existence that anchored her to this life, she would gladly make an enemy of the entire world. She wouldn't hesitate for a single second.
"Just this level of pressure isn't nearly enough to sever the bond between me and Mizu!" she screamed, her voice cutting through the roaring winds. "This is the exact moment I've been waiting for!"
Open up. Release all restrictions.
[Belfast Beast: Final End Mode]
I have deciphered all data structures. This is the end of all things.
Facing the boundless, descending mountain of scales and muscle, Belle swung the gun-blade that materialized in her remaining hand. With a vicious, upward thrust, she buried the roaring blade deep into the center of Examon's descending palm.
Blood-red data sprayed into the air. As Examon's stoic expression shattered into pure disbelief, Belle twisted the hilt and violently ripped her blade upward, forcibly splitting his colossal palm in two right down the middle.
Before Examon could even process the agonizing shock, Belle blurred past the ruined claw, appearing directly in front of his massive face.
Not good.
"Don't even think about it!" Belle snarled, reading the shift in his muscles as he tried to pull back.
Raising her newly reconstructed arm, she lunged forward and plunged her hand directly into the center of Examon's brow, right between his eyes.
"As expected, the sheer density of your data is terrifying..." she gritted her teeth, feeling the immense pushback. "Although I hate to admit it, against a stubborn brute like you, that bastard's technique is actually the most useful—ugh!"
Belle bit her lip, her cheeks flushing a faint red as she realized what had just slipped out. I shouldn't use bad words... Mizu wouldn't like it.
Despite her momentary embarrassment, her offensive didn't falter for a microsecond. A torrential stream of highly concentrated, corrosive virus data pumped from her arm directly into Examon's neural core. Everything within Belle's domain of control instantly crystallized. Countless jagged, violet crystals erupted from the inside out, violently piercing through Examon's impenetrable armor.
[Crystal Revolution!]
(Somewhere in the digital ether, a certain Grandracmon who was absolutely peeping on the battle silently flashed a smug V-sign.)
How is this possible?!
Watching from the crater below, Magnamon's eyes nearly split from their sockets. He couldn't comprehend how a battle that heavily favored the Royal Knights had been so violently overturned in seconds. He understood even less how an entity with Examon's god-like parameters could be brought to his knees by a mere Demon Man type Digimon.
Could it be... Examon, are you planning to betray Lord Yggdrasill too?! Magnamon roared in his mind, his vocal cords still paralyzed. Blinded by rage and humiliation, the golden knight failed to realize that Belle had orchestrated this exact sequence of events from the very beginning.
More, he failed to understand that Belle's victory wasn't born from her power alone.
So that's how it is...
Feeling the chaotic, viral data ravaging his internal systems, a flash of grim realization crossed Examon's dimming eyes.
It was you... Gallantmon.
I never expected you to plant such a massive, hidden anomaly inside my Digicore while my guard was down.
The brief recovery Examon had experienced earlier wasn't because he had purged the virus data from their previous clash. The virus had simply gone dormant, burying itself deep within his code, waiting for the exact moment a catalyst like Belle activated it.
Examon and Gallantmon both knew that a thorough diagnostic scan after the battle would have easily revealed the anomaly. But Gallantmon had gambled on Examon's pride and the relentless pace of the war.
Examon: "..."
Do you really trust these intruders that much, Gallantmon? Enough to bet my defeat on them?
Examon's colossal body began to tremble violently, his muscles locking up as the crystals spread.
Seeing the massive dragon shudder, Belle's brow furrowed. On the surface, Examon was completely suppressed, but the sheer volume of his data meant he hadn't fully given up the struggle. It would still take her a few crucial minutes to completely override his core.
If I get hit by any external force right now—
Just as the thought crossed her mind, a lazy, almost melodic voice drifted into her ears.
"Well, well. That's quite an impressive display, little lady, pushing our big brother Examon to such a pathetic state."
The air pressure shifted drastically.
"However, as his loyal colleague, I really can't just stand by and watch you dissect him like that~"
Belle's blood ran cold. Kentaurosmon.
By the time she snapped her head back, the six-legged holy knight was already standing in her blind spot, his massive holy crossbow leveled directly at her temple.
Kentaurosmon's armor was heavily scorched, and his left side was entirely exposed. "In order to break free from Dynasmon's relentless nagging, I had to pay the steep price of an arm and my Sacred Shield~" he sighed, his tone casual but his aim dead-steady. "So, I think it's about time you quit while you're ahead~"
Belle's pupils shrank to pinpricks. "—!"
[Bifrost!]
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