Chapter 208: Examon—Death
Has Examon actually been defeated?
Omnimon's thoughts churned beneath his stoic exterior. To think the battle could escalate to such a catastrophic point... It seems she is also constantly evolving, pushing past her limits in real-time.
At this moment, Omnimon found himself facing a relentless pincer attack from Dynasmon and Mizuki. Despite the lingering confusion clouding his heart regarding the true nature of this conflict, it wasn't enough to hinder his flawless combat instincts.
With a fluid, masterful sweep of his extraordinary Sword, Omnimon easily neutralized the combined offensive of the human and the Royal Knight, forcing them both to retreat a considerable distance. Taking a brief fraction of a second to breathe, Omnimon tilted his white-armored head, looking up at the fractured sky.
High above, Examon's colossal, crimson body was still plummeting toward the earth. However, the terrifying, world-destroying momentum that usually accompanied the Dragon Emperor was completely gone. The aura he exuded now was fragile, resembling peeling, fractured crystal—though still possessing a tragic, gorgeous majesty, it could no longer hide the obvious stench of death and withering data.
Fortunately, Kentaurosmon has already gone to provide support... Omnimon thought, his grip tightening on his blade.
Although a knot of genuine worry for Examon's condition tightened in his chest, remembering how Kentaurosmon had rushed over without a second of hesitation—even at the grievous cost of sacrificing one of his own arms—made Omnimon feel a fraction more at ease.
The six-legged knight might occasionally give off an aloof or unreliable impression to outsiders, but in reality, Kentaurosmon was undeniably one of the most steadfast and dependable members of the Royal Knights. To put it bluntly, there were times when Omnimon trusted Kentaurosmon's pragmatic judgment even more than he trusted his closest friend, Gallantmon. That alone spoke volumes about the centaur's unwavering reliability on the battlefield.
And indeed, that trust was not misplaced.
Despite the agonizing cost of a severed arm, Kentaurosmon had miraculously arrived at the epicenter of the battlefield at the most critical moment. Moving with blinding speed, he had forcefully interrupted Belle's lethal offensive long before Dynasmon's subsequent pursuit could even close the distance.
Thanks to that timely intervention, Examon should have been able to catch his breath, buying precious time to resist the deadly erosion of the virus eating away at his colossal frame.
At least, that was how it should have been.
"Hey... little girl..."
However, at this exact moment, Kentaurosmon did not look remotely as optimistic as the tactical situation might have suggested. His usually stoic, armored face was contorted into a mask of pure, unadulterated horror. The last time the centaur knight had worn such a terrible, despairing expression was the day Gankoomon had fallen.
"What exactly... did you do?"
The chilling, trembling words slipped from Kentaurosmon's mouth, carrying a heavy weight of dread.
Reflected perfectly in his wide pupils were Examon's hollow, lifeless eyes.
Examon... was already dead.
How is that possible?
How could the Dragon Emperor die? With such an incomprehensibly massive amount of data making up his digicore, how could a being of his caliber perish so easily?
Despite the fierce reluctance screaming in his heart, the cruel, obvious reality was laid out bare before Kentaurosmon, violently forcing him to accept the absolute fact of Examon's fall.
Yet, at this moment, Belle—the very person directly involved in the clash—was equally submerged in disbelief.
Staring at Examon's lifeless descent, a look of utter, unfeigned astonishment painted her exquisite features.
This shouldn't be happening...
Although she absolutely hadn't held back her firepower, given Examon's overwhelming defensive abilities and sheer mass, there was absolutely no logical reason for him to die so abruptly.
If she could just reach Examon's body right now, she was confident she could analyze his data and figure out exactly what had caused this fatal anomaly.
However, under the blistering assault of Kentaurosmon's Bifrost just moments ago, she had been violently forced back a considerable distance. If she wanted to close the gap again, she estimated that the enraged Royal Knight wouldn't let her pass without a fight to the death.
also, a certain incredibly annoying fellow was already recovering from his previous beating.
"Damned BeelStarmon! How dare you do such a thing to Examon!" a furious voice roared from the rubble.
[Plasma Sho—]
Before Magnamon could even finish calling out his signature attack, Belle spun her dual handguns with ruthless efficiency, her eyes flashing with cold irritation.
[Fly Bullet: Modified: Crystal Revolution!]
Without even sparing a single glance at Magnamon—whom she had effortlessly shot out of the sky yet again with a barrage of freezing crystalline energy—Belle kept her intense gaze locked firmly onto Examon's plummeting, massive body.
At that exact moment, like a final, fleeting flash of lucidity before the end, a glimmer of unexpected relief flashed through Examon's cloudy, dying eyes.
"Kentaurosmon... that's enough..."
Examon, who had been deathly silent for what felt like an eternity, finally spoke. His voice was incredibly old, low, and laced with a heavy, metallic rasp. "The winner takes all. This... is simply karma."
A massive, shuddering breath rattled through his chest. "Ever since I laid a hand on Gankoomon... I have been prepared for this outcome..."
"Examon, you—"
Hearing the weak, rumbling voice from behind him, Kentaurosmon whipped his head around, his golden armor clanking sharply.
But the moment he met Examon's eyes—eyes that finally no longer bothered to hide their immense, soul-crushing exhaustion—the centaur knight fell completely silent. The words of encouragement died in his throat.
After a long, agonizing pause, Kentaurosmon finally lowered his head and muttered, "In that case... take a good rest, old man."
He gripped his weapon tighter, his voice dropping to a somber whisper. "But don't worry. I expect it won't be long before the rest of us come down to find you."
A faint, rumbling chuckle vibrated from the dragon. "Is that so...? If that's the case, I'd really rather not—ugh!?"
Mid-sentence, Examon suddenly choked. A wave of intense, unimaginable agony ripped through his colossal frame, and the dignified expression on his draconic face began to violently distort into a mask of pure torment.
Before Kentaurosmon could even process the sudden change, a sickening squelch echoed through the air. In the very next second, several eerie, grotesque tentacles violently burst outward from the center of Examon's chest, tearing through his crimson armor. Driven by a predatory instinct, the appendages lashed out, stabbing directly toward Kentaurosmon's face.
The centaur knight froze, his eyes wide with shock.
Fortunately, at that hyper-critical moment, Dynasmon—having finally disengaged from Omnimon and arrived at the main battlefield—swooped in like a comet, violently tackling Kentaurosmon out of the lethal trajectory and rescuing him from the gruesome tentacle attack.
"What in the world is this thing!?" Dynasmon roared, his wings flaring as he stabilized them both in mid-air.
Staring at the horrific, black-and-white tentacles writhing and pulsating from the gaping wound in Examon's chest, an unmatched, bone-deep chill welled up in Kentaurosmon's heart.
In the next second, Kentaurosmon didn't even spare the time to thank Dynasmon for the rescue. Instead, he whipped his head around, glaring murderously in Belle's direction. "What exactly did you do to Examon?!"
"I... it wasn't me!"
Facing the Royal Knight's furious, blood-curdling interrogation, Belle shook her head, a rare flash of genuine panic crossing her features.
It was true that she had been the one to defeat the Dragon Emperor in combat, but she possessed her own strict code of honor. She would never stoop so low as to perform such a vile, desecrating act on a defeated, dying opponent.
"I have no idea what just happened either!" Belle shouted back, her dual guns raised defensively. "I clearly only used Crystal Revolution on him! That doesn't cause... this!"
Seeing the unfeigned panic and disgust on Belle's face, Kentaurosmon forcibly suppressed his blinding rage, forcing his tactical mind to quickly calm down.
It seemed this dark Digimon was not lying.
While he couldn't entirely rule out the possibility of a masterful deception, basic logic dictated otherwise. If she truly possessed the horrific ability to implant parasitic tentacles and devour a Royal Knight from the inside out, why would she have spared Magnamon time and time again? Even if the golden knight's raw strength was currently lacking compared to the rest of them, he was still a Mega-level combatant. He would have been prime prey.
If that hypothesis held true, then a terrifying question remained: Who exactly did this to Examon?
While Kentaurosmon's mind raced through the grim possibilities, Examon's colossal body finally completed its descent, slamming violently into the ground.
The apocalyptic impact instantly tore the earth to pieces, sending massive shockwaves ripping through the bedrock. The sheer kinetic force of the crash caused the surrounding sea to surge, throwing up a violent, towering tsunami that crashed against the shattered coastline.
Seizing the chaotic opportunity provided by the dust cloud, Belle quickly blurred into motion, rushing directly to Examon's fallen side to examine the gruesome wound.
Her crimson eyes narrowed as she scanned the cavity. "As I suspected... his digicore is completely gone."
She gritted her teeth, a cold sweat prickling the back of her neck. "Something deliberately destroyed and devoured his core data while he was in a weakened state!"
"How utterly cruel..." Dynasmon muttered, hovering just above them, his voice trembling with a mix of rage and sorrow. "Done this way... even his chance at reincarnation in the Primary Village is—"
Seeing the grotesque, black-and-white tentacles continuing to writhe and pulse from the hollowed-out cavern of Examon's chest, Belle felt a violent wave of physical revulsion churn in her stomach. Decisively, she raised her dual handguns, her aura flaring with lethal intent.
[Fly Bullet: Modified: Gaia Force!]
[Fly Bullet: Modified: Garuru Tomahawk!]
A devastating combination of elemental fury erupted from her barrels. Under Belle's relentless barrage, the writhing tentacles were first encased in solid, unyielding ice by the freezing missiles, and then instantly blown to absolute pieces by the subsequent sphere of super-concentrated, high-heat solar energy.
The explosion rocked the crater, sending plumes of scorched earth into the sky.
But... were they really destroyed?
Had this unknown, parasitic horror truly been defeated so easily?
Staring intensely into the thick, swirling smoke in front of her, Belle deeply furrowed her brows. Her exquisite face, usually so confident and mocking, was now painted with heavy solemnity. Her internal scanners were throwing back chaotic, impossible errors.
"Unable to analyze?" she whispered, her voice laced with genuine disbelief. "It's... it's not a data-based lifeform?"
She took a slow step back, her grip on her guns tightening until her knuckles turned white. "The data inside this thing... it's all plundered from other sources. What actually constitutes its core essence is something far deeper... something completely alien and difficult to understand."
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the crater as the smoke began to clear.
"Just what exactly is this thing?"
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