Inside the Nightmare Legion, Piedmon opened a private communications channel and called a meeting.
"Machinedramon. MetalSeadramon." His expression was clownish, as if he had no intention of treating a military conference seriously at all. "I just received news: Puppetmon was attacked by an unknown force. Status unknown—alive or dead. The Jungle Troopers were also wiped out."
"How is that possible?" MetalSeadramon snapped in disbelief. "In this world, the only Mega-level Digimon are us and the Four Sovereigns. Now that Qinglongmon has fallen and the other three Sovereigns are suppressed by us… how can Puppetmon simply vanish?"
"Whether you want to believe it or not, it's reality." Piedmon's smile didn't change.
"I went to check personally. The dark power in the Sacred Beast Forest is gone—and Puppetmon is gone too." He tilted his head, still smiling. "The only good news is that Qinglongmon's seal has not been undone."
"Therefore, even if Puppetmon is dead, it doesn't hinder our plan to seal the remaining Sovereigns and erect Spiral Mountain."
"But the problem is…" Piedmon's smile faded. His eyes turned a vivid, blood-red as he stared at MetalSeadramon. "We don't know whether the force that made Puppetmon disappear will come for us next."
Piedmon's words made MetalSeadramon's pupils tighten, its entire body tensing.
If Puppetmon—the weakest Dark Master—could be erased so quickly, then if that force aimed for the Dark Masters…
MetalSeadramon would be the next victim.
MetalSeadramon considered itself strong. Subduing Zhuqiaomon was only a matter of time. But it did not believe it had the ability to defeat Puppetmon in a single day and annihilate the Jungle Troopers down to the last.
If that terrifying unknown force truly chose it as the next target…
"Who did it?!" MetalSeadramon demanded in panic. "Piedmon—do you have any clue at all?!"
"The one who bestowed power upon us did not specify," Piedmon said with a shrug, completely unbothered. "And I truly couldn't trace it. It might be the Chosen Children… or perhaps an envoy of Yggdrasill."
"Damn it!" MetalSeadramon slammed its tail against the sea in agitation. "So we just sit here and wait to die?!"
"That's not necessary." Piedmon's grin turned sly. "We're not fighting alone."
MetalSeadramon didn't understand. "You mean…?"
"There are other forces that seek to destroy the order Homeostasis built—besides us." Piedmon smiled with delight. "Lord Apocalymon has permitted us to borrow power from Yggdrasill."
"Yggdrasill?" MetalSeadramon froze. "That host system suppressed by Homeostasis… what power could it possibly give us?"
"It gave me the power to evolve."
Piedmon spread his hands. Two globes of darkness that devoured light appeared in his palms.
"With this, we might surpass the limits of Mega level and reach a new realm."
"But the problem is…" He paused, eyes narrowing. "Yggdrasill only gave two portions of power."
"I'm the one least afraid of ambushes, but unfortunately…"
Piedmon clenched his left hand. The massive dark power compressed instantly and took shape as a crimson bat mask.
"That's… Myotismon's power!" MetalSeadramon realized immediately. "You consumed your own subordinate?"
"If I'd known he had this use, of course I would have." Piedmon sighed, then grinned. "But sadly, as a Perfect-level Digimon, he was too weak. This curse power was prepared by Yggdrasill for me—and it'll take time to absorb."
"The issue is…"
Piedmon withdrew his own evolution power and placed the remaining portion openly on the table.
"This leftover power… who does it belong to?"
Staring at that blazing evolution power, MetalSeadramon swallowed hard.
If it were placed in front of it, it would fight to the death to claim it.
But—
MetalSeadramon turned its head toward Machinedramon, who had remained silent since the meeting began.
It knew that no matter how badly it wanted that power, it would still need Machinedramon's consent.
Because Machinedramon's strength was far beyond its own.
At the same time, Piedmon also looked toward Machinedramon.
Piedmon knew the Mega Digimon in front of him might be under Apocalymon…
…but behind it lurked a different monster.
A monster that had already surpassed Mega-level limits—
one that even Lord Apocalymon treated with caution.
If Piedmon hadn't gained curse power and glimpsed the threshold of Ultra level, he might never have even known the monster existed.
And he could sense it faintly—
even if he completed his evolution, he still might not be able to contend with that thing.
So Piedmon didn't want to hand the evolution power to Machinedramon.
Unfortunately, he had no right to decide where it went.
"Machinedramon." Piedmon forced down his unease and asked, "Do you want this power?"
In the next instant—
A dangerous red light flickered inside Machinedramon's black eye sockets. Its massive mechanical body pulsed with a thick surge of darkness.
[Image: Machinedramon]
Piedmon could see the shadow attached to Machinedramon's interior writhing—replacing its will.
"This will not make 'me' an Ultra-level Digimon." The monster didn't even look at the evolution power. "I do not need it."
It didn't even want this?
Then that monster really was a genuine Ultra-level existence.
Piedmon's dread deepened.
He bit down on it anyway and turned to MetalSeadramon.
"Then I'll give this power to you, MetalSeadramon."
"G-Great!" MetalSeadramon nodded repeatedly, completely outside the situation and oblivious to the abnormality—its eyes filled with nothing but hunger for evolution.
"Thank you, Machinedramon!" it blurted.
"I'll head over to Piedmon right away and finish evolving as soon as possible!" As if afraid Machinedramon would change its mind, MetalSeadramon hurried on. "Then I can suppress Zhuqiaomon faster too!"
"Hehe, MetalSeadramon is really impatient~" Piedmon chuckled.
"Then this meeting ends here. I need to go 'receive' MetalSeadramon." Piedmon smiled, smoothly following the thread. "Until next time, 'Machinedramon.'"
With that, Piedmon shut off the camera and forcibly ended the Dark Side meeting.
And then—
"That damned monster!" Piedmon's smile vanished. He cursed in fury. "Looking down on me, looking down on the power of evolution!"
"I really hope it dies sooner rather than later!"
After venting, Piedmon calmed down.
He knew it was just a fantasy.
What Piedmon didn't know—
was that this unrealistic fantasy would soon become reality.
In a way he never could have imagined.
…
Meanwhile—
While the remaining Dark Masters each schemed in their own way, Narumi Akira and Negamon had already arrived at the Metal Empire.
This time, Akira didn't rush to eliminate Machinedramon.
Instead, he infiltrated the Metal Empire first, observing the steel metropolis built by mechanical Digimon.
"To be honest, I used to think a giant city like the Metal Empire—skyscrapers everywhere, infrastructure aesthetics on full display—was pretty cool," Akira said, gazing up at the towering buildings. "Now my opinion has changed."
Negamon followed naturally. "How has it changed?"
"This place… is kind of backward." Akira clicked his tongue in wonder. "If a city is built by mechanical Digimon, shouldn't it be more sci-fi? Why isn't it a mobile city like Tokyo-3?"
"…Do you want me to remodel it?" Negamon asked.
"I'm just complaining." Akira laughed. "If you actually lived in a city full of towering buildings where you can barely see the sky, it'd be suffocating."
"I understand, A-Xiao." The robot girl nodded, filing away the comment. "Our territory must not have buildings that block the sky."
"You're really going to remember that…" Akira teased. "At this rate, I might as well call you 'Xiao Ai.'"
"Xiao Ai…" The robot girl tilted her head, analyzing. "A-Xiao… do you want me to attend Odaiba Elementary School and become your classmate?"
Akira stared.
Sis… you can't even process teasing?
"I was joking." Akira sighed. "Also, you're 152 cm tall. If anything, you should be a middle school girl."
"I see…" The robot girl nodded solemnly. "Then I must wait three years for A-Xiao, so we can attend school together."
"…As long as you're happy."
After the idle chatter, Akira returned to business.
"It's a bit late to ask this…" Akira said. "Xiao Ai, has Baihumon been sealed?"
"Baihumon is the strongest attacker and the fastest Sovereign." Xiao Ai answered. "Although Machinedramon is stronger than it, it still needs to gradually tighten the encirclement to seal it."
"Fastest and strongest Sovereign…" Akira muttered. "That's got 'destined to job' written all over it."
"Shouldn't Qinglongmon be the strongest among the Four Sovereigns?"
"Qinglongmon is indeed the strongest," Xiao Ai said. "However, it does not surpass the other three Sovereigns in any single specialized attribute."
"Oh, so Qinglongmon is the all-rounder." Akira nodded. "As expected of one of the Four Great Dragons—respect."
"If Baihumon hasn't been sealed yet, then our plan to wait until the Sovereigns are sealed and Homeostasis fully crashes, then seize management authority and turn the Digital World into our backyard… becomes more troublesome."
"Annoying."
He said "annoying," but his smile grew increasingly mischievous.
"Xiao Ai," Akira said, looking at the robot girl beside him, "should we sit back and watch tiger fight tiger…"
"…or flip the table and wipe out both sides at once?"
"For combat, it makes no difference to me." Xiao Ai replied indifferently. "Whether it is one target or two, I can resolve it."
Akira couldn't deny it.
Having a super-villain bodyguard who was both pretty and absurdly strong made this "Digimon World Adventure" far less challenging…
…but also undeniably enjoyable.
Still, Akira didn't get arrogant just because Negamon was overpowered.
This world's overall power level was low, sure—
but it still contained two cheat-grade entities: Ouryumon and Jesmon.
Even if those two were notorious for "business-trip vacations" and "slacking on the job," the type who wouldn't move unless the world was actually ending, Akira still felt it was wise to respect their ceiling.
"If I remember correctly, Yggdrasill wants to break stability and stimulate Digimon evolution through war," Akira said. "So as long as someone elbows Homeostasis into a crash, Yggdrasill will help."
He confirmed with his partner:
"Even if we attack Baihumon and Machinedramon at the same time and provoke a descent of Homeostasis, Yggdrasill will still back us, right?"
"Yes." Negamon nodded. "Yggdrasill desires Digimon evolution more than Homeostasis. For that purpose, it is willing to cooperate with Apocalymon and support Apocalymon in overthrowing Homeostasis."
"Then beating both sides up at once actually benefits us more," Akira reasoned. "But if we want to establish our own order, Yggdrasill will inevitably become an obstacle…"
"To maintain a three-way balance that benefits us, the best move is to kick the weakest—Apocalymon—off the board and take its seat."
"Or…" Akira's eyes narrowed with sudden inspiration, "we recruit one side and break this fragile balance entirely."
At that point, an idea clicked into place.
Everyone knows the Royal Knights are Yggdrasill's army.
But because Yggdrasill practices a laissez-faire policy, most Royal Knights are idealists who pursue "justice"—each with their own definition of it.
And because they all define justice differently, they don't just argue. They fight.
They even "overthrow their superior" for the sake of justice… or outright chop down the World Tree.
Royal Knights? More like the Royal Tree-Chopping Corps.
Given their obsession with justice—and given Yggdrasill's mindset of "anything goes if it stimulates evolution," to the point it can even use Apocalymon—
Setting aside the other Knights, wouldn't Alphamon, who once rebelled because of the X-Antibody project and Yggdrasill's mass-extinction behavior, be a recruitable target?
And then there's Dukemon, the pioneer of switching sides.
And LordKnightmon and Dynasmon, who fought like mad for Lucemon's empty promises—sure, their IQ wasn't impressive and they weren't top-tier, but they were absolutely the kind of muscle you could bait.
When Akira tallied it all up, he realized:
Digging a "mini Royal Knight squad" out of Yggdrasill's camp…
might actually not be hard at all.
Akira couldn't help getting excited.
No one can refuse the Royal Knights!
And if someone can—
then it's only because there aren't enough Royal Knights!
With that thought, Akira patched a new update into his plan.
"If we want a seat at the table, we need power that the people already at the table will acknowledge," Akira said. "And the best way to do that is simple—winner takes all."
"You mean…?" Xiao Ai asked.
"To connect with Yggdrasill—so we can poach its people." Akira grinned with delight.
"Let's wipe out both Baihumon and Machinedramon in one pot!"