Chapter 49: Aftermath
Even with confirmation that Grand Dracmon had been holding back, Belphemon's resolve didn't waver in the slightest.
"Mizuki," she declared, her voice a low, dangerous hum, "even so, we still have to go beat him up!"
"Absolutely," Mizuki nodded, a matching glint in his eyes that showed his complete agreement. "But before that, Belle, let's go check on the others."
"Be... Belle?!"
Watching Mizuki deftly leap from her arms, Belphemon froze mid-step. The unexpected nickname echoed in her mind, and a surprising warmth flooded her cheeks, painting them a delicate shade of pink.
"What's wrong?" Mizuki turned back, tilting his head with genuine curiosity. "You don't like it?"
"No—no, I don't!" The words tumbled out in a rush. Belphemon, who had been momentarily lost in the simple joy of the name, shook her head vigorously. "I—I like it very much!"
"Is that so?" A relieved smile graced Mizuki's lips. "That's great, then."
He turned and continued running toward the spot where Tai and the others had fallen, leaving Belphemon enveloped in a pleasant, wavering heat. The blush spreading across her fair skin only served to accentuate her enchanting features, a stark but charming contrast to her powerful form.
---
"It seems Grand Dracmon only put them into a temporary sleep."
Although he had suspected as much, Mizuki only allowed himself to breathe a true sigh of relief after kneeling and confirming each of his friends was unharmed.
Just then, perhaps stirred by Mizuki's presence, Tai's eyelids fluttered. He let out a low groan and slowly blinked his eyes open, his gaze unfocused.
Looking down at the bewildered boy, Mizuki paused for a moment, a mischievous plan forming in his mind. A brilliant smile spread across his face. "Ah, you're awake."
"Congratulations, Tai. The surgery was a complete success. You're a beautiful girl now."
Tai: "?!"
He stared up at Mizuki's beaming face, his eyes—one wide, one half-lidded—struggling to process the words. Pushing himself up from the ground in a stunned silence, he reached out and brought his hand down on Mizuki's shoulder with a resounding smack.
"Ouch! What was that for?"
"This is real?!" Tai's voice was raspy. "Not a dream?!"
After getting his confirmation from Mizuki's pained yelp, Tai's expression shifted instantly. He threw an arm around Mizuki's shoulders, pulling him into a rough, one-armed hug.
"Mizuki! You—you're okay! That's awesome!" he exclaimed, his voice thick with relief. "I was so scared back there! I thought you were a goner! It's great that you're alive!"
He pulled back, a look of dawning realization on his face. "What's that saying you have back home? Oh, right!"
A spark of inspiration lit up his eyes. Then, under Mizuki's subtly twitching expression, Tai proudly recited, word for word: "Good people don't live long, but a scourge lasts a thousand years! That's how it goes, right?"
"Heh... heh..." Mizuki looked at Tai's eager, 'praise-me-now' expression, and the smile on his face couldn't help but stiffen.
"You know," he said, his voice dangerously level, "if you don't know how to use an idiom, you really don't have to."
"Really? I thought it sounded pretty cool."
"And you think 'scourge' is a word one uses to praise someone?"
"Ah, this..."
As he watched Mizuki's smile become increasingly benevolent, a cold sweat began to bead on Tai's forehead. Suddenly, his eyes darted to the side as if struck by a bolt of lightning.
"Oh! Right! Izzy!" he shouted, inspiration striking once more. "It was Izzy who taught me that phrase!"
He quickly let go of Mizuki. "More, I'm gonna go see if Izzy and the others are awake yet!"
With that, Tai scrambled away, making a beeline for a newly stirring Izzy.
Izzy: "?"
---
Following Tai's lead, Izzy and the rest of the children, along with their Digimon partners, began to wake up one by one. It seemed Grand Dracmon had been considerate in his own way; upon waking, they found that all their previous injuries had vanished without a trace.
After Mizuki gave them a quick rundown of what had happened, the Chosen Children stared at each other in stunned silence before erupting into a chorus of shocked exclamations.
"What? Grand Dracmon?! Who's that?"
"You mean there's another evil Digimon on File Island besides Devimon?" Gatomon's fur bristled, and she immediately dropped into a defensive stance.
Seeing everyone's agitated state, Mizuki shrugged helplessly. "You don't actually need to worry too much about that," he said, trying to calm them. "Grand Dracmon isn't a Digimon from our world, and he isn't exactly an evil being." He paused, then added, ", he's still incredibly dangerous..."
"Not... a Digimon from our world?" Gatomon blinked, her posture relaxing slightly in her confusion.
At that moment, Tai stepped forward with a grin and patted Gatomon's back reassuringly. "Relax, Gatomon. Didn't you hear Mizuki? The guy's just bored. He's not going to do anything to us."
He then winked at Koromon, who was bouncing at his feet. "You agree, right, Koromon?"
"Tai is right!" Koromon chirped, hopping in place.
"You two are certainly optimistic..." Gatomon sighed, her feline face scrunching into a look of distress that seemed far too mature for her appearance.
What she didn't realize, however, was that Tai's carefree demeanor was a deliberate choice. He understood perfectly well that Grand Dracmon was an existence far beyond their ability to handle. If a being of that magnitude truly wanted to harm them, panicking would be useless.
'It's better to stay calm and use this as motivation to get stronger,'Tai thought.'That's the only thing we can do.'
Izzy, ever perceptive, seemed to grasp Tai's unspoken logic and gave a subtle nod of approval. As always, Tentomon stayed close by his partner's side, observing his every move.
When Mimi saw that both Tai and Izzy seemed to have accepted the situation, her own simple, trusting nature allowed her to quickly relax as well.
However—
Her gaze drifted silently over to where Belphemon stood guard by Mizuki's side, subtly trying to inch her hand closer to his.
"Palmon," Mimi whispered, "what do you think your Ultimate form will look like?"
"Hmm? I don't know. Do you?" Palmon tilted her head, the flower on top swaying gently in the breeze. Combined with her innocent expression, she was the very picture of adorable confusion.
Looking at her partner, Mimi's feelings were a complicated mix. While Palmon's Rookie form wasn't conventionally pretty, it had a certain ugly-cute charm. But why did she have to evolve into such a giant, prickly oaf at the Champion level?
It wasn't that Mimi disliked her partner—not at all. But deep down, in the simple heart of a young girl, she couldn't help but hope that Palmon's future evolutions would be a little prettier.
Mega was too far away to even think about.
'Hopefully, when Palmon evolves to Ultimate, she can be a little cuter...' At that moment, Mimi began to pray earnestly for her partner's future aesthetic.
Palmon: "?"
[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!]