Chapter 192: We Are—The Royal Knights
The Royal Knights.
Mizuki vaguely remembered his initial impressions when he first learned about this legendary organization. He had held them in the highest regard. Just hearing their title painted a vivid picture in his mind: the absolute pinnacle of network security, a pantheon of righteous, united, and fiercely loyal warriors standing as the ultimate shield of the Digital World.
However, as he learned more about their actual history and inner workings, Mizuki's perception of these so-called holy knights had slowly begun to fracture.
And now, witnessing them in person, that perception shattered completely.
Powerful?
"Damn you, LordKnightmon! Take my Plasma Shoot!"
"Whose unruly child is this?"
High above the battlefield, Magnamon roared in frustration. Unleashing his Extreme Jihad earlier had taken a massive toll on his data core. The devastating holy wave had drained his reserves to dangerously low levels, leaving his usually blinding golden armor looking dim and battered. Consequently, his current offensive output was pitifully weak.
He fired a barrage of golden energy blasts, but the attacks lacked their usual explosive kinetic force. Facing this desperate assault, LordKnightmon simply stood his ground. At first, the elegant knight casually swatted the blasts away with the back of his hand. But after a few moments, realizing the golden armor-clad warrior literally lacked the strength to scratch his chrome-digizoid plating, LordKnightmon dropped his guard entirely. He didn't even bother to parry, letting the weak energy bolts fizzle harmlessly against his pink armor while he inspected his own gauntlets with deep boredom.
While this dismissive attitude inflicted zero physical damage on Magnamon, the psychological insult was absolutely devastating.
"Damn it all!!!" Magnamon shrieked, his voice cracking with impotent rage as he hovered in mid-air, trembling with exhaustion and humiliation.
Watching the golden knight throw a tantrum in the sky, Mizuki offered a brief, silent prayer of pity for him before shifting his gaze toward the other side of the battlefield.
United and mutually helpful?
A short distance away, Sleipmon was currently 'working hard' to provide tactical fire support for Omnimon.
"This ChaosGallantmon fellow is truly a fearsome adversary..." Sleipmon announced, his voice entirely devoid of inflection. "But do not worry, Omnimon. I have your back. Behold my ultimate strike. Bifrost."
He delivered the battle cry with the flat, monotone enthusiasm of someone reading a grocery list. Raising his sacred crossbow, Muspelheim, the six-legged knight fired a continuous stream of scorching light arrows at the dark warrior.
Pew. Pew. Pew.
Visually, the barrage of holy light looked somewhat impressive, painting the sky in brilliant flashes of gold and white.
Except... ChaosGallantmon simply stood there. A visible question mark seemed to hover over his dark helm. He watched in utter silence as the holy arrows plinked off his black armor like raindrops against a solid steel vault, leaving not a single scorch mark behind.
At this moment, a heavy, suffocating silence fell over not just ChaosGallantmon, but Omnimon as well.
To be fair, Omnimon knew exactly why he couldn't fight at his full capacity. His data was sluggish, weighed down by the heavy confusion and doubt clouding his heart regarding Yggdrasil's true intentions.
But Sleipmon? Sleipmon was just blatantly slacking off!
Omnimon slowly turned his head, his white cape billowing as he stared at his colleague in absolute disbelief. '...'
Perhaps sensing the burning glare boring into the side of his helmet, Sleipmon paused his lackluster shooting. He turned his armored head toward Omnimon, projecting an aura of pure, unadulterated innocence. "Omnimon, my esteemed colleague."
"You need not worry," Sleipmon continued, raising his right arm to lazily pat his chest with his sacred shield, Niflheim. "I shall remain your strongest support."
Omnimon's jaw locked beneath his visor. 'Is there a possibility that I am worried precisely because you are here?'
Under any normal circumstances, Omnimon would have sternly reprimanded Sleipmon for such a disgraceful display of insubordination on the battlefield. But right now, feeling the heavy knot of doubt in his own chest, Omnimon realized he lacked the moral high ground to criticize anyone for holding back.
Thinking about it logically, Sleipmon shared a similar mindset to Gallantmon. Neither of them truly agreed with Yggdrasil's absolute extermination order. However, unlike Gallantmon, who possessed the fiery initiative to actively rebel and seek the truth, the easy-going Sleipmon had simply chosen to stay cooped up in his icy homeland, ignoring the outside world entirely.
The only reason the six-legged knight was even present today was due to a mandatory, unignorable summons from Yggdrasil itself. He had been dragged here against his will, and his current performance was a masterclass in malicious compliance.
Just as Omnimon was processing this depressing realization, Sleipmon's flat voice drifted over again. "Omnimon, what is the matter? Do not fear."
"Go get him. For the glory of His Majesty, Yggdrasil. Hurrah."
Down below, Mizuki watched the entire exchange unfold. He rubbed his temples, completely out of words. He didn't even know where to begin mocking this situation.
United and mutually helpful Royal Knights?
"Craniamon! Say something! Why are you ignoring me?!" LordKnightmon screeched, aggressively throwing a barrage of heavy punches at the dark-armored knight.
"Urgh—!" Craniamon grunted, desperately raising his shield to block the flurry of blows. 'You haven't given me a single second to breathe, let alone speak!'
"Damn you, LordKnightmon! Look over here and fight me!" Magnamon yelled from the sidelines, still firing weak plasma blasts that nobody paid attention to.
"Omnimon. Do not be afraid. Go get him," Sleipmon droned on, firing another half-hearted arrow that missed its target by a wide margin.
Omnimon stood perfectly still, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else in the Digital World. '...'
The five Royal Knights, who had descended upon the battlefield with such terrifying, apocalyptic momentum just moments ago, had completely devolved into a chaotic, bickering mess before the actual battle had even properly begun.
The entire scene could only be described as an absolute circus.
WarGreymon X and MetalGarurumon X stood side-by-side on the ground, their weapons lowered, exchanging deeply confused glances. They had braced themselves for a fight to the death, but now they had no idea what to do. Even ChaosGallantmon found himself momentarily frozen in a daze.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I supposed to be doing right now?
ChaosGallantmon gripped his dark lance tightly. He had made up his mind. He had steeled his resolve, fully prepared to embrace his own demise for the sake of uncovering the truth.
But what was this?
Was this the grand, tragic battlefield he was supposed to die on?
If he had known his dramatic sacrifice would be staged in the middle of a slapstick comedy routine, he never would have bothered tapping into his terrifying Calamity Mode.
Was it too late to power down and change back? Standing here radiating an aura of world-ending doom while the people he was supposed to be fighting bickered like children made him feel incredibly stupid.
Breaking the awkward silence, ChaosGallantmon swung his lance in a wide arc, sending a distracted Omnimon flying backward with a heavy, metallic clang.
Watching his dearest friend tumble through the air, looking utterly lost and uncoordinated, the dark knight felt a strange mixture of grim pride and deep helplessness. He was proud because Omnimon was finally learning to question his orders, finally thinking about right and wrong instead of acting as Yggdrasil's blind executioner.
But the helplessness stemmed from the fact that Omnimon's current emotional crisis completely ruined his master plan.
Just as Mizuki had deduced earlier, ChaosGallantmon intended to use his own death as a one-way ticket into the core data space of the Digital World. He needed to bypass the system's defenses to investigate the origins of the X-Program. As a Mega-level powerhouse standing at the absolute peak of existence, he possessed the sheer willpower to maintain his consciousness even after his physical body was reduced to a primitive data torrent.
However, he refused to simply commit suicide. That lacked purpose. He needed his death to serve a dual function: to access the core, and to inflict enough emotional trauma on Omnimon to shatter his blind loyalty to Yggdrasil once and for all.
But looking at the situation now...
With Omnimon this confused and uncoordinated, the white knight would struggle to defeat Gallantmon's standard form, let alone his vastly superior Calamity Mode.
'Should I just throw myself onto his Grey Sword and get it over with?' ChaosGallantmon thought, his crimson eyes narrowing beneath his visor.
No. That wouldn't work. A blatant suicide wouldn't provide the necessary emotional catalyst for his friend., as a knight who deeply valued ceremony and honor, ChaosGallantmon found it physically repulsive to stage a death that looked so incredibly fake and comical.
He let out a heavy, internal sigh. If he had known this would happen, he would have just intentionally failed to block Magnamon's Extreme Jihad earlier and let himself be vaporized. Even though Magnamon's current output was pathetic, a full-powered Extreme Jihad was still a respectable way to go out.
While ChaosGallantmon stood frozen in his existential dilemma, Belle quietly materialized beside Mizuki. She leaned in close, her warm breath brushing against his ear as she whispered.
"Mizu... is this really okay?"
Mizuki didn't take his eyes off the chaotic sky. "Belle, what exactly are you referring to?"
"All of it," Belle replied, gesturing toward the sky with a slender finger. "The ChaosGallantmon who clearly wants to throw the match. The Omnimon who looks completely lost. The Sleipmon who is actively slacking off."
She shifted her finger toward the other side of the clouds. "And over there. The LordKnightmon and Craniamon who are busy beating each other up, and the Magnamon who desperately wants to contribute but literally lacks the energy to do so."
Belle paused, a look of deep skepticism crossing her features. "Why do I get the feeling that the supreme guardians of this world are all incredibly unreliable?"
Mizuki let out a dry, breathy chuckle, crossing his arms over his chest. "...That, my dear, is exactly why this world is currently falling apart."
Belle blinked, looking back up at the bickering knights. "Ah... I suppose that makes perfect sense."
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