Chapter 195: When the Earth is Shrouded in Shadow
Impeccable defense had always been Magnamon's absolute pride.
Though his raw offensive output might fall slightly short when compared to the devastating firepower of his fellow Royal Knights, his golden armor granted him an almost unbreakable foundation. That absolute resilience essentially cemented his status as an unbeatable force on the battlefield. You might hit harder than me, but I will never fall. That was his unspoken, arrogant mantra.
Now, however, the Golden Knight found himself violently questioning that very reality.
Yes, it was true that he had not been destroyed. But survival did not account for the sheer, unadulterated humiliation of his current predicament. He was not just defeated; he was sealed entirely within a dense, inescapable sphere of crystal, reduced to nothing more than a child's plaything.
"You... how dare you!"
"I am... a noble Royal Knight!"
"Cease this... this absurdity at once!"
Magnamon's muffled, dizzy voice echoed from within the crystal, his anguished protests spinning out in rapid, Doppler-shifted circles. The crystal sphere was currently whirling against the dirt at breakneck speed, functioning as a massive, humiliating spinning top.
Belle acted as if she could not hear a single word of his suffering. Her eyes sparkled with mischievous delight. Not only did she refuse to halt the dark whip in her hand, but she actually stepped into her stance, lashing out with even more rhythmic vigor to keep the crystal spinning faster and faster. The sharp crack of the whip echoed through the air, followed by the high-pitched whine of the spinning top.
"Mizu, look! I did it!" Belle cheered, her voice bubbling with excitement. "He's spinning so fast now!"
"Mhm. My Belle is the absolute best," Mizuki praised without a single ounce of hesitation. Standing just a few paces away, he offered a warm, gentle smile that completely ignored the tortured Knight spinning in the dirt. He reached out, gently patting her head.
Belle leaned into his touch, a soft, pleased giggle escaping her lips. "Ehehe."
MetalGarurumon X watched the bizarre, domestic exchange from the sidelines, his metallic jaw parting slightly. He glanced at the dizzy, humiliated Royal Knight, then back at the beaming human and his partner. He desperately wanted to say something about the sheer disrespect on display, but he wisely snapped his jaw shut. As a reliable, mature Digimon, he knew better than to ruin the mood at a time like this.
He was not the only one holding his tongue. DoruGreymon, watching the spectacle unfold from a short distance away, shared the exact same sentiment. Letting out a soft, long-suffering sigh, she lifted a massive wing and deliberately draped it over the eyes of the curious Breakdramon beside her.
Breakdramon tilted its massive, destructive head in confusion. '?'
"Children shouldn't look at such things," DoruGreymon muttered, keeping her wing firmly in place.
It is often said that joy and sorrow are not shared between people, and the exact same logic applies to Digimon.
While Magnamon endured a torment where the mental anguish vastly outweighed the physical damage, LordKnightmon observed the entire spectacle from a nearby ridge. Rather than rushing to his colleague's aid, the flamboyant Knight actually began to applaud, the sharp clanking of his gauntlets ringing out in a slow, rhythmic tempo.
"The angle of the strike lacks a certain refinement, but the kinetic force behind it is certainly taking shape," LordKnightmon murmured, his eyes tracking the spinning crystal with genuine appreciation. "Without a doubt, this is elegance. This is true beauty."
"...So, are we just going to stand here and watch?"
Hearing his friend slip into a state of self-indulgent excitement, Craniummon groaned, his heavy frame shifting as he pushed himself up from the shattered earth. Despite the brutal, relentless beating LordKnightmon had just delivered to him, his dark armor had absorbed the worst of the impact. The actual physical damage Craniummon suffered was almost negligible. Of course, the fact that LordKnightmon had deliberately pulled his punches played a massive part in his survival.
"LordKnightmon," Craniummon rumbled, dusting the debris from his plating. "Even if that golden fool isn't exactly on the best of terms with us, he is still our colleague."
"Colleague? Craniummon, have you misunderstood something?" LordKnightmon threw a sidelong glance over his shoulder, his posture straightening. "Have you forgotten my earlier declaration?"
"...LordKnightmon, I thought you were just joking."
"I never joke about matters of such absolute importance."
The flamboyant exuberance vanished from LordKnightmon's voice, replaced instantly by a cold, piercing seriousness. The sudden shift in tone made the air around them feel heavy.
"Indeed, His Majesty King Drasil was once a great being, an entity entirely worthy of our absolute allegiance," LordKnightmon stated, his gaze drifting toward the horizon. "However, He has changed."
Craniummon fell silent, the weight of those words pressing down on his shoulders.
"To put it bluntly, I am not like Omnimon, who pledges blind, absolute loyalty to King Drasil regardless of the cost," LordKnightmon continued, his voice carrying a quiet, dangerous conviction. "What I have always been loyal to, from the very beginning to the bitter end, is the justice in my heart and all the beautiful things in this world. As my closest friend, Craniummon, you should know this better than anyone."
"...I know." After a long moment of heavy contemplation, Craniummon slowly nodded. But then, his brow furrowed beneath his helmet. "But why did you wait? Why didn't you stand up from the very beginning?"
LordKnightmon turned fully to face him. "Isn't the answer obvious? The timing was not right."
As he spoke, the ghosts of the past flickered in LordKnightmon's mind. He remembered the faces of those colleagues who had openly defied King Drasil in the early days of the purges, only to be systematically hunted down and erased from existence.
"Whether you want to protect something precious, or oppose something terrible," LordKnightmon said softly, "all of it is predicated on one single, unshakeable foundation: being alive. If we, the ones who carry out these actions, die, then no matter how great the belief or how beautiful the vision, it means nothing. Without anyone left to bear the weight of that justice, it is nothing but empty air."
"...So, LordKnightmon," Craniummon murmured, the memory of their purged brethren flashing through his own mind. "Is the timing you spoke of... right now?"
He looked toward his friend, fully expecting a confident, decisive confirmation. However, to Craniummon's absolute surprise, LordKnightmon did not give him one.
"I don't know."
The ambiguous, quiet reply made Craniummon freeze in place.
"You don't know?" Craniummon pressed, his voice rising slightly in disbelief. "Then why act now? After all, our time is rapidly running out, isn't it?"
Craniummon clamped his jaw shut, the bitter truth settling over him. It was exactly as LordKnightmon had said. King Drasil's grand, destructive plan was nearing its absolute climax. If they did not make their move right this second, it would truly be too late to save anything.
As Craniummon stood in heavy silence, LordKnightmon turned around completely. His sharp, piercing gaze seemed to cut straight through the dark armor, landing directly on Craniummon's core.
"So, Craniummon... my dear friend," LordKnightmon said, his voice dropping to a low, resolute whisper. "I want your answer. Will you continue to go against your true heart, stubbornly walking down this path of foolish, blind loyalty? Or will you break this meaningless persistence, and once again reclaim the justice that burns in your soul?"
Though the words were spoken calmly, they carried an devastating weight. As his closest friend, Craniummon understood with absolute clarity that LordKnightmon had made his final choice. He had drawn his line in the sand, even if it meant raising his blade against his former comrades.
Such unshakeable resolve... it was truly enviable.
'So... what about me?'
In the suffocating silence, Craniummon slowly lowered his gaze to his own hands. These hands, forged and armored to protect the weak, to uphold justice... they were completely empty. He had spent so long following orders that he had forgotten what it felt like to actually hold onto something meaningful.
It shouldn't be like this. Even though Craniummon lacked the poetic vocabulary to describe the hollow ache in his chest, he knew one thing for certain. It shouldn't be like this.
Just then, a flash of familiar color entered his downward field of vision.
It was LordKnightmon. The flamboyant Knight said absolutely nothing, simply and silently extending a gauntleted hand toward his old friend.
Staring at the offered hand, the hollow, aching void in Craniummon's chest inexplicably stirred with warmth. Slowly, deliberately, he reached his own hand out to bridge the gap.
However, before their fingers could meet, something cold and wet struck the back of Craniummon's armor.
'This is... rain?''The sky... is it starting to rain again?'
At that exact moment, both Craniummon and LordKnightmon snapped their heads upward. They were not the only ones. Across the battlefield, every single Digimon, and the lone human, looked up at the heavens.
What met their eyes was a gloomy, suffocatingly dark sky. Night had fallen in an instant.
Logically, it made sense. Dusk was always followed by night. But... had that much time really passed?
The thought had barely surfaced in Mizuki's mind before his sharp instincts violently dismissed it. His pink eyes narrowed, reflecting the unnaturally thick, churning black clouds above. The atmospheric pressure plummeted, making the air feel heavy and hard to breathe. He could already discern the colossal, terrifying entity hidden just behind the storm front.
A deafening, world-shattering clap of thunder tore through the heavens.
A shadow massive enough to swallow the entire earth swept over the battlefield. Accompanied by a violent gale and a torrential downpour, the clouds violently parted, revealing the nightmare descending upon them.
It was a dragon.
A colossal, world-ending leviathan clad in gleaming crimson scales. It wielded a lance the size of a skyscraper, and its massive, leathery wings completely blotted out whatever light remained in the sky.
"The data mass on this one... I've never felt anything like it!" Belle shouted, her playful demeanor vanishing in a fraction of a second.
She didn't even bother with the trapped Magnamon anymore. Delivering a casual, brutal kick that sent the crystal sphere hurtling away into the distance, Belle instantly retreated to Mizuki's side. The air around her screamed as data surged violently, her form shifting and expanding as she decisively bypassed her intermediate states, activating her absolute peak power.
Darkness and light violently intertwined as she manifested her true, overwhelming form: Belfast Beast: Final End Mode.
"Mizu, this newcomer is serious trouble!" Belle warned, her voice echoing with a dangerous, layered resonance.
"Mhm... I know."
Gazing up at the crimson leviathan in the sky, feeling the crushing, unrestrained killing intent washing over the earth, a rare, heavy gravity settled into Mizuki's pink eyes. His gentle smile was entirely gone, replaced by cold, calculating tension.
"Examon..." Mizuki muttered, his fists clenching at his sides. "I never expected King Drasil to actually deploy him..."
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