The light of the Crest poured over WarGreymon, and his form began to change within the glow.
"WarGreymon—Mode Change: Battle Mode!"
What appeared before everyone was a dragon-man Digimon fully encased in Chrome Digizoid, similar to WarGreymon yet distinctly altered. All ten fingers were forged of Chrome Digizoid; in his right hand he gripped a Tyranno Sword etched with mysterious runes, and a small Brave Shield was set into his left forearm. The Chrome Digizoid plating on his chest could open to launch "Firestorm," a barrage of Tyranno Missiles of staggering power. Behind him, a tawny cape stirred without wind, inscribed on its inner lining with cryptic sigils. This was WarGreymon's Battle Mode—a form that channels his full fighting output at one hundred percent, fearsomely strong.
"WarGreymon's form changed too," Izzy said, studying the data on MetalGarurumon (Warrior Mode) and WarGreymon (Battle Mode). "So even at Mega, different modes alter power levels… Since WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are modified types, maybe only modified Digimon can mode-change?" He scratched his head, no closer to an answer, and vowed to dig through Steel Empire archives once they returned.
Out over the sea, WarGreymon (Battle Mode) and MetalGarurumon (Warrior Mode) pressed their attack on GigaSeadramon.
"Giga Wave Cannon!" "Tyranno Sword!"
The beam from GigaSeadramon's jaws split cleanly in two under a single stroke of the Tyranno Sword.
"Skywave!" "Firestorm!"
Panels irised open across WarGreymon (Battle Mode)'s chest, vomiting a curtain of missiles. The fiery wall intercepted the incoming energy rounds.
Seizing the opening, MetalGarurumon (Warrior Mode) vaulted in; his Garuru Cannon roared while the Garuru Blade carved down. GigaSeadramon's vast body couldn't evade in time—steel rang, and a stark gash scored its armor. With a pained bellow, it whipped around to charge MetalGarurumon. WarGreymon capitalized, slashing GigaSeadramon's tail with the Tyranno Sword. The serpent snapped back toward WarGreymon—only for MetalGarurumon's Garuru Blade to draw its ire again. The two Megas tag-teamed flawlessly, pulling GigaSeadramon's focus back and forth.
GigaSeadramon howled, but the duo's nimble advance-retreat rhythm kept it on the back foot, fresh wounds striping its Chrome Digizoid hide. WarGreymon's sword and MetalGarurumon's blade—both forged of that same superalloy—bit deep despite the armor's famed hardness.
"Awesome! At this pace, we've got it!" Joe blurted, elated.
Tai, however, couldn't relax. The cause of MetalSeadramon's mutation into GigaSeadramon was still unknown; whoever was pulling strings wouldn't just sit by and watch it lose.
A massive black vortex suddenly irised open on the sea, radiating hatred, fear, and curses—cold enough to chill the bone. Black tendrils lashed out from it, coiling around GigaSeadramon as darkness surged through them and into its body. Before the kids' eyes, the wounds on GigaSeadramon's armor knit shut at a speed you could see, and its formerly yellow-gold metallic sheen went pitch black. The tendrils retracted. Freed, GigaSeadramon bellowed; black light detonated across its body. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon crossed into defense—WarGreymon's forearm Brave Shield flared wide to cover him; MetalGarurumon's Garuru Cannon expanded to shield his frame. They blocked the blast, but the shockwave hurled both back a great distance.
The black vortex kept spinning counterclockwise, ceaseless. Tai stared at it, anxiety gnawing—while that vortex remained, GigaSeadramon effectively had unending power and life. If this continued, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon would eventually fall.
Tai drew a deep breath. Looks like there's only one way. With that silent resolve, he vaulted out of Blimpmon.
"Tai!" The kids gasped—then stared, slack-jawed, as he remained standing in midair and arrowed toward the battlefield. They'd seen plenty of impossibilities in the Digital World, but watching a fellow human from their own world fly was still hard to process.
Tai streaked toward the vortex. GigaSeadramon, still tangling with WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, abruptly snapped its gaze toward him. "Giga Wave Cannon!" A pillar of light lanced straight for Tai.
"Careful, Tai!" Sora cried.
The beam was about to hit when Tai blinked out—reappearing just beyond its path. It was one of his little tricks: generating a micro Transfer Gate for a short hop, making it look like teleport-and-appear.
WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon dove back in to pin GigaSeadramon, while Tai poured on speed toward the vortex. More tendrils whipped out to seize him.
Tai drew two black pistols from his hips—custom scatterguns modeled after a Fallen Angel–type Digimon's shotgun, their firepower scaling with the energy fed into them.
"Bullet Storm!" The guns spat a blizzard of pure-white energy orbs. Wherever they struck, the tendrils recoiled as if seared by branding irons, snapping back into the vortex. Tai cleared the snare and rose above the whirling maw. Studying the soul-sucking swirl below, he tossed down a bundled data cluster. It burst midair and spread over the vortex like a luminous film. The black spiral, as if enraged, hammered at the light-membrane. Tai raised both hands, white radiance lancing from his palms to link with the barrier. Fueled by his power, the film's strength surged; the vortex shrank, and shrank—until it pinched out of existence.
Seeing it vanish, Tai finally exhaled. That thing felt terrifying. It seemed the Digital World's Firewall wasn't as tight as it once was. It could still hold back the Dark Area for now, but if the demon kings there launched a full-force assault, the Firewall might not withstand it. The plan would have to accelerate; there wasn't much time left.
Back over the sea, the battle reset—and now it was Dark GigaSeadramon trading blows with WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. Empowered by darkness, the serpent regained the upper hand. "Dark Giga Wave Cannon!" A black beam speared for MetalGarurumon. He swung the Garuru Blade, but the slash failed to cut it; the shock front blasted him away.
Tai slipped back into Blimpmon. The kids swarmed him with questions about how he could fly; he waved them off for now and turned to Matt. "Fusion. Now. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are fading."
"Right."
Golden light poured from Matt's and Tai's Digivices, twining into a single beam that pierced both WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. Within that radiance, their bodies merged with the gold.
"WarGreymon (Battle Mode) and MetalGarurumon (Warrior Mode)—DNA Digivolve to… Omnimon—Transcendent Form!"
A new Omnimon stood before them.
A gold cape spread behind him, its lining filled with occult sigils. Gold-and-blue tracery ran across armor sheathed in Super Chrome Digizoid. In his right, the Omega Sword—fused from the Tyranno Sword and Garuru Blade; in his left, the Omega Shield, its core capable of firing the Omega Cannon. His frame bristled with hidden weapons; bays packed with Omega Missiles could unleash "Omega Storm," turning any target zone into a killing field.
Dark GigaSeadramon spat a "Dark Giga Wave Cannon" straight at Omnimon (Transcendent Form). Omnimon answered with a single draw-and-cut: a sword aura cleaved the black beam apart, and the remnant scythed on into the sea, splitting the ocean in two to lay bare the seafloor. With one stroke, his terrifying attack power was plain.
He sent several more arcs of sword aura flying. Dark GigaSeadramon juked—only for the auras to curve back and carve into its flank, swatting it into the water.
The kids gaped, speechless, as the supposedly invincible Dark GigaSeadramon was thrashed in a handful of exchanges. Tai himself hadn't expected Omnimon's Transcendent Form to be this strong.
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