Dark Ocean.
"Infinity Cannon!" From the cannons on Millenniummon's back, a super-heavy energy beam roared toward the BraveBeasts.
"Beam!" Twin lances of light shot from the BraveBeasts' hands, meeting the incoming torrent head-on.
Boom! The four beams slammed together and detonated midway, bursting into blinding light and billowing smoke.
Millenniummon grinned oddly. "Burst Missiles!" Taking advantage of the glare that ruined the BraveBeasts' sightlines, it spat out hundreds of miniature missiles from its back-mounted guns, all screaming straight at the BraveBeasts.
The BraveBeasts, who had been braced for another frontal strike, saw their pupils contract—the smoke shredded away to reveal a swarm of micro-missiles streaking in.
Skimming low over the Dark Ocean's surface, the BraveBeasts retreated at speed. The missiles hammered the sea all around them, geysers rising in sheets that swallowed them whole.
Millenniummon bared its teeth in a vicious smile, watching its salvo drive the BraveBeasts back. The BraveBeasts burst out of the surging waves and came to a halt atop the water, standing on the foaming crests racing for the shore, eyes locked on Millenniummon not far away.
Tilting its head, Millenniummon called out, "BraveBeasts, aren't you tired after fighting me for so long? Why don't we… talk?"
"Impossible. Face reality, Millenniummon! I will destroy you. You will not endanger the Digital World again."
"Destroying me won't be so easy. Try not to get yourself killed."
"Even if it costs me my life, I won't hesitate," the BraveBeasts said, voice like iron. "The Digital World has completed its upgrade. I have no regrets. Millenniummon—prepare to die."
"Then try it. Infinity Cape!" Millenniummon roared. Light gathered at the muzzles of the two guns on its back. At the same time, black mist poured from its mouth and four claws.
With another bellow, the cannon-light and the inky vapor merged, knitting together before Millenniummon into a colossal mass of darkness. The cannons and claws kept feeding power into it; the dark conglomerate swelled, larger and larger.
Millenniummon thrust both hands forward and shoved the blackness away. "Die!"
The BraveBeasts' expression was as calm as still water. Their hands traced esoteric sigils, and with each motion ripples of energy spread outward, wrapping them in a luminous outline.
The gathered radiance flowed with their hands, rotating clockwise—like a mysterious, whorled galaxy penned in light.
"Termination—Rupture," the BraveBeasts intoned, and pushed the orb of light from their palms.
The dark mass and the bright one hurtled together and met between them under both combatants' gaze—vanishing without a sound, without even a glimmer of explosion.
But both fighters noticed: at the very heart of the collision, space itself had been scored with a lattice of hairline cracks, and the seawater there simply ceased to exist—not evaporated, but truly gone, swallowed by the fractures without a single sound.
Having unleashed their techniques, Millenniummon and the BraveBeasts did not immediately strike again. They merely watched each other. No one spoke. The battlefield that had raged a heartbeat before fell instantly silent—only the Dark Ocean's surf crashed and broke against the rocks.
File Island, underground city.
In the control center, Datamon and Tai led a team of Hagurumon, fingers flying over their keyboards. The ceaseless clatter filled the room and wound every nerve tight.
Tai was preparing to raise the underground city to the surface—an operation long in planning. The city had rested down here too long; everything had to be done with care. One slip, and the city could be damaged; after all, it was surrounded by solid rock. To be honest, Tai still didn't understand why the Steel Empire had built the city so deep. A shelter?
In truth, when the Steel Empire defected from Millenniummon's control, they prepared a fallback. The underground city was constructed far below to evade Millenniummon's strikes—so if they failed, they could one day rise again.
Back to the task at hand—Tai keyed in the final line, then stood to stretch his stiff back.
It was the weekend, so he'd come over to finish the job. Before the Digital World's reassembly, the Steel Empire's elites had already withdrawn to File Island. Now, in the newly formed Digital World, there were no Steel Empire troops stationed anywhere.
With no enemies left, there was no need to disperse the army. These days, Tai relied mainly on powerful Digimon who had grown up from Primary Village; by implanting them with the control device once used on Datamon, he coordinated governance over the entire Digital World.
On top of that, Tai held the rule-permissions stripped from the Four Sovereigns and wielded the Digi-Cards gifted by the BraveBeasts—far more secure than ruling by force alone, which would inevitably sow future unrest.
Teleportation arrays weren't as effective now as they had been before the reassembly. Bringing the underground city up would save considerable energy.
"All set?" Tai asked, turning to Datamon.
Datamon nodded. "All preparations complete. We can proceed."
Tai nodded back, drew a deep breath, and pressed the button at his hand. "Begin."
Mmmmm—gears rumbled across the entire city. The chamber shivered, then began to move. The tremor was noticeable, but the ascent was steady.
Hagurumon stared at their screens, calling out updates in a steady stream.
"Boring tunnels functioning normally."
"Subterranean void backfill commencing."
"Approaching surface."
All across File Island, the ground gave a sudden shake. Digimon lifted their heads, bewildered. The more sensitive ones sprinted toward the epicenter—only to find mechanical soldiers blocking the way, barring any from entering.
The ground split open—revealing a colossal object with a metallic sheen. A gigantic hemispherical steel dome rose swiftly into view. The onlookers gaped, mouths hanging open at the structure before them. With a clack-clack of mechanisms, the dome parted, revealing the city within.
Tai stepped out and took to the air, looking over his city—Tai City. Most of it floated out over the sea; that was mainly so Water-attribute Digimon used for production could easily access the ocean, and also to save space. Tai City took up one-sixth of File Island. Even though the new File Island was three times the size of the old, Tai City was simply enormous.
"Hm." As he surveyed the city, Tai frowned—his Digi-Goggles had just received a message from the BraveBeasts. They sent coordinates and asked him to hurry there to help defeat Millenniummon.
Tai drew a breath and murmured, "So it's finally begun? Don't disappoint me."
He opened his communicator. "Agumon, move out—battle time."
"Got it, Tai," came Agumon's reply.
Ending the call, Tai dropped to a tower and entered.
In the central control chamber, Datamon was still hammering away at the keys—as if every time Tai saw him, he was typing.
After a few quick orders, Tai rendezvoused with the arriving Agumon and departed. Using the coordinates from the BraveBeasts, he opened a Teleportation Array—and vanished from Tai City.
Boom! Boom! The instant Tai and Agumon arrived in the Dark Ocean, explosions all around made them both flinch.
They gathered themselves and took in the scene: countless spears of energy sliced the air, streaking back and forth. Shockwaves blossomed wherever beams collided.
Left and right—neither the BraveBeasts nor Millenniummon advanced. Each held position and hurled volley after volley.
"Let's go, Agumon," Tai said without looking away.
"Mm." Agumon nodded.
"Agumon, digivolve to—WarGreymon!"
"WarGreymon—battle-mode shift!"
Tai raised his right hand, gathering a brilliant knot of light. It traced a glowing digital magic circle in the air—then a sword's hilt pushed through. Tai seized it and drew the blade free.
The sword radiated so brightly its material couldn't be seen; a digital magic gem gleamed in the hilt.
Tai and WarGreymon traded a nod and surged into the fray.
Both the BraveBeasts and Millenniummon sensed newcomers and glanced over—Tai and WarGreymon. The BraveBeasts smiled; their reinforcements had arrived. Millenniummon, by contrast, ground its teeth—its enemy had backup.
"You made it," the BraveBeasts called, flying to meet them.
"You okay?" Tai asked.
"I'll live. This isn't the time to chat—let's take Millenniummon down first."
"Right." Tai and WarGreymon nodded, then turned to face Millenniummon.
Annoyed at being ignored, Millenniummon snarled, "Don't think a couple of small fry can beat me."
"You'll find out soon enough who's small," Tai shot back. "WarGreymon—go!"
On Tai's order, WarGreymon lunged in, Tyranno Sword in hand. The BraveBeasts were right beside him, refusing to be left behind. Close behind them came Tai, the Sacred Sword: Genesis Edge in his grasp, loosing the first energy slash to open the attack.
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