"Piddomon, I haven't fallen to the point of needing someone else's protection!"
Not even waiting for Chen Ze's reply from behind, Kei cried out, grief clear in his voice as he understood Piddomon's desperate plight.
"Don't forget, I'm a 'Digimon Hunter.'"
With a flicker of surprise crossing Piddomon's face, a virtual screen materialized between their shared fields of vision, projected by Kei.
"Even if I've never truly fought by your side, the fact that you're my partner has never changed."
Just like earlier, when Kei activated his personal firewall, a special protective program enveloped Piddomon instantly.
This was precisely the ideal coordination between hacker and Digimon—the exact reason why most hackers favored capturing Digimon as their partners.
"Now go! Show me the power you've gained since you evolved!"
Though sorrow still visibly marked Kei's expression, he had already decided that he'd help Piddomon leave no regrets—ensuring his partner would shine brilliantly one last time.
"Kei…"
Sensing Kei's true feelings, Piddomon paused for a brief moment, before smiling a smile Kei hadn't seen since the day they parted.
"That's right—we are partners."
Enveloped in blazing flames, as though he'd become a miniature sun, Piddomon turned around, lifting his head to boldly declare with unprecedented resolve:
"You don't need anyone else's protection. Because as long as I still draw breath, nothing will ever harm you!"
Even before his voice fully faded, Piddomon spread his flaming wings wide and charged toward the Eater still hovering above.
Throughout this process, Kei's capabilities as a formidable "Digimon Hunter" shone through. Buff after buff, powerful enhancements loaded frantically onto Piddomon's digital form without reservation.
Barrier protection, strength enhancement, speed boost, visual disruption, even partial invisibility—
FWOOSH!
Under the stacking effects of these diverse buffs, Piddomon surpassed the very limits of a Champion-level Digimon, ascending into a peak state he'd never experienced before.
It felt as if his very being resonated with the digital environment around him. Endless streams of data continually transformed into pure power within Piddomon, allowing him to maintain this peak indefinitely.
Even severe injuries wouldn't diminish his current power by even the slightest margin.
FWOOSH!
Momentarily, Piddomon even felt an illusion—
Have I touched some kind of... bottleneck?
A bottleneck allowing him to adapt infinitely to foreign data, continuously strengthening himself—
If he could only surpass this threshold, Piddomon would no longer be a mere Champion-level Digimon.
Instead, he'd become an Ultimate-level, capable of perpetually adapting to all anomalous data and keeping his power at an eternal peak.
If only…he still had the chance to break through that barrier.
...
The conversation between Piddomon and Kei, though seemingly complex, occurred in less than ten seconds—
In fact, it was so brief that the Eater had barely steadied itself in midair before Piddomon's renewed assault had already begun.
Crackle…!
Casually withdrawing its arm, the enhanced Eater suddenly opened its mouth wide, condensing all surrounding flames into a massive fireball before shooting it forth:
—Magma Burst!
As one of Meramon's signature moves, roaring flames decomposed and reassembled into a genuine torrent of molten magma data.
"Kei!"
Now in near-perfect sync with Kei, Piddomon only needed to call out, and an extraordinary hacking program immediately activated within his body.
WHOOSH!
Instantly, Piddomon's body visibly expanded, growing in size at an alarming rate, quickly doubling in stature until he towered like a flaming titan.
And it wasn't merely his size—his strength and physical prowess surged dramatically alongside.
—Hacking Skill: Data Expansion!
BOOM!
Swinging his equally enlarged Holy Rod, Piddomon effortlessly deflected the molten magma to the side.
KABOOM!
In an instant, the firewall barrier surrounding the trading center shattered under the magma's violent impact.
Chaotic, fragmented data from beyond the barrier immediately flooded inward, causing the once orderly trading center to rapidly devolve into chaos.
Blocks of pixelated mosaics spread across the platform as if the original digital framework sustaining the platform had been corrupted, losing its original functionality.
Moreover, as the barrier collapsed, other platforms within the Digimon Black Market seemed to take notice of the ongoing battle, casting stunned, incredulous gazes in their direction.
"Come fight me, Eater!"
Roaring, the burning spirit of anger fully ignited, Piddomon spread his wings, which alone generated a massive vortex of flames around him.
Crackle... crackle…
Coldly indifferent—yet somehow mocking—
The single eye embedded in the chest of the enhanced Eater shifted subtly. Instantly, the flames engulfing its body reverted to their original tentacle form.
BOOM!
A suddenly swollen, distorted "arm" effortlessly intercepted Piddomon's killing blow.
Then, without pause, its body contorted grotesquely, utterly losing its human proportions and morphing into something akin to a true shapeshifting monstrosity, entangling Piddomon's limbs.
"Wha—?"
Facing yet another unpredictable, tactic-defying assault from the Eater, Piddomon quickly released his grip on the Holy Rod—but it was already far too late.
Crackle… Crackle…
The semi-organic, semi-mechanical tentacles wrapped tightly around one of Piddomon's arms. The terrifying assimilation and corruption abilities activated instantly, greedily devouring his data.
WHOOSH!
Realizing his desperate situation, Piddomon ignited his entire being in a frantic attempt to break free of the Eater's grasp.
But what he hadn't anticipated was that, having absorbed Meramon, the enhanced Eater had already gained a terrifyingly high resistance to flame.
Even without fully reverting to a fiery form, it could easily endure Piddomon's flames—and now, it was rapidly evolving further, adapting its defenses to be even stronger.
FWOOSH!
Within moments, Piddomon, who'd previously expanded to more than twice his normal size, reverted back to his original proportions. All his blazing energy had been completely devoured and absorbed by the Eater.
"Piddomon?!"
Not only was Piddomon himself shocked by this unexpected reversal, even Kei, Chen Ze, and the others were left utterly stunned.
Following IceDevimon's swift defeat, Piddomon too fell victim to the bizarre, unpredictable tactics of the Eater, instantly plunging into the abyss of certain death.