Wizardmon had clearly done some investigating here beforehand. He always had the aura of a mysterious sage anyway; no one knew exactly where he came from or his background.
Gatomon had met him purely by chance on one of her missions, finding him gravely wounded and near death. On a whim, she'd shown compassion and saved his life.
Since then, Wizardmon treated Gatomon as his savior, secretly aiding her missions from the shadows. Gatomon didn't particularly care to question Wizardmon's origins—since this follower seemed capable enough, she just allowed him to stick around.
Wizardmon treated Gatomon as a friend. Though Gatomon found his familiarity irritating, she'd never openly denied their friendship either, implying a certain mutual understanding.
This time, Wizardmon had carefully scouted Etemon's stronghold in advance and discovered this secret passage to the underground base.
It wasn't surprising, really—Etemon was, after all, one of the Dark Army's main leaders on Server Continent aside from Myotismon. Plenty of Digimon would have conducted careful investigations into him.
Gatomon beckoned Taichi and Hikari into the passage. Just as their figures vanished into the tunnel, Wizardmon quietly appeared at the entrance.
With a gentle wave of his staff, a ripple of light enveloped the hidden entrance, returning the ground instantly to its original appearance, as if the tunnel had never existed.
Once finished tidying up, Wizardmon silently disappeared once again…
...
"Amazing! Does this tunnel lead right under that weird pyramid?"
Walking inside the tunnel, Taichi glanced around eagerly, his voice tinged with excitement.
Sneaking into enemy territory like this truly held all the thrills of an adventure game—naturally exciting the adventurous spirit surging within him.
Of course, excitement aside, he hadn't forgotten to protect Hikari carefully at his side.
Gatomon lightly paced ahead. Although she hadn't discovered this tunnel herself, since it was information from Wizardmon, she knew it must be accurate.
Thus, she answered easily, "That's right. This tunnel leads directly beneath the base. The control center for that pyramid fortress should be located there. If we destroy it, we'll help Zero deal with the pyramid problem."
In reality, even if the fortress remained operational, Zero could still defeat Etemon—but disabling it would make victory simpler.
Besides, there might even be valuable items Etemon had hidden underground. It'd be a shame if they got blown up along with the fortress, so sneaking them out was obviously preferable.
As they chatted, Gatomon suddenly heard movement ahead. Mid-sentence, she smoothly vanished from sight—and immediately after, a dull crack sounded.
Gatomon had swiftly moved behind the enemy. Without giving it a chance to react, she leapt up, muffled its mouth to stop any scream, and neatly snapped its throat.
Her motions were quick, crisp, utterly ruthless, and performed so casually, as though she were doing something completely trivial.
Yet during these smooth, silent movements—effortlessly claiming a life—Gatomon's expression still wore the same cheerful, carefree smile, sending a faint, unsettling chill through Taichi.
"Gatomon…"
"Hm? What's wrong?"
Facing Gatomon's perfectly normal, casual expression, Taichi hesitated briefly before deciding to say nothing.
"It's only an enemy, after all. Don't tell me you're still sympathizing with them at this stage?"
Yet Gatomon seemed to read Taichi's mind perfectly, chuckling lightly as she questioned him.
Taichi blinked in mild shock, then slowly shook his head.
"No, if I felt sympathy for these Digimon, wouldn't that make those enslaved ones outside even more pitiful?"
Taichi still clearly understood basic good and evil. As Gatomon said, these Digimon were enemies—at this stage, what reason could he possibly have to sympathize?
Yet Hikari spoke up seriously beside him.
"Defeating enemies might be unavoidable…but still, it's not something you can laugh about."
Gatomon froze slightly upon hearing this. She unconsciously touched her face and found, to her surprise, she really had been smiling.
A smile utterly devoid of respect for life, contemptuously disregarding the weak…
…Exactly like Myotismon himself!
Eliminating enemies was inevitable—Hikari never denied the necessity of killing enemies. Yet at least she considered ending life a heavy matter. It was fine to rejoice over victory, but feeling joy simply from crushing life itself was something utterly disrespectful.
Of course, not every life deserved respect—but clearly, Hikari was a good child. To her, at least at the moment life vanished…it shouldn't be treated with such disdain.
"Oh, I see…"
Gatomon's voice grew suddenly colder. For the first time in front of Taichi and Hikari, she removed the cute little cat's mask she'd worn until now, revealing the true face beneath.
"Hurry up, we've still got a long way to go…"
Gatomon spoke flatly, still sounding friendly enough, but the atmosphere had drastically changed from moments ago.
A sudden chill filled the air as Gatomon moved ahead to scout the path. Taichi and Hikari followed cautiously behind, going deeper into the base.
Any patrolling Digimon they encountered were swiftly eliminated by Gatomon. While killing enemies just as efficiently as before, the cheerful smile no longer appeared on her face, replaced instead by silent coldness.
Why does it matter anyway? Enemies are meant to be killed. Whether it's natural or unavoidable, either way, you're still taking their lives. In that case…what difference does the feeling behind it really make?
Gatomon herself felt foolish for getting hung up on what a naive grade-schooler—who'd never even tasted the cruelty of battle firsthand—thought about killing. Yet she couldn't help but replay Hikari's words over and over.
Defeating enemies…isn't something you can laugh about.
Isn't that… obvious?
Battle itself was inherently painful. To survive, one had to struggle and kill enemies, taking their data to become stronger, making life easier in the long run.
Every fight left her battered and bruised—how could anyone smile sincerely about something like that?
Yet if she didn't smile in battle, didn't dismiss enemies' lives casually, how could she ever ease that constant pain inside?
Gatomon suddenly thought of Zero—and even Myotismon.
They certainly had vastly different mindsets, yet neither seemed to find battle itself truly painful.
Myotismon had his grand ambitions—battles were merely steps toward his ultimate goal, and he relished each step forward.
And Zero seemed to fight tirelessly because he had someone he desperately wanted to protect. Multiple times, Gatomon had heard those two names from his mouth:
…Rina, Hajime.
Precisely because Zero wanted to reunite with them, he fought without complaint. Supported by such unwavering belief, he'd never viewed battle as a burden.
But… Gatomon was different.
She had never possessed something like a belief to fight for.
All along, her battles had only ever been simply "to survive."
But mere survival wasn't a belief—it was just biological instinct. Could anyone truly live simply to keep living?
Although many lifeless husks indeed lived precisely like that, merely existing day by day.
So, what difference is there between me and those 'things'? Heh, not surprising. I was always just that kind of 'thing'…a thing abandoned by others.
For some reason, at the thought of being "abandoned," a sharp pain surged through Gatomon's head—as if something hidden deep in her memories was struggling to surface.
She quickly diverted her thoughts, not daring to delve further into that painful sensation.
At that moment, a hand gently rested atop her head.
"?!"
To be approached unnoticed caused Gatomon to startle violently. But immediately, she realized who the hand belonged to.
"Hikari…?"
"Gatomon seemed upset. Did I say something wrong and make you angry? I'm sorry…"
Seeing the girl's sincere apology, Gatomon froze…
Then, after a long silence…
"Pfft…haha…hahaha! What's this now~"
Gatomon suddenly laughed, entirely without reason.
"It's not your fault, Hikari. It's mine—sorry about that~"
As she spoke, her voice and expression seemed to return to their earlier warmth.
Yet somehow, compared to that previous forced smile behind her mask, this one genuinely felt different. Even if Gatomon herself didn't clearly understand why, at least that heavy, tangled emotion from before suddenly vanished.
"Alright, let's hurry—"
Just as Gatomon was about to announce they should be nearing the end, alarms abruptly echoed throughout the tunnel—no, throughout the entire underground base.
"What happened?! Did they discover us?" Taichi immediately asked.
But Gatomon shook her head.
"No, that's not it… It seems something happened outside—in the battle outside!"
"Huh?"
Outside meant the battlefield between Zero and Etemon. In theory, the outcome should've had no real suspense.
The only suspense was probably how many exchanges Etemon could withstand against Zero.
But still, it was Etemon's lair after all. A surprise trump card capable of instantly reversing the battle wasn't entirely impossible…
…Had something unexpected occurred?!