In the western region of Server Continent, there lay a domain perpetually shrouded in thick fog—the Misty Realm…
Within the dense fog, day and night lost meaning. Sunlight never penetrated this domain, eternally hidden beneath a veil of mist. Only a vivid blood-red moon hung above, casting down a sinister crimson glow.
At the very heart of this Misty Realm stood a gothic castle. Above the castle, swirling fog formed into a massive, funnel-shaped vortex of clouds…
Within that vortex floated the blood-red moon, from which flowed a continuous stream of deep crimson light directly into the castle below.
Surrounding the castle, the land radiated outward in deathly silence, covered entirely by clusters of twisted, crimson flowers in bloom.
Circling around the castle were bats the size of human faces, and ghostly, translucent figures twisted through the air, releasing faint, mournful wails.
With a setup like this... they might as well have written "Evil Organization" right across the front door. Naturally, this was indeed the largest and most notorious base of the Dark Army on Server Continent:
Myotismon's Castle!
Clearly, Myotismon was a Digimon who cared deeply about appearances. Both he and Etemon had built their bases, but compared to Myotismon's arrangement, Etemon's crude pyramid had simply been like an illegal makeshift building hastily set up in the middle of nowhere.
Myotismon, however, had deliberately chosen this perfect location and gone to great lengths to thoroughly remodel the entire region.
He used thick fog to blot out the sun, changed the very nature of the land, and filled it with twisted blossoms that could only have grown so vividly by absorbing countless souls and blood.
This place no longer belonged to the living—it was more akin to a realm of the dead.
And Myotismon, master of this twisted domain, was unquestionably its "King of the Undead."
Under normal circumstances, any outsider who dared set foot here—apart from members of the Dark Army—would usually arrive as miserable captives. Very few enemies had ever managed to force their way this far…
But today, this silent land of the dead... welcomed some unexpected noise.
"Damn, what's with this awful taste... Can't he decorate with something a little less from the Underworld?"
Zero had successfully reached Myotismon's domain. As soon as he entered the fog-covered area and looked up, he found himself gazing into this ghastly land of the dead.
Both Taichi's and Hikari's expressions immediately soured upon stepping into this dark territory…
This place no longer belonged to the realm of the living. Thick fog blocked out the daylight, creating eternal night, and the corruption of the earth itself turned the land into a home for the undead.
Members of the Dark Army might feel perfectly at home here, but for ordinary people, just standing in this place was enough to make their skin crawl.
Their Digivices emitted faint glows, pushing back against the sinister energy around them. Without any protection, humans lingering too long here would genuinely be risking their lives.
While Zero casually complained aloud, he carefully observed the siblings' conditions and realized they couldn't afford to stay here long. This needed to be a quick fight.
"…Oh dear, seems our welcoming committee's already here."
Zero had openly declared war earlier, so naturally, Myotismon had prepared ahead of time.
Ironically, because Myotismon had chosen to hole up in his castle, expecting a direct confrontation, he'd delayed the mobilization of his outside troops, giving Zero the perfect chance to swiftly wipe out several army corps.
As for why Myotismon was utterly baffled, unable to figure out how Zero had gained such detailed intel about his deployments, the key lay in two allies:
Piximon and Wizardmon…
…Wizardmon had remained undercover in Myotismon's ranks, posing as Gatomon's subordinate. Gatomon had little interest in uncovering Myotismon's secrets, but Wizardmon had quietly gathered information since the beginning.
Piximon was the same—always covertly collecting intel behind the scenes.
Separately, neither had caused significant damage to Myotismon's Dark Army. But now, with their intel combined, Zero practically knew Myotismon's army better than Myotismon himself.
Of course, given enough time, Myotismon would have figured things out and adjusted his deployments—but Zero never intended to give him that opportunity.
With lightning-fast moves, he'd wiped out five of Myotismon's corps in just two days. By the time Myotismon realized what was happening and started redeploying his forces to handle Zero's ambushes…
…Zero simply followed through exactly as promised, openly marching straight into Myotismon's home base.
He'd said three days—and three days it was. Zero was a man of his word~
It wasn't that Myotismon had been foolishly toyed with—he was burdened by bureaucracy. While Zero had only five individuals, ready to move at a moment's notice, Myotismon had too many subordinates, each decision requiring hours of deliberation. By the time his orders trickled down, Zero had already acted.
That was the downside of running such a vast organization. But now, as Zero stormed his gates, Myotismon's reactions finally sped up.
From afar, Zero spotted a swarm of black shadows sweeping across the sky—bats towing a black carriage.
…He almost pitied the bats. With the Devidramon previously pulling the carriage all killed by Zero, Myotismon now had to settle for bats to maintain appearances.
"Taichi~!"
Zero shouted. Taichi quickly nodded, activating his Digivice. The Crest of Courage glowed faintly on his chest.
"Let's go, Zero!"
AGUMON... WARP DIGIVOLVE!
Surrounded by brilliant light, MetalGreymon's figure emerged. Boosted by the Crest of Courage, Zero didn't even pretend to be polite—his chest armor swung open, immediately firing two Giga Destroyers.
The missiles flew at blinding speed, exploding among the bats pulling the carriage. Flames erupted, instantly incinerating many bats. The blast waves ripped into the carriage behind them.
The carriage exploded violently, and from within flew out a coffin adorned with an inverted cross…
Under the scarlet moonlight, the coffin shattered from within as crimson energy surged out—Myotismon's signature Bloody Stream attack.
The whip-like stream of blood sliced a path straight through the smoke and flames. Myotismon himself emerged immediately after, cape billowing dramatically.
"Yo…" Zero greeted Myotismon from afar, "As promised earlier—I'm here for your worthless life!"
"Heh… If you think you can, by all means, come and try!"
Neither was willing to lose face in a verbal confrontation. Myotismon flicked his hand, and the crimson whip shot out at a twisted, cunning angle.
Zero, buffed by the Crest of Courage, transformed his arm into the pseudo-Dramon Killer. With a single strike, he collided with the incoming whip.
Ordinarily, with Zero having nearly reached Mega-level, this would have easily shattered the whip.
Yet, though the whip burst apart on impact, a surprising force rebounded, pushing Zero's claw backward.
"Oh… not bad at all."
Zero raised his head and saw countless bats gathering around Myotismon, merging into his body. The crimson moon overhead sent down another beam of bloody light, enveloping him.
Clearly, Myotismon held both terrain and atmospheric advantage. This was his home base—he, as its ruler, had significant boosts in strength here.
Unlike Etemon, who had built a simple fortress, Myotismon had thoroughly optimized his own domain.
Right now, as its ruler, he was effectively fighting alongside the entire territory itself.
Zero recalled the plot from Digimon Frontier, where each Digital World region had its own "key," allowing one to control all the data within that area. The Dark Masters similarly had control over their regions' "keys," reshaping their domains at will.
As Myotismon waved his hand, jagged stone spikes erupted from the ground, trapping Zero like a cage. With another gesture, the clouds twisted into swarms of bats that dove at Zero.
Controlling the key to the territory, Myotismon could freely edit the region's data at will. This ability, however, greatly strained the DigiCore and wasn't something just anyone could use casually. Only Myotismon, having ruled this domain for so long, could manage such power effortlessly.
Such control over the very terrain was akin to divine might…
Yet, even facing such overwhelming power, Zero remained completely calm—
"…All that trouble, and you're barely touching Mega-level? You've worked so hard, but… it's just not enough!"
With a powerful flap of his wings, Zero charged through the stone spikes. The Giga Destroyers launched again, incinerating the incoming swarm of bats.
Myotismon's expression darkened slightly…
…He controlled every bit of data in this domain, yet he still couldn't suppress Zero completely. In fact, even with every possible advantage, Zero remained an equal opponent.
…Seems I still underestimated him. But fortunately, I prepared this trump card in advance.
In that instant, Myotismon cast a meaningful glance toward Gatomon, who subtly nodded in understanding. It was a small gesture no one else seemed to notice.
Breaking through Myotismon's defenses, Zero rushed forward, pseudo-Dramon Killer gleaming coldly. Myotismon's palm quickly charged with scarlet energy—at this critical moment—
Suddenly, Taichi let out a shocked cry:
"…Hikari!!!"