Chapter 92: The World Is Not Beautiful, But It Is Not That Cruel
"LadyDevimon, look up for a moment," Mizuki's voice broke the quiet, soft but carrying an absolute weight. "Can you tell me what you see?"
"...The sky?"
Following his gaze, LadyDevimon tilted her head upward. The fading light of the sun was bleeding out across the horizon, replaced by deep, bruised purples and creeping shadows. "Evening," she answered, her voice dropping a fraction. "Or rather... night is coming soon."
"Very good." Mizuki offered a faint, approving nod, his eyes reflecting the dying light. "Then, do you mind if I ask another question?"
"Of course not." She straightened, her leather-clad wings shifting slightly. "As long as it is your wish, Lord Mizuki, it wouldn't matter if you asked me a hundred questions!"
A quiet chuckle escaped his lips. "Haha, I'm not quite that talkative." His smile softened, though his gaze remained intensely focused on her. "I just want to know... LadyDevimon, do you like the coming of the night?"
"The night?"
The innocent question struck a chord deep within her digicore. LadyDevimon's crimson eyes glazed over as she was pulled backward into the murky depths of her memories.
Did she like the night?
Admittedly, back when she was still just an ordinary Gatomon, the darkness had been her cloak. She had used the pitch-black cover to skulk, to steal, to survive, doing whatever shady, desperate things were necessary to see another dawn.
Yet, she had never actually liked it.
If she were entirely honest, she despised it. She hated the cold, suffocating blanket of the dark. Only those who had truly clawed their way through the abyss understood the sheer, unfiltered terror that the nocturnal world held. The shadows were alive with predators. She could no longer count how many fragile companions had been swallowed whole by the cruel, unforgiving jaws of the night, their data scattering like dust in the wind.
Her jaw tightened. The answer came to her with absolute certainty.
"I'm sorry, Lord Mizuki," she murmured, her gaze dropping to the dirt beneath her clawed boots. "I know it might sound a bit strange, considering what I am now. But... I don't like the night."
A loud, metallic clanking broke the solemn atmosphere. MetalGreymon, who had been looming quietly nearby, suddenly widened his organic eye, his jaw dropping in sheer disbelief.
"What? Are you serious, LadyDevimon?" the massive cyborg dragon blurted out, his deep voice rumbling through the clearing. "Aren't you a Fallen Angel-type Digimon? You literally wear darkness! Why wouldn't you like the night?"
LadyDevimon whipped her head around, her crimson eyes flashing with sudden irritation. "I wasn't born a Fallen Angel-type, you overgrown tin can!" she snapped, glaring daggers at her foolishly blunt companion. "Have you completely forgotten that before I met Lord Mizuki, I was just an ordinary Gatomon?"
MetalGreymon blinked, lifting a massive, cybernetic claw to scratch awkwardly at his metal chin. Sparks hissed faintly from his joints. "Uh... I guess that's true?"
"..."
Pinching the bridge of her nose to stave off an impending headache, LadyDevimon aggressively ignored the painfully honest dragon and turned her attention back to Mizuki.
Mizuki's voice drifted over the quiet evening air, smooth and unbothered by the interruption. "Just as you said, LadyDevimon."
He stepped closer, the fading twilight casting long shadows across his features. "You don't like the night. And in that same vein, I am well aware of everything you are currently worrying about."
He paused, letting the evening breeze rustle through his hair. "Not every act of kindness will be reciprocated. Encountering betrayal, malice, and hurt is an inevitable part of living—just as inevitable as the arrival of the night every single day."
His eyes met hers, bright and unyielding. "However, I refuse to shrink back and hide just because I know those things exist."
LadyDevimon's brow furrowed. The leather straps on her arms creaked as she shifted her weight, a deep frown marring her pale face. "But, Lord Mizuki..." she started, her tone laced with protective frustration. "The two concepts are completely different. One is a choice we actively make, and the other is an inescapable law of nature."
"I know, LadyDevimon."
The quiet certainty in his voice stopped her dead.
"So, everything I am saying right now is strictly directed at myself."
"—!"
Under LadyDevimon's stunned gaze, Mizuki turned his head slightly, the last rays of the sun catching the sharp, resolute lines of his profile. "The reason I am telling you all this isn't to force a change in your perspective."
He looked out toward the horizon. "Whether they are humans or Digimon, every individual has their own path to walk and their own beliefs to uphold. I have no intention of arrogantly trying to change who others are."
He turned back to her, and the gentle warmth in his eyes was suddenly underpinned by a forged-steel determination. "As I said at the beginning, the only reason I am speaking of this now is to make sure you understand one thing, LadyDevimon."
He took a breath, his voice dropping to a fierce whisper. "I am not ignorant."
The words hung in the air, heavy and absolute.
"I know that not every act of kindness will be reciprocated. I know that betrayal, agony, and malice are inevitable in this life. I am intimately, painfully aware of all of this." His hands clenched briefly at his sides before relaxing. "But for me... even if the vast majority of the kindness I offer is forsaken, trampled on, and betrayed—if even just one act is reciprocated, then it is entirely worth it to me."
He offered her a small, bittersweet smile. "This world is not beautiful. But... it is also not as hopelessly cruel as we sometimes imagine it to be."
He gestured vaguely to the darkening landscape around them. "The reason the world appears in so many different, conflicting forms is entirely dependent on the individuals who choose to take action within it. In the past, I was weak. I didn't have the power to do anything at all."
His smile widened, a spark of genuine, unyielding optimism lighting up his features. "But now? Since I finally have the power to act... what is so wrong with trying to make this world just a little bit more beautiful?"
LadyDevimon stood completely frozen, rooted to the spot as the sheer weight of his words washed over her.
All this time, she had harbored a secret, protective assumption. She had thought Mizuki was simply a kind, sheltered boy—a gentle soul who had yet to experience the true, grinding cruelty of the world. She had believed it was her duty to shield his naivety from the darkness.
But now, the truth laid itself bare before her.
Mizuki was never an ignorant blank slate. He understood the vicious, blood-soaked side of this world better than anyone. He comprehended the twisted complexity and inherent selfishness of the heart.
Yet, knowing all of that, he still chose kindness.
Even while wading waist-deep through the filth and turbid currents of reality, his heart refused to rot. He actively maintained his original, pure gentleness, wielding it not as a shield of ignorance, but as a weapon of defiance.
'And I... I was actually looking at Lord Mizuki with such shallow, pitying eyes?'
LadyDevimon's breath hitched. A quiet, bitter sneer curled the corner of her dark lips.
It was a sneer of pure self-mockery.
Standing before the radiant, battered optimism of this human boy, she felt the crushing weight of her own cynicism. Compared to his unyielding light, she felt more and more that her own soul was hideously ugly...
However, before the toxic spiral of her thoughts could drag her any deeper into the abyss, a sudden, grounding warmth enveloped her fingers.
LadyDevimon gasped, her crimson eyes snapping wide open.
At some point, without her even noticing, Mizuki had closed the distance between them. His human hand was wrapped firmly around her pale, clawed fingers.
"LadyDevimon..."
His voice was as gentle as the evening breeze, yet his clear eyes pierced straight through her defenses, looking as though they could read the very code of her digicore.
"Though I don't know exactly what dark thoughts are running through your head right now, I hope you can understand one absolute truth."
He squeezed her hand, his thumb brushing lightly over her knuckles. "I have never been some high and mighty, untouchable existence. I am just me."
He stepped closer, his presence an anchor in her storm. "Whatever pedestal you are trying to put me on, whatever you think of me... I have never left your side."
A playful, almost teasing lilt entered his voice. "Just like this."
Saying so, Mizuki lifted their joined hands into the space between them, displaying the physical proof of their bond.
LadyDevimon stared at the boy before her. The lump in her throat felt like swallowed glass. She was silent for a long, agonizing moment before her voice finally broke, escaping in a halting, fragile whisper.
"For someone like me... is it really okay?"
Her gaze dropped, unable to meet his eyes. "Lord Mizuki, you surely can't imagine how much blood is on my hands. You don't know how many terrible, unforgivable things I've done in the past just to survive." Her voice trembled, the fierce Fallen Angel suddenly looking incredibly small. "To a monster like me... you are still willing to be this gentle. Is it really okay?"
"Regarding that, I need you to understand something very clearly, LadyDevimon."
Mizuki didn't let go. Instead, he leaned in, forcing her dodging eyes to finally meet his. The gentle warmth in his gaze was now tempered with a deep, unshakeable earnestness.
"Treating you as my companion doesn't mean I have decided to blindly cover up or erase everything you've done in the past."
His words were firm, devoid of any sugarcoating. "No matter how deeply you regret it now, the sins of your past have, after all, already happened. They are a part of your data. I cannot change that."
He tightened his grip on her hand, his voice ringing with absolute conviction. "What I can do now, however, is stand by your side. In the capacity of your companion, I will take on the weight of those past faults... and we will carry them together."
Hearing those words, a vivid memory flashed through LadyDevimon's mind—the scene from earlier, when Mizuki had firmly but gently guided her to apologize to Drimogemon. He hadn't excused her actions, but he hadn't abandoned her either. He had stood right beside her, sharing the humiliation and the responsibility.
Overwhelmed by a surge of emotion, LadyDevimon subconsciously tightened her grip on Mizuki's hand. But a second later, a spike of panic hit her—she was a Digimon, possessing unnatural strength, and he was just a fragile human. Terrified of hurting him, she instantly loosened her grip, ending up holding his hand with a feather-light, almost reverent touch.
Yet, even with that light touch, the bond between them solidified into something unbreakable. Everything about Mizuki—his warmth, his fierce optimism, his unwavering acceptance—was now violently, permanently engraved into the deepest recesses of her being.
She felt a deep devotion well up inside her, a loyalty so absolute that she would willingly brand his name across her very digicore.
'Thank you... Lord Mizuki.'
"..."
Just as the tender silence settled over them, Belle, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for a long time, suddenly chimed in.
"Although your philosophical concerns make perfect sense, LadyDevimon, absolutely none of that is going to happen."
The blonde woman stepped forward, her eyes flashing with a dangerous, protective light. "Because any malice, any betrayal, or any schemes directed at Mizu... I will personally intercept and crush every single one of them!"
She puffed out her chest, her voice ringing with absolute, fierce devotion. "Staking my very existence, I will protect Mizu—I say!"
"Big Sister Belle..."
Looking at Belle's fiercely determined expression, a lingering question suddenly bubbled up in LadyDevimon's mind. The sheer, overwhelming power Belle possessed defied all logic.
"Um, may I ask you something?" LadyDevimon ventured cautiously.
"What is it?" Belle asked, casually wrapping herself around one of Mizuki's arms and peering over at the Fallen Angel.
"What level of Digimon are you, exactly, right now?"
LadyDevimon couldn't help but recall the terrifying display of power from earlier. Belle had utterly obliterated the remaining dark network that Drimogemon had dug up, wiping it from existence with nothing more than a casual, effortless strike. Based on that alone, LadyDevimon had formulated a few faint, terrifying guesses.
However, the conclusion was so unbelievable that she needed to hear Belle admit it herself.
And Belle did not disappoint her.
"Didn't I mention it already?"
Belle raised a delicate eyebrow. Then, in a sickeningly sweet, cute voice, she dropped a revelation that made LadyDevimon's breath completely hitch in her throat.
"I am a Mega-level Digimon—BeelStarmon."
She leaned her head affectionately against Mizuki's shoulder, a bright, innocent smile blooming on her face. "Of course, compared to 'BeelStarmon,' I much prefer the name Belle."
Her eyes curved into happy crescents. "Because that's the name Mizu specifically gave me~"
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