Chapter 189: ChaosGallantmon
"We are both losers."
The words hung heavy in the air, spoken with a quiet, grounding weight by MetalGarurumon X.
Hearing this, WarGreymon X felt a sharp spike of defensive anger flare in his chest. His jaw locked, and his claws twitched at his sides. He instinctively wanted to snap back, to roar a denial, but the words died in his throat. No matter how hard he tried to force them out, his voice refused to obey.
MetalGarurumon X closed the distance between them, his metallic armor clinking softly against the ruined ground.
"WarGreymon X, I know... saying this might sound a bit condescending coming from me." MetalGarurumon X lowered his head slightly, his optics glowing with a solemn understanding. "But I can understand exactly how you feel."
WarGreymon X remained silent. His armored shoulders rose and fell with heavy, ragged breaths.
"Because the wavering in your heart would make the sacrifices of those comrades from back then come to nothing," MetalGarurumon X continued, his voice steady. "To you, admitting that doubt feels like a form of betrayal to them. So, you refuse to acknowledge the wavering in your heart, no matter what."
WarGreymon X narrowed his eyes, his gaze hardening into a glare. "So, are you here to preach to me?"
"No." MetalGarurumon X shook his head slowly. "I won't make you change your mind."
As he spoke, the wolf-like cyborg raised his arm, extending a heavy, metallic hand toward the dragon warrior.
"Just hold onto your beliefs. Keep without looking back," MetalGarurumon X said, his tone carrying an unshakeable resolve. "As for the things you are worried about, the burdens dragging you down... leave them to me. After all, we are comrades, aren't we?"
Those words struck WarGreymon X like a physical blow. A flash of lightning seemed to explode behind his eyes, shattering the rigid walls he had built around his guilt. He stared at the friend standing before him, his eyes dropping to the extended hand.
Just as Mizuki had pointed out earlier, MetalGarurumon X had once managed to reach WarGreymon X's guarded heart through a shift in perspective during their clash. Conversely, hadn't WarGreymon X experienced the exact same thing?
But now... the current MetalGarurumon X was willingly offering to shoulder that crushing guilt for him.
Chaotic reflections swirled through WarGreymon X's mind. His chest tightened painfully. Almost subconsciously, the words slipped past his fangs. "Do you regret it that much? The decisions you made in the past?"
"Yes. I regret it." MetalGarurumon X nodded without a single second of hesitation. "Perhaps rising up to resist still wouldn't have prevented the end of our world. The destruction might have been inevitable. But it would probably have been better than waiting for death obediently. At least... at least they would have had a chance to fight back."
WarGreymon X stepped forward, his massive frame casting a shadow over the other. "...What exactly does that mean? What do you take the sacrifices of those compatriots who trusted you for?"
Though his words sounded like a harsh reprimand, the tremor in his voice betrayed him. It was a probe—a desperate question directed as much at himself as it was at MetalGarurumon X.
To this, MetalGarurumon X merely shook his head, his expression softening. "I have never made light of their sacrifices. Regret is not about wanting to make all of that meaningless. Ultimately, those comrades who have already fallen have become an irrecoverable past. If there is any way to seek justice for them now, then negating my past self is not something unacceptable to me."
He paused, his optics dimming for a fraction of a second. "After all, we living Digimon must ultimately move forward... not just for ourselves, but also for those compatriots who gave their lives so we could stand here today."
He let out a long, heavy exhale, the exhaust venting from his armor in a white cloud. A bitter, self-deprecating look flashed across his metallic features.
"As you can see, WarGreymon X, I am just such a 'flexible'... shameful fellow," he said quietly. "So, my desire to reach a cooperation with you is not just about wanting to increase our combat power. At the same time... it is so that this not-so-firm heart of mine can one day become as strong as yours."
"...Tch."
WarGreymon X let out a rough scoff, but the tension bleeding from his posture told a different story. Looking at the earnest cyborg before him, the chaotic storm of thoughts in his mind finally settled into a quiet calm.
Perhaps his own heart still could not let go of the bloody past. Perhaps the nightmares would never truly fade. But the MetalGarurumon X standing right here... could perhaps become the one to carry that weight alongside him.
"What exactly is this..." WarGreymon X muttered under his breath.
With a swift, decisive motion, his clawed hand shot out, gripping MetalGarurumon X's extended palm tightly. Metal clanged against metal.
Feeling the immense strength radiating from the dragon warrior's grip, a warm spark ignited within MetalGarurumon X's digital core.
"Tomorrow will be better, WarGreymon X," MetalGarurumon X said seriously, meeting his gaze head-on.
WarGreymon X shot him a dry, almost helpless look. "But that tomorrow doesn't belong to us, MetalGarurumon X."
"So, is this considered complete?"
A short distance away, Gallantmon stood in silent observation. He turned his helmeted head toward the young man standing casually beside him, a hint of confusion evident in his posture.
Feeling the Royal Knight's gaze, the corners of Mizuki's mouth curled upward, blooming into a gentle, knowing smile.
"So-called mutual understanding doesn't necessarily require the perfect synchronization of will and belief," Mizuki said, his voice smooth and calm. "For Digimon like them, who have lived through such long, agonizing years, compensating for each other's flaws is actually far more suitable than achieving complete spiritual harmony."
Mizuki turned his head, his gem-clear pink eyes locking onto Gallantmon. The ambient light caught the mischievous, yet deep depth in his gaze.
"One plus one does indeed bring stronger power," Mizuki continued, raising a single finger. "But the zero obtained from negative one plus one doesn't necessarily represent the end. After all, the number '0' is the beginning of absolutely everything."
Gallantmon fell silent, digesting the philosophical weight of the boy's words. "...An interesting answer. I have learned something today."
However, just as Gallantmon opened his mouth to explore deeper into the discussion, the atmosphere violently shifted.
Belle's head snapped up. Her eyes widened. In a blur of motion, she flashed directly in front of Mizuki, her body positioned as a living shield.
At the exact same moment, Gallantmon's combat instincts flared. He instantly drew his holy lance, Gram, and raised the Aegis shield, his stance dropping into a defensive crouch.
Seeing this sudden shift, DoruGreymon and Breakdramon, who had been resting near the rubble, scrambled to their feet, completely stunned.
Before either of them could even voice a question, a cataclysmic explosion detonated directly overhead.
BOOM!
A terrifying shockwave swept downward, shattering the surrounding terrain into fine dust. The sheer kinetic force threatened to flatten everything in its path.
Fortunately, Belle and Gallantmon, joined a split second later by the reacting WarGreymon X and MetalGarurumon X, unleashed their auras simultaneously. Their combined energy formed a barrier that completely neutralized the crushing pressure, shielding the weaker Digimon behind them.
As the dust cleared, DoruGreymon and Breakdramon finally looked up, their eyes widening in absolute horror.
The thick, subterranean rock layers that had previously formed their ceiling had been entirely vaporized. In their place hung a twilight sky, stained a dark, sickly red like coagulated blood.
Under this apocalyptic sky—one that seemed to herald the absolute end of the world—several knights hovered in the air. Their armor gleamed with terrifying, oppressive auras, and they stared down at the group with the cold, predatory eyes of executioners.
Hovering at the absolute forefront was none other than Omnimon, the white paladin they had encountered not long ago.
"Tch... Although I guessed we would be found eventually, these guys came a bit too fast, didn't they?" Gallantmon muttered, his gauntleted hands subconsciously tightening around the shaft of his lance.
"These guys... they are all Royal Knights!"
WarGreymon X stared at the figures standing high in the blood-red sky. A crimson flash of pure, unadulterated hatred ignited in his eyes. His armor rattled as his muscles coiled tight.
He remembered. He remembered it all too clearly. These were the exact same executioners who had slaughtered his comrades—the ones who had fought alongside him to resist fate until not a single soul was left standing.
The dying resentment of his fallen brothers. The agonizing cries of the innocent being butchered without mercy. The nightmare-like past constructed from oceans of blood tortured WarGreymon X at every waking moment.
A feral growl ripped from his throat. He bent his knees, ready to launch himself into the sky and drag the Royal Knights into a life-and-death struggle.
A heavy hand slammed onto his shoulder, pinning him in place.
"WarGreymon X, do not let anger cloud your mind!" MetalGarurumon X barked, his voice cutting through the dragon's blind rage. "We have finally found hope now! Do not throw it away!"
WarGreymon X, who had been a fraction of a second away from shaking off his partner, froze. The warning pierced through the red haze in his mind. He gritted his teeth, forcing his raging data to stabilize.
In the next second, he vanished from his spot, reappearing directly by Mizuki's side to act as a guard.
MetalGarurumon X sprinted to the opposite flank, quickly herding DoruGreymon and a violently trembling Breakdramon into a safer formation behind the front line.
"...It seems there is no internal problem here for the time being," Gallantmon observed quietly. Seeing that WarGreymon X had managed to rein in his blinding fury, the holy knight allowed himself a small breath of relief.
But that fleeting peace was instantly shattered by a booming, authoritative voice echoing from the heavens.
"Gallantmon!"
A knight clad in blindingly radiant golden armor descended slightly from the formation. Magnamon raised a gauntleted hand, pointing an accusatory finger directly at his former comrade.
"The absolute laws of Her Majesty Yggdrasil stipulate that we must eliminate those who are unfit to survive!" Magnamon's voice rang out with self-righteous fury. "Yet not only did you fail to execute your duty, you even turned around and helped them! You dare to defy her will so blatantly!"
"Magnamon." Gallantmon took a slow, deliberate step forward. He tilted his head up, his gaze piercing straight through the visor of his helmet to meet the eyes of his former brothers-in-arms. "The only mistake I have made—is upholding true justice!"
He slammed the butt of his lance into the ground, the impact ringing out like a bell. "And you... you all only act like mindless puppets, entirely devoid of the ability to think for yourselves."
"Shut your mouth!"
Stung by the sharp truth in Gallantmon's words, Magnamon let out a furious roar. Golden light erupted from his armor as he plummeted from the sky like a meteor, dropping directly in front of Gallantmon.
"Now, you must pay the ultimate price for your treason!" Magnamon bellowed, pulling back his fist. The golden armor covering his arm crackled with terrifying, concentrated energy as he aimed a lethal strike squarely at Gallantmon's chest.
However, before that devastating fist could even graze Gallantmon's armor, a blinding, purifying light bloomed outward from the Aegis shield!
[Final Elysion!]
A massive beam of ultimate holy energy erupted from the shield's core, slamming into Magnamon at point-blank range.
As the Royal Knight possessing the absolute strongest defensive power, Magnamon naturally would not be defeated by a single strike. The golden knight was sent skidding backward, his boots tearing deep trenches into the earth. He flipped mid-air, using the momentum to spring back onto his feet like a coiled spring.
But the moment he looked up, the razor-sharp tip of the holy lance Gram was already resting mere inches from his throat.
"You—have absolutely no right to judge me!"
Gallantmon stood tall, his imposing stature and powerful aura momentarily suppressing the aggressive golden knight. The air around them crackled with lethal tension.
"As knights serving Her Majesty Yggdrasil, our duty is not merely to blindly follow orders!" Gallantmon's voice echoed across the ruined wasteland, thick with raw emotion. "We were created to protect innocent lives above all else! Have you entirely forgotten what Her Majesty Yggdrasil told us at the very beginning?"
Gallantmon's grip on his lance tightened, his knuckles turning white beneath his gauntlets. "What she hoped for... was to create a beautiful world where all Digimon could live happily!"
Hearing those desperate, impassioned words from below, a suffocating stillness fell over the battlefield.
It wasn't just Magnamon who froze. High in the blood-red sky, the rest of the Royal Knights fell into a heavy, deep silence.
Crusadermon: "..."
Craniummon: "..."
Omnimon: "..."
Sleipmon: "..."
Deep down in their digital cores, they knew. They knew Gallantmon spoke the absolute truth.
The Yggdrasil of the past had been so gentle. Her existence had been like a warm beam of light cutting through the darkness—a light that brought hope, beauty, and order to the Digital World.
And now...
"..."
While they remained trapped in their silent conflict, Gallantmon's voice cut through the tension once more, colder and harder than before.
"If the supreme being we serve now forces you to stand by and do nothing while the innocent are slaughtered—"
Gallantmon's eyes flared beneath his visor. "Then I am no longer your comrade!"
With those final, severing words, Gallantmon abruptly withdrew the lance pointed at Magnamon's throat.
Before the golden knight could even register the movement, Gallantmon spun on his heel. The heavy shaft of the lance swept outward in a brutal arc, slamming into Magnamon's chest plate and sending him hurtling backward high into the sky.
Magnamon: "?"
Although the physical strike wasn't nearly enough to breach his golden armor or cause real injury, the sheer indignity of being swatted away like a nuisance ball left Magnamon inexplicably infuriated.
But in the very next second, the anger completely froze on his face.
A sudden, hollow sensation echoed within his chest. He realized that a deeply ingrained, fundamental connection—the sacred link shared between all Royal Knights—had just violently snapped.
To be precise, it wasn't just him. High above, every single Royal Knight felt it simultaneously.
They all felt the absolute severing of the spiritual bond tying Gallantmon to their ranks.
This meant only one thing. The knight below had officially, and permanently, abandoned his sacred identity as a "Royal Knight."
Realizing the gravity of what had just occurred, the originally silent Crusadermon finally spoke up, his tone dripping with a mix of disdain and pity. "Such a beautiful will... but the resulting behavior is oh so ugly."
"Self-degradation..." Magnamon murmured, stabilizing himself in the air. His gaze remained firmly locked on the figure standing on the ground below.
Gallantmon's body was currently undergoing a terrifying, visceral mutation.
Perhaps it was the direct consequence of violently tearing away his position as a Royal Knight. Or perhaps it was a deep physical digivolution brought about by his absolute, unyielding determination.
Whatever the cause, the holy light surrounding him began to rot.
The originally bright, heroic crimson of Gallantmon's armor was rapidly bleeding out, replaced by a dark, abyssal blue. The pristine white sections of his holy armor dulled, turning ashen as a dim, oppressive, and suffocating aura began to shroud his entire being.
"Gallantmon is... changing?" Belle murmured, her eyes wide as she watched the dark energy spiral upward.
Beside her, Mizuki stood with his hands resting casually in his pockets. His voice was calm, carrying a quiet certainty. "He is no longer called by that name."
Mizuki watched the dark data swirl like a localized hurricane. "Now, he is called ChaosGallantmon."
Even as Mizuki spoke, the body of the fallen knight continued its violent metamorphosis.
"If you all represent the so-called 'justice' of this world..."
The deep, distorted voice echoed from within the dark blue armor. More and more of his holy white plating was consumed by the abyssal hue. At the same time, the iconic crimson cape billowing on his back began to tear and shred, violently reshaping itself until it burst outward into four pairs of jagged, blue-and-white wings!
Though the wings shimmered with a pale, ghostly light, they radiated nothing but a chilling sense of absolute extinction and endless nothingness.
"Then the current me... is the 'evil'that stands against your'justice'!"
With a final, devastating surge of dark data, the newly forged ChaosGallantmon fully unleashed his terrifying power, revealing his ultimate, true form to the heavens.
ChaosGallantmon Core Mode!
Looking down at the dark knight clad in abyssal blue armor, every single Royal Knight present felt the suffocating, powerful aura radiating from his core.
It wasn't just raw power. It was the terrifying, unshakable determination of a warrior who had abandoned his past, his honor, and his very nature at any cost to protect what he believed in.
"Gallantmon... you..."
Watching the dark wings of his former friend beat against the blood-red sky, the deep confusion in Omnimon's eyes only grew deeper...
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