Solo Leveling: Digispirit.

A/N: Hello, guys! Here’s today’s Chapter.

To be honest, this story started as just a side project, but seeing how much it’s grown, I’ve decided to dedicate more time to it. That also means I’ll be going back through the earlier Chapters to polish them and fix a few things here and there.

I hope you enjoy today’s Chapter, and as always, thank you so much for all your support!

Start of the Chapter.

Takuya kept looking around as they walked.

In the end, Pumpkinmon finished Shellmon off without much trouble, and after absorbing the data, the two of them continued exploring the beach. Takuya remained vigilant the entire time. His eyes constantly scanned the surroundings, expecting another Digimon to emerge at any moment, but nothing happened.

Not a single Digimon appeared.

From the looks of it, the four they had defeated had claimed this entire section of the coastline as their territory.

The beach itself was enormous. Far larger than Takuya had initially imagined. Just following the shoreline, he was certain it stretched for well over thirty kilometers, and that wasn’t even counting the endless sea of dunes disappearing into the horizon like a desert.

As they continued walking, that unsettling feeling returned.

Someone...

Something...

Was watching them, Takuya stopped for a brief moment and looked toward the ocean.

Nothing.

He turned toward the dunes.

Still nothing.

Yet he could feel it. A gaze fixed on both him and Pumpkinmon. He couldn’t tell where it was coming from, only that it hadn’t left them since earlier. Tiny sparks of fire danced across his hands, ready to ignite at the slightest sign of danger, but whoever—or whatever—was observing them remained hidden.

It’s smart...

The presence never disappeared.

It simply waited.

Takuya and Pumpkinmon continued walking as if they hadn’t noticed anything, chatting from time to time and genuinely enjoying the scenery. Despite the danger, the beach was beautiful, and even the occasional battles had been surprisingly fun. As they moved beyond SeaDramon’s territory, they encountered a few more hostile Digimon and dealt with them without much difficulty.

Eventually, however, the landscape began to change.

The sand was no longer clean. The golden dunes became littered with twisted sheets of metal, rusted gears, broken machinery, and countless piles of scrap scattered in every direction. Some pieces looked ancient, while others appeared strangely intact, as though they had been dragged there only recently.

Takuya narrowed his eyes.

This must be Tyranomon’s territory.

"Be careful," he said quietly. "A Tyranomon shouldn’t be hard to spot. They’re pretty big."

Pumpkinmon nodded, his cheerful expression fading as he carefully looked around the scrapyard.

Then...

Something caught Takuya’s attention.

Far off in the distance, something metallic reflected the sunlight.

It was moving.

Takuya eyes narrowed, The silhouette was unmistakably dinosaur-like.

But...It wasn’t the deep red he had expected. Its body looked pale. and kind of Metallic.

Then Takuya’s eyes widened.

"...Oh shit," he muttered.

That wasn’t a Tyranomon anymore.

The realization hit Takuya the moment he got a better look at the creature.

Its body was almost completely mechanical A MetalTyranomon.

Before he could process the thought any further, something else caught his eye.

A flash.

Then another.

One of the launchers mounted on MetalTyranomon’s arm lit up.

Takuya’s pupils shrank.

"A missile!"

The projectile shot toward them at incredible speed.

A normal missile fired by a Perfect-level Digimon was nothing like the ones humans used. It might have been the same concept, but it was powered by a completely different level of strength.

Without hesitating, Takuya grabbed Pumpkinmon and threw him over his shoulder.

Flames erupted beneath his feet.

"Fire Dash!"

There was only one option. Run away.

There was absolutely no way he was going to willingly fight a MetalTyranomon without a plan or backup. Even against the first Perfect-level Digimon they had defeated, they had prepared an ambush. Charging this one head-on would be suicide.

Takuya accelerated across the dunes at full speed while leaving a trail of fire behind him. He wasn’t sure how MetalTyranomon’s missiles worked—whether they tracked their target or simply flew in a straight line—but if they were heat-seeking or guided in any way, he wanted as many countermeasures as possible.

The missile closed the distance in seconds.

Then—

BOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted behind them.

The shockwave slammed into Takuya and Pumpkinmon before they could fully escape the blast radius. It wasn’t enough to injure them directly, but the force was overwhelming, lifting both of them off the ground and hurling them dozens of meters through the air like ragdolls.

"What was that?" Pumpkinmon asked, still not having caught a glimpse of the Digimon.

"That’s MetalTyranomon! The bastard evolved!" Takuya shouted.

The two of them scrambled back to their feet, but before either could recover completely, Takuya’s instincts screamed again.

Another missile.

"It’s coming again!"

Without wasting a second, Takuya thrust his fist forward.

"Burning Salamander!"

A blazing stream of fire shot into the sky and collided head-on with the incoming missile.

The detonation happened much closer this time.

The explosion lit up the sky in orange and black, and the shockwave crashed into them with far greater force than before, throwing both of them even farther across the dunes. Takuya dug his feet into the sand as he landed, leaving two long trenches before finally coming to a stop.

This time, it actually hurt.

Not enough to cause any real injuries, but enough to leave his body stinging from absorbing part of the blast.

The missile wasn’t weak.

Quite the opposite.

The fact that the shockwave alone could make both him and Pumpkinmon feel pain without the explosion directly hitting them spoke volumes about its destructive power.

And more importantly...

Takuya was certain of one thing.

This MetalTyranomon was stronger than any of the Perfect-level Digimon that had invaded LAN Island.

Not only that...

The thing was humongous.

As it charged toward them, Takuya finally got a better look at its size. It easily stood as tall as a three-story building, only slightly shorter than MetalGreymon.

Pumpkinmon immediately clung to Takuya as the boy broke into a full sprint.

One advantage he had over fighting inside a dungeon was that he didn’t have to kill everything he encountered. Right now, there was absolutely no reason to risk his life against a MetalTyranomon, especially when two Perfect-level Digimon were available to deal with a threat like this.

So...

He kept running.

Then something strange happened.

Takuya glanced over his shoulder just in time to see MetalTyranomon launch itself into the air.

At first, it almost looked like it was flying.

But it wasn’t.

The massive Digimon had turned its back toward them and was firing the energy cannon mounted on its arm downward, using the recoil to propel itself forward. It wasn’t true flight—it was more like an enormous rocket-assisted leap.

"...You’re kidding me."

In the blink of an eye, MetalTyranomon soared over them. Just before overshooting its target, it cut the propulsion and let gravity take over.

The gigantic mechanical dinosaur crashed down directly in front of them, the impact shaking the entire beach and sending sand exploding in every direction.

Then it slowly raised one of its cannon-like arms...

...and aimed it straight at them.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Takuya and Pumpkinmon shouted at exactly the same time.

In that instant, Takuya enveloped his arms and feet in flames while Pumpkinmon climbed onto his back without needing to be told.

It was pure instinct.

A tactic they had unconsciously developed after fighting together so many times.

Pumpkinmon acted first.

He raised both of his plush hands, and a giant pumpkin the size of a small house materialized high above MetalTyranomon before plummeting toward its head.

The massive Digimon instinctively looked up.

A second later, one of its cannons fired, blasting the giant pumpkin apart before it could crush it.

But that single moment of distraction was all Takuya needed.

Fire erupted beneath his feet.

Using Fire Dash, he accelerated to the side, escaping the direct line of fire before MetalTyranomon could adjust its aim.

The instant he found an opening, both of them attacked.

"Burning Salamander!"

"Lantern o’ Jack!"

The two streams of fire merged into one before crashing directly into MetalTyranomon’s metallic head. The explosion engulfed its face in flames, nearly forcing the giant Digimon to lose its balance.

However...

MetalTyranomon retaliated immediately.

Its massive tail swung around with terrifying speed.

The steel appendage slammed into Takuya’s side before he could fully evade, launching both him and Pumpkinmon across the sand.

Pumpkinmon reacted instantly. He planted both feet into the ground while pressing his hands against Takuya’s back, using all his strength to stop their momentum before they crashed even farther away.

The two finally skidded to a halt.

Takuya quickly pushed himself back to his feet while Pumpkinmon climbed onto his back once more.

Then they looked forward.

MetalTyranomon was still advancing.

Its entire head remained engulfed in flames.

The combined attacks had worked.

The metal around its skull had turned bright red from the heat, and the fire stubbornly refused to go out.

Even so...

Watching that enormous mechanical dinosaur slowly march toward them was terrifying.

Each heavy step shook the beach beneath their feet.

For just a brief instant Takuya hesitated. It’s was actually scared. Then another thought crossed his mind. "I’m literally the incarnation of the Firewall... so why the hell are you trembling Takuya?, get a grip"

A grin slowly spread across his face. Instead of charging he waited. "You trust me?" Takuya asked.

Pumpkinmon didn’t hesitate. He simply nodded.

That was enough.

MetalTyranomon raised its left arm. The cannon at its end began glowing as energy rapidly gathered inside the barrel.

Takuya remained perfectly still.

Closer.

Closer.

Even closer.

Only when the blast was practically in front of them did he move.

Fire exploded beneath his knees.

The sudden burst of propulsion slammed his body flat against the sand, allowing the energy blast to pass just centimeters above them before detonating far behind. The explosion carved a massive trench through the beach.

Without wasting the opening, Takuya ignited his flames once more.

He shot forward beneath MetalTyranomon’s body, sliding between its enormous legs. As he passed underneath, he drove another full-powered Burning Salamander directly into the giant Digimon’s face before continuing his momentum and emerging behind it.

The instant they cleared its back...

Pumpkinmon raised both hands again.

Another enormous pumpkin materialized high above the still-burning MetalTyranomon.

It crashed down with tremendous force.

BOOM!

The giant pumpkin swallowed the mechanical dinosaur beneath its weight.

Takuya and Pumpkinmon stared at the enormous pumpkin resting in the middle of the beach.

Pumpkinmon was just beginning to relax...

But the moment he noticed how tense Takuya still was, he immediately understood.

It wasn’t over.

The very next instant, the giant pumpkin exploded into hundreds of fragments that scattered across the beach.

At the same time, the flames coating MetalTyranomon’s body finally died out.

The colossal Digimon slowly turned around to face Takuya and Pumpkinmon once more.

For the first time, they could clearly see the damage they had inflicted.

Several sections of MetalTyranomon’s armor had partially melted, leaving glowing scars of warped metal across its face.

But he mechanical dinosaur neither staggered nor showed the slightest sign of weakness. It simply kept walking forward. That was the real problem, their attacks had worked, they had hurt it, but they hadn’t hurt it enough.

Meanwhile, the blow Takuya had taken from its tail throbbed with every breath he took. Even if he refused to show it, he knew that hit had done real damage.

He let out a slow breath.

Round two.

Flames ignited around his arms once again.

Behind him, Pumpkinmon climbed back into position and gripped his oversized axe with both hands, silently preparing for another exchange.

MetalTyranomon watched them for a moment before the corners of its metallic mouth curled upward into what almost resembled a grin.

"It has been fun," the giant Digimon rumbled. "Now vermins. Let’s see which one of us ends up as the other’s meal."