Solo Leveling: Digispirit.

When Pumpkinmon landed on Enbarrmon’s back, the Digimon’s attention shifted entirely toward him. He became so focused on throwing Pumpkinmon off that he completely lost sight of Takuya.

Pumpkinmon wrapped his arms around Enbarrmon’s head, doing everything he could to hold it in place.

"Hold him! Don’t let him get away!" Takuya shouted.

In that instant, his flames flared to their absolute limit. Fire erupted around him as he unleashed Burning Salamander point-blank into Enbarrmon’s neck.

All three of them were caught in the blast at close range.

Enbarrmon desperately tried to break free. As an undead Digimon, his sense of pain was dulled, but he could still feel the damage tearing through his body.

Takuya refused to let up. At the same time, Pumpkinmon hammered away at the back of Enbarrmon’s neck. Their coordinated assault looked less like a battle and more like two bullies ganging up on a helpless victim.

Neither of them gave him a single moment to recover.

Enbarrmon kicked, bucked, and twisted wildly, trying to shake Pumpkinmon loose and escape the torrent of flames, but there was nothing he could do.

Then—

Crack.

A fracture spread through his neck.

The next instant, Agnimon’s flaming fist and Pumpkinmon’s punch met from opposite sides, smashing straight through Enbarrmon’s neck.

In a single moment, the horse-like Digimon was left headless.

His body dissolved, exploding into countless particles of data.

Immediately, the D-Scan lit up.

High-density data detected.

Absorbing...

3.2 GB acquired.

this Digimon had granted him more data than dozens of Adult-level Digimon combined.

When the battle was over, Takuya and Pumpkinmon looked at each other before bursting into laughter.

"We did it!"

Takuya quickly turned serious again.

"You took care of the Bakemon like we planned, right?"

"Yep. I ambushed them one by one as they came through," Halloween replied with a grin.

"Good. That’s one less to worry about. Now we need to disappear for a while. Just look at us—we’re a mess."

Parts of Agnimon’s armor were cracked, slowly repairing themselves as flames crawled across the damaged sections, but he was far from being in fighting condition, the sole shockwaves of the fight had been severe.

Halloween wasn’t much better. Burn marks covered his body. They would heal, but healing required one thing they didn’t have in the middle of enemy territory. Time.

"So," Takuya said, "you used to live around here. Do you know somewhere we can hide? Somewhere that gives us an advantage if one of the remaining Perfects comes looking for us?"

"Hmm... I know a place. You remember those Drimogemon we passed earlier, right?" Halloween asked.

"Yeah, of course."

"Their tunnels run all over this area. Hardly anyone goes inside because only the Drimogemon know the layout. There’s a hideout near one of the passages... one I used back when I was a Woodmon."

"You were a Woodmon?" Takuya asked in surprise. He had never wondered what Pumpkinmon had been before evolving.

"Yep. And to get into your world, I even had to devolve back into a Woodmon. Otherwise, I would’ve been stuck."

"What do you mean?" Takuya asked, completely confused.

"The portal was too small. I saw the Numemon squeeze through, but when I tried in the other one, I just slammed into it. So I figured a Perfect couldn’t pass through, and I was right. I had to sacrifice a bit of my data to devolve, but it was worth it. Once I got to your world and ate enough food, I recovered the lost data and evolved back into Pumpkinmon."

That left Takuya speechless for a moment.

Eventually, he nodded. There wasn’t much to say, but the explanation gave him an important clue.

A Perfect-level Digimon can’t cross...?

And more importantly...

What exactly did he mean by sacrificing data?he lose data each time he devolve?

Takuya decided to save those questions for later, once they reached the hideout Pumpkinmon had mentioned.

when they arrived at the drimogemons place, it looked awful, not because it was a cave, it was because the whole place showed clear signs of fight, it was obvious the drimogemon fought when they were pull over from here.

"are you sure they won’t look for us here?" asked Takuya as they entered the place.

"maybe, but here we had various scape routes" exclaimed Pumkinmon.

"how do you know?" asked takuya.

"Here’s the place I used to escape to your world," Pumpkinmon said. "I know this area pretty well. I used to come here all the time back when I was a Woodmon. I even had a Drimogemon who was a friend."

"I see."

For a brief moment, Pumpkinmon’s tone changed. Takuya noticed it immediately but decided not to ask any further questions.

"I have a question, Halloween," Takuya said after a moment.

"Hmm? Go ahead," Pumpkinmon replied munching a burguer? he saved one from mcdonals?.

"You said you sacrificed data when you devolved. How does that work?"

"Oh, that’s simple. You lose a good chunk of your data because your body can’t support that much anymore. Every time we evolve, our capacity to store data increases too. Some Digimon can even store more than others, is like the excess data from the evolution goes lost."

That was interesting.

So evolution wasn’t just becoming stronger—it was also like upgrading your hardware and software.

"And you couldn’t cross the portal as a Perfect?"

"Right. I don’t know why, but the path just wouldn’t let me through. It was like the portal rejected me... at least the one I chose. I saw the Numemon running away, though. They were escaping from the Bakemon. At that moment, I noticed there were two portals. The Numemon all rushed into the larger one, and the Bakemon chased them inside. As soon as the Bakemon entered, that portal closed. Fantomon wasn’t nearby yet, so I jumped into the second one, and... boom." Pumpkinmon spread his arms dramatically. "I got launched into your world, and that portal closed behind me."

"So there were two portals?" Takuya asked, surprised. They continued walking deeper into the tunnels. "You never mentioned that."

"You never asked."

Takuya let out a sigh.

Fair enough.

The two continued deeper into the cave. Signs of battle covered the walls. The damage was extensive, far worse than they had expected.

Takuya couldn’t understand it.

If even two of the four Perfect-level Digimon had entered these tunnels, subduing the Drimogemon should have been effortless. Yet the marks suggested a long, brutal fight.

The deeper they went, the more uneasy Takuya became.

Maybe hiding here after killing a group of Bakemon and a Perfect-level Digimon hadn’t been the smartest idea.

Then, as if to confirm his fears...

They heard something.

A distant sound echoed from far below.

The instant they heard it, both of them froze.

"There’s something down here," Takuya muttered.

He glanced at Pumpkinmon, then at his own damaged armor. Neither of them was in any condition for another battle.

Still...

Curiosity killed the cat.

"Just a look?" Pumpkinmon whispered.

Takuya nodded.

"Just a look."

The two of them carefully advanced deeper into the cave, moving one cautious step at a time. Every so often another sound echoed through the tunnels, forcing them to stop and listen before continuing.

As they descended, the tunnel gradually widened. What had once been a narrow passage became a massive underground corridor.

"This is new," Pumpkinmon whispered.

"It wasn’t like this before?" Takuya asked.

"I don’t know. The portal wasn’t this deep. I never had to go this far."

They continued descending for quite a while, passing countless branching tunnels.

It really was the perfect place to hide.

No one would ever find them down here.

On the other hand...

It would also be incredibly easy to get lost.

When they reached an even lower level, the marks on the walls changed again.

They were no longer just the spiral grooves left by Drimogemon drills.

There were deep claw marks...

And scars left by something else entirely.

Both Takuya and Pumpkinmon slowed their pace, remaining on full alert. After another twenty minutes or so, they came to an abrupt stop.

Before them stretched a vast underground chamber bathed in a soft blue glow.

Both instinctively looked up.

Embedded in the ceiling was a massive crystal, its light illuminating the entire cavern with an ethereal blue radiance.

And at the very center...

A yellow lion.

No—

A lion fused with heavy machinery, resembling a giant loader.

The moment Takuya saw him, he recognized the Digimon immediately.

"LoaderLeomon..."

At the sound of his name, the Digimon slowly raised his head.

Takuya cautiously approached. LoaderLeomon looked exhausted, but even in his condition he radiated an overwhelming presence.

Agnimon stood around 1.8 meters tall, yet the lion, despite remaining seated, already measured well over 2.5 meters. If he stood at full height, he would easily surpass four meters.

He truly lived up to his name, built like a massive construction vehicle.

Then Takuya noticed something else.

LoaderLeomon was chained.

Enormous steel chains bound his entire body to the cavern floor. They wrapped around his limbs, torso, and neck, leaving him barely enough room to move.

The chains weren’t forged from any legendary material, but there were so many of them that brute strength alone wasn’t enough to escape.

"What do the Nightmare Soldiers want from me this time?" LoaderLeomon growled, glaring at Takuya. "I’ve already told you—I won’t mine for you. Just kill me already."

"I have no idea what you’re talking about," Takuya replied calmly. "But I’m guessing you mean Fantomon and the others. If so... we’re not with them."

"...You’re not?" LoaderLeomon narrowed his eyes before studying the pair more carefully. "I see. Then what are the two of you doing here?"

"We’re hiding because we killed Enbarrmon," Pumpkinmon answered proudly.

Takuya slowly turned to look at him.

...So this is what people feel when I say things without thinking.

"You... killed him?" LoaderLeomon burst into laughter. "And of all places, you decided to hide here? They come here all the time, you know. They’re still trying to convince me to work in their mines."

Takuya shot Pumpkinmon another look.

Pumpkinmon quietly looked away.

"So," LoaderLeomon continued, "why did you kill him instead of just running away? That would’ve been much easier."

"It was his home."

Takuya pointed at Pumpkinmon.

"And he’s my friend."

"...Just for that?"

"Yep."

LoaderLeomon stared at him for a few seconds before a faint smile crossed his face.

"...I can relate to that."

His expression quickly darkened again.

"But look where it got me. I refused to give in, so they ganged up on me, chained me here, and took my friends away to work in the mines they built nearby."

"You know what they’re mining for?" Takuya asked.

"To evolve."

Takuya already knew that much from Pumpkinmon.

"Let me be more specific," LoaderLeomon continued. "They’re modifying their bodies. They’re using metal enhancements to force their evolution. Having the raw materials already mined, refined, and forged drastically reduces the amount of data they’ll need."

He snorted.

"If you ask me, the whole process is idiotic... especially considering what Fantomon is trying to create, he just hadn’t enough compatibilty."

"...Which is?" Takuya asked.

"Mugendramon."

The single word sent a chill racing down Takuya’s spine.

"They’re constructing Mugendramon’s metal body piece by piece while gathering several dinosaur-type Digimon. Once they’ve accumulated enough data, they’ll force the evolution or at least try."

To anyone else, it might have sounded impossible.

But Takuya knew better.

If they had enough data...

And if they were already building Mugendramon’s mechanical frame...

Then there was a very real chance they could succeed.

No...

There was no way he was going to let a Mugendramon appear. Not under any circumstances.