Chapter 39: DUNE II
A/N: sorry guys, I skipped a Chapter, here is the correct one.
The beach finally came into view.
Just as they had suspected, there wasn’t a single Digimon in sight.
The coastline stretched for what seemed like kilometers in both directions, an endless expanse of pale sand washed by calm, crystal-clear waves. The bay curved gently around them, enclosed by the massive dunes they had just descended, while the turquoise sea reflected the afternoon sunlight so perfectly that it almost looked unreal.
It was... peaceful.
Almost too peaceful.
There should have been at least one Digimon wandering around.
Yet there was nothing.
For the moment, Takuya decided not to complain. He simply sat down on the warm sand and admired the scenery, letting the sea breeze brush against his face.
"What a beautiful view," he muttered.
It was the kind of place that deserved to be shared.
For a brief moment, he imagined Jinwoo and Jinah standing beside him, watching the ocean together.
Then another thought crossed his mind.
Wait... is it really impossible?
He had never actually tried bringing anyone else to the Digital World.
Maybe...
His train of thought was abruptly cut short.
The ocean exploded.
Two attacks shot toward them from different directions almost simultaneously.
One was a concentrated jet of water.
The other, a freezing blast of ice.
"Tch!"
Takuya and Pumpkinmon reacted instinctively, springing backward in opposite directions.
The attacks slammed into the beach with enough force to carve deep craters into the sand, spraying water and shattered ice everywhere.
A second later, the sea itself seemed to split apart.
Two enormous SeaDramon emerged from the waves.
Takuya recognized them immediately. Both belonged to the same species, and judging by how aggressively they advanced, they considered not only the water but the shoreline itself part of their territory. The serpentine Digimon glided across the wet sand with surprising speed, moving to opposite sides to encircle Takuya and Pumpkinmon.
But they weren’t alone.
The sand behind them suddenly bulged upward before a massive shell burst through the surface.
Shellmon.
"So..." Takuya said, looking from one Digimon to the next. "We walked straight into an ambush."
Pumpkinmon silently nodded.
Then things became even worse.
The seawater churned once more, and another figure slowly rose from beneath the surface.
It looked less like a living creature and more like a pile of sludge mixed with polluted water and scraps of junk.
Raremon.
Takuya let out a slow breath.
"Four against two..."
Technically, the odds weren’t in their favor.
And unlike before, this wasn’t just a matter of numbers.
Most of their opponents specialized in water.
A pretty unfortunate matchup for someone whose entire fighting style revolved around fire.
Or maybe not.
He wasn’t exactly playing Pokémon.
The four Digimon circled them, hissing and growling like wild beasts.
None of them spoke.
Not a single word.
Takuya frowned.
"I’ve been meaning to ask... why do they all act like this? Why don’t they even try talking to us?"
Pumpkinmon kept his eyes on the enemies.
"I think it’s simple. They don’t see us as fellow Digimon..." He paused for a moment before finishing. "They see us as prey."
Even as he said it, there was uncertainty in his voice.
It was only a guess.
But looking at the hunger and hostility reflected in the four pairs of eyes surrounding them...
It certainly felt like the right one.
"So, in that case, you know what we have to do," Takuya said with a grin.
"Uno reverse?" Pumpkinmon asked. It was the same thing Takuya had suggested against Fantomon.
"Exactly. They’re underestimating us, so let’s use that. You can handle the Shellmon, right?"
Pumpkinmon immediately puffed out his plush chest and nodded confidently.
"Good. I’ll throw you over there."
The moment Takuya raised his leg, Pumpkinmon understood the plan. The little Digimon sprinted forward, stepped onto Takuya’s leg, and used it as a springboard. At the same instant, Takuya kicked upward with all his strength, launching Pumpkinmon like a living cannonball straight at Shellmon.
Seeing them move, the other four Digimon reacted immediately.
Shellmon barely had time to register what was happening before something slammed directly into his face.
Thud!
Pumpkinmon latched onto him like an oversized plush toy, wrapping both arms around the giant shellfish’s head.
Shellmon thrashed violently from side to side, trying to shake him off, but Pumpkinmon only tightened his grip, clinging stubbornly to his face as though giving him the world’s most aggressive hug.
Watching the absurd scene unfold, Takuya couldn’t help smiling before shifting his attention to the remaining enemies.
He lowered his stance.
His breathing slowed.
After fighting for so many days, Agnimon’s combat style no longer felt foreign. It was becoming instinctive. Among all the martial arts stored within his Digicore, kempo came to him as naturally as breathing. Other styles required adaptation, but this one... this one felt like it had always belonged to him.
He pointed toward one of the SeaDramon.
Both serpents opened their mouths, preparing ranged attacks almost simultaneously, while Raremon slowly crawled farther onto the beach, closing the distance.
Takuya moved first.
Flames erupted beneath his feet.
Using Fire Dash, he accelerated so explosively that, for an instant, he was moving faster than the SeaDramon’s eyes could follow.
He appeared directly in front of one of them.
His burning fist crashed into the center of the serpent’s body, sending the massive Digimon flying across the beach.
The other SeaDramon reacted immediately, launching a concentrated blast of water toward him.
Takuya twisted through the air, performing a series of acrobatic flips to evade the attack.
Before he could land, however, dozens of razor-sharp shards of ice shot toward him from the opposite direction.
The first SeaDramon, despite having been knocked away, had already recovered enough to counterattack.
Forced to dodge again, Takuya landed lightly on the sand before immediately leaping sideways.
At that exact moment, Raremon opened his grotesque mouth.
Instead of a beam or projectile, the sludge Digimon spat a foul liquid high into the air. The toxic substance scattered into countless droplets, creating a disgusting rain that threatened to cover the entire area.
Seeing no safe path to escape, Takuya raised both hands.
"Burning Salamander!"
The torrent of fire soared upward and collided with the poisonous cloud, evaporating the liquid before it could fall.
Steam exploded across the battlefield.
Without wasting the opening he had just created, Takuya immediately shifted his focus toward Raremon.
Whatever a poisonous Digimon was capable of doing...
It was better to eliminate it first.
Raremon wasn’t known for being a particularly powerful Adult-level Digimon. It was mostly dangerous because of how disgusting and annoying it could be to fight. It was an Undead Digimon, after all—a decaying monster.
Takuya leaped over Raremon and fired a Burning Salamander directly into its body, engulfing the sludge Digimon in flames.
Almost immediately, an unbearable stench spread across the battlefield.
It was revolting.
The smell of burning garbage mixed with rotten flesh and molten metal, creating an odor so foul that even the two SeaDramon instinctively recoiled.
Raremon let out a distorted howl of agony.
Yet Takuya didn’t hesitate.
Even after the nauseating smell filled the air, he continued bombarding Raremon with one Burning Salamander after another. The flames piled on relentlessly until the grotesque Digimon could no longer endure them.
With one final scream...
Raremon exploded into particles of data.
The data flowed straight into Takuya’s body.
The instant Raremon disappeared, the terrible smell vanished with it.
Takuya, along with the two SeaDramon, instinctively took a deep breath of fresh air.
For a brief second...
Everyone appreciated the silence.
Then the two serpents attacked together.
They rushed Takuya from opposite sides, trying to overwhelm him with their combined assault.
Instead of retreating, Takuya stepped into the attack.
The first SeaDramon lunged from his left.
Takuya redirected the serpent’s head with one hand, pushing it just enough for the attack to miss him by inches. Using the momentum from the deflection, he spun and drove a flaming fist into the second SeaDramon’s jaw.
The impact echoed across the beach.
The second serpent crashed into the sand, while the first, unable to stop its own momentum, rolled after it.
Both SeaDramon ended up sprawled across the shore.
Takuya landed lightly between them, flames dancing around his armor as he watched the two Adult Digimon struggle to get back up.
From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Pumpkinmon.
The little Digimon was somehow riding Shellmon like a horse while the poor creature desperately tried to throw him off.
Takuya couldn’t help chuckling.
For all the preparation behind the ambush...
The combined strength of four Adult-level Digimon simply wasn’t enough.
Takuya refocused on one of the SeaDramon as it charged toward him with its jaws wide open.
Instead of dodging, he stepped forward.
He caught the serpent’s upper and lower jaws with both hands, forcing its mouth to remain open. The sheer force behind the charge pushed him backward across the sand, carving two long trails beneath his feet. It wasn’t that he lacked the strength to stop it outright—the momentum alone was enough to drag him several meters.
Then he released one hand.
The flames around his arm flared to life.
"Burning Salamander."
The stream of fire shot straight into SeaDramon’s open mouth.
The attack detonated from within.
SeaDramon’s body stiffened for a brief instant before exploding into countless particles of data, which immediately flowed into Takuya.
He turned toward the last remaining SeaDramon.
Enough playing around.
Flames burst beneath his feet as he dashed forward.
Before the serpent could react, Takuya was already in front of it.
His fists became a relentless blur.
One punch.
Then another.
And another.
Each strike was infused with fire, detonating against SeaDramon’s scales with explosive force. The barrage lifted the massive serpent off the ground, preventing it from even attempting a counterattack as blow after blow rained down upon it.
The final punch crashed into its chest.
SeaDramon’s body finally gave out.
Cracks of light spread across its entire form before it burst apart into particles of data, joining the stream already being absorbed by Takuya.
Then Takuya turned toward Pumpkinmon, only to find the little Digimon still playing with Shellmon.
He simply stood there for a moment, watching the ridiculous scene unfold.
There was no need to interfere.
Shellmon continued trying to attack, swinging its claws and snapping its jaws whenever it had the chance, but Pumpkinmon effortlessly dodged every attempt. Instead of finishing the battle, the plush Digimon seemed to be enjoying himself, hopping onto Shellmon’s shell one moment before jumping back to the sand the next, treating the fight like some kind of game.
Takuya smiled.
Then he gave the situation a little more thought.
This... was probably the real reason most Digimon avoided this place.
If he had been an ordinary Adult-level Digimon, he would likely have died the moment the ambush began. In fact, if all four Digimon had coordinated their attacks properly while he was alone, even he could have found himself in serious trouble.
It made sense.
This beach was their hunting ground.
Anyone who wandered into it became prey.
Just then, a strange sensation ran down Takuya’s spine.
He slowly turned toward the sea.
The waves rolled peacefully onto the shore.
Nothing.
There was absolutely nothing there.
Yet...
He was certain he had felt something watching him.
The feeling lingered for only an instant before disappearing, but it was enough to make every instinct in his body scream that something wasn’t right.
Takuya narrowed his eyes, scanning the endless ocean one more time.
Still nothing.
He didn’t like it.
Not one bit.
"Halloween, hurry up!" he shouted without taking his eyes off the sea. "Let’s stay together. I have a bad feeling about this."
Pumpkinmon glanced toward him, immediately noticing the seriousness in his voice.
Without another word, he stopped fooling around with Shellmon.