Solo Leveling: Digispirit.

A/N: Another difficult Chapter to write.

End of the note.

The clash between the two Perfect-level Digimon echoed across the Great Beach, sending shockwaves through the dunes. Even from far away, the battle was enough to terrify every nearby Digimon. Child and Adult Digimon alike fled in every direction, unwilling to be caught in the middle of a fight between two monsters at the top of the food chain.

Takuya had no intention of staying anywhere near them either. He sprinted at full speed until the sounds of the battle became distant, finally diving behind an enormous dune that completely hid the three of them from the sight of the battling giants.

The moment they stopped, BlackTailmon tried to bolt. She barely managed two steps before Takuya caught her by the scruff of her neck again.

"...Now," Takuya said, "why did you really come?"

"I already told you," BlackTailmon grumbled, trying to pry his hand away. "Now let me go."

Takuya shook his head. "You didn’t spend hours secretly watching us just because you were curious about who defeated MetalTyranomon." He glanced toward the distant battle before looking back at her. "You wanted to kill us, didn’t you?"

BlackTailmon didn’t answer.

"You were after the data," Takuya continued. "You wanted your next evolution."

For a few seconds, she remained completely silent. Meanwhile, far in the distance, MegaSeadramon and Groundramon continued tearing into each other without paying the slightest attention to Takuya’s group. Their hatred for one another had completely eclipsed their concern about the newcomers.

"You still want that data, don’t you?" Takuya asked again.

BlackTailmon clicked her tongue. "...Of course I do."

"You think I enjoy running away from the strongest Digimon on this beach?"

"There are plenty of Adult Digimon living in the towns," Takuya pointed out.

BlackTailmon snorted. "You think I want to settle down in some peaceful town? I want to explore the world, not spend my whole life trapped in one place. But to do that..." She crossed her arms. "...I need to evolve."

"...I see."

A small grin slowly spread across Takuya’s face. "In that case..." He pointed toward the distant battlefield. "Why don’t we just take their data?"

BlackTailmon stared at him for several seconds before bursting into disbelief. "You seriously think the three of us can kill them?" She pointed at Takuya. "A fire Adult." Then at Himself. "A tiny Adult." Finally, she pointed at Hallowen "And a pseudo-Perfect...Wow. What a dream team." exclaimed Blacktailmon rolling the eyes.

"Before you decide whether it’s possible or not, at least hear me out," Takuya replied.

At the exact same moment, Pumpkinmon puffed out his chest in protest. "...I’m not a pseudo-Perfect."

Neither Takuya nor BlackTailmon even looked at him.

"...That’s the part you got stuck on?" Takuya sighed.

Meanwhile, while Takuya continued trying to convince BlackTailmon to join his strategy, the two giant Digimon kept tearing into each other across the Great Beach. Given their size—each of them roughly comparable to a building—their fighting style couldn’t have been more different from the martial arts Takuya relied on. There were no refined techniques, no feints, no elegant exchanges. It was a battle between kaiju.

Raw strength against raw strength.

MegaSeadramon lunged first, the horn on his head crackling with blue lightning before slamming toward Groundramon’s chest like a living spear. Groundramon met the attack head-on. Instead of retreating, the massive dinosaur twisted his body and brought one of the enormous claws growing from his back crashing against MegaSeadramon’s horn, knocking the strike off course before immediately counterattacking with a devastating sweep of his tail.

BOOM!

The impact slammed into MegaSeadramon’s head, sending the gigantic sea serpent crashing across the sand. Entire dunes collapsed beneath his weight as his body carved a deep trench through the beach.

But MegaSeadramon reacted almost instantly. Before Groundramon could capitalize on the opening, the sea serpent’s tail wrapped tightly around one of the dinosaur’s legs. With a violent pull, Groundramon’s balance disappeared. The gigantic reptile was dragged across the dunes, smashing through hill after hill as if they were nothing more than piles of loose dirt.

The entire beach shook beneath the clash.

Groundramon roared in fury. His claws dug into the ground, finally stopping his momentum before he slammed both forelimbs downward. The earth itself split apart, a massive fissure racing beneath the sand toward MegaSeadramon before erupting directly underneath him.

The explosion of earth and sand launched the gigantic serpent into the air.

MegaSeadramon growled in pain, electricity exploding wildly around the horn on his head. Without waiting to recover, he opened his jaws and unleashed a gigantic bolt of ice. The blast tore across the battlefield, striking straight toward Groundramon and freezing him inside a casket of ice.

Groundramon immediately broke through the ice and launched himself forward, moving in a zigzag pattern to dodge the lightning that WaruSeadramon was now firing from his horn. He closed the distance and smashed into the sea serpent, sending a barrage of attacks crashing into his body.

The two giant Digimon began battling at close range, crashing into the ground only to rise again moments later and continue their brutal exchange. Every attack was meant to overpower, crush, or tear apart the opponent standing in front of them.

Some entire dunes were reduced to nothing but shattered sand, while others were transformed into jagged black glass wherever WaruSeadramon’s lightning struck. Deep rifts appeared across the battlefield, while enormous chunks of ice formed and shattered almost as quickly. The once-beautiful dunes were rapidly turning into a bizarre landscape shaped entirely by their battle.

After nearly two hours of fighting, both giant Digimon were visibly worn down. Their bodies were covered in rough wounds, with several areas of their body damaged or cracked. Yet neither of them stopped. Instead, they began looking around, wary of any opportunistic Digimon attempting to take advantage of their weakened state.

Even now, however, they were still the strongest creatures on the beach.

No Digimon was foolish enough to approach.

Or at least, that was what they believed.

Suddenly, two small figures dropped from the sky and landed directly on WaruSeadramon’s back.

BlackTailmon and Pumpkinmon.

For a second, both giant Digimon froze in surprise.

Then, almost simultaneously, BlackTailmon and Pumpkinmon shouted toward Groundramon.

"Boss, we got him!"

At that exact moment, Takuya dashed into the battle from the side, his foot engulfed in flames as he launched a flaming kick straight into MegaSeadramon’s body.

"Boss, Now!"

The impact sent the already-wounded Perfect staggering sideways.

"Burning Salamander!"

A torrent of fire struck the still-confused MegaSeadramon, making the giant sea serpent roar in pain. Before he could recover, BlackTailmon launched herself forward and delivered a Neko Kick directly against his body. Despite her small size, the little Digimon possessed the strength of an Adult Digimon, and her compact frame only made the impact feel even more concentrated.

At the same time, Pumpkinmon summoned his giant pumpkin above WaruSeadramon and brought it crashing down onto the Perfect Digimon.

BOOM!

The impact smashed MegaSeadramon into the sand.

Takuya didn’t give him a chance to recover. He kept attacking relentlessly, flames surrounding his fists and feet as he shouted again.

"Now, boss! He’s weakened!"

The absurd situation finally made MegaSeadramon lose his temper.

"You fucker! Honorless bitch!"

Groundramon stared at the scene in confusion. "They aren’t with me."

Realizing that something was wrong, the massive Groundramon was about to crush Takuya and the others beneath his claws. Then he hesitated.

This was also an incredible opportunity.

Even if it wasn’t immediately obvious, MegaSeadramon had held the advantage earlier in the fight. Now, frostbite covered parts of his body, and if the battle continued much longer, Groundramon might eventually lose.

This was an opportunity he couldn’t afford to waste.

Even if it meant that he would have to fight the three smaller Digimon afterward, which he knew was almost certainly going to happen, they were still weaker than WaruSeadramon. And after the attack they had just launched, the sea serpent was already close to death.

Groundramon made his decision.

He swung the giant claws growing from his back downward toward MegaSeadramon with tremendous force.

Takuya and the others immediately jumped away.

Groundramon didn’t even bother acknowledging them.

MegaSeadramon, meanwhile, gathered the remaining electricity around his horn and unleashed one final strike toward Groundramon.

The green dragon roared in pain, more of a furious growl than an actual cry, before opening his enormous jaws and lunging straight toward WaruSeadramon’s neck.

But at that exact moment, Takuya threw himself between them.

He planted both hands against Groundramon’s enormous jaws and stopped them.

The strength behind the attack was overwhelming.

Takuya’s arms trembled as he struggled to hold them apart, eventually being forced down onto one knee while the pressure of Groundramon’s bite pushed him lower.

Beneath him, MegaSeadramon writhed in pain.

Takuya was practically kneeling directly on the sea serpent’s neck.

Even so, he refused to give in.

Gathering every ounce of strength he had left, Takuya suddenly pushed Groundramon’s head backward. Before the massive jaws could close again, he thrust both hands forward.

"Burning Salamander!"

The flames shot directly into Groundramon’s open mouth.

At the same time, BlackTailmon leaped forward and delivered her strongest kick directly against the lower jaw.

The impact forced Groundramon’s mouth shut.

For a moment, the inside of the dinosaur’s mouth and throat glowed bright red from the flames burning within.

Groundramon staggered.

His massive body slowly tilted to the side, like a tower finally losing its balance.

Then he fell. The attack had taken almost everything out of him.

At the same time, Pumpkinmon summoned another giant pumpkin and hurled it directly above MegaSeadramon’s head, preventing the wounded Perfect from moving.

Takuya immediately recognized the opening.

Seeing that they had the advantage, he launched himself forward.

"Salamander Break!"

A barrage of flaming kicks erupted around Groundramon’s fallen body, forming a spiraling tornado of fire that engulfed the giant Digimon.

Takuya went all out.

Every movement was focused entirely on Groundramon. He kept attacking until his final kick carried him completely past the burning Digimon.

For a moment, Takuya landed several meters away.

Then he looked back.

Groundramon was gone.

There was nothing left, he disolved into data.

At that same moment, Takuya looked toward the wounded MegaSeadramon, who was struggling to rise from beneath Pumpkinmon’s giant pumpkin.

An idea immediately came to him.

He wasn’t going to waste all the fire he had already created.

"Get out!"

BlackTailmon and Pumpkinmon immediately stopped attacking and jumped away.

Takuya, now almost an incarnation of living flame, manipulated the fire around Groundramon’s remains and redirected it toward WaruSeadramon.

The flames surged across the battlefield, engulfing the giant sea serpent.

But MegaSeadramon wasn’t going to fall so easily.

He forced his enormous body through the flames and lunged toward Takuya.

The next instant, his jaws closed around him.

Takuya found himself trapped inside the Digimon’s crushing bite. He tried to force the jaws apart, but MegaSeadramon’s remaining strength was overwhelming. His armor began to crack under the pressure as the sea serpent squeezed harder, determined to crush him with the last of his strength.

Takuya gritted his teeth.

He couldn’t break free.

Then Pumpkinmon came to the rescue.

With both hands gripping his axe, Pumpkinmon swung it directly into the gap between WaruSeadramon’s upper and lower jaws.

The blade struck hard, forcing the jaws apart just enough.

At the same time, BlackTailmon kicked the exact same spot from the opposite side, her foot striking the exposed bone of the jaw and widening the opening.

The combined attack finally freed Takuya.

He immediately grabbed both Pumpkinmon and BlackTailmon by the arms and threw them backward.

At the same time, he used his control over the flames to extinguish the fire burning around their bodies before they could be harmed by it.

Then he turned back toward MegaSeadramon. "Burning Salamander!"

A torrent of fire slammed directly into the Perfect Digimon’s face, creating a violent explosion.

Takuya used the shockwave to propel himself backward, putting some distance between them.

Amidst the flames, Megaeadramon slowly rose.

His enormous body towered over the battlefield once again.

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then the sea serpent spoke.

"Well played... Well played."

The flames flickered around his battered body.

Then MegaSeadramon’s form began to dissolve.