Solo Leveling: Digispirit.

A/N: I was hoping we’d hit the Power Stone goal by tomorrow, but... I don’t know what to say, hahaha. Maybe the next bonus Chapter will be at 1,500 Power Stones? We’ll see.

Also, this is important. I’m used to the Japanese naming convention for Digimon evolutions, so that’s the terminology I’ll be using:

Baby I → Baby II → Child → Adult → Perfect → Mega

I’m leaving Mega as the final stage because most people know the Perfect level as Ultimate, so I think this will be less confusing.

End of the note

-

start of the Chapter.

A commercial district surrounded by a forest.

It was bizarre, yet somehow it made perfect sense given the context.

"So... where are these Perfect-level Digimon hiding?" Takuya asked.

The two of them remained hidden as they advanced toward the pseudo-city. There were no other Digimon in sight. In fact, during the last four days they hadn’t encountered anyone at all, which was strange. Until now, finding at least one Digimon every couple of hours had been the norm.

That was another discovery.

Digimon over adult form weren’t actually that common, and from what Pumpkinmon—who Takuya still insisted on calling Halloween—had told him, the Digital World was unimaginably vast and constantly expanding.

"There should be Digimon here, right?" Takuya asked, even though he already knew the answer. He just wanted to make sure.

"Yeah, there should be," Halloween replied.

Then, in the distance, Takuya spotted a Bakemon wandering around.

Then another.

A pair of them.

They were patrolling.

"You said there were only Perfects here, and just four of them" Takuya whispered. "So why are they patrolling?"

"I... I don’t know. This is new to me too," Halloween admitted.

"Look over there. That definitely wasn’t part of the original place," Takuya said.

Far away, a thick column of smoke rose into the sky.

A furnace?

A massive chimney?

Some kind of factory?

"It wasn’t there before," Halloween said immediately. "I’m sure of it."

At that moment, Takuya pulled Halloween behind some cover.

Another two Bakemon appeared, escorting a cart pulled by a Monochromon that was being used like a truck. The cart was loaded with chunks of ore streaked with metal, all of it being transported toward the smoking structure in the distance.

"It’s probably a refinery... or something similar," Takuya muttered as he watched the convoy pass.

"Hey, Halloween. Do Digimon actually need metal?" he asked.

"Well... it depends. Sometimes a Digimon needs metallic data for its next evolution," Halloween explained.

"Like Greymon evolving into MetalGreymon?" Takuya asked, trying to make sense of what he had just heard.

"Exactly. There are two ways to obtain that kind of data: from another Digimon... or from objects that contain it, sometimes certain digimon need both" Halloween replied with a nod.

That was... strange.

If that was true, then why couldn’t he simply walk into the Firewall and absorb Fire Data directly?

Why did he have to gather it the way he always had?

"so one of them need it to evolve" exclaimed halloween.

If that was the case, then it made sense that the Digimon here would need metal.

But for how long had they been mining?

"Halloween, how long were you in my world?" Takuya asked.

"Hmm... around two weeks, I think," Pumpkinmon replied.

Two weeks, right he mentioned something similar before.

At most, Takuya had only been gone from the real world for a week, yet nearly two months had passed here in the Digital World. That meant Pumpkinmon had been absent for roughly four months.

Four months.

Long enough to build this entire facility and establish a full-scale mining operation, especially considering the strength of the Digimon involved.

"The flow of time in my world is different. By now, you’ve been gone for about four months. The question is... are four months enough for them to reach the Ultimate level? What do you think?" Takuya asked.

"It isn’t," Halloween answered without hesitation. "It took me 15 years to reach the Perfect level from Adult, you know. Reaching Ultimate should take much, much longer than that. Otherwise, Ultimates would be everywhere, and they wouldn’t be considered a myth anymore."

That was a relief.

Otherwise, Takuya might as well retire on the spot.

"Let’s follow the carts. We need to start assessing the situation. First, we need to find out where they’re coming from... and why they chose this place," Takuya said.

The Monochromon slowly pulled the carts while the Bakemon escorted them.

Takuya reverted to his human form before following them. Agnimon wasn’t exactly suited for undercover work.

The convoy advanced at a slow pace, and before long they left the commercial district behind, climbing into the mountains that surrounded this part of the Digital World.

Inside the mountains was a mine.

Several Digimon were working there, while five Bakemon stood guard at the entrance.

"This is like a Bakemon invasion," Takuya muttered.

"Yeah... I’ve never seen so many of them before," Halloween whispered.

"Looks like this is more than just a territorial takeover. I think they came here because of whatever they’re mining. Look."

They watched as two Bakemon dragged a chained Drimogemon out of a tunnel in the mountainside. The drill on the Digimon’s head was cracked and heavily damaged.

A moment later, another Drimogemon was brought forward.

There was an area where several of them were chained together. The wounded one was shoved toward the group and tied down while another captive was untied and forced toward the cave.

Every Drimogemon wore the same expression.

Like a wounded dog.

It was heartbreaking.

"Who are you?"

A voice suddenly came from behind them.

Neither of them had expected it.

A lone Bakemon.

Judging by its route, it had been patrolling the area.

Takuya and Pumpkinmon exchanged a glance.

Without saying a word, they moved simultaneously.

Each grabbed one of Bakemon’s arms and struck the exact same point in the middle of its body.

Their attacks pierced straight through it.

A second later, both Takuya’s and Pumpkinmon’s hands emerged from Bakemon’s back.

The Digimon instantly dissolved into data.

At once, the two retreated.

If the others noticed one of the patrols had disappeared, they would undoubtedly begin searching for it. And if they couldn’t find it...

"Let’s go. We need to move," Takuya muttered.

As they slipped away, they encountered another Bakemon on patrol.

They eliminated it just as quickly.

Two down.

Which wasn’t exactly good.

Once they reached a hiding spot with a clear escape route, they waited to see how the others would react while continuing to observe the mine.

"What do you think they’re mining?" Takuya asked. He knew the Digital World contained valuable ores and metals, but he hadn’t expected something important enough to justify this entire operation.

"Hmm... not really. I’m no expert," Pumpkinmon admitted. "I don’t know much about metal ores."

Then Takuya pointed ahead.

The Bakemon had begun counting each other.

The patrol members repeatedly checked their numbers. When they realized two were missing, they panicked, clutching their heads before scattering through the area in small groups, careful not to separate completely.

One of them sprinted back toward the mine.

The others waited.

Then...

A new figure emerged from the tunnels.

At first glance, it resembled a horse.

Enbarrmon.

Its body looked like the skeletal frame of a horse forged entirely from metal.

It slowly surveyed the surroundings before apparently speaking to the Bakemon. Takuya and Pumpkinmon were too far away to hear the conversation, but the orders were obvious.

The Bakemon immediately dispersed, entering nearby buildings and sweeping through the area.

Meanwhile, Enbarrmon began patrolling the streets himself.

It was clear they were searching for whatever had made the two Bakemon disappear.

At least they wouldn’t have to wait much longer before confronting the Perfect-level Digimon.

One down...

Three more to go?

"Let’s move. We need to draw its attention," Takuya whispered. "You said it was fast, right? Then let’s lure it into the forest. If we stay here, we’ll end up fighting everyone at once."

They could handle one Perfect.

A Perfect backed up by dozens of Bakemon...

That was a completely different story.

The two of them moved quickly but carefully, making sure they weren’t spotted too soon. They crossed the streets while avoiding the Bakemon patrols before disappearing into the forest.

Then...

They simply ran.

There was no need to leave a signal or create a distraction.

Once they were far enough away, Takuya transformed into Agnimon.

The evolution released blazing flames mixed with dense Fire Data, creating a flash bright enough to resemble a giant torch for a brief moment.

That should be enough.

Takuya was certain Enbarrmon would notice it.

The instant the transformation finished, both he and Pumpkinmon increased their pace even further. To make himself an even more obvious target, Takuya ignited the flames on his back, turning himself into a blazing beacon among the trees.

From time to time, they glanced behind them to see whether Enbarrmon had taken the bait.

Nothing.

He wasn’t anywhere on the ground.

Then an idea crossed Takuya’s mind.

He looked up.

There it was.

Enbarrmon was charging toward them at full speed.

The metallic horse wasn’t flying.

It was running through the sky.

Each step echoed through the air as if invisible ground existed beneath its hooves. It moved so quickly that even the Bakemon would never have been able to keep up with it.

That was good.

It also meant the Perfect-level Digimon had come alone. The Bakemon were unlikely to catch up before the fight was over.

By now, they were far enough away from the mining camp that even if the others perfect digimon eventually noticed what was happening, they would arrive far too late.

Takuya braced himself for the incoming attack.

Rather than meeting it head-on, he chose to evade.

He concentrated Fire Data into his legs, dramatically increasing his acceleration.

The instant he sidestepped—

BOOM!

Enbarrmon’s hoof slammed into the ground.

The impact was so overwhelming that a crater exploded beneath it, sending dirt and shattered rock flying in every direction.

As Takuya slid away from the shockwave, he immediately counterattacked.

"Burning Salamander!"

A torrent of blazing fire engulfed the metallic horse.

For a brief moment, the flames swallowed Enbarrmon entirely.

Then...

The fire dispersed.

The attack had annoyed it.

Nothing more.

Its metallic body rang loudly from the impact, but it showed no signs of real damage.

Enbarrmon didn’t say a word.

Takuya followed up with a barrage of Fire Darts.

This time, the horse actually moved.

It dodged.

That alone told Takuya his attacks weren’t completely meaningless.

Still, rather than slowing down, Enbarrmon simply accepted a few of the projectiles striking its head before closing the remaining distance in an instant.

Its skull crashed into Takuya like a battering ram.

The force launched him through the forest, sending him crashing through tree after tree before he finally came to a stop.

His armor had absorbed most of the impact, leaving both it and Takuya largely unharmed.

"Heck, you bastard! I almost got reincarnated again. Don’t steal Truck-kun’s job!" Takuya shouted.

On the bright side, he had been blasted even farther away from the Digimon camp he was trying to wipe out.

Enbarrmon glanced back in confusion.

The Bakemon should have arrived by now.

Yet none of them had.

He couldn’t even sense them anymore.

Had they really ended up that far away?

The Bakemon weren’t particularly fast, but they weren’t that slow either.

Taking advantage of Enbarrmon’s brief distraction, Takuya lunged forward.

His flaming fist collided head-on with Enbarrmon’s skull.

The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the forest.

Takuya poured even more Fire Data into the attack, desperately trying to melt the Perfect Digimon’s metallic body.

Every metal had a melting point.

So if Enbarrmon was literally made of metal...

Then, in theory, he could win.

Takuya continued pressing the attack, but he was clearly fighting an uphill battle.

He darted around the battlefield, searching for openings while unleashing one flaming strike after another.

Enbarrmon endured almost everything.

The two exchanged a relentless barrage of blows.

Its body had begun to glow faintly from the accumulated heat, but nowhere near enough to soften its armor.

Meanwhile, Takuya could already feel exhaustion creeping into his muscles.

Still...

He noticed something.

Enbarrmon was becoming increasingly cautious.

And, for some reason, it didn’t seem capable of using ranged attacks.

Everything it did was physical.

Then, as Takuya threw himself into another exchange, forcing Enbarrmon to focus entirely on him, the entire forest became engulfed in flames. Their attacks devastated the surrounding landscape, trees collapsing one after another under the overwhelming force.

Suddenly—

Something dropped from above.

It landed squarely on Enbarrmon’s back.

"Yeehaaaaw!" Pumpkinmon shouted at the top of his lungs.