Solo Leveling: Digispirit.

A black cat-like Digimon froze for a brief moment at Takuya’s sudden appearance. The unexpected encounter made BlackTailmon panic, immediately trying to retreat while throwing a punch at the same time.

Takuya blocked it.

The impact was surprisingly strong for the size. It was definitely an Adult-level Digimon. A barrage of punches followed, each strike carrying enough force to knock away most Digimon of the same level. Takuya calmly defended against the onslaught, parrying every blow to the side. Then, spotting an opening, he struck BlackTailmon’s elbow, disrupted her balance, and smoothly transitioned into a joint lock, forcing the feline Digimon to turn her back toward him.

Even though she was an Adult-level Digimon, he wasn’t particularly powerful. Just an average Adult.

"Easy there," Takuya said, keeping his grip firm around the back of BlackTailmon’s neck and arm. "You know you can’t win. So, what do you want? And please, don’t get cocky and refuse to talk."

"I just wanted to see who defeated MetalTyranomon," BlackTailmon replied.

"You have no idea what you’ve done."

"I don’t?" Takuya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, you don’t!" BlackTailmon shot back. "You broke the balance of this area. You’ve been staying here for too long. Now the other two will come to claim the territory for themselves!"

"Other two Perfects?"

BlackTailmon nodded vigorously. "Exactly! Now let me go! I only came to see who won. I saw what I wanted, so now I need to leave!"

"Hey, Halloween! We’re moving!" Takuya shouted as he grabbed BlackTailmon by the scruff of the neck and started running back toward his partner.

"But I’m still tired..." Pumpkinmon complained.

"There are two Perfects coming..." Takuya answered. "Probably."

By the time he reached Pumpkinmon, the little Digimon looked first at BlackTailmon, then back at Takuya.

"Another one for the gang?" Pumpkinmon asked, pointing at the black cat.

Takuya laughed. "Not really. I just want to ask her? a few questions about those other two Perfects."

"Oi! Let me go!" BlackTailmon protested, dangling helplessly from Takuya’s grip.

"Later. Just wait." Takuya had no intention of releasing the only source of information they currently had.

"So... we’re not fighting them?" Halloween asked.

"No. Of course not." Takuya pointed at both of them. "Look at us. We’re exhausted."

As if to prove his point, one of the massive dunes suddenly exploded.

BOOM!

Sand shot into the air as a gigantic serpentine creature burst out from beneath it. Takuya and Pumpkinmon recognized it instantly.

MegaSeadramon. A Perfect-level SeaDramon.

It looked like the older, far more terrifying and bigger version of the Adult-level SeaDramons he had fought earlier. For one brief second, Takuya sincerely hoped it wasn’t literally their older brother looking for revenge.

Unfortunately, things immediately became worse. Another explosion echoed across the beach. A second dune collapsed as another enormous Digimon emerged from beneath the sand.

Groundramon.

Two Perfects.

One on each side.

Takuya’s gaze instantly shifted between them, and Pumpkinmon did the same. Even BlackTailmon had gone completely silent. Surprisingly, the two Perfect-level Digimon weren’t focused on the smaller group. Instead, they glared at each other, neither one looking willing to make the first move.

Seeing that, Takuya raised BlackTailmon slightly. "They aren’t allies... are they?"

BlackTailmon shook her head. "The three of them have been in a stalemate over these dunes for years," she explained. "Whenever two of them looked ready to fight, the third would simply wait until the winner was weakened before attacking. None of them wanted to become the prey, so none of them ever fought to the end."

"...Oh." Takuya nodded in understanding.

"In that case..."He slowly began backing away. "Just like Serizawa said in Godzilla... Let them fight."

"We’re leaving." Exclaimed Takuya again. One careful step, then another.

He had absolutely no intention of getting involved in a battle between Perfect-level Digimon while he and Halloween were already battered from fighting MetalTyranomon. Ten meters. Twenty.

Neither giant had moved.

Good, they were still staring each other. Just before turning around, Takuya acted purely on instinct. He gave both towering Digimon a small, polite Japanese bow."Excuse us."

Then he turned on his heel. " We had to run!" exclaimed Takuya.

With Pumpkinmon and BlackTailmon in tow, Takuya sprinted away from the battlefield as fast as he could. For a brief moment, it looked like neither Perfect had any reason to chase them.

Then both monsters roared, Together, they charged after Takuya and the rest.

"AAAAAH!" BlackTailmon screamed, all the fur on her body standing on end as she dangled from Takuya’s grip.

Pumpkinmon, on the other hand, burst into laughter.

"Run faster, Takuya!"

"I’m trying!" Takuya shouted back.

Behind them, the two giant Digimon tore across the dunes like natural disasters. Every step sent sand exploding into the air, entire hills collapsing beneath their weight as they carved a path straight toward the fleeing trio. Fortunately, the two Perfects weren’t just chasing them. They were also attacking each other whenever an opportunity presented itself.

Groundramon’s massive jaws snapped at MegaSeadramon whenever the sea serpent drifted too close, while MegaSeadramon retaliated by whipping its enormous body against its rival. Neither trusted the other enough to focus entirely on Takuya.

"I don’t care about your territory disputes!" Takuya yelled over his shoulder while continuing to run. "Just keep them to yourselves!"

"It’s useless!" BlackTailmon shouted. "They’ll chase you to the ends of the earth!"

"What?!" yelled Takuya back.

"You killed MetalTyranomon! They think you’ll wait until one of them wins and then ambush the survivor! So they’ll eliminate the future threat first... and only then finish their own fight!" explained Blacktailmon. Takuya couldn’t even deny the logic.

That was exactly what he had originally intended to do. He had come here to clean up the beach and collect data, after all. Still, there was no way he was admitting that out loud.

"I’m not going to do that!" Takuya yelled. "We were just exploring! MetalTyranomon attacked us first!"

For a brief moment, the two giant Digimon glanced at each other. Their charge slowed ever so slightly. It was obvious they had understood him. Considering Takuya had already proven strong enough to defeat a Perfect-level Digimon, the possibility that he truly wasn’t interested in fighting them was worth considering.

For a second, it almost looked like they were going to stop.

Then Pumpkinmon tilted his head and spoke "Huh?I thought we came here to eliminate the Digimon that could become threats."

Takuya slowly closed his eyes.

...Really? Just like that, their entire excuse vanished. The two Perfects immediately became even more enraged. There was no chance they were letting them leave now.

BlackTailmon completely lost it.

"You idiot!" she screamed before immediately turning toward the giants. "Please! I’m not with them! They just captured me! I’m a hostage!"

"That’s a lie!" Takuya shouted back without missing a beat. "She came here to warn us about you two! She was the one who told us to run!"

If he and Pumpkinmon were going down, he wasn’t about to let BlackTailmon walk away like an innocent bystander. Petty? Absolutely. Did he care? Not even a little.

BlackTailmon’s horrified expression was priceless.

Meanwhile, Pumpkinmon was laughing so hard he could barely breathe. For some reason, despite the two enraged Perfect-level Digimon chasing them across the dunes, he was having the time of his life.

"You two are insane!" BlackTailmon screamed. "Especially you, Pumpkinmon! Why the heck are you laughing?!"

"Relax." Pumpkinmon gave her a confident thumbs-up. "Takuya has a plan. Don’t worry. We’re not going to die."

"...Actually," Takuya yelled back while still sprinting across the dunes, "I don’t have a plan."

"...You don’t?" Pumpkinmon’s laughter instantly stopped. He slowly turned to look at Takuya with complete disbelief.

Then—"AAAAAAAH!" The little Digimon started repeatedly smacking Takuya on the head.

"I thought you had a plan!" yelled Halloween.

"I did!" Takuya protested while trying to dodge the slaps without slowing down. "My plan was to pretend we were innocent!"

Pumpkinmon froze. "...Oh."

He smacked one fist into his open palm as realization finally dawned on him. "So... I was the one who ruined it?"

"Yes." This time, it was BlackTailmon who answered. "You absolutely were."muttered the black cat.

Pumpkinmon lowered his head. "...Oops."

"...Oops?!" Takuya repeated. "That’s all you’ve got?!"

"I’m sorry," Pumpkinmon said.

"...You don’t even sound sorry!" BlackTailmon muttered.

"I’m a little sorry," Pumpkinmon admitted.

"That’s not helping!" Takuya exclaimed.

Despite the absurd conversation, Takuya didn’t slow down. Behind them, MegaSeadramon and Groundramon continued tearing through the dunes, each thunderous movement shaking the ground while the two Perfect-level Digimon roared at one another almost as much as they roared at their fleeing targets.

Then Groundramon slammed one of his massive forelimbs into the ground.

The impact was devastating. A gigantic fissure ripped through the dunes, racing toward Takuya and the others like an earthquake. The sand split apart beneath their feet, the crack widening as it rapidly closed the distance.

"Tch!"

Takuya immediately ignited his feet and launched himself into the air with a Flame Dash, barely clearing the fissure before it swallowed the ground beneath him. Pumpkinmon and BlackTailmon, still clinging to him, escaped with him.

The one who couldn’t avoid it was MegaSeadramon.

The enormous sea serpent crashed into the collapsing sand and disappeared beneath it as the dunes immediately closed over him.

For a brief second, there was silence. Then the sand exploded.

MegaSeadramon burst back out, even more enraged than before. Electricity crackled violently around the horn on his head before bolts of lightning erupted in every direction.

He wasn’t aiming anymore. He was simply attacking everything.

Groundramon.

Takuya.

Pumpkinmon.

BlackTailmon.

Anything within sight.

The lightning blasted through the dunes, melting the sand wherever it struck and instantly turning it into rough black glass. Takuya was forced to weave left and right, constantly using bursts of flame beneath his feet to change direction mid-sprint.

One mistake, one direct hit, and he was fairly certain the chase would end immediately.

Groundramon wasn’t spared either. Several bolts slammed into his body. The gigantic dinosaur roared in fury before charging straight at MegaSeadramon.

The two Perfects collided head-on.

Massive jaws snapped shut. Claws dug into scales. Their colossal bodies wrestled across the dunes, each trying to overpower the other as the entire landscape shook beneath them.

Takuya didn’t waste the opportunity.

"Go!"

Flames erupted beneath his feet. He accelerated with the fastest Flame Dash he could produce, putting as much distance between himself and the two monsters as possible.

His only objective was simple.

Escape. Still, a dangerous thought lingered in the back of his mind.

If they keep fighting... If they weaken each other enough...I could finish them both. It was a tempting idea, too tempting.

The amount of data he could obtain from two exhausted Perfect-level Digimon was almost unimaginable.

"...No." Takuya shook his head and forced the thought away.

Not now, Right now, running was the only correct decision.

Because if either one of those monsters turned their full attention back to him. He wasn’t going to get a second chance.