-Chapter 32-

...

<POV - Third Person>

On the top of a large mountain, a large castle could be seen expanding all over the top of the mountain and a little more. Said castle was of a strange black color that was camouflaged by the dark background of the night that constantly surrounded the castle. Inside the gloomy castle, large numbers of Digimon Virus could be seen performing various activities.

From mandatory training, pranks among them, gambling, all sorts of things.

Each one of these Digimons was at the total service of a single Digimon, who commanded them with an iron fist.

Vamdemon, the Vampire King and Leader of the Nightmare Soldiers.

This Digimon, to the surprise of his low-ranking minions, was not in his usual throne room. Rather, he was in the deepest darkness of the castle, in a cave beneath his castle.

'Funny how a simple door separates this World from his' Vamdemon thought with a stony expression on his face as he looked in detail at the strange silver steel door that seemed to be connected to hundreds of wires and pipes.

The door gave an indescribable feeling, as if the world did not recognize its existence in the system's code but was nonetheless part of this code. And Vamdemon knew that this made no sense or explanation, even with his thousands of years alive, he couldn't begin to understand how such a thing managed to exist in the first place.

The gate was - for lack of a better analogy - if the mass of an object became intangible in every way, losing all its characteristics but gaining new ones before becoming tangible again differently.

This door was a contradiction against the World.

A flaw in the primordial laws that made up that World.

A Bug.

That's what the door was.

Fush... Fush... Fush... Fush...

The rapid flapping of wings at the end of the cave brought Vamdemon out of his deep contemplation, despite the years, he never ceased to be fascinated every time he looked at the door in front of him.

With a slight flick of his ears, the Vampire King turned around to watch as a small Digimon Child landed on the rocky floor of the cave before quickly kneeling in Vamdemon's presence.

The Digimon kneeling before Vamdemon was none other than PicoDevimon, a small bat-like Digimon Virus. It had four wings, two small ones coming out of its sides and two larger ones coming out of its head. On its face, it wore what looked like a kind of mask that simulated the face of a vampire with a skull on its forehead.

Despite their small size and pathetic strength in combat, the PicoDevimon were quite useful Digimons to Vamdemon, as they served as his personal messengers and supervisors.

"PicoDevimon..." Vamdemon intoned in an amused voice, making the other Digimon jump slightly. "I hope you have good news."

"Y-Yes my lord!" The little furball let out a nervous squeak before looking up to meet Vamdemon's amused, reddish eyes.

Taking an audible gulp, PicoDevimon spoke with an audible stutter.

"W-We were able to recover a new Charter thanks to the investigations led by Wizarmon and the research branch-"

Vamdemon smiled slightly.

Wizarmon was one of the few Digimon under his command that the Vampire King truly regarded as an indispensable piece of his army. Being the main one in charge of searching for the Cards thanks to his Magical Powers.

"-thanks to this, we just need to get the last two Cards to open the door!" PicoDevimon exclaimed with swagger before shrinking in on himself as he heard a thoughtful hum from his boss.

"That's good news, tell Wizarmon he did an excellent job" The Vampire King let out a small chuckle, almost causing PicoDevimon to let out a drunken laugh at the praise, even though he was only the messenger and had nothing to do with Wizarmon or the research branch.

"Anything else you want to report?" asked Vamdemon with secret amusement as he saw the delirious look on PicoDevimon's face.

"Uh! H-Huh!" Realizing that his boss had seen him, the little virus coughed on his wing before continuing to report to his boss. "Yes! We have detected a strong presence in the South of the Server Continent near the Ancient Colosseum and the Inverted Pyramid. Due to the strength of the mysterious presence, we theorize that it could be an unidentified Digimon Perfect."

The jovial smile on Vamdemon's face disappeared for a moment before returning to its previous expression in a split second. Said vampire closed his eyes for a full minute as his thoughts quickly flowed through his head.

PicoDevimon swallowed audibly as he stood awkwardly in front of an unmoving Vampire King.

"H-Huh... M-My Lord?" asked the little Digimon Virus fearfully, but the Vampire King didn't say a word.

As PicoDevimon was beginning to panic, Vamdemon opened his eyes with a cold stare and spoke in an authoritative voice that left no trace of disobedience.

"I want you to withdraw all our troops from the South of the Continent; we already know that in that area there are no more Cards left, and it would be foolish to lose troops just because a Digimon Perfect wants some absorb Data" Vamdemon ordered with a gesture of his hand. "Also, tell Tailmon to cancel the negotiation with Etemon and return to the castle immediately, we are too close to the target to worry about third party interference."

"Y-Yes my lord!" The little virus gave a quick nod before taking flight and speeding away from Vamdemon. As much as he admired his boss, he didn't want the fate of being the next Digimon he used as an example for insubordination or because he was in a bad mood.

Vamdemon stood motionless deep in the cave watching PicoDevimon walk away while several thoughts ran through his head at the same time. He never liked new vermin appearing out of nowhere to impose on his plans, he had enough of the trouble caused by Etemon, Piximon, Lilimon and Lilamon.

At least the last two were in their sleep cycles and were off the board... for now.

"If the time comes, then I'll have no choice but to show them why I'm still alive after so many years... It wouldn't be the first time I've faced multiple Digimon Perfect at the same time" Vamdemon muttered to himself, giving the door one last glance. "Maybe I need to pick up the pace..."

***

<Meanwhile in the Colosseum...>

"Greymon?!" Tai's voice echoed across the battlefield as he watched Greymon's form distort before his eyes. An ominous feeling spread throughout the coliseum as the sunny sun was hidden by black clouds.

[-Greymon Dark Evolution to...-]

Everyone in the arena watched with their hearts in their throats as Greymon's form distorted macabrely while his size increased at least four times his previous height.

Garurumon and Birdramon quickly moved in front of Matt and Sora, taking up a defensive position. Kabuterimon, Ikkakumon and Togemon ran towards their companions and quickly joined Garurumon and Birdramon.

They didn't know what was going on, but it wasn't good.

Suddenly, a flash came out of Tai's Emblem, illuminating the entire stadium, blinding all the people and Digimons inside.

[-... SkullGreymon!-]

As the flash faded, an imposing and enormous figure made its presence known.

Standing almost as tall as a skyscraper, an imposing, dark pile of bones, each larger than a truck, took the form of what appeared to be some sort of skeletal T-Rex. Its jaw appeared to be abnormally stretched, preventing the large skeleton from closing its mouth and exposing its enormous adult-sized teeth.

Protruding from its back was an unnatural pile of bones that gave it the appearance of a spider, with each leg holding what appeared to be some sort of oversized missile.

"W-What the hell?!" Etemon's incredulous voice echoed across the stage, snapping everyone out of their stupor.

"G-Greymon?" asked Tai with an unsure stutter as he looked up to observe the absurd size the skeleton was, it must have been as big as a 50-foot building.

Suddenly, several holographic screens appeared in front of Tai, forcing the boy to read everything quickly while still keeping an eye on the motionless skeleton.

[=====]

Name: SkullGreymon

Level: Perfect

Type: Virus

Data: 0 / 750

...

A skeleton Digimon whose entire body has become nothing but bones. It was a Digimon that placed too much importance on fighting, and as a result of its fighting instinct it clung to life despite its body rotting away, becoming SkullGreymon. Since SkullGreymon doesn't even have a scrap of intelligence to balance its fighting instinct, its existence is a threat to other Digimon and the World.

Special Attack: Ground Zero, Curse Breath, Death Nail, Burning Salamander

Companion: -ERROR-

[=====]

[=====]

-Silver Achievement Obtained: Digimon Kaizer: Part I-

-Reward: Increased Bearer Stat: Sensitive to Dark Energies-

-Reward: New Information Obtained: Dark Evolution-

-Reward: New Function: Dark Mark-

[=====]

Tai's head was starting to spin as the information slowly processed deep in his brain, giving the 11-year-old a reality check.

"W-Wait! That means-" Before Tai could finish speaking, a new screen appeared.

[-Warning: Your Digimon Companion has suffered the effects of -Information Locked-, from now on your Digimon Companion will no longer be classified as your Companion until -Information Locked- be -Information Locked-]

Tai's eyes widened in shock as the realization slowly entered his mind. He had just realized how much he had messed up.

"W-What! No!" letting out a cry full of denial, Tai gestured towards the huge Digimon, drawing its attention to him. "SkullGreymon! It's me! Taichi! You remember me, right?! Right?!"

"Tai, what are you doing?!"

"I-"

Tai was interrupted by a strong tremor.

Turning his head, Tai watched as Snimon moved swiftly while swinging his scythes restlessly in an attempt to damage the giant Skeleton Digimon that had appeared on the field.

But-

"...Death... Nail"

With a bloodcurdling whisper, SkullGreymon's eyes flashed a reddish color before one of its huge hands easily grabbed Snimon by its upper body while its other hand grasped the large insect's lower body.

"SkullGreymon! Don't-"

Srack!

Heedless of Tai's call, SkullGreymon snapped Snimon in two without a hint of remorse before throwing the insect's upper body against Etemon's screen and-

"Ground... Zero..."

The huge missile on SkullGreymon's back shot out towards what was left of Snimon, connecting squarely against the dying insect.

BOOOMMM!!

The huge missile exploded, causing a small earthquake all around. The screen and Snimon had been completely vaporized by SkullGreymon's overwhelming attack, along with a good portion of the Colosseum.

Tai's face went pale, and an icy feeling took over his body, even though his heart was pumping faster than ever.

"We have to run!!" Sora's shout brought the children out of their stupefaction, and they all quickly got into motion, quickly cancelled their Digimons' Digievolutions and ran to climb on top of the Phoenix. "Everyone, get on Birdramon!"

Tai simply looked at it with a disturbed look without saying anything, rather, it was as if he couldn't find what words to say in this situation. As much as he wanted to move, his body didn't respond to his commands.

He... was afraid.

"Tai, what are you waiting for?! Get in!" Joe exclaimed as he gestured in panic to the trembling boy with goggles.

"But-"

A crazed roar echoed through the Colosseum. Tai turned his gaze back to see Tyranomon launch several fireballs at SkullGreymon's face, drawing the Digimon Perfect's attention.

"Let's get out of here!" exclaimed Matt as he grabbed Tai by the arm and forcibly pushed him towards the Phoenix. Cold sweat was pouring down Matt's back, feeling as if he were one step away from death.

But, unfortunately, SkullGreymon had already finished slaughtering Tyranomon turning it into a pile of Data that was quickly absorbed by SkullGreymon itself.

The huge skeleton fixed his gaze on the children and Digimons desperately climbing Birdramon, who seemed to be looking at him with primal fear in his eyes.

SkullGreymon could feel a voice calling out to them, but to the skeleton, the only thing that had any relevance was the power granted to him by the Data of other Digimons, all other things were simply insignificant and irrelevant to him.

Letting out a distorted whisper, SkullGreymon pounced on the group in an instant, swinging his arms downward, intent on decapitating the Phoenix with a single blow.

All the Chosen Children froze in place as they watched in slow motion as SkullGreymon's massive, razor-sharp claws descended upon them.

"...Death... Na-"

"Heaven's Knuckle!"

A powerful white light flashed on SkullGreymon before a large golden fist pushed back the giant skeleton's arm. Startled by the sudden attack, all the children turned their gazes to watch their defender.

Not far from Birdramon, a sacred being could be seen that was only recorded in legends.

Standing firmly on the shattered floor of the coliseum was the humanoid figure of what could only be described as an Angel. From his back protruded six wings large enough to completely cover a child, and his head was hidden behind a heavy steel mask that gave way to his light brown hair.

His right hand held a large spear made of sacred gold, while in his right hand, his knuckles and part of his hand seemed to be surrounded by the same metal that covered his head.

Retracting his outstretched fist, the Angel quickly gained the upper hand between the Chosen Children and the large Skeletal Digimon. "Quickly, get out of here!"

"Who-" Mimi's question was quickly interrupted by the same Angel.

"No time, go away!!" The Angel exclaimed as it -barely- managed to dodge a Death Nail from SkullGreymon. The Angel quickly began to fly around the giant Digimons launching a variety of attacks that seemed to have no effect on the huge skeleton.

Without wasting any more time, Sora gave the order to Birdramon, and Phoenix quickly soared into the sky, miraculously escaping certain death.

As they flew off into the distance, Tai took one last look at the huge pile of bones that shattered the Colosseum with ease and made its way out into the vast desert.

Hell itself had been unleashed on the Server Continent... and it was all his fault.

...

__________________________________________

Thank you very much for reading! If you liked the chapter you can leave a Power Stone or a Review! You can also join my Patreon to support me!

https://www.patreon.com/rTem