Kudamon carefully observed Sora. Compared to an ordinary Angewomon, there was no difference in terms of mask, hairstyle, wings, clothing, belt, feathered robe, shoes, body shape, or skin.
The only difference was a white emblem on her left shoulder!
It looked like the silhouette of a small fairy. What was the significance of this symbol?
In the Digital World, emblems were most commonly associated with the Seven Great Demon Lords, who bore the symbols of the Seven Deadly Sins. However, the emblem of this little fairy seemed unrelated to those.
Besides, those symbols weren’t inscribed directly onto the body.
Could it be… that this fairy emblem was a characteristic of a new breed of Angewomon?
But… her differences from the original Angewomon were far too minimal. Moreover, a new breed of Angewomon would still be an angelic Digimon, and its emblem should be something related to angels—like the Crest of Light or the Crest of Hope.
Why would it be a fairy emblem?
Kudamon was thoroughly puzzled.
Captain Sampson didn’t notice his partner’s thoughts, as his full attention was on Kouki.
After a moment of contemplation, he asked, “What do you mean by Digimon Hunters?”
Kouki glanced at Sora, no longer daring to be arrogant, and truthfully answered, “It means going to the Digital World to hunt Digimon.”
Captain Sampson frowned, “How do you enter the Digital World?”
Kouki scratched his head, and thinking briefly, “Using something called a Space-Time Oscillation Bomb. With a single explosion, it opens a passage to the Digital World.”
“So it’s that…” Captain Sampson’s frown deepened. Suddenly, as he made a connection, his expression turned grim.
He muttered, “Who do you Digimon Hunters work for?”
“Some guy named Kurata.”
“I knew it…” Captain Sampson had already suspected as much.
Thomas asked, “Captain, do you know this person?”
Captain Sampson nodded, “Ten years ago, we were teammates in an expedition.”
Specifically, an Expedition to the Digital World.
Back then, the Digital World was still considered an urban legend, while occasionally, mysterious disappearances—people vanishing without a trace—would occur.
A pair of scientists accidentally opened a passage to the Digital World during an experiment. To explore it, an old detective—now the head of DATS—formed an expedition team to venture inside.
Sampson and Kurata were both members of that expedition, and among them was also Marcus Damon’s father—Spencer Damon.
Due to an unexpected incident, the expedition was cut short, and everyone except Spencer managed to return to the human world.
Captain Sampson didn’t reveal this detail, believing it wasn’t the right time.
“When did Kurata start hunting Digimon?”
“I don’t know, really. I only became a Digimon Hunter this year. How long Kurata has been doing it, I have no clue.”
This guy didn’t care much about anything other than strength and combat, so as a special enforcer under Kurata, the intel they could extract from him was limited.
Suddenly, a crisp voice rang in everyone’s ears.
“Frequent use of Space-Time Oscillation Bombs weakens the boundary between the human world and the Digital World.”
Everyone turned toward the source of the voice—Sora.
In truth, Sora already knew everything Kouki had said.
To begin with, she had hoped to extract information not covered in the original, but Kouki’s answers were disappointing.
Still, there was a silver lining—his words would make her own statements more credible.
Kudamon was startled, “You mean the dimensional barrier… could it be—!”
Sora smiled, “Looks like you’ve figured it out. As expected of…”
‘A Royal Knight!’
To avoid unnecessary suspicion, she refrained from saying those words aloud.
Kudamon asked, “As expected of what?”
Sora simply smiled, raised her right index finger to her lips, and made a hush gesture. “Secret.”
“…”
“What are you guys even talking about?!” Marcus was entirely lost, feeling like his brain wasn’t keeping up.
He knew he wasn’t the smartest, but at least they should explain things in a way he could understand.
Kudamon smoothly brought the conversation back on track.
“If the dimensional barrier weakens, the probability of Digimon falling into the human world increases—and vice versa.”
Thomas suddenly understood. Holding his chin, he quickly analyzed, “So the reason more and more Digimon have appeared in the human world in recent years is because someone has been frequently using Space-Time Oscillation Bombs?”
“That’s very likely.”
With this new line of thought, Thomas immediately operated the computer, pulling up the dimensional barrier scans from the DATS database to compare readings from ten years ago and now.
As expected, over the past decade, the barrier had drastically thinned. The weakest point was—right near Tokyo!
Thomas muttered, “No wonder Digimons appear in Tokyo more often than in all of Europe combined… The highest frequency of Digital Gate Generator usage must be in Tokyo.”
Kudamon stared at the dimensional barrier scan, “If this continues unchecked, once the dimensional barrier is completely shattered… the two worlds will collide.”
Marcus finally understood, “So basically, this is all Kurata’s fault, right?”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
If not for Kurata, the dimensional barrier wouldn’t have weakened, and Digimon wouldn’t randomly appear in the human world causing havoc.
It was all Kurata’s fault!
Marcus raised his fist eagerly, “Then let’s go beat Kurata up right now!”
Everyone sighed helplessly.
Thomas said, “It’s not that simple. They have at least two Digimon Hunters on their side.”
Sora added, “Not only that, but Kurata has also developed an artificial Digimon called Gizmon. Its laser can completely erase Digimons, leaving not even a DigiEgg—only pure life energy remains.”
“What?!”
Everyone was shocked.
The concept of artificial Digimon was already alarming, but a Digimon with the power to fully obliterate another was truly horrifying. It was clear Kurata was a genius—but an evil one, making him all the more detestable.
Kudamon, realizing the full ramifications of Gizmon’s ability, shuddered and stared at Kouki, “Has he killed many Digimons in the Digital World?”
Kouki nodded, “Yeah, that’s part of it—kill Digimon and harvest their life energy.”
Kudamon thought about all the efforts made for peaceful coexistence between the two worlds, only to realize countless Digimon had already been brutally slaughtered.
Guilt and rage swelled inside.
‘Kurata!’
Kudamon was furious, barely restraining the urge to go and eliminate Kurata immediately.
“Sampson, I must act!”
Kudamon’s voice brooked no argument.
“Kudamon, I understand your anger. Kurata’s actions must be stopped, but rushing in recklessly will undo all the efforts we’ve made toward peaceful coexistence.”
This was a critical issue. If mishandled, it could lead to war between the two worlds.
A Third World War!
Kudamon hesitated. It didn’t want to see countless lives lost. Perhaps a better approach was needed…
Seeing their hesitation, Sora posed a sharp question…
“If a water jar leaks while refilling, when will it ever be full? As long as vermin like Kurata exist, how can peaceful coexistence be possible?”
— The end of the Chapter–
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