Who do you think I am!

Meanwhile, in the digital world of a parallel dimension, there stood a castle shrouded in dark clouds and lightning. At the very pinnacle of the fortress sat a skeletal specimen made from the dried-out head of a SkullGreymon. By its very aesthetic, this was a demon lord’s castle through and through.

Deep within the fortress, a massive figure draped in robes sat motionless upon the throne. As the one occupying the seat of power in this Demon Lord’s castle, he was naturally the greatest evil in this world, the ultimate Demon Lord: Daemon.

*Tap, tap, tap...*

Daemon’s index finger tapped rhythmically and unconsciously against the armrest of his throne. Just minutes ago, he had sensed the aura of summoning magic emanating from HolyAngemon City. It required no guesswork to know that HolyAngemon, realizing he could not defeat Daemon using only the power of the Digital World, was attempting to seek a savior from beyond this reality.

Daemon would not let him have his way. With a casual flick, he fired an attack that effortlessly tore through half the Digital World, slamming directly into the summoning magic circle. However, the circle was not destroyed; instead, through a series of coincidences, it transported Taichi and Zeromaru to File Island in the Adventure Digital World.

Daemon appeared to be deep in thought, but in reality, he was searching for the coordinates of that Adventure Digital World. This was no easy task; just as the sky is filled with countless stars, the digital worlds of parallel dimensions are as numerous as the shuriken held by a super-robot.

At that moment, a dark force in the vast, parallel dimensions caught Daemon’s attention. It originated from the dark network hub at Etemon’s headquarters—a conglomerate of dark energy composed of countless cables and optical fibers, pulsing like a heart and emitting terrifying fluctuations of dark energy. It was unclear where Etemon had obtained such a thing, but its aura now drew Daemon’s focus.

Daemon transformed into a hacker, breaching the Etemon network connected to the massive heart. Any Digimon, if they so desired, could become a veteran hacker capable of exploring any intelligence within the network. In fact, there was a parallel dimension where network detectives utilized Digimon as hacking programs.

In an instant, the intrusion was complete.

Compared to this, if the firewall designed by Datamon was a basic antivirus program, Daemon was a master-class virus. It was not that Datamon was weak, but rather that Daemon was simply off the charts.

Within the network, Daemon witnessed Taichi’s display of power after landing on Server Continent. He saw the human fighting a Perfect-level Digimon like Etemon with his bare fists, and even soundly defeating the Digimon using only a Child-level partner. Watching the orange flames on Taichi’s fists, Daemon fell into deep contemplation.

With such potential, it was no wonder HolyAngemon viewed him as the final hope.

"Hmph... then I shall erase that hope."

***

At Etemon’s headquarters, the inverted pyramid was in total disarray. As previously mentioned, Etemon’s network covered the entirety of Server Continent; thus, as soon as Taichi defeated Etemon, the Digimon stationed there received the news immediately.

"We’re doomed! King Etemon has been defeated, what are we going to do!"

"The Chosen Children will come for us sooner or later!"

Of course, there were some rational Digimon among them: "It shouldn’t be that bad, right? Aren't the Chosen Children supposed to be champions of justice? We haven't done anything particularly evil, surely they won't be that cruel..."

"Fine, then when his fist comes flying our way, you can take the hit for me."

The Gazimon who had just spoken up immediately turned solemn. "I think we really should discuss a strategy!"

After a heated exchange, the Digimon who had grown accustomed to throwing their weight around under Etemon’s rule, and who were now terrified of Taichi’s retribution, remembered one individual: Datamon. He was the one who had once vied for power with Etemon, only to have half his body blown away in battle, forever becoming Etemon’s network processor.

In truth, the heavily wounded Datamon had long since recovered his strength in secret. Though he looked like a machine, his essence was that of a Digimon like Greymon or Kuwagamon; as long as he had not suffered a fatal blow and his DigiCore remained intact, he could heal himself. During his time as a processor, Datamon had spent 900 days recovering his consciousness, 90 days recovering his memories, and 9 days recovering his power.

As a Digimon focused on scientific research, Datamon’s raw strength was indeed not particularly outstanding. After recovering, he had never shown signs of rebellion in front of Etemon, knowing he could never be a match for the powerful Etemon. Therefore, he had pinned his hopes on Taichi—the child he saw as the "Chosen One."

He had expected that Taichi, unable to evolve into a Perfect level, would surely be defeated by Etemon. At that point, he could use his network permissions to help Taichi escape, lowering his guard to scan Taichi’s data, create a clone, and utilize the forced-evolution technology he had researched for so long to evolve Zeromaru into a Perfect level to defeat Etemon. As for himself, he would use the power of the Perfect-level Zeromaru to become the most powerful Digimon on Server Continent—or perhaps even the true King of the Digital World!

Yet, Taichi’s actions had exceeded his expectations.

*How can this human brat make the Crest glow the moment he gets his hands on it? It took me over half a year of study! And those Koromon bathed in the light of the Crest—I didn't know Koromon could evolve into so many different Child levels! What is up with their irrational combat power? How is it that even Etemon is losing?*

*Please, Etemon, if you’re going to be this pathetic, doesn't it make me look weak for having had half my body shattered by your punch?*

Then came the moment Taichi shattered the Dark Network Sphere with a single slap. At this point, Datamon’s CPU began to smoke. *Could it be that this is the correct way to use the Crest? To allow humans to possess combat power on par with Digimon??*

By this stage, Datamon was certain of Etemon’s defeat. Even if Etemon absorbed the power of the cables, it would be to no avail, especially since Zeromaru, who was by Taichi’s side, had not even made a move. Therefore, seeing Etemon get pummeled and turn into fireworks in the sky, Datamon felt no surprise.

Of course, he felt no joy either.

Revenge was best served personally. Datamon had planned to defeat Etemon, then, instead of killing him immediately, beat him until he had no strength to resist, hang him in a secret room where no one could enter, and enact a series of humiliation plans. He had endured so much for this, and Etemon just died like that?

Datamon hissed bitterly, "You died far too easily!"

Following this, Datamon turned his attention to the power displayed by Taichi and Zeromaru. *If I could just master this power...*

Just then, a terrifying dark surge emanated from beneath the room where Datamon stood.