The blazing, flame-like radiance concentrated onto Rina's fist, taking on a form that hovered somewhere between real and illusory. This bizarre scene left Zero completely dumbstruck.
…Wait—is that DigiSoul?!
A Digimon's body was fundamentally composed of two elements: the DigiCore and the DigiSoul. For a Digimon, the DigiCore was equivalent to a heart; as long as it remained undamaged, there was practically no risk of death.
Powerful Digimon could nurture multiple DigiCores, but Zero, at his current stage, naturally possessed only a single DigiCore.
Then there was the DigiSoul—the primary material forming a Digimon's physical body, and also…the fundamental element that composed this entire Digital World.
Perfect! Now we've got a fighting chance!
Seadramon's eyes had turned blood-red, clearly blinded by anger; in this situation, there wasn't a moment to waste.
"Rina! I have a way to beat this guy now!"
Excitement filled Zero's voice. He'd never imagined Rina would actually produce a DigiSoul on her own. Truly deserving of those protagonist goggles—she was undoubtedly born with a protagonist's specs!
But before Zero could properly explain, the furious Seadramon charged toward them once more. An icy-blue freezing breath, mixed with shards of frost, erupted from its mouth, blowing violently between Zero and Rina and forcing them apart.
Seadramon swiftly closed in, its tail whipping fiercely toward Zero.
"Oh, sh—!@%"
Zero immediately attempted to dodge, only to realize, too late, that the ice he'd previously melted had refrozen into a slippery surface due to the freezing wind.
Having completely overlooked this fact, Zero immediately lost his footing… and quickly found himself off balance.
…Ah, great. This is gonna hurt.
Zero helplessly raised his head just in time to see Seadramon's long tail whipping toward him like a steel lash, carrying an aggressive wind behind it.
In the blink of an eye, however, a figure suddenly dashed forward, bravely shielding Zero from the blow…
"?!"
It was Gabumon—who'd just barely regained some strength—throwing itself forward and using its own body to shield Zero from harm.
Seadramon's tail slammed into Gabumon with a bone-chilling thud. Gabumon didn't even have time to let out a cry of pain; its body flew limply through the air like a ragged doll, landing roughly far away.
But that brief delay gave Rina just enough time to seize the opportunity and reunite with Zero.
"What do we do?"
With no time for a detailed explanation, Zero glanced over at Gabumon's battered form, a wave of rage rising from his heart.
"Place your hand on me—and then do exactly as I say…"
Rina immediately pressed her hand against Zero's body. Her warm, soft palm carried a reassuring warmth…
"Now, shout with me—DigiSoul, Charge!"
Although Rina had absolutely no idea why she was doing this, she didn't hesitate. Following Zero's instruction, she shouted clearly:
"[DIGISOUL—CHARGE]!"
In that instant, the DigiSoul gathering around Rina's right hand surged wildly, pouring endlessly into Zero's body.
Zero clearly felt that overwhelming energy flood into him like a tidal wave, rapidly filling every limb, every inch of his being. His DigiCore, wrapped in this powerful current, began releasing astonishing heat.
It's here! It's here! IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!
In the next moment, a roar shook the heavens from beside the forest lake…
AGUMON, DIGIVOLVE...
Zero felt his DigiCore enveloped entirely by the DigiSoul, his entire body torn apart and reconstructed by the surging energy…
…Yet this feeling wasn't painful at all. Instead, he experienced an exhilarating, incomparable sense of liberation.
Skin ripped, muscles swelled explosively, and his originally small, half-human-sized form inflated like a balloon…
…The erupting DigiSoul wrapped around his body, spiraling upward. At its apex, it took shape as the silhouette of a roaring, claw-bearing dinosaur.
The dinosaur-shaped shadow quickly vanished, transforming into a spiraling stream of data, crashing downward into Zero's body—which had become an immense, glowing sphere.
All of this seemed as flashy as a 30-second CGI sequence, but in reality, it lasted only a few brief breaths…
The translucent illusion solidified into reality. The previously tiny dinosaur had now become an enormous beast towering at least three stories tall!
Orange-yellow skin marked by striking blue stripes, tightly stretched over a body rippling with dense muscle. Its streamlined physique radiated explosive power. Razor-sharp claws and powerful hind legs unquestionably proclaimed it a living, breathing "combat weapon."
On the head of this terrifying beast was a jet-black skull-helmet patterned with dark crimson markings, bearing three thick horns extending menacingly outward—truly "armed to the teeth"!
Rina stared wide-eyed at Zero's evolved form, immediately exclaiming in admiration.
"Amazing! So cool! What is this?"
At that moment of excitement, she suddenly felt a weight in her hand. The flame-like brilliance from earlier had condensed, coalescing into a strange, square-shaped mechanical device resembling a mobile phone.
In the distant past, a Digimon had once inadvertently wandered into the human world, befriending a pair of human siblings and forming a bond of friendship with them.
Not long after, another Digimon found its way through a digital rift into the real world, causing a tremendous commotion…
In the end, the Digimon that first stumbled into the human world, boosted by the emotional power of the human siblings it met, burst forth with astonishing strength and successfully evolved.
It was this incident that made the Digital World's mainframe consciousness realize something important: human emotions could exert an enormous influence over Digimon.
Thus, afterward, when the Dark Masters rampaged through the Digital World—when the Light of Evolution was lost, and evolution itself became extraordinarily difficult for most Digimon—in order to fight against the Ultimate-level Dark Masters, the Digital World's host computer formulated a plan.
From among those humans who had witnessed that original incident, eight children with special qualities were selected, each paired with a suitable Digimon partner…
By extracting and amplifying the special emotions of those children through a certain device, the plan was to trigger evolution in their partner Digimon, enabling them to stand against the Dark Masters.
Apart from this device, the host computer also prepared "Crests" and "Digivices" capable of further amplifying the children's emotions.
This was the so-called "Holy Plan," and these children became the "Chosen Children"!
The reason children were chosen was that compared to emotionally reserved adults, children's emotions were purer and more intense, able to unleash far greater power. Furthermore, the inherent purity of a child's nature made it far easier to guide and amplify…
But clearly, the plan hadn't even begun yet, and yet the storyline had already taken a sudden turn onto an unexpected path.
With the help of Rina's DigiSoul, Zero had successfully evolved…
…And through the special device now in Rina's hand—a Digivice—Zero felt as though an invisible "thread" had connected him firmly to Rina.
Well, great. Who would've thought I'd end up partnered with a human like this, suddenly becoming someone else's Digimon partner through sheer coincidence.
But to be fair, Zero hadn't exactly lost anything in this exchange. In fact, from a certain point of view, he'd scored big.
Through the connection between human and Digimon partners, Zero could vividly sense the color of Rina's soul.
…It's burning hot, brilliant as the sun, scattering all gloom like bright sunlight—exactly matching my first impression of her.
They'd known each other for less than an hour, yet Zero could already sense this was a girl who was cheerful, passionate, and innocent—a textbook example of a main character's personality.
In fact, she'd probably fit seamlessly into a magical girl anime next door. Truly impressive, in every sense.
Due to their newfound bond, Rina also clearly understood that the towering, three-story-tall dinosaur in front of her was actually the small Agumon she'd met moments earlier. Seeing Zero's current form, then glancing back at Seadramon, made their victory seem all but assured.
"Rina, Gabumon—you two step back…"
Now watch me show off!
The deep, powerful voice emanated from the beast's jaws, causing Seadramon to feel about as joyful as someone who'd just stepped barefoot onto a Lego.
In reality, Seadramon wouldn't necessarily lose in a one-on-one fight, but the problem was… it was stuck on land right now.
Once out of the water, its fighting strength was halved at the very least. It was obvious it stood no chance against the ferocious beast facing it.
But it was too late for regrets. Zero had repeatedly tried to flee earlier, yet Seadramon hadn't allowed it. If it had just let Zero go at the end, Zero definitely wouldn't have continued pestering it.
But since Seadramon insisted on finishing things ruthlessly, it couldn't complain now that its prey had come knocking for payback.
Therefore…
Zero stretched his massive body freely, feeling the boundless strength surging inside him. Catching sight of his reflection in the lake nearby, he clearly saw his current appearance.
Agumon had Digivolved into…
…GEOGREYMON!
......
...
...
Wait—GeoGreymon?! Why the heck did I evolve into the variant subspecies GeoGreymon?!
Although Digimon evolution paths were web-like, meaning evolution deviations weren't exactly rare occurrences—and anyway, Zero could freely control his evolutions, so if a mistake happened, he could always devolve and start over—but still, how had he managed to veer off-course at just the Champion stage?!
Well, technically, it wasn't even that much of a detour. GeoGreymon's evolution route greatly overlapped with the traditional Greymon path, meaning he could easily drift back onto his intended route later. At least this deviation wasn't anything too outrageous.
…It was slightly off-target from his original plan, but thankfully, not by much.
For now, the urgent priority was settling the battle in front of him. He could carefully reconsider all other issues once he'd dealt with Seadramon.
Throwing aside these messy thoughts, Zero charged straight toward Seadramon without another word…