The scream came from behind the old shrine.
Kuro Hinode's hand shot out, grabbing Himari Kido's wrist and yanking her behind a crumbling stone lantern. His heart hammered against his ribs as another shriek echoed through the forest, this one closer. Much closer.
"What was that?" Himari's voice trembled, her pale blue hair sticking to her tear-streaked cheeks. She'd been crying again—the bruise under her left eye was still fresh, courtesy of her mother's "discipline."
"I don't know yet." Kuro pulled his goggles down over his eyes, the cracked left lens catching the moonlight. On his wrist, the Digivice pulsed with a soft orange glow. "But we're about to find out."
Crack.
The trees ahead splintered like toothpicks. Something massive was moving through them, crushing everything in its path. Himari whimpered, pressing herself against Kuro's back. He could feel her trembling, her soft curves pressing into him despite her terror.
Focus.
The Digivice chirped. A holographic display flickered to life, rotating above his wrist:
Name: Kuwagamon
Level: Champion
Attribute: Virus
Attacks: Scissor Hands, Power Guillotine
Kuro's blood ran cold. Champion-level. That was bad. That was very, very bad.
"Kuro..." Himari's whisper was barely audible. "I'm scared."
"I know." He pulled her closer, one hand instinctively wrapping around her waist. She gasped softly, her face flushing despite the danger. "But I need you to run. When I say go, you run straight back to the school, understand?"
"But you—"
CRASH.
The Kuwagamon burst through the final row of trees, its crimson carapace gleaming like wet blood. Mandibles the size of swords snapped hungrily, its compound eyes fixing on them with predatory focus. It was easily the size of a small car, dwarfing them both.
"GO!" Kuro shoved Himari backward, watching her stumble before sprinting toward the school gates. The Kuwagamon's head tracked her movement, its mandibles clicking.
"Not her." Kuro stepped forward, putting himself between the monster and the fleeing girl. "Your fight is with me."
The Digivice blazed like a newborn sun.
Flames erupted beside him as Coronamon materialized, the lion-cub Digimon's fiery mane casting dancing shadows across the clearing. "Took you long enough, Boss."
"Shut up and fight."
"Corona Knuckle!"
Coronamon launched himself at the Kuwagamon, his tiny fists wreathed in fire. The impact sent the beetle Digimon staggering back, but only for a moment. A massive claw swept down, swatting Coronamon into a tree with a sickening crunch.
"Coronamon!"
The Kuwagamon turned back to Kuro, its mandibles opening wide. He could smell its breath—ozone and rot—as it lunged.
Kuro's hand shot out instinctively, and the world exploded in gold.
Regulus Nemea materialized in his grip, the massive golden axe heavier than anything he'd ever held, yet perfectly balanced. The lion's head on its blade roared silently as he swung, the edge biting deep into the Kuwagamon's carapace.
The monster screamed, thrashing wildly. Kuro held on, his muscles screaming, blood trickling down his arm from where the haft had bitten into his palm. For a moment—just a moment—he thought he might win.
Then the Kuwagamon threw him like a ragdoll.
He hit the ground hard, his vision swimming, Regulus Nemea clattering away into the darkness. Through blurred eyes, he saw the beetle Digimon looming over him, its mandibles raised for the killing blow.
This is it.
"Hinode!"
A blur of crimson. A wall of darkness.
Rias Gremory stood between him and certain death, her hand raised, the Power of Destruction swirling around her fingers like hungry shadows. Behind her, a dozen more figures emerged from the darkness—winged, beautiful, deadly.
"Toujou, get him out of here," she commanded, her voice brooking no argument.
Small hands grabbed Kuro's collar, dragging him backward as the world dissolved into chaos. Lightning from Akeno. Blades from Kiba. Fire and darkness and screams.
And then, silence.
Kuro blinked, finding himself propped against a tree. Koneko Toujou crouched beside him, her tiny form deceptively powerful, her golden eyes watching him with unnerving intensity. Above them, the Kuwagamon was... dissolving. Rainbow light streamed from its body as it disintegrated, leaving nothing behind.
"You're bleeding," Koneko said flatly.
"I noticed."
"Hinode!" Issei Hyoudou's face appeared above him, looking equal parts terrified and exhilarated. "Dude, what the hell was that thing?! And what's with the axe?! And why—"
"Issei, give him room." Rias knelt beside him, her crimson hair cascading over her shoulders. Up close, she was impossibly beautiful, her presence suffocating in its intensity. "You're hurt."
"It's just a scratch." He tried to sit up, wincing as his ribs protested.
Rias's fingers brushed his cheek, turning his face toward hers. Her touch was electric, her eyes pools of liquid fire that seemed to see right through him. "You're more than just a human with a Digimon, aren't you?"
His Digivice pulsed against his wrist, as if in answer.
"I don't know what I am," Kuro admitted. "But I'm starting to think I'm going to find out."
Rias smiled. It was the smile of a predator who'd found something worth hunting.
"Yes," she murmured, her lips inches from his ear. "Yes, you are."
Behind them, Regulus Nemea pulsed with golden light, and somewhere deep in Kuro's chest, a lion stirred from a very, very long sleep.