Each of the eight Crests corresponded to a distinct virtue. Taichi, facing certain doom, had understood the difference between courage and recklessness—his willingness to face danger head-on to protect those he cherished made his Crest of Courage shine brilliantly.
By comparison, the Crest of Knowledge was rather peculiar.
“Knowledge” was an abstract concept at its core, but the true virtue it represented was actually curiosity.
Thousands of years ago, when primitive humans, still living off raw meat, ignored the instincts that screamed warnings in their blood and foolishly reached out toward the blazing flames sparked by lightning, they planted the seed for civilization’s eventual bloom…
Of course, human history has many turning points—no single moment truly decides the fate of an entire species. That example was admittedly a bit exaggerated.
But the underlying point still stood: curiosity and the desire to explore were the engines driving humanity to seek out knowledge.
After Koushiro obtained the Crest of Knowledge, his first instinct was to thoroughly analyze it. Wizardmon, who was equally curious, eagerly joined in, and together they spent an entire sleepless night poring over its mysteries.
Although the pair hadn’t known each other very long, they quickly discovered they were kindred spirits, perfectly in sync when conducting research together.
Working with smart people is just that convenient. After a series of experiments, they successfully deciphered an extremely complex series of codes.
However, these codes weren’t written in any programming language Koushiro knew, nor could Wizardmon interpret them using Digital World scripts.
Still, the two agreed these mysterious codes likely hid something significant, so they stored them carefully, planning to investigate more deeply later.
Then came the ambush for LadyDevimon…
Regarding LadyDevimon’s movements—although she could move quickly worldwide through cyberspace—Zero, Gatomon, and Kamishiro Group’s personnel were currently conducting continuous patrols of the network. If she recklessly used network jumps now, she’d risk giving away her position immediately.
Therefore, LadyDevimon likely wouldn’t resort to teleportation through cyberspace unless absolutely necessary.
Thus, by plotting the locations of victims who had been attacked, Koushiro and Wizardmon managed to outline LadyDevimon’s recent area of activity.
Though it was challenging to pinpoint her exact location by conducting a blanket search—such an aggressive approach would likely alert her immediately, making it much harder to catch her afterwards.
Hence, taking the initiative was out of the question. Instead, preparing in advance and waiting for her to show up was the smarter choice.
LadyDevimon would likely act in one of two ways: randomly attacking humans to feed, which couldn’t be anticipated and planned against easily… or disrupting the Firewall Plan at this crucial juncture. There was no way LadyDevimon could resist causing trouble now.
Once they predicted she would actively strike, and combining this with their analysis of her recent movements, they’d prepared the perfect trap.
This was a classic “baiting the prey” scenario—the most reliable method to capture such a cunning enemy.
The plan itself wasn’t complicated; the key lay in making optimal use of existing intelligence.
Of course, LadyDevimon might abandon the nearest target and deliberately choose a distant one, but if she did that, she’d have to rely on network jumps for fast travel.
If she flew directly, by the time she left Japan, everything would’ve already ended—the Firewall Plan would long since be complete.
To move quickly, network jumps were her only option.
Koushiro and Wizardmon continuously monitored cyberspace. If LadyDevimon attempted a jump, it would immediately leave detectable traces. Should that happen, they had backup Plans B and even C ready.
In the end, LadyDevimon fell perfectly into the trap—likely due to her arrogance amplified by absorbing negative human emotions, causing her to underestimate Koushiro and Wizardmon completely. Plans B and C weren’t even needed—which conveniently saved them considerable effort.
But regardless of how meticulous a plan might be, ultimately, the deciding factor was raw strength. An intricately woven goldfish net couldn’t possibly catch a shark—there’s an old saying: “If you don’t have the diamond drill, don’t work with porcelain.”
To ambush LadyDevimon, they needed to be certain they could defeat her. Wizardmon’s lack of raw power would naturally be supplemented by the Crest of Knowledge.
As the Crest and Holy Plan shone simultaneously, Wizardmon was enveloped by brilliant light.
Having faced numerous strong enemies alongside Gatomon, coupled with his vast solo traveling experience, Wizardmon was already extremely close to breaking through to Ultimate-level.
Now, stimulated by the Crest and the Holy Plan, he immediately shattered that final barrier…
Wizardmon’s short stature swiftly stretched upwards into a tall, majestic figure, his wizardly robes transforming into impressive armor reinforced by metal…
…As he shifted from wizard to warrior, he retained his distinctive pointed wizard hat and cloak, his golden staff morphing into a sleek, one-handed sword!
With a single sweep of his sword, the forceful gust whipped his cloak dramatically, revealing his previously concealed handsome features.
Rather than a Digimon, he now looked like a magical swordsman straight out of a Japanese fantasy RPG—completely natural in such a setting…
…This was Wizardmon’s evolution. After thoroughly mastering the secrets of magic, complemented by exceptional physical training, he finally became a hybrid existence combining scholar and warrior—
Virus-type, Ultimate-level, Magic Warrior Digimon—
—MISTYMON!
“!”
LadyDevimon instantly knew she was in trouble. Originally, both she and Wizardmon had relied on indirect tactics. With the Crest’s power, Wizardmon previously could at least keep up with her.
But now, evolved into Mistymon—a fully armed, direct-combat specialist—the gap in strength was instantly obvious. With the Crest’s boost, she risked being crushed immediately.
Mistymon lightly ran his palm across the blade of his sword, golden flames roaring to life instantly. Without hesitation, he swung the flaming blade downwards.
The flames transformed instantly into a towering fire tornado hurtling straight toward LadyDevimon.
“!”
LadyDevimon crossed her hands, condensing a cloud of bloody mist swirling with crackling electricity. She hurled it forward desperately, but upon collision, the fiery tornado immediately incinerated most of her bloody cloud, shocking her into panic. She stomped the ground, instantly dispersing into countless blood-red bats attempting to scatter and escape…
But Mistymon raised his free hand, swiftly altering the surrounding space: gravity reversed and the entire room inverted, plunging the area into chaos!
The fleeing bats lost all sense of direction, flapping helplessly before collapsing in clusters.
“This is a magical space I created. Getting in was easy—escaping won’t be!”
Within this magic space, illusion blended seamlessly with spatial magic—gravity reversed, dimensions rearranged, and incredible powers flowed effortlessly at Mistymon’s command.
Though the place looked like an ordinary basement, it had transformed into a labyrinthine nightmare, trapping LadyDevimon completely.
Mistymon flipped his sword again, extinguishing its flame. This time, as he swung the blade, a chilling wind surged forth, turning the room into a raging blizzard!
“!”
Most of the blood bats froze instantly, immobilized. Mistymon readied his sword once more, this time charging the blade with crackling lightning…
…Earth, water, fire, and wind (lightning)—the four classic elements were perfectly commanded by Mistymon, combined with his sharp swordsmanship to unleash magical devastation at its fullest.
“This…ends now!”
Mistymon gripped his sword with both hands and swung fiercely and with a sound like shattering glass, the entire magic space fractured violently, unleashing all four elements simultaneously in a devastating explosion.
Reality snapped back around them, revealing an empty basement identical to the server room next door—purposely prepared as a decoy for LadyDevimon.
Only one weakened blood bat remained desperately fluttering.
Mistymon aimed his sword at it without hesitation, ready to deliver the finishing blow—
“Heh, that’s enough… This cute little thing is still useful to me. You shouldn’t kill her just yet~”
Suddenly, a man’s chilling voice echoed through the empty basement—
“!”
Mistymon froze instantly at the voice, unable even to clearly see what happened. A finger appeared out of thin air, casually blocking Mistymon’s blade from striking the bat.
Then the finger vanished—and the last surviving blood bat seized the chance, disappearing instantly.
“…”
Mistymon sensed that the mysterious finger had forcibly pierced through the wall separating worlds to intervene. But the interference clearly couldn’t be maintained long—the opponent couldn’t enter the Real World directly yet, only able to briefly save LadyDevimon’s life.
After that fleeting moment, the enemy’s presence vanished entirely.
Elsewhere, the blood bat desperately flew for who knew how long, eventually collapsing as blood-red light flashed—LadyDevimon tumbled out, reverted painfully into BlackGatomon.
She gasped weakly, trying and failing to rise.
“Dammit!”
Her injuries were even worse than she’d thought; recovery would take ages. And by now, the attack on the server station was obviously a failure.
Thinking about the consequences, she shuddered violently.
However, since Piedmon personally intervened to save her, he clearly still had use for her.
Slightly reassured, her mood quickly sank again. She had no idea how long recovery might take—and if Wizardmon found her again, she was dead for sure.
But just as despair consumed her, she felt “something” stored within her DigiCore heating up.
It was a mask—a blood-red, bat-shaped mask!
“…Myotismon-sama?!”
—
This is a fan translation of从滚球兽开始 by 魔王丘比. Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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