Chapter Ninety-Eight: Searching for Ruki

Ruki was gone. Not in the ordinary sense of having gone to school or out shopping, but truly gone.

Beyond the mechanical link known as the Arc Device, there was also a subtle, fateful resonance between Digimon and Tamer. Yet at that very moment, that resonance had been severed by some unknown force.

“Could it be...?” Feng Xue shuddered violently, then immediately cast the thought from his mind. Ruki was the heroine; she would absolutely not die.

“Damn it. How could I have missed that?” Feng Xue suddenly realized that the temperature in the entire room, no, in the entire Makino residence, seemed a little lower than outside. Only by a little, but this was not natural. It was the product of some sort of data interference with reality, like a Digimon taking physical form.

“Could something have materialized at Ruki’s house?” Feng Xue shook his head. No matter how absentminded he might be, if something that large had truly materialized before his eyes, he could not possibly have failed to notice it.

“So it was merely the faint aura of some Digimon that caused this chill? That kind of presence is beyond anything an Armor-level Digimon with a focus on defense could possess. At the very least, it would take an above-average Champion to do it.”

At the thought, a trace of unease crept into his heart. He had almost forgotten the plot of the original story, and besides, the Digimon defeated by Tamers after descending into the human world were certainly not limited to just a few. Who knew whether this thing had even appeared in the story at all?

“But if the temperature is this low... could it be a SnowAgumon?”

Though he still had many things he had not sorted out, the urgent priority now was only Ruki.

“Tch. I really am a terrible partner.” Feng Xue cursed under his breath and, in a few quick steps, leaped onto a nearby high-rise, looking down over the entire city.

“If a Digimon has descended, there has to be a Digital Domain. At the very least, there should be some sign of disturbance!”

Without the assistance of the Arc Device, Feng Xue’s ability to sense Digimon had dropped sharply. If having the device was like having the whole map revealed, then now he could only rely on his own eyes.

But...

“Isn’t this a bit too exaggerated!”

It was not that Feng Xue had never seen the world, only that the other party had actually frozen four or five stories of a building at once, turning them into its own domain.

“That level of freezing... at least a top-tier Champion should be able to pull that off, right?” Feng Xue stared blankly at the rooftop of the distant building encased in ice, and for the first time, a touch of fear rose in his heart.

“Haha, I’m actually afraid! I can actually feel fear!” He used the same word twice, yet there was not the slightest trace of terror on his face. At that moment, he was overflowing with excitement.

“You damn Digimon, you actually dared to move against my partner? You’d better be prepared to die!” With a ferocious expression, Feng Xue almost raced over the rooftops, his feet striking the air in a blur as he closed the distance.

...

“How about it? Become my partner...” Ruki was held from behind by the pallid demon. Even if she struggled, she could not break free from the power that was exceptional even among Champions.

“Partner? You mean Impmon?”

Though she was somewhat dazed under the dark power of IceDevimon, IceDevimon was still a Digimon renowned for ice powers. Its darkness was not even as strong as that of a DemiDevimon or another Rookie. Even at the limit, its seductive abilities would merely make a human feel a little sleepy. So Ruki still remembered her own partner.

And the instant she spoke Feng Xue’s name, that faint, almost imperceptible bond between Tamer and Digimon suddenly returned.

“Wait for me, Ruki!”

“Impmon?” IceDevimon let out a snort of contempt. “What a familiar name. Come to think of it, I think I used to be Impmon too. But right now, I’m far stronger than Impmon! Well? You wanted a strong partner, didn’t you? Then behold my power!”

As IceDevimon finished speaking, the entire space frozen in ice suddenly lit up. Countless ice pillars began to glow faintly, and the Digimon trapped within them started to show the forms they had worn in life. But all of it was nothing more than empty shells; their data had long since been devoured clean by IceDevimon.

“I survived by fighting. Only the strong can live. What awaits the weak is nothing but cold death!” IceDevimon’s voice was frigid, yet carried a strange seductive power. However, for Ruki, who lived with Feng Xue, a master of illusion, it was completely useless.

“That’s too much...” Ruki murmured.

Though she had defeated Digimon and absorbed data countless times before, this was the first time she had truly felt the cruelty of it. At that moment, she suddenly understood why Jianliang refused to let Terriermon fight, and why Impmon always grew so grave whenever he spoke of his former life. She also remembered what Impmon had told her last time—

“Facing death, huh? But...” Ruki’s expression grew cold. The brutal scene before her was still far too shocking for an elementary school student.

“Too much? Are you talking about yourself? I’m only evolving. Haven’t you done plenty of things like this too?” IceDevimon spoke in a steady, insinuating tone, but—

“Don’t compare me to a scumbag like you, who only knows how to bully the weak!”

A voice suddenly rang out. Ruki jerked her head up and saw Feng Xue with a face drained by exhaustion. He had not slept for days and nights, and after forcing his body to the limit with Flying Scythe Step, he was already worn to the bone.

“Tsk, tsk. That really is something. SpiderMon only materialized its web nest, and you actually brought all your old trophies with you...” Feng Xue made an exaggerated sound. “Let me see... Gazimon, Mushroomon, ah, even Elecmon. Too bad—that one had real potential to evolve into a god-man type! Still, come to think of it, aside from a Pumpkinmon that can only compete with BlackKingNumemon for the title of weakest Champion, you’ve got nothing but Rookies here! A Champion surviving by hunting Rookies, huh? You really have fallen quite low!”

“So even a mere Impmon dares to spout such nonsense? A special type or not, you’re still just a Rookie!”

IceDevimon released Ruki. With a beat of its wings, a fierce cold wind swept toward him.

“I’m not the sort who relies on skills alone to get by!”

As IceDevimon spoke, an overwhelming frost power had already spread across a wide area around Feng Xue. One moment’s hesitation, and he would be frozen into an ice sculpture along with Feng Xue himself.

“What a coincidence. Neither am I!”

Feng Xue’s voice suddenly sounded behind IceDevimon. Before IceDevimon could react, a heavy punch crashed squarely into its face.