Solo Leveling: Digispirit.

A/N: another one, this is my favorite Chapter until now. end of the note

"So technically, we’re inside the internet?" Takuya asked.

Veemon made a gesture that could only be interpreted as more or less. "Yes, but also no. Not exactly," the Digimon replied.

At that, Cha Hae frowned. "I think I get it. A Digital World with its own rules. My head can follow that much. There are already monsters coming into our world, but monsters inside the internet? That’s absurd. Are you saying this is some kind of simulation, or that humans somehow created another dimension inside the internet? I don’t think we have that kind of power."

"Hahahahaha! That’s absurd. You didn’t create anything," Veemon replied, laughing. "You discovered the internet. You didn’t create this dimension. Think of your internet as a small connection to something that already existed. What you know as the internet is something like the first layer, while right now we’re around the third one. Humans normally don’t have access this deep."

Then Veemon’s expression became more serious.

"Now, the important thing is this. Takuya, I think you already understand the problem. Whatever is affecting your world..."

"Is affecting yours too, isn’t it?" Takuya asked.

"Yes," Veemon answered simply. Before Takuya could ask anything else, the D-Scan lit up.

Trial of the Beast initiated.

As the Human Spirit demanded overwhelming will, the Beast Spirit demands overwhelming control.

Show your control over the flames. Dominate the Beast. Make it protect rather than destroy.

In that instant, flames ignited beneath Takuya’s feet. A massive column of fire erupted upward and completely engulfed him.

The D-Scan immediately displayed another message as Takuya’s body began absorbing data. A lot of data.

Cha Hae instinctively moved forward when she saw Takuya disappear inside the flames, but Veemon stepped in front of her and shook his head. "Don’t. It’s part of the process. His body needs to readjust and absorb the new power. Only after that will the power truly become his."

Cha Hae looked ready to snap at the small Digimon, but once again, something deep within her instincts told her not to attack him. Whatever Veemon was, attacking him would be a terrible idea.

At the same time, two portals made of data opened beside her. Two figures were suddenly thrown out of them.

One black.

One orange.

Halloween and Creed landed on the floating island, both looking completely confused. Neither of them had any idea where they were or why they had suddenly been brought there.

Seeing two more creatures appear, Cha Hae immediately went on full alert. However, she recognized one of them.

The pumpkin. It was the same "child in a costume" who had disappeared alongside Takuya months ago.

"Liar..." Cha Hae muttered. Takuya definitely knew what that creature was.

The three of them looked at one another, confused by the situation, but before anyone could speak, the flames surrounding Takuya suddenly began moving upward. Above him, an enormous mass of armor started to form piece by piece before rushing downward and merging with his body.

Veemon watched the process for a moment before finally speaking. "Okay, now I understand. My role here is to explain the trial to the three of you and prevent any outside interference." He glanced toward the pillar of fire. "Takuya is undergoing an Evolution, but this stage is extremely difficult for him to handle. Once the process finishes, Takuya will lose control of his actions and attack any living being nearby. You have to survive until he regains control of his new body. If any of you die because of him, Takuya dies as well and the trial ends in failure." Veemon paused for a moment.

"Wow. That’s cruel." The three stared at him.

"But that’s what it says. So if you want to help him, you have two choices: either defeat him or withstand his attacks long enough for Takuya to regain control."

Then the transformation ended.

At the center of the island stood what could only be described as a furnace of fire, more than twenty meters high.

Something roared from within. The flames scattered.

And there stood Vritramon.

A massive red dragon covered in crimson and golden armor, with wings formed from blazing red flames. His eyes immediately locked onto everyone around him with nothing but rage.

He stood roughly five meters tall, towering over everyone present. Even Cha Hae struggled to see the creature before her as Takuya anymore. The pressure coming from him was enormous. More than enormous. Could she survive fighting something like this? Probably, but for the first time, she wasn’t entirely sure. She was an S-Rank Hunter, yet Takuya now looked genuinely terrifying.

The closest person to Vritramon was Veemon, who had his back turned to him. The instant Vritramon noticed him, one enormous claw came crashing downward.

The impact shattered a large section of the floating island.

However, when Vritramon raised his hand again, Veemon wasn’t there. He had somehow appeared at the very edge of the island.

Veemon looked toward the confused trio.

"Good luck, and please win."

Then he casually jumped off the floating island and disappeared into the endless black space below.

Completely unaware of what was happening outside, Takuya found himself trapped somewhere inside Vritramon’s body. He could see everything, feel everything, but he had absolutely no control over his movements. It was as though his mind had been disconnected from his body entirely.

He was nothing more than a passenger.

"Girl," Creed suddenly spoke, his deep voice sending a slight chill through Cha Hae. "You’re a friend of Takuya?"

Cha Hae nodded. Under normal circumstances, she probably would have had several questions about a talking wolf monster, but right now she was about to fight one of her own Hunter teammates after he had transformed into a giant dragon. Priorities.

"Yes. You?" asked Cha hae in.

"I’m Creed. The pumpkin is Halloween. We’re both friends of Takuya," Creed explained. "From what I can tell, Halloween is the weakest one here, so we need to protect him and stop him from making idiotic decisions because—"

Before Creed could finish, a gigantic pumpkin suddenly materialized above Vritramon’s head.

Creed slowly looked toward Halloween.The pumpkin began falling.

Vritramon simply raised one arm. A beam of concentrated fire shot from the armor covering his forearm and instantly reduced the giant pumpkin to ashes.

Cha Hae and Creed stared at the empty space where the attack had been.

"Shit." They both understood immediately. A direct hit from that would be dangerous. Then Vritramon disappeared from where he was standing.

In an absurd burst of speed, he appeared directly above Cha Hae. His enormous claws collided against her blade, and although she managed to block the attack, the sheer force sent her flying backward. The sudden acceleration was completely unexpected from something of Vritramon’s size.

At the same time, Halloween threw a stream of fire toward Takuya.

Vritramon ignored it.

No. It wasn’t that he ignored it. The fire simply did nothing. Halloween’s attack was completely meaningless against his body.

Creed rushed forward next and struck at close range, his claws colliding repeatedly with Vritramon’s armor. "React, you idiot!" the BlackWereGarurumon yelled as the two became locked in a rapid exchange of strikes. Cha Hae joined him a second later.

That was probably their best option. Knock Takuya unconscious. Make him faint until he regained control.

The combined power of a Perfect-level Digimon and an S-Rank Hunter was enough to force Vritramon backward, but his body responded instinctively. Both Creed and Cha Hae possessed exceptional martial ability, so Vritramon answered by using something neither of them could simply counter through skill.

Fire erupted across his entire body. A storm of flames surrounded him.

Creed and Cha Hae immediately felt the heat tearing into them, forcing both of them to retreat before their skin began to burn. Vritramon spun his enormous body in the same movement, and his tail struck both of them, sending them flying across the island.

Vritramon then raised one claw, engulfed it in flames, and slammed it into the ground.

Fire spread everywhere.

The rocky surface melted beneath the attack, transforming entire sections of the floating island into pools of magma. Vritramon wasn’t controlling the fire.

He was simply burning everything.

Every breath released flames from his mouth. Simply remaining on the battlefield was becoming dangerous with every passing second. Halloween’s green cloak had already begun burning around the edges just from existing in the same space as Vritramon.

"Brother! React!" Halloween yelled as he attacked again.

Vritramon answered by smashing another summoned pumpkin aside with his tail before slowly walking toward the smaller Digimon.

Then his claw shot forward.

He grabbed Halloween by the neck and lifted him into the air.

The pressure was enormous.

Far too much for a Digimon like Pumpkinmon to withstand for long.

Creed immediately dropped onto all fours and rushed toward Vritramon, sinking his teeth and claws into the arm holding Halloween.

Inside Vritramon’s body, Takuya desperately tried to regain control of his own fucking body.

But it felt like sleep paralysis.

He could see.

He could feel.

He could think.

Yet he couldn’t move a single muscle.

His body acted entirely on its own, driven by an endless rage that didn’t belong to him. Takuya felt the pain in his forearm as Creed bit into it, but he wasn’t going to complain. Quite the opposite. He desperately wished the attack would force his body to drop Halloween.

He was almost killing one of his best friends. If Halloween died by his own hand...

Before Takuya could even finish the thought, Vritramon’s free arm moved on its own. He grabbed Creed by one leg and began smashing him repeatedly against the ground. Each impact shattered more of the floating island beneath them.

Cha Hae immediately sprinted forward to stop him. She still didn’t completely understand what was happening, how a monster could be a hunter friend? but she understood enough. Those two creatures clearly weren’t trying to kill Takuya, and her teammate was obviously not in control of himself.

She had to help them. Vritramon’s head suddenly turned toward her. His mouth opened. Fire gathered inside.

Then he fired.

A gigantic torrent of flames erupted from Vritramon’s mouth, carving a burning river through everything in its path. Cha Hae was forced to abandon her approach and dodge, moving at full speed as the attack melted the island behind her.

Takuya had become a genuine monster.

An S-Rank above all or national rank even.

Under normal circumstances, Cha Hae might have needed an entire team to take something like this down.

And right now, they couldn’t even kill him.

Halloween, still trapped inside Vritramon’s grasp, grabbed his axe and swung it upward from below. The weapon struck Vritramon directly beneath the jaw, forcing his mouth shut. At the same time, Halloween summoned another giant pumpkin above him and let it fall.

"Get back to your senses, brother!" Halloween yelled.

He had heard stories about Digimon losing themselves after evolving, but he had never witnessed it personally. The clearest example was a Greymon evolving into SkullGreymon, turning a good friend into nothing more than a creature of destruction.

But Halloween refused to believe that was what had happened to Takuya.

Because he had seen it. At the corner of Vritramon’s eye, for only the briefest instant before the heat evaporated it, Halloween had seen a tear.

Takuya was still in there. His friend was trapped inside this Digimon, crying for help.

And as his friend, Halloween was going to help him. Taking advantage of that momentary distraction, Cha Hae finally reached Vritramon and struck him with her blade. However, she used the blunt side of the weapon, refusing to seriously injure Takuya.

It looked like a mistake.

Vritramon grabbed her the same way he had grabbed Creed before, lifting her into the air before violently smashing her against the ground.

Once.

Twice.

Before he could strike a third time, Creed slammed into Vritramon’s forearm, forcing him to release her. The BlackWereGarurumon immediately grabbed Cha Hae and pulled her away.

The girl was bleeding.

The surface of this place was incredibly hard, comparable to the ground inside a dungeon, perhaps even harder.

Once they had created some distance, both Creed and Cha Hae understood just how much trouble they were in. Takuya was stronger than either of them individually, and they weren’t trying to kill him.

They were only trying to stop him.

Meanwhile, at the center of the battlefield, Halloween was still yelling.

"React! Please, react!"

Vritramon’s tail came crashing down.

Halloween was slammed into the ground.

Inside the beast, Takuya couldn’t believe what he was doing. He fought with everything he had to stop himself. He didn’t want to hurt Halloween.

But the tail came down again. And again.

Vritramon continued smashing Halloween into the ground without stopping.

At the same time, beams of fire erupted from the armor on his arms toward Creed and Cha Hae, preventing either of them from approaching. They continued advancing whenever they found an opening, but the process was painfully slow compared to the speed at which Vritramon was attacking the smaller Digimon.

Eventually, Vritramon stopped.

He looked down at the result of his attack. Halloween lay in the shattered ground, barely breathing.

Yet the little Digimon still had his axe in one hand.

Slowly, he forced himself back onto his feet.

And smiled.

"This isn’t you, Takuya," Halloween said. "I knew it when I met you, didn’t I? I told you that if Hunters were like you, then I would be okay. Because you could never hurt me."

Halloween looked directly into Vritramon’s eyes. "So this isn’t you."

Vritramon’s tail attacked again. This time, however...

It stopped. Not because Takuya had finally regained control.

Something else had blocked it.

The axe that had previously been in Halloween’s hand was gone.

In its place was a golden cane.

The staff was thin and surprisingly small, with its tip shaped like Pumpkinmon’s own head.

Yet that single, delicate-looking object had stopped Vritramon’s massive tail in one strike.

Halloween raised his head.

"If you’re not going to listen to reason, then I’ll have to beat some sense into your head in the name of our friendship."

Data began gathering around Pumpkinmon.

More and more of it flowed toward his body from the surrounding environment.

Halloween was evolving.