Chapter 76: Hero (Seeking Recommendations)

The Digimon were no longer capable of fighting; some severely wounded Tamers gazed in despair at the Dark Wukongmon, which now had only one arm remaining. This was the power of a Perfect-level Digimon. Nearly a hundred people had stood before this Dark Wukongmon, yet none could stop it in the slightest.

"Let's hope the second line of defense outside can do something," someone muttered. Yet deep down, few held any real hope. Wuling City's military was not strong. Their equipment could suppress ordinary humans and subdue Adult-level Digimon—but this was a Perfect-level Digimon. The strength Dark Wukongmon had just displayed could easily crush a military formed merely by common men.

"Greymon, Greymon," Zhao Jie’s voice echoed desperately in Greymon's mind.

"Ugh..." Responding to Zhao Jie’s call, Greymon struggled to open its eyes. Its body was battered and immobilized by Dark Wukongmon’s brutal assault.

Zhao Jie, curled up in pain, looked toward the Dark Wukongmon. At that moment, Dark Wukongmon no longer cared about the battered Greymon beside it; its eyes were fixed on the exit of the passage. This was an opportunity—a perfect chance to shatter the black collar.

"Our final strike!"

"Hurricane Tail!"

Whoosh!

Greymon, once nearly unconscious from the beating, summoned all the digital energy in its body. Its dragon tail swept fiercely, aiming for Dark Wukongmon’s neck.

Sensing the movement behind, Dark Wukongmon instinctively turned its head, and Greymon's enormous tail loomed large before it.

Bang!

The tail struck precisely at Dark Wukongmon’s neck.

Crack!

Under the watchful eyes of all who still retained consciousness, the black collar, already on the verge of breaking, shattered into fragments and scattered through the air.

Have we succeeded?

Staring at the broken fragments, faces once filled with despair froze with disbelief, eyes following the shards as they fell from the sky.

Deprived of its black collar, Dark Wukongmon stood dazed and confused.

"Roar!"

Soon, it sensed something was amiss. The mighty power within began to fade; the dark digital energy left its body and quickly flowed into the fragments of the broken collar.

"Roar!"

Realizing the loss, Dark Wukongmon desperately tried to hold onto the energy, its lonely arm grabbing futilely at the dissipating force.

"Roar, roar..."

A hopeless cry escaped its throat. Without that power, it would revert to an ordinary Apemon.

It could not accept this fate!

Clutching the largest fragment, it tried to place it around its neck, but the broken collar could no longer grant it strength.

"Wuuuuu..."

A mournful howl burst from its mouth. Under the gaze of the remaining conscious Tamers, its fur returned to a normal orange hue.

Then, it degenerated further. Within a few breaths, the Dark Wukongmon, which had wreaked havoc upon this small secret realm, regressed into an Apemon.

Pfft!

Once reverted, the dark energy's damage to its body erupted instantaneously, and its entire form dissolved into digital particles, drifting in midair.

Clatter.

The largest fragment of the collar fell beside Greymon.

"We really did it!"

Seeing Dark Wukongmon vanish, those who remained conscious were filled with disbelief. They had all assumed death was certain, yet an eighteen-year-old boy had accomplished what none of them could.

His intuition was correct: the black collar was indeed the source of Dark Wukongmon's power.

And at the last moment, it was he and his Greymon who shattered the collar.

It was no exaggeration—this boy had saved the whole of Wuling City.

"Whoosh!"

With Dark Wukongmon’s death, Greymon could hold on no longer; its massive body dissolved in a flash of digital light, reverting to Agumon.

No one noticed that, as the digital light emerged from Greymon's body, the largest fragment of the collar also disintegrated. It became digital energy, merged into digital runes, and finally returned to Zhao Jie.

Zhao Jie lost consciousness even before Agumon did. The moment he saw the collar shatter, he completely blacked out.

"Ah..."

Gong Yingjie watched the unfolding events with clarity. Tree Spiritmon was too gravely wounded to help; despite Gong Yingjie's efforts, Tree Spiritmon could not muster a single ounce of strength.

He watched as Digimon after Digimon threw themselves fearlessly at Dark Wukongmon, only to be effortlessly dispatched.

In a moment of utter despair, he was astonished to witness Dark Wukongmon’s demise—struck at the neck by Greymon and then dissolving into digital particles.

"Was it really that simple?"

He felt a hint of confusion. The foe he and Tree Spiritmon could not defeat had been taken down by Greymon alone. Was the world somehow off-kilter?

But soon, he shoved these thoughts aside—it was a blessing. Wuling City had no second Perfect-level Digimon. To defeat Dark Wukongmon here was to avert turmoil for the entire city.

The ground was scarred by battle, flames still burning, smoke lingering in the air.

...

When the medical teams arrived, they found Digimon grievously injured and Tamers sprawled helplessly across the ground.

"Save this boy first! Save this boy and his Agumon!"

Calls echoed throughout the secret realm.

With Dark Wukongmon dead, the beast tide was finally contained. The loss of more than ten Tamers was regrettable, yet at least the crisis had not worsened.

Victory had been hard-won. When Luo Shuang, the commander of the operation, learned about Dark Wukongmon’s powers, he could not help but shudder.

He did not fully understand Dark Wukongmon’s abilities, but he was very familiar with Gong Yingjie’s Perfect-level Tree Spiritmon.

He never imagined even Tree Spiritmon would fall before Dark Wukongmon.

Had Dark Wukongmon escaped, their defensive lines might have been breached in an instant.

"He is our hero!"

Luo Shuang surveyed the scarred earth and the gathered survivors, and raised his hand in salute.

"You are all heroes!"

PS: Three chapters today, seeking recommendations. Super Evolution is on the way (wry smile).