Chapter 146: The Protagonist Group
“How about it, little brother? Need your big sister’s help?”
Nanami looked at Qin Fei and smiled brightly, apparently eager to see him frustrated.
Qin Fei continued to ignore Nanami’s suggestion. It was not that he was afraid; he simply felt that keeping Akihiro Kurata here might already be impossible.
With so many Gizmon guarding him, approaching Kurata within a short time was hardly feasible.
Kurata was an extremely cautious man. The moment he sensed anything unfavorable, he would activate a spacetime oscillation bomb, blast open a Digital Gate, and escape.
“Can you stop that bastard Kurata?”
Qin Fei suddenly asked, clearly speaking to Nanami beside him.
“...Impossible.”
Nanami frowned as she looked at the man floating high above them and shook her head.
“If we work together, we’ll be lucky just to escape.”
Clearly, faced with such a vast number of Gizmon, Nanami had already begun considering retreat.
“Then what use are you...?”
“...”
Qin Fei rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. If all he wanted was to escape, it would not take much effort. But what he truly wanted was to leave Akihiro Kurata behind in this world for good.
“Huh?”
Hearing Qin Fei’s muttered complaint, Nanami’s expression fell, and she glared at him angrily.
“This is troublesome. If he gets away, who knows when we’ll ever have another opportunity this good.”
“Wait!”
Qin Fei suddenly remembered the still-invisible Roro, and an idea formed in his mind.
“Nanami, can you draw Akihiro Kurata’s attention away?”
“What, you finally thought of me? Weren’t you just asking what use I was? Looks like you can’t manage this alone after all.”
Nanami gave a mocking laugh, but still produced her purple counterfeit Digivice.
“Tell me how we’re getting away afterward.”
Qin Fei shook his head.
“We’re not escaping. We’re killing Akihiro Kurata.”
Nanami: “?!”
Though astonishment flashed across her face, Nanami did not stop what she was doing. After all, she knew that she could never escape the encirclement of so many Gizmon alone.
“Hyper Bio-Boost Evolution!”
Nanami transformed into Bio Daylilymon and charged toward Akihiro Kurata in a show of bravado.
“Heh. As the modified biobeast I created myself, do you really think I don’t know your limits?”
Looking at the approaching Bio Daylilymon, Akihiro Kurata waved a hand.
A vast swarm of Gizmon surged toward her like black waves.
Nanami had never intended to fight for real. The moment she saw the tide of Gizmon rolling toward her, she abruptly changed direction and fled.
At the same time, she fired beams of dazzling, multicolored light in every direction, deliberately drawing Kurata’s attention.
“You can’t escape.”
Watching Bio Daylilymon’s figure drift like a floating weed amid the waves, Akihiro Kurata wore a twisted smile as he ordered the Gizmon, swarming like bees, to close in around her.
He failed to notice that, as Bio Daylilymon stretched the battlefield farther and farther away, the number of Gizmon guarding him was steadily dwindling.
Qin Fei tightened his grip on his Digivice, watching without blinking as Akihiro Kurata’s figure gradually became exposed in the sky.
“Now, Roro!”
At Qin Fei’s shout, the empty space behind Akihiro Kurata suddenly bent the light around it. A sharp, winged figure seemed to materialize out of nowhere.
“Heh. Did you really think I was foolish enough to forget there was someone else?”
“Boom!”
Before the invisible Tiger Saintmon could reach him, Akihiro Kurata sneered. The Gizmon XT beneath him instantly launched him away, then activated its self-destruct sequence.
Qin Fei’s expression changed as a violent explosion erupted around Roro.
Akihiro Kurata, caught by another Gizmon, swept out his hand. The remaining Gizmon XT flew toward the site of the explosion one after another, each activating its self-destruct sequence.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Explosions spread across the entire sky where Tiger Saintmon hovered.
“Roro!”
Qin Fei shouted, staring fixedly at the place where Tiger Saintmon had disappeared. His heart clenched painfully.
Before long, the smoke cleared. A shell formed from black wings enclosed Roro’s body, shielding her from the force of the explosions.
The shield of black feathers unfolded, once again becoming Tiger Saintmon’s wings.
Seeing that Roro appeared to have suffered no serious injury, Qin Fei finally breathed a sigh of relief. He then turned his grim gaze toward Akihiro Kurata, who stood atop another Gizmon.
As someone qualified to participate in research on the Digital World, Kurata was clearly no fool. Akihiro Kurata was truly formidable.
“To remain unharmed under those circumstances... Impressive.”
Akihiro Kurata was likewise incredulous. He had never expected the Digimon before him to emerge unscathed from the simultaneous explosions of so many Gizmon XT at Ultimate level.
Remembering how close Roro had come to ambushing him, a chill ran through his heart, and he immediately began thinking of escape.
He had always valued his life and acted with extreme caution. That tiger-bodied, human-faced Digimon had made him feel genuine danger.
“He’s too high up. If he were closer to the ground, I could have let Tikwiniemon try.”
Looking at Akihiro Kurata, now little more than a black speck high in the sky, Qin Fei could only sigh inwardly at the missed opportunity.
Only Tiger Saintmon could fly well enough to sneak up behind Kurata.
Tikwiniemon might have possessed enough jumping power to reach him, but the instant she evolved, Kurata might have been frightened into retreating through the Digital Gate.
“So this attempt can only end in failure?”
Watching Kurata climb higher and higher as he pulled a spacetime oscillation bomb from his coat, Qin Fei felt a surge of unwillingness.
“...”
“Gale Claw!”
At that moment, a gigantic blue figure broke through the Gizmon defensive perimeter and shot forward like a violent gust of wind, cleaving through the space where Akihiro Kurata stood.
The Gizmon beneath him immediately split apart.
“Ahhh!”
An arm spraying blood plummeted rapidly through the air along with Kurata’s scream.
A moment later, the spacetime oscillation bomb in the severed hand exploded. It took the blood-soaked limb with it, but Akihiro Kurata remained behind in the Digital World, minus his right hand.
“Is that... Thomas?!”
Looking at the blond youth standing on the shoulder of MirageGaogamon, Qin Fei’s face lit up with delighted surprise.
Thomas had arrived at exactly the right moment.
“Damn it! Damn it! How did you get here?!”
Caught once more by another Gizmon, Akihiro Kurata stared at Thomas and MirageGaogamon in disbelief. The pain twisted his entire face into a hideous grimace.
“Kurata, you piece of trash! This time, there’s nowhere left for you to run!”
Marcus Damon’s voice soon came rushing toward them from a distance.
A sharp whistling tore across the sky.
ShineGreymon and Marcus Damon appeared before the pale-faced Akihiro Kurata.
“Qin Fei, you’re being far too reckless!”
A moment later, the final arrival reached them—a dazzling red Digimon as beautiful as a blooming flower.
It was Yoshino, accompanied by Rosemon, both looking at Qin Fei with concern.
Qin Fei stared at them in a daze. He had never expected the three protagonists to be the ones who would ultimately come to his aid.
“Heh heh heh... Hahahaha!”
But then something strange happened.
Trapped with nowhere to turn by Marcus Damon, Yoshino, Thomas, and Qin Fei, Akihiro Kurata suddenly began laughing like a madman.
Blood poured from his wounds, staining a large portion of his white coat red, but he acted as though he did not notice.
“Kurata?”
“You think all this time I’ve only been watching Goldramon and collecting digital energy?”
Before anyone could react, Akihiro Kurata pressed the switch in his pocket with his remaining hand.
His severely wounded body shuddered as though struck by an electric current—and then vanished without warning.
“What?!”
The four of them stared helplessly at the place where Akihiro Kurata had disappeared.
“Could it be...?”
Qin Fei seemed to realize something. His expression turned extremely grim.