Chapter Thirty-Three: Erroneous Evolution

“Evolution, if only we could just evolve!”
Staring at Loretta-mon, powerless before the Demon-mon, at the way the Demon-mon’s gaze locked hungrily on his location, and at his own solitary figure with no companions beside him, Qin Fei understood that their only hope for survival lay in evolution.

He did not want his journey to end here, nor did he wish to abandon Loretta-mon and flee alone. He yearned to see the breathtaking vistas of the Digital World, to adventure alongside the protagonists, to truly savor this hard-won new life.

“Loretta-mon, didn’t you say you’d protect me? Evolve! Only evolution will allow us both to survive.”

Watching Loretta-mon fighting with all her might against the Demon-mon, Qin Fei clenched his fists tightly.

He was not one of the Chosen Children, nor did he have a Digimon partner that could evolve at the first sign of trouble. All he had was Loretta-mon.

This Digimon he himself had created.

He had no idea how to trigger her next stage of evolution. The blue card required for evolution in the third series of Digimon was nowhere to be seen.

Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sacred projectiles continually struck the Demon-mon’s massive, inescapable body, but the tiny bullet holes inflicted only minimal damage. The fierce battle was gradually wearing Loretta-mon down, and her once-vital form began to betray signs of exhaustion.

At that moment, Qin Fei suddenly considered fleeing—just as Loretta-mon had suggested. She was only holding the Demon-mon off. If she could last just a little longer, he might escape this disaster.

This Demon-mon, strengthened by the Black Gear, was immensely powerful. With only his own frail strength and Loretta-mon, still in her rookie stage, victory was impossible.

The thought of “living to fight another day” tempted him relentlessly—if he sacrificed only Loretta-mon, he could still return to the real world with Tai and the others: a world without danger, without hunger, without worry.

He had been reborn; he did not belong to this world. He possessed countless resources unknown to this world. He could write scripts, pen novels, sing, pretend to be a prodigy among children… Anything, as long as he need not face the terrifying demon before him.

Smack!
Suddenly, a sharp slap echoed crisply through the dangerous expanse of Infinity Mountain.

Slowly lowering his hand, Qin Fei’s cheek was now red and swollen, but his gaze was clearer than ever. Loretta-mon was his creation, his partner, the anchor he had clung to in his confusion after crossing into this world.

“I finally made it to the world of Digimon; there’s no way I would abandon this bond, not even in death.”

Spitting a mouthful of blood-tinged saliva, Qin Fei shouted, his voice ringing out behind Loretta-mon, “I’m right here, Loretta-mon! I’ll always be with you. No matter what danger comes, I’ll never leave you first.”

This loud pledge was less to inspire Loretta-mon than to steel his own resolve.

“Qin Fei, you...!”
Seeing her tamer’s swollen cheek, Loretta-mon’s heart clenched.

“Then let’s die together.”

The Demon-mon, noticing Loretta-mon’s momentary distraction, seized the opportunity. With a swift Death Claw, he pinned her against the rocky wall before him.

“Hahaha, don’t worry. I’ll soon round up the rest of the Chosen Children to keep you company on the road to death.”
The Demon-mon tilted his head to look at Qin Fei, his expression now cruel and elated.

“Ah!”
A scream of pain burst forth. Clearly, Loretta-mon, caught in the Demon-mon’s tightening grip, was in agony.

“Loretta-mon! Let her go!”
“Hahaha!”
Hearing Qin Fei’s desperate roar as he charged forward, mingled with Loretta-mon’s cries of pain, the Demon-mon found the scene more delicious than any feast.

Thud!
With a grimace, the Demon-mon stepped forward and pinned the boy beneath his massive foot, though he did not press down with force.

“Relax, I won’t kill you so easily. That would be far too dull,” the Demon-mon growled, lowering his head to leer at the boy beneath him. “I’ll make you watch as I torment this little Digimon, every last moment—none of it will escape your eyes.”

“So before that, you’d better stay alive, live in pain—hee hee hee! Hahaha...”

Qin Fei bit his lower lip until it turned dark with bruising, gazing at Loretta-mon with sorrow and regret.

Why had he tried to ambush the Demon-mon? Why had he changed the story? If only he had followed the script as planned, Loretta-mon would not have been harmed.

“Evolve! Loretta-mon, evolve! As long as you evolve, everything will be fine! We’ll both survive, I know we can survive!”

His voice, filled with despair, resonated with Loretta-mon’s own sorrowful heart.

“Why can’t I evolve, even now? Why, seeing Qin Fei like this, can I not evolve? I hate it—I failed to protect Qin Fei. I hate it—I am so weak!”

Slowly, Loretta-mon’s hate began to eclipse her vision. Her crimson eyes gradually opened, the bandages that had long covered them snapping and unraveling into slender strips, fluttering in an invisible wind.

“What is this? Ah!”
The Demon-mon screamed in agony, suddenly releasing both his hands and feet. A scorching, searing heat erupted from Loretta-mon and Qin Fei, breaking the Demon-mon’s grip and causing an indescribable pain in the palm and sole of his foot.

“Damn you, what are you doing!”
The Demon-mon bellowed, swinging his claw viciously toward the boy at his feet. For the first time, the Demon-mon, who had once seized Loretta-mon with impunity, felt a primal tremor of fear within her—the urge to take the boy hostage overwhelmed all else.

But before his claws could touch Qin Fei, a strange red light flashed from his Digivice, forcing the Demon-mon’s massive form to recoil.

“Ahhhh!”
Countless streams of data converged from all directions, all pouring into Loretta-mon’s body.

The enormous volume of data left the Demon-mon dumbfounded.

“How...how is this possible? She’s absorbing my dark power!”

Watching the wisps of darkness seep from his massive frame, and feeling his form begin to shrink, the Demon-mon involuntarily retreated, as if something purer and darker than himself had just been born.

Beep! Beep! Beep...
“What is happening?”
Shaking his head to clear the fog in his mind, Qin Fei looked at his Digivice, which now flashed red warning symbols. He was bewildered—he had never encountered anything like this, neither in the anime nor in reality.

Raising his head slowly, he saw Loretta-mon encased in a cocoon of data, its shape resembling that of a chrysalis.

“Is this...evolution?”
Qin Fei’s heartbeat thundered in his chest, as if something within him was about to break free.

At the same instant he saw the cocoon, the Demon-mon was seized by an absurd urge to flee.

Crack!
All around, the atmosphere stilled; even the wind seemed to fall silent. The cocoon finally split open.

Hee hee hee hee~
A clear, beguiling woman’s laughter rang out as eight legs, sleek as black jewels, stretched from the fissures.

A bizarre female Digimon, unlike any seen before, emerged.

Her upper body was a vision of beauty, the curves even more dramatic than Qin Fei’s own designs. Silvery-white hair cascaded like the finest silk, radiating a noble luster. Her exquisitely lovely face bore features both beautiful and cruel. On her smooth forehead, three pairs of oval “gems” were inlaid; had it not been for the insect-like pupils that dilated and contracted within, one would have taken them for perfect ornaments.

From the waist down, she possessed the magnificent yet fearsome body of a spider, as if sculpted from black gemstones.

Before him, this half-woman, half-spider Digimon exuded a wild and bewitching beauty.

“Dark Spider Witch-mon!”

A voice suddenly rang out in Qin Fei’s mind.

At the same time, his eyes met those of the unfamiliar female Digimon before him.