Over the course of his time as a Legendary Warrior, Koji had learned that his team could very easily be split into two primary categories: those who could fly and those who could not. Both groups had their own advantages depending on the circumstances around a specific battle, and Koji had become fairly comfortable with the fact that he could not take flight the same way that half of his teammates could. It meant he had to find ways to make do with his different fighting style, but considering the fact that he tended toward melee combat anyway, he thought it was more than fine. Who cared if he couldn't fly? He was able to do his part during major battles, and that was what mattered most. 

Today though, Koji found himself cursing the fact that the Legendary Warrior of Light had never been blessed with wings. After Resplendent Spirit Evolving alongside the rest of his team, he had been tossed across the ground of Inaie. Izumi and Haroi had been able to take to the skies, but Koji was not so lucky, and he had been forced to summon a platform of light to stand on. Unfortunately, that took a bit more effort and concentration than he was able to spare when he was constantly being shoved around by the erratic movements of the island. Koji could not say for certain why in the world the island was insistent on launching him around all of a sudden, but he knew one thing for sure: something was wrong. Inaie had never acted like this before, and Koji knew that it was only going to get worse the longer this dragged out. 

Koji's entire body felt like it was made of gelatin by the time he managed to step onto the platform of light he had summoned. He was on the verge of collapsing, and Koji had to fight to keep himself upright. He had been walking around the island casually alongside Izumi and Haroi, checking the security of Inaie however they could, when the ground started to shake. Koji had grown used to the natural rumbling of Inaie's earth, but this was very different. When he was up in the air and looking down on the island even from just a small distance, he knew he was right. It was as if Inaie was jostling around thanks to the commands of some higher power. Whoever was in charge of island seemed to want it to eject all of its residents onto the ground below. The impact would kill most of Inaie's Digimon on impact, and those that survived would no doubt find themselves in danger in an all new way. 

When Koji and the others set out to check the security systems of the island, they hadn't ever thought they would have to consider something like this. How could they have known this was something they had to worry about? They hadn't ever been given a reason to believe Inaie was going to start spiraling out of Darcmon's control. Every time the Legendary Warriors had been there, Darcmon had been in charge, and she had kept the island under her thumb without any issues. She made it seem effortless to lead an entire island into battle. Nothing seemed to bother her... 

But there was something very pressing happening that day, and Koji knew that he had to find a way to get to the bottom of it. As soon as he was able to do so, he directed his platform of light in the direction of the other three Legendary Warriors on Inaie. It didn't take him too long to track them down since they were mostly flying. Chihiro was the only one on the ground, and they had summoned rocks to try and keep their feet rooted in the earth. It was uncomfortable, and they were getting jostled around anyway, but it was the best bit of safety they could ask for at the moment. 

Constellamon came to a stop a short distance away from where Junpei and Yumiko were flying, a frown on his face. "What's going on?" he asked. "The island just started shaking when we were searching for any gaps in the security systems. Darcmon is still in control, right?"

"No," Junpei replied, his eyes dark and angry. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but I can tell you that Darcmon is not the one in charge of the island anymore. She and Hippogriffomon are trying to get everyone to safety, but it doesn't seem to be going all that well."

"What are you just flying around here for?" Koji asked. "If the Digimon of Inaie are in danger, then surely we should be doing something else to go after them and make sure they're safe! If someone falls off the edge of the island, then I don't think they're going to survive the fall!"

"We're looking for the dark beast," Yumiko explained, her eyes frantically searching through the streets of Inaie below. "I don't know how, but it managed to escape just after we started to investigate it. We came back up here to talk, and the ground started shaking seconds later. The monster broke out, and we lost sight of it when the island started throwing us around. We have to find it and make sure it doesn't go after any of the Digimon."

Izumi closed her eyes, trying to tap into the air around her to see if there were any distortions nearby. Her face squeezed together in as much effort as she could stand when the world around her was trying to fall apart, but seconds later, she finally managed to find the success she was looking for. "There!" she called out, pointing down a nearby street. She didn't wait to see what the others had to say on the matter before she took off flying, and the others gladly followed after her, choosing to trust her instincts since they had no other option to do so. Chihiro took up the rear, redirecting the stones at their feet to create a platform that would let them streak through the air. 

Just as Izumi had said, the dark beast appeared between a few buildings, and some of the citizens of Inaie were left trying to run from it. Junpei arrived in between the dark beast and the handful of Digimon, and he punched at the air just in front of him. A tearing bolt of electricity shot through the air, piercing the dark beast in the chest. The monster was staggered but not entirely destroyed. It was distracted though, and that made it the perfect target for Constellamon's next attack. Constellamon drew a thin line in the air, and comets began to stream down from it, hammering into the spine of the dark beast. The shooting stars tore the monster apart, and it vanished in a puff of ash seconds later. 

Koji was left breathing heavily even after the monster was gone, the sudden dose of adrenaline in his system making it nearly impossible for him to calm down. Even though the monster was gone, there were still other problems to handle, and the island rapidly moving from side to side was the biggest one. The Digimon that had been previously chased by the dark beast were shaking on the ground, unable to bring themselves to stand and continue fleeing with the earth moving so much beneath their feet. 

"Try to get inside!" Yumiko called after them. "Find the most sturdy building you can and hide there!" She created a small platform of vines, and she used them to help the Digimon to rise again. The Digimon were unsteady when the ground shook once again beneath the vines, but thanks to Yumiko, they were able to find just enough strength to take off running toward a nearby building. Seconds later, the Digimon were out of view, and Yumiko sighed with relief once they were gone. 

"I don't like any of this," Chihiro muttered. "This is a really serious earthquake... How is it even possible? There shouldn't be anyone else who can control Inaie other than Darcmon. She's been in charge of the island for years, and it's not like she could have just lost her grip on it after all this time. There must be a reason for it, but what the hell could it be?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Darcmon's voice cut through the conversation, and the Legendary Warriors turned to find her and Hippogriffomon flying through the air nearby. "I've been trying to reclaim control over the island, but something is wrong with it. There's a rotten power beneath the surface of Inaie, and I can't seem to pull the island out from under its control. I don't know what it could possibly be. Nothing has ever taken control of the island away from the ones who are supposed to be able to direct it before. What could have changed for this to happen now?"

Junpei cupped one hand around his chin in thought, and his eyes fell shut in a moment of contemplation. After a few seconds of silence, he gasped, and he turned to face Darcmon. "Do you remember the dark beasts we ran over with Inaie a while ago?" he asked, and Darcmon nodded slowly. "At the time, we thought it would be the easiest way to get rid of them, but... I'm not so sure that was a good idea now. The dark beasts have a corrupting and poisoning effect on us Legendary Warriors when we touch them. Maybe their bodies infected Inaie when the island ran over them all that time ago."

All the color drained from Darcmon's face in an instant. "Shit!" she hissed. "The island has been under the control of the enemy ever since then... And if I had to guess, I would say that the mastermind has been waiting for the perfect time to clamp the jaws of yet another trap shut. I'm willing to bet they decided to do it when you all went down to check out the monster in the prison beneath the island."

"Then what are we supposed to do now?" Izumi asked, her eyes wide with distress. "We can't just let the island fly out of control like this. It's already dangerous enough to be here, and things are only going to get worse the longer we have to wait."

"I'm going to keep trying to take control of Inaie again, but I don't know if that's going to be enough to fix the problem," Darcmon said. "I think our best option right now is to try and purify the island of the dark beasts' control... But I have no idea how we're supposed to do something like that. I didn't realize it was possible to corrupt the island, much less that we would have to figure out how to get it back after someone poisoned it against us."

"And we're going to have to do it quickly too," Chihiro declared, their gaze turning in the direction of Inaie's edge. "I think I figured out where all of those dark beasts that were sent through to this side of the portal ended up." They pointed at the border of the island, and Koji squinted at the sight of dark beasts starting to claw and scrape their way over the edge of Inaie. The monsters had been lying in wait for the Legendary Warriors to arrive in the area, and as soon as they were there, the beasts decided to strike. Inaie had gone out of control, and that left the perfect distraction for the monsters to try and climb up the sides to attack the city. 

"We should split up to take them out," Junpei suggested, turning to look at Izumi, Chihiro, and Yumiko. "The four of us should try to get rid of as many of the dark beasts as we can. That will leave Koji and Constellamon to try and purify the island. If anyone is going to have a shot at pulling this off, then I think it would be the Warrior of Light and the only Ancient Legendary Warrior we have."

Koji's eyes went wide. "I don't know if I can pull this off. Lucemon's power was really strong when we saw it the first time, and his concentrated control over light magic put mine to shame. You have to remember how badly that battle went. I was Erociamon, for fuck's sake."

"But you're still the only one who might be able to push through the darkness that's corrupting the island right now," Yumiko pointed out. "We believe in you, Koji. The rest of us are going to try and get rid of the monsters so that they can't take over the island any more than they already have. You should work with Darcmon to try and get through to the control center of Inaie again."

"I'll come with you," Hippogriffomon said, and she started to fly toward the edge of the island. "We can't let these ruffians make it into the city. I have no idea how much damage they would cause, but it's not a chance we can afford to take!"

Koji wanted to protest the suggestions of his teammates, but he already knew there was very little point. They were far out of his reach by the time he managed to convince his tongue to catch up with his mind, and all he could do was sigh after them. Koji pressed one hand up to his forehead and forced himself through a deep breath. "Fine," he muttered. He had no idea how he was supposed to go about fixing a problem like this that felt so clearly out of his control, but he was going to have to figure it out sooner or later. "If this is what it's going to take, then let's try it."

"The power corrupting Inaie right now is a deep, dark one," Darcmon explained. "It's going to be incredibly difficult to break through... But the power of Lucemon was ultimately defeated by the light of the Legendary Warriors. That has happened time and again, and I have no doubt that it will happen again this time as well. I just need you to figure out how you can break through it. You can do this, Koji. I know you can."

Constellamon nodded, but before he had the chance to offer any words of encouragement or other suggestions, he cut himself off with a gasp. "Damn it! One of the monsters made it into the city!" he exclaimed. "I'm going to get rid of it! Keep trying to take control over the island again! I know you can do it, Koji!"

The Warrior of Light shouldn't have been surprised that Constellamon had to leave to help take care of the rest of the battle. Constellamon was their greatest asset in combat at the moment, and he was going to be necessary to push back the waves upon waves of dark beasts. That meant Koji was the only one who would be able to think about helping Darcmon to reclaim Inaie. The thought sent electricity and anxiety racing beneath his skin, but he did his best to try and fight it off. He had to keep pushing. If this was what it was going to take to win this battle, then he would do it however he could. 

Koji let his platform of light lower him to the ground, and he created small ropes of magic to keep him rooted to the rock even as the island tried to throw him off. Keeping himself in place was strangely enough one of the hardest parts of the situation at hand, and Koji thought it was bad in a million tiny ways. He pressed his hands against the ground as carefully as he could, and when he did, Koji felt all the tiny tremors tearing through Inaie. The control of the dark beasts and their power sank much deeper than he ever could have imagined. It was as if the center of the island was rotting, and all Koji could do was bear witness to the pain that was going to be forced upon the people who called Inaie home. 

But he couldn't let that be the end of it. He was there to fight in the name of what was right, and he had to at least try and break through the darkness to help the people of Inaie. He closed his eyes carefully, trying to visualize everything that was unfolding beneath his fingertips. The power of Lucemon was trying to reach out and infect him too, and Koji could feel it when he took a moment to try and recover his breath. Everything was too much, but he needed to find a way to push through it somehow. 

Koji could feel that he was nowhere near as strong as he needed to be in order to fully reclaim the island from its dark control though. He wanted to break through the curtain of shadow, but it was much easier said than done. It felt like something was truly fighting him, and Koji knew that it was coming from inside of him as well as through the island below. He simply wasn't strong enough to find a way to take Inaie back. His strength had been massively drained during the battle the day before, and trying to push through that weakness felt like it was going to rip him to shreds. Even just thinking about it was completely exhausting. 

Koji forced himself through a deep breath. He could feel sweat beading up on his forehead from the exertion that came with trying to sift through the shadows. He was no stranger to the power of darkness after seeing its full strength over the course of his time in the Digital World, but this... It was different. It was sickening in a way that very few other things had been. It was no wonder the other members of the team had stated that it was dangerous to even so much as attempt to touch the dark beasts. He felt like he was going to die from it, and he wasn't even handling the monsters directly. 

Still, he had to try and push through the darkness. Koji's light was the only chance Inaie had, and he needed to be the one to chase away the power of Void and Hell that Lucemon had once been in charge of. Both worlds were counting on him to keep fighting, and Koji couldn't let it end there. He had to stay focused. Inaie's residents were all going to die if he wasn't careful. That was assuming these monsters didn't find a way to destroy the rest of the Digital World along with the island. It was a horrifying thought, and yet, it was all that Koji could think about. 

Koji gritted his teeth, and he tried to reach in even deeper. In his mind's eye, he could see tendrils of shadow trying to reach up and grab him. He was threatening their control over Inaie, and there was only one true solution to something like that: to try and strike at him before he had the chance to destroy it. The darkness wrapped itself around Koji's arms, and he snarled but refused to pull away. If he gave up now, then he wouldn't be able to help anyone, and that was what mattered most right now. There were countless people who needed him, and Koji needed to fight for his own sake too. 

There was still so much Koji had left to do. He couldn't let the shadows consume him when he hadn't yet reunited with the rest of his team. He didn't know if they were in danger or if they were still alright after what had happened to make Koichi Spirit Evolve to the Ancient level. Koji couldn't give up as long as he hadn't yet seen that they were safe. He may not have known what to do with his life at the moment when he was lost and struggling after those he could not reach, but he had to keep pushing. He had to keep surviving. He needed to find a way back to his brother. 

And it wasn't just Koichi. There were countless others that Koji knew he had to live for too. He needed to reunite with his father so they could fully reconcile their differences. It had taken them years and countless fights to finally understand each other well enough to even attempt to get along, and Koji couldn't let it end before he was able to see what Kousei was like when his rage was taken out of the picture. Koji needed to see Satomi again too. He had only just started to accept her as an important person in his life, and he couldn't leave her behind when she had done so much to try and break through his hard shell. Koji had also found his mother just a few months prior, and he had to find a way to see Tomoko again. He had to reach out to his mother and see what it was like to truly be part of a family with her after so much had threatened to get in the way of the bond they were trying to create together. 

The darkness grew stronger with each passing second, but Koji refused to let his diminished energy be the end of him. He had to find a way to keep fighting. He had made it that far, and he was going to keep pushing for as long as he possibly could. There were so many people out there who needed him, and he couldn't let them down. He wanted to reunite with every soul he had ever loved. Koji had been so distant from the world for years, refusing to ever give himself the chance to spend time with others or accept that he could ask for their help. Now that he had finally found a place to belong, a chance to breathe easily, he couldn't let it go. If he had to fight in order to make his way out of this and back to the rest of his friends and family, then he would do it. 

Inside of his mind, Koji saw the shadows grow stronger, but he was more than ready to push back against them in return. The darkness of his heart had once threatened to consume him when his life was filled with rage and very little else... But times had changed since then. Koji wanted to love, and it was his love that would keep him bound to the land of the living even when his exhaustion threatened to catch up with him. He was going to fight and live for as long as he was allowed, and he would ensure he had the chance to see the dawn once more. 

The light in Koji's head was no longer a matter of metaphor though, and a gentle white glow had started to spread all around him. He didn't even realize it was there until warmth began to pulse through his body, bringing a comfort to his frazzled system that he hadn't known he needed until that very moment. Koji slowly allowed his eyes to flutter open, and when he did, he realized that his body was changing shapes. He hadn't felt the surge of energy that came with a new Spirit Evolution in a long time... And yet, Koji would recognize it anywhere. With a smile on his face, he let the white light consume him completely, and for a few seconds, he let go of Inaie to give in to the glow that he knew would bring him salvation. 

The base of Koji's body covered itself in white armor that threatened to outshine even the sun if it was cast in the correct lighting. The steel was complex and interweaving, ensuring every piece of Koji's skin was covered. A few highlights here and there gleamed with a light blue color so pale it bordered on silver. Moments later, the blue segments of his armor began to glow from within, like the light from Koji's very soul was ensuring he was never dark for even a moment. 

Golden blades appeared in either one of his hands, and matching accents of yellow protruded from certain segments of his armor. On Koji's feet, he wore boots with silver accents and golden claws. Silver spread across the rest of his body alongside black, offering the typical accents of his Spirit Evolved forms to his new appearance. Koji smiled his way through the entire process until his head began to shift to the point that such a thing was no longer easily possible. The steel across his body had appeared over his head as well, creating a helmet that resembled a wolf's face. The wolf's teeth were constantly bared, and Koji's ears stuck out from the top of his head. His eyes were a bright red color, the only segment of crimson on his entire body, and they threatened violence against anyone and everyone who dared to cross him and bring pain to the rest of the Digital World. 

When the transformation was completed, Koji knew that his name was no longer Koji. Much like with Haroi becoming Constellamon, his title had changed completely. It did not match the name that his predecessor had been given centuries prior. He may have looked like AncientGarurumon, but he knew that he was not. They were two separate entities regardless of how similar they were. 

And now, he was Luminosmon... And he was ready to fight. 

As soon as the light faded, Luminosmon turned his swords around and shoved them into the ground of Inaie. Light began to pulse from the blades into the earth, and Luminosmon could feel it spreading far and wide throughout the island. Inaie seemed to shudder for a moment, and Luminosmon let his eyes sweep shut so he could focus on what was happening inside of the island. When he did so, his mind provided him imagery of the shadows that had appeared inside of the island being chased away, terrified of the light that Luminosmon had created. The Ancient Warrior of Light had been one of the only survivors in the war against Lucemon. Now, Luminosmon would be the one to fully chase away the power of Hell and all the horror that came with it. 

Luminosmon's eyes remained firmly shut as he concentrated on the imagery of the shadows being forced to flee as far away from his blades as possible. Inaie was slowly returning to its regular self, and the movements of the island were growing less erratic with each second that passed by. Luminosmon imagined himself deep beneath the ground of the isle, and he surged toward the final piece of shadow that awaited him at the island's front edge. With a single slash of his blade, he destroyed it, and the rattling of Inaie's shell finally died down and came to a close. 

Darcmon was breathing heavily a few paces away, her eyes wide from the shock of what had happened and the exertion that came with trying to reclaim control over Inaie. "What... What just happened?" she asked. For a long moment, Luminosmon thought she was talking about Inaie's movements suddenly going still, but he remembered a moment later that she had just unlocked a new form of Spirit Evolution in front of her. It only made sense that she was confused; he would have been in her shoes too. 

"I reached the Ancient level," Luminosmon replied. "And I believe Inaie should be under your control once again. I think I was able to purge the corruption from the island, and you should be able to direct it away from here soon." His heart skipped a beat as he spoke the words, and he hoped with everything he had that he was right when he said it. The last thing he wanted was to get Darcmon's spirits up too high only for them to come crashing down again moments later. 

Darcmon nodded, raising one hand into the sky to try and go through the same process she usually did when directing Inaie. This time, the island followed her instructions, and it swerved away from the nearby group of dark beasts trying to climb up the side. The monsters that were not securely on solid ground were ejected off the side of the island, and they fell to the ground weakly once they no longer had anything to cling onto. 

Luminosmon would have smiled in pure, unfiltered relief if his face was not set in a constant expression of neutrality because of the construction of his armor. "Thank everything you were able to get control over the island again," Luminosmon said instead, though even those words did very little to express the depth of the emotion rushing through his mind. "We're going to have to be careful throughout the rest of this fight. If the monsters know they can control the island by destroying themselves on the edge of it, then they could try to rush into the side of Inaie so that the mastermind can direct it in a bad direction again."

"You can help to purify it if that happens, but I hope that we don't have to worry about it again," Darcmon replied. "I'm going to do what I can to direct the island away from the dark beasts while still giving the others the room they need to fight. We can't let these monsters roam freely. I don't even want to imagine what kind of damage they can do if they're given the chance to go wherever they want. Attacking Inaie is bad enough, but at least we have you all here to keep us safe from any attempts to destroy the island."

Luminosmon nodded, and he redirected his attention toward the edge of the island. He was going to have to do something else if he wanted to keep the monsters away... But luckily, he didn't have to do much consciously in order to fend the beasts off. Inaie had internalized quite a bit of Luminosmon's power when he chased away the corruption, and the isle was starting to glow from the inside out. Much like the star growing dark and starry when Constellamon first appeared, Inaie was gleaming like the sun. The light was bright enough to force all of the dark beasts to recoil in pain, and Luminosmon hoped with everything he had that it would be enough to keep the monsters away permanently. 

The few monsters still clinging to the side of the island screeched in pain, burned by the presence of Luminosmon's light. They were forced to release their hold on the island, and they crumbled to the earth below. That left them as easy targets for Chihiro and Yumiko to pick off with their manipulation over rock and greenery respectively. So long as the monsters were close to the ground, they were vulnerable to the elements of Earth and Wood, and Chihiro and Yumiko gladly proved it the instant they were given the chance. The monsters cried out in pain just before they were pulled apart and left as ash on the wind. 

Constellamon looked over at Luminosmon as the Ancient Warrior of Light arrived just beside him. He glanced down at the surface of Inaie, seeing that it was glowing with a very familiar power to the one that he had used when he first managed to reach the Ancient level. "I see you were able to make it," Constellamon smiled. "I was hoping someone else would be able to join me here soon."

"And you don't have to wait any longer," Luminosmon assured him with a shake of his head. "I hope things have been going well with defeating the rest of the monsters." He watched as Junpei and Izumi tore one of the monsters to pieces with the power of their lightning and wind magic, creating a swirling tornado that crackled with electricity. Another three beasts were struck by the blows, and they were left staggered and distracted in just the perfect way for Chihiro and Yumiko to take them out of the rest of the fight. 

"They're trying to get onto the island, but whatever you did seems to have them repulsed by just touching the ground," Constellamon told him. "I don't know how you were able to pull that off, but I'm certainly not complaining. We need all the help we can get right now." He raised one hand high into the air, and comets began to rain down from the heavens. Each comet slammed into one of the dark beasts, and the crowd immediately began to thin. There were a lot of monsters surrounding Inaie even now, but they were at least dwindling in number compared to how they had been just moments prior. 

"It feels great to turn the tides on them," Luminosmon remarked. For ages, the Legendary Warriors had been forced to approach the dark beasts with caution because they didn't know what was going to happen if they got close enough to touch them. All it would take was a single brush against the monsters for the Legendary Warriors to be left feeling poisoned and weakened... But now, things were taking a turn for the better, and Luminosmon couldn't have asked for a happier outcome. Finally, the mastermind was going to know how it felt to have something so fundamental ripped away. 

The monsters seemed to be indecisive about what they were meant to do now, and some of them insisted on continuing to rush at the island. They knew it wasn't going to end well for them, and yet, it was all they could think of trying. The monsters that were bold enough to try and claw at the side of the isle quickly suffered the consequences when Luminosmon's light burned away at the poor excuse for skin they all had stretched across their bodies. The beasts cried out and recoiled, and yet, their orders from the mastermind seemed to continue to dictate that they had to get close to the island. They were not to give up until they were able to take control of Inaie fully. The monsters were empty husks whose only jobs were to attack the Legendary Warriors and then destroy the rest of the Digital World by extension. They were there only to follow orders, and if this was what the mastermind had dictated they had to do from the other side of the barrier between worlds, then they had no other choice. 

Luminosmon was glad that his light spell was doing so much to stop the monsters from making it onto the surface of the island, but that didn't do much to fully assuage his fears. He still knew there was a risk of the monsters trying to take control, and if they were able to get through the barrier of light, then they would all be in horrible trouble. He was going to have to get rid of all of the monsters in one fell swoop, and he had just an idea of how to do it. The power of the Ancient Warriors was repulsive to the monsters in general, but the power of the Warrior of Light was far stronger than they ever could have known to calculate. They were monsters made of shadows carved from the power of hell. They would not be able to handle the full strength of everything Luminosmon knew he could do, and so, he closed his eyes and pressed his hands together in front of his chest. 

The blue light from beneath his armor began to glow brighter and brighter, and Luminosmon commanded it to grow as strong as possible. Soon enough, the blue had consumed him completely, and silver and gold gleamed along with the deep navy shade. "Close your eyes!" Luminosmon called out, and he watched as the rest of the Legendary Warriors retreated behind various surfaces made of their elements. Yumiko created a barrier of vines, and Junpei swooped over by her side to hide behind it. Chihiro forged a dome made of rock, and Izumi hid behind it. Constellamon turned away and carved a sphere of starlit darkness to mask himself from the full weight of all that was to come. 

With that, Luminosmon let the light fully burst free of his body, and the air seemed to whistle and ring from the massive explosion of illumination. All of the dark beasts in the area tried to retreat from the spread of the light, but they were too slow, and none of them stood a chance at escaping. In a matter of seconds, the light had completely consumed them, and the beasts shrieked one final time as they were evaporated into nothingness. Every monster that had tried to launch the attack against Inaie was gone, and they would never stand a chance of attacking the island again. 

Luminosmon only opened his eyes again when he was certain the light was gone. He glanced around the area with a small frown, searching for any signs of beasts that might have found a way to escape the full force of his attack. In the end, he saw nothing, and he knew that he had been as successful as he could have been. The monsters were gone, and they did not stand a chance when they were forced to face his full power. If they tried again, then Luminosmon would be ready for them, and he would show them just why the power of light had always managed to triumph over that of darkness. 

Luminosmon let out a slow breath as he realized that the fight was over at last. There were no other monsters to speak of, and any that may have tried to pursue him and the rest of his team had no doubt learned their lessons. On top of that, he had managed to fend off the corruption trying to consume Inaie from the inside out. Luminosmon crouched down on the island, pressing one hand into the earth. He was going to leave behind a small fragment of his power to make sure the island remained strong in the face of any other attempts at corruption. It wouldn't do if another wave of monsters surrounded Inaie and used that as either a chance to attack or an opportunity to corrupt the island once more. If he could do something to prevent that, then Luminosmon knew it was his duty. 

Even when Luminosmon rose back to his full height, Inaie glowed gently from his power. He let his eyes fall shut, and the light dulled as he reverted back into his human form. Koji was immediately struck by a wave of dizziness that threatened to knock him off his feet, and he fell back into a crouching position to try and stabilize himself as much as possible. He hadn't realized that battle was going to take so much out of him until it was over, and now, he knew he was going to need as long of a break as he would be allowed to take. 

"You did it!"

The other Legendary Warriors were all approaching him, most of them by flying, though Chihiro was being carried between Izumi and Junpei. Once all of them were back on solid ground, Izumi stepped toward Koji with a smile. She was the one who had spoken, and there was overwhelming pride in her eyes when she approached him. "I'm proud of you! All of us are!" Izumi beamed. "You were able to reach the Ancient level!"

"And you were able to get rid of the corruption in Inaie too," Chihiro remarked, driving the weight of their right foot into the ground to see if they could test the integrity of the spell Koji had pushed into the earth. "I don't feel so much as a trace of it anymore. It's all gone, and Inaie should be safe from here on out."

"It took a hell of a lot more energy than I expected, but... I'm glad I was able to get through it," Koji smiled softly. He looked down at the earth once again, finding that it was glowing gently still. Somehow, Koji doubted the light would ever fade regardless of what happened from then on. His power would remain part of Inaie, and those who had seen the battle that day would remember what he had done with no small degree of fondness. It always felt incredible to know he was leaving behind a positive impact on people, but seeing it tangibly through the light building up beneath the surface of Inaie was something else entirely. 

"How were you able to do it at all?" Yumiko asked, tilting her head to the side slightly. "We still don't understand how Ancient Evolution works, but if you can give us a bit of insight into it, then maybe we'll be able to learn more." She didn't say that she was hoping this would be one of the first steps the group had to take to make it back to the rest of their friends on Earth, but Koji knew that was what she was thinking. It would have been nearly impossible for her to not have been thinking about that given the events of the last few days. 

"I'm not entirely sure," Koji confessed. "I could feel the power of the darkness within Inaie trying to consume me when I was pushing it away. I thought it was going to kill me for a moment, but I couldn't let that happen. I knew I had to keep living so that I would be able to see all of you again. I needed to fight so that I would be able to reunite with the rest of the team too. I couldn't let this be the end of it, so... I kept fighting, and in the end, it was enough for me to take control over Inaie again. It got me to the Ancient level too, and I was able to chase off the corruption permanently. I don't think we're going to have any problems with the dark beasts destroying themselves on the bottom of the island to take control from here on out. It wouldn't work even if they decided they wanted to try it."

"I'm glad you can keep that from happening again," Junpei sighed. "I don't even want to imagine how bad it could have gotten if more monsters had managed to rush into the island to try and strengthen the mastermind's control over it... We really shouldn't have tried to run over the monsters when we saw them in that other battle. I guess we learned that lesson the hard way, and we hopefully won't have to worry about it anymore."

"I think this taught us something incredibly valuable," Constellamon said. "The monsters are able to corrupt all sorts of things if they come into contact with them. I think it's impossible for them to take charge of the entire Digital World, but since Inaie is much smaller and a lone landmass, they were able to pull it out of our control. We're going to have to be careful going forward to make sure they don't try to do something like that ever again."

"For now, I think we should try to rest a little bit," Izumi suggested. She didn't wait to see if any of the others would agree with her, instead letting her eyes fall shut as pink light washed over her. When it had faded, she was in her human form once again, and she sighed heavily before rubbing at her eyes. "I'm glad we were able to win that fight, but I'm feeling way more exhausted now than I'm used to... It feels like combat has become so much harder ever since we were hit with those attacks from the military."

"I feel the same way. It seems like every attack is actively draining me," Chihiro sighed. "I've been trying to do what I can to rest and recover when we have the time, but it's impossible to do something like that when it feels like we just can't reach the threshold of energy that we were able to maintain before."

"If you can believe it... I feel like I've gotten back a lot of my strength," Koji confessed. "I'm exhausted after that fight, but I don't feel drained the way I did after I got hit by that attack from the army. It's kind of hard to describe, but I feel like that fundamental piece of me that was missing before is back. I'm not sure if it's going to be enough for me to push my way into the portal again, but I think it's a step in the right direction."

"Then Ancient Evolution helps to replenish our energy after what happened to us on Earth," Yumiko concluded. "If our Resplendent Evolutions were drained, then that means we're just going to have to make it to the next level to fully reclaim our strength... I wish there was a more reliable way for us to do that, but I suppose all we can really say right now is that it'll happen when the moment is right. That was how it was with Resplendent Evolution, and I don't think it's going to change this time either."

"Things are very different now from how we were used to them being back when it was just a matter of finding the Spirits and using those to make it to the next level," Junpei commented. "The only ones that can help us with getting to the next level are ourselves, and I really wish I knew how to feel about all of that."

Constellamon nodded, and when he bowed his head, he reverted back to his human form. As soon as he was Haroi again, he rubbed at his eyes. "We'll have to think about if there's any common pattern between me and Koji making it to the Ancient level when we get the chance," he suggested. "For now, I think we should come up with a plan for what to do next."

"You're more than welcome to stay here."

Darcmon and Hippogriffomon approached the group alongside the Digimon guides and the members of the investigation team. All of them looked rattled by what had happened that day, but they were still in one piece, and that was the best Koji could ask for. "I have Inaie back under my control, so we shouldn't have any other problems with monsters taking it over," Darcmon went on. "I never realized we would be put in that much danger with everything going on... But I suppose I should have seen it coming."

"I think that's our cue to head somewhere else," Chihiro announced. "I don't like it, but if we stay here on Inaie, then we could risk something else bad happening here again. I really don't want to put any of the Digimon here in danger after everything we've already done."

"If our recent theories are correct, then the army is responsible for everything we've been dealing with recently. If that's the case, then they're going to want to send the dark beasts after us again. That's going to put everyone on Inaie in danger, and we really can't afford to take that chance," Junpei agreed. "I think it would be safer for us to go to the fortress we were given by Alastomon and Biastamon. We haven't been there in ages because we've needed Inaie's mobility, but..."

"That will be a much easier spot to defend than here, and we'll be able to make sure no one else ends up caught in the crossfire of combat too," Izumi finished for him, and Junpei nodded. Izumi turned to face Darcmon and Hippogriffomon, pressing her hands together and sinking into a bow. "I'm sorry for all the trouble we've caused you. The last thing we wanted was to hurt you, and... If there's anything we can do to make this up to you, then all you have to do is say so."

"You don't need to apologize. You never could have known this was going to happen," Hippogriffomon assured her with a shake of her head. "Besides, Inaie is only safe now because of you, and we owe you quite a bit for that. I wish you did not have to leave us, but so long as you do... We are wishing you nothing but the best of luck."

"Thank you," Yumiko smiled. "We should be going now, but... Could you tell Bearmon and Kotemon that I say hello? I wish I could have had the time to speak with them while I was here on the island, but since we have to leave..."

"You don't want to go without saying hello," Darcmon nodded. "I understand. I'll pass along the message that you want them to stay safe. I'm sure they would be happy to hear that you're in their corner."

Yumiko's face lit up at her words. "Thank you, Darcmon... I look forward to the day when we're able to return here without any other issues. I hope everyone is safe when this war is over, but until then... Good luck."

"As to you," Darcmon returned. "How are you going to get to the fortress? Do you want us to drop you off, or do you have something else in mind?"

"I can take care of it," Chihiro told her. "I think that would be safer anyway. That way, you don't have to worry about anyone coming after you while you drop us off. I'll have us travel through the ground back to the fortress, and we'll hunker down once we get there to see what we should be doing next."

"Then let's get going!" Masae exclaimed, stepping forward with her hands clenched as fists. "We have a lot to do when we make it there, and--"

"I think it would be better if you stayed here," Izumi cut in. "I know that you want to come with us and do your part to stop this war, but... The last thing I want is for you or the rest of the investigation team to be put in danger because you came with us. It would be risky, and--"

"Oh, come on," Katsuharu scoffed with a shake of his head. "You can't expect us to just sit around here and let you handle everything. Besides, you might need our help. If a fight breaks out, then we'll be sure to hide, but we won't cause any problems for you. Good luck getting rid of us. That's just not going to work."

The Legendary Warriors looked at one another quietly, wondering if they should be pushing the point any harder than they already had. In the end, Chihiro threw their hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Fine. If you want to come with us, then you can. You just have to be careful with everything that happens from here on out," they relented. "Come on. We're going to travel through the earth back to the fortress, and we can come up with another plan when we get there."

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to get in contact with us," Hippogriffomon reminded them. "We'll be here to help you if you decide that you need it. All you have to do is say the word."

"Thank you again for everything," Koji nodded. With that, he turned to face the rest of his team. "Now... Let's go see what we can do about ending this war."

~~~~~

Mayumi sighed once she was back on solid ground, rubbing at her eyes with the heels of her hands. She hadn't even been the most active participant during the battle that morning, but she was still exhausted now that it was over. Koichi had helped her and the rest of the team to travel through the ground toward her home after the battle, and now, they were standing just outside the Reiku-Tsurumaki residence. All Mayumi had to do was walk up to the door and knock. 

She knew she was going to hate it though. It felt like she was returning home a failure. Haroi wasn't there, stranded in another world where she couldn't reach him, and she was going to have to tell her parents that there was nothing she could do to help him. The mere thought made her eyes burn with shame and tears, but there was no turning back now. Mayumi needed to rest, and so did the rest of their team. That meant their only option was to go inside. 

The door opened to reveal Katsumi on the other side, and her hands flew to her mouth in a sharp gasp. "Mayumi!" she cried out, rushing forward to engulf her stepdaughter in a tight hug. Mayumi returned the embrace, stunned at first but relaxing into it after a few seconds had come and gone. Her guilt over not having Haroi by her side was already suffocating her, and she knew it was only going to get worse the longer she stood there. Even so, Mayumi wanted to be comforted by someone close to her. She wanted to be told everything was going to be alright even if she feared it would not be. 

"Yeah... I'm back," Mayumi murmured, only realizing how heavy her tear-laced voice was after she had spoken. She pulled away from the embrace slowly, biting down on her bottom lip. She didn't know if it would be better tell Katsumi first that her son was not there or for her to realize it on her own. Either way, Mayumi would have to make up her mind fast, and her mind simply didn't seem capable of moving quickly enough to give her the information she needed. 

Katsumi's face fell when she looked around at the rest of the group, realizing Haroi was nowhere to be seen among them. "Where's Haroi?" she asked, all of the color draining from her features in an instant. "Mayumi, what happened?"

Mayumi sniffled in an attempt to stifle her tears, but she failed at it miserably. Immediately, her hands flew up to her eyes to rub at them, but even that only did so much for her. "He... He's not here," she choked out around the knot in the back of her throat. "Can we come inside? I think it would be better if we explained it... Out of the open."

Katsumi raced through every stage of grief in a matter of seconds before she remembered to push the door open enough for the Legendary Warriors to walk in alongside her. "Yes... Of course." She held the door open so the teenagers could file inside, and once the last of them was in the boundaries of the home, she pulled the door shut and locked it. Katsumi stared at the door for a long moment before turning to face the group of Mayumi's friends. "Tell me... What happened?"

Mayumi blinked away her tears and practically collapsed onto the couch. She claimed her regular spot, and she was heartbroken to remember that Haroi was not there to sit in his traditional place just beside her. Instead, it was claimed by Koichi, and that only made her dread pile up more and more in the pit of her stomach. "It's a long story..."

~~~~~

The process of explaining all that had happened to Daizen and Katsumi took far longer than Mayumi ever would have liked. While she was hard at work explaining everything to her parents, the rest of the group's members were getting in contact with their own families, realizing a bit too late that they had never done such a thing. Mayumi was glad she didn't have to send any text messages, she supposed, but she still felt horrible having to sit there and talk to Daizen and Katsumi about how the portal had been pulled shut around them with Haroi on the other side. 

"So... That's what's been happening," Mayumi murmured. "We didn't mean for it to go this badly, but... The mastermind was planning on trapping us on the two sides of the barrier, and... I don't know what we're supposed to do about it now. We're going to try and make our way back to the other side so we can do something to help the others, but... It's not going to be easy. I promise we're going to do everything we can to try though. This isn't where it's going to end."

Katsumi opened her mouth to respond, but before she had the chance, Koichi let out a sudden gasp. He had been staring down at his phone as he keyed out a text to Tomoko, but he went still when he felt something within him begin to shift. "I... I think something happened with Koji," he declared, barely seeming to realize that he was potentially interrupting the conversation between Mayumi and her parents. "It feels like he just got stronger."

Mayumi closed her eyes, and when she concentrated in a similar fashion, she found that Koichi was right. Her instincts around the other Legendary Warriors--the ones stuck in the Digital World--were distant at best, but she could still feel a little something had grown stronger when she wasn't paying attention. It was very similar to the feeling that had rushed through her when she realized Haroi and Koichi had both made it to the Ancient level too. Something had changed within Koji, and they all knew what it had to mean. 

"I guess we can take that to mean he made it to the Ancient level," Saki announced. "I can't think of anything else it could be. If he was able to make it to the next level, then that means we should be getting stronger... And hopefully, that will give us the power we need to pry the barrier open by force with a little bit more time. It'll take more than just three of us at the Ancient level to pull it off, but..."

"We're getting closer," Takuya agreed with a nod. He sank into his spot on the ground, leaning his head back against the armrest of the couch behind him with a smile. "I guess things are starting to look up even if it doesn't look like it right now. If the others were able to help Koji to make it to the Ancient level, then that means we're in a better position than we ever were before."

"That's... That's a good thing, isn't it?" Daizen asked warily. Even though he had known about the matters of the Digimon for a few months now, he still had to press Mayumi and Haroi from time to time to learn more. "What you're talking about... It's good, right?"

"It is," Mayumi confirmed, and she felt herself begin to breathe again. Existing without the other half of her team by her side was suffocating, but she thought she was getting closer to seeing them again. If Koji had managed to make it to the Ancient level, then that meant they were one step closer to having the power they needed to take out the mastermind and turn the tides of this war once and for all. "It's really good."

Even as Mayumi said it though, she knew it was going to take a bit more time before they were able to truly consider this battle won. She was willing to be patient for however long she needed to, but she still hoped it ended as soon as possible. She wanted to see the rest of her friends again. She wanted to find a way to stop this before it could get any worse and hurt her and the world she called home more than it already had. 

They were getting closer, but it wasn't close enough... And it wouldn't be close enough until the mastermind was well and truly gone. 

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Another Ancient Evolution in the bag! Yahoo!

I had a lot of fun working on this chapter. I feel like I say that about every chapter of this story, but I think that's a good thing. It marks a lot of health in terms of the story and its progression if I'm enjoying myself as much as I am. I'm excited for how things are turning out, and I'm sure it's only going to get better as we get deeper into the rest of the story. 

So... Koji has reached the Ancient level. He's number three, and he won't be the last either. I always have a lot of fun writing these Ancient Evolutions because of the ways I can play with everyone's element. Since the first Ancient Evolution comes with a special effect relating to their element (like Haroi turning the sky to stars or Koichi making the world grow dark), I have to think a little bit creatively, and I like it. Koji's event was to purge Inaie of corruption by making it eternally glow. I love it. And as per usual, we've got a new title for the new Legendary Warrior: Luminosmon. I really love these renames, and I think they really help to make the Legendary Warriors of the current generation feel distinct from those that came before them. 

Next time, we'll go back to the Earth crew and see what they're up to now. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!

-Digital