Dawn broke.
Koshiro hovered above the Tokyo Tower, his expression neutral.
It was over.
After a night of effort, the disasters sweeping Japan had been quelled.
People were calling him a god.
The Violet Abyssal Deity. The Redeemer from the Depths. The First Light of Dawn.
Images of him standing atop the formidable TyrantKabuterimon, moving through the cities, were captured and spread everywhere by his new followers.
To all of this, Koshiro felt nothing.
A data stream flashed before him, showing the news reports, the praise, the newly formed worship groups.
All of Japan was chanting his name, elevating him to divine status.
Even his adoptive parents had been found by the media. The pride and excitement on their faces were emotions he'd never seen directed at him before.
"That is enough."
"In this life, I owe humanity nothing."
"Next, I will descend upon the real world as the Dominator of the Taichi Empire, and remove all obstacles."
A faint, cold smile finally touched Koshiro's lips.
In the final moment of receiving the data stream inheritance, Taichi's familiar voice had echoed in his mind.
"After saving the world, come to me. Come as Koshiro."
In that instant, something pure within Koshiro had flared, a brilliant light imprinting itself onto his digitized core.
He understood then.
Koshiro never wanted worship, or fame, or faith.
He only wanted to be recognized for who he was.
Not 'the computer guy'.
Not 'the Violet Deity' or 'the Dawn Savior'.
Just Koshiro. The one and only Koshiro.
"The world is vast, but Taichi is the only one who truly understands me."
"Since you have chosen this path, to rule as a conqueror..."
"Then I will follow you, and watch over all things as the eye behind the scenes." As he murmured these words, his body began to levitate.
A ring of data swirled around him, expanding and shifting form.
It solidified into a massive, All-Seeing Eye, hovering in the sky.
"According to Taichi's plan, saving the world was only the first step."
"Next, I must detect anomalies across the globe, identify any 'pawns' Homeostasis might choose, and eliminate them immediately."
Taichi's planning was meticulous.
While Koshiro, the new hero, was Homeostasis's logical choice, the will of the world was cautious. It didn't trust children over twelve, let alone a now-powerful Koshiro.
Its first move would be to select new, naive, and easily manipulated Chosen Children, positioning them to save the world from the Digital Rampage and defeat the 'Demon King Taichi'.
This played directly into the second phase of Taichi's plan.
Koshiro, having mastered 20% of the Domination Crest, wielded a fraction of Yggdrasil's power.
Under the gaze of the All-Seeing Eye, no Digital World fluctuation could escape his notice.
The new Chosen Children would be powerful, but bound by rules, Homeostasis couldn't make them invincible from the start… just as Taichi's group had nearly been wiped out by a Champion-level Devimon on File Island a decade ago.
The moment Koshiro detected new Chosen Children, he would report to Taichi.
Taichi would respond with overwhelming force, sending dozens of Ultimate-level Digimon.
What could a group of children, their Digimon partners freshly hatched and unsteady, possibly do against that?
By repeating this cycle, constantly disrupting Homeostasis's choices, eliminating its designated pawns, even the most suspicious Homeostasis would eventually have no choice but to turn to its strongest candidate: Koshiro.
"Once the plan is complete, even Homeostasis will... Wait. What is that?"
Koshiro's smirk vanished. The newly formed All-Seeing Eye blared a crisis alarm.
"A response already? Has Homeostasis been discovered?" Koshiro frowned, his expression turning serious as he called up a data screen.
A deep black dot had appeared in a remote part of the Pacific, its energy signature highly unstable.
"This energy... it doesn't feel like Homeostasis. It feels more like..." Koshiro's heart jolted as he realized the likely source.
Apocalymon!
This dark, corrupt energy signature suggested Apocalymon was making its move, poisoning the Digital World before Homeostasis could act.
If that was the case, he had to eliminate this unstable element immediately.
"All-Seeing Eye. Retrieve specific data on the mysterious black dot."
[Beep. Processing... Processing complete.]
A detailed image of the black dot materialized in the air, every detail rendered with perfect clarity.
But when Koshiro saw the figure at its center, his eyes widened in shock.
"How can it be him?!"
…
The Pacific Ocean, Demon Archipelago.
"Hahaha! This is power! Incredible! Dagomon is unstoppable!" Joe, his face twisted and shrouded in dark energy, stood laughing maniacally atop a monstrous, sinister Dagomon.
Three hours ago, his Gomamon had undergone two rapid, Wrong Evolutions.
Now it was Dagomon, a vile subspecies of Devimon.
Unlike the slow, hammer-wielding Zudomon, Dagomon was far superior in speed, destructive power, and reflexes.
Its only potential weakness was raw strength, which is also Zudomon's greatest asset, but what good was brute force on the open sea?
"And compared to Zudomon's Mega form, Vikemon, Dagomon's final evolution has the greatest potential in the entire Digital World!" Joe shouted, waving his arm.
Roar!
Dagomon obeyed, unleashing a wave of 'Cursed Pressure' that effortlessly crushed a great white shark.
Wrong Path Evolution fed on the partner's negative emotions.
Through constant killing and destruction, Joe was steadily feeding the darkness within. His Dagomon was already at the peak of the Ultimate level, needing only to break through one final barrier to evolve into one of the Seven Great Demon Lords, the embodiment of Envy: Leviamon.
And for this final step, Joe had chosen his target.
"Kill Takeru."
A vicious, predatory smile stretched across Joe's face.
That useless brat, the weakest link, ended up with the most powerful Digimon, Angemon. Why?
He would personally tear the feathers from that so-called holy angel. He would crush Takeru right before his brother, Yamato's eyes.