Chapter 1742

NO. 356: Beelzebub Beast:?

NO. 356 Beelzebub Beast:?

Really, it never ends.

Who says it isn't? Who let us take on this work here, we've gotten used to it.

You're used to it, but I'm here for the first time.

Several troublemakers bound by Hei'an chains were taken away in the direction opposite where a few Fierce Ghost Beasts were working on-site cleanup and terrain restoration, chatting idly and complaining about the unfairness of fate.

「Seeing Lady Lilithmon's Demon Lord Army intervene earlier, I thought it would be easy, but I didn't expect that after the Royal Knights were killed, there would be no reinforcements, and now we have to risk our lives to fill the gaps. 」

「That's the Royal Knights, you know—those who haven't reached Ultimate aren't even qualified to step forward, and even if you reach Ultimate, there's no guarantee you'll get a chance. 」

「That impressive? How did you find out about that? 」

「Go check the internet in the human world, you can't always stay holed up in the Hei'an region, right? Living precariously, you've got a salary—why not try expanding outward? 」

「What does that have to do with the salary? 」

「Those humans, you can bribe them with money, and they'll take you out to have a look. 」

「Huh? The higher-ups don't care? 」

「There are so many Fierce Ghost Beasts that the higher-ups probably don't care about the few that escape, and besides, the threshold to bribe those humans is high—first you need to figure out how to make contact with humans, whether they're the ones in the Central Control Room or those customers disguised as Digital Monsters. 」

「Hey, old brother, do you have any connections? You've looked up the data, so you must be quite experienced! 」

「There's no connection to be found; you just have to look for it on the spot! 」 the senior Fierce Ghost Beast sighed, though the repair tool in his hand continued to move skillfully.

「Whether it's the people in the Central Control Room or the customers here, none are permanent residents—you never know when they'll rotate out a batch. You can only, once you find the right person, immediately take a gamble; those who helped you last time might not help you next time—in fact, they might even turn around and scam you. 」

「The humans around here are really nasty. 」

「But we're pretty nasty too. 」 the junior asked, bewildered.

「But they're nasty to a far greater degree! 」 the senior emphasized seriously.

「The seniors back then all warned us like this, and later they even disappeared one after another, so when dealing with humans you have to be extra careful. 」

Finally, he shifted his tone: 「But you also need to be able to recognize humans and have a chance to talk about mutual aid with them. 」

「Sounds like a hassle. 」

「But at Old Dai's place, if you die you don't even have troubles left, 」 the senior sighed, gazing into the distance where another rumble came from, 「there's another fight going on—if you get caught in the aftermath, it's more likely bad than good. 」

「What the heck, they're fighting again—didn't the captain say these people become very cautious once they enter disguise mode? 」

「Everyone's in disguise, so they are indeed cautious, it's said—the person who set the rules wanted to cultivate a sense of vigilance, a standoffish caution among everyone, to lower the chance of conflict. 」

Suddenly, a long staff with a hook at its end burst into the conversation, causing the two other Fierce Ghost Beasts who were chatting to instantly straighten up:

「Captain! 」

「Once the work's done, let's change locations—staying here you might get snatched by other squad leaders to do their work. 」

The grinning, terrifying SkullSatamon said softly:

【

SkullSatamon/Skeleton Satan Beast, Ultimate, Undead, Virus type, seeking power and destruction, ultimately taking the form of a Fallen Angel Digimon that had fallen into the Hei'an region—but thus, having been refined into something even more evil.

「The sense of standoff can't eliminate conflict, and brawls and slaughter aren't uncommon, 」 brushing past those words like a halftime commentary, the white dots in the pitch-black eye sockets of the skull also turned toward the buzzing distance—the captain of the fifth squad of the engineering team, SkullSatamon, also expressed a few sentiments of someone who's been through it: 「After all, most of the humans who come here aren't gentle and kind. 」

「Um… Captain, do you know any gentle and kind folks? 」

「What nonsense are you talking about! 」 he hastily tapped the other's head, then immediately bowed toward the junior who basically has no neck and can only tilt; the senior forcibly suppressed his nervousness and quickly said, 「Captain, sorry, this guy just transferred today, his head's not all there. 」

「No problem, actually I also want to get to know them—gentle and kind 'fat sheep' and such; we, who aren't qualified to receive the king's protection, also can't see each other clearly like the other customers, and what we can ultimately rely on is still observation. 」

「Uh… if that's the case, wouldn't that Dark Beast and Black Lion Beast be decent targets? 」

「You little brat, you're getting pushier! 」

Eh~, don't be so strict, Number 2, let's talk while we fly. Although I don't know exactly what you're thinking, the mimicry of a humanoid dark fighter doesn't represent humans; actually, the ones that truly resemble humans more are that beady-eyed scout beast and the Sakuya Beast next to the dark beast.

Eh? Sakuya Beast? Why?

That kind of Digital Monster resembling a human female has a market in the human world; even its appearance is such, with both men and women keen to mimic it. Likewise there are Heavenly Maiden Beasts, Meramon Beasts, Rose Beasts, and the like—seeing them you can assume they're human.

Ah, I see! Thanks for the guidance, Captain!

It's just a matter of a couple of sentences, but you ought to watch out not to chat with customers during work hours; if the guard squad uses it as an excuse to give you trouble, it won't end well.

Ah, definitely not!" The senior again spoke up first, also again pressing the junior who seemed spaced out, "We will definitely not cause trouble for the captain!

Ah, yes.

But you need to take these words to heart, be willing to ask questions, and be able to think—such thoughtful Fierce Ghost Beasts are rare; you two have a future, provided you can survive in this position.

Only by living longer will one have a bit of value to be used.

Such words would never be spoken aloud; but just as its core, blackened at the center, flowed within, a dull boom and a sharp whistle suddenly arrived.

It was a person.

A human male whose true physical form was hard to conceal by data camouflage in a high-speed dash, thus exposing his real body.

He flew past beside himself with a posture that seemed like he was speeding by yet relatively composed, kicking up a gust strong enough to knock the two subordinates beside him off balance.

At the spot where he had been, a colossal beast with skin layered like corn cobs rose from the ground, giving the Strategist Beast a few seconds to meet it with an equally massive form, after which a flash of the Jest Beast suddenly appeared!

But I shouldn't have paid attention to that source……

The reason he regretted it was precisely the black-red blade light that sliced his body in the same high speed, and the shark-tooth pellets that pierced his core.

The cold light came from the distorted, restless youth of the dark beast, whose image was poorly camouflaged in high speed, who slashed out with a finger blade.

Between his fingers, which appeared devoid of sharpness, faintly lay a card.

But compared to those subtle, hallucination-like details, the three-barreled shotgun gripped in the hand of the Sakuya Beast beside the youth was truly abrupt and conspicuous.

For those Skeleton Satan Beasts that had found a safe post to eke out an existence, such a thing should have been utterly foreign, yet it caused a hint of familiarity to well up in his gradually cracking data core.

It was as if I had seen it somewhere before.

It was as if I had heard it somewhere before.

Three-barreled shotgun shells, masked bullets……

Beelzebub Beast… my lord…?

Or rather……

What to say? At that moment, when it had begun to dissolve from the bullet hole and the pitch-black digital egg had already formed, whether thoughts or words welling up to the lips, they all came to an end there.

The life of the Skull Satan Beast ends here; meanwhile, the one standing beside it, not struck directly by the blade light but pierced by the long-eyed, self-willed projectile of the ferocious ghost beast's subordinate, could, before death, continue for him that faint thought and those words.

"No, Beelzebub Beast… my lord…?"

(End of chapter)