"...Tea?" asked a puzzled Reina.
"Make of that what you will," said Suzune. "What I mean is, if I win, I want a few moments of your time."
"If that's all, then no problem," said Reina, holding out her D-STORAGE with a self-confident grin.

"Because I'm gonna win! Sorry about that!"
"I like a kid who's got some spirit," said Suzune. "Let's enjoy this."
"Heeey! Like I said, you're not gonna enjoy anything, because I'm gonna win!"

　They confirmed the settings for a friendly battle and activated the memory gauge. There was palpable tension in the air... but only for a brief moment.
　A moment later, the voice of Frigimon (who didn't care much for all the drama) rang out from inside Suzune's D-STORAGE: "Oh yeah, Suzune..."

"What's the matter Frigimon?" said Suzune. "You're kind of ruining the moment."
"I've just had a word with our new guest..."
"By guest, you mean the Bulucomon we just secured?"
"Yeah, that's right. It wants to try fighting alongside you." "Oh my... okay."

　A look of slight surprise appeared on Suzune's face. Her mission was to secure and protect the Bulucomon, but from its point of view, it must have seemed more like suddenly being tied up or kidnapped. If it wanted to fight alongside her, that could only mean one thing.

"You mean to say, it's testing me?" asked Suzune.
"Maybe," said Frigimon. "But that's hardly going to get your nerves up, is it?"
"Of course not. That's absolutely fine," declared Suzune.
"Oh good," said a relieved Frigimon. "I thought you'd say that, so I went ahead and added Bulucomon to your deck. Your deck list has changed a bit, hope you're okay with that?"
"At least you told me in advance, I guess..." said Suzune, as she laid out her security stack, all while trying to rapidly recall the details of Bulucomon's card.

"Hold up!" cried Reina. "That's not fair!"
"Have I done something wrong?" questioned Suzune.

　Suzune tilted her head in surprise as Reina waved her arms around as if she'd been wronged.

"Don't play dumb with me! That's the Digimon that we were about to capture, isn't it?!" shouted Reina, pointing a finger at Suzune's breeding area.

There stood a Dragonkin Digimon cloaked in a haze of freezing breath and banging together its icy talons—a CrysPaledramon.

"You're right, it's a digivolution of Bulucomon," Suzune replied. "I'm the one who secured it, though."
"But we haven't decided who it belongs to yet! That's what's unfair!" cried Reina. "I see it's not only my security stack you're trying to attack—it's my emotions as well. You're an ice deck user, and you clearly have a heart of ice too!"
"Nothing of the sort," replied Suzune.

　As far as she was concerned, the wild Digimon didn't belong to either of them, but since Reina didn't know the details of the situation, explaining that would only make things more complicated.
　Besides, her attention needed to be elsewhere. The CrysPaledramon in her breeding area had been throwing impatient glances toward her for a while now, as if it wanted to get into the action as soon as possible.

"Patience..." requested Suzune, in a tone that was gentle yet somehow stern.

　

"It's only the beginning of the battle, the calm before the storm. The perfect moment for you to join the fight will come in time."

　Suzune's firmness seemed to have partly convinced the CrysPaledramon. It turned to face their opponent with more conviction.
　Suzune's analysis was accurate: Reina similarly had no intention of revealing her trump card this early on. They each had four cards in their security stacks. Apart from CrysPaledramon, there were no other Digimon on Suzune's playing field.
　Reina also only had a single Digimon on her side. On her previous turn she'd played the King of Undead Digimon himself.

"...Myotismon."

　Reina had played a level 5 Digimon, pushing the memory gauge way over onto Suzune's side. Was she planning something big for her next turn as well?
　If that was the case, Suzune would need to adapt. At the start of her turn, she turned to address her partner.

"If this is the calm before the storm, then we should send out the first stormclouds," said Suzune. "Frigimon..."

　The next moment, a freezing, skin-piercing gust of wind blew forth. A humanoid shape made of snow formed in the middle of the battle area.

"...No. PolarBearmon."

　As she said this, the humanoid shape, which initially looked like an ordinary snowman, started to attract glowing light particles. A strong flash reflected off the snow, and in place of the snowman stood a Digimon wearing colorful skiwear and shouldering a bazooka.

"Leave it to me!" said PolarBearmon, as a barrage of ice balls fired from its back.

They bombarded Reina's play area, turning the area around Myotismon into a pincushion of sharp icicles.

[On Play / When Digivolving: Trash any 2 digivolution cards from your opponent's Digimon. Then, 1 of your opponent's Digimon with no digivolution cards can't suspend or activate [When Digivolving] effects until the end of their turn.]

"Since your Myotismon doesn't have any digivolution cards, it won't be able to suspend next turn, nor activate any When Digivolving effects."

　Suzune gave her opponent a defiant look, as if to ask "So, what will you do next?" Reina matched her gaze and stared right back, laughing fearlessly: "It's no use, lady! If you think you've won, you're more of a rookie than I thought!"

Then, a brief tune, completely out of place on the battlefield, rang out. It was both lively and creepy, a clown-like melody.
　An instant later, PolarBearmon's body was torn apart by a flurry of countless blades.

"PolarBearmon!" Suzune cried out in surprise, and heard the echoing clonk of heavy footsteps.

They came from the wizard that had just carried out this high-speed crime, as it entered the battlefield carrying four swords.

"Piedmon... and an ACE card at that."

"Since your Digimon had 7000 DP, I unleashed its Trump Sword Effect with all four blades to completely destroy it! What's more, Piedmon also has an effect that lets me bring the Meramon you defeated earlier back into play."

[On Play / When Digivolving: Activate the effect below 4 times. 1 of your opponent's Digimon gets -2000 DP for the turn.]

[All Turns / Once Per Turn: When other Digimon are deleted, you may play 1 level 4 or lower [NSo] trait Digimon card from your trash without paying the cost.]

"And I'm still not done! Your deck's effects basically rely on me having less than 2 digivolution cards, don't they? In that case, I activate Myotismon's effect."

[Your Turn / Once Per Turn: When your Digimon are played or digivolve, if any of them have the [NSo] trait, 2 of your Digimon may DNA digivolve into a Digimon card with the [NSo] trait in the hand. Then, that DNA digivolved Digimon may attack.]

　As Reina said this, Myotismon quietly vanished, leaving behind only its mask and cloak. Then, a cloud of black—no, a deep, abyssal darkness—engulfed Piedmon.

"DNA digivolution, out comes Boltboutamon!"

　Responding to her words, the Malevolent Fist appeared in the battle area.
　The two Digimon had undergone a DNA digivolution to create a new Digimon. It was released from the restrictions of PolarBearmon's effect, and was able to activate its When Digivolving effect.

"DNA digivolution, out comes Boltboutamon!"

　Responding to her words, the Malevolent Fist appeared in the battle area.
　The two Digimon had undergone a DNA digivolution to create a new Digimon. It was released from the restrictions of PolarBearmon's effect, and was able to activate its When Digivolving effect.

[When Digivolving: <De-Digivolve 3> 1 of your opponent's Digimon and, for the turn, all of their Digimon get -6000 DP. Then, if DNA digivolving, you may play 10 play cost's total worth of [NSo] trait Digimon cards from your trash without paying the cost.]

　With this effect's activation, something stepped out of the dark abyss. A dead man walking—the flame sorcerer SkullMeramon.

"Since it was DNA digivolved by Myotismon’s effect, Boltboutamon can attack straight away. Also, it can activate a When Attacking effect inherited from Myotismon! With it, I delete Meramon again and unsuspend Boltboutamon!"

[When Attacking / Once Per Turn: By deleting 1 of your other Digimon, this Digimon unsuspends.]

"And now, since my Meramon was deleted, that activates Boltboutamon's effect, so please trash one of your security cards."

[All Turns / Once Per Turn: When other Digimon are deleted, trash your opponent's top security card.]

　Boltboutamon also aimed an attack at Suzune, so two layers of her security went up in flames.

"Security check... nothing happens." "Take that! I cut right through two of your security cards like they were butter! Well, if you peer into the abyss, that's what you should expect..."

　

　Reina flashed a devilish, toothy grin.

"And we don't have the time to be the abyss that peers back into you, so why don't you just hurry up and give up please!"

　However, as expected, Reina was met by a cool and unruffled reaction from Suzune, and her victorious grin quickly faded.

"Wh-why do you look so unconcerned?!"

　Now it was Suzune's turn. She was up against Boltboutamon and SkullMeramon. But despite the state of the battle area, and the difference in their security stacks, Suzune seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Let me tell you one thing, Reina," said Suzune. "If you find yourself thinking your opponent is making careless moves, that's the time to be extra careful." "What?" "You took advantage of my move, and interrupted it well. And you made a very powerful counterattack. You 'unleashed' Boltboutamon..."
Reina's eyes widened, and Suzune flashed her the tiniest smile, before turning her eyes to her own troops.

"It's time. Lend me your power."

　Upon hearing those words, the Dragonkin CrysPaledramon nodded and leapt out of the breeding area. As it did so, its form was immediately engulfed by a blizzard, before it re-emerged as an Ice-Clad Magic Knight.

"Digivolution: Hexeblaumon."

[When Digivolving: Trash any 4 digivolution cards under your opponent's Digimon.]

　With one thrust of its ice lance, it sent one of Boltboutamon's digivolution cards to the trash. It was Piedmon. And crucially, written on it were the letters "ACE."

"Oh no, an overflow!"

　Right as Reina cried out, the memory gauge turned a fierce red and let out a crackling sound. The memory gauge moved 4 spaces back towards Suzune.

"Right then, I'm going to do a few more things. PolarBearmon!"

　PolarBearmon appeared once again from her hand and swept across the battle area.

"I prevent your SkullMeramon from suspending and activating [When Digivolving] effects."
"Eep! Lady, you don't hold back, do you?"
"Doing so after that aggressive play of yours would only lead to a swift loss for me, wouldn't you agree?"

　Reina's Nightmare Soldier deck relied on a single powerful trump card surrounded by other Digimon without digivolution cards. Suzune's deck was a good match for it, since her disruptive effects depended on the opponent having few digivolution cards. But still, if she chose the wrong time to attack, she'd swiftly be overwhelmed by her opponent's numbers.
　That's why Suzune let Reina cut down PolarBearmon. Let her think that she was controlling the pace of the battle. Then if she digivolved Piedmon ACE into Boltboutamon, she could use her Hexeblaumon to cause an overflow. That had been Suzune's plan.

"You pretended to be surprised, but in actual fact you predicted everything, including that I'd use an ACE card?!"
"Tee hee, was I convincing?" Suzune touched her hand to the corner of her mouth and giggled.

　Surely now Reina understood her strength. Sweat dripped down the girl's temple.

"You're one scary lady... but the match isn't over yet! Devvi!"

　It was Reina's turn. The girl used the small amount of memory available to her to play DemiDevimon.

"Any way you look at it, things aren't looking good for you, Reina," said the Digimon. "You know, people usually say things like 'it's not over yet' when they're right about to lose." "All right, that's enough out of you! Now fetch me a card that can turn this around!"

[On Play: Reveal the top 3 cards of your deck. Add 1 card with the [NSo] trait and 1 card with the [Fallen Angel] trait among them to the hand. Return the rest to the bottom of the deck.]

"This one's no good, and this one too... Aha! There it is! Piedmon ACE!"

　Reina took the third card she drew, Piedmon ACE, added it to her hand, and struck a confident pose.

"Bad luck, Lady! Piedmon ACE can <Blast Digivolve>! Next turn, I'm gonna tear all your Digimon to shreds again!"
"No. I'm afraid it's too late for that."
"Huh?"

　It was time for the next turn. Suzune's battle area was a snowscape of pure white, and something new was appearing in it. A beautiful blue marionette stood on the battlefield, and on top of it was a small white Digimon. At first glance it looked like a YukimiBotamon, but it had an elegant gaze—there was something unmistakably divine about it.

"It's time to freeze everything to its core. PolarBearmon, digivolve into Skadimon."

"When I'm in my ultimate form, I feel so rejuvenated! Can I go ahead and do it, Suzune? "
"Yes yes, go ahead. You say that every time though."

　

[When Digivolving: You may play 1 level 4 or lower [Ice-Snow] trait Digimon card from your hand without paying the cost. For each of your opponent's Digimon with no digivolution cards, add 1 to this effect's level maximum.]

"Reina, as you have two Digimon without any digivolution cards in play, I play a level 4 Frigimon. And if my opponent doesn't have any Digimon with digivolution cards, it gains me 1 memory."
"Leave it to me! I'm great at scrimping and saving," said Frigimon.
"Wha...?! But that means that it's still your turn!" cried Reina.
"That's right. So you know what comes next."

　In response to Suzune's words, Skadimon turned to face her opponent, and attacked.　

[When Digivolving / When Attacking / Once Per Turn: By placing 1 Digimon with no digivolution cards as the bottom security card, this Digimon unsuspends.]

"I send your SkullMeramon to your security stack, and I unsuspend Skadimon." "Ah..."

　Reina let slip a gasp. With her SkullMeramon gone, Blast Digivolving would no longer be possible.
　Skadimon had laid out a clear path to victory; if she could attack with Hexeblaumon, then a second attack by the icy goddess would strike Reina.

"So what do you think of my strategy? Is it to your liking?"

　Hexeblaumon looked back at Suzune and gave her a nod with a hint of satisfaction, to which she smiled radiantly.

"In that case, let’s settle this, Skadimon, Hexeblaumon." "Yes!"

　The goddess and the knight charged across the battlefield like a roaring blizzard.

"Talk all you want of your abyss. Let us show you that the ice at our command is far colder and more beautiful than any darkness."

"There. That's everything I know, Miss!" "Thank you, Reina."

　Suzune had won the battle, but the information she received from Reina was not welcome news.
　One day, she had received a message about a special quest with a very handsome reward attached.
　She had some small doubts, but believed it because it looked like a genuine message from the admin team.
　The quest contents described stray Digimon wandering around Lacuna that needed to be captured, as if it was just some kind of story event.

"I'm sorry, I don't think this will help you much, Miss!"

　In response to the panic in Reina's voice, Suzune allowed her serious expression to soften into a warm smile.

"No Reina, that's not the case. In fact, your honesty has been very helpful."
"If I can help you, Miss, I'll do anything!"
"...Hey, what's with calling me 'Miss' all of a sudden?"
"Oh... Does that offend you?"
"No, but... that's right, I still haven't told you my name, have I? Here, think of this as my business card," said Suzune, as she handed Reina her Tamer Card.

"My name is Suzune Kazuki. A pleasure to meet you."
"Kazuki... Where have I heard that name before?"
"Perhaps you heard it on one of the Digimon Liberator official live broadcasts... They work quite closely with my husband."
"What? Ah! Aaaah!!"

　Did she know that Kazuki was the surname of a key member of the Digimon Liberator admin team? Reina continued to shout.

"No way! You're one of the admins?"
"Me? Not as such. I just help them out here and there."
"But the Digimon you captured today, wasn't that a job requested by the admin—"
"Reina."

　Suzune put a finger to her lips, as if to say "this stays between us." When Reina gave her a timid nod, she returned it with a smile.

"Then that's that. Thank you Reina. I'm sure I'll see you around in Lacuna or elsewhere in Digimon Liberator."

　Reina watched intently as Suzune climbed onto Frigimon's shoulder and the two of them departed, gliding off smoothly into the distance.

"Yes! Mrs Kazuki... Miss Suzune!"

"Using normal players to hunt down stray Digimon... So that's what they're up to."
"That's right. I'd be really grateful if you could keep an eye out as well, Yuuki."

　They were in Jewel, the capital. Suzune was telling her teammate Yuuki the whole story from start to finish. Looks like today it was going to be one overly energetic girl after another for Suzune.

"You've gotta report this to a GM, right?"
"Yes. Is Cool Boy around?"
"Ah, yeah, saw him just now! He's over there, chatting with Unchained."
"Unchained..."

　She looked in the direction that Yuuki was pointing. There stood an immaculate-looking man with white hair—Cool Boy—talking about something with a blonde girl wearing a straitjacket (although it might also have been a boy). That was Unchained. Cool Boy had a very stern look on his face, so it was clear they were having a guarded and serious discussion.

"Shall we call him over?"
"No, leave them be. They look like they're in the middle of something," said Suzune. She paused for a moment. "Yuuki." "Yes?"
"Keep that story I just told you to yourself for now. Don't tell anyone else. Especially Unchained."
"Huh? Sure, but... Oh, I've gotta go, Teacher is calling me!"

　Suzune thanked Yuuki and they said their goodbyes. She watched the smiling girl as she departed, with a hint of consternation on her face. Frigimon spoke to her from her D-STORAGE.

　

"Suzune, that was..."
"Yes, it was a bit..."
"I can't say I approve of you confiding in an innocent girl like Yuuki."
"There was no other option. I hope it's nothing more than baseless worries on my part."

　She thought back to her conversation with Reina and the quest notification, disguised as an official message from a high-level admin. Had the culprit found an exploit in the system? Or was there a far simpler explanation for what had happened?

"You mean that there might be a traitor in our ranks, don't you?"
"...You disapprove of my thinking?"
"Quite the opposite. You're just great, Suzune."

　Frigimon clumsily patted Suzune on the head with its ball-like hand. Her eyes widened in surprise, then she laughed.

"Thank you, Frigimon. What would I do without you?"
"Don't worry, you’ve got me on your side Suzune. Don't try to take on too much by yourself, okay?"
"...I'll be okay, for now at least," Suzune muttered under her breath, as she felt the cool touch of her partner's warm gesture.

To Be Continued.