Cross Connectia...

　A predecessor to Digimon Liberator, and a game set in a world discovered in an online space, just like Liberator. It wasn't launched to the public, but nonetheless, the world exists, and so do the Digimon who live there. And now, the chief administrator, Cool Boy, is trapped there.

"Where on earth could Cool Boy have gotten off to..."
"Hmm, what's up, Ryu? That pensive look doesn't suit you."
"Because I'm an action-first maverick?"
"If that's what you got from that, sure."

　A member of the debugging team, Ryutaro Williams, and his partner Tyrannomon trudge across the red sand dunes and through the canyons strewn about that corner of this world.

　They were assaulted by a group of Digimon calling themselves "The Guardians" at the spawn point. It had now been a full night since everyone scattered. They had managed to shake their pursuers by fleeing to this ravine, but there were no signs of Cool Boy or any Digimon, for that matter. This place was certainly deserving of the name "Death Valley."

"...Maybe it's a good thing that we're the ones who came this way."
"How so?"
"It'd be kinda depressing showing up and seeing that there's absolutely nothing to see here."

　Ryutaro let out a sigh. They were correct to split up in their search, leaving no stone unturned. But they were taken by surprise, ambushed, and now there was a clear time constraint if they wanted to stop Unchained's plans. With that pressure looming, there was sure to be a mental toll imposed on those searching for clues in the sand where there surely were none to be found.

"Aren't you underestimating your teammates just a bit? I think everyone on the team has the resolve to carry out the mission."
"I'm not disputing that. But Winr is still just a kid. And Suzune might act cool, but she seemed beaten down. And for them, the resolution of this conflict could have a serious impact on their home life."

　Ryutaro turned to Tyrannomon and flashed his teeth in a grin.

"That's where I come in—I'm used to mind-numbing work! When you do strength training, or any kind of labor where you zone out, suddenly the time just passes. Our efforts here might amount to absolutely nothing! It's perfect for me."
"Just make sure your head isn't completely empty..."
"Anyway, they lucked out—sending the right man for the job!"
"...Hmph."

　Tyrannomon lightly smacked the back of the boastful Ryutaro's shin with its tail. The blow sent him reeling; on the cusp of losing his balance he managed to regain his composure.

"What th—! What're you doin', Tyrannomon?!"
"You're more perceptive than you used to be, but you're still too dense."
"What are you getting at?"
"I know you're genuine when you worry about the others. But, be honest with me—you were relieved that there were no Digimon around, weren't you?"

　At this, Ryutaro's smile fell into a flat line as he stewed in silence.

"...Ahh, you might be right. Yeah, you got me."

After a slight pause, he kicked at the pebbles at his feet with a hint of resignation.

"I love Digimon. I know time is a weird way to measure it, but I think if you were to compare total time spent enjoying Digimon between everyone on the debugging team, I'd win."
"Nobody would argue with that."

　Everyone on the debugging team has their own individual reasons for playing Liberator. Some people like the card game. Others are fans of other Digimon media. Many are drawn into the revolutionary metaverse.
　Then there's Ryutaro. He's the type who is incredibly passionate towards all things Digimon.
　He was so knowledgeable that he could go on a rant about every detail of every Digimon that his opponent would play in a card battle, a skill that served him well in his role on the debugging team. He could face a totally new deck for the first time and have intuitions about the best strategy to use for those Digimon, and how to leverage that into a win. His skills were widely recognized amongst the team.

"I love card games where I get to fight alongside Digimon, and I love games where I get to adventure with them. That's why Liberator—and Lacuna—are like a dream come true for me."

　Tyrannomon watched Ryutaro from the corner of its eye as he said his usual line, but instead of smiling, he sighed. He often said that he was fine, even if he didn't get any results. But even so. He loves Lacuna so much, he must be pretty upset with the current state of things—about what Unchained has done.

"...That's why, when Mistymon and the others called us 'invaders' earlier without even hearing us out, I was in total shock."

　...In this world, there are no places where humans live.

　Mistymon's words echoed in his head.

"I can't help but wonder if what we're doing is actually helpful for this world. I mean, I was worried that we'd meet more Digimon who'd call us 'invaders' again. It's just like you said, Tyrannomon."
"...Hmph."

　Hearing this, Tyrannomon swung its tail, smacking into his back harder than before. "Owch!" he said, falling down, only to be caught by Tyrannomon's back.
　Bracing himself against Tyrannomon's back, he put his hand on its shoulder.

"What's the big idea, Tyrannomon?"
"Oh it's nothing. Frigimon and Suzune do it all the time."
"No way! You're nowhere near as big as Frigimon and I'm a LOT bigger and heavier than Suzune. Hey, I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me!"
"Don't get the wrong idea. It's not that I was worried. By the way Ryu, you know how you said there was 'nothing here?' Well, take a look around."

　In response to this, Ryutaro once again glanced around. Death Valley, the walls of red earth, not a living creature in sight, and then—the back of his red dino-companion.

"...!"
"You said that you liked adventuring with Digimon. Is this not enough of an adventure for you?"
"...Hey, come on, that's not what I meant! I'm having a great time!"

　Ryutaro yelled this out. He remembered when he was younger how he dreamt of one day adventuring like this, on the back of a dinosaur.
　Seeing this, Tyrannomon let out a slight sigh.

"Ah, there we go. That expression suits you far better."
"Hey, thanks Tyrannomon."
"You got it. By the way..."
"What's up?"
"I hate to bring the mood down, but we appear to be surrounded."
"What? From where?!"

　No sooner had Ryutaro voiced his consternation than a peal of countless howls echoed through the sky.

"Wait a minute, there's a Monochromon, an Ankylomon, and a Triceramon! That's sick!"
"Well I'm glad you're back to normal. These guys mean business, though."

　Tyrannomon glanced from the Digimon roaring angrily overhead to its excited partner and let out a sigh.

"There's a Vermilimon too. I was expecting this ever since I learned that Mistymon was acting as a leader of the Guardians, but it seems like there aren't many Megas in this world."
"Well, we mostly see Megas in card battles anyway. That said, there are still a lot of them. Tyrannomon—can you do it?"

　The crimson dinosaur turned to Ryutaro as he asked this, descending from Tyrannomon's back, and replied with a simple affirmation.

"I can. I'll take them all at once."
"I don't need to tell you this, but don't delete them."
"That's quite a tall order, but leave it to me."
"Alright then. Unique Emblem activate! Tyrannomon digivolve into MasterTyrannomon. And then—!"

As he said this, Ryutaro's D-Storage lit up. The ground shook. Pillars of flame shot up from all around the ravine. Tyrannomon transformed into its Ultimate form, MasterTyrannomon, and was then bathed in light again.
　It was massive, reaching the height of the very cliffs. The pinnacle form of a prehistoric creature who has mastered ancient powers. The blazing, crimson, mega form of a Dinosaur Digimon.

"Dinomon! I'm counting on you, partner!"
"Right, I've got it."

　Although momentarily taken aback by Dinomon's roar, the Digimon leapt into action, hurling themselves toward the crimson behemoth. Neither the thrusting of Ankylomon's hardened spikes nor Triceramon's twin horns could scratch the granite-like hide of the colossal dragon.

"Keep it up, Dinomon! I figured this would be the case, but this is totally different from a card battle."

　Within Liberator matches, Digimon would use their power and skills in various ways, causing each battle to play out very differently. However, Ryutaro had never seen anything like a single Digimon squaring off against a whole herd of Digimon on such unusual terrain.

"Can I, like, provide any support or something?"

　Looking up at Dinomon's back as the fighting unfolded, he shifted his gaze to the ravine as a whole, attempting to grasp the state of the battle.
　Just at that moment.

"Grooooooooar!"
"Huh?! Watch out!"

　Ryutaro adeptly jumped aside as the roar resounded from above. A steel blade came crashing down directly on the spot where he was just standing. It pounded into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust as it did.

"Ryu! You good?!"
"Yeah, you don't have to worry about me, Dinomon! But him, on the other hand..."

　While he was catching his breath, Ryutaro focused on the figure within the dust cloud. It had a clear, unwavering aura of murderous intent.

"Nice dodge! You humans never cease to surprise me!"
"...Is that a Dinohyumon?!"
"I'm surprised you know who I am! Are you a fan? If so, I am terribly sorry for what I'm about to do—"

　As the humanoid creature, Dinohyumon said this, it drew the giant blade "Akinakes" from its back.

"—because you're about to be deleted!"

"Hey, Ryu! You good?!"
"More or less! I dunno how long I can hold out though!"

　After narrowly dodging the flash of the falling blade, Ryutaro yelled to his partner behind him. Dinomon was being swarmed by Digimon. Wave after wave, it cleaved them down, but the onslaught was unending.
　While Dinomon was not sustaining any injuries, it was under the constraint of not deleting its foes; it didn't look like there was time to support its partner.

"You better not let your guard down! Haaa!"
"Urg....!"

　Dinohyumon's next assault was not with Akinakes, but instead the blades coming out of its body. This time, the slashes were much faster than before. Ryutaro faltered for a second and one of the blades connected, slicing open his shoulder. The open wound gushed red blood, seeming far too real to be in a digital world.

"You got me..."
"Don't be too hard on yourself! You've done pretty well to evade my attacks so far!"
"I don't need your praise!"

　Ryutaro spat back in response to Dinohyumon's carefree jabs. The narrowness of the ravine corridor seemed to prevent him from using his special technique, "Lizard Dance," which was a blessing. If, at any moment, the Digimon were to come at him with an unpredictable sequence of attacks, Ryutaro could be sliced and diced.

"Why are you doing this, Dinohyumon—and the others as well? Are you part of the "Guardians" too?"
"Guardians? Ah, you mean Mistymon's lot? Don't you worry, we're not with them."
"Then why are you doing this?!"
"Cool Boy, was it?"
"Huh?!"

　Ryutaro's eyes widened as Dinohyumon spoke this name.

"Cool Boy. Mistymon's group once trusted him, but now they're making a fuss about being betrayed! But we're not like them. 'Cause we never needed the help of humans in the first place!"
"Wha—"
"The reason we're attacking you right now is because life's tough! That's the way this world works! So we're gonna beat you, and then we're gonna take your stuff. In particular—"

　The humanoid raised its sword, pointing towards Ryutaro's D-Storage.

"You used that thing to digivolve that Tyrannomon! Digivolution is a rare sight in this world. If we had the power to digivolve Digimon, we'd be unstoppable! We could defeat Mistymon, then be chosen by the Great Dalphomon to rule this world!"
"...!"

　Ryutaro desperately tried to memorize the words of his assailant. There was something important in them. But now was not the time to think about that. Now, he had to survive. So, he memorized the words for later.

"I don't know about all that, but you guys don't hate humans, do you? So we should be able to talk! I bet you want to know why I'm able to digivolve Tyrannomon..."
"Talk?"

　Apparently unpersuaded by Ryutaro's words, the Dinohyumon simply cocked its head and swung its sword again. Ryutaro crouched down in an instant, as the blade hurtled into the rock face behind him, carving out a notch.

"Hey, listen to me! We can talk this—"
"We're talking right now!"
"...!"
"I'm glad to meet someone capable of 'talking!' Cool Boy hid in the shadows of Digimon, never 'talking!'"
　
　Ryutaro understood. Fighting—risking one's life—for the Dinohyumon and the others, this was dialogue. Of all Digital Monsters who are portrayed as a warring species, they are particularly prone to act based on their own primal principles.
　The only way to make them understand that what "talking" means to us is different, is to beat them in battle.

"What's wrong, human? Can't 'talk' anymore?!"
"...Man, this turned out great."

　He unintentionally looked to the sky. Ahhhh.

"—It really is a good thing that I was the one to come here!"

　As soon as he said this, Ryutaro raised his fists.

"Oh! So that's how you want it?! Then I'll take you on!"

　Dinohyumon said this gleefully, stowing its Akinakes as it did, then adopting a fighting stance.

"What are you doing, Ryu?!"
"Sorry, Dinomon. But I think this is the only way."
"Don't be ridiculous. Yao told you not to take hits from Digimon, didn't she?!"
"Don't worry. My bro would do the same!"
"Who are you talking about?!"

　After apologizing to the now puzzled Dinomon, Ryutaro sighed heavily, then shouted:

"Hey, Dinohyumon, here I come!"　
"Right! Bring it on!"

　—Raising his fists, he launched himself forward.