Operation: Free Ophanimon

The six warriors fight through Cherubimon's Castle to reach Ophanimon, who explains why they were summoned.

Summary
Finally arriving at the Rose Morning Star, the group is contacted again by, who warns them that is expecting them. Before she can talk to them any further, however, streams of fractal code interrupt her signal. Wondering what Cherubimon is using the fractal code for, Tommy suggests asking Koichi, who admits that he doesn't know why Cherubimon is collecting data. Takuya and the others decide to simply proceed to Cherubimon's Castle but not before spirit evolving. They arrive at the gate, but find it locked and are attacked by. warns them that their crystals can capture them and hold them prisoner forever, but too late when they begin to be taken captive one by one, leaving only Koichi behind. Knowing that he must act quickly, Koichi outsmarts the Phantomon and purifies them, releasing his friends. The gate opens and they proceed into the castle. Before long, they come to the Hall of Shadows and many twisted spirits reach out to them until appears. He offers to lead them to Ophanimon, but the group is skeptical until sits on his shoulders and says that he is a good digimon. They find Ophanimon trapped in the Light Barrier, but attempts by and  to free her are useless. Ophanimon tells them not to worry about her and recounts the tale of again.

She explains that after Lucemon was defeated, she, Cherubimon, and protected the world. Unfortunately, Cherubimon saw the Digital World as being a place of chaos and his beliefs differed from Ophanimon and Seraphimon, who upheld love and law. Hoping to find a way to reconcile their beliefs with Cherubimon, the two met in private, but when Cherubimon discovered this, he misinterpreted their secrecy as a plot against him. Becoming evil, he turned the beast-type Digimon (like Gigadramon, Airdramon, Apemon, Vilemon, Machinedramon, GranKuwagamon, and ShogunGekomon alongside the nondescript Digimon) against Ophanimon and Seraphimon. While their armies fought against Cherubimon's army, Cherubimon struck Seraphimon down. Ophanimon begged Cherubimon to spare Seraphimon. Her wish was granted, but she was imprisoned in the Rose Morning Star. Cherubimon then began to take fractal code from all over the Digital World, leaving it broken. Desperate, Ophanimon called out to the human world and found five pure-hearted humans to aid her.

Just as she finishes her story, Cherubimon appears, gloating. He mocks Ophanimon, saying that she was foolish and that he had allowed the children to come to the castle so he could take their spirits and make himself strong. Thanks to Ophanimon and the DigiDestined, his plan is finally coming to fruition.

Quotes
Zoe: "I wonder if all this happened because Cherubimon liked Ophanimon!" JP: "No way!"
 * —Actually, Zoe may have hit the nail on the head.