The Michina Temple was destroyed. Yes—this grand temple built along the mountainside had already been reduced to utter ruin, a complete mess inside and out.
Although Marcus had taken advantage of Arceus's trust, setting up an ambush in advance and arranging for a large number of Pokémon to attack Arceus, Arceus still managed to counterattack in the end through sheer physical might. Marcus himself ended up crushed beneath the falling rubble—or rather, one could say he died beneath the weight of his own greed.
"Was this really the right choice?"
In a corner of the ruins, Lucas watched as the heavily injured Arceus vanished back into the Hall of Origin. Turning to the white llama-like being beside him, he asked quietly.
Although he had not approached Arceus directly, Lucas could clearly sense the extremely dense aura of resentment still lingering around Arceus.
And yet, Arceus had clearly possessed the opportunity to change everything.
As long as it had intervened, Arceus would not have been blinded by hatred, nor would it have spent a thousand years immersed in resentment.
But it hadn't.
"This is fate. If I had not experienced this, perhaps there would not be the me that exists today,"
Arceus lifted its head to gaze at the dim night sky, its aged telepathic voice sounding calm and distant.
Unlike its former stubbornness and gloom, at this moment Arceus truly carried the bearing of a Creator God.
Serene, wise, transcendent, and sacred—it was awe-inspiring.
"But…"
Lucas raised an eyebrow and glanced at the unconscious Damos lying nearby.
You've already altered history, and you're still saying this so grandly—does that really make sense?
Lucas complained inwardly. Yes, Arceus had ultimately saved Damos; otherwise, Damos would have died in Arceus's final struggle.
"Damos is insignificant, Lucas. The mysteries of time are far more dangerous than you imagine."
"If this point were altered, then Arceus harboring resentment, and you gathering the legends to stop me, might never have happened."
"Can you understand that?"
After a moment of silence, Arceus's clear and gentle eyes turned toward Lucas.
"I think I can understand, more or less."
Lucas frowned slightly. Indeed—if Arceus had altered Arceus's trajectory, just how enormous would the changes a thousand years later be?
To put it simply, Arceus would inevitably reconcile with Damos, and the Jewel of Life would naturally be reclaimed by Arceus.
In that case, how could Lucas possibly have obtained those five Plates a thousand years later?
Go to the Hall of Origin and ask the complete Creator Llama for them?
Yeah, dream on.
And without the Plates, not only would Eternatus lack sufficient energy in the early stages, how would the malice of Dark Lugia be suppressed?
Taking it even further, under the butterfly effect, Michina a thousand years later would surely be vastly different. When Lucas had Eternatus fight Dialga back then, would an Arceus that wasn't recuperating from injuries really have stood by and watched?
Even if Arceus didn't intervene, Lucas's goal at the time was to rewind time. Without the Arceus incident as a reason, Dialga would never have agreed.
There were probably many other changes Lucas couldn't even foresee.
That was time.
"And this experience itself was also a rare journey for me," Arceus sighed softly. Perhaps because matters involving time were so significant.
But in truth, Arceus had gained much insight from this incident as well. That was why it had allowed its past self to inherit a thousand years of resentment.
If not for Lucas's appearance, Arceus would never have considered the possibility that it had misunderstood Damos.
And once it realized that, Arceus could not even imagine what it might have done had it remained trapped in that obsessive misunderstanding.
This was a world it had created with its own hands.
Only memories carved into the bone were enough to make Arceus truly remember this lesson.
"I believe that with Arceus around, this world will only grow better and better."
Lucas smiled, his gaze flickering slightly as he looked into the eyes of the white llama beside him.
He couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of the world—here stood the creator of an entire world, calmly conversing with him side by side.
What kind of feeling was that?
Lucas couldn't put it into words.
"No. A single individual cannot make a world flourish. I understand this much more deeply now."
Arceus's aged voice was gentle, like that of a kindly elder.
"The world belongs to all life within it. It is one great family, and you have already grown on your own."
"I am proud of you."
Arceus's clear, warm green eyes reflected Lucas's figure.
Perhaps darkness still existed—darkness that could not be ignored—but Arceus believed it would slowly fade away.
Because the life on this planet had truly grown.
Its three 'children' from back then had already found the courage to face it directly, hadn't they?
Although Arceus had once been furious, believing they had betrayed it, after learning the truth, all it felt was relief—almost like watching one's own children finally grow up.
Arceus was kind; that was beyond question. Its malice only manifested when it was deceived and betrayed. When sincere trust was repaid with betrayal, how many could truly smile it off, aside from saints?
At the very least, Arceus could not.
But if there were reasons behind it, Arceus was also willing to admit its own mistakes. It had never been so arrogant as to refuse to acknowledge right and wrong.
"I'm not some selfless saint. To be honest, the reason I intervened was mainly because—"
"Even if you had your own motives, that is only natural."
Arceus interrupted Lucas. His heart was not perfectly pure, and for beings of their level, noticing that was not difficult.
But Arceus felt this was entirely normal.
This human was not a good person—but neither was he an evil one. That was enough.
Lucas paused, then chuckled softly.
A ravaged Michina.
The time vortex slowly rotated as Reshiram and Arceus gradually emerged from it.
"They're back!"
Watching closely the entire time, Green's eyes lit up as she immediately called out to Cynthia and the others.
"It seems…"
Caitlin blinked her beautiful eyes, an odd feeling rising in her heart as she looked at Arceus.
"Arceus's aura has changed. Did something happen?" Cynthia also noticed the difference.
The previous Arceus had radiated violence and icy oppression, weighing heavily on one's heart. But the Arceus that reappeared now felt completely different—peaceful, sacred, and noble, perfectly fitting the identity of a Creator God.
"…The misunderstanding has been resolved."
Sheena fell silent for a moment, her eyes filled with complexity as she looked at Arceus. She understood.
Damos had been saved by Arceus, history had subtly changed, and the truth of the event naturally passed down.
Sheena herself had gained these altered family memories.
"What misunderstanding?"
Cynthia and the others were stunned.
"Back then, the one who set the trap and ambushed Arceus was not my ancestor Damos, but one of Damos's subordinates."
Sheena pressed her lips together and spoke softly.
Although she had gained these new memories due to temporal correction, her original memories had not disappeared. She felt deeply ashamed.
She had always blamed and despised Damos, believing the sin was his.
But…
"Wait, how did you suddenly know this?"
Green stared at Sheena in shock. This change in the 'version' was way too drastic, wasn't it?
So, from start to finish, it was all a misunderstanding?
Then… hadn't Lucas said from the very beginning that Arceus had misunderstood things? How did he know?
"The memories just appeared. Damos didn't die in that ambush," Sheena said quietly.
According to the new memories, Damos had eventually died in sorrow and guilt toward Arceus—once again contradicting her previous recollections.
"If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Lucas and Arceus just used Dialga's power of time to return to the past and change Damos's fate," Sheena sighed as she gazed at the devastated Michina.
This was her speculation—only time's corrective power could possess such mystery.
"Sheena's right. I also gained these memories,"
Kevin spoke up as well. As Sheena's childhood friend and another temple guardian, he too now possessed these memories.
Hearing this, Cynthia and the others were stunned.
Traveling through time—did such a thing really exist?
Mega Rayquaza, Hoopa Unbound, and the other legendaries all watched Arceus tensely.
They didn't yet understand what had happened, but clearly, Arceus wasn't paying attention to them—or rather, it was focused on something else.
"How pitiful."
Returning to a thousand years later, Arceus's gentle eyes swept across the entirety of Michina. Seeing the devastated land, it sighed softly.
This was its doing.
"This place should not be like this."
Arceus descended and stepped onto the scorched earth.
Sacred golden light spread outward from Arceus, warm and gentle, sweeping across the land of Michina in the blink of an eye.
Flowers bloomed, grass grew, verdant mountains rose, and beautiful rivers flowed once more.
In almost an instant, the shattered Michina was restored to life!
"Even more outrageous than Xerneas,"
Reshiram descended from the sky as Lucas stepped onto the grass, scanning the surroundings in amazement at Arceus's might.
An absurd level of life energy!
Xerneas could also do this—but never at such speed.
"Lucas, is Arceus really okay now?"
Hoopa reverted to its Confined form, hiding behind Lucas as it asked softly.
"Yeah, no need to worry. Thanks to you."
Lucas smiled and thanked Hoopa sincerely.
Honestly, without Hoopa's golden rings, gaining the right to even talk to Arceus would have been the hardest part.
In the end, this was just a misunderstanding—but would an Arceus blinded by rage ever have trusted human words?
Absolutely not.
Only power on equal footing could make Arceus take notice and suppress its anger to talk.
"Hehehe~" Confined Hoopa grinned proudly.
"Oh right, Arceus—these are your Plates."
As if recalling something, Lucas took five Plates from his spatial backpack and walked up to Arceus.
Now that Arceus had returned to normal, he naturally had to return them.
Arceus lowered its head slightly, gazing at the five softly glowing Plates, emotions unreadable in its eyes.
After all, everything had begun because of these five Plates.
"I thought you had no intention of returning them,"
Arceus teased lightly through its aged telepathy as it drew the Plates back into its body.
It could sense that many of Lucas's legends carried the 'scent' of its Plates—clearly, he had equipped them quite generously.
"If I didn't return them, would you come and take them back?"
Lucas blinked and asked.
Arceus chuckled softly, meeting his gaze without answering.
If it were anything else, Arceus truly wouldn't mind, given how favorably it viewed Lucas now.
But the Creation Plates were the source of its life—there was no way it would allow them to remain outside.
"So, you see—I kept them safe for you for a whole year," Lucas shrugged.
"I can grant you one request, Lucas. This will be my reward to you."
Arceus smiled gently. Though it knew Lucas was asking for benefits, Arceus had already intended to repay him.
"Truly worthy of the Creator God."
Lucas's smile grew even brighter.
"I don't have any excessive demands. I just want you to bestow some power upon me personally."
"My power?"
Arceus was not particularly surprised, its eyes showing a thoughtful glint.
It was indeed possible to grant its creative power to humans—it had done so before.
"Yes! The kind of power that can even deal with Hoopa!"
Lucas described it vividly, even giving a clear example.
Wasn't that right?
Although the grandfather of Baraz and Meraz hadn't defeated Hoopa Unbound head-on, sealing it was still an undeniable fact.
Hoopa stared at Lucas with a face full of question marks—suddenly, even the donut in its hand didn't taste good anymore.
Damn it, you big jerk—do you have any manners at all?!
(End of Chapter)