Chapter 882: Reinforcements Enter the Fray (Part 2)
"Cyrus and Team Galactic are currently the largest shareholders of the Pokémon League. They are dedicated to various poverty alleviation initiatives and occasionally take on the mantle of a savior organization. Those thermal weapons are the fruits of research plundered after they dismantled Team Flare," Cynthia explained from behind Kazuya.
She had been quite astonished when she first heard of it herself.
Yet coming directly from her mother and grandmother, she naturally believed it.
Ever since that fateful battle in Alamos Town.
Cyrus and Team Galactic seemed to have genuinely abandoned their wicked ways.
It was just that...
Their brand of righteousness was tinged with an eerie flavor.
"Thank you for coming to our aid, Cyrus."
Kazuya gave a sincere nod of gratitude.
Setting those heavy firearms aside.
Cyrus himself.
Was a formidable veteran Champion-tier Trainer.
The might commanded by Team Galactic was never to be underestimated; they were an entity capable of reigning supreme over an entire parallel world, after all.
"You're welcome. Go deal with the creator deity. A mere Zygarde is hardly our first time handling one," Cyrus pursed his lips, tilting his head with aloof arrogance.
Receiving Kazuya's gratitude.
He was visibly pleased.
Understandable.
After all, Kazuya was the one who had fundamentally dismantled his worldview back then; the former held an irreplaceable place in Cyrus's heart.
Roughly akin to...
A quiet yearning for acknowledgment.
"Understood! I'll leave this to you. Please keep an eye on Kyurem. Cynthia should have already warned you about the hazards of dark energy, right?"
"Mm."
Cyrus nodded.
"I don't need anyone looking after me! Kazuya, you bastard, stop looking down on me! I already found out! That beam of light that nearly blasted me out of the sky back then was your doing, wasn't it?!"
Kyurem's furious roar resonated from the side.
"Well then, I'm heading out."
Kazuya acted as though he hadn't heard a single word.
Spinning around, he carried the blonde Champion and vanished from the spot.
A ripple of displaced space.
Kazuya relocated Arceus's position once more.
Only now, two loyal guard dogs flanked the deity.
Crowned Sword Zacian.
Crowned Shield Zamazenta.
The moment the two Legendary Heroes spotted Kazuya, one gripped its titanic blade in its jaws while the other braced its golden shield, ramming forward with full momentum.
Kazuya merely folded his arms, standing calmly in place: "If you two slackers don't get out here right now, I'm going to give you a thorough beating after this."
The moment the words fell.
Rumble!!
Two colossal titans—one red, one blue—shattered the sheets of ice beneath their feet, swatting Zacian and Zamazenta straight into the stratosphere.
The Primal Idiots!
The duo shot a guilty, sheepish glance at their big brother, then immediately unleashed their full power to prove their loyalty.
Precipice Blades!
Origin Pulse!
"Hmph."
The corners of Kazuya's mouth curved into a stifled chuckle.
A light step forward.
Thud, thud, thud!
Colossal pillars of stone erupted violently from the earth.
One jutted directly into Arceus's abdomen, launching It skyward.
The Power of Time, the Power of Racing Thunder, Extreme Speed, Agility...
In the span of a single blink.
Kazuya materialized right before Arceus.
Gazing into each other's eyes in silence.
A confident grin spread across Kazuya's face as he raised both arms high: "Dark Void——!!"
A massive sun of pitch-black and crimson engulfed the entirety of the heavens.
Swallowing Arceus whole into its abyssal depths.
The Corridor of Nightmares.
Its spiritual resistance thoroughly broken by catastrophic physical trauma, the wounded Arceus plunged into an endless, bottomless slumber.
Crack——!!
A world-shattering fracture tore across the fabric of reality.
The moment Arceus succumbed to sleep, the space-time barrier could no longer sustain its integrity, collapsing completely.
A thunderous cacophony rolled in from the horizon where sea met sky.
An infinite legion of Pokémon swarmed in from every conceivable vector.
The sky, the ocean, the frozen tundra, the land...
Their silhouettes were everywhere.
In an instant.
The millions of magical beasts became trapped fish in a barrel.
The first to breach the frontline was Regigigas.
Even wading through the ocean, more than half of its colossal bulk remained towering above sea level.
Like an ancient primal gorilla, the titan sprinted across the waves on all fours, trampling countless aquatic beasts to paste underfoot.
Vaulting into a final, titanic leap.
"Regi——!!"
It brought both arms crashing down upon the thousand-meter-long frame of Eternamax Eternatus in the sky!
Rumble——!!
In an instant, Eternatus plummeted like a falling moon, swatted clean out of the firmament by Regigigas's Hammer Arm.
Within a matter of seconds.
The second grand vanguard slammed into the aerial and terrestrial forces of the magical beast army with unstoppable momentum.
"Roar!!"
"Aang!!"
"Ga-woo!!"
Draconic roars shook the heavens and earth.
In the skies.
Spearheaded by the Dragon Father.
Accompanied by the Draconids led by Zinnia, the Garchomp clan, the Aerodactyl clan, the Charizard clan, the Dragonite clan...
Over a hundred thousand winged dragons pierced into the enemy's aerial frontline like falling stars.
In the blink of an eye.
Countless flying beasts fell from the sky like dumplings dropped into boiling water.
Reminiscent of the dragon clans plunging into the apocalyptic comet in his sixth life.
The terrestrial dragons traversing the tundra and solid earth were equally relentless.
Led by Tyrantrum.
The Rampardos clan, the Goodra clan, the Kommo-o clan, the Sceptile clan...
Over a hundred thousand terrestrial dragons turned into organic harvesting machines across the battlefield, mercilessly butchering the legions of magical beasts.
These ancient apex predators from tens of millions of years ago.
Held zero concept of pulling punches.
Much less any squeamishness toward gore!
Furthermore.
The dragon clans were vastly different from ordinary wild Pokémon.
Under Kazuya's guidance across lifetimes, they understood military tactics and coordinated vanguard warfare.
Ten thousand dragons could easily rout thirty to fifty thousand magical beasts!
Solgaleo and Lunala attempted to rally and shield the magical beasts.
Yet before they could close the distance.
The former was whipped into the ocean depths by a single lash of the younger brother's tail.
The latter was dragged from the sky to the earth by Florges's Vine Whip.
What a joke.
Did they think the second sister and third brother of the dragon clan were mere ornaments?
Anchoring the rearguard.
Were naturally Kazuya's family and dearest friends.
Xunlan and Carolina rode atop Big Shark and Little Shark respectively, commanding the flow of the entire battlefield from above.
As a former Sinnoh Champion.
Xunlan's tactical acumen was peerless.
There was no one more suited to serve as supreme commander.
Meanwhile, the father-daughter duo of Drayden and Iris—the consecutive Dragon-type Elite Four masters of Unova—alongside Reggie, the renowned master breeder of Sinnoh, served as the command unit's royal guard.
In a flash.
The silhouettes of Zekrom and Reshiram streaked past them.
N sat calmly atop Reshiram's back.
Pressing a hand over the brim of his cap, he narrowed his eyes, selecting his quarry: "That one will do."
N's gaze locked onto the isolated, solitary Ho-Oh.
The core doctrine of this campaign.
Ganging up.
N kept it engraved in his heart.
To prevent any ally from being tainted by dark energy, a flexible rotation strategy had been forged.
The moment a combatant showed signs of corruption, they were to withdraw immediately, replaced by an adjacent comrade.
Ensuring no one ever became an asset for the enemy.
"Roar."
The Black and White Dragons exchanged a glance, baring their fangs in a twin smirk before hurtling toward the golden bird.
Down below.
The bumbling Druddigon barreled through the frontlines like an armored semi-truck.
Kicking his massive feet back and forth with pure unadulterated glee.
"Tini-tini!!"
Victini clung to Druddigon's head, squealing at the top of its lungs.
It hadn't seen battle in so long.
It was struggling to process the sensory overload.
Rumble——!!
The earth trembled violently.
As if a slumbering subterranean realm had awakened.
"Mishi?"
"Mishi."
"Mishi~"
Carbink popped out of the soil one after another like harvested radishes.
Followed immediately by Diancie's figure.
"Where did Kazuya and Cynthia go?"
Diancie scanned the surroundings for her dear friends, unable to spot them anywhere.
Beside her, a tiny Carbink shoved frantically against her back, utter panic plastered across its face: "Princess! Hurry and hide underground! It's way too dangerous up here!"
"Ouch! Makima! Stop clinging to me all the time! Why don't you go protect the former princess over there instead?"
Little Diancie nudged Makima aside, pointing toward another, larger Diancie standing in the distance.
"Out of the question! I am your retainer! Your personal guard! A loyal subject serves only one lord!"
Makima shook its rocky head with absolute conviction.
Naturally.
There was another reason.
That other princess didn't need its protection in the slightest.
On the other side.
"Big Brother, Master is incredible, he has so many mighty friends."
Holding Magearna's hand in her left and patting Volcanion with her right, Diancie spoke in awe.
"Indeed. I never imagined that bastard had reincarnated through so many lives either."
Volcanion nodded.
Casting a disgusted glance at the corpse of a magical beast tumbling past him.
He extended a burly limb to swat it aside.
Refusing to let a single drop of vile blood touch his precious daughter Magearna.
"Listen to me, you two stay low-key, don't just jump into combat recklessly! Understand?! With our combat power..."
Volcanion cleared the path ahead with bursts of scalding steam, scanning the perimeter with utmost vigilance.
Behind him.
Whir-clack, whir.
Magearna tilted her head innocently.
She raised both mechanical hands, locking dead onto Yveltal soaring across the battlefield.
Fleur Cannon!
Boom!
"Magearna!!"
"Fear not, I will lend you aid."
Before Volcanion could finish his shout, Greninja materialized by their side, trailed closely by an Armarouge.
Unlike the others.
They were native reinforcements belonging to this first world.
When it came to combating the Kalos trio.
Greninja was exceptionally seasoned.
Though he had no clue where these bizarre armies had arrived from, he didn't need to unravel the mystery.
It was enough to know.
That everyone here was Kazuya's companion.
"Awoo~"
Volcanion's roar merged with the howling chorus of a wolf pack.
Across the terrestrial battlefield.
A human vanguard mounted atop massive Mightyena charged in at full gallop.
"Out of my way, Lami! You clumsy hindrance!"
"Kazan! Stop fooling around! At a time like this, we should be fighting side by side!"
"Who wants to fight beside you? I can slaughter these beasts entirely on my own! Wahahaha!"
"Are you still half-asleep, my foolish little brother?"
Clang!
The screech of the Blade of the Earth colliding against the Ruined Edge rang out.
Before even making contact with the enemy, Lami and Kazan were already trading sword strikes with each other.
And they weren't alone.
Hovering above Lami and Kazan.
Thundurus and Tornadus were bickering violently, on the verge of tearing into each other.
Quieting down only after Landorus delivered a heavy fist to each of their skulls.
"Sigh..."
In the rear, Mother Wolf let out a helpless sigh.
Had these two brats not behaved so obediently before her, carrying the title of her "pup's disciples," she truly wouldn't have bothered dragging these troublesome youngsters along.
Behind them.
The legions of Earth soldiers were entirely accustomed to the antics.
They simply stared wide-eyed at the apocalyptic battlefield before them, their souls practically terrified out of their bodies.
They truly hadn't wanted to come here.
Was this really a place mortals could step foot in?
Who were they even supposed to fight?
Fight gods?
Us?!
At the head of the wolf pack.
The Swords of Justice of Unova were murmuring among themselves.
"The courage of these humans is truly lackluster."
Keldeo shook its head at the sight.
Now a qualified Sword of Justice, it harbored little patience for the faint of heart.
"Well, that is only natural; true bravery is hardly a common virtue."
Virizion, serving as its mentor, offered a gentle smile.
For these humans to even stand upon this soil was brave enough in its eyes; one couldn't ask for the impossible.
After all.
Mortals possessed nothing akin to their divine strength.
Coming here was largely to show presence, lend symbolic numbers, and demonstrate loyalty to the two princes.
"Bui-bui."
Floatzel—one of the "Four Tyrants of Wolf Mountain" perched atop Keldeo's back—nodded firmly in agreement.
"Heh!"
Toxicroak beside them let out a raspy, malicious chuckle.
He was having the absolute time of his life today.
To think he could witness a place so magnificent.
At this point, every one of Kazuya's reinforcements had taken the field.
The balance of this war flipped completely on its head from this very moment onward.
In the past, how deeply Kazuya had tasted despair.
Was how thoroughly Shadow tasted despair right now.
Naturally.
The outcome of this war no longer mattered to Her.
All She wanted to know was:
Was She.
Truly that counterfeit after all?
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