Axel's voice carried a relaxed ease, as if what lay before him wasn't a fierce aerial battlefield, but a simple demonstration lesson.
He had waited a long time, finally waiting for a battle intense enough to awaken that streak of stubbornness deep in Lillie's heart.
The next moment—
Axel tightened his hold around Lillie's waist, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes as he unleashed his mental power to the fullest and shot straight into the sky.
The rock platform beneath his feet shattered instantly. Without relying on any Pokémon at all, his body erupted with unimaginable strength, blasting upward like a human-shaped rocket.
The speed was so fast that it even left a sonic boom ring behind at the point of launch.
Lillie only felt an intense sensation of weightlessness and the howling wind rushing toward her face.
She couldn't help but cry out, squeezing her eyes shut and clutching Axel's clothes with both hands.
"Damn, what is this thing?", Even after a lifetime of research, the middle-aged researcher's face was still filled with shock when he saw Axel's movement.
He had never seen a human unleash such terrifying speed and power purely with their body, let alone imagined that a Trainer could still be this strong after losing their Pokémon.
This completely shattered his understanding of the world.
"All of you, get up there. Snatch Miss Lillie back. She absolutely cannot be allowed to interfere with our plan."
The middle-aged researcher waved his hand again, and more Poké Balls flew out from behind him.
Skarmory, Aerodactyl, Crobat, and even a massive pseudo-legendary Pokémon radiating a terrifying aura, Salamence.
These Pokémon opened their mouths and roared, releasing all kinds of moves toward Axel.
Steel Wing, Rock Slide, Air Slash, Dragon Rush...
Colorful energy attacks interwove into a horrifying net of destruction, enveloping Axel and Lillie just as they rose into the air.
Even the sky itself seemed to be dyed a dangerous hue by the glow of these moves.
Sapphire and Tropius were completely cut off outside, unable to join the battlefield at all.
Facing this terrifying onslaught that could wipe out any Trainer along with their Pokémon, Axel's expression remained unusually calm.
He didn't even look at the incoming attacks, only lowering his head to softly speak to Lillie in his arms.
"Watch carefully. True power is being fearless, strong enough to break anyone's control."
"As long as you let go of cowardice, you can do it too."
The instant his words fell, an indescribably terrifying pressure erupted from Axel as the center.
It wasn't a Pokémon's aura, yet it was more ancient, heavier, and more scorching than any Pokémon present.
As if a primordial god sleeping deep within the earth had opened its eyes.
A crushing heaviness spread from Axel, blanketing the sky. The air instantly became thick and scorching.
All the flying Pokémon, whether the newly joined ones or the Pidgeot, Charizard, and Xatu wounded by Sapphire earlier, all felt their bodies sink, as if burdened with a thousand tons, making even flying extremely difficult.
In Axel's sea of consciousness, a youthful version of Groudon stood upon the land, roaring toward the sky, magma surging over its body as it spewed scorching flames upward.
At the same time, Axel's eyes burned with boundless fury. Terrifying high-temperature flames instantly engulfed the sky, swallowing all the Pokémon that had flown down from Sky Island.
Except for Salamence, nearly all the Pokémon retreated in panic, not daring to face this terrifying blaze.
In their eyes, this strike was nothing short of divine.
Without their own support, the moves they had released began to destabilize and warp, some even collapsing directly in midair.
Axel grinned, swung his right hand forward, and faint Ground-type power gathered.
The Tropius beneath Sapphire suddenly let out a whimper, retreating involuntarily with a reverent, trembling cry.
"Th-this… what kind of power is this?", On the island, the middle-aged researcher's face turned deathly pale, his body trembling uncontrollably as he realized the Sky Island beneath his feet was subtly shaking.
Deep within Axel's eyes, magma seemed to surge, an aura from time immemorial flickering in and out.
He slowly raised his free arm and aimed it at the Sky Island below.
"Precipice Blades… emerge."
The low voice sounded like an ancient war horn, echoing in every mind and soul.
The next second, heaven and earth changed.
The rolling clouds beneath Aether Paradise churned violently, as if stirred by an invisible giant hand.
Blinding crimson light, carrying heavy, massive energy, pierced through the clouds, turning the entire sky into a doomsday dusk.
An energy terrifying beyond measure was rapidly condensing beneath the cloud layer.
"No! Stop! What are you trying to do?", The middle-aged researcher let out a despairing scream. He sensed what was about to happen, a catastrophe far beyond his comprehension.
Even the Ultra Beasts they had studied for so long had never possessed power like Axel's at this moment.
"What am I doing? Naturally, I'm waking you up, letting you understand how the world is actually saved."
"And also letting you know that your self-righteous salvation is nothing more than bringing trouble to this world."
Axel's voice delivered the verdict calmly.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
A thunderous roar like the birth of heaven and earth exploded.
An energy greatsword of unimaginable size, wrapped in boiling magma and destructive power of the earth, tore through the thick sea of clouds and burst forth from directly beneath Aether Paradise.
This "sword" was far too large.
Its width alone covered nearly half the underside of the Sky Island, while its length pierced straight into the heavens, as if it were going to punch a hole through the sky itself.
The blade was formed from the most ancient, hardest crustal rock, its surface flowing with crimson magma, radiating heat and destruction that made all things tremble.
Just its appearance caused the entire Sky Island to shake violently, rocks and trees at the edges collapsing and falling away.
What terrified the middle-aged researcher even more was that the power of this sword precisely avoided the people and Pokémon on the island, instead wantonly destroying the data they had plundered over the years, and all those things related to the Ultra Beasts.
As if this horrifying sword was merely a show of force.
Carrying unmatched might, the great sword struck with perfect precision, slamming fiercely into the core base of the Sky Island, the area connected to some kind of anti-gravity device or energy core below.
Crack! BOOM!
A deafening shattering sound tore through the clouds.
Aether Paradise's Sky Island, the plan Aether Paradise had studied for years, was cleaved apart like a cake under the earth-shaking blow of Precipice Blades, severed cleanly from its base.
The massive island lost its support, letting out teeth-grinding metallic groans as the entire structure visibly tilted and began to sink.
Buildings on the island cracked and collapsed amid violent shaking, smoke and dust billowing everywhere.
Yet strangely, although the Pokémon on the island fled in panic, not a single one was directly struck by the terrifying great sword or touched by the magma.
The power of Precipice Blades was precisely controlled by Axel, destroying only the island's structural foundation while avoiding all life.
"My… utopia…", The middle-aged researcher collapsed limply to the ground, his face ashen, eyes hollow as he watched the paradise he had poured his entire life into being torn apart and dragged down by irresistible force.
The Pokémon around him, whether Pidgeot, Charizard, or Salamence, all trembled before this primordial divine might of the earth, utterly unable to muster even a trace of fighting spirit.
Riding atop Tropius, Sapphire stared at the scene from afar, her cherry-red lips forming an O, her eyes filled with disbelief and shock.
'The owner of this power… is really human?'
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