Chapter 876: Unable to Stand Up
Kazuya couldn't escape.
So he stopped running altogether.
Raising his hands, he clamped down around Dialga's neck, dragging It directly in front of his frame as a shield.
Since Shadow was hell-bent on preserving It.
Then Kazuya was dead-set on tearing It to pieces.
Even if it meant enduring an endless barrage of apocalyptic strikes, he would not hesitate.
No matter how frantically Dialga thrashed, Kazuya abandoned all counterattacks, his arms locking down around Its throat in a relentless vice, refusing to let go.
Watching this unfolded scene, Shadow's brows knitted tightly.
Her mouth parted, hesitation warring within Her eyes.
Gazing upon that tempest of converging attacks, Her expression hardened, and She snapped Her jaws shut once more.
Dialga...
If It dies, so be it.
As long as it thoroughly crippled Kazuya and manufactured an opening for Her, Dialga's demise would be considered a worthy sacrifice.
Dialga presumably received the telepathic command from Shadow as well.
Consequently.
It froze stiff on the spot, motionless.
As if turned into an inert marionette.
Sensing Dialga beneath him give up all resistance, Kazuya deduced Shadow's calculation, a faint smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Rumble——!!
Incalculable attacks poured in from every conceivable vector, converging upon a singular focal point.
Crack, shatter——!!
A gargantuan, craterous vortex was blasted clean through the dark fog suffocating the heavens, while the ocean below erupted into countless titanic waterspouts.
Yet in the air pocket between sky and sea.
Everything fell terrifyingly silent.
As though every trace of atmosphere had been vacuumed dry, carving out a soundless void.
To the naked eye.
Only spiderwebbing networks of translucent gray fractures could be seen spreading across the fabric of the air.
Looking as though this entire reality might shatter like brittle glass at any second.
Even the most catastrophic disaster in the natural world could not rival the horror of this spectacle.
"Where is that fellow?!"
Shadow widened Her eyes, craning Her neck to scan the void.
She could already sense it.
Dialga's aura had extinguished completely.
Which meant Dialga was definitively dead.
This was entirely a matter of course.
Had Dialga survived an onslaught of that caliber, Shadow would have suspected the dragon had been throwing fights in the past.
The crucial question now was:
Did Kazuya die or not?!
Shadow hoped he had survived.
After all, a physical death wouldn't put an end to Kazuya; he would inevitably return one day.
Only by sealing him away.
Could they bring about his true demise!
Unfortunately.
No matter how hard Shadow strained Her eyes.
She could not find Kazuya's silhouette.
Within this vacuum space, let alone sound, even light failed to propagate.
Thus.
What greeted Shadow's vision was boundless chaos.
Nothing but absolute pitch-black.
"Wait... Darkness?"
A sudden realization struck Shadow.
She recalled that Darkrai had another moniker.
Known as...
The Pitch-Black God!
Whoosh~
At that exact moment.
Those myriad fractures smoothed over one by one.
The displaced atmosphere seized the opening to flood back into the spatial void.
Sound began to carry once more.
The darkness receded completely.
That Darkrai reappeared before Shadow's eyes.
"Finally... obtained it."
Kazuya's voice drifted into Shadow's ears, faint as a whisper.
The voice was feeble in the extreme.
Yet it sent waves of panic rippling through Shadow's chest.
Her jaws parted, unable to utter a single syllable, merely swallowing hard in silence.
Right now.
Kazuya was coated entirely in black blood.
Some belonged to Dialga; some belonged to him.
Indeed.
Shadow's calculation hadn't been wrong.
That saturation bombardment had battered Kazuya within an inch of death.
His current condition was abysmal.
His HP likely sat below 10%.
The Reversion Pill, Guard Split, Lv. 100.
Had any one of these three vital prerequisites failed, Kazuya would have perished on the spot.
If nothing else.
Should Arceus and Shadow strike him now.
There was a formidable probability Kazuya would be struck down.
However.
There was an equally strong chance he would survive.
After all.
At this very moment.
In Kazuya's left hand pulsed the brilliant cerulean radiance of the Power of Time.
While his right hand gripped the dark crimson Draco Plate.
In top-tier divine clashes, among all eighteen Plates, which one was the most practical?
Unquestionably the Draco Plate.
Roar of Time.
Spacial Rend.
Core Enforcer.
Dynamax Cannon.
Eternabeam.
Dragon Energy.
One signature move after another belonging to supreme deities fell under the Dragon typing.
Which meant.
From this moment onward.
Including all the moves above, every Dragon-type attack in existence would lose all effect against Kazuya.
Even though.
Acquiring the Power of Time and the Draco Plate.
Didn't seem to improve his dire situation by much.
Still...
At least a sliver of hope had broken through.
Snatching life from the jaws of absolute destruction.
The only pity.
Was that Kazuya was a Dark-type Pokémon.
He couldn't merge the Draco Plate into the Power of Time; otherwise, he could have flipped the scales entirely.
"Strike him while he's down! Attack!!"
Shadow's furious screech tore through the air.
She hadn't imagined Kazuya would still have the reserves to plunder Dialga's strength while clinging to life.
Yet there was no retreat left for Her.
She had to seize this opening to beat Kazuya into utter immobility!
If this dragged out.
Kazuya would inevitably recover to his peak through the Power of Creation.
When that happened, facing a Kazuya commanding Time, Space, Creation, Victory, and Racing Thunder all at once would be an unimaginable nightmare.
The first to initiate the offensive remained Arceus.
As the absolute Top 1 combatant under Shadow's banner.
It was the sole figure whose strike had already surged toward Kazuya before Shadow even opened Her mouth.
Judgment!
A boundless sea of pink radiant orbs rained down from the sky.
The largest among them spanned over a thousand meters in diameter.
Monstrous beyond belief!
Looking up at the colossal projectile hovering right above him.
Kazuya pursed his lips.
His silhouette flickered and vanished from the spot.
Now.
No one was left to shackle his Power of Space.
Furthermore.
Wielding the Power of Time, he could "accelerate" every single action he took.
Just like right now.
No one could even register the motion of Kazuya tearing open a spatial wormhole; all they saw was him vanishing instantly.
The wind-up and recovery frames of the skill hadn't disappeared.
They were merely accelerated to the point where they appeared non-existent.
Utilizing the Power of Space, Kazuya materialized behind Shadow in a heartbeat, and those homing projectiles of Judgment immediately wheeled around in pursuit.
"Damn it!"
Shadow gritted Her teeth, Her eyes widening in fury.
She pulled both arms back.
Endless black petals converged into an immense dark blossom, sealing Shadow deep within its core.
[
Bang!
"Hula!"
Floette, clutching the Eternal Flower, brought it down in a light smack against the sneaky Charmander behind her.
"Char-ha..."
The younger brother rubbed his head aggrievedly.
His belly was so hungry.
Stealing a bite of big sister's flower had ended in failure...
"Shh! You two, quiet down!"
Kazuya turned around with an irate vein throbbing on his temple, gesturing for them to stop making noise.
There were two Mightyena prowling outside.
If they were spotted.
The three little ones would be completely done for.
The younger brother and Floette exchanged glances, nodded, and lay quietly beside Kazuya to peer outside.
The three tiny figures poked their heads out from the hay bale, their rumps sticking out as they spied on the two Mightyena beyond.
]
Kazuya pursed his lips.
Gazing at the massive black flower before him, his body drove forward into another spatial wormhole.
Boom!!
The projectiles of Judgment couldn't correct their trajectory in time.
Every single one hammered directly into the titanic black bloom.
Almost in an instant.
The flower bud was blasted into the deep sea, vanished without a trace.
Kazuya knew Shadow couldn't possibly die from that; She was more likely using the opening to hide in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
He was more than happy to let that happen.
After all, his condition was wretched right now.
He had zero capability to engage Shadow in direct combat.
Stalling for time to mend himself via the Power of Creation was the optimal choice.
However.
This time, Kazuya miscalculated.
Just as he turned around to play keep-away with Arceus.
Shadow burst from the waters in a flash, Her claws whistling toward Kazuya's back.
[
Meowscarada tiptoed forward from behind, sneaking toward Kazuya's back.
Seeing that Kazuya had zero reaction.
A look of pure mischief crept onto her face.
Grandma Sora watched the scene with a chuckle and a shake of her head, having no intention of warning Kazuya as she continued knitting the scarf in her paws.
And Meowscarada timed her moment...
Boing!
"Meow!"
Meowscarada sprang right onto Kazuya's back, sliding into a seat on his shoulder and swinging her legs back and forth.
"Hey! No roughhousing, look at Skitty, you scared her fur right on end."
Kazuya scolded her with feigned irritation.
Then he reached down to gently stroke the trembling little kitten curled in his arms.
"Meow-meow~"
Meowscarada didn't care in the slightest.
Swinging both legs, she happily belted out a sailor's tune.
]
Slash!
Shadow's speed was so extreme.
That Kazuya's Aura barely perceived Her trajectory before Slash ripped across his back.
Spurt!
Blood erupted from Kazuya's back.
The violent kinetic force drove him stumbling forward.
Coincidentally.
Arceus, Koraidon, and Terapagos came crashing straight toward him from the front.
Gritting his teeth, Kazuya tore open a spatial wormhole directly ahead.
Riding the forward momentum, he plunged headfirst inside.
On the other side of the wormhole.
Lay the sheer rock cliffs of Sootopolis City.
Crash!
The massive stone face shattered into rubble under Kazuya's impact.
Yet it successfully arrested his momentum.
"Cough, cough!"
Two mouthfuls of blood erupted uncontrollably from his throat.
Kazuya lifted his eyelids, feeling his vision grow noticeably blurred.
Trembling, he forced himself to stand.
Taking two steps forward.
Thud!
His left foot tripped over his right, sending him sprawling flat against the ground, his chin gouging a small pit into the stone.
[
Thud!
Little Piplup-kun had just reincarnated and wasn't used to walking on two stubby feet yet, successfully pulling off a flat-ground trip-and-fall.
The round head struck the wooden floorboards.
Making a wonderfully crisp clatter.
The little fellow squirmed and thrashed on the floor with all his might, like a suffocating Magikarp unable to right itself no matter what.
In the end, he could only look helplessly toward the humans beside him.
"Mommy, Piplup-kun is so clumsy! What do I do? Am I never going to become super famous now?"
Little Lorelei's bratty voice rang out.
Making Kazuya's chest heave with indignation as he lay flat on the floor.
"Piplup-kun was just born; isn't it completely normal that he can't walk properly yet? You didn't learn to walk until you were over a year old, and you cried plenty from falling down yourself."
Mother walked over and knelt down, scooping tiny Piplup-kun into her arms and rocking him tenderly.
Endless words of gentle encouragement flowed from her lips.
"That's right, you need to be patient with Piplup-kun, just like how Mommy and Daddy are patient with you. You two are family, and partners."
Father rested his hands on his hips, tapping Lorelei's head with a warm grin.
Mother set little Piplup-kun into Lorelei's embrace.
She gently made the two tiny figures hug each other, nodding in satisfaction at the picture of harmonious companionship.
"See? Doesn't this look lovely? You two will become the very best partners."
]
"Hah... hah..."
Kazuya sat up with labored, ragged breaths, leaning back against the shattered stone cliff behind him.
Without a mother's arms to support him.
It truly was terribly difficult to push himself back up from the earth.
"I can't..."
"Really stand up anymore."
~~~
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