A Dragon's Tail
Tail 6: Baromyteus' Tail - Deception
Tail 6-10: The Dragon Massacre
Three Dragon type Pokemon, a Latias, a Latios, and a Hakamo-o, gazed at the sky in horror as Elder Baldr's body was torn and ripped apart by the chimera Pokemon, who proceeded to murder the Drampa without showing any sight of mercy, even when the Drampa was no longer alive…
"Oh, no…" Rachael said. "We are too late…"
"…" Unlike Rachael, Richard didn't say anything, but it could be seen that he was completely frightened by the scene right before his eyes.
Not only the three Pokemon who stood on the balcony of the house, but everyone else who was in the area of the Hidden Village of Dragon also saw the whole scene involving Elder Baldr and the Type: Null too, as this incident occurred in the sky right above Elder Baldr's house.
"Oh my Arceus…" Snow said as he looked at the sky from the center square.
"EAHHHH!" Freya quickly covered her eyes, as she couldn't stand to watch the whole bloody scene like this.
"NOOO! ELDER!" Noctus cried as he saw the elder of the village being killed, while he couldn't do anything to stop this.
"OH NOOOOO!"
"ELDER BALDR!"
"IT CAN'T BE!"
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
Like Noctus, upon seeing Elder Baldr being brutally killed right in front of their eyes, all residents of the Hidden Village of Dragon started roaring and crying, as they were now at the disadvantage in this battle, and their leader was just killed right in from of their eyes. This created a huge confusion and panic that spread to the entire village!
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Zetarus roared as everyone who fought by his side started panicking after they saw their leader getting killed.
"FXXK IT!" Diego roared as, not only everyone on his side started panicking, but they also stopped fighting against the enemies, giving the enemy a great advantage in this situation!
"HEY! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!" Claura roared as she tried to stop the panicking, but her action didn't make anything better.
"… It's over…" Xavier mumbled. "The enemy must have learned about Elder Baldr, who is the figurehead and the source of moral and willpower of our side, so they sent an assassin to kill him, and the assassin flung him into the sky before killing him just to let everyone on our side saw that their leader getting killed. This will greatly decrease the moral and willpower of everyone on our side, as well as making everyone lost their will to fight… So… It could be said that… We are already lost…"
And while the death of Elder Baldr had given a huge grief and confusion to the entire population of the Hidden Village of Dragon, it still couldn't be compared to the grief of the Hakamo-o who was guarding Elder Baldr before he was killed, as well as Elder Baldr's grandson, Korben the Hakamo-o.
"NOOOO!" Korben roared and cried, just like a lunatic who had just lost their mind. "GRANPA!"
"GRAAAWWRRR!"
After tearing Elder Baldr's body into countless pieces, the Type: Null softly landed on the balcony again, facing at the three other Pokemon who were on the balcony too.
"…" The Type: Null didn't do anything. All it did was gazing at Rachael, Richard and Korben in front of it.
"…"
"Wait—" Rachael spoke up as she caught something in the eyes of the Type: Null in front of her, but before she could do or say anything else…
"YOU, BEAST!"
"Wait, Korben!"
"!"
The feeling of grief and regret within the mind of a young Hakamo-o had kindled the flame of anger and vengeance, which soon overcame his mind and spirit as he saw the Type: Null landing in front of him, making him charged at the Type: Null recklessly. The only thing he had in his mind right now is…
"I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL KILL YOU!" Korben roared like a lunatic while trying to hold back his tear as he charged at the Type: Null and holding his fist in front of him. The only thing he had in his mind right now was destroying the creature in front of him, who had just killed his grandfather.
"!" Seeing the hostile Hakamo-o charging at it, the Type: Null raised its claw to block the Hakamo-o's attack at the last moment before it countered back with a move Crush Claw!
"ARG!" Korben roared in pain after being knocked away by the Type: Null's counterattack, but he still didn't give up as he pushed himself forward and attacked the Type: Null again!
"I WON'T FORGIVE YOU, YOU BEAST!" Korben roared as he tried to punch the Type: Null again, but the Type: Null, again, was able to dodge his attack and countered back with its Crush Claw.
"AURGG!" Korben roared again as he tried to stand up after being knocked away by the Type: Null again, before he charged at the Type: Null to attack it again, but the result was still not different than before…
"Oh, no! I can't stand this!" Rachael said as she watched Korben being knocked away by the Type: Null, again and again, but Korben still didn't give up and continued attacking it. "W… We must do something about this!"
"…" Richard didn't say anything in response.
"Onii-chan, I knew that this Pokemon…" Rachael said as she looked at Type: Null, who dodged Korben's attack and countered back with the move Crush Claw again. "… Had just killed Elder Baldr, but…"
"… Say no more, Rachael." Richard said and turned his attention to his younger sister. "There's only thing that we can do. Rachael, you go and help Korben distracted this Pokemon."
"And what about you?" Rachael asked.
"Don't ask right now!" Richard said as he noticed that Korben's started to be overcame by injury and fatigue, despite he still didn't give up. "Now go!"
"Okay..." Rachael said before she quickly moved toward Korben. "Korben! Let me—"
"NO, I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" Korben roared. "I WILL KILL THIS BEAST WITH MY OWN FISTS! I WILL DO IT BY MYSELF!"
"But your body couldn't bear it!" Rachael said. "You are both tired and injured, Korben! At least let me heal—"
"I SAID I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" Korben roared as he charged at the Type: Null again, and again, he was knocked back by the Type: Null's Crush Claw!"
"AUURGGG!" Korben roared in pain as he tried to stand up again, but he had lost too much energy from the battle, so in the end, he fell unconscious and fell down onto the floor once again…
While…
"…" This time, instead of standing still at one spot, the Type: Null started to walk closer to the unconscious Korben and Rachael!
"No!" Rachael said. "W… What are you trying to do?!"
"!" The Type: Null paused a bit after it heard Rachael's words before it lowered its head for a bit, but then it raised its head again before it continued walking toward!
"NOOO!" Rachael cried as the Type: Null reached her and Korben, who was still unconscious. It then raised its claw upward, preparing to attack her and Korben…
But then…
"NOW!" Richard roared.
"Click!"
"Grrooooo…."
"Huh?!" Rachael was surprised after she realized that the Type: Null attacked neither her nor Korben. Instead, it suddenly lowered its claw before lowering its head onto the floor! And beside the Type: Null, she saw that her brother was standing there, holding the Chronicle of Darkside in one of his paw and something else in his other paw…
"Just when I thought that I couldn't hate those corrupted scoundrels from the Republic of Civilight…" Richard said before he put away his Chronicle of Darkside and placed his paw that was holding the Chronicle onto the Type: Null's back. "Are you alright? Does it still hurt?"
"Grr…" The Type: Null growled softly at Richard as it raised its head once again, but as its raised its head, Rachael could see that the blood-hungry spark in the Type: Null's eyes had already disappeared and was replaced with a spark of confusion and sadness.
"Onii-chan, what's the meaning of this?" Rachael asked.
"… You saw it too, right?" Richard turned his attention back to his younger sister. "A single spark in this Pokemon's eyes just before Korben attacked this Pokemon."
"Oh, right!" Rachael said. "I remember that spark! It was the very same spark I saw in this Pokemon's eyes back when we were in the Civilight Laboratory! And this means that…"
"… This Pokemon…" Richard turned his attention at the Type: Null again. "… Is the very same Pokemon we met while we were in the Civilight Laboratory, both in the physical state and the mental state."
"I know it!" Rachael said. "But… Why? Why did this Pokemon—"
"… The cause of everything this Pokemon did to everyone in this village was this." Richard was before he showed Rachael the thing that he was holding in his paw for the whole time. It was something that looked like a black collar, which Rachael remembered that it was the very same thing that was wrapped around the Type: Null's neck since it appeared in this village, but it wasn't there when Rachael and Richard met this Type: Null at the Civilight Laboratory several months ago. "This collar is the thing this Civilight corrupted scoundrels used to keep this Pokemon under their control. This collar will record the order that was given to this Pokemon and forced this Pokemon to follow their order."
"That's truly terrible!" Rachael said. "So, if this Pokemon didn't follow the order, this Pokemon will get zapped by electricity or something like this, right?"
"Yes, but far worse than that." Richard said. "Instead of electricity, when this Pokemon disobeys the order, this evil collar will inject some sort of toxin that will generate a great amount of pain to this Pokemon's entire body without decreasing this Pokemon's energy and ability so that this Pokemon wouldn't be hampered."
"Evil! Truly evil!" Rachael spoke with a hint of anger in her voice, which was a rare occasion that she showed this emotion.
"Right, it's truly an evil thing that shouldn't exist by any mean." Richard said before he summoned a small lightning bolt to destroy the collar into a useless piece of scrap metal. "Luckily, this collar was made using the same technology that was used in the Civilight Laboratory, so I was able to hack its system in order to remove and destroy it for good, so that no one will ever suffer under its grasp again."
After finished speaking, Richard and Rachael turned their attention to the Type: Null who looked around itself with a spark of sadness in its eyes. "… Um…" Rachael called the Type: Null, which made it immediately turned its attention to her. "… Do you remember Onii-chan and me? We met each other at the Civilight Laboratory several months ago…"
"…" The Type: Null didn't say anything. Instead, it answered Rachael's question by nodding gently at her!
"Oh! You remember us! I am so happy!" Rachael said happily before quickly changed her tone of voice to the tone of sadness. "But I am so sorry that we didn't rescue you from that terrible place… If we did, maybe you will not have to suffer a terrible fate like this…"
"So do I." Richard spoke up. "While my ability to sense the emotion of a living creature isn't as great as my sister's, I could sense that you really don't want to do everything you have done here, and you truly regret everything you have done, right?"
"…" Again, the Type: Null didn't say anything. However, this time, it turned its head away from Richard and Rachael.
"… When Korben tried to attack you, you attacked him back is just what your instinct told you to do so…" Richard continued speaking. "You didn't want to hurt anyone, but your death instinct prevents you from doing so."
"Right…" Rachael said. "And you also don't want to kill Elder Baldr, but…"
"… The last order that was recorded in your collar, as far as I could interpret, was that you will kill the Elder of this village in order to destroy the source of everyone's willpower and moral, and then, you will kill any Dragon type Pokemon in your sight." Richard said.
"So, it means that you were ordered to kill everyone, including Onii-chan and me too…" Rachael said. "But before you attacked me, you tried your hardest to resist your order, resulting in you…"
"…" The Type: Null said nothing after hearing everything from Rachael and Richard, but if anyone could read its mind, they would know that everything Rachael and Richard said was the truth...
"But…" Rachael continued speaking. "Why did they have to do all these terrible things to this poor creature? I don't understand…"
"… As much as we hate, we still couldn't escape from the truth." Richard said before he picked up a thick yellow file, which was the same file he dropped on the floor last night, and it was the same file he picked up while he and his younger sister was in the Civilight Laboratory. The words on the cover of this file could be read as 'Experiment Delta'. "And I was speaking of the purpose why did those Civilight corrupted scoundrels create this guy."
"…" Rachael said nothing after she heard her elder brother's words, and the Type: Null lowered its head.
"If I have to guess, those Civilight corrupted scoundrels sent you here to demonstrate your power as a 'weapon', according to the purpose of your creation, right?" Richard asked.
"…" The Type: Null slowly nodded to the Latios.
"And... You being here also explained how could those scoundrels break the seal at the entrance of Cave of Ages." Richard said as he opened the file and looked inside it. "You, a Type: Null, were created by fusing the DNA of all 18 types of Pokemon in order to create an ultimate Pokemon, however, as a result of this, you went berserk, so those corrupted scoundrels suppressed your power with that ugly helmet you are wearing. However, despite all of this, while the DNA of all 17 types in your body were suppressed, turning you into a pure Normal type Pokemon, those DNAs are still exist within your body, and so… The seal at the entrance of Cave of Ages must have recognize you as a Dragon type Pokemon due to the DNA of Dragon type Pokemon, enabled you to destroy the seal and let those—"
"Brother, that's enough!" Rachael said as she looked at the Type: Null, who was lowering its head the whole time while listening to Richard's words. "You don't have to say all of that cruel things!"
"… That's right. I have gone quite too far." Richard said and turned his attention to the Type: Null before bowing his head a bit in the manner of apologizing. "I sincerely apologize for the offensive words I have said to you."
"…" The Type: Null nodded in the manner of forgiving to the Latios.
"And that's enough of that…" Richard continued speaking and turned his attention back to his younger sister. "Rachael, I think that we may have forgotten about someone..."
"Oh!" Rachael had just realized that she completely forgot about Korben, who was still lying unconscious on the floor. "Korben, are you alright?! Can you answer me?!"
"…" Korben did neither say anything nor move any part of his body, but it was clear that he was still alive.
"… Thanks goodness…" Rachael said. "Korben had just fallen unconscious. I am sure that he will recover and wake up soon, so there's nothing to worry about him."
"Great, because we have another thing to worry about, a huge one, indeed." Richard said as he looked at the entire Hidden Village of Dragon, which was now in a state of disturbance and chaos after everyone from this village had observed Elder Baldr being killed in front of their eyes, so they lost their will to fight and were now panicking. This resulted in the enemy force was able to break through the defend line and were now moving toward the center square of the village!
"Rachael! Richard! Korben!"
Before Rachael and Richard could do anything else, they heard two familiar voices calling their name, and a second later, two Pokemon appeared from inside the house and stepped onto the balcony.
"Freya! Snow!" Rachael called the name of two Pokemon who had just appeared.
"Rachael, Richard! Thanks goodness that both of you are safe!" Freya said.
"We saw what happened to Elder Baldr while we were at the center square, and everyone was panicking, so we decided to come here and—ARR!" Snow said before the last part of his words was cut off when he noticed the presence of the blood-soaked Type: Null, the very same Pokemon who had just murdered Elder Baldr out of cold blood.
"!" Same as Snow and Freya who quickly stepped away after seeing it, the Type: Null quickly stepped away after it heard Snow and Freya's scream.
"Relax, both of you. This Pokemon won't do any harm to us anymore!" Rachael said.
"H… How could you say something like that?!" Snow asked.
"T… This Pokemon had just killed Elder Baldr, as well as everyone who were fighting at the entrance of the village!"
"No time to explain right now." Richard said. "Snow, Freya, what about everyone else at the center square?! What about Noctus, Claura, Xavier, Zetarus, Diego?! And did Damos, Dimitri, Anastasia and Baromyteus come back yet?!"
"I… I don't know about Damos, Dimitri, Anastasia and Baromyteus…" Snow said. "For Noctus, like others from this village, became panic after Elder Baldr was killed. And because the center square is no longer a safe place since everyone started panicking, and the defend line was already lost, I quickly took Freya with me and escaped from the crowd before any danger could befall us. Call me a coward if you want to."
"… No." Richard said. "If Rachael and I are in the same situation, I would do the same thing you did, Snow, so no need to apologize."
"F… For Claura, Xavier, Diego and Zetarus… W… We don't know exactly what happen to them right now…" Freya answered. "B… But I am quite sure that they are still in the midst of battle and confusion near the center square."
"… This is the worst!" Richard said. "I don't blame everyone in this village for being panicked after seeing their elder being killed, because, despite being a Dragon type Pokemon with a strong and sturdy heart, they had lived a peaceful life without conflict and chaos for so long, resulting in their heart being softened. But now…"
"…" Freya and Snow said nothing after hearing Richard's words.
"… Onii-chan, what should we do now?" Rachael asked. "… Are we really going to die here?"
"…" Richard didn't say anything, because he didn't know what to tell his sister…
With their elder being killed, everyone had already lost their will to fight…
The enemies were far too strong for them to defeat…
Because of the location of the village, there's no way for any of them to escape from this place…
So… Right now, Richard didn't know what to do…
He was now at the end of the road…
He was at the utmost desperation…
Wait, the utmost desperation?
"… Fine." Richard mumbled before he touched the Luster Pendant that he was always wearing. "Lord of Blindness, I need your help, RIGHT NOW!"
'Finally? I knew that someone with an inferior wisdom like you would eventually crawl back and beg for my help…'
"Save your insult for later!" Richard said. "Tell us… No, please tell us what to do at a time like this!"
'That's better… Okay, listen well…'
"Um…" Freya spoke up after she saw Richard started speaking to himself with strange words. "Richard, are you—"
"Shh!" Rachael quickly told Freya to be quiet for now, so the Flygon decided to say nothing more despite she still didn't understand what is Richard doing. The same thing also applied to Snow too, but Snow decided not to say anything from the start, as he thought that maybe it's something that he shouldn't know.
"… Got it." Richard said before he turned his attention to Rachael, Snow and Freya. "Everyone, we have a work to do right now. This work will determine the fate of everyone in this village."
"Really?!" Rachael said. "So… It meant that we can save everyone here?!"
"Yes, but we need to be quick, and do not question me about all of this right now." Richard said. "First, you must tell everyone to evacuate to the shrine of this village."
"The shrine?" Rachael, Snow and Freya said as the image of the sacred shrine that's located to the south of the village appeared in their mind. "Why did we have to go—"
"I said no question right now!" Richard scolded. "I need everyone at the shrine, right now! Can you all pass this message to everyone in this village?"
"… I don't think this will be easy…" Freya said. "Right now, everyone was panicking, and the enemies have almost reached the center square... And I don't think that I am good at passing the message to everyone at this state…"
"Me too…" Snow said.
"And me too…" Rachael said. "If it was someone like either Claura or Diego, I think that they would be able to do it, but without a way to contact them…"
'Then… Leave this to me…'
"Hm?!" Rachael looked at her Mist Pendant that she always wore after she heard a voice of her Dragon Legend. "Can you do it, Ilia?"
'Yes. I think I may be able to contact the Dragon Legend of other Pokemon who have formed a pact with Legendary Pokemon around here with my power, so, I will try to contact to the Dragon Legend of Diego and Claura.'
"That's great!" Rachael said before she remembered something. "Well… Ilia, if you can, could you contact to Zetarus, Xavier, Anastasia and Baromyteus too? Just in case that they got separated from others, or if something happened to Diego and Claura…"
'Understood… I will see it through at once.'
"Thank you, Ilia!" Rachael said.
"Hm… That really helps a lot…" Richard said. "But I'm starting to wonder, if Ilia could contact everyone, then why didn't Lord of Blindness contact everyone else by himself? No, I know the answer. It's because his communication skill is at the lowest rank…"
"Um… Rachael… Richard…" Freya spoke up again. "You spoke to yourself again… And… I think I heard you say the name of someone…"
"Save your question for later." Richard said. "For now, Rachael was trying to contact Zetarus, Diego, Claura, Xavier, Anastasia and Baromyteus to pass my message. So, the only thing we must do right now is going to the village shrine as soon as possible!"
"Wait a minute, Onii-chan." Rachael said. "What about this Pokemon?"
Rachael turned her attention to the Type: Null, who had been silenced for several minutes as it gazed toward the chaotic village below.
"… Hey, Type: Null…" Richard said as he approached the Type: Null.
"?" The Type: Null turned its attention to Richard and looked at him with gentle eyes.
"Right now, we need to evacuate to the shrine of this village." Richard said. "It's not safe anymore to stay anywhere else in this village, so, you should come with us."
"!" The Type: Null quickly shook its head and took a step away from Richard after hearing his words. It seemed to disagree with the Latios' idea.
"Please…" Rachael said as she approached the Type: Null too. "You can't stay here! Those Pokemon from Civilight will kill you if they found out about this! Please!"
"…" The Type: Null still shook its head.
"Please…" Rachael continued speaking. "Onii-chan and I had left you in the misery once, and we both regret our action very much… So… Please…"
"…" This time, the Type: Null didn't do anything. All it did was lowering its head.
"… If you still think of yourself as a murderer that will not be accepted by anyone, stop that thought for just this moment." Richard said. "We don't have much time left, and while we are wasting our time here, the enemies are killing everyone! So, stop that thought for this moment, there's still a time for redemption, but not now!"
"…" The Type: Null finally nodded after hearing Richard's words.
"Finally…" Richard said. "Okay, everyone. Let's move!"
"Okay!" Rachael and Snow said, but Freya still hesitated a bit.
"Wait a minute…" Freya spoke up. "Where's Korben? I thought that he was here with you too."
"Oh, he's here." Richard said as he quickly approached the unconscious Hakamo-o and picked his body up. "He has just fallen unconscious, nothing to worry about him right now."
"And we can't leave him here, so we must take him to the shrine with us, somehow." Rachael said.
"… Type: Null… Can you help me about this?" Richard spoke to the Type: Null. "Can you carry this guy on your back as we all go to the village shrine?"
"…" The Type: Null nodded to Richard before it walked up to the Latios and stopped beside him to let Richard placed Korben on its back.
'… Rachael, can you hear me?'
"Hm?" While Richard was placing Korben's body on the Type: Null's back, Rachael heard a voice of her Dragon Legend again. "Ilia, did you contact everyone yet?"
'Yes, and I can confirm that Zetarus, Diego, Claura and Xavier are still alive, and they all did receive my message. However, while I can confirm that I was able to pass my message to the Dragon Legend of Anastasia and Baromyteus, I can't confirm that both of them did receive my message, as well as their status.'
"Oh, no…" Rachael mumbled. "But… Both Baromyteus and Anastasia are strong, so… I hope nothing bad happens to them…"
"Finally…" Richard said after he finished placing Korben's body on the Type: Null back. "Make sure that you don't drop his body, okay?"
"…" The Type: Null nodded in response.
"And now, let's not waste any more time." Richard said. "Everyone, to the village shrine!"
"Right!" Rachael, Freya and Snow said (While the Type: Null just nodded in response), and then everyone left the balcony of Elder Baldr's house (By flying or jumping down from the balcony since there was a pile of hay near the house, so Snow and the Type: Null could land softly on the ground while Richard, Rachael and Freya flew down from the balcony.) and then all of them started running toward the south of the entire village. Their destination this time was… the village shrine…
-Meanwhile… Somewhere in the Valley of No Return…
"ARGGG!"
"Huurrrgggg…"
After the veil of black smoke disappeared, the sound of two Pokemon roaring echoed through the Valley of No Return at the same time, before the owners of both voices collapsed on the ground at the same time, leaving only one Pokemon standing there…
"Anastasia, are you alright?!" The only Pokemon who was still standing said as he quickly approached his younger sister who had just collapsed on the ground. He then quickly reached his paw to his pouch and pulled out a Reviver Seed and two Oran Berry before feeding the Reviver Seed and one of the Oran Berry her with both items.
"Arrr…." Anastasia mumbled as she slowly regained her consciousness and opened her eyes.
"… You overused your power again, didn't you?" Baromyteus said while he chewed on the last Oran Berry he had to regain his strength. "You know that I don't like when you did this, right?"
"…I am sorry, brother." Anastasia said. "If both of us didn't use the power of our Dragon Legend, we wouldn't have won. That's the prove that he has become much stronger during the past 30 years…"
"…No." Baromyteus said as he turned his attention to the other Pokemon who was still collapsed on the ground. "Like us having the power of Legendary Pokemon, that bastard also has the power of the Blood of Legend in his veins. If he doesn't have that power, and I haven't formed a pact with my Dragon Legend, he would never be able to defeat me. The worst that could happen is that none of us could defeat each other."
Baromyteus then slowly approached collapsed Rucas, who had already returned to his Lucario form due to losing too much power in the battle. "Anastasia, do you still… you know, about this bastard?"
"Well…" Knowing what her brother hated most, Anastasia decided not to lie to him. "During the past 30 years, I always have this forbidden feeling about him… But… Seeing him just now… And observe what he has done to all of us… No… I don't know about this…"
"Then, take it easy and forget about it." Baromyteus said as he turned his attention to the Lucario on the ground. With him at the most vulnerable state and swords in the paws of the Shiny Haxorus, Baromyteus could easily kill Rucas and eradicated the Pokemon he hated most for good right now…
But…
"… I can't." Baromyteus said. "… I can't kill this bastard."
"You can't?" Anastasia was surprised after hearing her brother's words, especially since she knew her brother's feeling toward this Lucario.
"… Right now, when I see this pathetic Lucario…" Baromyteus glanced at Rucas a bit before turning his attention to his younger sister. "All I saw in front of my eyes is the reflection of myself… 30 years ago…"
"Yourself?" Anastasia asked.
"This guy is pathetic, and so did I 30 years ago." Baromyteus said as he turned his attention to the Lucario again. "After being exiled from the place I was born, I continued living alone in the wilderness as a savage beast who only knows how to kill others, and I refused to contact with anyone else, well… Except a certain Zoroark… And… After several years of living alone, I had grown stronger, but my heart had grown numb of any kind of compassion…"
"That's…" Anastasia mumbled.
"At first, I thought that, being a Pokemon with a cursed blood, I didn't need any kind of compassion in my heart, so I continued to seal my heart out of any feeling. But… 30 years ago… During the journey with those Hero/ine of Legend, the seal of my heart had started to crack, and my heart started to yearn for the compassion."
"…" Anastasia said nothing.
"Come to think of it, I think that I was really desperate for a feeling of compassion." Baromyteus said. "Being exiled and treated like a wild beast at a young age had left a large scar in my heart, a scar that could only be healed by the feeling of compassion, but I refused to acknowledge this and continued to forbid my heart to feel the compassion. That may explain the feeling I have toward her… Since she was the first person in my life to offer her compassion to a creature like me."
"… You spoke about Fenrir, right?" Anastasia asked.
"Hm." Baromyteus nodded to his younger sister. "After being defeated by the Hero/ine of Legend 30 years ago, I started a new life by travelling together with you, Anastasia. During these time, with you by my side, my heart was able to feel the compassion it longed for several decades, and I started to become more and more like 'normal' people. But… I have never known that… Being able to feel the compassion would make me become stronger…
"… Then…" Anastasia said. "Rucas, he…"
"But this guy…" Baromyteus said as he turned his attention to Rucas again. "I can sense from our battle earlier than his heart had grown numb of any kind of compassion, just like me 30 years ago…"
"Something must have happened to him and turned him into a creature like this…" Anastasia said.
"… But even if that's true, it still changes nothing." Baromyteus said. "He has committed a great sin to everyone here, and I can't forgive me for everything he had done, so…"
'… Baromyteus.'
'… Anastasia.'
"Hm?!" Anastasia and Baromyteus quickly looked at their respective Dragon Relic, which were their bracelets, which were glowing with a mysterious pale purple aura, after they both heard a grand and majestic voice of their Dragon Legend.
'Anastasia, I have just received a message from Ilia the Latias. She is the Dragon Legend of a Latias named Rachael.'
"Rachael?" Anastasia said.
'She told us to tell you and your sister to come back to the Hidden Village of Dragon as soon as possible, Baromyteus.'
'She also mentioned that the village is about to fall, so you must hurry.'
'Also, she said that everyone will be at the shrine of village, so you and your sister must go there.'
'This is important, Anastasia. Make sure that you follow this.'
'Same to you, Baromyteus. Do not do anything hasty like what you always did, or thing might become worse.'
After that, both bracelets stopped glowing, ending the words of both Dragon Legend right here.
"Brother, we must go back to the village now." Anastasia said. "The village is about to be destroyed, and we can't waste any more time."
"…" Baromyteus looked at the unconscious Lucario on the ground, and then he looked at the corpse of Dimitri and Damos not too far from him.
"Brother…" Anastasia said. "Don't tell me that…"
"…No, I won't do that." Baromyteus said and put away his swords. "This bastard…" Baromyteus glanced at Rucas. "… is too pathetic for me to kill him, and because he did spare our lives once 30 years ago, I will spare his life, just this once, as a way to repay his little compassion that he offered to us."
"Oh, brother!" Anastasia said.
"And for their revenge…" Baromyteus said and glanced at Dimitri and Damos' corpses, which were laying not too far from the Lucario. "I have no need to do it, as this pathetic Lucario would eventually die, so that both of them would have plenty chances to execute their revenge in the afterlife."
"Brother, I… I am glad that you…" Anastasia said before she shook her head. "No, there's no more time to lose. Brother, let's go."
"Hm." Baromyteus nodded to his sister, and then he glanced at the dead Dimitri and Damos for one last time before he put his demonic helmet back to cover his demonic face (To be more accurate, demonic skull) and then he and his sister started running toward the south of where they were, which was the direction to the Hidden Village of Dragon…
But…
"Arr…"
A moment after Baromyteus and Anastasia had already left, the only Pokemon who was still alive around there had slowly regained his consciousness.
"T… They…" Rucas mumbled as he tried to stand up. "Could it be that they…"
-Meanwhile… At the Center Square of Hidden Village of Dragon…
Contrast to what Anastasia and Baromyteus heard, the Hidden Village of Dragon, the historical settlement first created about 2000 years ago, by the savior of the Dragon type Pokemon, who gathered the remaining Dragon type Pokemon and brought them to the inaccessible valley, where they built a settlement and continued living there in peace and harmony for almost two millennia, wasn't about to fall soon…
Because…
The Hidden Village of Dragon…
It had already fallen…
"BOOOM!"
"PHEEEWWWW!"
"CRAAAAASSSSH!"
With their leader being killed, the Dragon type Pokemon of the Hidden Village of Dragon had lost their will to fight, resulting in the enemies, which mostly consisted of the soldier from the Civilight Army, were able to reach the entire area of this village, and the order they received from their superior was…
"Don't let anyone escape. Kill any Dragon type Pokemon you saw, and don't forget to destroy everything in this village."
And so, whenever the invaders from the world outside the valley followed their order by killing everyone in this village, be a matured dragon, a young boy, an old dragon, or an dragon whelp, they killed them all.
"ARRGGGG!"
"URGGGG!"
"ARRUUGGG!"
"AHHGGGUU!"
"AHHHH!"
The Hidden Village of Dragon was in the full state of chaos, as the Dragon type Pokemon of this village were running around the entire village, trying to escape from the reaper's grasp as the invaders chased after them and shot them to death at any chance given to them.
"YARHHH!"
"PHEEWWW!"
"ARGGG!"
Some Dragon type Pokemon, when at the last moment of their life as they had no way to run, turned back to fight their enemy for the last time because they were the Dragon type Pokemon. They choose to accept death, rather than abandon their pride…
"BOOOOMMMM!"
"ARRGGGG!"
Some Dragon type Pokemon went into the building to hide from the invader's attack, but that was a very bad idea as the invaders were ordered to destroy everything in this village too, so they blasted every buildings they saw and set everything else on flame, which slowly killed any dragons who couldn't escape from inside in time… While the dragons who could escape in time were immediately killed by their enemies as they stepped outside the house…
"BRINE!"
"SHHHHH!"
"WHAT?!"
Claura roared as she tried to put away the fire that was kindled by the enemies on a house using the move Brine, but for some reason, the salt water that was shot from her snout immediately frozen into ice as it touched the flame!
"It's useless, Claura." Xavier said as he stood just beside his cousin. "If I have to guess, I would say that this flame isn't an ordinary flame, but it's some kind of ice flame that's as cold as a frozen hell instead of as hot as the volcano pit, it freezes instead of burns object, making water useless against them."
"AND WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THIS!" Claura roared. "THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE INSIDE THIS HOUSE! IF WE DON'T—"
"CRASSSHHHH!"
Before the Kingdra could finish her sentence, the house that she tried to save crumbling onto the ground, turning them into a pile of ruins in a blink of eyes. This also meant that everyone else who was still inside this house was…
"… If you want to, the only thing you can do is pray for their souls." Xavier said. "But now, our first priority is to gather as many survivors as possible!"
After receiving a message from Ilia the Mega Latias, Claura and Xavier quickly roamed around the village, as much as they could, to find any survivors who may still alive. However, whenever they found any survivor, either they were killed right in front of their eyes, or they were quickly killed by the enemy after Claura and Xavier rescued them, resulting in Claura and Xavier were able to rescue no one…
"DAMN IT!" Claura roared in frustrating. "WE COULDN'T SAVE ANYONE! I WAS SUCH A FAILURE!"
"Hey… If you want to blame yourself, at least we must save ourselves first." Xavier said. "For now, we should find—"
"HEY! CLAURA! XAVIER! OVER HERE!"
"!" Claura and Xavier quickly turned their attention to the source of the voice, who was no other than Diego the Mega Charizard X, who was standing in front of Elder Baldr's house not too far from them, along with Zetarus the Garchomp.
"Diego! Zetarus!" Claura said as she and Xavier quickly approached both of them. "Did you find anyone else?"
"And do you see anyone else with us?!" Diego asked. It seemed like he was quite upset that he and Zetarus, like Claura and Xavier, couldn't save anyone else.
"Right." Zetarus said. "We couldn't save anybody else…"
Like Claura and Xavier, Zetarus and Diego also received the message from Ilia the Mega Latias too. So they went to look for the survivors on the west side of the village, while Claura and Xavier went to look for the survivor on the east side of the village. And then both group went down from the center square to the south of the village before they met up with each other in front of Elder Baldr's house, which was the southernmost house in the village. None of them went to the north of the village because they knew that there was nothing left there and no one else was still alive…
"That's really bad…" Claura said. "We, too, couldn't save anyone."
"And… No one else in this village is still alive." Xavier spoke up.
"That's not even the worst part…" Zetarus said. "A while ago, we spotted Noctus the Noibat, who was crying alone in the middle of the burning building."
"Noctus?!" Claura and Xavier said after they heard the name of a young, helpful Noibat who was always helping them.
"But… He isn't here with you…" Xavier said.
"… Don't tell me that…" Claura said.
"… And we tried to save him when…" Zetarus said.
"… When the building crumbling down…" Diego finished Zetarus' sentence.
A moment of silence followed the Mega Charizard X's words, as they truly knew what had just happened to the poor Noibat…
"… Noctus… He had met the same fate that his friends, Lyzia and Unos, had met…" Diego said.
"I can still remember his voice…" Zetarus mumbled. "After the building crumbled, he cried in pain as he was slowly killed by that flame, while neither of us could do anything. It was… just like my time in the Desert Prison…"
"Damn it…" Claura mumbled. "Why did it have to be like this… I don't understand."
"And now, there's nothing else that we can do…" Xavier said. "So, everyone… Let's go to the village shrine. That place is located in the southernmost area of this village… No, of the entire Valley of No Return, so the enemy should have not reached that place yet…"
"Good, that's what I want to say if we aren't in a situation like this." Diego said. "Now let's get our butts moving and—"
"CRASH!"
"WATCH OUT, EVERYONE!"
Suddenly, the whole balcony of Elder Baldr's house (The very same place that Elder Baldr, Korben, Rachael, Richard, Freya, Snow and the Type: Null stayed earlier.) cracked and crumbled down after being damaged by the 'Ice Flame', that it fell directly below, to the spot where everyone was standing!
Luckily, Zetarus, Diego, Claura and Xavier did notice their surroundings when they saw that the balcony was cracking, so they were able to get away just before the balcony fell down and trapped them under the ruin of frozen flame.
"Whew! That was close!" Zetarus said after he and everyone had just survived a near-dead experience.
"Everyone, are you alright?!" Diego asked.
"I am fine." Claura answered.
"So do I." Xavier said.
Four dragons then looked at Elder Baldr's house, which was being damaged by the frozen flame generated from the advanced weapon used by the Civilight soldiers, making the whole house, which was the very same house they stayed during their time in this village, slowly crumbling into nothing more than a pile of ruins…
"… Let's not waste any more time." Claura spoke up. "Everyone, to the village shrine."
"Hm." Xavier, Zetarus and Diego nodded to the Kingdra's words.
After finished their conversation, four Pokemon turned their attention to the south of Elder Baldr's house, and then all of them were about to start moving, when…
"Hey! There're more of them right there!"
"Don't let them escape! Kill them all!"
"Sxxt." Diego said as he saw a group of ten soldiers who had just spotted them started running toward them, with hi-tech weapon in their grasp. "They are here!"
"Leave them to me!" Zetarus said as he touched his Ring of Balance, making it start glowing with a mysterious green light. "Zygarde, I summon you!"
'THOUSAND WAVES!'
"ARRRGGG!" The soldiers of Civilight Army roared as they were attacked by several green waves on the ground, which also trapped them onto the ground!
"That should do it… For now." Zetarus said.
"Come to think of it, we should have just summoned our Dragon Legend and killed all of our enemies." Diego said.
"That won't do." Claura said. "There are too many of them for us to defeat them all."
"And because of the pact we formed with our Dragon Legend, while we could summon our Dragon Legend definitely, every time we summon them, we will have to use a certain amount of our energy, depend on which Legendary Pokemon you have formed a pact with, as well as the move they use." Xavier said. "And so, we can't summon them forever, or we will collapse from exhaustion."
"Yeah, spare your fxxxxxg detail for later!" Diego said. "For now, run!"
Zetarus, Diego, Xavier and Claura turned their back to their enemies, who were still stuck onto the ground by Zygarde's Thousand Waves, and then they started running to the south of the village, to the shrine located in the southernmost area of the Valley of No Return…
"CRASH!"
Just a bit after they left Elder Baldr's house, the house couldn't take the damage from the frozen flame that was destroying it anymore, so Elder Baldr's house, the biggest building in the Hidden Village of Dragon, as well as the house of the elder of this village, crumbled down into a pile of ruin, leaving not any sight of a once-majestic house, just like anywhere else in this village…
-Meanwhile… At the shrine south of the village…
"Here we are…"
A group of six Pokemon, which consisted of a Latios, a Latias, a Flygon, a Draconic Lapras, an unconscious Hakamo-o, and a blood-soaked Type: Null, reached the ancient shrine located south of the village. This place was the same place that the Latios and the Latias paid a visit during the very first day they arrived at this village.
"Finally, we have arrived here…" Freya said. "This place… It looks so eerie…"
"But it seems like there's no one else around here, so we must be the first group that arrives here." Rachael said.
"… Which is great." Richard said. "Now, let's go inside."
After finished speaking, Richard, along with his younger sister, was about to head into the shrine when they noticed that no one else did follow them.
"What's wrong, everyone?" Rachael asked when she noticed that neither Freya nor Snow did follow them, and the blood-soaked Type: Null seemed to hesitate to follow them into the shrine.
"… Snow and I will stay here, at the entrance of this shrine." Freya said. "If we saw anyone coming, be our friends, we will let them know that we are already here before we let them inside."
"But if it's our enemy…" Snow said. "At least, we warn both of you about them, and then we will try to hold them on as long as we could."
"But—" Rachael tried to say something, but Freya spoke up first.
"It's better than all of us going inside, and the next thing we knew is that the enemy are here, right at the entrance of the shrine, trapping all of us inside with no way to escape." Freya said. "My eldest brother once told me about this before…"
"… And whoever he is, he was right." Richard said. "Well, then… Freya, Snow, I'm counting on you, but if everyone else is already here, I want both of you, along with everybody else, to retreat into this shrine, no exception, okay."
"Okay…" Freya said. "I will do as you say, Richard."
"Trust me, Richard." Snow said. "I will not let you down."
"Thanks." Richard said before he turned his attention to the blood-soaked Type: Null, who was now standing just beside Rachael. He was still carrying the unconscious Hakamo-o on his back. "Type: Null, we need to take Korben to a safe place, so I want you to come with us inside."
"…" The Type: Null nodded to the Latios, and it was clear for Richard and Rachael to see that it seemed to be relieved that it didn't have to stay outside the shrine, despite it, like Freya and Snow, wanted to protect this shrine too, but the situation might become worse if it stayed outside, as the only Pokemon who could get close to it; a blood-soaked Type: Null who has murdered most dragons of the Hidden Village of Dragon, including the elder of the village, were Rachael and Richard.
"Then, let's go." Richard said before he headed inside the shrine, followed by Rachael and the blood-soaked Type: Null, who was carrying the unconscious Hakamo-o on his back, leaving Freya and Snow outside the shrine.
"I don't know what you have in your mind, Richard…" Snow mumbled and looked at the entrance of the shrine after Richard, Rachael and the Type: Null had already entered. "But… You are our last hope, so I will place all of my trust on you, Richard. You are the only one who could save us all…"
"Everyone…" While Snow was looking at the shrine, Freya looked back at the village, which was being destroyed by the army of invaders from the world outside Valley of No Return. "Everyone, I don't know what happen to you right now, as well as where you are, and what you are doing, but… I hope that you all will arrive here safely…"
-Meanwhile… Inside the shrine…
Inside the shrine, Richard, Rachael and the Type: Null were already in the large, circular hall of the shrine. Right now, the Type: Null had gently placed Korben down on the floor near one of the stone pillars inside the shrine, and Rachael was trying to heal the wound he received from his battle with this Type: Null earlier. Richard, on the other hand, was standing at the center spot of the shrine, in front of the altar where it was usually bathed in several rays of light shone down from all windows in this shrine, but right now, there was no ray of light shining onto the altar because the Solar Eclipse was happening.
"And now, I am here as you told me, Lord of Blindness." Richard spoke up as he stood in front of the altar. He was holding the Chronicle of Darkside in his paw.
'Good. Now, the next part is a very important part, so I will speak directly into your mind, so no one else will be able to hear my voice as you are the only one who would be able to hear what I am about to tell you.'
"… Don't tell me that you want me to do something dangerous?" Richard said.
'Not dangerous, at least for you, your sister and every Dragon type Pokemon.'
"…" Richard said nothing after he heard Holmer's voice.
'Well… Let's get started, shall we?'
"… What do you want me to do?" Richard asked.
'… Did you see what those lowly-developed creatures use just to increase the power of their firearm?' Instead of telling Richard what to do, Holmer asked yet another question.
"… They use the Essence of Soul harvested from the fallen warriors as a source of their weapon's energy." Richard answered. "And in order to collect enough Essence of Soul, not only harvest from the dead warriors, but they also need to kill any Pokemon, be their enemies or their allies."
'Correct. However, there is one thing that the brain of those lowly-developed creatures couldn't comprehend. It's the right method to use the Essence of Soul.'
"The right method to use the Essence of Soul?" Richard mumbled the words he had just heard.
'Those lowly-developed creatures may think that they have just discovered a great source of power for their vain ambition, but their rotten brain would never hope to grasp upon the true power of the Essence of Soul…'
"You mean that the Essence of Soul has much more potential than what we have seen?" Richard asked.
'Correct. If being used correctly, the Essence of Soul would become the most dangerous source of energy in the entire World of Pokemon… And this is what we would do.'
"What?!" Richard said after he heard Holmer's words.
'Other than the true power of the Essence of Soul, there's yet one more thing that those lowly-developed creature's mind couldn't grasp upon. It's the right method of harvesting the Essence of Soul. If being done correctly, they would get enough Essence of Soul to increase the power of all of their weapons from the moment that the Solar Eclipse happened, but because they didn't know the right method, they could only harvest about 20% of the amount of Essence of Soul that was released from a single dead body when its owner died, so they had to corrupt their souls by killing many Pokemon just to harvest enough Essence of Soul for their weapon. All of this resulted in a huge amount of Essence of Soul, which those lowly-developed creature couldn't hope to grasp upon, being left untouched everywhere around this village. And because they were left untouched, some of them had already disappeared while some of them still remained, but for only a few more moments before they disappeared too.'
"Let me guess…" Richard spoke up. "You want me to use the Chronicle of harvest the remaining Essence of Soul and use them for something, right?"
'And again that you have proven that you are a creature worthy of my power, as well as the vast amount of knowledge of this forbidden Chronicle, Richard.'
"… But I still have one more question, Lord of Blindness." Richard asked. "What would we use the Essence of Soul for?"
'Haven't you realized it yet, Richard? The Essence of Soul holds a vast amount of hidden potential, but because of its complication, no one ever dares to put it into good use, or they may suffer a harsh consequence. However, with the knowledge from the Chronicle, we would be able to draw the true power of the Essence of Soul and uses them as we see fit.'
"Wait…" Richard spoke up, as if he had just realized something. "D… Don't tell me that…"
'…You have already seen it, right? The power of the Essence of Soul from the weapons that those lowly-developed creatures use. However, that is but a tiny glimpse of Essence of Soul's real power. And so, with a vast amount of Essence of Soul that still remain in the battlefield, it's our turn to show the them real power of the Essence of Soul.'
"You want me… to use draw the hidden power from the Essence of Soul and use it to destroy the enemies?!" Richard mumbled.
'Finally… You finally understood… What I want you to do is… I want you to perform a ceremony to harvest all remaining Essence of Soul in this place and unleash its true power to destroy the enemies.'
"Wait a minute…" Richard spoke up again. "From what I have seen, the weapons those invaders used had caused a massive destruction to the whole village, as well as to everyone! But that is just a tiny part of the Essence of Soul's real power, so, if the true power of the Essence of Soul is unleashed, wouldn't it destroy everything in the Valley of No Return, including us all?!"
'…You are mistaken, Richard. There are two things that you don't understand correctly. One of them is the reason why we will use this shrine as a place to perform this ceremony here. This shrine… It isn't an ordinary shrine, but it's a sacred shrine built by the Dragon type Pokemon, so it contains a mysterious aura of the dragon. And so, we will use this mysterious aura to control the Essence of Soul so that it would not do any damage to the Dragon type Pokemon, and since everyone on our side is Dragon type Pokemon, all of us will be safe while the enemies will be obligated by the power of the Essence of Soul!'
"…" While hearing the words of his Dragon Legend relieved the Latios quite a bit, he still felt restless about doing this, as he knew that there was still something that's not right…
'And the second thing that you don't understand is… When you unleash the true power of the Essence of Soul, it won't destroy only the Valley of No Return…'
"Wait, what?!" Richard couldn't believe in the words he had just heard.
'… Because its power is far more than that, so… When you unleash the true power of the Essence of Soul, it won't only destroy the whole Valley, but its power will destroy everything in a wide area… Which meant that… It would totally destroy… the whole continent of Symmetria… And everyone who resides on it who isn't a Dragon type Pokemon.'
-Meanwhile… At the entrance of the Hidden Village of Dragon…
At the entrance of the village, a Manectric in the general uniform was standing there. He was observing the whole village being destroyed right in front of his eyes, which made a smile appear on his face.
"Good…" General Manectric mumbled.
"General Manectric!"
"Hm?" The attention of General Manectric was caught by the voice of a Civilight soldier, who was approaching him.
"How is thing going, soldier?" General Manectric asked.
"Everything goes according to our plan, sir!" The Civilight soldier answered. "We have destroyed every building in this place, as well as killing every Dragon type Pokemon. However, our scouts also spot a remnant group of Dragon type Pokemon is heading toward the south of this place!"
"They try to run away? Hm… Just when I thought that Dragon type Pokemon adores their pride above all…" General Manectric smirked. "But that doesn't change anything… There's nowhere for them to run away from us! Soldier! Tell the troop to pursue them and kill them all!"
"Yes, sir!" The Civilight soldier said before he quickly ran back to the village to continue his work, leaving General Manectric alone at the entrance of the Hidden Village of Dragon.
"Almost there… It's almost there…" General Manectric mumbled. "All other generals are already dead, and I am the only one left, not counting the Hero of Justice. With this, after this battle is over, everyone will acknowledge my deed…"
General Manectric then looked at the sky, which was still pitch black from the Solar Eclipse, which was still happening despite at least a few hours had already passed. "Soon… The fame and glory will all be mine, and I shall no more live under the control of anyone… And soon, I will become the president of Civilight instead of that Voltson, and with all Civilight under my grasp, I shall be the wealthiest and the most powerful Pokemon on this continent! It's just a bit further before everything became mine! Mine and mine alone! Everything will be—AHHHH!"
The words of General Manectric were cut off by his scream of pain, which immediately stopped when he suddenly collapsed on the ground, lying motionless, and it could be seen that he was already dead…
"What a corrupted bastard…" Baromyteus said as he drew one of his Dragon Claw Swords he used to stab General Manectric right at his heart, killing him in a single attack. "I think someone should change the name of Symmetria, from the 'Land of Equilibrium', to the 'Land of Corruption', because there are corrupted bastards everywhere on this continent."
"Brother, you are too pessimistic." Anastasia said as she looked at the corpse of General Manectric before she shook her head. "But I have to agree with your words. What this guy had done is unforgivable…"
"Right…" Baromyteus said as he looked at the village in front of him, which was being destroyed by the Civilight soldier and their 'frozen flame'. "We are too late… Those bastards… They… Look at what they had done…"
"Brother… Please try to control yourself." Knowing what her brother was thinking, Anastasia spoke up first. "I know what you are feeling right now, but…"
"I know…" Baromyteus said. "If it was 30 years ago, I wouldn't hesitate to unleash my rage by killing everyone in my sight, but now… Everything had changed… And I have become… softer… Both my spirit… and my body."
"Brother…" Anastasia approached her brother. "Are you alright?"
"… Let's go, Anastasia." Baromyteus said. "We have to pass through the village, which, if I am correct, has already been conquered by the enemies, so, do not leave my side."
"You always say that, brother." Anastasia said. "But in a time like this… I will."
"Hm." Baromyteus nodded to his younger sister, and then both of them started running into the Hidden Village of Dragon, which was being destroyed and were now fully occupied by the enemies, but because their destination was the shrine south of the village, they will have to cut through their enemy troop.
However…
Unnoticed by both Anastasia and Baromyteus, after both of them had already stepped into the area of the Hidden Village of Dragon, another Pokemon appeared from the Valley of No Return. While it was clearly visible that he was injured quite badly, he was still able to stand up and walk. And now, his attention was at two Dragon type Pokemon who had just entered the Hidden Village of Dragon.
"C… Come back there… B… Both of you…" The Pokemon who had just appeared said as he slowly walked toward the entrance of the Hidden Village of Dragon. "W… We are not done y… yet… T… There's still… I… I can still…"
-Meanwhile… At the shrine south of Hidden Village of Dragon…
"Freya! Snow!"
"Oh!" Freya and Snow turned their attention to the owner of the voice who had just called their name, which was none other than one of four Pokemon who were running up to them hurrily. Their appearance made a smile appeared on the face of the Draconic Lapras and the Flygon, especially the latter.
"Oh! Zetarus! Diego! Claura! Xavier!" Freya called the name of each Pokemon who were running up to them. "I'm so glad that you are alright! Oh, thanks heaven."
"Me too." Zetarus said as he, as well as three other Pokemon, stopped in front of the Flygon and the Draconic Lapras, which made all of them standing just in front of the shrine of the village.
"We have received a message that you all want us here." Claura said and looked around, as if she was trying to find someone. "Anyway, where're that Latios and Latias?"
"They are inside the shrine." Snow answered. "And Korben is also inside too."
"Korben is still alive?!" Claura said. "Good. At least you could save him..."
"W… What did you mean by that?!" Freya asked. "D… Don't tell me that…"
"…" Zetarus, Diego, Claura and Xavier didn't say anything. All they did was shaking their head in a manner of guilt and regret for their action…
"… At least, you all tried your hardest…" Snow spoke up with a soft-toned voice. "You all are not too blame about this…"
"Well… Maybe not…" Claura said. "We couldn't save anyone, especially Noctus. He died a painful death right in front of us, and all we could do was watching him as he was slowly tortured to death…"
"That's…" Freya said, but she couldn't say anything else because it was too much for her…
"…Anyway" Xavier decided to speak up "Why did Rachael and Richard want all of us here?"
"Well… Actually, we don't know too." Freya answered. "But Richard said that he knew a way that could save everyone from this battle, and in order to do that, he needs to come here."
"… It's a little too late for that, since everyone other than us was already dead…" Xavier said.
"Wait, what about Anastasia, Baromyteus, Dimitri and Damos?!" Freya asked. "Didn't you see them anywhere?!"
"Well, we didn't." Diego answered. "But we doubt that they are already dead, since they are not a kind of Pokemon who would die easily."
"Moreover, we only check around the village, not the entrance of the village and the area beyond that." Claura said. "So, personally, I also think that they are still alive."
"And I hope that they did." Snow said. "Anyway, since all of you are here, please hurry and go inside."
"What about both of you?" Zetarus asked. "And come to think of it, why are both of you here? Shouldn't both of you be inside the shrine with everybody else?"
"We are here because someone must keep an eye on anyone who would approach this place, be friends or enemies. If they are friends, we would let them inside, but if they are enemies, we would try to hold them off and alert everyone inside." Snow answered.
"Not bad…" Xavier said. "Alright, since we are here, we will take your place from here. Both of you can go inside now."
"What?!" Freya said. "B… But…"
"Freya, Snow, you both have already done enough…" Claura said. "From now on, leave everything to us."
"… Are you sure?" Snow asked.
"Snow, you have just recovered, so you shouldn't push yourself too hard." Xavier said. "That's also the reason why I did put you in the battle legion in the first place."
"… If that's your wish, then I will oblige." Snow said.
"And Freya, think about what will happen if something happen to you." Zetarus said. "If he knows that I let something bad happen to you, Terrus will put me back onto the execution block again."
"… Okay…" Freya said. "But… At least, let me do a quick healing to all of you, so you will regain your strength and recover from your fatigue."
"Fine." Diego said.
-Meanwhile… Inside the shrine…
"I… I can't do it." Richard said.
'That answer is invalid, Richard!'
"But it's the only answer I have! I can't do it!" Richard said.
'Richard, this isn't a time for you to be a wimp! You are the only one who can do it!'
"I can't!" Richard said. "How could you expect me to destroy the whole Symmetria with my own hand?!"
'Richard, didn't you say that you will do anything to keep you and your sister safe?! Are you someone who would easily break your promise?!'
"But…" Richard tried to say something, but this time, he couldn't find any words to say.
'Richard, sometimes, we will need to cast aside our feeling and emotion in order to do something. Sometimes, we need to choose the choice that's against what we have in our heart, even if it would leave us with a permanent brand of sin for our action. But that's part of our duties. When I was the king, I have to make several choices that's against the voice in my heart, and some of them even left me with grief and regret until today, however, like you, that's my duties, and I have to bear their consequences'
"…" Richard said nothing after he heard the Mega Latios' words, as everything that Holmer said made sense to him, and in the truth, he really wanted to do as his Dragon Legend said, but… Every time he tried to do it, a faint but clear picture suddenly appeared in his mind. It was a picture of several Pokemon… A moody female Heliolisk holding a bow… A strong but dumb Aggron with a giant bazooka… A flirty male Sceptile in a Samurai armor suit… A calm male Scyther in a ninja garb… A kindhearted male Ampharos in a doctor gown… And several more…
"… I still can't do it." Richard said."Call me weak or spineless or whatever you want… But… I can't do it! I CAN'T!"
"Richard! Rachael!"
Another voice called the name of the Latios. This time, however, it wasn't Holmer's voice, and the owner of the voice also called the name of his younger sister too.
"Freya? Snow?" Rachael said as she saw Freya and Snow walked from outside the shrine along the entrance hall into the main hall. (And as they approached Rachael and the unconscious Korben, the Type: Null, who was standing beside Rachael, quickly stepped away from all of them) "Why are both of you here?"
"Zetarus, Diego, Claura and Xavier have just arrived." Snow answered. "And they said that they will guard the entrance of the shrine in our place, so we came here to tell you about this."
"They are already here?! Rachael said. "Whew! That's a relief! But… What about others?"
"… We still don't know anything about Damos, Dimitri, Anastasia and Baromyteus…" Snow answered. "But for others…"
"Oh no!" Rachael said. "T… Then, Noctus, he…"
"Yes…" Freya said. "Claura, Xavier, Zetarus and Diego tried their hardest to save everyone, b… but…"
"That's terrible…" Rachael said. "How many Pokemon would have to die?! These invaders are the WORST!"
"…" Freya and Snow didn't say anything more, as both of them completely agreed with Rachael, and then, the whole hall of the shrine was overcome with silence once again, as no one said anything more, including Richard.
"…" Richard said nothing, even after he heard everything that Snow and Freya said.
'… Richard…'
"… I know, Lord of Blindness…"Richard mumbled. "I know it in the deepest part of my heart that everyone is being killed, yet I didn't try to do anything to stop it from happening… You are right… I am just a wimp. I am spineless. And I am not a worthy Pokemon to form a pact with you."
'… If you keep ranting, you will be truly unworthy of my power…'
"Hm?!" Richard was surprised a bit after hearing the words of his Dragon Legend, as it wasn't the words he thought that he would hear.
'I can see now, Richard, that, despite your outer shell, you are still the very same person the first time I met you, when I decided that you are worthy of my power, and because you are still the same person, my decision will never change…'
"…" Richard said nothing after hearing Holmer's words, as they reminded him of the time when he was incarcerated in the Civilight Laboratory… When he met Holmer for the first time…
'… Still, that barely changes anything! If you still insist on your idea, then it would be no different than ordering an execution to all of you!'
"There must be some other way!" Richard said. "There must be a way that can save us all without destroying everything!"
'… Actually, there is one last method that may save all of you.'
"Really?!" Richard said.
'However, I must warn you that the consequence of this method, while it may seem suppler than the first one, it may lead to a much harsher consequence, and once it happens, you will not be able to change anything for the rest of your life.'
"That doesn't matter, at least for now." Richard said. "Now, tell me about it!"
'… Very well…'
-Meanwhile… Outside the shrine…
"SCALD!"
"AIR SLASH!"
"DIG!"
"FLAMETHROWER!"
Outside the shrine, four Dragon type Pokemon, a Kingdra, a Dragonite, a Garchomp and a Mega Charizard X, were fighting against the first wave of enemies, which had just appeared not too long ago, and they wasted no time to attack them with their high-technology weapon, but if there was one thing that they didn't know, it's that four dragons in front of them weren't just a group of ordinary dragon.
"Frostic, I summon you!" Diego roared as he raised his paw upward, making the Ring of Ruins on his claw started glowing with a mysterious light blue aura.
'Glaciate!' A silhouette of a Kyurem appeared and summoned several icicles to attack all enemies, as well as slow down their movement!
"Thanks, Diego!" Claura said before she grabbed her Feather Brooch on her chest. "Reshiram, I need your help."
"You too, Zekrom." Xavier said as he reached his paw to the Scale Brooch on his chest. "Come here and help us!"
After both dragons finished speaking, a ring of light was formed under the feet of the enemies, and above them was a group of black cloud that was recently formed out of nowhere.
'FUSION FLARE!'
'FUSION BOLT!'
A silhouette of Reshiram appeared from the ring of light below the enemies at the same time that a silhouette of Zekrom appeared from the black cloud above the enemies, creating the veil of fire and lightning that attacked all enemies at once, as well as defeat them in one hit!
"Whew! I think that's all… For now…" Zetarus said after he saw that all enemies who tried to attack them had been defeated.
"Yeah…" Diego said. "This is just the start. The worst is yet to come."
"With the power of our Dragon Legend, we could hold them off quite a while longer…" Claura said. "But as Xavier and I said before, it won't last forever."
"And… Look. Someone is coming this way." Xavier said and pointed his paw forward, at two Pokemon who were approaching the shrine!
"!" Seeing this, Claura, Xavier, Zetarus and Diego immediately reequipped their weapon and got themselves in the attack stance, ready for the upcoming battle!
… Or not?
"… What are you all doing?" One of two Pokemon who was approaching the shrine asked as he saw four dragons in front of him holding their weapons in the manner that they could attack him at any moment, despite him not being their enemies.
"Baromyteus?" Claura said after she realized that two Pokemon who were approaching them were none other than Baromyteus and Anastasia.
"… Don't tell me that you all thought that Anastasia and I are your enemies?" Baromyteus asked. "That's lame."
"Couldn't be helped." Diego said as he, as well as Zetarus, Claura and Xavier, put away their weapon. "We are in a hard time, and everything has become completely sxxt."
"Right." Zetarus said. "If both of you didn't show up anytime soon, we would have thought that both of you are already dead."
"…" Baromyteus said nothing after he heard Zetarus' words.
"But… Even while both of you are here, I don't see Damos and Dimitri anywhere…" Xavier said. "Did you get separated from them? Or did they…"
"Yes." Baromyteus answered slowly. "Both of them are… already dead."
A moment of silence occurred after the Shiny Haxorus finished his words, as no one else did say anything for a few minutes after hearing the words of Baromyteus.
"So… Dimitri and Damos had already joined everyone else…" Xavier said.
"What?" Anastasia spoke up with a surprised voice after she heard the words of the Dragonite. "T… Then…"
"… Like Dimitri and Damos, everyone else in this village, be Noctus, Lyzia, Unos, Elder Baldr or others, are already dead." Claura said. "And it was because we couldn't save them in time."
"Oh! No!" Anastasia said and started crying. "W… Why?! Why did it has to come to this?!"
"… So, that explains…" Baromyteus mumbled. "While Anastasia and I were passing through the village before we came here, we didn't see any Dragon type Pokemon who is still alive, and… As I thought, my fear comes true at last…"
"… And that also means that… the only Pokemon from the Hidden Village of Dragon who is still alive… is Korben." Xavier said.
"What?!" Baromyteus spoke up. "Korben is still alive?!"
"Yes." Diego answered. "It seems like that Hakamo-o, along with Rachael, Richard, Freya and Snow, are inside the shrine right now."
"…" Baromyteus said nothing after he heard the words of the Mega Charizard X.
"Anyway…" Claura spoke up. "Since both of you are already here, it means that nobody else is out there, right?"
"Right." Baromyteus said. "We are the only Pokemon from our side who are still alive."
"Then, let's go inside, everyone." Zetarus said. "There's no need for us to stay outside this shrine anymore."
"Agreed." Xavier said. "We should go inside and barricade the shrine… To prepare for the worst."
"That's… awfully similar to the story of the first Hero/ine of Legend during War of the God I…" Diego mentioned.
"And that's very ironic." Xavier said. "In the story of the first Hero/ine of Legend, they were cornered by the army of Dragon type Pokemon, while now, we, a group of Dragon type Pokemon, are cornered by others instead."
"Knock it off, all of you." Claura scolded. "We are not the Hero/ine of Legend, so there's no way that both situations would be similar to each other!"
After finished speaking, Claura entered the shrine, and Xavier quickly followed her.
"Not similar? Maybe you are right, Claura." Diego said. "Their ending was like a stupid fairy tale when they were suddenly granted a power from the god to fight against their enemies, but for us… Unlike them, we are not pathetic."
"Heh… Well spoken, Diego." Zetarus said. "But no matter what, we won't die here for sure."
After finished speaking, Diego and Zetarus slowly walked into the shrine, leaving only Anastasia and Baromyteus just outside the shrine.
"… Let's go, Anastasia." Baromyteus said. "There's no need for us to stay outside any longer."
"…" Anastasia nodded softly to her brother, and then both of them started walking toward the entrance of the shrine…
But then… Just before they could enter the shrine…
"S… Stop r… right there… B… Both of you!"
"HM?!" Anastasia and Baromyteus were greatly shocked after hearing a voice of someone calling them, and it was the voice of someone they knew, as well as someone whom both of them had just battled not too long ago!
"!" The Goodra and the Shiny Haxorus quickly turned their head back and saw another Pokemon standing not too far from the entrance of the shrine. This Pokemon, however, was greatly injured, with many cuts and bruises on his body, and it seems like he could even barely stand up. However, his eyes still show a great burning spirit as he looked at both Dragon type Pokemon in front of them…
"R… Rucas?!" Anastasia said.
-Meanwhile… Somewhere in the Hidden Village of Dragon…
"Hey! Did the group that chased after the remnant that escaped to the south come back yet?"
"No, they won't come back anymore, as they all were already dead."
"The enemies killed them all? Damn it… We underestimate them…"
"Our scout also spot the Hero of Justice heads to the south of the village too."
"The Hero of Justice went there? So… He tried to defeat the enemies by himself… No, there's no more time to lose! We must go to his aid at once!"
"Okay! I will tell everyone who is still alive to head south, and then we will defeat those dragons, once and for all!"
"Right! Once and for all! So no one would suffer under their pride and arrogance again!"
-Meanwhile… In front of the shrine…
"Heh… F… Finally…" Rucas spoke with a shaking voice. "I… I haven't d… done with b… both of you yet… A… Anastasia… B… Baromyteus…"
"And what the hell are you doing here?!" Baromyteus spoke with an irritated voice. "Did the gate to Afterlife reject you so you have to cling onto your pathetic existence like this?"
"Y… Your tongue is s… still as sharp as ever…" Rucas said.
"… Just shut those nonsense things up and tell us what you want!" Baromyteus snarled. "I doubt you come here to battle us, as there is no way that you could win against us in that pathetic condition."
"Y… You underestimate me, B… Baromyteus." Rucas spoke with a sarcastic voice.
"What did you mean—" Baromyteus said, but just before he could finish his sentence…
"Everyone! Here they are!"
"Look! The Hero of Justice is already there!"
"It's time for us to end this!"
"Oh, great…" Baromyteus mumbled as he saw the ENTIRE army of invaders, which was mostly consisted of the Civilight soldiers, and the rest of them were the remnant of the Venturnome soldiers, Leafburg soldiers, Fireview soldiers, Riverbrine soldiers and Dustorm soldiers who were still alive. All of them were armed with their weapons. The sight that all of the invaders were here could only mean one thing; they planned to defeat their enemies right now and right here, once and for all.
"Heh… P… Perfect time…" Rucas said. "T… This will be a p… perfect chance for me t… to perform m… my duties as t… the Hero of Justice."
"And I afraid that I won't let you do it." Baromyteus said and drew his Dragon Claw Swords out, while Anastasia, who had been silenced for several minutes, picked up her Tenor Harp.
"Fool…" Rucas mumbled.
-Meanwhile… Not too far from where Anastasia, Baromyteus and Rucas were…
"Should we attack them right now?"
"Of course! We can't lose any more time! We must end this battle right now!"
"But the Hero of Justice is also in the way of our weapon! If we fire our weapons right now, the Hero of Justice will be killed too!"
"Look at him, you moron! His condition right now is as good as dead! He won't live long even if he survives this anyway!"
"But…"
"Enough of that! Think of what would happen if we wait any longer! Waiting longer means giving those damned dragons more time to recover and prepare a counterattack! We must not make a simple mistake like that!"
"And what about the Hero of Justice?! Should we let him die like this?!"
"Don't forget that, to achieve a greater cause, a sacrifice is always needed. Sacrificing just a single Pokemon to permanently defeat our enemies is really worth it, no matter what!"
"Y… You are right… I shouldn't hesitate about this at all…"
"Are you clear? Now, prepare for the massive final attack to end this battle, once and for all!"
"Right away!"
-Meanwhile…
"You bastard, just let me be clear right now and right here." Baromyteus spoke and pointed one of his Dragon Claw Swords at the Lucario in front of him. "I have always hated you to the deepest part of my heart, for everything you have done, both to Anastasia and me, for everything you say, and for everything you are."
"I know…" Rucas mumbled.
"And I have always wanted to kill you, even right now." Baromyteus said. "You said earlier that you are justice, and I am injustice, right? Come to think of it, you may be right. You always do everything according to your damned code of justice, while I always do everything that my heart told, regardless of other's moral, as I have my own moral. We are like two sides of a single coin, two sides that will never be same."
"Heh… Interesting…" Rucas mumbled. "E… Even if you are the e… embodiment of injustice… Y… You always be h… honest, b… both to yourself a… and anyone else… Y… You are t… truly the man of i… integrity…"
"Integrity? Heh…" Baromyteus mumbled. "Said that to the cursed Haxorus who possessed neither blood nor flesh is a bit wrong, don't you think?"
"S… Say what you want…" Rucas said. "B… But for me… Y… your i… integrity is still t… the most outstanding q… quality of you, a… as you t… told me that w… what you hate most a… are lie and deception, d… despite what you have d… done t… to all H… Hero/ine of Legend and m… me 30 years ago…"
"Why you?!" Baromyteus seemed to be triggered by the Lucario's words. His paw then firmly gripped onto the handle of his Dragon Claw Swords, preparing to strike the Lucario in front of him at any moment!
But before he could do that…
"FIRE!"
"!" Because the attention to Baromyteus and Anastasia were focused at the Lucario in front of them during past several minutes, they neglected the fact that the entire army of invaders was also here. But… It was already too late, as the moment that both of them realized that their enemies were here too was also the moment that all of their enemies fired their weapon at the same time at both of them!
"!" Baromyteus and Anastasia could react fast enough as several beams of energy being fired from their enemies' weapons moved toward both of them, like an arrow that was fired at the unaware prey!
"ARUG!"
"Rucas!" Anastasia said.
"!" The very last moment before the enemies' attack reached both of them, Rucas turned back to face the army of enemies and used the move Protect to prevent the enemies' attack to reach both Anastasia and Baromyteus!
"What are you doing, you bastard!?" Baromyteus roared as he realized what Rucas, the Pokemon whom he hated to the deepest part of his heart, was doing…
He was trying to save their lives!
"S… Simple… I… I am just… d… doing m… my duty a… as the H… Hero of Justice! UARG!" Rucas roared as the beams of energy that were fired from the enemies' weapon tried to break through his Protect, so he had to put more energy to maintain the protecting barrier he created. "A… After all… Y… You did s… show a mercy to me b… by sparing my life… S… So I came here j…just to repay you… S… So t… there will be n… nothing else left b… between e… each of us!"
"Are you an idiot?!" Baromyteus roared. "I spared your life just because you spared Anastasia and me 30 years ago! It was already over! There was nothing else between us!"
"Y… You fool… URG!" Rucas roared in pain as, because he had to put more and more of his life energy into the protecting barrier he created, the injuries he got from the battle earlier with Anastasia and Baromyteus started to take a toll on him! "Y… You didn't just s… spare my life, b… but you a… also g… grant me t… the thing I… I had always y… yearned for since 2… 21 years ago…"
"WHAT?!" Baromyteus and Anastasia said.
"C… Compassion." Rucas continued speaking while he also continued focusing his energy at the protective barrier he created. "I… It had been 21 years… M… My heart had a… always y… yearned for the action of c… compassion… A… And because y… you have just granted it onto me… M… My broken s… spirit was partly fixed…"
"Are you trying to say that you did this just because we granted you an act of compassion?!" Baromyteus roared, as he still couldn't believe in the words he had just heard! "You bastard! Think of the consequence of your action! You are now barely alive! If you keep doing this… Don't you know that you will die a very painful death?!"
"E… Even if I… I didn't do that… I… I would s… still die b… by your blade." Rucas said, as his strength was gradually drained as each second had passed!
"That's still better!" Baromyteus roared. "I said that I will be the one who killed you! But… Look at what you are doing! You are trying to get yourself killed instead of letting me kill you! Are you trying to make me break my own words, especially right after you said that I am a man of integrity?! ARE YOU TRYING TO DO SXXT ON ME, YOU BASTARD?!"
"Y… You still d… don't u… understand, B… Baromyteus!" Rucas roared. "I… If you d… didn't leave me w… with these wounds, I… I wouldn't easily d… die l… like this! S… So, it's s… still change d… doesn't change t… the fact t… that you a… are t… the one w… who kill me, Baromyteus! ARUGG!"
"RUCAS!" Anastasia cried as she saw the Lucario fell down on his knee, as his strength and life energy almost ran out! However, he still didn't give up! Instead, he put even more of his energy into his protecting barrier!
"Hey! What is the Hero of Justice doing?!"
"It seems like he is trying to protect those dragons!"
"What?! Don't tell me that he has already betrayed us?!"
"Right! There is no way that he would help those dragons except that he has already betrayed us!"
"That's it! Everyone! Increase the power of your weapon! We will deal with the Hero of Justice first before we deal with those dragons!"
"AURRRGGGGG!" Rucas roared in pain as the energy beams that were fired from the enemies' weapon became more powerful, and with his remaining strength, he couldn't hold onto this much longer!
"RUCAS!" Anastasia cried as she saw the Lucario in front of her tortured himself just to save their lives!
"GO, BOTH OF YOU!" Rucas roared. "AND DON'T DARE TO DIE! IF YOU DIE, I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"
"AND I WILL BE THE ONE WHO WILL NOT FORGIVE YOU, YOU BASTARD!" Baromyteus roared.
"I DON'T NEED ANY OF YOUR FORGIVENESS!" Rucas roared.
"YOU BASTARD!" Baromyteus roared at the Lucario again, however, before he could do or say anything else, he felt something hitting his face, as if someone had just slapped him on his face!
"YOU DRAGON JERKY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Claura, who had just appeared from inside the shrine, roared at the Shiny Haxorus.
"Y… YOU SALTY SEAHORSE?!" Instead of being angry at Claura because she had just slapped him on his face using her tail, Baromyteus was surprised to see that Claura was here.
"COME ON! EVERYONE'S WAITING INSIDE!" Claura said. " IF YOUR SLUGGISH ACTION COST US WITH OUR LIVES, I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"
"…Fine." Baromyteus mumbled and turned his attention to Anastasia, who seemed to be very worried about Rucas. "Anastasia, let's go, now."
"But Rucas—" Anastasia said.
"NOW!" Baromyteus scolded at his younger sister.
"… Okay…" Anastasia mumbled, and then she turned her attention to look at Rucas, whose energy was almost run out, for one last time before she followed Baromyteus and Claura into the shrine...
"Finally, they are gone…" Rucas mumbled after he realized that Baromyteus and Anastasia had already left, and now, his energy was almost run out, making the protecting barrier become weaker and weaker as the time passed. "With this… I will have nothing left in my life that I haven't dealt with yet… Except for… My family…"
"Farewell… My sister… I am sorry that I couldn't be with you anymore… So… Be strong… Even when I am not with you… Zira…"
"Farewell… Ridley…Fenrir Jr. … I hope that both of you grow up to be strong and good people, both your mind and spirit… And… Don't let your mind being corrupted like your father…"
"And… Forgive me for not being able to be with you anymore… I know that you will be angry with my, my love, but… I will pay for my sin later in the Afterlife… After we reunited again…"
"And before that day, the day of our reunion, arrives, please take care of our sons, as well as yourself, my love…"
"Farewell, my love. May we meet again in our afterlife… I will be looking forward to see you again… I promise…"
"Fenrir…"
-Meanwhile… Inside the shrine…
"What the fxxk took both of you so long just to come here?" Diego asked after he saw Baromyteus and Anastasia, as well as Claura, walked into the main hall of the shrine.
"…" Baromyteus ignored Diego's words as he put away his Dragon Claw Swords and looked around the hall he and his sister had just entered, as this was the first time that he entered this hall, for that he had never interested in paying a visit to this place as he was always training with a certain Fraxure, whom he had just killed with his own hand…
This large circular hall was connected to the entrance of the shrine by a long hallway, and at the spot where the hallway connected to the main hall, Xavier was standing there, as well as Claura who had just joined up with her cousin. For the main hall, there were several stone pillars, which formed into a 'ring' that surrounded the center area of this hall. At one of those stone pillars laid an unconscious Hakamo-o, who was none other than Korben, who, somehow, had fallen unconscious, but nevertheless he was still alive, and Freya was sitting beside him, as it seemed like she was looking after the unconscious Hakamo-o. At the other stone pillars on the opposite side of the hall were Zetarus and Diego, who were casually leaning onto the pillar.
At the center spot of this shrine was a large stone altar, which was where Richard was standing, with Rachael just beside him. At the altar were several rays of light, which shone from all windows in this shrine, and Snow was standing alone near one of the windows in this shrine.
"?"
On the hall were several wall paintings, and all paintings on the wall were the very same paintings that existed in the Cave of Ages! However, this wasn't the thing that caught the Shiny Haxorus' attention. The thing that caught the Shiny Haxorus' attention was the Pokemon who stood in front of the last wall painting, which was located on the wall at the opposite side of the hallway that connected the entrance of the shrine to the main hall.
"Who are you?" Baromyteus asked with a sinister voice to the Pokemon who was standing in front of the last wall painting, with made it immediately turn its attention to the Shiny Haxorus.
"!" The Type: Null didn't say or react after it saw the Pokemon in the black armor suit who had just entered the shrine, but it was quite clear for Baromyteus to see a shocking expression in its eyes, which was concealed by the helmet it wore.
"For the long answer, ask Richard and Rachael…" Instead of anyone else, it was Xavier who answered with a nonchalant voice. "But for the short answer… It's the thing that killed a large number of dragons who fought at the entrance of the village, as well as the thing that murdered Elder Baldr in front of everyone's eyes."
"!" A sinister aura suddenly was emitting from the demonic armor suit that the Shiny Haxorus was wearing, and he then reached his paw to the handle of the Dragon Claw Swords that he had just put away, but before he could do anything else, Rachael spoke up first.
"Please, Baromyteus, not now!" Rachael pled to the Shiny Haxorus. "This Pokemon isn't our enemy! I can confirm! So, please do not fight!"
"Tsk!" Baromyteus grumbled as he released his paw from the handle of his Dragon Claw Swords and turned his attention to Richard, who was standing in front of the altar at the center of the main hall. "So, what do you have in your mind, Richard?"
"There is only one thing that we could do, although its consequence may not be the thing you want." Richard said. "The only option left for us is to repeat what was done at the end of the first part of War of the God III."
"… Come again?" Zetarus said after hearing a long explanation from the Latios.
"…I mean that we will use the same method that was used to protect Kingdom of the Dragonking from the invaders during War of the God III." Richard said.
"Wait a second…" Claura spoke up. "Don't tell me that…"
"Right." Richard said. "I will use the remaining Essence of Soul in this area to create an expelling ward that will drive away every invader within the area of Valley of No Return, as well as creating a large and indestructible barrier to cover the entire area of Valley of No Return. However, as a result of this, we all will be put into a hibernation state, where we will lose our consciousness into a deep slumber for as long as the barrier exists. How long? The amount of answers is infinite. It could be one day, one week, one month, one year, one decade, one century, one millennium, or maybe… When we woke up, we may be the last group of Pokemon who were still alive…"
-Meanwhile… Outside the shrine…
"Finally! That so-call Hero of Justice is finally dead!"
"And so, all that's left are those dragons that are hiding in that shrine!"
"Should we go inside the shrine and kill those damned dragons right now?"
"… No. They may have set a trap if we go inside that place, so it's not a good idea for us to go inside that shrine."
"And what could we do if we don't go inside that shrine?"
"We will use our weapons to destroy the whole shrine, just like what we did with the houses in this village!"
"Great idea! They won't be able to escape if we attack them like this!"
"Right! With this! This Dragon Massacre will finally come to the end, with our victory!"
-Meanwhile… Inside the shrine…
"You can't be serious!" Diego said.
"I am as serious as I could be, Diego." Richard said.
"And did you just expect us to fall asleep like some sort of a fairy tale princess until an unknown time had passed?!" Zetarus spoke.
"Or would you prefer going outside the shrine and getting yourself killed?" Richard asked with a calm but serious voice.
"… Isn't there any other way?" Baromyteus asked with his arms crossed.
"Yes, but only if you are willing to see everyone who isn't a Dragon type Pokemon on the continent of Symmetria being completely obliterated from the world." Richard answered with a grim voice.
A moment of silence occurred after the Latios finished speaking, as no one was able to say anything after hearing the words of the Latios, about the method that would kill all non-dragon on the continent of Symmetria. While it may seem better than falling asleep for an unknown period of time, no one could make up their mind to agree with this plan, even for someone who usually didn't care for anyone like Baromyteus.
"… Okay, Richard. Go on with your plan."
"Xavier?!" Everyone's attention was focused at the Dragonite, who hadn't said anything since when Baromyteus and Anastasia entered the shrine, and out of the silence, he was the one who broke it.
"Are you sure about this, Xavier?!" Claura asked. "We will be put into a slumber for an unknown period of time! Are you sure about this?"
"And why not?" Xavier said and released a yawn from his mouth. "YAWN… Those battles made me so tired and sleepy… I could use a year of sleeping, or maybe ten years… Whatever… I am completely fine with this."
"Sigh… That's most likely what you would say…" Claura said. "But… During War of the God III, everyone in the Kingdom of the Dragonking, including our grandparents, had already passed through this moment before, despite not knowing what fate would this action would lead them to… And so… If they were brave enough to do this, then I have no objection in doing so."
"... For me, I will respect your decision, Richard." Snow spoke up after Claura finished speaking. "I have placed my full trust in you, and I will still insist on my decision until the end."
"…" While no one else was paying their attention to it, the Type: Null nodded to Richard, as it had no objection to Richard's plan.
"… Onii-chan, I trust you." Rachael spoke up next and looked at her brother with the eyes full with determination. "I trust you, and I believe in you. That's why I also agree with your plan too."
"… Zetarus, I will let you decide about this." Diego spoke up and looked at the Garchomp beside him. "Like before, the path you choose will also be the path I follow."
"… This is like a huge gamble to me…" Zetarus spoke up. "The streak is high… But the reward is also high too… Fine, if you all really believe in Richard that much, then I'm willing to place my bet on this too."
"… One question, Richard." Freya spoke up. "Would this plan of yours really keep all of us safe from those invaders?"
"Yes, I can confirm." Richard answered.
"Okay, then… me too.." Freya spoke up gain. "I… I trust you too, Richard! I trust that you would keep everyone safe!"
"… And what about you, Richard?" Instead of telling everyone about his decision, Baromyteus yet asked Richard another question. "Are you sure that you can accept the consequence of your action? The decision you made today might leave you with a feeling of regret that will stick with you for the rest of your life, which you couldn't change anything. Knowing this, are you sure that you are truly prepared?"
"… Yes." Richard answered. "I know that I might regret today's decision, but my first priority in my life is keeping my sister safe, and with this, I couldn't ask for anything more."
"... It seems like this feeling is mutual, Richard." Baromyteus said. "Fine, do whatever you want, but don't expect me to share any responsibility for what you do today."
"… Wanting to keep everyone safe, despite having to bear a huge consequence of this action… You are very noble, Richard." Anastasia commented. "And so, you have my support, Richard."
"And that would mean that everyone here agrees with Richard's plan… Well… Except for this Hakamo-o, of course." Zetarus said and glanced at Korben, who was still unconscious. "But him being like this, there's not much that we could do about him."
"… Thank you for believing in me, everyone." Richard spoke up after everyone had already finished expressing their opinion. "I know that some of you still doubt or hesitate of my method, but I promise that I will not throw away the trust you all have given to me."
"Can you shut up and get your fxxxxxg self going with your plan already?!" Diego spoke up with an impatient voice. "We don't have much time left, so, move your fxxxxxg axs already!"
"Right… Yawn…" Xavier said and released another yawn from his mouth. "I could barely hold onto my consciousness. Do you mind if I take a nap right now?"
"Xavier, we are about to enter an eternal sleep, so I think you should use this very last moment of awakening first." Claura scolded her cousin.
While Claura was scolding her cousin, Richard turned his attention back to the altar before he opened the Chronicle of Darkside once again.
'Are you ready, Richard? Once you execute this method, there's no turning back.'
"Of course." Richard answered. "Everyone has placed their trust in me, and I won't let them down."
'Then, follow my instruction…'
"Hm." Richard nodded, and then he raised his paw upward and cast a mysterious spell, gathering several faint purple aura that appeared out of nowhere at the altar at the center of the main hall. The altar then slowly created several waves of faint purple mist that floated on the floor of the main hall. This faint mist made everyone in the shrine drowsy!
"Arrr… This…"
"I can't… hold on… anymore…"
"Arr…"
"Zzz…"
Everyone in the shrine slowly fell asleep as the mist filled the main hall, started with Xavier, and then followed by Zetarus, Diego, Anastasia, Rachael, Freya, Snow, Claura, Baromyteus, and the Type: Null, leaving only Richard who was still awake, although he was very drowsy too.
'Hold on just a bit longer, Richard!'
"…" Richard slowly nodded to his Dragon Legend, despite he was very sleepy right now, but he still continued casting the spell.
'Now!'
"Toops!"
The Chronicle of Darkside fell onto the floor as its owner finished casting the last part of this spell at the same time that he couldn't hold onto his consciousness anymore. The Latios then fell down onto the floor of the shrine, lying asleep, just like other 11 Pokemon in this hall…
And they all would stay like this… For as long as the barrier existed…
For how long?
The answer was… unknown…
-Meanwhile… Outside the shrine…
"Everyone! The preparation for our weapon is finally complete!"
"Good! Now, let's execute this weapon and—"
"Wait, what is that?!"
"What's with those purple things that go inside the shrine?!"
"Everyone, look at the shrine!"
"That's…"
"NO!"
"ARRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!"
A protective barrier was generated from the shrine at the south of Hidden Village of Dragon, and it became larger to cover the area, started from the area around the shrine, the area of Hidden Villagen of Dragon, until it covered the entire area of Valley of No Return. As it enlarged, it also expelled all Pokemon who invaded this very realm, banishing them to the area in front of the entrance of Cave of Ages, which, along with the small opening on the roofing of the valley, was now sealed shut by the indestructible barrier.
This magical protective barrier will continue to exist to prevent any Pokemon to step into the Valley of No Return, as well as prevent any Pokemon to leave the Valley of No Return, and this will continue until the barrier disappeared...
And when would this barrier disappear?
One day?
One week?
One month?
One year?
One decade?
One century?
One millennium?
No one knew…
Even the most peaceful place on the continent of Symmetria was destroyed in a single day…
All was just because of greed, ambition and corrupted justice…
It was like a nightmare, but it's a nightmare that came true…
And thus, only twelve Pokemon were able to survive this cruel massacre…
However… Would they be able to prepare for the consequence of their action?
They didn't know about this… However… There's one thing that all of them knew…
The next time they woke up, Symmetria would never be the same place for them…
And they couldn't call it their home… Anymore…
-End of Tail 6: Deception-
To Be Continued…
Dragon of Vale: And this is the certain call of the sixth tail, Deception. You have already figured out the origin of this tail's name, right?
Baromyteus and others, including the Dragon type Pokemon of the Hidden Village of Dragon, were trying their hardest to protect the Hidden Village of Dragon, the place they called home, but in the end, everything they had done ended up in vain as they lost to the action of greed and ambition, and it forced them to take up a gamble where they wouldn't know the consequence of their action, which would surely not be something they want…
For me, I was very tired while writing this tail, both physically and mentally not only because this tail is very long and has so many details, but the event that happens in this tail, for me, is the true tragedy that no one ever wants to happen, both in the fanfiction and in the real life…
Also, I must apologize that it took me so long to complete this tail, and it may not turn out very good…
And so, the next chapter will be none other than the interlude of the sixth tail (Have you already forgotten about this or not?) And what would follow the interlude? No, the answer isn't the seventh tail. Instead, I will write a 'Sub-Tail' that wouldn't be counted as the 'Tail' of this story, but it's still very important as it would contain the events that occurs between the sixth tail and the seventh tail, as well as the ultimate fate of the main characters after this tail…