Does the white weapon emit a piercing shriek that makes one's soul tremble? Does it also radiate a chill that penetrates the very soul?
Yet these effects hold little sway over Rope, primarily due to the nature of his body. The fusion of soul and flame grants him no disadvantage in matters of the spirit.
It must be said that the Void has never been a place of fairness. Sometimes, certain individuals truly manage to skip class.
Yet Rope remained vigilant, carefully sensing his surroundings. The mist's harm to him was merely a minor issue.
What truly mattered was how much this mist amplified Sumi's power.
If the weapon offered Sumi no enhancement, then unleashing this mist would make her look foolish. Rope didn't believe Sumi was foolish.
Therefore, he was certain it worked exactly as he suspected.
Silver streams of light swirled around Rope. This represented the power of space. Rope sealed off the surrounding space, thwarting Sumi's plan to ambush him using her own spatial abilities.
And indeed, she couldn't break through Rope's blockade.
Rope's method was brutally simple, like using an entire wall of diamonds. Solid as a rock, with no cracks to exploit. Beyond being a bit wasteful, this tactic was truly a return to basics.
Sumi occasionally launched attacks at Rope from within the mist using her energy strands. Each time, Rope effortlessly deflected them back.
The child's voice still reached his ears intermittently—sometimes complaining, sometimes crying out in pain. In any case, the situation before him wasn't looking good.
Rope's power wasn't his own. He could feel the strength within his body crumbling.
The child didn't know how much longer it could hold on. But it probably wouldn't be much longer.
The little kid, which had been chattering incessantly in Rope's ear, now spoke in increasingly faint whispers, its words growing sparse. More often than not, it gritted its teeth in agony.
Rope knew this couldn't drag on. Otherwise, it would never end.
So the flame power surged once more within Rope.
The power of time, space, and dreams far surpassed Rope's flames. For that was Year's power—the might of a supreme being who had lain dormant for years.
Yet Rope remained most proficient with his own flames. The coming battle would be a fight to the death, and he refused to entrust his fate to unfamiliar powers.
The silver light swirling around Rope gradually dissipated. Sumi, however, did not immediately attack. This clearly wasn't the right moment. She patiently waited for Rope to offer an opening.
But soon, she sensed something was terribly wrong.
Rope wasn't looking for an opening now.
He was preparing to unleash a devastating attack...
The flames around Rope surged upward, swirling and coalescing into the shape of an egg. It grew larger and larger, faint heartbeats seeming to emanate from within.
Sumi knew she couldn't let Rope continue gathering power. But just as she prepared to strike, she suddenly recalled her initial thoughts upon first encountering Rope.
Sighing softly, Sumi withdrew her whip. Holding the bone sword in her hand, the sword aura around her began to surge relentlessly.
Rope saw Sumi's reaction. Surprised, yes, but he felt little gratitude.
He wasn't a fool—why would he gamble on such a thing? The spatial lock around him appeared broken, but in truth, it was merely concealed by the flames.
If Sumi dared to advance, her first blocked strike would be followed by Rope's incomplete ultimate attack. Though unfinished, such a massive ball of flame striking squarely would likely render Sumi utterly incapable of further combat.
So Sumi's kind gesture actually saved her from a crisis. Good deeds really do come back around.
Two energy masses surged upward, colliding.
Though the battlefield was now devoid of piercing screeches or roaring flames, the surrounding atmosphere felt even more oppressive and tense.
Rope's Pokémon watched the standoff from a distance in the air, their hearts racing with anxiety yet powerless to intervene.
They had once believed themselves, or their superiors, to be the strongest. Arceus was the mightiest. But then they encountered Rope. And so they came to regard Rope as the ultimate power.
Yet today, a woman named Halley had unexpectedly appeared. That woman had even forced Rope to summon them all here, at a considerable cost.
And just when they thought Halley represented the pinnacle, this woman named Sumi appeared.
They counted themselves among the Pokémon who'd seen the world. Yet now, they dared not even endure the aftershocks of these two battling. Was such power truly justified?
Countless eyes watched the sea of flames, the white mist, the fireballs, and the colossal bone sword growing ever more solid.
Today, they were witnessing history.
"We are witnessing history."
Year suddenly uttered this sentence out of nowhere. But the secretary beside him understood exactly what Year meant.
After this battle, the petty skirmishes in the shadows would come to an end...
But Rope cared little for such matters now.
This move hadn't been planned in advance.
He'd merely intended to mimic the Kanto's Great Flame Ring, Entei, from an anime he'd seen years ago.
Yet as the flames coalesced, an inexplicable sensation—or rather, an impulse—surged through him.
The fireball transformed into its current form, as if incubating something within.
A steady thump-thump echoed in Rope's ears. It was a heartbeat. The heartbeat of the creature incubating within that fireball.
And it was Rope's own heartbeat.
All eyes watching the battle turned to that flaming egg.
What would emerge from within?
The bone sword behind Sumi gradually solidified, swiftly approaching true physical form. Yet it remained energy condensed. Even if ninety-nine percent materialized, the remaining one percent could never fully manifest.
Still, it was enough. The sharp aura and faint deathly chill coiling around it were no illusion. Such prolonged charging itself signified the immense power of this strike.
Sumi slowly opened her eyes. Seeing Rope still gathering power, she shook her head with regret.
She had already shown mercy. Now, she would show none.
So she raised the bone sword in her hand high.
The colossal bone sword behind her also lifted high. In the next instant, it came crashing down—aimed squarely at the Burning Egg and Rope's position.