After Chandelure devoured—no, it couldn't be called "devoured." It fused with Norman's soul, because Norman had willingly offered his soul to merge with Chandelure.
The moment the fusion was complete, the chasm was crossed.
"Champion…" Julian murmured.
From level 90, the peak of Pseudo-Champion tier, Chandelure instantly leapt to level 96, solidly in the mid-to-late Champion stage—a full six-level jump, an enormous surge in strength.
At Level 96, Chandelure was now strong enough to face Metagross head-on. Yet at this moment, it did not attack. Instead, after glancing at Julian, John, and Metagross, it turned its gaze to Norman's lifeless body.
Gently resting its head against Norman's forehead: "Norman, I've become a Champion. We achieved our goal."
"But Norman… you're no longer here."
"I feel so alone, Norman…"
Its voice grew fainter, and Chandelure's body gradually became transparent until it vanished entirely, leaving behind only a thin Dark Stone.
The stone came to rest on Norman's chest.
After Norman's death, Chandelure had lost its will to live. Its sole purpose, shared with Norman, had been to reach the Champion-level.
Now that the promise was fulfilled, it chose to dissipate on its own—not even attempting to avenge Norman by attacking Julian and the others.
With Norman gone, nothing else mattered anymore.
"Damn it," Julian cursed under his breath.
It was unclear whether he was cursing Norman or something else.
Was Norman a bad person? Undoubtedly. Yet the bond between him and Chandelure left Julian with a heavy heart.
The sincerity of a Pokémon's love for its trainer was something humans could rarely reciprocate in equal measure. And yet, many trainers mistreated their Pokémon.
Such people harbored far greater evil in their hearts than Norman ever did.
Meanwhile, the three Regis had recovered some of their strength and slowly stood up.
Regirock walked toward Norman's corpse, raising its fist to strike the body—but was stopped by John's Metagross.
Norman had been the Psychic Elite of Drakoria; his body, John had to take back.
"Regirock, your enemy is already dead," Julian said calmly.
The bond between Norman and Chandelure had earned Julian's respect; he didn't want the Regis to desecrate the body.
Since Julian had saved them—and due to his connection with Mew—the Regis nodded and gave up on the idea of vengeance.
"Grandpa, let's go check how the rest of the exploration team is doing," Julian said.
"Mm."
As the grandfather and grandson duo departed, Norman's body—and the Dark Stone resting on his chest—also disappeared from sight.
The exploration team members had all previously been under Chandelure's control, but now that it was gone, they naturally regained their senses.
By the time Julian and John reached them, the survivors were sitting on the ground, their faces pale.
Nearly half of them had already lost their lives.
After all, while controlling them, Chandelure had been slowly absorbing their soul energy. Those with weaker souls had simply perished.
Among the dead was Finn.
However, Professor Oliver was still alive. As a renowned scholar, his soul energy (which was essentially linked to mental energy) was strong—how could someone who spent every day immersed in research not have a powerful mind?
They still had no idea what had really happened. Chandelure's control over them had been instantaneous, giving them no time to react.
So when they woke up, they were completely unaware of the events that had transpired.
What they saw was John and Julian standing before them… and several lifeless companions. The sudden change left them in a state of shock and panic.
Especially Georgia, Mark, and the other three Trainers—who quickly noticed that their Poké Balls were missing.
Their confusion, combined with the sudden appearance of John and Julian, only deepened their unease.
So far, none of them had realized that Norman was missing.
"Champion Walker… what exactly happened? And Julian, didn't you already leave the Ruin?" Professor Oliver asked, face pale and lips trembling slightly.
John glanced at Julian, signaling for him to explain.
So Julian recounted the whole series of events.
By the time he finished, the exploration team members wore expressions of utter disbelief. To them, it had felt like they had simply fallen asleep—only to wake up and learn that the Psychic Elite had been a hidden villain all along.
If not for Julian and John arriving in time, they would all be dead.
This was, after all, the first expedition of this Ruin—already extremely dangerous, with the added threat of three mid-stage Champion-level Legendary Titans.
Had they all perished here, with only Norman surviving and even breaking through to the Champion-level, the higher-ups of Drakoria wouldn't have suspected him at all.
In fact, they would have celebrated the birth of a new Champion. Compared to that, the deaths of the exploration team would have been insignificant—at most, Professor Oliver's death might have caused some grief.
But the emergence of a new Champion would have overshadowed even that sorrow.
And now, they were being told that Norman was the real mastermind behind it all, even the orchestrator of the Haitian City Kyogre incident.
If not for John standing beside Julian as confirmation, many of them wouldn't have believed it.
"Where's Norman?"
Professor Oliver took a deep breath, struggling to process the revelation.
"He's dead," Julian replied flatly.
The next second, Gengar materialized and retrieved Norman's corpse from its shadowy stomach.
Looking at Norman's lifeless body, Professor Oliver sighed deeply before turning a solemn gaze toward Julian and John.
"There's no direct evidence for any of this. Once we leave, I'll report everything to the Elder Council and request an official investigation."
Right now, everything they knew came solely from Julian's account. Even with John backing him up, the fact that they were grandfather and grandson cast some doubt on the objectivity of the testimony.
Given Professor Oliver's status, he had the authority to bring this matter directly to the Elder Council.
"Alright," Julian nodded.
He had never intended to hide the fact that Norman had been killed. As for evidence? He had already glimpsed it within Norman's past—records of his crimes, and the identities of some accomplices.
It was also worth noting that Norman had been a covert operative for the Z Organization within Drakoria.
From that perspective alone, Norman had already committed outright treason by joining a terrorist organization.
That single offense was enough to justify his execution.
"Enough talk. Let's head out for now. We can explore this ruin again another time," John said, waving his hand dismissively.
Professor Oliver nodded in agreement. After everything that had happened, continuing the expedition was impossible. Their physical and mental states were already compromised.
Chandelure had drained their soul energy; although they survived, their lifespans had been shortened to varying degrees.
For someone like Professor Oliver, who was already advanced in years, this ordeal might have cut his remaining time down to just a few years.
*****
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