The spiritual realm of Dawn Wings Necrozma was never a unified whole to begin with, it was a fusion of Necrozma and Lunala's consciousness. Now, with Lucius added into the mix, it had become a full-scale battlefield.
Elsewhere, the Mega Rayquaza charging toward Leviathan abruptly halted midair. The black Rayquaza, previously locked in combat with Regigigas, also froze in momentary confusion.
The Mega Rayquaza, whose Trainer had perished, fell once more under viral control. The black Rayquaza, on the other hand, had been freed. With its Trainer dead, the anchor buried deep within its will by the 100% Capture System had dislodged. It reverted to an unclaimed Pokémon once more.
But Lucius was never one to waste an opportunity.
In the few seconds of Rayquaza's daze, Regigigas struck. Frost crystallized across its titanic fists, and a barrage of Ice Punches left the black Rayquaza stunned. Moments later, the Mega Rayquaza swooped in. The two titans joined forces, quickly overpowering their shared target.
With the black-haired man out of the picture, Lucius swiftly subdued both Dawn Wings Necrozma and the infected Rayquaza.
Just like that, Hive gained two more powerful assets.
And yet, something gnawed at Lucius.
The urgent side mission, "Defend Against Invasion by Interdimensional System-Linked Entity," still displayed as incomplete…
Even so, with the closure of the Ultra Wormhole, Lucius had lost all contact with his infected agents.
...
The world's most prestigious official event, the Silver Conference, had been forcibly suspended by the arrival of Ultra Beasts. The invasion, broadcast live, sent shockwaves across the globe. Even those who had never cared for Pokémon battles were now awakened to the crisis posed by this extradimensional threat.
As Silver Town underwent reconstruction, a global debate ignited around how to address the otherworld.
The dominant opinion was unyielding: after the devastation wrought by these interdimensional Pokémon, peace was no longer an option. Even if a counteroffensive wasn't feasible, humanity had to fortify its defenses, leaving no room for future incursions. The more extreme voices even demanded that the League organize an assault in retaliation.
A minority advocated for understanding. Perhaps, they argued, the enemy had their own reasons. Maybe they were desperate. If so, perhaps this world could extend aid and foster interdimensional harmony.
Naturally, in the wake of such a hard-won defense, these sympathizers were met with widespread scorn.
Lucius, meanwhile, directed the Ultra Beast Countermeasure Headquarters to release much of their classified intel on Ultra Beasts and the Ultra World to the public, shaping the narrative in Hive's favor. At the same time, Hive issued a global directive: any sightings of Ultra Beasts must be reported immediately to official authorities.
But Lucius himself had other plans. He instructed Dawn Wings Necrozma to quietly open a small Ultra Wormhole, reconnecting him to the Ultra World.
Through even a tiny rift, Lucius could once again make contact with his infected forces without physically crossing over.
After the previous wormhole was sealed, his agents had returned to the last remaining bastion of humanity in that world, and, following Lucius's orders, began mass infections across the dwindling population.
With no psychic resistance or awareness of the viral threat, over ten thousand surviving humans quickly succumbed.
As for the elite Pokémon army that the black-haired man had previously brought with him, those were handpicked from among the strongest of the species that had yet to go extinct. When they returned, they carried the virus back with them, spreading it throughout their kind.
Now that the wormhole had reopened, Lucius learned from his agents that the black-haired man, hailed in the other world as a "prodigy", had not died after all. He had been reborn inside a tree.
Of course. Anyone supported by a system was never easy to kill.
The black-haired man emerged, naked and reborn, from within a great tree.
This tree was once a deity, the God of Life, and held within it the purest force of vitality in the world.
He had used the 100% Capture System to bind the tree, implanting a piece of his flesh inside. In doing so, he tethered his life to it. Upon death, the tree's life force would rapidly regenerate his body.
No one, man or Pokémon, knew this secret. No one, except for himself and the Naganadel who had been by his side since childhood.
He looked toward the unmoving guardian at the tree's base and smiled.
"Thank you… for waiting."
"No need to thank me," the Naganadel suddenly replied in human speech, its voice laced with dry amusement. Its face shifted, mimicking a human expression of sarcasm.
The black-haired man's instincts screamed.
Without hesitation, he tossed a translucent, semi-real Poké Ball, capturing Naganadel on the spot.
As the transparent ball returned to his hand, he let out a sigh of relief.
No matter what had gone wrong, any Pokémon captured once by him would always return to loyal servitude.
But then… he froze.
A warning chimed in his mind:
[Warning: Unknown system interference detected.]
[Warning: Unknown system interference detected.]
[Warning: System breach in progress.]
[Warning: System breach in progress.]
[System breach level: 1%]
[System breach level: 2%]
Sweat broke out across his forehead. In the twenty years since his soul-crossing, this had never happened.
No. He had to act, now.
A new semi-real Poké Ball materialized in his hand. This time, the open end was pointed at himself.
He intended to throw it.
If he could capture himself, he could immediately regain absolute control over his own body, and maybe even seize control of the invading force.
But…
The Poké Ball remained in his hand. He couldn't throw it.
Something so simple, just a flick of the wrist, and yet his body refused to obey. It was like being paralyzed by a pressure point strike. His muscles wouldn't respond at all.
It was, of course, the virus planted by Lucius.
Though the opposing system prevented instant infection, the virus had embedded itself into his nervous system, severing the bioelectrical signals between brain and limbs. He couldn't control his arm. He couldn't throw the ball.
Thus began a silent deadlock between two system-bound combatants.
In the black-haired man's mind, the alerts kept flashing:
[System breach level: 50%]
[System breach level: 51%]
And in Lucius's system log, mirrored lines blinked:
[Infection level: 50%]
[Infection level: 51%]
If someone, anyone, were here to lift his finger and help him toss the ball, he could escape the trap by entering his own Poké Ball.
But this place was too remote.
No one knew about it. No one but him and the Naganadel…
Second by second, the numbers climbed.
And finally, two messages appeared simultaneously:
[Success: 100% Capture System infected. Virus Evolution System unlocked: Higher-Level Access Granted.]
[Success: Mission 'Defend Against Invasion by Interdimensional System-Linked Entity' completed. Reward: Spacetime Key.]
[Success: Infection rate in target world exceeds 90%. New function unlocked: World Base established.]
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