"Found it, the source of the Dark Matter!"
Staring at the dark substance before her, which resembled a planet in its vastness and density, Mira's expression grew solemn and heavy.
Her gaze slowly shifted away from the Dark Matter and fell upon the Tree of Life. At this moment, upon the petrified giant tree, there was still a faint trace of green light flickering weakly.
Clearly, this was the final remnant of life left within the Tree of Life. If even this last speck of green were to vanish completely, the Tree of Life would fall into absolute withering and death!
"So, you actually made it here!"
"In that case, none of you should even think about leaving this place alive!"
Hoopa Unbound's figure floated in front of the Dark Matter. Its golden body was now also wrapped in the power of Dark Matter, black mist coiling endlessly around it.
"Hmph. I came here precisely to seal you away. This time, you are destined to be sealed once more!"
Facing Hoopa Unbound's provocation, Aven's expression remained calm. At the same time, he raised the Prison Bottle in his hand. Golden energy flickered continuously, dispersing all the surrounding black miasma.
Seeing the familiar Prison Bottle once again, fear flashed across the face of the Shiny Hoopa Unbound. It retreated slightly, more black mist coiling around its body, making it seem as though it were about to merge completely with the Dark Matter itself.
Relying on the power of Dark Matter, the Shiny Hoopa Unbound steadied its mind. At the same time, its only remaining Golden Ring drifted into the Dark Matter, forming a bridge that directly linked itself to that terrifying power source.
"Come on, let me show you the power of Dark Matter," Hoopa Unbound said with a smile.
The next instant, light suddenly flashed across its body. Immediately afterward, the Dark Matter surged violently, completely engulfing the Tree of Life.
Black fog rolled endlessly. Within the Tree of Life, that tiny point of green light flickered unsteadily, as if it might be extinguished at any moment.
Gradually, the green light stabilized once more—but suddenly, a mass of black mist was forcibly extracted from the Tree of Life, twisting and writhing continuously in midair.
Moments later, that black mist surged and transformed into a Pokémon shaped like a deer, its body patterned in blue and black, with eight branch-like antlers growing from its head. Its eyes snapped open, pupils forming the shape of the English letter "X"!
"The final legendary among the gods of life, death, and nature in Kalos mythology!" Aven's expression became extremely grave as he stared at the figure before him. "Xerneas, the God of Life!"
At this moment, the God of Life was completely shrouded in black mist. Around its neck was a Golden Ring belonging to the Shiny Hoopa Unbound. Its entire body radiated an ominous aura, utterly devoid of the gentle, sacred presence befitting the God of Life.
Once the figure appeared in the air, its entire body instantly shone with green light. Dense life energy flowed ceaselessly throughout it, directly activating Fairy Aura. Rich Fairy-type energy surged together with life energy!
"This is Fairy Aura—this is the real Xerneas!"
Seeing the familiar yet ominous power resembling Dark Aura, Aven's expression changed drastically. The Xerneas before them was not a construct formed from Dark Matter!
Xerneas was the incarnation of the Tree of Life. Now, within the Void World, it had actually been summoned by the combined forces of Dark Matter and the Shiny Hoopa Unbound!
"Lilli!"
Lilligant glanced around. Within the Fairy Aura, she could feel waves of comfort and warmth.
But in the very next instant, her expression suddenly changed. She abruptly sensed that the Fairy Aura was siphoning the life energy from within her body!
Clearly, the current Xerneas was not gathering life energy—it was using Fairy Aura to absorb the life force of every living being present!
Aven naturally noticed this as well, his face instantly darkening. Now that he had confirmed the Xerneas before them was genuine, the situation had instead become far more troublesome.
If they attacked Xerneas directly, would they end up injuring it and accelerating the withering of the Tree of Life?
But if they did nothing, their life energy would continue to be drained rapidly, and they would inevitably die from depletion. Either way, it was a dead end.
While Aven was still thinking, Zygarde had already launched an attack—but its target was not Xerneas. Instead, it struck directly at the Dark Matter. As long as Dark Matter could be destroyed, everything would come to an end!
"Dark Matter…" Aven took a deep breath. "Lilligant, enter the state of Natural Reversion and try to stop Xerneas from continuing to absorb life energy!"
"Lilli!"
Lilligant nodded and immediately entered the state of Natural Reversion.
In an instant, her figure merged into the life energy within the Fairy Aura, attempting to absorb and counteract the life energy flow.
This was extremely dangerous. At this moment, Xerneas was constantly absorbing life energy from the Fairy Aura, and Lilligant could easily be absorbed along with it.
Fortunately, through her connection with Aven, she possessed a trace of the Creator God's power. Only because of this was she barely able to contend with Xerneas, slowing down its absorption of life energy.
Even so, she could still feel the life energy within her body continuously draining away, surging toward Xerneas.
"Please wake up, Xerneas!" Lilligant kept calling out. Everyone could see that Xerneas currently had no consciousness—it was merely instinctively absorbing life energy!
After successfully restraining Xerneas, Aven immediately ordered the three Forces of Nature and the Lake Guardian trio to join the battlefield, launching attacks toward the distant Dark Matter.
Borrowing the power of Dark Matter, the Hoopa Unbound fought with ease. Although it had lost the power of its six Golden Rings, it was still effortlessly blocking the combined attacks of numerous Pokémon.
Moreover, empowered by Dark Matter, it was no longer afraid of the Prison Bottle's sealing power—unless Aven could first eliminate the Dark Matter itself!
Black fog continued to spread. Dark Matter began creeping toward Aven and the others, its void-like power seemingly intent on reducing them all to nothingness.
Seeing this, Aven frowned. His figure swiftly appeared beneath the Tree of Life. If he wanted to end this battle, he had to awaken the Tree of Life itself!
Taking a deep breath, he raised the staff in his hand and began channeling the Creator God's power into the world.
The Creator God's power contained the force of world creation. Since the Tree of Life itself embodied world power, perhaps it could be awakened through this resonance.
In the distance, Hoopa Unbound saw this and burst into laughter. It had been sealed by the Creator God's power for countless ages and understood it well—it knew that the Creator God's power could not awaken the Tree of Life.
But in the very next instant, the Shiny Hoopa Unbound froze.
When Aven's Creator God power touched the Tree of Life, the tree actually reacted!
"How is that possible?!" Shock filled Hoopa Unbound's eyes, quickly turning into fury as it realized it had miscalculated.
At the same time, Aven felt something strange. He discovered that after his Creator God power touched the Tree of Life, it did not merge into it—instead, it continued to condense into the staff in his hand.
Immediately afterward, the staff seemed to break some kind of seal. Its tip split apart, and a green orb suddenly appeared before everyone.
The moment the orb appeared, a dense surge of life energy erupted, green light instantly flooding toward the Tree of Life and enveloping it completely!
"What is happening? Is that the Creator God's life power?" Panic appeared in the Shiny Hoopa Unbound's eyes. Behind it, the Dark Matter surged violently, black fog rushing toward the Tree of Life.
Yet the instant the Tree of Life came into contact with the energy radiating from the orb atop the staff, a green barrier suddenly appeared around it, repelling the Dark Matter's power!
"The Jewel of Life—this is the legendary Jewel of Life!" Aven stared at the gem embedded at the top of the staff, shock written all over his face.
(End of Chapter)