Chapter 796: An Unexpectedly Powerful Friend
Kazuya, who was sweeping around the graves, suddenly paused his movements, and immediately gripped his broom and swung it behind him.
Aeroblast.
Whoosh!
A silver-white vortex hurricane violently blasted out.
Kazuya hadn't expected to find a use for this move so quickly.
But compared to that.
Obviously, he had to focus his attention entirely on the magical beast that suddenly appeared.
A Gengar.
As for how powerful the mighty Aeroblast was.
Kazuya more or less had a good idea in his heart.
However, when this attack clashed with Gengar's Sucker Punch, it merely interrupted its striking motion, without causing much substantial damage.
In other words.
The damage of Aeroblast was offset by Gengar's Sucker Punch.
"Strong."
Kazuya muttered silently, his expression turning serious.
To be able to firmly withstand Kazuya's Aeroblast with just a Sucker Punch, this Gengar's strength was extraordinary.
Coupled with the powerful Aura radiating from it...
"Could it be a Master-level..."
Kazuya swallowed hard.
The black aura billowing from Gengar was affecting his judgment of its strength, so he couldn't tell if Gengar had stepped into the Master-level tier.
Even if it hadn't.
It had definitely reached the absolute ceiling of the Champion level.
This is a big problem...
Kazuya couldn't help but glance toward his house.
The mountain behind was very close to the house.
The fact that Kazuya's shouting back then could wake up the young Lorelei inside the house was proof of that.
Right now, he only needed to make some noise to wake up his sleeping companions in the house and call for backup.
Actually...
He might not even need to do that.
Lucario had already been awakened by the intense Aura that suddenly appeared on the mountain.
Returning to his senses.
Gengar had already used a move again.
In an instant.
An overwhelming amount of malice, almost tangible, enveloped Kazuya, making him feel uncomfortable all over.
A moment later.
Kazuya suddenly realized he seemed unable to use his Aeroblast.
"This is... Spite?"
Kazuya frowned, recalling this relatively unpopular move in the real world.
In the games.
Every move has a limit on its number of uses, known as PP.
And the move Spite reduces the PP of the target's last used move by 4, which can be specifically used to counter moves with only 5 PP.
However.
In reality, there is no such thing as a "number of uses" for a move.
As long as there is enough corresponding elemental energy in the body, one can continue to use the move, unless it is "Imprisoned".
The effect of the move Spite in reality is completely different from the game.
Essentially, it uses a strong malice to affect the target's mind, making the target subconsciously believe they can no longer use the move they just used.
Its effect seems similar to the Psychic-type move "Imprison", but the latter has prerequisites, making "Spite" feel more practical.
But that's not actually the case.
If Spite were truly that useful.
It wouldn't be an unpopular move.
Spite.
Is only effective against targets whose mental strength is weaker than the user's.
Otherwise, it cannot deceive the opponent's subconscious.
Just like right now...
Although there was some subconscious resistance to using Aeroblast, Kazuya could actually still use it.
Because his mental strength was very strong, it wasn't easy for Gengar to deceive him.
What made Kazuya find it troublesome.
Was that this Gengar was already capable of "thinking" during battle.
The vast majority of magical beasts have no sanity.
Their combat is merely a blind discharge of their elemental abilities.
In short.
A continuous, relentless assault.
Apart from attacking moves, they disregard all other moves, as if they had forgotten them.
However, this Gengar was not like that.
This meant it was thinking.
"Keke..."
Gengar felt Kazuya observing it, and an evil smile appeared on its face.
Immediately, it gradually sank into the ground.
Turning into a shadow.
"..."
Kazuya blinked and directly flew into the sky.
The next second.
Gengar popped out of the ground looking furious, glaring angrily at Kazuya in the sky.
The distance was too far.
It couldn't easily launch an attack.
Helpless.
Gengar could only chase after Kazuya in the sky, abandoning its plan for shadow combat.
In the sky, Kazuya pushed both hands forward.
A Shadow Ball immediately shot toward Gengar.
Gengar grinned maliciously, twisted its body in the air, and easily dodged the Shadow Ball. Its speed was so fast that even Kazuya could only see an afterimage.
However.
Kazuya raised an eyebrow but didn't panic.
It would be best if the Shadow Ball hit, but missing was also within expectations.
He originally intended to use this move to create some noise so his companions could rush over quickly.
On the ground.
Boom—!
The Shadow Ball smashed out a giant crater while emitting an annoying explosion sound. Even the entire mountain shook violently.
This kind of commotion would definitely wake his companions in the house.
Of course.
It might also startle the magical beasts living on the mountain.
But Kazuya obviously couldn't care about that right now.
Facing this Gengar, he saw almost zero chance of winning. His stats were completely crushed in all aspects; his only chance of survival was calling for backup.
With the six of them at the Champion level joining forces.
Beating down this Gengar, which was suspected to be a top-tier Champion, shouldn't be a problem.
Back to the sky.
In the blink of an eye.
Gengar had already closed the distance to a mere five meters.
It brought its hands together in front of its chest, and a dark purple energy ball instantly blasted out like a cannonball.
It seemed intent on giving Kazuya a lesson.
"I can't dodge..."
Kazuya raised an eyebrow, an awkward expression appearing on his face.
In just an instant, he judged that with the speed of this Shadow Ball and the current distance, he couldn't dodge it even using Extreme Speed.
Unfortunately.
He hadn't been cultivating his psychic powers for long, and hadn't yet returned to the level where he could use Teleport.
Even if Kazuya wanted to use other moves to clash head-on, the moves he could release instantly were very limited.
"I'm going to get hurt..."
Kazuya muttered, then immediately brought his hands together and violently pushed them forward.
Several dark purple rays shot out like twisting tentacles, intertwining as they sped toward the Shadow Ball that had already reached him.
Because he was a Darkrai in this life.
Only by unleashing moves of his own type could he achieve an instant-cast effect.
Dark Void was certainly a good choice as well.
But Dark Pulse could create an explosion, preventing Gengar from closing the distance and attacking during that window.
Boom—!!
Everything went as Kazuya predicted.
The explosion erupted between Kazuya and Gengar, and the powerful shockwave swept out in all directions.
Kazuya was instantly sent flying backward, taking considerable damage.
Fortunately, no wounds appeared on the surface of his body.
He didn't have to worry about being corrupted by the shadow energy.
On Gengar's side, although the injury was negligible, it was sent flying back dozens of meters by the impact force, almost plummeting back to the ground.
"Keke."
A malicious smile appeared on Gengar's face again. With a wave of its hands, it prepared to attack Kazuya in the air once more.
However, right at this moment.
Kazuya's eyes widened. He looked behind Gengar, his pupils filled with shock and pleasant surprise.
Seeing this, the thinking Gengar froze for a moment and turned to look behind.
Four pitch-black large hands were reaching towards it.
"Gengar?!"
A look of surprise and doubt appeared on Gengar's face.
Just as it was about to flee.
Its limbs were already firmly grabbed by the four large hands.
Gengar wanted to turn into a shadow to escape.
But it found that its limbs were out of its control, as if it had lost the ability to turn into a shadow.
Under these circumstances, there was only one possibility.
It had encountered an enemy who could also turn into a shadow!
"Desumasu—!!"
A rampant, wild laughter echoed from the ground.
The newcomer was none of Kazuya's traveling companions.
Instead, it was a friend from his third and fourth lives.
Cofagrigus.
Although Kazuya was bad with faces and hadn't seen Cofagrigus in a very, very long time.
But at this very moment.
He immediately recognized that this Cofagrigus was the one he knew.
Whether judging by strength or by Aura, that was the answer.
"So strong."
Watching Gengar being handled like a toy in Cofagrigus's hands, utterly unable to break free, Kazuya couldn't help but marvel, while simultaneously feeling relieved.
With Cofagrigus as a comparison.
Kazuya could now clearly determine the situation.
That Gengar's strength was roughly Lv. 89, not quite reaching the Master level.
Cofagrigus, however, was a solid Lv. 90, a true Master-level entity.
Although there was only a short one-level difference.
The actual gap between them was immense.
As a veteran who had personally stepped into the Master level and had repeatedly entered the Champion level, Kazuya knew this gap very well.
To use his battle against Shadow Lugia in his third life as an example...
The gap between Gengar and Cofagrigus was at least the difference of an [Alpha] and a [Mega].
Therefore.
The ensuing battle.
Could be considered entirely secure.
Gengar, having lost most of its thinking ability due to corruption, also had stats far inferior to Cofagrigus's.
Facing Cofagrigus.
Was like Kazuya facing it.
Zero chance of winning.
The sudden appearance of Cofagrigus couldn't help but make Kazuya reminisce about the past.
As early as a hundred and seventy years ago.
When Cofagrigus was in the Spirit World, he was already a Champion-level competitor.
Later, when Kazuya left.
Cofagrigus seemed to have become the "teacher" of Yui, the Lord of the Spirit World, a figure akin to a "minister" of the Spirit World...
Looking at it now.
Even after becoming a big shot in the Spirit World.
Cofagrigus hadn't stopped fighting.
That was the only way he could reach his current Master-level tier.
"I just don't know how things are over in the Spirit World. I guess the situation isn't too good."
Kazuya lowered his eyes in deep thought and sighed.
Cofagrigus appearing here was clearly no coincidence.
It was highly likely that, just like Lugia, he was waiting for him.
Cofagrigus knew that Kazuya had reincarnated once, and also knew that Kazuya in his fourth life was Lorelei's partner, the legendary God of the Sea.
So Kazuya wasn't surprised that Cofagrigus could find this place, Four Island.
The problem was...
Cofagrigus wasn't the type to wander around randomly.
For him to leave the Spirit World...
It was most likely not of his own accord.
He was presumably forced to leave.
As for why he was forced to leave...
Considering the circumstances of the current era, it wasn't hard to guess. The Spirit World must have also been corrupted by shadow energy.
This couldn't help but make Kazuya sigh with deep lament.
Since that parting.
He and Yui had never met again.
He didn't know if they would have the chance to meet again in this life.
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