A mysterious melody drifted across the skies above Elegia, taking shape as manifested musical notes that plunged deep into the island.
There was clearly no stage, yet Uta, who hovered in midair, seemed to have turned heaven and earth themselves into her stage.
In the blink of an eye, that seemingly ordinary tune transformed into a surging, impassioned rhythm, echoing through the sky over the entire island.
It was as though even if Uta stopped singing now, the song would continue playing with the cooperation of heaven and earth.
At that moment, Red suddenly sensed something unusual.
An immense surge of mental power, appearing from some unknown place, rose rapidly from the land of the Kingdom of Elegia along with the intensifying melody.
Despair, rage, evil, destruction…
All sorts of negative emotions began erupting from Uta's body, forming an invisible giant conductor's baton that manipulated all the mental energy and gathered it at the center of the island.
At that instant, a strange aura flickered within Uta's eyes as well.
"Uta!"
Seeing this, Red hurriedly mobilized his own mental power and called out inside Uta's mind.
"Don't let the negative emotions affect you! Stabilize your consciousness!!!"
"I… I know!!!"
With Red's warning, Uta's gaze, which had been on the verge of losing control, instantly regained clarity. Immediately after, a surging wave of Psychic Power erupted from her body.
As a Psychic + Fairy-type Uta, she already possessed impressive talent in mental power to begin with. Added to the tireless training she had been doing recently…
Even if she could not oppose the Demon of Song · Tot Musica head-on, with Red's help, preventing herself from being affected by Tot Musica was still no problem at all.
As the eerie mental energy gathered at the center of the island, the sky above Red and Uta was instantly covered by dense dark clouds. Silent lightning flowed between the layers of cloud, bursting with dazzling arcs of light.
"Awooo~!!!"
Under the reverberation of the music, a gigantic demon with a skeletal face suddenly appeared before Red and the others. Its body erupted with a pressure even more terrifying than Conqueror's Haki, sweeping over Red like a biting storm and making his clothes snap loudly in the wind.
A gentleman's poise, fluffy curls, and absurdly long arms assembled from piano keys…
Although it had no fixed body, the aura it released pressed down on the surroundings like something tangible, as if it were a real living creature.
"So this is the so-called Demon of Song?"
Looking at the terrifying monster before him, a bright gleam flashed through Red's eyes.
If he had still held some doubt before regarding the Demon of Song's combat strength, then after witnessing its true form now, Red no longer had any questions.
This was, without a doubt… a terrifying creature with the potential to destroy the world.
It used immense mental energy as a vessel, condensing a shell that could move within the material world.
And because it could freely shuttle back and forth between the spirit world and the material world, one had to damage it in both the spirit world and the material world at the same time in order to defeat it.
Red, who could also be considered an expert at manipulating mental energy, saw through the Demon of Song's source of power and its rules at a single glance.
In the past, he had never understood why some Devil Fruit abilities that clearly had nothing to do with each other always contained strange and inexplicable operations.
But ever since learning that Devil Fruit abilities came from the eruption of the Solar Crystal, he had gradually come to understand everything.
During the first rampage of the Solar Crystal, the World Tree, which could still be considered a novice at the time, obviously could not precisely subdivide the violent wish power the way Vegapunk's wish-power collector could.
So it was inevitable that some Fruit abilities would end up neither here nor there.
The Sing-Sing Fruit, which could summon the Demon of Song, was one such example. The Op-Op Fruit, with all sorts of messy and miscellaneous abilities, was another.
As for the Demon of Song before Red's eyes, it was clearly something created by some "brilliant" Sing-Sing Fruit user, who had trapped the mental bodies of countless people inside the spirit world, then used the all-purpose power within that spirit world to create a world-destroying demon king.
All Red could say was that it was fortunate technology in the past had not been developed enough, and that there had not been broadcasting equipment capable of connecting the entire world like there was today.
Otherwise, perhaps that generation's Sing-Sing Fruit user alone would have been enough to turn this Fruit ability into a legendary power no weaker than the Nika Fruit.
"Uta, how are you feeling right now?"
Looking at Uta, whose gaze was still drifting somewhat, Red immediately asked expectantly,
"Can you control this Tot Musica in front of us now?"
"I… I'm trying!!!"
Uta gritted her teeth, her fists clenched, blue veins bulging at her temples, as if she were struggling against something.
Red could guess…
Right now, Uta was likely confronting the Demon of Song's will inside the spirit world.
Under normal circumstances, after summoning the Demon of Song, Uta should have been directly assimilated by the demon king's will, becoming violent and despairing.
But the current Uta was not so easily infected!
"I won't lose to an ugly thing like you!!!"
All of a sudden, Uta, floating in midair, let out a loud shout.
In the next second, dazzling white light began to bloom from her body.
Surging mental power poured out like a vast ocean, forming a storm of manifested Psychic Power around Uta.
And under the enhancement of her Pokémon typing, her appearance was instantly renewed.
The agility of the Fairy type caused a radiant, dreamlike glow to appear around Uta out of thin air, while the strength of the Psychic type made her expression grow even calmer.
Her heart-shaped hair tips slowly fell, turning into a sheet of long, straight hair that drifted all the way down to her slender waist.
The elegant short skirt she had originally worn also became puffier and longer beneath the glow of evolution.
Snap!
When the light dispersed once more, a cold, glamorous queen, her entire body shrouded in a mysterious aura, appeared high above the Kingdom of Elegia.
"I said…"
"Stop right there!!!"
Whoosh~!
Uta suddenly stretched out her arm, and a strange ripple of light shot out from her eyes.
In an instant, the figure of the Demon of Song, which had only just been born not long ago, suddenly froze stiffly in midair, no longer obeying its own will.
Setting aside the special trait that required both mental and physical damage to be inflicted at the same time, the Demon of Song's abilities actually were not that strong. At most, it was at the level of a top Emperor's deputy.
It just so happened to be on par with the current Uta.
However…
That was only in the material world.
Inside the mental space created by the Sing-Sing Fruit, Uta was the ruler of this world!
As long as she wished it, no one could run wild in her world!
After Pokémon-ization, Uta already possessed the ability to break free from the Demon of Song's mental pollution.
At this very moment, inside the mental space, the Demon of Song, which had just been raging violently, had already been bound tightly by several thick Fairy Locks created by Uta.
As for the outside world, with Red by Uta's side, naturally, there would be no problems.
In a mere dozen or so seconds, this demon king, which possessed the might to destroy the world and which even the Five Elders had no choice but to guard against, had become Red and Uta's prisoner.
"Uta, try it. Can you control this big guy now?"
In the real world, Red brought Uta drifting over to the top of the Demon of Song's head, observing the now-quiet Demon of Song.
Since Tot Musica's despairing aura could infect Uta's spirit, then with Uta's godlike identity as an invincible being within the mental space, there was no reason she could not control the Demon of Song in reverse.
"I'll try." Uta replied calmly.
After Pokémon-ization, even her personality seemed to have undergone a slight change.
The lively and nimble girl she had once been had directly become an independent, aloof ruler.
In the next moment, she slowly closed her eyes.
Almost at the same time, the Tot Musica in the real world suddenly began struggling violently.
Before it could cause any disturbance, however, Red simply swept his gaze over it.
In an instant, a wave of Psychic Power several times more immense than Uta's mental power descended upon the Demon of Song, forcibly silencing it on the spot.
Half a minute later, Uta opened her eyes again. A mysterious pentagram pattern had appeared over her pupils.
Uta reported directly,
"Red, you can release the restrictions on Tot Musica now."
"I think… I've completely taken control of it!?"
"What!? That fast!?"
Red was slightly stunned.
Although Tot Musica itself was a creation born from a Sing-Sing Fruit user, it was still, in any case, a troublesome existence that even the World Government found difficult to deal with. Yet Uta had resolved it this quickly?
But upon hearing Red's exclamation, Uta gently shook her head.
"It's not what you're thinking."
"Tot Musica itself is an existence parasitic upon the power of the Sing-Sing Fruit, so it seems that it naturally obeys the control of the Sing-Sing Fruit user."
"It's just that if the user's mental power is too low, they'll be affected by the despairing aura on Tot Musica, causing them to act in ways that don't match their own personality."
"I see."
Red nodded in understanding. However, after sensing the aura on Tot Musica, he immediately added,
"But to be able to create such a despairing monster… it looks like that generation's Sing-Sing Fruit user was no decent person."
A power that could drag the spirit of any living being who heard the song into a mental space under one's control…
Just how much despair had Tot Musica's creator forced countless living beings to feel in order to create such a terrifying monster?
The weak were tragic beings, no matter the era.
Red sighed inwardly, but the motion of his hand as he threw out a Poké Ball did not hesitate in the slightest.
Unfortunately, a Master Ball manifested into the real world could only forcibly load a Pokémon template onto living beings. It could not forcibly capture them as it did in the games.
Originally, Red had planned that if Tot Musica refused to behave, he would first use the Master Ball to pull it into the Pokémon World and give it a proper lesson.
Since Uta, after Pokémon-ization, already possessed the power to control it, things would be much easier for him.
In the next second, Red and Uta simultaneously flashed to an open area. Then their consciousness sank, and both of them entered the Pokémon World.
In the world of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, within a valley surrounded by mountains…
With three flashes of light and shadow, Red, Uta, and the enormous Tot Musica instantly appeared there.
"Mmm?"
The sudden change in scenery instantly stunned Tot Musica.
But very quickly, it discovered in surprise…
It seemed to possess the ability to think!?
"Tot Musica, you can hear me, right!?"
At that moment, Red's voice suddenly rang out, drawing Tot Musica's gaze over.
Just as the Nika will had gained its own consciousness after becoming a Pokémon, this Tot Musica before him, which had originally been treated as a tool, should not have possessed any emotions other than despair and destruction.
But now, after loading the Pokémon template and officially becoming a living being, it had produced its own consciousness and intelligence.
Although its heart was still occupied by all sorts of negative emotions, Tot Musica would no longer madly destroy things like it had before.
Especially because it still had not figured out why it had suddenly become so strange.
"You should be able to feel it. I am the one who granted you new life."
With the precedent of Little Nika from before, Red immediately understood Tot Musica's current situation.
He directly transformed into Master CPU, seizing the moral high ground from the very beginning.
"It… was… you…"
Tot Musica looked at Red, speaking word by word like an infant who had only just learned how to talk.
But after making a sound, it was startled by the fact that it could speak.
As for Red, he merely smiled calmly and said in an unhurried manner,
"There's no need to be overly surprised."
"You've already noticed it, haven't you? The current you are no longer some subsidiary product of a Sing-Sing Fruit user. You now exist as a true living being!"
"Is… that so?"
Tot Musica still had not quite figured out the situation.
But when it saw Red's eyes, calm as an ancient well yet deep as a sea of stars, it suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of closeness toward him.
After all, Red was Tot Musica's Trainer. Although that could not make it obey him one hundred percent like it had been brainwashed, it still had some special effect to a certain extent.
Under Red's mixture of bluffing and intimidation, Tot Musica quickly accepted the setting that it had obtained new life, and that the person before it was the one who had granted it this rebirth.
"Lord Red, Lady Uta…"
Perhaps because its roots originated from a Sing-Sing Fruit user, after being disciplined, Tot Musica not only displayed corresponding etiquette toward Red, its Trainer, but also toward Uta, the ability user.
At first, Red had still been curious as to why a Sing-Sing Fruit user would possess such an extremely high binding power over Tot Musica…
But when he opened Tot Musica's stat interface, he realized things were not as simple as he had imagined.
Yet they were even more perfect than Red himself had expected.
[Pokémon: Tot Musica]
[Level: 80]
[Gender: None]
[Nature: Hasty]
[Type: Ghost, Psychic]
[Ability: Symbiosis {Select a specific person to bind with, forming a symbiotic relationship. (Currently bound: Uta.)
After binding with a symbiote, the following effects can be formed:
Both symbiotes share life. When attacked, one side can be selected to bear more of the damage, with the percentage freely distributed;
Beneficial items or ability effects used on either symbiote can also take effect on the other symbiote. Negative items or ability effects used on either symbiote will be split equally between both parties;
During battle, for a certain period of time, one party can absorb all of the other party's stats, allowing the two to merge into one and fight. The duration is determined by the total stats of both symbiotes. The higher the total stats, the longer the duration.}]
[Moves: None]
[Total Stats: 1433]
"..."
"..."
(End of Chapter)