"What's this?" Seth asked, his mocking smile never leaving his face. Yet, his eyes narrowed slightly, showing a glimmer of caution.
The spatial tear above them didn't just expand, it began to actively consume the sky. A terrifying, gravitational suction force erupted from the black void, tearing the clouds apart and attempting to drag everything within the barrier into its depths.
The Red Knight sat atop his Corviknight, entirely unbothered by the violent winds whipping around him.
"Did you honestly believe the prodigies on the ground were our primary objective
today, Williams?" the Red Knight asked, his metallic voice echoing with a dark
finality.
"They are merely a bonus. You, my friend, are the real target."
Seth didn't reply, his gaze fixed on the expanding void.
"You have been a thorn in our side for too long," the Red Knight continued. "The Emperor himself demanded that Seth Williams be taken care of, no matter the cost. I admit... at first, I questioned the decree. Why expend so many resources for a mere Elite 4-level trainer? But now..."
The Red Knight looked at the majestic, blood-red form of Mega Salamence.
"Now, after witnessing your true strength, I understand the Emperor's wisdom. If a monster like you were allowed to grow any further, you would truly become a catastrophe for the Kingdom."
The suction force from the rift reached its peak, pulling at Seth's coat and threatening to drag his massive dragon into the abyss.
ROOOOOOOAR!
Mega Salamence didn't budge an inch. The draconic aura surrounding him flared, creating a dense, physical gravity field that completely anchored them in the sky. The sheer pressure of the Champion-level beast effortlessly nullified the spatial pull.
"If this was your trump card," Seth said, his tone dripping with condescension, "I hate to break it to you, but it is failing."
The Red Knight didn't respond with anger or panic. Instead, he let out a long, resigned sigh.
"I know," he said quietly.
Without another word, the Red Knight reached beneath his crimson cape and withdrew a jagged, obsidian dagger.
Seth's eyes widened. "What are you--"
With a sickening crunch, the Red Knight drove the dagger directly into his own heart.
He didn't scream. He simply gripped the hilt, staring at Seth as a violent, blinding surge of psychic energy began to pour from the fatal wound.
"You are too strong... to be forced into the rift by me," the Red Knight choked out, blood spilling past his visor. "So... I must bring someone else who can."
Seth was genuinely confused for a fraction of a second, but then the sheer volume of psychic energy leaking from the dying man began to warp the very fabric of reality around them.
This was one of the darkest, most forbidden arts of the Ancient Kingdom.
Every high-ranking Knight had a teleportation seal carved directly into their heart. Once broken, the seal used the user's remaining life force as fuel to instantly swap their physical location with another designated target.
The greater the distance between the two swapping places, the more life force was required.
In this case, the distance crossed dimensions. The cost was the Red Knight's life.
"I am replaceable," the Red Knight whispered, his physical form beginning to disintegrate into black ash. "Taking you down... let that be my final badge of honor."
The Red Knight vanished completely.
In the exact space he had occupied just a millisecond before, a new figure materialized.
He was clad in pitch-black, masterfully forged armor that seemed to absorb the light around it. A dark, ragged cape billowed behind him, and the aura radiated by him was equally as menacing.
The Black Knight.
The instant this man appeared, the flawless, eccentric facade Seth Williams had maintained for years shattered completely. His warm smile vanished. His calm, calculated composure evaporated. The sheer, unadulterated hatred that flooded Seth's eyes was terrifying--a raw, burning fury that had been suppressed for over a decade.
"So..." Seth's voice trembled with a murderous, suffocating rage. "...you finally showed up."
---
Down on the rocky plateau overlooking the ocean, the battle was reaching a fever pitch.
"Charizard, Dragon Claw! Keep them back!" Blaire commanded, her voice ringing out over the clash of elements.
Her Charizard roared, its claws glowing with vicious green energy as it parried a Stone Edge from an incoming Aerodactyl, then spun to block an Iron Tail from the massive Aggron.
Despite having just broken through to the Pseudo-King level, Charizard was struggling. The newly arrived Ancient Kingdom commander hadn't held back, summoning two more Pseudo-King level beasts, an Aggron and an Excadrill, to support +his Aerodactyl. It was a brutal three-on-one assault.
"You can do it, big guy! Burn them up!" Belle cheered from the sidelines, her tiny fists pumped into the air. Captain Sparky stood fiercely in front of her, ready to intercept any stray attacks. Blaire wiped a streak of sweat from her brow as she smiled, but then, a sudden chill ran down her spine.
She looked up.
Through the translucent black barrier separating the sky from the ground, she saw the massive spatial tear expanding violently.
"What's the matter, girl?" the armored commander mocked, noticing her distracted gaze.
"Are you worried about your father up there?"
Blaire snapped her attention back to the commander.
"If you aren't, you should be," the commander sneered, crossing his arms. "Our goal today was never you, or any of the other prodigies on this island. Your father was the only target."
"Oh?" Blaire smiled dangerously.
Knowing exactly what kind of monster her father was, she wasn't actually worried about his safety. Still, having lost her mother, the sheer audacity of this grunt infuriated her. The pressure she released spiked, her fiery, punk nature blazing to life.
"You think you lot can take on my dad?" Blaire laughed, shaking her head. "I haven't heard a worse joke all day. As annoying as he is, the old man is crazy strong, you know. Why are you after him anyways?"
The commander chuckled darkly. "He has been a massive thorn in our side ever since a certain incident years ago. He's been hunting our operatives relentlessly."
The commander shrugged casually, as if discussing the weather. "It's really his own fault. If he hadn't gotten so worked up over his wife dying in that skirmish against our Kingdom, none of this would be happening."
The moment he uttered those words, the world seemed to stop.
Despite the intense heat radiating from Charizard, the air felt cold and murderous, as if winter had descended on the plateau.
Blaire slowly lowered her sunglasses, exposing eyes that burned with an absolute, world-ending fury.
"You are telling me..." Blaire's voice was a terrifyingly quiet whisper. "...you people are responsible for Mom's death?"
For as long as Blaire could remember, her mother's death had been explained as a tragic, wild Pokémon accident during an expedition.
"Big sis?" Belle asked, her usual boundless energy faltering as she saw the terrifying look on Blaire's face. "What is that bad man saying?"
Blaire took a deep breath, forcibly softening her expression for just a fraction of a second as she looked back at her little sister. "It's nothing, Belle. Don't worry about it. Stay behind Sparky."
She turned back to the commander. Her mind was a whirlwind of rage and betrayal. 'So that's why the old man was acting strangely today. That's why he hosted this event. Why didn't he tell me this?!'
The commander noticed her trembling shoulders and laughed.
"Did I touch a nerve?" he mocked gleefully. "Well, don't worry, little girl. I'll soon let you meet her. I like family reunions, after all. Aren't I kind?"
Blaire let out a low, dark chuckle.
The fury rolling off her was palpable. Charizard felt his trainer's pure, unadulterated rage and responded in kind. The fire on his tail erupted into a massive pillar of flames, matching Blaire's murderous intent.
He roared, entirely uncaring that he was surrounded by three Pseudo-Kings.
"Kind?" Blaire said, reaching up to the thick, spiked metal collar around her neck. "I'll show you kind."
She grabbed a hidden clasp on the collar, revealing a perfectly polished, swirling Key Stone.
"Charizard," Blaire commanded, her voice echoing with lethal promise. "Let's show them our burning passion."
She pressed the stone.
"Mega Evolve!"
A blinding pillar of prismatic light erupted from Charizard, completely engulfing the rocky plateau in the radiant glow of Mega Evolution.
-------------------------------------
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