When the black mist around them disappeared, everyone in the small house slowly opened their eyes.
A Ceruledge, clad in purple-black armor with its hands forming two sharp blades, appeared.
But the most striking thing was his eyes; where the Charcadet's eyes were once filled with fear, worry, and unease, the Ceruledge's eyes now exuded a dangerous aura.
If Yveltal's gaze was one of contempt and disdain for the weak, and Greninja's gaze was one of calm composure in the face of anything, then Ceruledge's gaze was like looking at a dead person, filled with coldness and danger.
The Beedrill flying at the front was about to probe, but in a mere blink of an eye, Ceruledge instantly teleported in front of Beedrill and swung his blades, and in the next second, Beedrill was cut in half.
“Oh my god! Bisharp, use Iron Head!”
“Commander!”
The iron horn on Bisharp’s head glowed white as he charged towards Ceruledge, but in the next second, Ceruledge instantly teleported above Bisharp and swung his twin blades.
With a clang, the horn on Bisharp’s head snapped directly, and Ceruledge, enduring the impact of Iron Head, forcefully sliced Bisharp’s head into four pieces.
Red and green blood splattered on Ceruledge’s body, looking particularly eerie under the moonlight.
“This, this, this! How is this Ceruledge so strong?! I’m going all out! Hydro Pump! Flamethrower!”
“Psybeam!”
Houndoom, Blastoise, and Malamar unleashed their attacks simultaneously, but as soon as the three attacks were launched, Ceruledge instantly teleported behind them, then immediately used Bitter Blade. His twin blades glowed with purple fire, and in the next second, a streak of purple blade light sliced through their bodies, along with the surrounding armor stands.
Even Blastoise’s shell had a clean cut, the damage indicating it was cleanly sliced in half.
It was then that the Pokémon Hunters noticed the difference in Ceruledge; a dark energy body enveloped his entire body, and wherever he walked, the flowers beneath his feet withered.
The aura he was emitting was somewhat similar to… Dark Aura?
“Salamence!”
Salamence was still trying to intimidate Ceruledge with a roar to keep him from approaching, but Ceruledge’s mere gaze instantly overwhelmed Salamence’s momentum.
Salamence immediately used Dragon Pulse, but Ceruledge’s figure flickered, teleporting to the other side, causing Dragon Pulse to miss entirely.
Salamence, in disbelief, continuously unleashed Dragon Pulse again, but each time, Ceruledge seemed to have infinite teleportation, like a ghost, impossible to hit.
As Ceruledge slowly approached, Salamence could no longer hold back and ignored the Pokémon Hunter’s retreat signal, immediately charging forward, preparing to bite Ceruledge.
Ceruledge watched the charging Salamence, his figure retreated backward, and while using Bitter Blade, his form vanished instantly into Phantom Force.
Salamence missed, looking around in great surprise, trying to find Ceruledge.
But around him, more than a dozen purple portals appeared. Before Salamence could react, he felt a chill throughout his body, followed by the tearing pain of being cut by blades all over.
If seen from the perspective of those Pokémon Hunters, what they would have witnessed was Salamence surrounded by a dozen purple portals. Then, a purple figure continuously moved through the portals, so fast that it even created afterimages.
When Ceruledge reappeared, Salamence’s entire body was covered in blade light, and in the next second, this quasi-legendary Pokémon was directly turned into blood, flesh splattering everywhere.
Blood splattered on Ceruledge’s body, making him look like a demon from hell, approaching the Pokémon Hunters step by step.
“What kind of monster is this?!!!”
“I don’t want to die! Hurry and go! Run!!!”
“Help!!!”
And just as they scrambled to their feet and rushed out of the door, they directly crashed into Ceruledge’s body.
Ceruledge instantly appeared before them, his terrifying gaze making them break out in cold sweat, and the fear of death made their legs tremble, causing them to involuntarily kneel down.
Snivy, who witnessed the entire process, was extremely surprised. From her perspective, Ceruledge was simply elusive, with every movement so fast that it created afterimages.
Even when those Pokémon Hunters rushed out of the door, he merely flickered and appeared before them; this speed was simply incredible.
Just as Ceruledge raised his sharp blades, preparing to strike, he was interrupted by a Pokémon Hunter.
“If you kill us! Your master will be held legally responsible!!!”
This statement clearly intimidated Ceruledge. Although he didn’t know what “legal responsibility” meant, he knew it was definitely not a good thing.
“Ordering a Pokémon to kill humans can lead to imprisonment! At that time, not only will you be released, but your master will never see you again! They might even have to pay with their life!”
The Pokémon Hunter saw that this statement had indeed intimidated Ceruledge and continuously added fuel to the fire, describing the consequences of killing them.
“You don’t want your master to be locked in that dark, sunless cage for the rest of his life, do you!”
Ceruledge’s eyes slowly became somewhat helpless. He had just reunited with his trusted family and companions, and he was truly afraid of losing them again.
“Think about it! Will you kill us? Or let us go?”
Ceruledge lowered his head and thought for a moment, but the sharp blades in his hands also slowly drooped.
“Snivy!”
Just then, Snivy walked out of the small house and reminded Ceruledge, which stopped the Pokémon Hunters who were just about to escape.
At the same time, the ground suddenly turned dark, and Yveltal flew over with Gui Ling and the other Pokémon.
The Pokémon Hunters were aghast; they hadn’t expected Gui Ling to catch up so quickly. They had originally intended to trick this Ceruledge, but with the Trainers present, they could only resign themselves to fate.
When Gui Ling landed and saw Ceruledge, he was stunned. With his cold, ruthless eyes and blood-soaked body, Ceruledge truly looked like a murderer now.
But Gui Ling still recognized him at a glance; he was the former Charcadet.
“Ceruledge…”
Ceruledge hesitated upon hearing Gui Ling’s voice. He looked at the bloodstains on his body, somewhat afraid to approach, but Gui Ling stepped forward and used a towel to help wipe the blood from Ceruledge’s face.
“Are you hurt?”
“…………”
“That’s good. It’s okay, you don’t need to panic.”
Those Pokémon Hunters immediately hugged Gui Ling’s legs, begging frantically for mercy.
“Brother! Make your Ceruledge stop! We truly know we were wrong!”
“Please stop! We won’t dare to do it again!”
“I don’t want to die!!!”
“What’s going on? I heard Diancie say you were Superior Pokémon Hunters?”
“Yes! But do you know what your Ceruledge did?!”
“What?”
“The most unacceptable thing is! He chopped my Salamence into minced meat! Not even a corpse was left!”
“Huh? Salamence was chopped into minced meat? Are you speaking human language?”
“It’s true! If you don’t believe me, go see for yourself!”
Gui Ling turned to look at Ceruledge, who simply nodded in affirmation.
“You’re that powerful? That was a quasi-legendary Pokémon!”
“…………”
At this moment, Phantump and Snivy also laboriously dragged Gardevoir out. Upon seeing Gardevoir’s tragic state, Ceruledge, who had originally calmed down, once again wanted to kill the Pokémon Hunters in front of him, but seeing Gui Ling’s lack of any reaction, he hesitated to act.
And at this time, Gui Ling wasn’t without reaction; he was simply stunned by the sight of Gardevoir, too enraged to speak.
“Damn it! You beasts still want to live? Ceruledge! Clean them up thoroughly!”
The Pokémon Hunters’ heads immediately dropped in fear and shock, and Ceruledge, still not appeased, furiously desecrated their bodies. Soon, only a pool of blood was left on the lawn.
Afterward, everyone immediately helped Gardevoir with her treatment. After an hour of treatment, Gardevoir finally escaped life-threatening danger.
However, at this moment, Yveltal noticed that the aura emanating from Ceruledge’s body felt somewhat familiar. After thinking for a long time, he finally realized it.
“…………(Dark Aura?)”
“What?”
“…………(The aura emanating from this kid is Dark Aura.)”
“Huh?”
To confirm, Yveltal immediately released Dark Aura, and also used his ability to guide the aura to slowly enter Ceruledge’s body.
As the dark purple energy infused, Ceruledge’s aura grew stronger and stronger, and terrifying power permeated Ceruledge’s body.
“…………(Strange, my Dark Aura was absorbed?)”
“I remember Charcadet evolving into Ceruledge requires contact with some kind of Malicious Armor, right? Could it be because of that armor?”
Thinking this, Gui Ling walked towards the small house. As soon as he entered, he was shocked by the scene before him.
Beedrill, Blastoise, Houndoom, and Malamar were cut in half, along with Bisharp, whose head was in four pieces, and a large area of minced flesh and blood, all laid out before Gui Ling.
A strong smell of blood permeated the room. Gui Ling suppressed his discomfort and slowly walked to the armor stand in the very center.
“There’s a piece of paper…”
Gui Ling picked up the yellowed paper and began to read the writing on it.
“This is the Dark Demon Armor, a miraculous armor excavated from a kingdom destroyed 1000 years ago. It retains the Dark Aura of Yveltal, the Death God. Wearers will disregard pain and absorb the life of others. However, this armor is merely a Cursed Armor; because it was tainted by Dark Aura, it is known as the Dark Demon Armor, and it was the national treasure of that destroyed kingdom.”
“…………Ah? So…”
………………
Due to Gardevoir’s injuries, everyone postponed their journey for a while, waiting until Gardevoir woke up before preparing to leave.
During this period, Gui Ling and Yveltal used Dark Aura to try and enhance Ceruledge’s strength.
After continuous absorption, Ceruledge’s aura grew stronger and stronger. When his blade sliced through, trees would directly wither, and stones would be corroded.
Within the Dark Aura, Ceruledge’s strength would increase significantly. When fully exerting his abilities, Ceruledge’s body would change from black-purple to black-red, and Yveltal’s phantom would even appear behind him.
Even his exclusive move, Bitter Blade, mutated. If he used it with full power, the purple flames would turn red, and anything struck would have its life force absorbed, turning into a stone statue.
In this dark form, his speed was greatly enhanced. His already extremely fast speed, when fully unleashed, was even as fast as lightning, almost indistinguishable from teleportation. This also made Yveltal, who had always looked down on him somewhat, re-evaluate him.
However, this dark form could only last for ten minutes. After ten minutes, Ceruledge would appear exhausted.
One day, after an attempt, Ceruledge finally mastered the power of Dark Aura. After the training ended, Ceruledge solemnly bowed to Yveltal.
“Thank you, Teacher.”
“…………(You’re welcome, this is all from your own effort… Huh? Did you just speak?)”
“Huh? I misheard.”
At this moment, Ceruledge, having maintained his dark form for too long, had little strength left and stumbled into Gui Ling’s arms.
“Master… Can we… rest for a bit?”
Hearing Ceruledge’s voice again, Gui Ling was very surprised. After realizing it, he patted Ceruledge’s head and smiled.
“Of course, you’ve worked very hard, Ceruledge.”
Feeling the warmth on his head, Ceruledge slowly opened his eyes and looked at the twilight sky, once again remembering his former companions.
“Master… Was I useless before…? I didn’t protect my companions… letting Sister Gardevoir suffer such severe harm…”
Ceruledge expected to hear words of blame, but Gui Ling placed his index finger against Ceruledge’s mouth, signaling him not to speak further.
“The first time I saw you, I knew you were a child with a story, and your story must have been very tragic. If one day you want someone to confide in, I will always be your listener.”
“…………(Me too, after all, you called me teacher.)”
Hearing this, Ceruledge, perhaps due to prolonged tension and exhaustion, or perhaps the sudden warmth and longing for his companions, started crying again.
“Oh? Why are you crying again? It’s okay, it’s okay, we’re all here~”
“Just this once… just be willful this once… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
Gui Ling gently hugged Ceruledge, continuously comforting him.
Ceruledge had changed too much. He wanted to become stronger to make up for his regrets, and he wanted to protect the people around him.
When facing enemies, he would ruthlessly kill, but he gave all his tenderness to everyone, showing his most vulnerable side.
At that moment, he made up his mind: he could shed tears, but only in two places.
One was in his dreams, and the other was by Gui Ling’s side…
The timid Charcadet of the past was gone; that moment of growing up in his eyes represented Ceruledge’s determination and growth.
From now on, he would stand in front of everyone as a protector, no longer hiding behind others as before.
The duty of guardianship will make you strong.
Thanks to Yantian, who loves meat and small potatoes, for the flowers. Thank you for your support!
Thanks to Xiang Ru Yumo for the flowers. Thank you for your support!
Thanks to Hilton for the Pidgey milk tea and praise. Thank you for your support!
Thanks to Skeleton True Man for the three flowers. Thank you for your support!