From within the storm emerged a towering figure, solid as iron, with piercing scarlet eyes that stood out sharply. Its fierce aura was so overwhelming that it briefly interrupted the Dark Sonata's music.
The cicacadas paused, sensing the threat. The earth-yellow aura around the steel giant condensed into sharp stone blades, which shot out at cicadas swarm with a series of sharp, slicing sounds.
This was the rock-type skill, Sharp Stone Attack. Countless stone blades tore through the cicadas, reducing them to dust. Against this S-level Tyranitar, the B+ level cicadas were no match, they were nothing but easy targets.
Meanwhile, Larry continued walking forward at a steady pace, his Pokémon cleaning up the remaining cicadas behind him without any sign of hurry.
Morel and the others at the back were stunned. Every time Larry stepped forward and a swarm of cicadas approached, a Nen beasts would appear to block them. Not only did these Nen beasts block the cicadas, but they seemed to completely overpower them. It was like Larry was battling the dark sonata itself!
Faced with so many devil cicadas, Larry's Nen beasts were holding their own remarkably well. Each time a new group of devil cicadas showed up, a fresh, powerful Nen beasts would emerge.
In just a short while, Larry had summoned four or five of these creatures. As he kept advancing, the number of Nen beasts around him only kept growing, Gardevoir, Snorlax, Dragonite...
Seeing this, Morel and the others couldn't help but feel the overwhelming power Larry possessed. His Nen beasts seemed endless, and each one was incredibly strong. Larry simply took a step forward, and his Pokémon handled the rest.
Trying to beat a Pokémon Master with sheer numbers was clearly a mistake, especially when that Master was Larry. If you want to face him, you'll have to get past his Pokémon first. Those dense swarms of cicadas were nothing more than food for his Pokémon to grow stronger.
Before long, Larry reached the Dark Sonata. At that moment, there were no devil cicadas left on the field. Behind Larry, a group of Pokémon stood proudly, ready for the final showdown.
The Dark Sonata no longer radiated the fierce aura it once did; its black outline had shrunk noticeably. It seemed all the devil cicadas were gone, draining a lot of its energy.
Each cicada carried death aura that the Dark Sonata used to control them, but when they were destroyed, these death aura scattered into the air and were completely absorbed by the waiting Gengar.
According to Gengar's feedback, as long as the remaining death aura of the Dark Sonata were swallowed, it could be easily upgraded to S-level! Even experience bars upgraded to the S+ level can be filled up quite a bit.
After defeating the Devil Cicada, the other Pokémon also earned a good amount of experience points, each gaining differently. Among them, the biggest boost went to the Hydreigon.
As a powerful turret, the Hydreigon was a cold, efficient killer against the Devil Cicadas, who could only rely on overwhelming numbers. Each of its beams wiped out countless cicadas. If the Devil Cicada hadn't had the ability to retreat into its shell, their resistance would have ended much sooner.
After their trip to the ancient city, the Hydreigon was given half of the experience points from the S level Plant monster. Today, it finally crossed that barrier and leveled up from S-level to true S-level, putting it on par with Tyranitar!
One specializes mainly in special attacks, while the other focuses on physical attacks, a clear division of roles. Facing the aggressive Larry and his Pokémon, the shadowy figure of the Dark Sonata seemed ready to give up. Its aura was restrained, and it looked like it was prepared to accept its fate and be defeated by Larry.
However, all its subtle movements behind the scenes were detected by Gengar beside Larry. Larry stopped in front of the black shadow and stared thoughtfully.
'Why had the Dark Sonata appeared in this realm?'
Previous information suggested that the Devil Cicada was native to this realm, but it only took on its ghostly form because of the Dark Sonata's influence. This meant the Dark Sonata wasn't originally from here, it had arrived somehow by chance.
'So how did it get here?' Larry thought about the broken ship outside and then looked again at the strange black shadow, muttering to himself.
'Could it be that someone from that ship accidentally brought the Dark Sonata into this realm?'
If Larry was right, there should be a human body hidden beneath that black shadow, the "tool" the Dark Sonata was using as a vessel! This would also explain why the Dark Sonata seemed self-aware.
A crew member had entered this realm, been overtaken by the Dark Sonata's deathly influence, and reduced to nothing more than its puppet. While he couldn't be entirely sure yet, Larry believed this was the most likely explanation. The next step was to devour the black shadow and confirm his theory.
Suddenly, the black shadow's suppressed aura burst out all at once! Countless thoughts of death swirled around him, giving off a heavy, dark energy that felt like it could consume everything.
Almost immediately, the shadow pulled his violin close and played a sharp, piercing note. From the violin emerged a series of dark, ink-black sword auras, faintly glowing with a chilling cold light. These sword auras, made up of intense death aura, shot straight toward Larry's neck, ready to kill him in one strike.
But Larry wasn't caught off guard. A sly smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth, he had anticipated this and had a backup plan.
Even while thinking, he never lowered his guard because he always felt this dark sonata wouldn't give up so easily. And sure enough, here it was.
Just as the shadow thought he had the upper hand, Gengar, standing next to Larry, was already prepared. The death blade, rushing at full speed, was deflected by Gengar's presence and flew directly into its mouth. Instead of causing harm, it transformed into experience points, pushing Gengar's experience bar forward.
Before the shadow could react, Gengar made an even bigger move, this would be the shadow's last. Gengar's body began to swell like a purple-black balloon, inflating rapidly.
Its appearance changed dramatically, now sporting a yellow ring on its forehead. The towering figure radiated a terrifying and strange aura, one that seemed to cover the entire magical world. Its scarlet eyes locked onto the black shadow, and then it opened its mouth, ready to swallow this prize that belonged to it.
Mega Evolution, Mega Gengar!