"Man… that thing is ugly."
Hidden nearby, Su Bai stared at Amino, who now resembled a gigantic spider, and couldn't help commenting.
If Malene's Sub-Beast form could still be described as a female giant, then Amino's appearance as a true Apostle…
It had completely abandoned anything remotely resembling a human form.
Death aura roiled from his bloated body, and he now needed four legs just to support his enormous frame.
The six arms growing from his back swayed continuously after tearing the shadow apart.
Fine, short hairs covered his entire body, making him look like an actual giant spider.
And the honest smile that had always hung on his face was gone.
What remained was a hideous, undisguised expression of savagery.
"I've already wasted too much time on you…"
Amino glanced at his frozen left arm, hatred flashing across his monstrous face.
"The power of the same level…"
"It's sleeping right inside here…"
"You're getting in the way of something important."
Clearly, Amino had completely lost interest in playing with his prey.
Rock had proven far more troublesome than he had expected.
Amino shifted his four limbs and began advancing toward Rock, his bloated body carried forward step by heavy step.
"I'm no longer interested in anything about you."
"No matter how many secrets you have, they're nothing more than the insignificant secrets of humanity."
"Now…"
"Die!"
Despite its massive, bloated appearance, Amino moved with astonishing speed.
His four claw-like legs dug into the ground as he dragged his enormous body forward, rapidly closing the distance between them.
"Insignificant?"
Rock wiped the blood from his mouth and looked up with a smile.
"Do you really think you can kill a member of the Twelve Zodiacs that easily?"
As he spoke, the color drained another shade from Rock's lips.
A gigantic shadow emerged beneath the spider-like Amino.
That shadow's mouth—which seemed incapable of ever staying shut—once again launched the kind of mental assault that made Amino's head throb.
"You bastard! You tore me apart again!"
"I'm gonna stab three thousand six hundred holes in you!"
"Fuck you, Sub-Beast! Fuck you, giant spider!"
The ritual dagger constantly shifted between the shadow's hands.
For a moment, it looked as though hundreds, even thousands, of ritual daggers were attacking simultaneously.
And every single one was aimed at Amino's blind spot beneath his body!
"That's enough!"
"I said that's fucking enough!"
Amino's furious roar came from his hideous face.
The six spider-like arms on his back spread out like a gigantic web.
In an instant, they reached beneath his body with terrifying speed.
Without even looking down, they seized the shadow's dagger before it could reach Amino.
Then—
They tore the shadow apart!
"GRAAH!"
Rock spat out another large mouthful of blood.
His vision was beginning to blur.
Yet he continued staring intently at Amino.
Another shadow emerged from the ground.
"You bastard! You fucking bastard!"
With a furious roar, the shadow threw itself at Amino once again!
But this time, the shadow was clearly weaker than before.
Under Amino's indifferent gaze, six spider-like arms swept down.
In the blink of an eye, they tore the shadow into pieces.
With nothing left to obstruct him, Amino stopped.
He raised his remaining hand and stroked his chin, a look of interest appearing on his face.
"I…"
"I think I understand now."
He stared at the shadow that was once again rapidly taking shape.
"This thing…"
"It feeds on your mental strength, doesn't it?"
As he spoke, the spider arms shot forward once more and firmly seized the newly formed shadow.
"This thing…"
"Counting this one, I've killed it four times already."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the shadow was torn apart once again.
Rock's narrowed eyes had nearly lost their focus.
And yet, another shadow stubbornly began taking shape before him.
"Every time I kill it, reviving it requires you to expend a massive amount of mental strength…"
A victorious smile spread across Amino's face.
For someone like him, being toyed with by Rock earlier had been humiliating.
But now…
He had managed to figure things out simply by making a few deductions.
That sense of accomplishment was far more exhilarating than killing a weak member of the Twelve Zodiacs.
So much so that he was no longer in any hurry to kill Rock.
"I want to see just how far your mental strength can go."
Cold sweat covered Rock's forehead.
He no longer even had the strength to speak.
Instead, he slowly raised one hand…
And gave Amino the middle finger.
The universally understood gesture needed no explanation.
A shadow silently formed behind Amino.
And then—
It was effortlessly torn apart.
................
"That makes…"
"The seventh shadow."
Su Bai's brows were tightly furrowed.
It wasn't just Amino who had figured it out.
He had too.
This shadow wasn't a truly independent living creature.
It was something that existed because of Rock.
Although it appeared to possess its own memories and could even think independently and launch attacks from different directions, its "life" could be restored again and again.
The only requirement…
Was that Rock still had enough mental strength to support it.
Every resurrection consumed an enormous amount of Rock's mental energy.
And the burden on Rock was becoming heavier and heavier.
The figure that had initially stood perfectly straight was now sitting on the ground, vomiting mouthful after mouthful of blood.
"That amount of mental strength…"
"It's absurd."
"Even someone like him couldn't awaken the Power of Bond…"
"So the key to the Power of Bond really has nothing to do with how powerful someone's mental strength is."
"A pure heart like Xiao Fei's…"
"That's the true key to awakening the Power of Bond."
"As for Contract Masters…"
"Looks like I don't have to worry about them anymore."
One of Su Bai's biggest concerns had been the possibility of a Contract Master awakening the Power of Bond.
What if they used that power to do something terrible?
After all, even if Contract Masters killed their Four-Armed Men in order to purchase Pokémon, the personality flaws accumulated over years of living in this world would inevitably continue to influence them.
If some Contract Master happened to awaken the Power of Bond through sheer luck, they could become an enormous threat to the entire Pokémon ecosystem.
That was why Su Bai had been so conflicted about whether Contract Masters should even be allowed to come into contact with Pokémon.
But now…
It seemed there was no need to worry about it anymore.
Even someone like Rock, with such terrifying mental strength, couldn't awaken the Power of Bond.
The other Contract Masters naturally wouldn't be able to either.
"Looks like…"
"It's time for me to step in."
"This is already the ninth."
Su Bai looked at Rock.
His face was now as pale as a sheet of paper, yet he was still stubbornly trying to summon a tenth shadow.
Su Bai shook his head.
"Those narrowed eyes may make him look harmless…"
"But damn…"
"This guy really is one tough bastard."
............
"The tenth…"
"Is ten your limit?"
Amino casually tore the tenth shadow apart.
Looking at Rock, who was still desperately attempting to form another one, Amino shook his head regretfully.
"With mental strength as powerful as yours…"
"If you were willing to accept the Ancestor's call, you might even become an Apostle yourself."
"How about it?"
"Why don't you give it a try?"
"I rarely extend an invitation to a human, you know."
Amino stared at Rock playfully, but there was genuine seriousness hidden beneath his words.
Rock possessed astonishing mental strength.
To waste such power inside a human body was simply a shame.
A Sub-Beast's body was far more powerful.
And if the Ancestor personally intervened, Rock's mental strength could potentially be amplified even further.
Others might not survive the process of becoming a Sub-Beast.
But with Rock's mental strength, Amino was confident he could endure it.
If they could transform someone like Rock into one of their kind…
The Ancestor would probably praise him for it.
But faced with Amino's "invitation," Rock suddenly laughed contemptuously.
He laughed twice.
That alone made his answer perfectly clear.
Amino shook his head regretfully before striding toward him.
"Back in the Paradise Era, there was an old saying in the ancient East that I quite like."
"They said…"
"Those who know when to yield are wise."
"Refusing my invitation really isn't a good choice for you…"
Amino's enormous shadow fell over Rock, blotting him out beneath it like death itself.
Rock raised his head.
Despite his exhaustion, he still managed to speak with unmistakable contempt.
"Oh?"
"Then what about those who refuse to yield?"
Amino looked at Rock.
Even with death staring him in the face, the man was still using his last bit of strength to mock him.
Amino sighed.
Six spider-like arms descended toward Rock.
His mouth opened slightly.
The word "die" was already forming on his lips.
But at that exact moment—
A golden blur, moving like a bolt of lightning, shot forward at an unbelievable speed and slammed violently into his body!
"BOOM!"
The figure was small.
Yet the force behind it was as heavy as a mountain.
Amino's spider-like form was anything but light.
And yet the golden figure sent him crashing to the ground, tumbling and rolling several times before he finally managed to stop himself.
All seven of his hands dug desperately into the earth, finally bringing his momentum to a halt.
Then, beneath his stunned and disbelieving gaze—
A gigantic orange figure slowly descended from the sky.
Standing atop Charizard's back, Su Bai's voice drifted down calmly.
"Those who refuse to yield…"
"Become the backbone!"