Marshadow blinked its large eyes, stretched lazily, then turned its gaze toward the ruins in the distance.
Even after some time, the thick dust still hadn't dissipated much, enough to obscure ordinary vision.
But it couldn't hinder Marshadow.
The slowly drifting smoke suddenly churned violently, as if countless hands were stirring within it.
The debris-laden dust now resembled boiling water, shaking and shifting incessantly.
This abrupt change immediately caught Akira's attention, diverting his focus from Unown back to the battlefield.
Then, within the smoke, clusters of increasingly bright light emerged, gradually stepping outward.
Clearly, this was the cause of the strange disturbance in the dust.
But in an instant, countless more light clusters appeared one after another, intensifying the radiance within the smoke.
"Oh?" Marshadow's petite arms hung naturally at its sides, its curious gaze fixed on the swirling dust.
The next moment, waves of dense energy erupted skyward!
The terrifying aura created a powerful pressure, completely shredding the already unsettled dust in this sudden upheaval.
With the dust barrier gone, the scene within was fully exposed—utterly unobstructed.
It was a group of Jins!
Each surge of energy represented one Jin, and now ten stood clearly on the battlefield!
Akira raised an eyebrow, murmuring, "Clones? But it seems their strength isn't identical."
"I wonder if their abilities are the same?"
The first impression was indeed intimidating.
After all, Jin was now an SS- rank entity—formidable even as a single unit, let alone nine appearing at once.
Yet upon closer inspection, Akira sensed something amiss.
The energy signatures of these nine Jins were noticeably weaker, incomparable to the original.
Still, gaining nine additional combatants of decent strength was no small boost for Jin.
So...
Were these here to assist Jin?
One of the Jins subtly glanced at Akira before focusing entirely on Marshadow.
A cold glint flickered in its eyes.
In truth, these nine Jins were illusions—the real one remained hidden in the dust, manipulating them from the shadows.
With a mere thought from Jin, the nine replicas advanced toward Marshadow in unison.
This new ability to create replicas was what he gained upon reaching SS- rank.
Even if he was borrowing external power and could only maintain this strength temporarily, he could still utilize all available abilities.
In short, by channeling energy into rocks, he could control them as his avatars—like molding clay figures.
These replicas could also use his abilities, though their power fell short of the original.
After careful consideration, Jin deemed nine replicas the optimal number.
Despite consuming vast amounts of Gemstone Power, granting him an unusually large energy reserve, it wasn't infinite.
The energy would naturally dissipate and eventually deplete.
Had he genuinely possessed this ability without external aid, he could have boldly created even more replicas.
With such immense energy, its recovery rate would have been equally rapid.
One moment, the nine Jins were advancing—the next, they vanished, leaving only disturbed dust in their wake.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
Then, eight Jins materialized simultaneously around Marshadow, encircling it in an ambush formation.
They had used teleportation!
Though not every replica wielded weapons like the Hundred Slash Blade, their sheer physical strikes could still unleash devastating force.
Marshadow's eyes narrowed in Focus before it unleashed a barrage of punches at blinding speed.
In an instant, fiery red, bright yellow, ice-blue, and shadowy black fist afterimages filled the air—
Four different elemental punch techniques!
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom..."
Despite launching the sneak attack, the Jins still couldn't match Marshadow's speed.
To Marshadow, their movements appeared in slow motion—painfully clear and sluggish.
Thus, Marshadow effortlessly countered every strike they threw.In an instant, eight of Jin's bodies were blasted with terrifying holes, piercing through from front to back, and sent flying backward.
None of these eight Jins were the real one!
As for the true body, he was already fleeing toward the exit of the cave chamber!
"Whoosh!"
Seeing a Jin suddenly appear before him, Akira couldn't even be bothered to lift an eyelid.
Jin's face was twisted with madness—even his clones bore the same expression—as he roared furiously.
"Die!"
Ever since reaching a new realm of power, Jin had sensed that those inexplicably appearing "monsters" had some connection to this creature.
Thus, in the face of hopeless odds, after venting his emotions, Jin made a decision.
Escape!
Survival was the most important thing!
As long as he lived, there would be Hope.
With this breakthrough as a precedent, he believed he could eventually break through again on his own.
Once he reached a certain level of strength, he would return to reclaim his dignity and exact his revenge.
But all of this hinged on one condition—he had to stay alive.
Jin knew that escaping outright wouldn't be easy, especially with a monster countless times stronger than himself watching his every move.
So the nine clones he had created were mainly decoys, meant to divert attention.
Then, he would seize the chance to flee.
The reason he hadn't escaped earlier was also because these clones lacked independent thought—he had to control them within a certain range.
Even as he planned his escape, a part of him still clung to the hope of turning the tables.
Thus, he sent one clone to attack Akira, just to test the waters.
What if eliminating this creature made those "monsters" disappear?
In his long years, Jin had seen such things before.
A creature that appeared on the surface might actually be the work of another hidden creature using his abilities.
The obvious target might be difficult to deal with, but if he could find and eliminate the hidden one...
The surface creature would perish as well.
And so—
"ARGHHH!!"
Jin's face twisted in horror as a figure suddenly appeared before him—before he was instantly obliterated by a single punch!
Landorus hovered silently in the air, arms crossed, its furious eyes locked onto the spot where Jin had just been reduced to nothingness.
Its powerful frame radiated immense energy, like a masterpiece meticulously crafted by an artist.
As a Legendary Pokémon, Landorus could annihilate one of Jin's clones with a casual strike.
It was practically overkill—like using an anti-aircraft gun to swat a mosquito.
With that, all nine of Jin's clones had been completely wiped out!
Meanwhile, the real body had already teleported into a distant passageway.
...
"Whoosh!"
Jin's figure appeared in a deserted tunnel, far from his cave chamber.
"Huff... huff..."
His first action was to glance back toward the cave entrance, terrified of pursuers.
After scanning his surroundings and confirming nothing was chasing him, Jin finally let out a sigh of relief.
It wasn't that he didn't want to teleport straight to the surface—his teleportation range was just too limited.
Originally, his teleportation distance had been about half the length of a cave chamber, useful in normal combat.
But after this massive breakthrough, he could now teleport directly from the chamber into the tunnel.
By his estimate, this spot was roughly halfway through the underground passage.
In other words, just one more teleportation and he could escape to the surface.
Jin slightly bent forward, hands resting on his knees as he panted uncontrollably, his face showing a very human expression of lingering fear.
He knew perfectly well—this had been a narrow escape from death!
Just a little more, and he would have died there!
Jin took two deep breaths, trying to calm down and regain a neutral expression before growling angrily.
"Damn it! How did such a powerful enemy appear out of nowhere?"
He had always been vigilant about his surroundings, often sending scouts—or even going himself—to observe the area.
This was precisely to avoid being caught off guard if powerful creatures from other regions suddenly appeared.
In the perilous environment of the Dark Continent, Jin had mastered the art of caution.
This was one of the reasons he had survived for so long.
"Not only could it easily defeat me, but even after I used my trump card, it made no difference—as if no amount of effort would work."
"Yet an enemy like this just appeared here out of thin air. I've never seen such creatures in this area before."
"So… did it come from somewhere else?"
Based on the enemy's strength, Jin guessed it must have come from deeper within the continent.
He knew all too well—the further inward you went, the more dangerous it became, with all kinds of earth-shaking monsters lurking everywhere.
What Jin didn't know was that his enemy hadn't come from the depths of the Dark Continent.
Instead, it had emerged from a small lake at the edge of the Dark Continent, from one of the tiny islands within it.
"Those bizarre monsters also seem connected to that creature… and as for that creature itself…"
The more Jin spoke, the darker his expression grew.
"They do resemble those creatures from back then, though their size is still a bit off."
At that moment, Jin recalled the day he had led his kin to turn this place into his trump card.
The creatures they had encountered back then possessed the ability to manipulate their own bodies, extending pale, skeletal appendages from within.
They also wielded sharp weapons, seemingly of their own creation—though now, all of those had become Jin's possessions.
And standing alongside them in battle had been those mineral-like creatures. The very ores Jin now consumed had been crafted by them.
That battle had been brutal, with many of his kin falling in the fight.
But in the end, victory had been theirs—one species was wiped out, while the other was captured.
"Damn it!"
At the mere thought of the Diamond Spirits, an uncontrollable pang of regret flashed across Jin's face.
For the Stone Giants, a population of Diamond Spirits was of immeasurable value—it meant a direct boost in strength.
Without the Diamond Spirits, he would never have grown so powerful so quickly.
His natural potential wouldn't have allowed him to reach such heights.
Now, he had escaped—but the Diamond Spirits were still down there.
Going back was out of the question.
He had no choice but to accept the loss.
As for the rest of his kin, Jin couldn't bring himself to care.
Not only would they slow his escape, but he also suspected most of them were already dead.
By all logic, after such a prolonged battle, his kin should have arrived to assist—yet not a single one had appeared.
After a brief commotion outside, everything had fallen silent—not even the slightest tremor remained.
Jin didn't need to think hard to know—they must have been intercepted.
Maybe even wiped out entirely.
The annihilation of his kin only brought a faint sense of regret.
After all, having a capable team was still useful.
But it paled in comparison to the importance Jin placed on the Diamond Spirits.
At least he still had a hidden space within his body—where he kept his most prized possessions.
There were some remaining Gemstone Powers, perhaps enough to enhance his strength.
There were also some blades, such as the Hundred Slash Blade, the Flame Burst Blade, and so on.
"Luckily, I carry the important things with me, so I haven't lost too much."
Jin could only try to console himself, finding a small silver lining in his sorrow.
Feeling the sensations within his body, Jin estimated that with a little more time, he could teleport again.
There was a cooldown between teleportations, and he had just been waiting for it to pass.
The next moment, inexplicable waves of energy rippled through the pitch-black surroundings, as if monsters were about to burst from the walls.
Then, a pair of terrifying eyes appeared on the rocky surface, staring straight at Jin as if ready to devour him whole.
A Normal-type move—Glare!
Jin froze, his instincts screaming danger.
He gritted his teeth and immediately wanted to turn and flee.
But for some reason, his feet felt as if weighed down by a thousand pounds, hindering his escape.
Suddenly, a graceful figure appeared before Jin, shimmering with dazzling pink diamond light as it materialized.
Adorning its head was a crown-like structure made of pink crystals, resembling a large diamond, flanked by four shorter crystals forming a regal tiara.
Anyone who saw Diancie could immediately sense the elegant, composed aura of a princess.
The Jewel Princess Diancie had arrived!
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