Chapter 887: Waiting for the Clouds to Part and the Sun to Shine
The moment Shadow chose to drag Kazuya into mutual immolation.
Every surviving magical beast and Demon God across the entire world had the dark energy thoroughly siphoned from their bodies.
And losing dark energy.
Signified losing their very life force.
Therefore.
Alongside Shadow dispersing into smoke and ash.
Not a single magical beast or Demon God remained upon the face of this world.
"The dust has settled."
Kazuya murmured quietly.
Suspended silently in mid-air, his mind felt momentarily untethered.
A profound exhaustion crept outward from the deepest recesses of his soul.
All he wanted right now was a long, peaceful sleep.
"Kazuya."
Cynthia reached out, gently pinching his cheek.
The touch was tender, yet grounded in an unmistakable reality.
Her golden hair shimmered with a soft luster beneath the faint ambient light.
Her dark eyes clearly mirrored his weary face.
"Hmm?"
Kazuya lifted his head subconsciously.
"It is time for us to return," Cynthia said softly.
Then she turned her head.
Looking toward the convergence of reinforcements gradually gathering around them.
Floating quietly in the surrounding airspace, they formed a silent, unbreakable rampart.
Kazuya blinked, only now finding the breath to ask: "Ah, right... how did you all manage to assemble together?"
He had noticed earlier.
These allies.
Clearly hailed from entirely distinct temporal junctures of the second world.
Kazan was still alive, and Lami's arm had not yet been severed by Druddigon.
That was from his fifth life in the ancient Magical Beast Era.
Florges had not yet lost her two younger brothers, nor had she obtained the Meadow Plate to transform into the Eternal Tree of the World.
Which meant she came from the primeval era of his sixth life.
His disciple Diancie was alive, and Magearna had already been born.
That belonged to the era following Kazuya's departure in his seventh life.
Cases like these.
Were abundant among the gathering.
Everyone had been summoned from separate points in time.
"Using Dialga's authority, we journeyed across different eras to find the people and Pokémon tied to you, finally congregating within a rift Palkia carved out within the space-time vortex."
"Afterward, I discovered that I could sense your exact location within the dimensional rift, so we hurried over together at once."
"It must be because you carried something tied to me."
Cynthia explained gently.
The very next second.
She watched as Kazuya drew forth that photograph—[Cynthia's Heart].
In the image, she wore her wedding gown, her face illuminated by a shy, radiant smile of pure happiness.
Speaking of which.
It was this very photograph that had preserved the lives of everyone in Sootopolis City earlier.
And immediately afterward, Cynthia had manifested.
Seen in this light.
It was this keepsake releasing the resonance of Cynthia's heart power at that critical juncture.
Allowing her to lock onto the precise space-time coordinates where Kazuya was fighting.
"If you all return like this, will it trigger massive temporal paradoxes?"
A flicker of concern surfaced in Kazuya's eyes.
This issue.
Had weighed heavily on his mind across lifetimes.
In the past, he had constantly worried.
Whether the actions he took after reincarnating into a given era would ripple into catastrophic alterations down the line.
That concern.
Was hardly unfounded.
Just like the present crisis.
Had the Kazuya of his third life never existed, or had he never intervened in that apocalyptic battle, would any of this tragedy have unfolded?
"That is precisely where your assistance is required," Palkia's resonant voice drifted from the flank.
"Indeed, Kazuya. Before we journey back to our respective eras, we need you to erase our memories of this entire world," Dialga added with a solemn nod from the other side.
The two deities.
Had made this arduous voyage specifically because of what occurred back in Alamos Town.
Back then, Kazuya and Cynthia had laid down their lives to mend the catastrophic rift the deities had torn open; such an immense debt of gratitude could not go unpaid.
"There is no need to erase Cynthia's memories. With that keepsake present, it likely cannot be erased anyway."
Rayquaza's gaze settled upon the photograph in Kazuya's grasp.
Within this photograph.
Dwelt the intertwined power of the hearts of both Kazuya and Cynthia.
Under the protection of that bond.
Whether for Kazuya or Cynthia, these memories would remain untouched by any force.
"Erasing memories? Understood... but how am I supposed to do that?"
Kazuya murmured with a faint nod.
He had no idea.
When he had ever gained an ability like wiping memories.
"Arceus could do it."
"Having devoured Arceus's divine authority, you ought to possess that capacity as well."
"Regi! (Correct!)"
Regigigas held supreme authority on this matter.
It was a living testament to having its memories purged long ago.
It retained zero memory of what transpired during the chaotic genesis era.
That it had once challenged Arceus.
Was something it had only learned later through Kazuya and Rayquaza.
"Impossible. I hold no such authority, and neither did that avatar," Kazuya shook his head with certainty.
Hearing this.
The deities exchanged bewildered glances.
Suddenly.
Kazuya's brow pinched tightly as he spoke up.
"Wait..."
The surrounding gathering fell completely silent, waiting with bated breath.
At this moment, Kazuya was staring intently at the divine authority column within his system panel.
After putting an end to Shadow.
A new entry had manifested.
[Power of the End]
This authority...
Where did it originate?!
Kazuya's eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
Could it have been plundered from Shadow?
The issue was.
He had never used Dark Void to devour Shadow.
At her core, Shadow was a Meowscarada, entirely devoid of innate divine authorities to plunder.
[Power of the End: Termination, Destruction, Purge, Devour.]
"Why would an authority this dangerous manifest upon me?!"
Kazuya's pupils quivered violently.
Who was he?
The Hero of the Leaves who saved the world multiple times, the Ancient Dragon God, the ace of the Sinnoh Champion, the final hope of the realm, the eternal Aura Brave!
He had bled across battlefields and crossed the threshold of death through eight lifetimes, seeking nothing beyond guardianship and salvation.
And he was granted the Power of the End?
The surrounding allies, sensing his sudden pallor, tensed as if facing a new crisis, asking in alarm: "What happened?!"
"Ah, nothing. It seems I have found a way to erase your memories after all."
Kazuya scratched his head.
Though he had only just received this Power of the End.
He roughly understood its mechanics.
Absurdly simple.
And completely game-breaking.
True to its namesake.
It could bring an end to anything—even conceptual existence itself.
For instance.
Kazuya could simply terminate the lifespan limits of everyone present, bestowing eternal life upon them all.
He could terminate the concept of death itself, rendering them unconditionally immortal.
It was an authority of that caliber.
Akin to the genuine Creation authority commanded by the true form of Arceus.
Capable of forging all things.
Even establishing brand-new concepts.
Kazuya did not yet understand why this Power of the End, standing directly antithetical to the Power of Creation, had manifested within him.
In short.
This authority was precisely what he had pursued across eras—a power capable of fulfilling his grandest ambitions.
Yet this power.
He would never wield recklessly.
At most, he would bestow it upon his closest, most cherished circle.
Only someone like him.
Having weathered the fires of life and death across eight lifetimes.
Possessed the ironclad willpower and absolute restraint to wield it.
Otherwise.
Any other transmigrator might have long since devolved into tyranny.
Perhaps because of this.
This cosmic authority had actively chosen him, just as Aura had done long ago.
And right now.
A mere batch of memories.
Could naturally be terminated with effortless ease.
"In that case... it is time for our temporary farewell," Cynthia said, her gaze resting upon Kazuya with deep, lingering reluctance.
When the others returned to their respective eras.
They would still be able to meet the past Kazuya.
Yet for her...
In her current past, Kazuya was absent.
"I will come find you very soon," Kazuya answered her with resolute certainty.
Just as he had in the Dragonspiral Tower all those years ago, and just as he had within the dimensional rift of Alamos Town.
"I will wait for you. If you ever get lost, stay right where you are; I will come find you," Cynthia smiled softly, nodding with quiet grace.
Kazuya returned the smile.
Then he turned his gaze to sweep across the gathering.
Upon their faces lay the exhaustion of an apocalyptic war, the profound wonder of witnessing a world's rebirth.
And a wistful sorrow over the impending loss of these legendary memories.
Alas.
Once they returned.
All of this would vanish like smoke.
Everyone would forget what transpired in this reality, stepping back into their original lives.
Leaving behind not a single trace.
"Well then, everyone... until we meet again."
"Mm."
The assembly nodded in unison.
Seeing this.
Kazuya spread both arms wide.
The interwoven energies of dark crimson and pitch-black appeared ominous and hollow, yet as they washed over everyone, they carried an infinitely comforting warmth.
Watching figure after figure fade from his sight:
Xunlan and Mother Wolf looked upon him with gentle, aching affection.
Diancie and Magearna held hands, waving their arms in farewell.
Kazan and Lami, bickering as always, kept their arms over each other's shoulders, striving to show an expression that would set their master's mind at ease.
Rayquaza let out a long, resonant roar that echoed through the thinning space-time barrier.
Regigigas swayed its colossal bulk with clumsy affection, offering its silent parting to its elder brother.
Watching those beloved, heartbreakingly missed figures dissolve away.
Kazuya parted his lips.
Yet in the end, he pressed them firmly together, lowering his gaze in silence.
He understood.
For certain souls among them.
There would be no "until we meet again."
The Kazuya who would cross paths with them in the future would not be the current him, nor would it be the him of days to come.
Certain roads.
Were destined to be walked alone.
Certain farewells.
Were destined to never receive an echo.
The Power of the End did not merely send the reinforcements home; it continued operating across the fabric of the world.
What vanished from this realm.
Were not only these cherished friends from the second world.
Alongside them went every Demon God and magical beast whose life force had already extinguished.
Their very existence.
Was cleansed away one by one under Kazuya's Power of the End.
Everything of this corrupted era was reaching its "termination."
Like an eraser gently sweeping across a canvas, smoothing away every flawed mark.
The process was soundless.
Yet it carried the undeniable weight of finality.
Such an end.
Was it not a form of "rebirth" in itself?
The path once hinted by the Pitch-Black God, Darkrai...
Had been walked to its completion.
First unmake this corrupted world, then forge it anew.
Everything.
Would return to its rightful course.
Who knew how much time slipped past.
The world settled into absolute stillness.
Leaving only Kazuya, Mewtwo, Greninja, and the survivors of Sootopolis City.
Perhaps.
In some forgotten, uncharted corner of the earth.
A stray survivor still clung tenaciously to life.
Yet.
Across this vast globe.
These few souls were practically all the living beings that remained.
The gray fog in the heavens receded like an ebbing tide; the darkness that had suffocated this world for two hundred and fifty years had finally vanished completely today.
The sky.
Bared its original hue once more.
A long-lost blue, brushed with a soft, warm blush of dawn.
The wind swept across the tranquil sea, stirring gentle ripples that lapped against the shore with a soothing murmur.
Both Chloe and Greninja.
Wept openly at this moment, overcome with emotion.
Within those tears.
Lay two hundred and fifty years of suffocating despair, the agony of losing family and comrades.
The desperate, battered struggles across countless hopeless nights.
And the overwhelming, almost unbelievable ecstasy of beholding the dawn once more.
Not just them.
The other surviving Pokémon of Sootopolis City.
Were weeping just the same.
They had endured upon this dying earth for so long, growing from ordinary creatures into apex powerhouses.
Had they ever wished for such strength?
No.
It was entirely for this day.
To carry forward the hopes and dreams once entrusted to them by fallen loved ones.
They had clung to life with every fiber of their being until this very hour.
Fortunately.
They had waited until the clouds parted, and the radiant sun shone through at last.
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