Chapter 717: The Path of "Diancie"
"May I touch it?"
Kazuya looked at the Sacred Diamond and asked.
"This requires Her Highness the Princess's authorization. According to the rules, Elders are allowed to touch it, but no Elder in the past has ever wanted to touch the Sacred Diamond."
Sachima turned to face Diancie.
It had no authority to decide this matter and couldn't overstep its bounds.
"If it's Master, of course there's no problem!"
Diancie nodded in agreement without hesitation.
Those within the family know their own affairs.
The Sacred Diamond is of course extremely important to the Diamond Domain, but it wouldn't cause any problems just by being touched.
Even with the hardness of the Sacred Diamond, tanking an Oblivion Wing from Yveltal head-on wouldn't be a major issue; it would only consume some natural energy.
As long as the Sacred Diamond isn't taken away.
Then whoever touches it will have no impact.
It's just that...
Of course, everyone wouldn't do that.
Nor would they allow outsiders to touch the Sacred Diamond.
That is disrespect to the previous generation's Princess.
It's unknown when this saying originated, but anyway, it has been circulating in the Diamond Domain for a very, very long time and has been engraved into the genes of every Carbink.
"Thank you."
Kazuya didn't say much. He stepped forward and placed his hand on the giant pink diamond.
Azure blue Aura light emerged on Kazuya's palm.
Although Kazuya hadn't cultivated Aura power in this life yet, because he "inherited" the Aura power from his third life, mobilizing a little Aura within his body was simple.
However, something that made Kazuya's eyelids twitch slightly occurred.
His Aura.
Was completely unable to enter the interior of the Sacred Diamond.
It was as if he was shut out by the Sacred Diamond's consciousness.
But Kazuya clearly remembered in his fifth life.
His Aura easily merged into the interior of the Sacred Diamond.
The Sacred Diamond even seemed a bit unwilling for his Aura to leave, a feeling like a fish taking to water.
So, is it because of Diancie?
Kazuya withdrew his palm and shot a quiet glance at Diancie.
Because it was the Sacred Diamond created by that child, it felt close and familiar to his Aura, thus allowing his Aura to enter it.
Kazuya felt he had already found the answer.
"Was this thing created by the previous generation's Diancie? Can you do it?"
Volcanion turned to look at Diancie beside Him.
"I... I can't..."
Diancie lowered her head, somewhat disappointed.
"Don't get discouraged so easily, Diancie. You'll definitely be able to do it in the future!"
Volcanion reached out and patted Diancie, encouraging her.
"Mhm!"
Diancie nodded heavily.
"..."
Kazuya glanced behind him, pondering inwardly.
Diancie has made so many friends now; she should already be able to create real pink diamonds.
The kind of permanent diamond that won't suddenly disappear and symbolizes friendship.
They had one of those, which should be with Cynthia right now.
From the Diancie three thousand years later.
This diamond wasn't the point.
The point was whether Diancie had the ability to create this diamond.
If she did.
It meant Diancie had taken the first step towards creating the Sacred Diamond—harvesting friendship.
The next, second step should be understanding friendship.
This step is quite abstract.
But Kazuya believed it wasn't a problem for Diancie.
Whether it was Floette, Amaura, or Volcanion, they could all help Diancie with this step.
The troublesome part is the final step...
Xerneas.
"How much longer can the energy inside this Sacred Diamond support?"
Kazuya turned to look at Diancie and Sachima.
After hearing this question, the two exchanged a blank look and then simultaneously shook their heads.
"You can't tell?"
Kazuya's pupils shrank slightly, feeling a bit surprised.
The Diancie and Dace three thousand years later could clearly know the remaining time of the Sacred Diamond, why couldn't the current Diancie and Sachima?
"Can't tell."
Diancie shook her head.
She was just a silly, clumsy princess who didn't know anything, and she had hardly even touched the Sacred Diamond.
"According to the last words left by the previous Minister, only when the Sacred Diamond is down to its last few decades will abnormal situations occasionally appear in the entire Underground Ore Kingdom. Only then can we realize that the Sacred Diamond doesn't have much time left."
Sachima explained, and then listed some possible "abnormal" situations.
Such as the entire Underground Ore Kingdom suddenly shaking, all the crystals inside the Ore Kingdom temporarily losing their luster, the special aura wrapping the entire Underground Ore Kingdom disappearing out of thin air...
These were all very obvious abnormal conditions.
These were the warnings the Sacred Diamond gave to the Underground Ore Kingdom.
"In other words, these situations haven't appeared yet, so the energy inside the Sacred Diamond is still relatively abundant, capable of lasting at least several decades to a hundred years."
"Mhm, a thousand years is also possible. After all, Her Highness the Princess and I are not very old, and the Sacred Diamond should be the same."
Sachima nodded.
"What is the reasoning behind this?"
Kazuya was stunned and followed up with a question.
"The replacement of the Sacred Diamond also signifies the handover of political power in the Underground Ore Kingdom."
"When this Sacred Diamond appeared, Her Highness the Princess was also born at the same time, and I, who was holding the Princess at the time, became the new Minister of the Ore Kingdom."
"Her Highness the Princess and I are only a few hundred years old now, so that Sacred Diamond should also have only been born a few hundred years ago. This is considered a relatively short time."
"The lifespan of the Sacred Diamond is determined by the Princess who created it. The stronger the Princess's strength, the longer the lifespan of the Sacred Diamond. Generally speaking, it won't be less than a thousand years."
"Therefore, this Sacred Diamond should still be able to support us for a very long time."
Sachima told Kazuya about the Sacred Diamond.
Diancie beside them listened with great interest; clearly, it was also her first time hearing this from Sachima.
However.
Kazuya frowned tightly after hearing this.
Why does the replacement of the Sacred Diamond signify the handover of political power in the Underground Ore Kingdom?
In his fifth life.
After Diancie created the Sacred Diamond, was there a handover of political power in the Underground Ore Kingdom?
Kazuya and Cynthia truly didn't know this point.
Because Diancie meeting Ash and his friends and creating the Sacred Diamond happened two years before the Alamos Town incident.
At least within those two years.
There was no replacement of the Princess or the Minister.
However.
Regardless.
Upon learning that the Sacred Diamond could still hold out for at least a few hundred years, Kazuya felt relaxed inside.
The final hurdle Diancie had to face to create the Sacred Diamond.
Was finding Xerneas.
And receiving the blessing of its "Fairy Aura."
[Fairy Aura] in the game is Xerneas's Ability, and its effect is to increase the damage of Fairy-type moves for all Pokémon on the field by 33%.
But in reality.
This Fairy Aura is more like an active move.
It requires Xerneas to use its own power to mobilize and gather the Fairy-type natural energy buried in the forest and infuse it into Diancie's body.
Only in this way.
Can Diancie be considered in her complete form.
And rely on the true meaning of friendship she comprehended before to achieve Mega Evolution, becoming Mega Diancie to create the Sacred Diamond.
But the problem Kazuya was worried about before was.
The Great Destruction event had just passed.
The creation energy in Xerneas's body had just been exhausted. It was currently in an empty state, having just fallen into a deep sleep not long ago.
It could even be said to have just fallen into a [Coma] state, at a stage where it wouldn't wake up no matter how much it was called.
But Kazuya was afraid that this Sacred Diamond couldn't wait until then.
Wouldn't the entire Underground Ore Kingdom be finished by then?
Normally speaking.
Xerneas would have to wait a thousand years to wake up again.
Even if it were to be forcefully awakened, it would probably have to wait a few hundred years until the creation energy in Xerneas's body recovered a bit.
Otherwise, leaving aside whether Xerneas could be awakened.
Even if forcefully awakened.
He was afraid Xerneas would be willing but unable to release the Fairy Aura to bless Diancie, which would equally mean failure on the verge of success.
However.
Since there were still a few hundred years left right now.
There was no need to worry too much about this matter.
Wait until Diancie achieves the second step and comprehends the true meaning of friendship.
Kazuya will tell Diancie herself, Minister Sachima, and Volcanion about this final step, just in case.
He wasn't sure if he would die suddenly halfway through.
So he had to tell this to multiple creatures in advance.
At least Kazuya could be sure that Volcanion would definitely live to see the future.
So telling Volcanion this matter could be considered a relatively safe fallback measure.
Moreover.
Perhaps the Underground Ore Kingdom also had records of other methods that could allow Diancie to Mega Evolve and create the Sacred Diamond.
After all.
For the Underground Ore Kingdom to maintain itself for such a long time.
Successive generations of [Diancie] couldn't possibly always rely on Xerneas, who knows when it would wake up, right?
"What else did the previous Minister tell you?"
Kazuya turned to look at Sachima, hoping to get more information.
This would help him pave the way and sew up the seams for his leaky cotton-padded jacket (referring to Diancie).
If possible.
He even wanted to personally go find that Minister.
But unfortunately.
He noticed the words "last words" in Sachima's speech just now, which meant that Minister was already dead.
This is also considered normal.
Although Carbink are considered long-lived species, they also have lifespan limits, and the day of death will eventually come.
"The previous Minister didn't tell me much. It said I would naturally understand in the future, and I would make the same choice as it did in the future, concealing past events."
Sachima shook its head blankly.
Recalling the expression it saw on the previous Minister's face back then, it still felt extremely puzzled. What exactly did that mean?
Perhaps.
It can only be understood when one's own lifespan is approaching its end.
"...Take us back."
Kazuya reached out, touched its head, and turned to look upwards.
"Alright, let Her Highness the Princess lead the way back. I will excuse myself first, I hope the Lord Elder will forgive my offense."
Sachima bowed to Kazuya, seemingly in low spirits.
"Master, Master! I'll lead the way! I know a path!"
Diancie, however, still had the appearance of a silly, naive girl.
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