Kael now understood with absolute clarity everything he had done during that time. Even the details of each act appeared one by one in his mind. The blood that had remained on his hands with every life he had taken was not something that could be washed away with water, and at that moment he felt that his hands were literally soaked in blood.
It was a very strange phenomenon, as if he had experienced a split personality. Before, the personality born under Giratina's influence had been the one controlling his body. With Arceus' help, that personality disappeared, but all the memories were inherited by the original personality, the true one.
It could more or less be understood in that way. In any case, the current Kael was completely lost, and within him were mixed both terror toward himself and deep despair.
"Young Cain, take me to Kael," the council elder said to Cain, while in his gaze toward Kael there remained an indescribable complexity.
But it was not only the council elder; practically everyone present had, to a greater or lesser extent, already perceived Kael's current condition and knew that his state was not entirely normal.
Cain nodded. He wrapped the elder in psychic power and, in a flash, teleported with him directly in front of Kael.
Seeing the elder suddenly appear before him, Kael's eyes trembled and his pupils shrank sharply.
"Ol... Old man..."
Immediately afterward, Kael's expression became extremely painful, and he placed both hands on his head.
"Ahhh! Ahhh!"
It was not a cry of physical pain, but a completely hysterical scream born from the deepest part of his heart.
Within that scream seemed to be everything: despair, rage, regret, madness. He seemed like an absolute madman.
"What have I done? What have I done all these years?!"
Kael looked again at his own hands, feeling that at that moment they had already been completely stained blood red.
"Kael..."
The council elder's lips trembled slightly. He spoke a single word softly, but did not know what to say next.
No matter what, all the crimes Kael had committed over these years had been witnessed by others. The most brutal example was precisely the current battle at Mt. Silver. It was not enough to place all the blame on Giratina's influence to be completely free of responsibility.
The fear and hatred in the gazes of those observing him were absolutely real.
Among the League trainers who had fallen that day, no one knew how many families would be forever shattered because of him.
Although the League would care for the families of the fallen for life and would make their children direct members of the organization, they were still parents, children, relatives who had died because of Kael.
It was a sin that could not be covered or erased.
At that moment Kael cried uncontrollably. Even Cain could clearly feel the regret and pain filling his heart.
When Kael first learned of Giratina's existence and went to seek it out on his own, he had done so simply as the legitimate eldest son of the Drako family, driven by a pure interest in an unknown Dragon-type Pokémon.
Only, he had never imagined that the moment he approached Giratina, he would end up being influenced by it, amplifying to the extreme the desires hidden within his heart.
What had originally been only a small dissatisfaction toward the League, under Giratina's influence became absolute hatred.
Cain stood there, silently observing, watching how the council elder intended to deal with the current leader of the Sacred Church, the former primary heir of the Drako family, the one he had once considered his greatest hope.
Only, even the council elder was facing such a situation for the first time, and for a moment he did not know how to react. In his mind, he was thinking about how to resolve this matter.
But before he could make a decision, Kael acted first.
He looked at his own hands and felt as if the blood of others was silently flowing across them.
He clenched his teeth. Hardened his heart.
A spatial crack appeared before him.
Sensing the spatial fluctuation, Cain was startled and immediately grabbed the elder's arm, pulling him backward and quickly moving him away.
The council elder, who had been absorbed in thought, was also startled by Cain's reaction, thinking that something serious had happened.
Then he saw a spatial crack open in front of Kael, and Kael thrust both of his hands inside with an expression of absolute rejection.
And moreover, he did so without covering them in psychic power.
As soon as he inserted his hands, Kael's face turned completely pale. A large amount of fine sweat appeared on his forehead and, visibly, those droplets grew larger and larger until they became bead-sized drops that slid down his face.
Seeing that scene, Cain's heart tightened.
There was no one present who understood better than him what it meant to insert one's hands unprotected into the chaotic flow of a spatial crack.
"Aaah!"
Kael's lips had turned completely white. While roaring, he used psychic power to abruptly close the spatial crack.
Both of his hands were severed from his body!
Seeing that scene, Cain felt a slight shock, but immediately reacted.
At an angle no one noticed, a strand of psychic power sank into the spatial chaos. Then he brought the elder beside him in front of Kael and, upon seeing his arms covered in blood, even Cain's face showed a trace of respect.
Anyone capable of being so ruthless toward himself was never a simple person. Even though he had now rid himself of Giratina's influence, in essence he was still that kind of man.
Cain took out Pokémon healing items from his pocket and, without worrying about anything else, began using them directly on Kael, while simultaneously using his psychic power to stop the bleeding.
Kael allowed Cain to do as he wished.
No longer seeing blood on his hands made him feel, at least for a moment, somewhat calmer.
His face was pale as paper, his head soaked in cold sweat, and his lips completely white. His Pokémon had gathered beside him, letting out small whimpers, unable to bear seeing their trainer injured in such a way.
"Old man... I was wrong...," Kael said in a low voice.
Hearing those words, the council elder's heart trembled. After all, that had been a trainer upon whom he had placed enormous hopes, someone who took one wrong step and ended up being used.
But when he thought of the League trainers lying dead below, and also remembered the words Arceus had spoken to him earlier, he slowly nodded.
"It is good that you know you were wrong. I will imprison you forever in the deepest part of the League's prison, and completely seal your psychic powers. Can you accept this?"
(End of chapter)