Cain continued looking at Malva without saying anything.
Clearly, she still had not truly explained how she had discovered his identity, and that left him quite dissatisfied.
His body trembled slightly, and a whitish light burst forth from him and spread outward, enveloping the entire room.
The special barrier of the Unown was a far more stable and secure place than an alternate space. There, without Cain's consent, leaving was an impossible illusion.
"Because... those Mega Stones... in the entire Pokémon world, the only person I could imagine capable of gathering so many Mega Stones so quickly was precisely you, the trainer who announced Mega Evolution, Cain, the Sandstorm Elite Four member of Hoenn. Well... in three weeks, I suppose I will have to call you the Sandstorm Champion, Cain."
Malva placed herself in a very low position. When addressing Cain, she even used the formal "you."
She had no choice. In both identity and power, the difference between them was overwhelming.
"Oh? You deduced my identity based only on that?"
"As far as I know, I was not the only one who learned about Mega Evolution in advance."
Cain thought of Kael, the man who had gathered the Mega Stones of his two Pokémon, Latios and Latias, even before Cain himself publicly announced Mega Evolution.
And that was still something Cain had not been able to understand.
Unfortunately, Kael was now imprisoned in the deepest part of the League headquarters. Even Cain could not enter or approach him, much less extract the answers he wanted.
There were still many secrets hidden within Kael. For example, where he had obtained the Unown. Or why, in the end, he had cut off his hands. Was it truly only because he felt they were stained with blood? It had to be remembered that when he mutilated himself, the Unown were still on his wrists.
"And also because of the way you appeared. Teleport is a technique that only psychics can use," Malva continued.
But Cain did not accept that at all.
"That is not enough. There were also many people within the Sacred Church capable of using Teleport. That explanation is not sufficient to convince me."
For Cain, discovering how Malva had seen through his disguise was crucial.
After all, he had always been extremely careful. Every time he disguised himself, he altered or concealed his voice, his scent, his aura. Since he had begun using disguises until now, in all these years, Malva was the first person to successfully uncover his identity.
Hearing that, Malva's expression froze. In the end, she showed a face that looked as if she were about to cry.
"If I say that, in reality, it was purely sixth sense, that deep down I had not completely confirmed your identity... would you believe me?"
Cain was momentarily stunned.
He looked at Malva. Even though she wore those red glasses, he could still see her eyes, still see her gaze.
Sixth sense?
Suddenly, Cain burst into laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"I believe you! Yes, I believe you!"
When Malva heard that laughter, she almost did not know how to explain herself anymore. She had absolutely not expected that what Cain would say next would be that he believed her.
That left her somewhat stunned.
Cain extended both hands and said: "There is nothing strange about it. A person's sixth sense, in essence, is also part of their abilities. Before my strength grew, I also relied heavily on my own sixth sense."
"Honestly, the stronger a person becomes and the firmer their mind is, the more precise that sixth sense becomes. And the facts prove that yours is quite accurate, don't they?"
After hearing those words, Malva let out a long sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
In reality, she had not lied. She had indeed not been one hundred percent certain of Cain's identity; she had simply tested him. If Cain had truly insisted on extracting a detailed explanation from her, she truly would not have known what to say.
But immediately afterward, her heart tightened once again.
Then... how would this matter end now?
Cain, the Sandstorm Elite Four member of Hoenn, the most famous man in the entire Pokémon League at this moment, turned out to actually be the deputy leader of Team Flare, and perhaps even hid other secrets far more unspeakable.
And now that secret had been discovered by them.
Placing herself in Cain's position, Malva thought that the only way to feel at ease would likely be to eliminate everyone inside that office.
The heart that had calmed for a moment rose once again to her throat. At the same time, enormous regret surged within her.
If Cain was already calmly playing his move of killing the chicken to scare the monkey, why had she tried to uncover his identity? Why had she wanted to save Xerosic's life? Why had she interfered where she had not been asked?
Was the life of others really more important than her own?
But now it seemed the situation had become a dead end.
She directed her gaze toward Lysandre, who sat in the main seat.
At that moment, Lysandre was the final lifeline for Malva and the others. If he had no way of restraining Cain, then today's matter would likely not end well.
However, when Malva looked at Lysandre, she saw that he still wore that faint smile on his face, as if Cain's identity did not concern him much, nor did he seem worried that Cain might kill everyone to silence them.
That gave her a bit of reassurance.
"Tsk... what exactly should I do with all of you? Honestly, I had not planned to reveal my identity so soon."
Cain's smile was barely visible, yet it was unsettling enough to send chills down the spines of Xerosic and the others.
No one dared speak.
At that moment, for them, they were nothing more than meat laid upon the cutting board, and Cain was the knife.
Seeing that everyone's mentality had already wavered enough, Cain smiled again. He stood up from his seat and launched, from a distance toward Malva's head, a wave of psychic power wrapped in intense spatial energy.
That was one of the benefits he had obtained from the Unown.
(End of chapter)