"ROAR!"
Rayquaza's roar shook heaven and earth, pressing down on Lysandre and Yveltal so hard they could barely breathe.
Lysandre was completely dumbfounded, his eyes darting in disbelief between Axel and Rayquaza.
'What the hell is this?'
'There really is a Rayquaza!'
Under the sheer impact of Rayquaza's appearance, Lysandre almost lost all ability to think.
Whether Axel was from this point in time, why Axel hadn't died, or why he and his team appeared here… None of that mattered anymore.
What mattered was, how the hell was he going to survive nine minutes and leave this time node alive.
Lysandre had already experienced Axel's battle level firsthand. Once, and that was more than enough.
Just Gardevoir alone, after personally witnessing Axel's death, could explode with the power of their bond and kill Zekrom, even injuring Necrozma.
And now with Rayquaza added into the mix, Lysandre didn't even dare to imagine how terrifying Axel had become now.
"Yveltal! Use Sucker Punch on that mountain in the distance, break through Rayquaza's encirclement!"
"ROAR!"
Seeing Yveltal's reaction to its Trainer's order, Rayquaza's eyes turned blood-red.
Gardevoir's memories were real, 'This guy definitely invaded Aurient.'
'Otherwise, how could a legendary-level Trainer like him resort to something as shameful as trying to run away?'
'He has a guilty conscience!'
Rayquaza couldn't tolerate it, how could someone trample on the land it had once protected with its life?
And what's more, that very person who had trampled Aurient just now wanted to kill the two heroes who had protected it once again.
If Rayquaza let Yveltal get away just like that, it felt like it might as well die too.
["Your sins… are unforgivable!"]
Almost without thinking, Rayquaza whipped its body through the air, intercepting Yveltal and Lysandre head-on in mid-flight, forcibly swallowing the attack Yveltal had aimed for the distant mountains.
A thick black miasma burst out from where Yveltal and Rayquaza collided. Rayquaza's scales split open, blood dripping thickly from the wounds.
But it was as if that body wasn't even its own, its blood-red eyes still locked fiercely on Yveltal's form, an overwhelming Dragon-type pressure pinning it completely in place.
Under Rayquaza's aura lock, Yveltal's entire body trembled.
["Rayquaza, we have no grudges! Let me go!"]
Rayquaza sneered coldly, not even bothering to respond.
Its massive body blocked Yveltal's every escape route, twisting swiftly through the air.
A vast, ancient, boundless aura began to surge from Rayquaza, expanding in all directions.
This time-space, already without the protection of Dialga and Palkia, already invaded by Yveltal and his ilk, began to tremble violently.
Thin black cracks appeared in the air again and again; the entire Spear Pillar looked like the end of the world.
Yveltal, at the center of it all, felt as though he'd returned to that long-ago moment when he'd first encountered the god of order, Zygarde.
That same soul-deep terror, it was exactly the same.
Lysandre was completely stunned.
Once upon a time, he had been glorious too. He had ambition, pride, he'd been a man like a lion.
He had even dreamed of rebuilding the long-lost Kalos Kingdom.
But by the end of that plan, he realized something, in Kalos, no one could break the existing order.
Because… Kalos had a god that was invincible.
Ever since his plans were torn to shreds by that god, Lysandre's spirit had nearly vanished completely. He'd become a hollow man, drowning in despair, stripped of his pride.
Until one day, he was approached by Giovanni from another time-space, then, and only then, did he pick that dream back up, devoting himself to finding the Fairy Slate for that goal.
But now…
Just as he finally saw real hope for that dream, he once again faced an unbeatable god.
Seeing Yveltal, and his Trainer's appearance, Rayquaza's rage grew even stronger.
If Aurient had been trampled by some truly unstoppable evil, perhaps he could have accepted it.
'But to think this kind of beaten dog conquered Aurient?'
He could never accept that.
"ROAR!"
A huge surge of Dragon energy gathered in Rayquaza's mouth. That violent wave condensed in an instant, then struck Yveltal head-on, slamming it downward by dozens of meters, almost smashing it into the ground.
Yveltal finally snapped out of it.
This god named Rayquaza, he really intended to kill him.
["Rayquaza, you'll regret this!"]
Yveltal roared, its wings bursting into blinding light.
A howling gale rose as death itself surged back. The same suffocating death energy that had appeared when they first descended was now returning, condensing behind Yveltal into a massive phantom.
That phantom looked almost solid, Dark-type energy so dense it overflowed, swirling violently across its surface.
It looked terrifyingly real. Like Yveltal had simply grown to colossal size, turning into a demon god.
["Rayquaza!"], A mad roar came from within Yveltal's phantom, ["I'll give you one last chance, let us go!"]
["Like Xerneas, I cannot die. But you, you still have to protect Aurient."]
["If you're injured this time, and can't appear when disaster strikes, Aurient will be crushed beneath our tide!"]
Rayquaza threw its jaws open toward the sky, a massive energy missile blasting upward as if to answer Yveltal directly with its will.
The people of Aurient do not yield to threats, and neither do the gods of Aurient.
The instant that missile soared, the entire dome of the sky began to change.
The fine cracks in the heavens vanished; even the powers of time and space dimmed before this Dragon's might.
Thunderclouds rolled, and the skies fell into total darkness.
The only light that remained was the shining orb of energy in Rayquaza's mouth.
A roar seemed to shake the very soul as that missile exploded like a brilliant firework, shattering into countless fragments of light that rained down like a meteor shower.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The falling meteors smashed into Yveltal's giant phantom, one after another, mushroom clouds blooming continuously.
Under the overwhelming power of the meteor storm, Yveltal's phantom visibly shrank. The "tree" it had been clutching fell to the ground, caught safely by Axel.
Seeing Xerneas fall, and realizing Lysandre was the one protected within it, Lysandre finally came to his senses.
After joining Team Rainbow Rocket, he had lost too much of his former edge.
Just moments ago, he'd even thought of using the might of a legendary Pokémon to kill a yet-immature Trainer from Aurient?
And when faced with Rayquaza, he'd completely lost that fearless spirit he once had.
He'd been playing the pig for so long… that he'd become one for real.
In this state, even if he truly became Kalos's king, could he really make Kalos better?
Lysandre's pupils shrank sharply, as if rediscovering the self who once looked down on the world. He shouted Yveltal's name with renewed vigor.
"Yveltal! That Rayquaza's level doesn't seem that terrifying, it's just his skill that's impressive!"
"He may be the lord of the skies, but you're no slouch either!"
"As long as we're careful of his Dragon-type moves, we can hold out for eight minutes!"
"Listen to me now, together, we will take back Xerneas and return to our original timeline!"
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