Chapter 305: Dark Matter

Su Hao was surrounded by an intense sensation of weightlessness, with a black-red tunnel that appeared bottomless beneath him.

After a bout of dizziness, as if he had been tossed into a high-speed washing machine, Su Hao—relying on his meager experience from having entered secret realms a few times—managed to adjust himself quickly.

Fortunately, the tunnel hadn't opened at a great height. As the dust settled, Su Hao rubbed his aching backside and took a good while to stand up.

"Damn it... I didn't jinx myself, did I?"

Su Hao looked around, forced to admit that he might truly be that unlucky... the tunnel to the Spirit World had opened right beneath his feet.

"No, my luck is actually great! It's just because I spent half the day in contact with that Gengar from the Spirit World belonging to Branch President Mu, so I must have been tainted by the aura of the Spirit World... Yes, that's it!" The more Su Hao muttered to himself, the more logical his reasoning seemed.

He concluded with conviction: "That's right, it's all that Gengar's fault!"

As things stood, Su Hao adopted the traditional Shenzhou spirit of "since I'm already here, I might as well make the best of it" and began to observe his surroundings.

This was a desolate and mysterious world, devoid of the sunlight and lush, vibrant life seen everywhere in daily life; in their place were a chilly aura and a deep, gloomy environment.

The sky in the distance was shrouded in an indelible haze, feeling incredibly oppressive and stifling. The ground appeared a strange, dark color, as if it had lost all vitality and vigor. The layers of rock, having weathered countless years of baptism, appeared hard and heavy, standing quietly like rows of tombstones.

"I'd believe you if you told me this was the Underworld or Hell..." Su Hao muttered to himself.

The surrounding environment was vast and empty. Aside from the layers of rock, there was nothing within Su Hao's line of sight. He saw neither the Pokémon that should exist in the Spirit World nor the human outposts that should have been established in many places.

His Aura was also seemingly suppressed by something; no matter how Su Hao tried to manipulate it, it could not leave his body.

Only then did he realize that something here felt a bit off...

It was too eerie. Su Hao touched the Luxury Ball at the front of his belt, intending to release Diancie.

"Don't move!"

Articuno's voice came from the Master Ball.

A red flash flickered, and Articuno, with an incredibly grave expression, appeared beside Su Hao.

"Wh-what's wrong?"

Su Hao was startled; this was the first time he had seen Articuno with such a serious expression and tone.

Articuno's aura grew increasingly imposing, an ice-blue radiance surrounding Her, the divinity overflowing from Her body speaking to what kind of existence She was.

Her ruby-like eyes gazed toward the far side of the incredibly gloomy sky.

Whether it was this place, which didn't quite match the Spirit World Mu Yulan had described, or Articuno's abnormal behavior, even a fool like Su Hao knew something had gone wrong.

"Articuno, what happened? Isn't this the Spirit World?" Su Hao asked in a cautious, low voice.

He wasn't sure what state Articuno was in now and whether his rash questioning might disturb Her, so Su Hao chose to speak in the softest tone possible.

Now that Su Hao's Aura could not leave his body, it was fortunate that the Power of Viridian allowed him to understand Pokémon speech. This was also why Articuno, having grown accustomed to Su Hao's Aura channel, could speak directly without using telepathy, and Su Hao could still understand Her meaning.

He chose to follow Articuno's advice; to be safe, he opted not to release Diancie and the others.

After a long while, Articuno gently closed Her eyes and sighed: "To think... it really is here..."

Su Hao seized the main point: "Here? Could it be that this is the... already destroyed Spirit World you mentioned earlier!?"

At first glance, this answer seemed absurd, but Su Hao had a feeling that this place might very well be...

"That's right, this is the Spirit World I spoke of, the one that was destroyed long ago."

Articuno's expression was filled with reminiscence as She recalled that history from who knows how many years ago.

"There is a reason I didn't let you release Diancie and the others. To be honest, I am surprised." For the first time, Articuno looked at Su Hao earnestly, not from the perspective of a protector, but as the Ice Deity Herself.

Changing the subject, She began to recount that piece of history from Her memory: "This was once an ancient battlefield, a battlefield where we deities gathered countless Pokémon and humans to wage war."

"A battlefield... was it a war between humans and humans, Pokémon and Pokémon, and deities and deities?"

Su Hao was puzzled. This was history he had never heard of; the history recorded by the Alliance only contained wars between humans, and as for those between deities... there was never any mention.

"Not so."

Articuno slowly shook Her head and continued: "It was a battle to protect the world."

"At that time, I was still a budding genius among the Articuno clan, while the authority of the Ice Deity I now possess was held by the strongest of the Articuno clan at that time."

"I was also fighting in that sky back then, but I was just one of countless Heavenly King-level Pokémon, feeling very powerless."

"The opponents were Pokémon from another world controlled by Dark Matter, who wanted to use the Spirit World as a springboard to devour this world." Articuno paused slightly and turned Her gaze toward Su Hao.

It was as if She were saying, you may ask questions now.

Su Hao seized the point and immediately asked: "What is Dark Matter? And what are the Pokémon from another world?"

After all, he had vaguely sensed that Articuno should have kin, but that wasn't important; rather, he wanted to learn a bit about these two things.

"I don't know the specific situation, because at the time I was just one of the countless Pokémon participating in the battle, not one of the higher-ups."

"All I know is the general information that circulated among Pokémon: that Dark Matter devoured another world and used that world as a base to begin invading other worlds, just like our world..."

"That war lasted for a long time. The opponents were all Dark Pokémon dominated by the negative energy released by Dark Matter, appearing no different from our many Pokémon species on the outside."

Articuno paused, then continued in a heavy tone: "Dark Pikachu, Dark Gardevoir, Dark Tyranitar, Dark... Articuno, and so on."

"At first, only common species of Pokémon began invading from the space tunnel in the deepest part of the Spirit World. After meeting resistance, the strength and species of the Pokémon became stronger and stronger, including those you classify as pseudo-legendaries, which appeared in droves."

"Suicune, who possesses the power of purification, also tried to capture these Dark Pokémon alive, wanting to see if they could be awakened..."

"Did that succeed?" Su Hao asked, feeling uneasy.

It looked like this Spirit World didn't have an army anymore, and a long time must have passed; the current world was very peaceful, so it should have succeeded, right?

Articuno shook Her head sadly: "They could be cleansed, they could be purified, but the insides of these Pokémon... had long since become empty shells. Only the flesh remained; their spirits had been completely devoured by Dark Matter."

"In the end, the battle intensified, and the deities who had contracts with humans also entered the fray. As the combat power invested escalated, species like 【us】 appeared in the opponent's ranks."

"Although the higher-ups had long anticipated this day, as Dark Articuno, Dark Latias, Dark Heatran, and... Dark Lugia and other legendary Pokémon appeared in the opponent's ranks, the situation still headed in an unforeseeable direction."

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Lugia + The Three Legendary Birds ===== CHAPTER 306 =====