Under Cain's soul-stirring presence, most people felt their hearts lurch violently, their faces contorted with fear as if they were facing a ferocious beast baring its fangs at them.
This was an aura honed over thirty years on the Path of the Brave—tempered through life-and-death struggles, each step marked by bloodshed, and refined bit by bit.
'This guy has some skill,' Julian narrowed his eyes as he continued to eat. Noticing that the lobster had mostly been devoured by Celebi, he promptly shifted his chopsticks to the king crab.
"Enough, Cain!" Felix roared in anger.
Unfortunately, his presence was no match for Cain's and could only ensure he himself remained unaffected.
"Is that little Liam next to you?"
Cain turned his gaze to the middle-aged man beside Felix. Thirty years were enough to turn a young boy into a middle-aged man.
Just as Felix grew worried that Cain might target his son, Cain's attention shifted to Julian.
There was no helping it—Julian was simply too conspicuous. While everyone else was intimidated by Cain's aura, he was the only one still eating and drinking without a care.
No, wait—there was also that Celebi next to him.
'Who is this young man?'
Cain's pupils contracted sharply as he watched Celebi stuffing its mouth.
'What is the relationship between this Celebi and the young man? Could it be his Pokémon? And what is his connection to Felix?!'
Cain had spent the last thirty years in the Path of the Brave and had come straight for Felix after emerging, with no understanding of the current state of the world.
Had he been better informed, perhaps he wouldn't have acted so recklessly.
Seeing Julian, Felix finally breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been so tense earlier that he'd forgotten about the formidable presence they had on their side.
Even ten Cains would be no match for Julian.
"Who are you?!"
Seeing Julian continue to eat and drink without paying him any mind, Cain felt anger, but even more so, caution.
The thirty years of life-and-death trials in the secret realm had sharpened his instincts, and yet he suddenly realized he couldn't see through this young man.
He himself was a peak Pseudo-champion, yet he couldn't discern the other's true strength. 'Could it be that this young man is a champion?'
But as soon as the thought arose, he dismissed it. 'What a joke—how could there possibly be a champion this young in the world?'
In response to Cain's question, Julian replied leisurely, "Julian Walker. You wouldn't know me even if I told you. Just understand that I'm protecting the Smith family. If you leave them alone, I'll let you leave."
Having been isolated in a secret realm for thirty years, Cain couldn't possibly have heard of Julian. However, the surname "Walker" reminded him of someone.
"John Walker, what is he to you?"
Thirty years ago, John was already the Steel Elite, quite famous in Drakoria. Now thirty years later, John had become a Champion—though Cain didn't know that.
"My grandfather."
"So that's your backing? I might not have been a match for John back then, but now I've reached the peak of Pseudo-champion tier. Unless he's a Champion, boy, you're dead today."
Cain didn't take John seriously at all. In his view, breaking through to the Champion tier was far from easy. Even as a peak Pseudo-champion, he himself had no solid confidence in achieving it.
So, he assumed John's strength was, at best, at the peak of Pseudo-champion level—on par with him, if not weaker.
"You want to kill me?" Julian asked calmly.
"Hmph! You're with Felix. Today, not only will Felix die, but everyone here will die too," Cain's tone was icy, filled with murderous intent.
What Felix had done to him was an injustice that even the waters of all the oceans could not wash away.
Killing the Smith family alone wouldn't be enough—he wanted to kill everyone connected to them. And since everyone present here was for Felix's birthday, they were all connected.
As for what would happen to him after killing all these people, Cain didn't care. At worst, he could hide again in the Path of the Brave. With his familiarity of the place and his connection to Urshifu, even a Champion might not be able to find him.
If Julian wasn't here today, most people would have panicked when Cain threatened to kill everyone, perhaps even begging for mercy.
But now, the crowd looked at Cain with pity.
Unfortunately, Cain didn't notice the gazes of those he considered ants. A flash of light from a Poké Ball released a Machamp radiating the aura of a peak Pseudo-champion.
Its body was covered with scars of all sizes—clearly a veteran of countless battles. Three of the scars were even fatal wounds—a clear sign of its tenacity.
But instead of focusing on Felix, Machamp's gaze immediately locked onto Julian. Its instincts told it that this young man was extremely dangerous.
"Machamp, kill Felix!" Cain snarled.
Images of Felix's betrayal flashed through his mind. After thirty years, he was finally about to get his revenge.
But just as he fantasized about Machamp smashing Felix's head open, he noticed that Machamp wasn't moving from its spot.
"…Machamp, what's wrong?"
Years of partnership allowed Cain to immediately sense that something was off. Machamp's muscles were tensed to the extreme—it wasn't that it didn't want to move, but that it couldn't.
"Meta~"
A cold voice sounded in Cain's ear.
Following the sound, Cain noticed a silver Metagross had appeared beside Julian at some point, and its pale blue eyes were emitting waves of psychic energy.
It was precisely this psychic energy that was restraining Machamp's body.
Machamp was at the peak of Pseudo-champion level, yet its body had been restrained so easily by this Metagross.
An unbelievable thought surged in Cain's mind.
He stared at Julian, his voice sharpening slightly: "You're a Champion?!"
Then he saw Julian nod.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! You're so young—how could you be a Champion?" Cain couldn't believe it. He even wondered if he'd been in the secret realm for so long that he was hallucinating now that he was outside.
"Wait—did you use a Beauty Berry? Is your actual age not this young?" Cain asked.
"Cain, accept reality. Julian is 22 years old—the youngest Champion in Drakoria and even the whole world. If you had come out earlier, or perhaps later…"
"Then I might really have died at your hands."
"Unfortunately, you came out at the worst possible time."
Felix's face was full of mockery, though inwardly he felt immense relief.
Hearing Felix's words, Cain nearly spat blood in fury. He stared at Julian in shock and disbelief, unable to comprehend how someone so young—only 22—could already be a Champion. What had the world come to?
He had only been in the secret realm for thirty years—or had it actually been three hundred?
Had things really changed this much?
*****
Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/ReduxMagister