Under the command of the virus source, the Mythical Pokémon no longer attacked Kyurem in turns, they all struck at once. Even with its fully
Under the command of the virus source, the Mythical Pokémon no longer attacked Kyurem in turns, they all struck at once.
Even with its fully integrated form, wielding the powers of Ice, Fire, Electricity, and Dragon, Kyurem's elemental resistances couldn't withstand a barrage from so many equally powerful entities.
In mere moments, Kyurem was severely wounded by the combined assault.
Originally, Lucius had planned to eliminate Kyurem entirely. But now, with the destruction of a parallel world on the horizon, preserving as much of his own strength as possible took precedence.
Black mist surged forth, engulfing the wounded dragon that had begun to plummet from the sky.
Weakened beyond resistance, Kyurem was completely consumed by the virus in the blink of an eye.
Just then, something emerged from a strange, eye-like rupture in the sky: a Charizard.
But not any ordinary Charizard.
This one was over six meters tall, with ghostly white eyes and pale flames burning on its tail. Its ash-gray skin stretched taut over powerful muscles, and sharp bone spurs jutted from its massive wings. An overwhelming, sovereign power radiated from its body, it was a King-class mutant.
As it flew into the scene and took in the ravaged landscape below, and the swarm of colossus-like Mythical Pokémon in the sky, its expression shifted to startled confusion.
The same expression was mirrored on the face of the young man riding on its back.
"Ash…" Lucius immediately recognized him. This was Ash Ketchum from the future, the Champion-leader who had traveled through time to warn the League.
It was because of him that Lucius had ultimately walked the path of evolution into the Veronica Virus.
The Charizard instinctively sensed danger. Without hesitation, it soared upward, attempting to return to the temporal rift it had emerged from.
"Ash!" called Goodshow, his voice ringing out and drawing Future Ash's attention.
Though already infected, Goodshow remained within a silver radiance conjured by Cresselia, a sacred shield that allowed him to hover in the air.
Hearing the call, Charizard slowed in midair.
Ash, still atop it, glanced warily at Goodshow.
Despite the old man appearing unscathed, the presence of so many Mythical Pokémon, the devastated land below, barely recognizable as any known region, made Ash cautious. As one of humanity's last resistance leaders against the virus swarm, he wasn't reckless enough to charge in blindly.
But even this brief hesitation was enough.
An invisible force pierced Ash's body in an instant, flooding through him like a tide.
Having fought the virus for years in another world, Future Ash immediately realized what had happened.
At the same time, his Charizard suddenly began to fall.
Two strains of viruses had erupted within its body at once.
Just as Lucius had suspected, the virus outbreak in Ash's timeline had originated not from Veronica, but from the Tyrant Virus, causing widespread chaos in the early stages of the apocalypse.
However, because the Tyrant Virus lacked an Emperor Strain, some exceptionally powerful Pokémon could assimilate its genetic material without losing themselves, retaining both sanity and independent will.
Ash's Charizard was one such Pokémon.
Though infected and mutated, it had chosen to stay by Ash's side, fighting against the virus-corrupted legions.
From Ash's memories, Lucius could see that some time had passed since Ash had last been here.
In that time, the virus had evolved into new strains. Meanwhile, the surviving human alliance, having preserved much of their technological knowledge, had continued developing new weapons and energy sources. The two sides were now locked in a brutal stalemate.
Just moments ago, a spatial distortion had appeared above Oblivia in Ash's world, identical to the phenomenon here.
Though it was his first time encountering something like this, Ash instantly suspected the GS Ball.
He had flown here on Charizard to investigate, only to stumble into this chaotic, hellish scene.
Poor Ash. He had fought the virus in his own world for years, yet the moment he arrived here… he was infected.
To Lucius, however, Ash's memories were invaluable, offering insight into the other parallel world.
It appeared that the virus over there hadn't managed to infect the Mythical Pokémon. In fact, many of them, including Ho-Oh, had actively destroyed large numbers of infected hosts after the war with humanity began.
That explained why, when Ash returned to the past, he knew to call upon Ho-Oh's Sacred Flames to destroy the virus.
In other words, if they were to annihilate the parallel world, the true threat wouldn't be the virus, it would be the Mythical Pokémon. After all, if the virus couldn't infect them, it wouldn't be able to reach the will of the world itself…
Charizard, the Tyrant-variant, plummeted toward the ground, but just before impact, it regained control of its body. With one powerful beat of its wings, it steadied itself and soared back into the sky.
That marked Lucius's triumph over the T-Virus strain.
The genetic composition of the T-Virus in that world was different from the one Lucius had unlocked in his own virus tree.
And from the look of things, wiping out that world wouldn't be all that difficult.
To take down the Mythical Pokémon in that parallel world, Lucius had no shortage of tactics.
After all, those Mythical Pokémon weren't united, they harbored grudges among themselves, like Groudon and Kyogre, who were likely still at odds.
Unlike them, Lucius's side had a decisive advantage: thanks to the Emperor Strain, his Mythical Pokémon could coordinate at an extraordinary level.
So the key to conquest wasn't brute force, it was divide and conquer.
Only then could he prevent them from forming a united front.
Resolved, Lucius ordered Future Ash to return to his world.
He was to tell the human alliance that this world had already triumphed over the virus, and that they now had a way to fight back. Help would soon arrive.
Though Ash was clearly torn, the virus's control made resistance impossible. All he could do was hope that Lucius's influence couldn't extend across dimensions.
As Ash disappeared into the space-time rift, Lucius gave a silent command to Mewtwo, who had already returned via teleportation, to follow him and gather intelligence on the other side.
With that arranged, Lucius refocused most of his attention back to the Ultra Space, his World Base.
There, Arceus's power had burrowed deep into the planet's core, engaging in a direct clash with his true body.
Lucius's true form no longer resembled the Leviathan. It had become something else entirely—formless, intangible, and yet undeniably present.
It had to be said: with the reclamation of the dominion over Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, Arceus's power had become nearly unimaginable. Even in Lucius's own realm, Arceus's strength could contend with his will.
It was as if Arceus alone were fighting against the will of an entire world.
If it had been any other Mythical Pokémon, they wouldn't have lasted even two minutes.
-------
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/Madbot635 [remove the parentheses ( )]