The moment Arceus's body passed through, the floating rift vanished.
What followed was an unparalleled silence.
Arceus's gaze swept across the battlefield and finally settled on the young human not far away.
>..Caleb..<
Its majestic and divine voice echoed through the air.
Arceus didn't bother to suppress its aura. Radiant light surged around it as it descended upon the land in a manner of supreme grandeur.
Time flowed differently in each Instance, and with Infinite World existing in a state of eternal stasis, sixty years had already passed in Arceus's reality since Caleb returned.
The long years hadn't made it forget the fleeting human youth it once met. On the contrary, Arceus still remembered their encounter...
Behind them, the NPC troops continued to battle, but here, the atmosphere was utterly still.
Caleb and Arceus locked eyes.
After a brief moment of excitement, the massive Giratina calmed down and landed beside Caleb, casting an impatient glance at the noisy crowd behind it: >..Tch! So noisy..<
Watching this scene, Ewan was nearly scared out of his wits. He stood frozen in place, legs stiff as lead.
'What the heck is going on?! Summoning Giratina is already insane, but even Arceus?! Is this guy cheating?!' Ewan knew the tide had turned.
With Giratina and a fully equipped Arceus carrying all eighteen creation plates, any resistance was futile. Given that, he might as well lie flat and accept his fate.
Thinking this, Ewan sighed heavily, looked at Caleb with reluctant eyes, and asked, "Can you spare me?"
"No." Caleb said coldly, his expression impassive.
He had always repaid kindness and avenged grievances. If Ewan hadn't attacked him back at the Glazed Volcano, he might've considered forming an alliance.
"Alright, I understand." Ewan nodded in resignation.
He thought it over, and there was no life-or-death grudge between them. Rather than provoke Caleb and turn him into an enemy, it was better to surrender and build goodwill.
"Then I wish you good luck." He paused, then added, "I heard Ye Fan and Baek Gyeol have teamed up with others to ambush you in this Instance. Good luck."
Caleb was silent for a moment, then replied, "Thanks. I'll be careful."
Seeing this, Ewan didn't resist further. He opened his Lord panel and withdrew all his Pokémon troops. He stood aside to watch his territory be destroyed, starting from the outer walls to the core Lord's Hall.
With a thunderous crash, the building collapsed under the assault of a swarm of Tauros.
The Lord's Hall was breached, and Ewan's figure instantly dissolved into motes and vanished...
Following that, Caleb received the system notification:
*Ding!*
[Congratulations on successfully breaching the territory 'Ferry'!]
[Compiling battle statistics…]
[In this siege, you lost 18 Tauros and sustained 142 injured soldiers, who can be treated in medical tents!
Resources seized from the enemy:
- Food: 15 620 units
- Wood: 10 800 units
- Stone: 24 100 units
- Gold Coins: 280
- Captives: 57...]
The captives were all ordinary NPC residents, which were useful for building territory facilities. Caleb glanced at them and ordered Hydreigon, which had just arrived, to take the resources and captives back.
Hydreigon looked at the towering figure beside its trainer and felt a deep sense of threat. It didn't move immediately but instead nudged up to Caleb, looking pitiful.
Caleb: "…"
He reached out and hugged Hydreigon's big head, comforting it the young Pokémon, "Good boy. I'll reward you with a hundred drumsticks when we get back."
Hydreigon happily trotted off at that, throwing a smug glance at Giratina before leaving.
Giratina, now a mature elder dragon, snorted twice. It found the three-headed dragon childish. Though it didn't know what 'drumsticks' were, the name didn't sound like anything important.
Still, after Hydreigon's silhouette disappeared into the sky, Giratina turned to Caleb and asked: >..What's a drumstick?..<
Caleb was speechless for a second, then explained, "It's a kind of food."
Giratina had tasted Caleb's Pokéblocks before. Hearing 'food' reminded it of that sweet flavor, so it instinctively asked: >..Is it tasty?..<
Caleb: "I'll let you try one when we get back."
Giratina: >..Oh!..<
At that moment, Arceus approached.
Giratina fell silent, stepping aside to daydream about drumsticks, leaving the spotlight to its boss.
"Hey, Arceus!" Caleb greeted it warmly. He could see from its eyes that it still remembered him.
>..Hey, Caleb..<
Arceus replied, mimicking human mannerisms. It had now softened its divine pressure, radiating a gentle, calming presence.
Caleb: "Want to come back with me for a while?"
Arceus nodded lightly.
And so, one human and two Deities began their return journey. On the way, Caleb explained the current situation and added at the end, "Don't worry, you'll be able to return to your place soon."
Arceus wasn't concerned. Even in its absence, Dialga and Palkia maintained order in that universe. Though Arceus was the creator god, it still had time to slack off.
Seeing this, Caleb didn't say more. He turned and asked Giratina if it could open a portal to the Distortion World to release Mewtwo.
As it turned out, it could... As soon as the rift to the Distortion World opened, Mewtwo teleported out.
Mewtwo had been prepared for battle, but upon seeing Arceus and Giratina, he was genuinely stunned. He turned to Caleb with a questioning look.
Caleb explained what had happened and the item he used.
Mewtwo nodded and said nothing, silently following behind to protect Caleb.
Arceus glanced back. It recognized this Mewtwo. Then it recalled how long Mewtwo had waited in that world, and how Caleb had searched the entire world to find it.
Arceus couldn't help but sigh softly: >..How enviable..<
Even a creator god couldn't help but be moved by such a bond; one forged across countless lifetimes, time, and death.
Hearing this, Giratina also looked at Mewtwo with unmistakable envy. It also wished it could travel alongside this human, 'That kind of life must be incredibly exciting.'
But then it remembered its duty... Giratina couldn't leave, not while the stability of the Distortion World depended on it.
Its hopeful excitement quietly faded...