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Heat.
Kael's vision was swallowed by blinding white light as overwhelming heat surged outward from his chest.
"Hng…!"
His teeth clenched tight, a hoarse cry forced from his throat as searing pain exploded across his body.
Every nerve screamed.
His blood felt like it was boiling, his entire frame on the verge of ignition.
Within his mental space, the battle instinct unique to Fighting-type Pokémon ignited like dry powder meeting flame, erupting into uncontrollable fury that flooded Kael's consciousness.
Somewhere beyond perception, he seemed to hear a vast, ancient roar echoing from the void. The bloodlust of primordial battlefields surged through him.
Cold steel began to form across his dark-violet body.
The contrast was brutal.
Scalding heat met glacial metal as armor assembled piece by piece, the chill cutting sharply against his burning skin.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Inside his mind, the system's crisp notification chimes rang out in rapid succession.
The status panel was forcibly deployed before his eyes.
But Kael had no attention to spare for it.
Pain and heat blurred his awareness, and without the unseen force anchoring his mental space, he would have already collapsed into unconsciousness.
As the [Zamazenta's Heart] entered [Shield King Form], pure Fighting-type energy poured in from beyond reality itself.
It did not merely flood his body.
It sank into his soul.
The system processed that refined energy through methods Kael could not comprehend, converting it into sustenance perfectly attuned to him.
On the system panel, his level indicator began to change.
The clear number "45" wavered.
Then—
As if erased by an invisible hand, the "4" vanished.
In its place appeared a "7", wrapped in a faint crimson flame-like afterimage.
[Level: 75].
Under the effect of the [Zamazenta's Heart], Kael's level had been forcibly elevated to an absurd height.
One of the artifact's core effects was simple and terrifying.
It temporarily raised the wielder to an entirely higher tier of power based on their existing strength.
The lower the original level.
The sturdier the foundation.
The greater the amplification.
Kael, not yet level fifty, yet tempered by repeated life-and-death trials, met those conditions perfectly.
The result was a staggering thirty-level surge.
As the transformation neared completion, the thunderous rumbling in the air began to subside.
The metallic clashes grew sparse.
The crimson spectral flames and brilliant white radiance started to draw inward.
The figure hidden within the light slowly emerged.
"AAAAAH!!"
Kael roared as the immense energy swelling inside him pushed dangerously close to his physical limits.
He did not know what state he was in.
Only that if the power continued to expand, his body would tear itself apart.
At the final moment, just before collapse—
The energy stopped.
The blinding light faded.
And in that receding glare, Kael glimpsed a fleeting silhouette of crimson and indigo, moving with impossible grace, accompanied by a low, resonant growl that echoed deep in his bones.
Boom!
Metal struck solid concrete.
The sound rang through the ruins.
All brilliance vanished.
All overwhelming noise ceased.
As if none of it had ever happened.
Silence returned, broken only by the heavy breathing of Guzzlord.
The colossal Ultra Beast stood frozen.
Like a mouse staring at a predator far beyond its understanding.
Its massive body was rigid.
The once-flailing tongues were withdrawn into its jaws, unmoving.
Its bright blue eyes were locked on a single point ahead, filled with deep wariness and instinctive terror that rose from the core of its being.
There, within the shadow cast by a collapsed skyscraper, stood a lone figure.
The power that elevated the [Zamazenta's Heart] above countless treasures.
The true form of [Shield King Form].
Revealed for the first time.
A full suit of armor encased Kael from head to toe.
Its primary color was a restrained, ancient dark gold, as though it had been tempered and weathered across countless ages.
Time itself clung to it.
Massive shoulder guards shaped like flowing fire and stormclouds rested over his broad frame, ornate yet balanced, radiating controlled authority rather than excess.
Crimson patterns traced across the armor's surface, elegant and mysterious, lending it an almost sacred artistry without invoking any specific religion.
At his chest, layered plates formed the shape of a regal shield, dignified and imposing, like an emblem passed down through royal bloodlines.
Despite fully encasing his powerful body, the armor carried no sense of bulk.
Instead, Kael stood like a lion on the plains.
Still.
Dominant.
Oppressive.
With a thought, Kael shifted the system panel aside.
He already knew his temporary level.
Seventy-five.
He had expected a significant boost from [Shield King Form].
But not something this extreme.
Lowering his gaze, he scanned the dark-gold armor covering him.
Even the blood racing through his veins felt different, faintly infused with the sacred resonance of a legendary Pokémon.
Endless energy surged within him.
Strength vast enough to tear the sky apart coiled in his limbs.
Kael knew this power was temporary.
In thirty minutes, everything would vanish.
The armor.
The amplification.
The borrowed divinity.
He would return to what he was before.
"…Thirty minutes."
He exhaled slowly.
"That's more than enough."
Kael raised his head.
His gaze locked onto the trembling Guzzlord ahead.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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