Chapter 241: Yui's Sister is the Lord of the Spirit World?!
Ten minutes later, Will was already gasping for breath.
The Chandelure behind him, however, still seemed to have plenty of stamina.
The energy drain from Extreme Speed was just too massive. At only Lv. 45, it was difficult for him to maintain this speed, especially while carrying a child on his back.
"How much further?"
"Emmm, maybe we're halfway there?"
Yui looked around. Her eyes seemed to be able to pierce through the fog and discern the path.
"What?! It's over! I'm out of stamina!"
"Ah? No, Will, keep going! You can't stop here!"
Yui put her hands on Will's head, cheering him on as hard as she could.
"I can't! I'm done!"
Splat!
Will was so tired he couldn't control his own feet. He tripped over himself, sending both him and Yui tumbling forward.
"Will! Get up! He's coming!"
Yui scrambled to her feet and quickly pulled Will up.
"Damn it."
Will sensed the Aura approaching. He spun around and fired a Water Pulse.
Although the fog blinded him, he sensed the Chandelure dodge to the side.
Immediately, an intense heat washed over them. The gray-purple fog in front of them was illuminated in a fiery red.
"Dodge!"
Will slammed his head into Yui, knocking her out of the way.
A massive pillar of fire struck him square in the back.
"Ugh..."
With a muffled groan, Will was blasted forward by the immense impact, his entire back scorched black.
"Will!"
Yui ran over and stood in front of him with her arms spread wide.
"Agh... this guy is at least Elite Four level."
Will struggled to push himself up. The Chandelure's damage was terrifying. Even though it was a Fire-type move, that one hit had almost killed him.
He twisted his head. His tail had been burned into a black stick.
If Lorelei saw this, she would have charged in to fight the Chandelure to the death. The little girl loved nothing more than to rub his fluffy tail.
Just as Will got back to his feet, he realized the scene had become strange.
The Chandelure and Yui were both staring in the same direction.
But in Will's Aura-sense, there was no disturbance. At least, not within his 15-meter range.
But the next moment...
BOOM!
A coffin flew in from out of nowhere, slamming into the Chandelure like a meteor and instantly knocking it out of Will's sensory range.
"Sss!"
The familiar sound and shape entered Will's mind. For him, a memory from twenty years ago was reawakening.
It had happened one night in Parfum Palace Town...
["I owe you one. If I'm still alive, I'll repay you."]
"Cofagrigus?!" Will shouted, his heart leaping.
Cofagrigus had been in the Spirit World for nearly 150 years; he must know this world inside and out.
And... Cofagrigus was strong! 150 years ago, he was already at an Elite Four level. By now, he might have even reached the Champion-class.
If he had Cofagrigus's protection, he could basically do whatever he wanted in the Spirit World.
But he was getting ahead of himself. Will couldn't be sure this was the same Cofagrigus from Parfum Palace Town. He also had to find a way to make the Cofagrigus recognize him as the Sceptile from all those years ago.
"Shh!"
Before Will could react, Yui grabbed him and pulled him flat on the ground.
"Will~ Don't talk, that guy is terrifying! If he finds us, we're done for!"
"?"
Will frowned, tilting his head. But he quickly figured it out.
If this was the Cofagrigus from Parfum Palace, he must have killed a lot of the Spirit World's inhabitants who had tried to attack him over the past 150 years. After a century and a half of that, he'd be infamous.
Will's mind raced, and he quickly got his answer.
The Cofagrigus had spotted him and was now walking over.
"Sss (Long time no see.)"
Cofagrigus waved its four shadowy arms, looking at Will with a nostalgic expression.
"...Are you the one from Parfum Palace Town?"
"Sss (Yes.)"
Cofagrigus nodded.
Will's heart settled. He immediately jumped to his feet. He reached over and pulled on Yui, trying to get her to stand up. But no matter how he pulled, Yui just stayed flat on the ground, covering her face, too scared to even speak.
Will sighed. He'd have to deal with her later.
"How did you recognize me?" This was what Will was most curious about. He was a Piplup now, not a Sceptile.
"...? (I don't understand your question. My memory is quite good.)"
Cofagrigus tilted its... coffin... looking puzzled. It seemed to find Will's question very strange. How could it not recognize Will?
"No, I mean, you're not surprised? I was a Sceptile, and now I'm a Piplup?"
"...Why did you become a Piplup? Did you enter the Vortex of Reincarnation? And... you kept your memory?"
Cofagrigus was shocked. It couldn't understand the change from Sceptile to Piplup. If Will hadn't told him, he never would have known.
"What Vortex of Reincarnation? No, can't you see? My current form is a Pokémon called Piplup."
Will shrugged. It was obvious Cofagrigus had learned a lot about the Spirit World. He even knew about things like a "Vortex of Reincarnation."
"...In my eyes, you are a young human man. You look exactly as you did when I last saw you, as I was entering the Spirit Gate."
"What?!"
Now it was Will's turn to be shocked.
He and Cofagrigus were completely lost, on two different wavelengths.
"This is the Spirit World," Cofagrigus explained, having pieced together Will's confusion. "All beings here manifest as their own soul-form. Whatever your soul looks like, that is what you look like here. And in this place, all beings' languages are one."
"Although you were reincarnated, your memories were somehow not washed away by the Vortex, which means your soul-form was not reshaped. That is why I can still recognize you."
Will had changed from a Sceptile to a Piplup, so he thought Cofagrigus wouldn't recognize him.
But in reality... in the Spirit World, Will's form had always been his original human one.
Back in Parfum Palace Town, when the 100-meter-tall Spirit Gate had opened, the Spirit World's aura had spilled out. The spirit of Nico had become visible. And Will's soul-form had also become visible.
Cofagrigus had seen Will's soul at that moment and remembered his face.
So now, meeting again in the Spirit World, Cofagrigus had recognized him at a glance.
Will was stunned into silence by Cofagrigus's words. He... pretty much understood.
As for the "Vortex of Reincarnation" Cofagrigus mentioned, he'd never entered it. His ability to reincarnate was purely because he was a cheat.
But he never expected that "reincarnation" was a real concept in this world.
He'd seen revival, time travel, and immortality... but hearing about reincarnation still dazed him.
Although... thinking about it, reincarnation had shown up in the Pokémon world before.
The most obvious example: Sir Aaron, the Aura Guardian of Rota from a thousand years ago.
And Riley, the only person who could control Aura on Iron Island (in the future).
The two of them looked identical.
Will had originally assumed they were just ancestor and descendant. But now... "reincarnation" seemed much more plausible. After all, one's hometown was in Kanto, the other's was in Sinnoh.
Of course, Sir Aaron and Ash might also be reincarnations, since their Auras were identical.
"Wait, you said... my form is human?"
"Yes."
"!"
Will's eyes went wide. He whipped his head around to look at Yui.
If he remembered correctly, Yui had been treating him like a little penguin this whole time. She'd even called him "cute" and rubbed his tail.
"Yui, what do I look like to you?"
Yui just stayed on the ground, not responding. She even reached out and tugged on Will, trying to make him lie flat too.
Cofagrigus frowned. He stared at the girl's back, a feeling of familiarity washing over him.
He reached out one of his shadowy hands, grabbed Yui, and lifted her up. His expression immediately changed, and he formed a Shadow Ball, preparing to shove it right into her mouth.
"Stop! Cofagrigus, she's my friend!" Will shouted, lunging forward to grab his arm.
"Waaah! Don't kill me! Will, save me!"
Yui burst into terrified tears. She looked at the giant, scary coffin and flailed her arms toward Will.
"You've been tricked! This... this is the Lord of the Spirit World! She's trying to trick you back into the Vortex!" Cofagrigus shoved Will aside and prepared to attack again.
"I'm not! I don't know what a 'Lord of the Spirit World' is! Don't kill me!" Yui shook her head frantically, her face a mask of terror. Tears began to fall, but they vanished the moment they left her cheeks.
"Wait! There's a misunderstanding! Everyone calm down!"
Will held up his flippers, trying to stop the chaos. His head was spinning, but he could still analyze the situation.
"Cofagrigus, the Lord of the Spirit World you're talking about... is probably Yui's older sister."
Will swallowed, stating his conclusion.
Yui just didn't seem like the Lord of the Spirit World. She was too simple, and too weak. The Chandelure had knocked her over with a simple push. If she were the Lord, even if she'd asked the Chandelure to "act," it wouldn't have dared to push her like that.
And Yui had said she had an older sister who lived in a castle and could build villages. That was clearly no ordinary person.
Based on what both Yui and Cofagrigus had said... Will was convinced: Yui's older sister... she was the Lord of the Spirit World!
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