Chapter 242: The Powerful Spirit World
"You have a sister?"
Cofagrigus looked at the little girl in its grasp.
"Mhm."
Yui nodded pitifully.
Cofagrigus put Yui down, but the wariness in its eyes did not lessen in the slightest. It stood close to Will. If there was any strange movement, it would immediately hide Will inside its coffin-body for protection.
"Will~"
The moment she was on the ground, Yui ran to Will and hugged him, tears streaming from her big, dark eyes.
"It's okay. Cofagrigus is my friend. He won't hurt you."
Will was picked up by Yui. He raised a flipper to pat her head and comfort her.
"Mhm."
Yui nodded lightly, but she didn't dare even look at Cofagrigus.
She carefully felt the texture of what she was holding, then craned her neck to look.
"Will, your tail isn't fluffy anymore."
Her voice was filled with deep disappointment.
Will was speechless. He'd just remembered he was still seriously injured. He stretched out a flipper to touch his own tail, and a faint blue light began to glow from his palm.
He didn't have Celebi'sRecover in this life, but he had Aura Power!
Aura Power also had a healing effect. It wasn't weak, just a bit slower and required continuous use.
"Yui, so in your eyes, I'm a penguin?" Will asked as he healed his tail.
"Mhm. If you're not a penguin, what are you?" Yui nodded blankly.
"Cofagrigus, what's going on here?"
"...(I don't know. Only the Lord of the Spirit World can see a soul's worldly shell. But you said she is not the Lord.)"
Cofagrigus shook his head. He still believed this little girl was the Lord of the Spirit World. Their faces were almost identical, and they even had the same ability.
"She's not," Will affirmed. He couldn't sense any malicious Aura from Yui. If the Lord of the Spirit World could fake her Aura so completely that it could even fool his own Aura sense, then Will would accept his loss.
And... he'd settle the score in his next life.
Short-lived humans might be gone by the time he reincarnated, but a Lord of the Spirit World... she'd be around for thousands of years, at least.
"Will, thank you for believing me. I like you~"
Yui looked at the little penguin, touched, and kissed his forehead.
Cofagrigus, seeing this, faltered. His conviction began to waver. In his memory, the machine-like Lord of the Spirit World would never do such a thing, let alone say such words.
"This is no place to talk. Follow me."
Cofagrigus waved its shadowy arms, signaling for Will and Yui to get on.
"Okay!" Will nodded and helped Yui sit on the coffin lid.
Then, Cofagrigus flew off at high speed, carrying them both. He was incredibly fast, even faster than Will had been using Extreme Speed. For a Pokémon with Cofagrigus's natural speed to move this fast, he had undoubtedly entered the Champion-class.
Will couldn't wait to ask Cofagrigus about the Spirit World.
Especially about Meowscarada!
If an Elite Four-level Cofagrigus could survive here for so long, then a high-Champion-level Meowscarada should have no problem surviving if she had entered. If she was here, she and Cofagrigus must have met, or at least heard of each other, over the past few decades.
Two hours later, Cofagrigus brought them to another fog-free area.
This area was empty except for a small, three-story mansion in the center. It was only three floors, but it was fifty meters wide, looking very similar to Leaf's mansion from over a hundred years ago.
They entered the mansion. The inside looked no different from a normal human residence. This was clearly not something a Pokémon had built.
"Who built this?" Will asked.
"I don't know. There are many such buildings in the Spirit World. Perhaps humans from the past explored this place and built them. Or... they could be the residences of previous Lords of the Spirit World."
Cofagrigus took them straight to the top floor and into a large living room.
The room was full of furniture, but it all looked ancient. For example, on a solid wood table, there was a handheld censer, a lighting tool from thousands of years ago.
"How did you find this place?"
Cofagrigus heard Will's question and gave a grim smile.
"I didn't find it. I killed the leader of the Chandelure clan and took it from him."
"..."
Will and Yui fell silent. Yui was so scared she hid behind Will, trembling, not daring to look at Cofagrigus.
"By the way, have you seen Meowscarada?"
"No. Is she missing?" Cofagrigus shook his head, then added, "You don't need to look for her in the Spirit World. Any time I sense a living being enter, I go to check. I have never seen that cat who was always with you."
"Is that so. I understand, thank you."
Will nodded, but his heart grew heavy.
Not in the Spirit World.
Then she was either in the Distortion World or another timeline.
It was a headache, but knowing Meowscarada wasn't here did, in a roundabout way, bring him some closure. At least he didn't have to consider coming back to the Spirit World.
"It's nothing. By the way, that thing I asked you to do..."
"It's done. Mr. Niven was very happy at first, thinking you were all coming back. But when he learned it was Nico's last letter... well, he seemed to find peace. He passed away not long after, saying he was going to find Nico and his wife."
"...Thank you."
Cofagrigus's four arms hung limply. After a long silence, he sighed. He was now truly alone in the world; all his family was gone.
"What about Nico? You followed him into the Spirit World back then. Were you trying to get him back?" Will asked curiously.
"At first, yes. But later... I personally sent him to the Vortex of Reincarnation."
"Why did you change your mind?"
"Because... Nico said he wanted to reincarnate quickly. That way, he'd have a chance to see Niven and me again."
"I see." Will nodded quietly, not asking any more about Nico.
Yui just sat on the sofa, hugging Will, intently stroking his short feathers with her fingers, not participating in their conversation.
"You shouldn't have come here," Cofagrigus said this time, his expression grim.
"I didn't want to! The Spirit Gate just opened up in front of me and sucked me in."
"...Then you're just unlucky. It's not easy to leave the Spirit World once you're in."
"What do you mean?" Will's expression turned serious. He had to find a way out, and fast.
"There's only one way out from here. You have to get the Lord of the Spirit World or the Gatekeeper of the Spirit World to open a gate from the inside."
Cofagrigus's gaze shifted to Yui, who was behind Will.
"Maybe you can find a chance with that kid behind you. If she really is the Lord's sister, it shouldn't be hard to get out. Just have her ask."
"Yui?"
Will turned to look at the little girl.
Yui's shoulders trembled. She pretended not to hear, her little hands clasped together. It was obvious she was terrified of her sister.
"Who is the Gatekeeper?"
"The Dusknoir that captured Nico. We're not on good terms." Cofagrigus grimaced, a terrifying smile on his... face.
Even though Will's Aura could sense that Cofagrigus meant no harm, his appearance was genuinely frightening.
"Then it seems our only option is the Lord of the Spirit World."
Will turned back to the little girl. "Yui, can I ask you to do this?"
"Mmm... I can try." Yui lowered her gaze and put her arms around Will.
"I advise you not to get your hopes up," Cofagrigus cut in. "The Lord of the Spirit World is like a machine without a will of its own. I don't think she'll make an exception just because someone asks."
His tone was harsh. Yui, hearing this, clearly felt uncomfortable. Even if her sister didn't like her, Yui still felt bad hearing Cofagrigus speak ill of her.
But Will didn't hold Cofagrigus's words against him. He knew his history. The "coffin" was cold on the outside but warm on the inside; he was just blunt, not malicious.
"Besides the Lord and that Dusknoir, is there anything else to watch out for in here?"
"Originally, there was the Chandelure patriarch who lived here, and a Gengar patriarch a bit further out. Both were about as strong as me. But the Chandelure... Gengar and I teamed up and killed him."
Cofagrigus continued, "That Chandelure wanted to eat Nico's soul and turn him into one of those husks outside. I had to kill him."
"What's the Gengar's story?"
"Neutral. He just goes wherever the 'fun' is. He just happened to also hate the Chandelure, so he helped me."
"This place isn't big, but it's full of strong Pokémon," Will mused.
Just this tiny Spirit World had at least four Champion-class beings that he knew of. And that was assuming the Lord of the Spirit World was only Champion-class. What if she was stronger? She was the one ruling the whole dimension.
Suddenly, Will glanced at the weak little Yui.
"Wait... don't tell me the Lord of the Spirit World is just a normal person?"
"How strong is this Lord?" Will asked Cofagrigus.
"Stronger than me and Gengar combined. She's an old monster who's lived for tens of thousands of years. How could she be weak?"
"Fair enough."
Will nodded. As he thought, this place was absurdly strong.
"When will you go find her? I'll go with you."
"Wait until I've healed my injuries."
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