Chapter 244: Finding Another Way, Another Champion
"Hehe~ I really don't think that killing intent I sensed from you just now was fake~"
Cofagrigus grinned, a mocking expression on his face as he looked at the Lord of the Spirit World.
He had first met the Lord of the Spirit World over seventy years ago.
At that time, Cofagrigus, Chandelure, and Gengar—three Champion-class beings—had planned to team up, kill Dusknoir, and force open a gate to the living world.
Cofagrigus had a grudge against Dusknoir. Chandelure wanted to absorb more... vibrant... souls. And Gengar just thought the Spirit World was too boring. So, the three of them conspired and ambushed the Alpha Dusknoir.
Just as Dusknoir was half-dead, the Lord of the Spirit World had come out and suppressed all three of them with one hand, saving Dusknoir.
But the Lord didn't kill them, for reasons probably only she knew.
Anyway, ever since Cofagrigus had met this being, he had never seen any other emotion on her face.
In fact, because he wasn't afraid of death, he had kind of let himself go. He had once harassed the Lord of the Spirit World 365 times in a single year. But she hadn't given a damn about him.
Ever since then, Cofagrigus had decided the Lord of the Spirit World was just a puppet working for the Vortex of Reincarnation.
Until today. He had finally seen an emotion on her. And it was a negative emotion!
This made Cofagrigus uncharacteristically excited.
"I did want to kill her."
The Lord of the Spirit World's gaze moved to Yui, her brow furrowed, as if she were looking at something filthy.
"Ngh..." Yui quickly lowered her head, her fists clenched, not daring to look at her.
"But I truly cannot kill her. At most, I can... mess with her."
"You said she is you. What does that mean?" Will pressed. At the same time, he patted Yui's leg behind him, telling her not to be afraid.
This being had made it clear. She wouldn't kill Yui.
Will didn't think someone who had lost almost all emotion would bother to lie, especially someone with the power to crush them.
But Will also confirmed: the Chandelure clan wouldn't dare be so brazen with Yui without this Lord's permission.
"The Vortex of Reincarnation split my soul in two. The bad memories were left to me; the good memories were left to her. If she dies, I will die too."
The Lord of the Spirit World lifted her sleeve. On her pale forearm were the same dense scratches and burns that were on Yui's.
"You're also Yui?" Will frowned. This was the first time he'd heard of such a thing.
"Correct. I am the real Yui. Because the original me inherited almost all the memories. She only has a tiny fraction. And even that small bit isn't 'good' memory, she's just too stupid to tell the difference."
"Big Yui" nodded blankly, looking down at "Little Yui" and stating flatly, "A pathetic creature that knows nothing. How can she be the real me?"
"...You said you inherited all the bad memories, but you don't seem very affected by them."
Will frowned at Big Yui. A person full of only bad memories should be irritable, quick to anger, or have had a mental breakdown.
But this Big Yui was inhumanly cold. Cofagrigus's claim that she was a puppet for the Vortex seemed more and more accurate.
"Because, ten thousand years ago, I removed all the bad memories. Only after removing them did I realize... I had no memories of my life left at all."
"...I think you're the pathetic one." Will looked at Big Yui and shook his head.
With no memories, she was no different from a newborn.
But, if they were all unhappy memories, maybe forgetting was for the best.
But all the memories she had left were from after she came to the Spirit World. No wonder she had become like a machine, almost devoid of emotion.
But Will didn't feel sorry for her. Because she bullied Little Yui.
"Hehe, you're the pathetic one," Cofagrigus sneered. "You don't even have the memories of being 'Yui,' and you dare claim to be the real one? I think you're just jealous of her!"
"Oh, is that so? Whatever." Big Yui's expression vanished. She returned to that corpse-like state from the beginning.
She felt nothing from Cofagrigus's taunts.
Decades ago, Cofagrigus had even thrown the corpses of Dusknoir and Chandelure into her castle. If she didn't care about that, she certainly wouldn't care about being mocked.
"I'm sorry, Sister..." Yui bit her lip and bowed quickly. She didn't really understand what they were saying, only that her sister was angry at her.
"Don't call me Sister. Did you not understand what I said?"
"Let's not talk about this. We came here for one thing." Will pulled Yui behind him and took two steps forward.
He couldn't let Yui handle this. It would only backfire.
"I know why you are here. Give up. Other than Dusknoir, no being that enters the Spirit World is permitted to leave."
The moment she finished speaking... Swish! A huge, fast Shadow Ball shot out from beside Will.
!
Big Yui raised one arm, casually caught Cofagrigus's Shadow Ball, and crushed it.
"Holy crap! Dude, are you insane?" Will, reacting, whipped his head toward Cofagrigus.
Attacking just like that? Couldn't he at least wait for me to try negotiating?
"I told you, it's useless talking to her! Listen to me, we'll go find Gengar, kill Dusknoir, and when the gates all burst open, you can get out."
Cofagrigus had no more patience to waste on her.
"With me here, you cannot kill him." The Lord shook her head and waved a hand.
"Give up. Just stay in the Spirit World. When your day of death comes, the Vortex will call for you."
A black wind blasted them, instantly blowing all three out of the castle.
Cofagrigus reacted instantly, grabbing Will and Yui with his four arms and stuffing them inside his coffin-body.
After flying backward for several hundred meters, Cofagrigus slammed hard into the ground.
Boom! ...Creaak. The coffin lid opened.
Will climbed out, dizzy.
"Didn't she say she wouldn't kill Yui? Why was that attack so brutal?"
"This little girl isn't so easy to kill. Souls are basically immune to physical damage."
Cofagrigus explained as he got up. The attack looked fierce, but it hadn't really hurt him.
"I'm sorry, Will. I couldn't help you." Yui climbed out, ashamed.
"It's fine. It has nothing to do with you." Will waved his flipper.
They had miscalculated, not expecting the Lord's relationship with Yui to be like this.
"Should... should I go back and beg Sister?"
"Forget it." Will shook his head.
The "Big Yui" path was basically a dead end.
Cofagrigus was right. Big Yui was a puppet, acting only according to the "rules." Only when it came to Little Yui did she show any emotion.
"Can we secretly follow a Dusknoir and rush out when he opens a gate?" Will turned to Cofagrigus.
He sent this thought telepathically. The Lord could see and hear everything in the fog. But she couldn't intercept an Aura message.
"If it were that simple, Gengar wouldn't have been trapped in this godsforsaken place for a thousand years." Cofagrigus replied bluntly.
"Then what do we do? Are we really trapped here forever?" Will clutched his head.
They were really out of options.
"Ghegheghe~"
Suddenly, a bizarre cackle echoed around them.
Will closed his eyes to sense, but found nothing. The source was outside his 15-meter range.
"Ngh!" Yui had a strong reaction to the sound.
She immediately grabbed Will and hid behind Cofagrigus.
Even though Cofagrigus was scary, he had protected her just now. So Yui had begun to trust him a little.
"Stop messing around, or I'll kill you," Cofagrigus snapped, turning in a specific direction.
"Heehee~ Why so grumpy? We're old war buddies, after all."
As the voice spoke, a violent gale erupted.
Cofagrigus used his four arms to secure Will and Yui to his body.
The surrounding fog began to thin, as if it were being vacuumed up.
Will could finally see his surroundings.
A giant Pokémon was opening its massive mouth, inhaling the fog.
When Will saw the Pokémon's face, he was completely shocked.
Because it was a giant Gengar!
A normal Gengar is 1.5 meters tall. The one in front of him was at least 20 meters tall.
It probably wasn't an [Alpha]. With the Lord and Dusknoir around, he wouldn't get the title. But he definitely had to be a [Totem].
And a normal Gengar has pinkish-red eyes. This one's eyes were blood red, with dark red, vein-like liquid moving within them.
So this is the Champion-class Gengar.
Will stared. Its size alone was a testament to its power.
"Cut the crap. What do you want?" Cofagrigus said.
Cofagrigus was acting tough, but Will could sense he was in a state of high alert.
Clearly, this Gengar was extremely strong. Possibly even stronger than Cofagrigus.
And, the key difference: Cofagrigus wasn't tense against the Lord because he knew her "rules" and that she wouldn't attack Will.
But Gengar was different. Gengar wasn't a machine. He might actually attack Will.
And his reason might be "just for fun."
As for Yui... with her status, did she even need to fear death?
The only one in mortal danger here was Will.
"Heehee, I overheard your chat with that woman. I have a way to open a gate to the living world!"
"If you had that ability, you'd still be here?" Cofagrigus sneered, not believing a word.
"I just thought of it! You have to trust me on this! You know how badly I want out! I wouldn't lie about this!"
Gengar's expression became twisted, his voice hysterical.
Cofagrigus went silent. Because Gengar was right.
When it came to escaping the Spirit World, Gengar was always the most desperate.
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