The combined might of two Legendary Pokémon was finally enough to halt the skyward spiral of the dragon and serpent.
Suddenly, countless golden spikes burst forth from within the massive serpent, piercing through both Mega Rayquaza and Zygarde. The barbs drove straight into Yveltal, who had been gripping the wings of the dragon and serpent.
The god of death let out a thunderous cry, but even then, Yveltal did not release its hold.
Instead, its entire body began to surge with black mist, which spread rapidly toward the dragon and serpent.
The entwined forms of Mega Rayquaza and Zygarde began to take on specks of dull gray, like the creeping onset of petrification.
Then, the black Rayquaza charged forward and slammed Xerneas away with a powerful Dragon Tail, the blow amplified by viral augmentation, so much so that the Guardian of Life was flung tens of thousands of meters into the air.
Behind Yveltal, Dawn Wings Necrozma reappeared. The massive crescent-shaped wings emitted a blade-like silver light that bathed Yveltal.
A tremendous suction followed, instantly pulling the three entangled Legendaries into an Ultra Wormhole.
But the other side wasn't Ultra Space, it was the stratosphere, high above the world.
Dawn Wings Necrozma had teleported them straight into the upper atmosphere.
No sooner had they reappeared than Zygarde could no longer suppress the virus raging within it. Cracks spread across its body in an instant, until it exploded with a thunderous boom.
BOOM—
The colossal serpent dissolved into countless specks of emerald light, scattering like green meteors across the entire Kalos region.
The virus that had saturated its body spread in full force in the wake of its destruction.
In an instant, the virus permeated everything within a thousand-kilometer radius.
Invisible microorganisms began riding the prevailing winds at speeds of up to 300 km/h. Though not supersonic, they spread everywhere at once.
Mega Rayquaza and Yveltal were also blasted away by the shockwave.
The two Mythical Pokémon exchanged blows while countering the force of the blast, the very air distorted with each of their collisions.
Meanwhile, realizing the plan had failed, Xerneas began to glow with radiant prismatic light and sprinted across the sky at blinding speed.
Trying to flee?
Dawn Wings Necrozma pulsed with energy and opened another Ultra Wormhole, this one shimmering like a rainbow dreamscape.
The black Rayquaza activated Extreme Speed and slammed into Xerneas from behind.
CRASH—
The dark drake collided with the blue stag's silver-hued barrier. Though the shield didn't shatter, the impact knocked Xerneas straight into the newly opened Ultra Wormhole.
Xerneas's heart sank. With a flash, it used Substitute, teleporting its true body out of the Ultra Wormhole at the last second.
But Dawn Wings Necrozma dove into the wormhole and immediately cast Ally Switch, switching places with Xerneas's fleeing real body.
"..."
Xerneas was forcibly pulled back into the Ultra Wormhole.
The portal snapped shut behind it in a flash of lightning.
Elsewhere, Yveltal was still locked in combat with Mega Rayquaza, its body riddled with golden spikes.
As the God of Death, Yveltal could feel it, each spike carried with it terrifying vitality, invading its very core. Forced to split its focus between fighting and resisting the invasive life energy, Yveltal struggled.
Worse yet, these minuscule lifeforms were proving disturbingly resilient, gradually eroding Yveltal's essence. Even its deathly aura couldn't extinguish their vitality.
With a bitter glare at Mega Rayquaza, Yveltal beat its wings and rose sharply, then suddenly dissolved into a haze of black smoke.
Shadow Force.
The death god escaped through a rift in subspace.
With all three Mythical Pokémon failing to stop the spread, the newly freed virus swarmed on the wind, sweeping over mountains and across seas alike.
Everything in its path, human, Pokémon, plant, animal, even mineral, was consumed and corrupted. Not even shadowy caves hidden in the heart of mountains could escape the infestation.
Lucius could feel it: the number of infected bodies was exploding exponentially. Disturbingly, a large portion were now plants.
The rate was far faster than the virus's spread in the ocean.
Then again, what could possibly be faster than wind and air?
Even worse, with every person infected, more virus was born from within them. A city of a million people could fall completely in under ten minutes.
And yet those already under quiet control still had no idea what true danger loomed. Many continued with their daily routines; others stared up at the sky, puzzled by the strange battle unfolding above Kalos.
The godly clash had been captured by Kalosian media and was now headline news across the globe.
After the recent Legendary battle triggered by Groudon's awakening in Hoenn, Kalos had now become the epicenter of another war of gods.
What's more, Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde, the three most revered deities in Kalos, had all appeared at once.
And most shocking of all, there were two Rayquaza in the sky.
Sharp-eyed viewers quickly recognized that one of them was the same entity that had previously invaded from another world.
Could this be another interdimensional incursion?
...
"Where is this…" Xerneas landed in a lightless world, its hooves stepping cautiously along a barren path.
An alternate world?
As a Mythical Pokémon who had lived for countless ages, Xerneas understood the existence of parallel worlds and Ultra Space. But having little dominion over such realms, it had never personally set hoof in one, until now.
"What's that?" Its luminous gaze fell on a tiny, dark crimson sprout protruding from a rocky crevice.
It looked like a plant, but its vitality was unlike any flora. It didn't belong to the natural world.
Xerneas took two steps closer and stood before the sprout.
Sensing an approaching lifeform, the sprout twitched, then stretched upward, uncoiling itself from the cracks in the stone. In an instant, it wrapped tightly around Xerneas's leg.
Despite its small size, once fully extended it was far longer than it first appeared.
An ordinary Pokémon would've been startled or attacked immediately.
But Xerneas didn't even flinch. It allowed the tendril to coil around its leg, then channeled Fairy-type energy through the vine, sending it deep into the earth.
As the Guardian of Life, it sought the true source of this thing's vitality.
Moments later, its fairy energy locked onto a hidden network. Though the sprout's roots were only half a meter deep, its true life source was buried at the planet's core.
And Xerneas realized with grim clarity, the source was the same virus they had just battled.
A shimmer of silver-blue light danced across its legs. In a flash, the crimson sprout was reduced to ash.
Xerneas looked around cautiously, then took to the skies, hooves gliding through the air.
Even in this dark, starless world, where even it could not see everything, it sensed faint signs of life.
A cluster of humans. And unfamiliar Pokémon it had never encountered before…
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