A terrifying aura saturated with pure malice—like a slumbering apocalyptic beast suddenly snapping its eyes open—violently swept across the entire ravine!
In a split second, every single crazed, attacking ghost grunt unanimously halted their movements.
Stricken with sheer terror and uncertainty, they all stared toward the altar at the center of the ravine.
On the stone above the altar, the suddenly manifested black spectral entity twisted violently, then aggressively expanded outward, morphing into a blurry, colossal, and utterly grotesque face!
The face seemed to be crying yet laughing, constantly twisting and warping.
Its eye sockets were two bottomless, abyssal vortexes!
“It’s a Spiritomb!” Lorze’s pupils shrank violently as the name instantly flashed across his mind.
“It hid so fucking well.
My spiritual sense completely failed to detect it earlier.”
The moment Spiritomb materialized, it swept its abstract, eerie gaze across all the exhausted Ghost-type Pokémon in the ravine.
Its first targets of execution were the “Pro-tier” Dusclops and Mismagius!
At this point, both of them had been severely battered by each other, and having just been ruthlessly ambushed by Spiritomb, they were solidly bound and completely paralyzed.
In truth, Spiritomb itself was only at the “Pro-tier.” In a strict one-on-one, it wasn’t overwhelmingly stronger than either of them!
But because it had bided its time at its absolute peak condition and executed a flawless sneak attack, it now held a massive upper hand.
In an instant, it utterly suppressed the two combatants who were already at the end of their ropes, immediately beginning to violently siphon the pure ghost energy directly from their bodies.
Simultaneously, a vortex of energy erupted from Spiritomb’s body!
Its targets were shockingly all the injured and unconscious Ghost-type Pokémon scattered across the ravine from the previous bloodbath!
The dozens of Ghost-type Pokémon closest to the epicenter couldn’t even put up a struggle before being forcibly dragged into that pitch-black vortex!
Their spectral bodies began to warp and disintegrate in mid-air.
An infinite amount of pure Ghost-type energy and negative emotions were mercilessly devoured by the vortex!
“How is this fucking possible?!
Even though Ghost-type Pokémon can absorb the energy of other Ghost-types, they only ever skim off the top.
It’s completely impossible to drain them this thoroughly.
Otherwise, they’d be violently blown apart by the endless surge of conflicting malice.
Even the energy Zorua devoured earlier required my necromancy to filter and convert it first.”
Lorze was initially baffled, but he very quickly saw through the bullshit.
Although Spiritomb was devouring the energy of these Ghost-type Pokémon, it was merely acting as a goddamn transit station!
After spinning through the vortex once, this massive influx of energy was ultimately being funneled straight into that newly formed ‘Spell Tag’, causing the aura it radiated to skyrocket at an insane rate. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
It made sense.
This ‘Spell Tag’ was currently right on the precipice of its initial manifestation.
It hadn’t fully solidified yet, remaining in the critical phase of energy compression.
By flooding it with massive quantities of ghost energy at this exact moment, it could actually forcefully upgrade its fundamental quality.
Finally, Dusclops and Mismagius’s struggles grew weaker and weaker until the light in their eyes completely extinguished.
Reduced to two dim, pathetic phantoms, they were casually tossed aside onto the dirt by Spiritomb, their survival completely uncertain.
Having freed up more of its focus, Spiritomb’s speed at processing the other surrounding Ghost-type Pokémon instantly accelerated!
From the boulder beneath its spectral face, several more tendrils of shadow shot out, wildly snatching at the surviving Ghost-types desperately trying to flee.
One by one, they were violently pinned in place by the black shadows, before having their ghost energy ruthlessly sucked dry.
Under Spiritomb’s absolute lockdown and extraction, the Ghost-type Pokémon present were nearly annihilated completely, with only a very sparse few managing to escape with their lives.
Meanwhile, that ‘Spell Tag’ had grown infinitely more profound.
Quietly levitating in mid-air and hovering without any wind, its surface rippled with a spectral glow that looked like liquid shadow.
The oppressive aura it radiated had multiplied several times over.
“Intermediate-tier!
Spiritomb actually succeeded.
By cannibalizing the energy of all these Ghost-type Pokémon, it literally forced the ‘Spell Tag’ to evolve into an Intermediate-tier Held Item.”
Spiritomb appeared highly satisfied with its “masterpiece.” Its grotesque face warped even further as it broke into a savage sneer, letting out a teeth-grating cackle as it slowly began reeling in the suspended ‘Spell Tag.’
“Now’s the moment!
Strike!”
Lorze was never a hesitant man.
Right now, because Spiritomb had levitated the ‘Spell Tag’ high into the air for the ritual refinement, it presented the absolute most flawless window for a hijack.
Froslass gracefully raised her hand, scattering snow crystals.
Instantly, a cacophony of crackling freezing sounds erupted around Spiritomb.
Even parts of its black fog were instantaneously flash-frozen, locking it inside a thick cage of pure ice crystals.
Spiritomb’s attention had been entirely fixated on the ‘Spell Tag,’ causing it to get brutally blindsided in that brief moment of distraction.
Yet, although shocked, it wasn’t panicked.
But just as it prepared to shatter the ice cage, a torrent of dark energy accompanied by the wailing cries of ghosts violently erupted from the ground beneath it, completely washing over its body.
This sudden, devastating combo attack left Spiritomb momentarily stunned, and Lorze made his move!
His hands had already formed a complex seal in front of him.
Rapidly chanting a harsh, obscure incantation, he finally pointed his finger dead center at the altar.
In the next split second, as if violently snatched by a massive, invisible hand, the ‘Spell Tag’ instantly broke free from Spiritomb’s telekinetic grip and rocketed straight toward Lorze.
The technique Lorze was using right now was a foundational necromancy spell—the Soul Extraction Art!
This magic was typically utilized by Necromancers to forcibly extract or transfer souls.
It could directly snatch a spirit, and consequentially, it was highly effective on objects heavily saturated with ghost energy.
Earlier, when he effortlessly snatched the phasing Pumpkaboo out of thin air as it tried to escape, he had utilized a minor application of this exact spell.
But right now, using it for a long-distance hijack of an Intermediate-tier ‘Spell Tag’ brimming to the absolute limit with ghost energy and malice required an agonizingly long casting delay and an oceanic amount of magic power.
“Lorze, is that psychic power?!
Don’t tell me you’re an~?”
“Close enough.
It’s too fucking complicated to explain right now, just focus on taking down what’s right in front of us!”
While Lorze was maintaining the spell, Spiritomb had already shattered the ice.
Thanks to its supreme Ghost/Dark typing combination, the damage from “Bitter Malice” was extremely pathetic.
“Combusken, hit it with a maximum power ‘Flamethrower’!
Pumpkaboo, use ‘Leech Seed’!”
May’s reflexes were lightning fast.
Hearing the command, Combusken dashed out like a bolt of lightning.
The scorching flames erupting from its beak instantly transformed into a massive, roaring fire tornado, completely engulfing the charging Spiritomb!
While there was no established rule that Fire-type moves were super effective against Ghost-types, the vast majority of Ghost-type Pokémon favored freezing, gloomy environments and held an innate, severe aversion to fire and intense heat.
Instantly, Combusken’s “Fire Spin” caused Spiritomb’s black fog face to unleash a furious, agonizing shriek, violently stalling its momentum.
But in the very next second, a dense sheet of pitch-black energy radiated outward from Spiritomb’s warped face, rapidly extinguishing the flames like a rising black tide.
Yet, the moment it snuffed out the fire, a seed plummeted from the sky, landing dead center on the stone beneath Spiritomb.
It rapidly shattered its shell, sprouting into thick vines that tightly coiled around and restrained it.
Simultaneously, two beams of light—one pitch-black and one ice-white—fired by Zorua and Froslass respectively, brutally slammed dead center into Spiritomb’s twisted, grotesque face.