Seeing that things were going south, a chill instantly crawled up the spines of Sen and the other three, their survival instincts driving them to turn around in unison.
Escape—that was their only thought.
Drak was the fastest. Without a moment's hesitation, he threw a Poké Ball, and a Luxray emerged, its form agile and strong.
Drak vaulted onto its back and shouted.
"Go!"
The Luxray pushed off with its limbs, kicking up a gust of wind as it quickly charged forward.
"Drak! Take me with you!"
Sen roared anxiously, his voice laced with despair.
But Drak didn't even look back. His figure rapidly receded into the night, leaving only Sen's angry curses echoing in the air.
Every man for himself in the face of disaster—this reality was heart-chillingly cruel.
However, Drak's escape was not to be smooth.
Just a few steps after he and the Luxray charged out, a dark shadow intercepted them like a ghost.
It was a Weavile, its speed incredibly fast, as if it had merged with the night.
A flash of silver light streaked by as the Weavile's sharp claws tore through the air. Before the Luxray could react, its chest had already been pierced through.
As the cold light vanished, the giant cat crashed to the ground, unable to even let out a whimper.
Drak's face turned ashen, his eyes wide with terror and his body stiff.
A rustling sound came from the nearby bushes, and another Deino suddenly lunged out!
Its pitch-black maw, carrying a foul wind, lunged straight for Drak.
Drak felt a massive force strike him as his waist was clamped in a Bite. The agonizing pain forced a shrill scream from him, echoing through this field of slaughter.
He struggled, but it was futile.
Witnessing all this, Sen's mind went blank.
He looked at Ariel, his eyes full of disbelief.
This guy... he actually had such trump cards left?
A chill rose from the bottom of his heart. This wasn't a simple hunt; it was clearly a meticulously planned massacre.
Seeing Drak die a miserable death before his eyes, Cenk's head buzzed as he completely lost his composure.
In a frantic scramble, he threw a Poké Ball, and a Noctowl spread its wings and emerged.
At this moment, the sky was his only hope.
He leaped up, intending to grab the Noctowl's talons and use its strength to take flight.
Yuno was about to speak up to stop him, but Cenk's desire to survive was too strong, and his movements were faster than she had anticipated.
Carrying Cenk, the Noctowl had just flown into the air and was about to accelerate.
The Malamar's body flickered, the space around it distorting. In the next instant, it appeared before Cenk as if out of thin air.
A deep blue light flashed as Hypnosis was activated!
The Noctowl's eyes glazed over, its wings stopped beating, and it plummeted to the ground with a heavy thud.
Losing his support in mid-air, Cenk's body became unbalanced.
The Malamar's tentacles waved, and invisible Confusion bound Cenk.
The air began to congeal. Under the influence of the Confusion, Cenk's bones made a tooth-aching grinding sound.
He let out a terrified scream, trying to break free, but it was as if he were being gripped by an invisible giant hand.
Flesh and blood were compressed and twisted inch by inch, like a wet cloth being wrung out.
Ultimately, that vibrant life was reduced to a puddle of blood, shaped like a meat patty, splashing onto the ground and merging with the soil.
"Tele... Teleport?"
Yuno stared blankly at the Malamar before her. She now understood why Ariel was able to intercept them so quickly in the forest.
But why would such a move appear on a Malamar?
Yuno shook her head. The current situation left her no room to think further; surviving was the priority!
The scene of Cenk being crushed into minced meat by Psychic power was witnessed by Sen.
Sen was completely deterred by this cruel sight.
A wave of nausea surged up; his stomach churned, and he barely suppressed the urge to vomit.
Although he had seen many similarly nauseating scenes, the impact of this one was simply too great.
He glared at Ariel, his eyes filled with rage and fear.
"You demon! You're hardly human!"
Sen's voice was hoarse with anger, trembling.
"How could a League Trainer commit such atrocities? Is your justice making everyone pay with their lives?"
He pointed at the flesh and blood on the ground, his voice almost a roar as he tried to use the shackles of morality to bind this cold young man.
Ariel laughed.
That smile was silent and soundless, yet more powerful than any words.
He looked at Sen with an indifference that Sen could not comprehend.
A parasite of the League, still trying to use high-sounding words to sugarcoat things before death.
Ariel's smile came from the heart, carrying a mockery that saw through the ways of the world.
"League Trainer? Who is a League Trainer? Are you talking about me?"
Sen questioned Ariel, his voice carrying a hint of despair:
"What do you mean? If you're not a League Trainer, what are you?!"
He tried to find a shred of explanation from Ariel's mouth, some clue that would let him understand everything before him.
Ariel simply shook his head and didn't answer.
He had no obligation, nor any interest, in explaining anything to a dying man.
His gaze was calm, yet filled with an unquestionable coldness.
This battlefield required no superfluous nonsense.
With a glance from Ariel, the Greninja understood. Its gaze Locked-On to Sen as it approached with steady steps, closing in bit by bit.
The posture was as if the Grim Reaper were carrying his scythe, walking unhurriedly.
Sen's face was ashen. In a panic, he instinctively shouted:
"Yuno! Protect me!"
His voice carried a final plea.
However, the only response he received was a sharp gust of wind.
Yuno raised her leg and kicked Sen in the chest without mercy.
Sen let out a muffled groan, his body staggering back a few steps before he finally slumped to the ground.
Intense pain instantly flooded his senses, but what chilled his heart even more was the despair of being completely abandoned.
Yuno could barely save herself; how could she care about this former leader who used to give orders?
The instinct for survival made everyone an island.
Sen lay on the ground, his chest heaving. He watched the approaching Greninja, his gaze starting to scatter.
Deep in his memory, a long-buried scene was forcibly torn open—Meteor Falls, that Greninja that had finally fallen in a pool of blood to protect its tribe.
The one before him, with its cold eyes and burgeoning killing intent, eerily overlapped with that tragic figure in his memory at this moment.
"Heh, it's all retribution..."
Sen whispered softly, his voice weak and carrying a numbness that saw through everything.
The Water Shuriken in the Greninja's hand had already taken shape, its edges gleaming with a cold light.
Sen closed his eyes and squeezed out his final words: "Honey, Daddy can't come home..."
Ariel stood to the side, witnessing this bloody scene without a ripple of emotion on his face.
Sen's final words and his attachment to his family seemed like nothing more than the pointless wailing of a loser to him.
Retribution in this world?
There is only the law of the jungle, and only insufficient strength.
Those so-called morals and justice are merely tools used by the strong to bind the weak, or lies the weak use to numb themselves.
He, Ariel, never believed in such things.
Yuno stood not far away, her body stiff.
She didn't move, not because she was stunned by Sen's death, but because she was calculating how to escape.
She urgently stated her position:
"I originally had no grievances with you. Everything was ordered by Sen; I am a victim!"
Her voice trembled slightly as she tried to detach herself from this bloodshed.
She hoped Ariel could see clearly that she was just a pawn, not an enemy.
Ariel simply shook his head nonchalantly.
To him, a person's life or death had nothing to do with so-called right or wrong.
He had no interest in delving into those complexities, nor did he care to distinguish between the primary culprit and the accomplice.
He only knew that these people stood on the opposite side of him, and that was all.
One's position determines everything; the rest is just nonsense.