This Trainer Has No Sportsmanship

Mekk-Knight Yellow Star was about to shove Imduk away when spiritual power rapidly gathered before him, forming a shockwave that blasted it flying.

This was Imduk's ability. Any enemy fighting directly in front of him—along his linked direction—would suffer a continuous barrage of spiritual force.

Alisa was delighted at the sight and directed Material Dragon to join Imduk in a Pincer Attack, completely suppressing Mekk-Knight Yellow Star. Breaking through its defenses was only a matter of time.

At this point, the outcome of the entire battlefield had been decided, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Although there had been several twists along the way, they had ultimately achieved the goal of this journey.

Lee the World Chalice Fairy flew over, patting her chest in relief. "Thank goodness. I thought we might be too late. Looks like even if Imduk hadn't come, you still could have won."

You Zhi asked doubtfully, "Imduk absorbed all that Star Power, and this is all the improvement he got? That's far weaker than I expected."

Liss explained, "Absorbing Star Power is a gradual process. You can't just give it to whoever you want. Imduk absorbed less than a third of the Star Power in the Star Armor. The rest was all wasted."

By the end, there was a hint of anger in her voice.

At that moment, Auram and the others, having finished off their opponents, walked over. Hearing this, they could only apologize. "Sorry. There was no time to think it through back then. We could only grab whatever we could. Fortunately, there are still five World Legacies left."

Ningirsu said, "Are you stupid? We've already destroyed all the Mekk-Knights. We don't need to search for World Legacies anymore."

Auram suddenly understood. "Right. We were looking for World Legacies to deal with the Mekk-Knights in the first place."

Eve thanked You Zhi and Alisa. "It's all thanks to you two. Without your help, we definitely couldn't have defeated the Mekk-Knights in our current state."

The three of them might not even have been able to defeat a Mekk-Knight in a fair one-on-one fight. And the ones they had challenged were relatively weaker among the Mekk-Knights. Even counting Imduk, their odds of winning had been slim. Without You Zhi and Alisa, escaping safely would have been nothing more than wishful thinking. They could only have hoped the enemy would show mercy.

Ningirsu understood this as well, so he said, "I apologize for doubting the two of you before."

You Zhi waved a hand. "You were only doing your job. Besides, it was just suspicion. There's nothing to apologize for."

Alisa said impatiently, "Instead of standing around chatting, why don't you hurry up and finish off the remaining enemy? End this battle."

At that moment, Magician's Valkyria had successfully defeated Mekk-Knight Green Horizon through attribute advantage. After absorbing its spiritual power, she even gained two levels in a row. However, Mekk-Knight Yellow Star was still resisting stubbornly.

You Zhi said, "Everyone meant well by leaving the chance to end the battle to your Pokémon."

Alisa replied with a stiff face, "I don't need that kind of kindness."

Since that was the case, no one held back. They combined their attacks and blew up the last Mekk-Knight into parts that scattered across the sky.

Watching the rain of metal fall from above, Auram sighed. "It's finally over. Everyone can live freely under the sun now, without fearing that Krawlers will attack someday."

Ningirsu and Eve felt the same way.

But at that moment, the remains of the seven Mekk-Knights reacted.

Omni Mekk-Knight

Silent Magician was the first to notice something strange. With her talent raised to Berserk Rank, her perception of spiritual power had reached a whole new level. Though she could not speak, that did not stop her from firing a Shadow Ball as a warning.

The pitch-black Shadow Ball struck the wreckage of Mekk-Knight Green Horizon and triggered a massive explosion.

"What was that? Are there more enemies hiding somewhere?"

"Didn't they say there were only seven Mekk-Knights?"

Once alerted, everyone immediately noticed the abnormal spiritual fluctuations. But before they could act, seven beams of light shot into the sky from the Mekk-Knights' remains, gathering in midair and combining into a new individual.

[Star-Scar Mekk-Knight (3 Links [↙][↓][↘]) LIGHT attribute]

[Species: Steel-type]

[Level: 54]

[Attack: 3000 (4200)]

[Cyberse, Effect: ① If there are no other cards in the same column as this card, this card can attack directly; ② If there are no monsters in the zones this card points to while it is in the Extra Monster Zone, this card cannot be destroyed by effects and cannot be targeted by the opponent's effects; ③: omitted]

You Zhi said grimly, "I was careless. Because there were seven of them, I never treated them like a BOSS."

Otherwise, he would definitely have guarded against a likely second form. The enemy would never have been allowed to transform so peacefully.

Ningirsu looked at Liss and complained, "Why didn't you warn us beforehand?"

"I-I didn't know it had such a function either. No one has ever defeated all the Mekk-Knights before," Liss said in a panic.

Auram asked, "What do we do now? Should we join forces and destroy it?"

Ningirsu snapped, "Join what forces? Everyone's physical strength and spiritual power are nearly exhausted. You Zhi's and Alisa's Pokémon have almost all lost their ability to fight as well. Meanwhile, its spiritual power is so strong—far beyond the previous Mekk-Knights. We are no match for it."

Eve agreed, "Everyone is exhausted. Let's retreat first. It's regrettable that we couldn't destroy the Mekk-Knights, but now that we know this secret, we'll be prepared next time."

Everyone looked worn out. The only ones still full of energy were Imduk and You Zhi. But after seeing the Cheat Appraisal description, You Zhi guessed the opponent most likely had a piercing trait. Even if he entered the battle himself, he would not be a match for it.

If he took a 4200-power attack that ignored defense head-on, even the third stage of Strength-Weakness Mimicry might only leave him barely alive.

Thus, everyone quickly reached a consensus. They had to retreat. There was no other choice!

However, even if they all agreed to retreat, that depended on whether the enemy agreed.

The Star-Scar Mekk-Knight floating in midair began to glow, and the intense fluctuations of spiritual power issued a high-energy warning to everyone.

The next moment, attacks from seven different species erupted from Star-Scar Mekk-Knight. Its cape fired Vacuum Waves, the ring around its waist unleashed Psychic, the giant axe on its chest spewed Fire Blast, the armor on its arms invoked Earth Power, ten prisms fired Thunderbolt, the twin blades in its hands slashed out Air Cutter, and the staff serving as its tail summoned leaves into a howling Storm.

This all-around, dead-angle-free assault was impossible to evade. Material Dragon took the brunt of it and exploded on the spot. The Six-Star spiritual backlash surged back, making Alisa's head buzz. Splitting pain tore through her skull, her blood and energy churned violently, and she nearly fainted on the spot.

"Find cover!" You Zhi shouted.

He directly scooped up the immobilized Alisa and hid behind a huge gauntlet-shaped pillar. The others came to their senses and hurriedly found cover as well.

Among them, only Silent Magician did not dodge, yet no attacks fell upon her. This was not luck. It was thanks to Magician's Valkyria's ability—while Magician's Valkyria was on the field, other Spellcaster Pokémon could not be targeted for attacks.

The unharmed Silent Magician raised her staff and fired Psybeam at Star-Scar Mekk-Knight, but its body vanished into thin air, causing the attack to miss.

"Teleport!"

You Zhi immediately realized what made this Omni Mekk-Knight so troublesome. Its level and stats were secondary. The key was that it could use all the techniques of the previous seven Mekk-Knights.

The next moment, Star-Scar Mekk-Knight appeared before Eve. Before she could resist, it used Confusion to restrain her and summoned vines to bind her tightly.

"Let go of my sister!"

Ningirsu roared and thrust his spear at the enemy's head.

Star-Scar Mekk-Knight swung its twin blades to block the spear shaft. At the same time, the prisms on its back flashed, and surging electricity flowed along both their weapons. Ningirsu's body went numb, leaving him unable to move. He dropped helplessly to his knees.

"Let Eve go!"

Auram and Imduk charged over right after him, but Star-Scar Mekk-Knight merely swung one armored arm. The surrounding earth suddenly rose up, blocking the path of man and dragon.

By the time Auram and Imduk broke through the stone wall, both the enemy and Eve had vanished. They hurriedly split up to search.

"D-Damn it!"

Ningirsu braced himself on his spear and tried to get up to chase after them, but his body was still numb. He had only risen halfway before collapsing again.

Auram, Imduk, and Liss searched the surrounding area, but unfortunately found nothing.

You Zhi helped Alisa over to the anxious, helpless group and said, "Everyone, calm down first."

Ningirsu said furiously, "Eve was taken by the enemy! Her life could be in danger at any moment! How can we possibly calm down at a time like this?"

Auram added, "We have to find Eve as quickly as possible."

"If you can't calm down, then I'll calm you down for you. Think about it. If it intended to harm Eve, it could have killed her directly just now. Why did it have to capture her and take her away? That proves it wants something else. Eve should be safe for now."

If the enemies had been a group of bandits, perhaps they would have needed to worry about things like her chastity. But they were merely mechanical lifeforms. They had no such needs at all.

"What could it want?"

"Eve is your sister and childhood friend. If there's something on her worth the Mekk-Knights' coveting, you two should know better than an outsider like me."

Ningirsu and Auram exchanged a glance. Both had their guesses, but neither spoke them aloud.

"Even so, we don't have time to waste. We must rescue her as soon as possible."

Ningirsu endured the numbness and barely forced himself to stand.

You Zhi said unhurriedly, "Indeed, we don't have time to waste. There are three things we need to do right now: rest and recover our spiritual power as quickly as possible, find the Mekk-Knights' lair, and gather Star Power to strengthen ourselves. With your intelligence, you should understand that this is the most efficient rescue plan."

"...You're right."

If it had not been his sister who was taken, Ningirsu would have thought of these things himself. Now that someone had pointed them out, he immediately understood that this was the correct approach. He could only force himself to calm down.

"How are we supposed to find the Mekk-Knights' lair? We can't just wander around and rely on luck, can we?"

"Well... I think I might know where the Mekk-Knights' base is." Liss spoke hesitantly. "I can't guarantee that it's completely accurate, but based on the traces of spiritual power they left behind, I can roughly pinpoint the direction. That is, unless they deliberately deceived us."

Resonance Between Evil Hearts

Although Liss herself was not very confident, they had no better choice at the moment. They could only treat a dead horse as if it were alive.

However, after Ningirsu and Auram learned the location, neither clamored to leave immediately to rescue her. Having calmed down, they both understood that You Zhi's earlier advice was the right course of action.

In their current state, if they charged into the enemy's lair, were they worried that Eve would feel lonely as a hostage by herself?

That night, everyone simply found a clean patch of ground nearby and rested.

Alisa was unfortunate enough to come down with a high fever. It was not only due to the backlash from Six-Star spiritual power, but also the accumulated fatigue from traveling these past days. The long battle during the day had left her physically and mentally exhausted.

If Eve had still been there, caring for someone would naturally have suited her best. But she had been kidnapped, while Auram and Ningirsu felt it would be inappropriate for them. Thus, the task fell to You Zhi... or rather, his Pokémon.

Silent Magician fetched a bucket of water from a nearby river and helped wipe down Alisa's body. She also cooked a pot of soup, tore the dry rations that looked like steamed buns into pieces, added them to the soup, and made a mush for Alisa to eat.

She had long since become very skilled at caring for people.

You Zhi was not about to force himself to do something he was bad at. It was not as if he were some lecherous pervert who wanted to trigger an ambiguous encounter and take advantage of a girl in the wilderness. Had he never touched a woman in his previous life or something?

As a qualified Trainer, the most appropriate thing to do at a time like this was naturally to show consideration for his subordinates. So, he summoned all his Pokémon, comforted them properly, and then held a fair drawing of lots. In the end, Demon Lizard Yihao, the lucky winner, earned the privilege of standing watch through the night.

That night, the group of wounded and sick people silently licked their wounds, filling the camp with the air of a defeated army.

You Zhi was completely unaffected by that atmosphere. He practiced Strength-Weakness Mimicry without a care in the world. The following morning, just as he was about to return the diligent Demon Lizard Yihao, who had stood guard all night, to its Pokémon Card, it indicated that it had something to say.

"His~ hiss... hiss!"

"I have absolutely no idea what you're saying."

You Zhi quickly summoned Gagaga Girl to serve as a translator.

"It... it means... that Fairy-type named Liss... has... has an Evil Heart... It can sense it."

"Evil Heart?" You Zhi stroked his chin, a playful smile appearing on his face. "Now this is getting interesting."

He was not one of those characters in melodramatic films and television shows whose intelligence was forcibly lowered to push the plot forward—characters who received clues but still tried to fool the audience with lines like, Could I have seen it wrong? or Maybe it was just my imagination.

Since Demon Lizard Yihao sensed that Liss had an Evil Heart, then she definitely had a problem. What else could it be?

Could he possibly trust an outsider while questioning the abilities of his own subordinate?

Besides, Demon Lizard Yihao's possession of an Evil Heart had been jointly confirmed by the Cheat Appraisal and Heavenly Might Realm Coiled Dragon. Though You Zhi's special training had improved its control, so it was no longer manipulated by its evil heart, sensing the existence of another of its kind was entirely reasonable.

"Looks like I was trapped by the conventional mindset of a hero fighting a demon king. I subconsciously assumed Liss was an explanatory NPC meant to guide the protagonist. But now, it seems possible that she's the villain—or even the final BOSS."

Previously, You Zhi had treated Liss as a positive character and instinctively trusted her. Now that suspicion had arisen, looking back at her words and actions immediately revealed the hidden dangers.

Had Liss tampered with anything when she distributed Star Power among the protagonist group?

Imduk had absorbed less than a third of the Star Power in the Star Armor. Had the remaining Star Power truly been wasted, or had she absorbed it herself?

She claimed that the Mekk-Knights had framed her and sealed her away. If she was the villain, wouldn't that make the Mekk-Knights the righteous side?

Judging from the Mekk-Knights' actions, aside from ordering Krawlers to destroy human villages and buildings, they did not seem to have done anything utterly inhumane or unforgivable. Did they have their own reasons?

"The story has suddenly become interesting. I originally thought this was another tired old tale of a hero overthrowing a demon king's rule. But now, there seems to be quite a bit of hidden plot worth digging into."

You Zhi returned Demon Lizard Yihao and Gagaga Girl, then acted as if nothing had happened. After meeting up with the others, he set off with them.

Expose Liss?

Leaving aside the fact that he had no evidence at all, only Demon Lizard Yihao's testimony, they still needed Liss to lead them to the Mekk-Knights' lair.

He trusted his own subordinate, but that did not mean others would. Even if he produced evidence, Ningirsu and Auram might choose to protect her in order to recover Eve.

Most importantly, it would be far too boring.

Even when playing a single-player game with cheats, You Zhi was the kind of person who tried his best to limit the extent of the modifications and preserve the gameplay.

Compared with the result, he enjoyed the process more. How could he clear the game before the plot even reached its climax? If he were the player, he would definitely curse his head off.

"Wouldn't it be too tiring to carry me like this? How about summoning a Pokémon to carry me instead?"