Massive chunks of rock peeled away from the mountain's surface, each collapse accompanied by a dull roar and billowing clouds of dust.
Halfway up the mountain, a huge crack spread at a visible speed, extending from the ridge deep into the mountain's interior like a savage scar.
The rock faces on either side of the fissure constantly shifted and ground against each other, producing piercing creaks that cut through the night and could be heard clearly even from the defensive line several kilometers away.
"Almost..." Wu Shan muttered, his right hand unconsciously tightening around the Poké Ball at his waist.
The moment his words fell, a deafening blast erupted from the direction of Mt. Moon!
"BOOM!!!"
Hearing that thunderous crash, as though the earth itself were roaring, Wu Shan's pupils suddenly contracted.
At the summit of that secondary peak, the massive protruding rock formation finally failed to withstand gravity's pull amid the violent shaking. It broke away from the mountain and fell!
The slab of rock was half the size of a football field, its weight impossible to estimate. It plunged straight down from several hundred meters above, carrying howling winds and destructive force as it smashed toward the scree field at the mountain's base.
"BAM—!!!"
The instant the rock mass struck the ground, the earth shook violently. The tremor traveled from Mt. Moon across several kilometers, clearly reaching the feet of everyone on the defensive line.
Dust surged upward like a mushroom cloud, blotting out a vast stretch of the night sky.
Wu Shan stood atop a raised platform behind the defensive line, his gaze fixed on the rapidly expanding cloud of dust.
His brows were tightly furrowed, the wrinkles on his face appearing especially deep beneath the moonlight.
Just then, the images transmitted through Telepathy by the Lunatone