As Sato issued his ands, he was forced to flee in disarray.

  The underground tunnels were Sandssh's domain, and at this moment, his left arm was pletely disfigured, blood running down his arm and dripping onto the ground.

  The charging Arbok was once again intercepted by Gastly, and though the repeated Shadow Balls failed to cause signifit damage, Curse activated once more!

  Finally, Zorua, who had been lurking in the shadows all this time, struck.

  A Dark Pulse, far strohan before, smashed into the Green-rank assassin, sending him flying!

  "Scree—scree!"

  Sandssh parying to rush back to support its trainer, but Sato took advantage of the opening, closing in.

  With his dagger ed in Dark Energy, he plu deep into Sandssh's soft underbelly, flooding its body with corrosive energy!

  "Screeeee!"

  With the st of its strength, Sandssh swiped at Sato, sending him crashing away, but it was already doomed. Its body vulsed violently before colpsing to the ground.

  "Cough… Gastly, use Sucker Punch! Zorua, Dark Pulse!"

  Despite his caved-i and broken arm, Sato remained calm, issuing ainst the barely-standing Arbok.

  Gastly, havily leveled up, had learned Sucker Punch, the perfect move to ter Arbok's final attack.

  "Kehehe!"

  Gastly struck first, throwing Arbok off bance just long enough.

  Curse activated.

  Dark Pulse followed immediately.

  Arbok's body twitched before it colpsed food.

  "Cough… Gastly, finish it off!"

  "Kehehe!"

  Fetting its fear of the 'cursed hand,' Gastly gleefully absorbed its soul.

  "Zor…"

  Zorua whined softly, lig the wounds on Sato's bloodied arm.

  His injuries were severe—his chest was dented, his left arm was broken—but now that his enemies were eliminated, he had plenty of time to recover.

  Just as he had healed Zorua before, Sato now treated himself in the same manner.

  Dark Energy pulsated violently, triggering rapid cell regeion.

  Before long, his arm had returo normal, and only a faint red mark remained where his wounds had been.

  Even his caved-i had gradually healed, leaving no visible damage. But the pain was unbearable—even for someone professionally traihe ago him pale and trembling.

  The rapid healing process ed an immense amount of energy, and the moment Sato stopped eling Dark Energy, a ferocious hunger overwhelmed him.

  For a brief, irrational moment, he thought even Arbok's corpse looked appetizing.

  ging to his st shred of sanity, Sato ripped open his backpack, stuffing high-energy rations into his mouth, dev them relentlessly.

  Just as he finished, Gastly approached. Its glowing red eyes were filled with excitement, but also a dangerous, almost feral gleam.

  The dense Ghost-type energy in Gastly's body agitated Sato's Dark Energy, f him tain his posure.

  Wiping the leftover food from his lips, he extended his right hand, grabbing Gastly without hesitation.

  Dark Energy erupted once more.

  "Kehehe!"

  This time, Gastly had devoured four souls—the Green-rank assassin, Misdreavus, Sandssh, and Arbok—each strohan the Houndoom it had absorbed before.

  Misdreavus, being of the same typing, acted like a high-tier elixir fastly, but ing so much power at once had left it pletely unstable.

  Sato watched silently as Gastly shrieked in agony. It had been too greedy, thinking that with Dark Energy purification, there were no limits.

  Sato showed no mercy.

  If Gastly wao absorb power recklessly, then it had to ehe pain that came with it. The floating, unabsorbed energy, as well as the chaotic spiritual remains, were brutally purged by Dark Energy.

  "Hummm!"

  A brilliant glow enveloped Gastly—its body morphing as it evolved.

  With the massive influx of spiritual energy, Gastly had finally reached the threshold for evolution.

  Had Sato not intervened, it might have transformed into a true, untrolble specter.

  "Kehehe!"

  Gastly was gone—repced by a Haunter.

  Its head and hands now floated separately, and the surrounding gaseous mist had vanished.

  It could no longer release Poison-type moves through its body, but its detached cws gave it greater attack flexibility—meaning Sato o adjust its training.

  "Keeeh…"

  Haunter let out a nervous sound.

  Despite evolving, its fear of Sato had only deepened. Dark Energy, after all, was one of the few forces that directly tered Ghost-types.

  The purification process had been just as painful as Sato's own healing.

  Sato sighed internally.

  He had given Haunter permission to e souls, and the method had indeed worked. But because of that, his bond with it had bee even harder to nurture.

  Haunter feared the power inside him, and Sato feared that one day Haunter would lose trol.

  "From now on, I o strictly regute Haunter's soul absorption. Unless absolutely necessary, it should grow at a steady pace."

  As he thought this, Sato stood up to the battlefield.

  But wheuroward the er of the cave, he saw a three-meter-tall Tyranitar standing silently—staring at him coldly.

  "When did it get here?"

  Sato's mind froze.

  In his past life, he had e to this cave not as a trial partit, but as a Red-rank assassin assigo observe. At that time, Tyranitar had been on the verge of death.

  Not from battle, but from natural causes—its lifespan had simply reached its end.

  But now, a full year before that moment, it was still alive? Something was wrong.

  If Tyranitar had died of old age, then within a single year, its physical dition should not have deteriorated this much. Tyranitar's lifespan was on par with Dragon-types—it shouldn't be dying so soon.

  Dark Energy stirred within him.

  Fag Tyranitar, an overwhelming sense of excitement and sorrow flooded his body. It was like a dying king standing on the edge of its ruined kingdom, knowing its end was near—but refusing to abandon its throne.

  That's why it hadn't attacked.

  Tyranitar was territorial by nature, yet it had allowed Sato to cause such havo its domain—choosing only to observe?

  It was a king at its twilight.

  Sato firmed his suspis.

  Raising a hand, he signaled Haunter and Zorua to stay put while he stepped forward.

  Each step was firm—unwavering.

  Larvitar, perched on Tyranitar's shoulder, gazed at him silently, its red eyes unblinking.

  Tyranitar's massive presence aloed an oppressive force, even in its weakeate.

  Stopping two meters away, Sato could see the tless scars across its armor, testaments of its past battles.

  "ROAR!"

  A thunderous bellow shook the cave. Fierce, a pressure pressed against Sato, winds of sand and stone whipping at his body.

  Zorua tensed in arm, but obeyed the order to stay put.

  Sato didn't step back.

  Lifting his right hand, he opened his palm—Dark Energy surging forth.

  At the same time, Tyranitar's body was shrouded in bergy.

  A silent standoff.

  The third ability of Dark Energy—Soul e.