Bab 23: Oka’s Rage!

"Well, that's how it is," he said in a casual tone that seemed out of place given the current situation. Yet, an absolute confidence could be sensed beneath it. He seemed to imply that an ordeal of this level did not even count for much.

"If there were any openings for me now—"

"You're full of openings," Shirona interrupted.

The fleshy monster fired a beam of light. Shirona half-closed her eyes. That attack, too, would completely ignore the suit's protection. A direct hit would mean the end.

But Oka continued advancing. The beam reached his fist.

"You see, even though I look like this, back in my student days..."

He deflected the attack as easily as swatting a fly. It did not penetrate. His large, black hand remained unscathed.

Every crevice of the suit began to glow. A quiet humming sound could be heard from his shoulders and arms.

The stone statues simultaneously charged at him. Surrounding Oka as he advanced, they leaped in unison.

Oka's arms rotated.

"Played pinpon!" he shouted.

The individuals he struck instantly burst apart. Not by the X-Gun or a blade, but simply by the force of his punches, most of their bodies were smashed. Grabbing the remaining head of one, Oka swung his arm.

The monster evaded the thrown statue. Then, with numerous arms at the ready, it charged at him.

Oka easily fended off the abnormally dense onslaught of attacks. Despite his massive fists and arms, his movements were agile. Constantly shifting positions, he toyed with the monster.

Light gathered from the multiple faces and fingertips. The numerous beams fired were aimed at Oka's mask.

Using his arms as a shield, he withstood them all. Then, he cleanly rotated his elbow. "Let me tell you…" he said, pausing.

In an instant, the monster was split into three pieces. The blade attached to his elbow gleamed.

Oka kicked away one of the falling chunks of flesh and slammed the rest to the ground with his hands.

"I practiced karate... through correspondence courses, you see."

Holes in his palms emitted a blinding light. From there, numerous energy bullets were fired, mercilessly destroying the rolling flesh. The stone ground became riddled with holes. Shirona had to shield her face from the flying debris.

It happened in the blink of an eye. The undoubtedly strongest alien they had faced, one they did not know how to overcome, now lay in a pitiful state.

However, Shirona could not feel relieved yet. "It's not over!" she shouted.

A black palm spread before her. Feeling a considerable impact, Shirona belatedly realized she had been thrown aside.

She was unharmed. Togekiss hurriedly flew over, but she signaled that no treatment was needed.

After pushing her away, Oka found himself surrounded by the stone statues once more. A short distance away, the monster was rising again.

Indeed, the problem remained unresolved. No matter how much they destroyed it, it would regenerate. Even Oka could not fight forever. That special suit likely had its limits as well.

"So you're the boss, huh? Alright, let's finish this game quickly," Oka said, raising his hand toward the mask's face.

However, the muzzle was not aimed at the monster. With his other hand, he destroyed the approaching stone statues.

He fired another volley of energy bullets.

The monster clearly exhibited a change. Not a physical transformation like when it separated from the stone statues, but an expression of anguish on all its faces. It seemed greatly disturbed.

"Why..." it muttered.

As Oka demolished the hall where the aliens had been stationed, he spoke.

"You guys are pretty easy to read. You didn't want to fight with that thing behind you, did you? With that many heads, did you just become stupid?"

A faint light scattered. The monster cried out and ran, but Oka had already destroyed all the pillars of the hall. Collapse began instantly, debris piling up. Simultaneously, all the light burst forth from the gaps, rising into the sky and fading away.

The stone statues no longer regenerated. The severed torsos cut by Oka did not heal.

Shirona finally understood as well. Apparently, that building had been the source of the extraordinary regeneration. Indeed, the beams of light that enabled it seemed to have come from the northwest as well. The dwelling place of the being commanding these aliens must have been strategically crucial.

The monster let out a death rattle.

Oka had punched a large hole in its abdomen, and it fell forward. "How about that?" he said.

One of the faces emerged from its body. At an astonishing speed, it circled behind Oka, opening its large mouth to devour his mask.

"Quite common. I'm aware of that," he calmly stated.

He merely shifted his elbow backward. Yet the blade pierced the center of the head.

For a moment, Shirona considered warning him.

The monster was no longer a single entity. Each protruding face had separated, accompanied by a slender body. In total, there were nine of them. Sprouting numerous arms, they sought to overwhelm Oka.

"Hmm, something like this," he murmured.

Oka seemed to have given up on defending against everything. Instead, he focused on completely destroying the individuals clinging to him. Swinging both fists, he blew apart the encirclement.

However, the situation might not have changed. The destroyed individuals immediately regenerated. They should no longer have that power, yet they were an exception, unlike the other lifeless stone statues.

Though his expression was unclear, Shirona could tell Oka remained calm.

"I'm familiar with this pattern too. Saw it in a manga. A ripoff?" he remarked as he grabbed four heads simultaneously.

Gripping them tightly, he fired bullets from the palms of his hands. The flesh gradually chipped away, eventually revealing red spherical objects. Oka crushed them without hesitation.

The ensuing screams were incomparable to those from before, as if the earlier ones had been an act. The separated flesh withered, emitting smoke.

After that, it did not take much time. Having fully grasped the apparent cores within each individual, Oka disposed of them without much difficulty. As Shirona watched, she recalled his words.

What did he mean by "severe"? He had said it would be difficult to face her Pokémon simultaneously. Yet, that was a lie. Perhaps only by including Lucario and Garchomp could they finally stand a chance against him. Despite sensing his lack of composure, she made that judgment.

The monster let out its final cry. But it was not directed at Oka.

"G-Give me your guts!"

One of the fragments escaped, sprouting a mouth. Shirona had completely let her guard down, never expecting it to target her from such a distance. As she tried to instruct Togekiss, she noticed a shadow rushing from the side.

It was likely Muroya or Kuwabara, having picked up a weapon.

Despite having one leg almost non-functional, Kurono had made his way here from outside the gate. With all his might, he thrust the blade into the creature attempting to devour Shirona.

The severed head flew into the air. Oka unerringly shot it down, destroying the core within, killing the last one.

Kurono fell forward from the momentum of his swing, the sword flying from his grip. Without confirming it, Shirona rushed to check on him.

"Told you it would turn out this way," Oka said as he emerged from his special suit, pointing at the bloodied Milotic.

Shirona turned her face, still bearing traces of blood, towards him.

"It's your fault. You failed to utilize the potential of your tools. How many more sacrifices will it take for you to learn?"

She clenched her teeth in silence. He was right. She was still inadequate in responding to such situations. It had always been her Pokémon fighting the battles. This was not limited to their time in this world, but had been the case all along. How many had she hurt in her quest to become the Champion, and to maintain that status?

Yet now, she was filled with a new resolve. Ultimately, her desire remained unchanged.

She closed Milotic's lifeless eyes. No matter how long it took, she was determined to bring back all the family members she had lost.

"U-Uh..." she murmured, noticing the tip of Kurono's foot beginning to dematerialize. Soon, they too would follow. The battle was over. The aliens here had been wiped out this time. With a hopeless expression, Kurono wept.

"What am I supposed to do...? It's impossible, I can't... Kato, damn it. Why am I the only one..."

Shirona understood his despair. Of course, she could not fully empathize with his feelings, but she had a sense of them. He likely did not know yet.

She placed her hand on his shuddering shoulder. Feeling her touch, Kurono slightly raised his head.

"Listen," Shirona said firmly.

"If you score a hundred points, choices become available. One of them is revival. I've already revived someone who had died after being caught up in Gantz. I witnessed it with my own eyes. From now on, that's my goal. My family died too. So I'll bring them back. If you have someone like that, work towards it. I'll do the same."

As Kurono's body dematerialized up to his neck, his eyes gradually widened. His expression changed, light entering the darkness he had been in.

"Over and over again..."

"Yes, that's right."

"I'll do it. Everyone, Kato, Kishimoto, all of them. I'll bring them back."

"Let's accomplish it together."

"Thank you. Your name..."

Shirona realized it was futile to tell him. His ears had already vanished. Then, locking eyes with her one last time, Kurono was transported away, his resolve deeply inspiring Shirona. Regardless of the path he would take from here, she wished his desire would be fulfilled.

The others who had gone south were approaching. Shirona felt she could not face her Pokémon. Yet they came straight towards her, tearfully comforting her and gently caressing her body as Milotic lay nearby.

After returning all her Pokémon except Milotic to their balls, the transportation began. Until the very end, Shirona gazed skyward, contemplating what she must do next.

A white, empty world. The interval. This was but a fleeting moment.

"What did you want?" she asked.

Having formed a general idea, she spoke as Dialga and Palkia silently observed her from above.

She no longer sensed any terror from them. She could intuit that they meant no harm. Gantz's display of their names was puzzling, their precise intentions unclear. Yet, she had also considered a possibility.

"About the future?"

Dialga did not react, but it was enough for Shirona.

"Soon, I'll score a hundred points. I'll have to fight powerful aliens. You've been showing me the outcome of that all along."

That was the truth behind her nightmares. Considering Dialga's power, showing someone the future was possible. She thought it carried a strong warning – that if nothing changed, they would meet the same end.

"But did it have any meaning? Why did you send us to the past? Does that man, Kurono, have some connection?"

As before, there was no answer. But at least she understood it would serve a purpose.

Finally, she wanted to know the reason she had come to that world in the first place. She now grasped that these two had some involvement.

However, time seemed to be running out.

After Palkia let out a small cry, Shirona's vision shifted. She found herself in the game usual room.

"This one took quite a while."

"It was a packed one, alright."

Shirona confirmed that none of her team members were missing. The critically injured Nakayama was also present, leaning against the wall and watching Gantz. Their eyes met briefly before she averted her gaze. Everyone seemed unharmed. Except for a single casualty.