Water blasted apart as a blue humanoid aquatic creature with a long tail leaped out in a brilliant parabolic arc.

Kai took in a lungful of air before diving back into the ocean.

The moment his entire figure entered the water, his tongue tasting the salinity of the ocean, Kai's tail rippled furiously, and his webbed hands and legs flailed. Like a bullet, he shot towards the disappearing pillar of silver light in a straight line, ignoring the undulating silhouettes of small and large oceanic Pokemon alike.

He was in a race.

A race against time, and against the dozens of speedboats rushing in the same direction.

By now, all the townsmen knew that the Eon Pokemon had sacrificed themselves to save the Water City. So they were headed towards the pillar of light for the same purpose as that of Kai.

To collect the new Soul Dew.

Kai's instincts told him he must not let the Characters, no matter how inconsequential to the main storyline, touch the new Soul Dew. He had no way to be sure about it, but he could almost tell that if anyone other than a Contestant were to touch the Soul Dew, it wouldn't remain an Item anymore if it was one now.

For a moment, Kai had even deliberated upon killing all the pursuers.

But he had already killed quite a few people and Pokemon, and Meg's warning about the Mythical Pokemon's appearance still crawled like half-dead worms in his mind. He won't fuck things up. Not now when he was so close to having his hands on one of the most prized rewards of this Mission.

Well, most prized, if I were to ignore those absurd notifications, Kai snickered, kicking the water. Cosmic Authority? Outer One? How am I to make sense of them?

Kai was more skeptical about the sudden unannounced and unexpected notifications than glad about them.

There was nothing in those notifications that suggested an immediate benefit. Yet, he wasn't a fool to not realize what kind of abnormal and unrealistic gold he had struck. Though he knew nothing about the Cosmic Authority, he wasn't ignorant about the style of the Lore, as Kai had chanted words in that style before.

Hastur's epithets are in that style too, Kai recalled, a chilled shiver running down his spine. What kind of heaven-trampling thing I have stumbled onto?

First, it clearly stated he had got a new Stat.

Second, it was the Lore, mentioning three lines. Kai guessed they were related to him, though he couldn't make sense of the third line, no matter how he tossed it around in his head.

Then there was the Outer One, thinking of which sent Kai into a grave silence. The strange thing was its requirement and reward.

But the thing that made the least sense to him was the name of the Stat itself.

By now Kai had become quite knowledgeable about these things, and he knew that this new Stat, Cosmic Authority, was neither an Attribute nor a Title or Ability. Moreover, Meg had told him the names of an Item's possible grades.

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There were Seven, to be exact.

Common, Uncommon, Rare, Heroic, Legendary, Mythical, and... Cosmic.

Cosmic… Kai repeated the word like a chant, firing himself through the water. I hope it is what I think it is… Haha! Still, I must ask Meg about it. But if she knew about something like this, then she would have told me already, right?

Kai shook his head and put all the thoughts about the new Stat to the back of his mind. There was no point in being pleased about it if he didn't even know it was a good thing or bad.

In no time, a glance out of the waves told Kai that he had come to his destination.

The sky had turned almost bluish-orange as the first ray of sunlight came ripping apart the gloom left behind the pillar of silver light. He looked over his shoulder and couldn't see any speedboat. A smile crept upon his face, taking pride in the strength of his Golduck's blood essence.

Kai swam around the location, searching for the Soul Dew, but couldn't find anything.

Don't tell me it has sunk to the ocean's floor? The thought struck Kai like a hammer.

No matter how much he took pride in his newest Blood Essence, not once did he believe he could swim to the ocean's floor, and still survive to live another day. The pressure at the bottom of the ocean was no joke.

Despite his appearance, Kai was still a human, borrowing the power of a water-type Pokemon.

Like everything, this form too had its limits. Kai's face became ugly with every passing moment. For long he searched, but couldn't find a trace of the Soul Dew.

It was then he heard it.

A distant call.

Kai snapped his head up and saw a black dot against the blue background. His eyes widened.

The black dot looked round and was flashing rhythmically, the color of which seemed to spread across the visible spectrum.

It was the Soul Dew.

Kai's heart thumped wildly. His tail thrashed as he dived back into the ocean, and when he reached a depth of some dozens of meters, he doubled back. He kicked the water hard, and with a loud bang, shot out the ocean.

The moment he cleared off the high waves, his body changed. The blues on his body became black, and a dark, foul, tattered robe replaced his visage.

Dementor-Kai flew towards the Item of his dreams in a single, straight beeline.

As Kai got closer, rising hundreds of meters into the air, he could see a fist-sized ball glistening with thousands of different colors. He beamed, licking his lips.

There were no more effects or otherworldly sounds. Kai waited for nothing. His shriveled, skeletal hand reached for the jewel and grabbed it.

Suddenly, his eyes shone with multi-colored light.

Kai felt an illusion of leaving the planet and watching it from outside. The black space behind him tried to devour him, but then three imperceptible points of light came to revolve around him. After making two quick, but mysterious rounds, the three points of light rushed toward Kai and merged into him.

Kai's eyes snapped open.

The Soul Dew was still in his hands, but it wasn't shimmering with multi-colored light anymore. There was only one color that looked even more brilliant than the crown of the sun, rising above the horizon.

Yellow.

Nothing but pure yellow.

But Kai's eyes were planted on the Stats with such a dumbfounded look that he didn't even see this change. The Soul Dew almost fell out of his grip, his body shaking as if he had encountered something beyond extraordinary.

The strips of his tattered robes billowed noiselessly behind him.

And Kai's breath rattled as he read the Item's Stats again.

…

[

Item: Eon Soul Dew (Corrupt)

Grade: Rare (Growth)

Sub-Grade: Top-level

…