Chapter 445: Anthem of Despair! The Fist of the Rage Phantom!
Annihilape crossed its arms in a tight guard, meeting Kleavor's Aerial Ace
head-on.
THOOM! CRACK-SHATTER!
The first true collision between the two fighters sent a shockwave through the
summit. The ground beneath Annihilape's feet disintegrated, forming a spiderweb
of deep fissures. Despite its weight, the monkey's arms trembled violently; for
a split second, it felt as though it were trying to stop a hundred-ton freight
train with its bare hands.
The sheer physical pressure acted as a catalyst, sparking a fresh wildfire of
rage in the phantom's heart.
"KLEAAAAA!"
A look of genuine surprise flickered across Kleavor's face, quickly followed by
a spark of predatory curiosity. It was immensely proud of its stone axes—weapons
that had been tempered through a thousand battles. The blades were covered in
nicks and scars, but every chip in the stone only made the edges more jagged and
lethal.
In this era, very few creatures could tank a direct, Sharpness-boosted strike
from Kleavor and keep their limbs attached. Seeing Annihilape hold its ground
wasn't just impressive; it was exhilarating. The Bug-type's battle spirit
flared, its eyes burning with a renewed intensity.
Annihilape, however, didn't care about the respect of a warrior. As it let out a
guttural roar, its leg muscles bunched and snapped straight. Funneling its rage
into raw kinetic output, it shoved upward, catching the massive stone axes with
a surging force that actually bucked Kleavor backward.
Kleavor skidded back two steps, a sharp, clicking laugh escaping its throat. It
looked at Annihilape with an expression of pure amusement—as if it had just
found a particularly entertaining toy.
To Annihilape, that look was a death sentence. It didn't want "respect" or
"amusement." It wanted terror. It wanted this axe-wielding bug to look at it
with the same bone-deep horror as every other creature it had crushed into the
dirt.
Tactically speaking, Annihilape was at a disadvantage. Kleavor's typing and
level gap (99 vs. 86) gave the Champion the upper hand in a standard trade. But
Annihilape wasn't a standard Pokémon.
Kenji never worried about "fair trades" when it came to his monkey.
Over-calculating only served to restrict Annihilape's greatest weapon: its
insanity. His strategy for this match was simple: Total War.
"Let's go! Annihilape! Phantom Force!"
"ANN-HI!"
The ghostly white mane on the monkey's head flared like a solar prominence. With
a violent blur, it dived into the shadows of the arena, vanishing from the
physical world.
"Kleavor! Set the stage with Stone Axe!" Zhurong Yun commanded.
Kleavor scanned the arena. It didn't need to see its opponent to execute its
orders. It raised its axes, and a dense, earthy energy began to coalesce. A
thick layer of jagged, obsidian-like shards materialized over the stone blades.
Stone Axe—Kleavor's signature move. It was essentially Stealth Rock: Apex
Edition. Not only did the strike deal massive damage, but the shards generated
by the impact would remain on the field, hovering in the air like a localized
asteroid belt to shred any opponent that dared to move.
BANG!
Kleavor slammed its axes together in the center of the field. The impact didn't
hit a target, but it served its purpose. Hundreds of razor-sharp stone fragments
exploded outward, floating in the low-altitude airspace of the arena.
Each shard carried the piercing power of a high-caliber bullet. Against a
Champion-tier Pokémon, one or two might be a nuisance, but the sheer volume was
the threat.
Kenji frowned. This was a classic "Checkmate" setup. Annihilape was hiding in
the Phantom Force dimension, but the moment it emerged to strike, it would be
shredded by the floating shards.
Zhurong Yun didn't stop there. "Again! Stone Axe!"
"KLEAAAA!"
Kleavor prepared to double the density of the trap. Kenji realized that if he
waited any longer, the arena would become a literal meat-grinder.
Now or never.
"BOOM!"
Annihilape erupted from the shadow directly beneath Kleavor's feet, its body
wreathed in violet ghostly energy.
Kleavor's reflexes were inhumanly sharp. Even though it was mid-animation, it
aborted the second Stone Axe to bring its blades down in a defensive arc.
THOOM!
The impact was heavy, but as Annihilape emerged, the surrounding stone shards
reacted like a triggered trap. Dozens of obsidian needles screamed toward the
monkey's exposed back and sides.
"Counter!" Kenji roared.
Annihilape didn't even try to dodge. It stood there, a manic, blood-red glint in
its eyes, and let the stones bury themselves in its hide.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
The pain was immense. Blood dripped from a dozen shallow wounds, and the Edge of
Night shield flickered as it absorbed the kinetic trauma. But Annihilape didn't
flinch. It channeled every ounce of that pain—every bullet-hit and
axe-clash—into its fist.
WHAM!
It delivered a counter-punch that hit with the force of a tectonic shift.
Kleavor was launched across the arena, its stone-armored chest cracking under
the pressure. It skidded across the floor, let out a pained hiss, and scrambled
back to its feet, its eyes now filled with a wary, new-found respect.
The "Sea of Stones" had nearly cost Annihilape its life, but it had also fully
primed the monkey's Rage.
In terms of raw aura, Annihilape had already surpassed Kleavor. Its fighting
style was a terrifying "All-In" gambit that unsettled the Champion's ace.
"Outrage! Fist of the Rage Phantom!"
"ANN-HIIIIIIII!"
The monkey lunged, its body now glowing with a viscous, crimson-black light. It
abandoned all defense, its fists moving in a blurred frenzy. Each strike was a
Rage Fist that had been stacked to its absolute limit by the previous shards.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The stone axes collided with the phantom fists. Every trade sent more shards
flying, but Annihilape simply walked through the debris, its Radiant
Bloodthirster glowing with a dark light as it siphoned the very life force of
the trades to stay standing.
Kleavor was forced back. It was being suppressed by a Pokémon thirteen levels
lower than itself. Its back hit the containment barrier, the psychic shield
humming as the axe-wielder was pinned by the monkey's relentless assault.
Screee—Zzzzt!
Kleavor's axes ground against the containment wall. It was trapped.
"Now! Sunder the Heavens!" Zhurong Yun shouted.
Kleavor shrieked, finding a final reserve of strength. It used its wings to leap
upward, dragging its axes along the barrier to create a shower of sparks. High
in the air, it held its axes toward the sky. Like a massive magnet, every single
stone shard remaining in the arena—hundreds of them—began to swirl and
accelerate, spiraling toward the axes.
They fused with the stone blades, turning the already massive axes into jagged,
mountain-sized slabs of obsidian.
This was a Master-tier strike. A move designed to end the world.
"Annihilape! Anthem of Despair! Fist of the World-Ender!"
Kenji's voice was a roar. He had forbidden this move because it required
Annihilape to surrender its soul entirely to its hatred.
The monkey's posture changed. Its arms dropped loosely to its sides. It went
perfectly still.
Then, a massive eruption of red steam exploded from its skin. The "red fog"
didn't dissipate; it swirled behind Annihilape, thickening into a physical
shape.
In seconds, a massive, spectral avatar of a Primeape—larger than a house and
glowing with a hellish, translucent light—manifested behind the Pokémon. It was
the Rage Phantom in its truest form.
The avatar raised its colossal, spectral fist, mimicking its master's movement.
The level 99 God-Cleaver descended. The level 86 Soul-Eater ascended.
"SHH-BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
♧♧♧
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