Chapter 063

Standing at the peak of a three-sided, fifty-floor tower with the Red and Blue Orbs in hand, Leon placed them into the grooves of a stone altar with a triangular back reminiscent of the horns that framed Rayquaza's head in its Mega-Evolved form. An emerald green light shot into the sky once the orbs were in place, producing a circular gap in the overcast sky overhead, but that was all that happened even after several minutes.

'Do they only appear on a specific day...?' Leon wondered. 'Or maybe it's because I slipped past all the Pokemon and challenges in the tower, so it didn't have time to prepare for my arrival...?'

With nothing better to do while he waited, Leon began setting up several banquet tables, filling them with some of the most delicious food he had stockpiled over the past few months. Erina rarely cooked the same meal twice, so he had saved himself plates of each, planning to try every single one once he had a proper body.

'Erina, huh...it's been a while since the two of us spoke in private...' noted Leon, simultaneously contemplating whether he had developed a thing for girls with golden hair as he could easily imagine himself going to town on the former Ojou-sama. His main squeezes were Mordred and Miu, and though they had only done it once, Leon still thought back to his evening with Cynthia whenever his mind wandered...

*SKREEOOOOOOOOONK*

Hearing a lengthy, high-pitched roar that reminded him of Godzilla from the Monsterverse movies, Leon gazed skyward to find a long, incredibly massive figure descending from the clouds. From what he remembered, Rayquaza was supposed to have a height of around 7m, but the creature before him, possessing an emerald-green, serpentine body with wedged, red-tipped fins resembling the guide wings of a missile, was easily three to four times larger as its red-rimmed mouth looked like it could unhinge its jaw and swallow Pokemon like Groudon and Kyogre whole, much like a giant green anaconda or a particularly massive python.

Hovering a few meters above the altar producing the pillar of green light, Rayquaza formed its serpentine body into a shape resembling an infinity symbol as it telepathically stated, 'I see you have acquired the Red and Blue Orbs. Tell me, what fate befell their keepers...?' in a surprisingly cute and feminine tone.

"..."

Recovering from his momentary shock, Leon explained, "They are with me as we speak, willfully assisting me with my ascent up the Tower."

'Show me,' said Rayquaza, quickly adding, 'You need not worry about their powers running rampant while I'm around.'

"Sure," replied Leon, retrieving the sapphire and ruby-colored Pokeballs containing Kyrie and her sister, Gianna, a name that roughly translated to Gracious Lord, similar to the former's Merciful Lord. As he released them, a palpable tension appeared in the atmosphere, but it was suppressed by Rayquaza as it, or, more accurately, she, asked, 'Tell me, Lords of the Sea and Land. What is your opinion of the one who stands before me...?'

Though he couldn't hear the duo's responses, as their thoughts were transmitted directly to Rayquaza's mind, Leon assumed they backed his claim as a telepathic, clearly amused laugh began to echo loudly within his mind.

'Interesting...!' exclaimed Rayquaza, lowering her head until it was close enough that Leon could have reached out and touched her snout as she asked, 'Did you truly take these two as your mates? How does that even work with such a small body...?'

"Resourcefulness and determination...?" replied Leon, provoking another fit of laughter from Rayquaza. Once done, she mused, 'I find you amusing, so I shall tell you something good. In the mountains to the south, there is a cave where a young star fell long ago. Locate that star, and if your bond with these two is true, your wish shall granted. Otherwise...'

Rising and backing away from the tower, Rayquaza flicked her tail like a whip, fracturing the space above the altar and causing a familiar vortex of blue energy to appear as she stated, 'The path forward is now open. May your ascent be as swift as my own...'

Without giving Leon a chance to respond, Rayquaza shot up into the sky with such extreme speed the clouds overhead burst apart, causing those across the Floor to do the same. In her wake, all that remained were clear blue skies, sapphire seas that shimmered with the light of the midday sun, and an expansive, picturesque horizon...

...

..

.

After cleaning up the untouched banquet he had prepared and spending a few minutes chatting with Kyrie, Gianna, and Latia about Rayquaza's 'star,' which he presumed to be Jirachi, Leon entered through the portal leading to the Sixth Floor, curious to see what awaited.

'Well, this is new...' Leon remarked, he and Latia finding themselves in the middle of what looked like a rainforest at first glance. However, there was little of the usual undergrowth that impeded exploration. Instead, much of the forest floor resembled a well-trodden mulch path, with most of the visible ground flora and fungi growing near the base of trees, within tight nooks, or close to large, moss-covered formations.

'Let's get a better view,' suggested Leon, prompting the invisible Latia to float straight up, high above the massive trees that dominate the forest to reveal what appeared to be an endless expanse of trees, only broken by a few colossal, snow-covered mountains that could humble Mt. Everest.

Noticing a fairly large, bright yellow outline appear among several smaller ones, Leon directed Latia toward the former. With her speed, it only took seconds to cover hundreds of meters, so it wasn't long before Leon got a glimpse of what the outline belonged to, giving him a pretty good idea of the Floor's theme as a beaked black creature with a pantherine physique, a thick tail covered in sharp spines, and muscular forearms adorned with lethal-looking bladed wings was currently snacking on a giant pig covered in moss.

'Nargacuga...' muttered Leon, recognizing the pantherine wyvern as one of the flagship monsters of the Monster Hunter series. Its existence also explained why the ground was largely clear and mulchy, as its body was easily fifteen, maybe even twenty meters in length. With such massive creatures constantly roaming about and patrolling their territories, smaller plants and fungi would be crushed underfoot.

'Let's try communicating with it,' said Leon. 'But make sure you're well out of range. These things are fast and can jump 'really' high and far...'

'Okay~!' replied Latia, rising high above the surrounding trees before using her telepathy to try and communicate with the Nargacuga. Unfortunately, though telepathy should have allowed it to understand her, irrespective of whether it could understand language, the Nargacuga's response was to tense and get into a pouncing posture, protecting its prey as it unleashed a loud, ear-piercing roar, eyes glowing red with fury. At the same time, the yellow outline around it became a deep crimson color, indicating its desire to kill.

'Well, at least I'll get to see what Mordred looks like in Nargacuga armor...' thought Leon, simultaneously instructing Latia to use Thunder Wave. He had 'really' gotten into Monster Hunter World and Rise in his previous life, spending hundreds of hours playing both, so he readily recalled that the Nargacuga's primary weakness was thunder and that it was vulnerable to Paralysis. More importantly, Thunder Wave was very fast, making it nearly impossible to dodge if you didn't know it was coming.

"Kyoooooooooo~!"

Obeying Leon's instructions, Latia's body shimmered with an aura of blue electricity as she directed several fast-moving strands at the Nargacuga. It instinctively leaped and attempted to spin around in the air the moment it heard her voice, but the Thunder Wave reached it much quicker, causing it to effectively ragdoll in the air before crashing heavily to the ground, its body crackling with electricity.

Knowing the Paralysis wouldn't last, Leon commanded, 'Use Thunder, and keep hitting it until I say stop.'

'Right...!' replied Latia, outwardly exclaiming, "Kyuuuuuu~!' as she emitted thick bands of golden electricity that arced and converged toward the sky above the Nargacuga rather than at it. Then, in one massive bolt, nearly a meter in diameter, the accumulated electricity struck the Nargacuge in an instant, filling the air with the smell of ozone and creating a large plume of dirt and debris from the impact.

"Kyuuuuuuuuuuuu~!"

Without waiting for the debris to clear, Latia began preparing a second, even more powerful Thunder attack, consuming nearly a tenth of her total Mana as she felt the previous one had only done surface-level damage to the Nargacuga's body.

Demonstrating its amazing adaptability, the Nargacuga leaped up through the debris cloud, swiping frenziedly with its bladed wings. Unfortunately, while it had a horizontal leap of more than 200m, its vertical leap was less than fifty. Latia was also much quicker and able to levitate, so she simply moved up a bit, well out of its range as the second Thunder impacted the Nargacuga mid-air, sending it crashing into one of the thick, exceptionally durable trees in the surroundings.

With several fractured ribs and electricity coursing through its body, even with its compounding resistance, the Nargacuga was slow to recover from its collision with the tree. As a result, it barely got to its feet when Leon, in his mechanical body and lion-themed armor, descended from above with a two-handed halberd bearing a large axe blade and a long, partisan-like speartip, making it suitable for both piercing and hacking.

Though his weapon found purchase on the Nargacuga's neck, causing it to crash back into the ground and cry out in pain, Leon was surprised as the axe of his halberd basically phased through it, leaving a ghostly blue and crimson-tinged aura in its wake. He felt the unmistakable sensation of cutting through something, but instead of being decapitated, a few of the

Nargacuga's scales popped off, exposing bloody patches in places Leon hadn't even struck.

'Is damage spread out across its body...?' Leon wondered, backstepping in an attempt to get some distance, but the Nargacuga apparently chose that moment to get its second wind, lunging toward him with a maw full of sharp, off-white canines and a beaked snout lined with a serrated, razor-sharp cutting edge.

'I should run to raise my Agility more...' thought Leon, unbothered by the fact the Nargacuga had his armored body in its mouth and was thrashing from side to side as he had already separated from it.

"Kyooooooo~!"

Though she didn't have Leon instructing her anymore, Latia remembered his previous commands and struck the Nargacuga with another Thunder Wave. The attack landed without issue, but the places the bands struck glowed the same bluish-red color as when Leon attempted to decapitate it, ultimately dealing little damage and failing to Paralyze it a second time.

'It's just like the game...' noted Leon, recalling how monsters within the series became more resilient and, no matter whether you swung a giant sword or a lengthy katana, your attacks wouldn't leave any visible wounds until you had inflicted a certain amount. That meant that even if someone like Narmaya were to execute one of her imperceptibly quick and precise draws, it likely wouldn't result in the insta-kills she was known for.

'This Floor might actually prove to be a challenge...' thought Leon, more excited than bothered by the prospect. After all, time and experience had demonstrated that the harder something was to kill within the Tower, the greater its rewards. Thus, as the Nargacuga glared up at Latia and roared loud enough to produce a shockwave, Leon zipped over it undetected and promptly possessed it, causing the pantherine wyvern's pupils to contract as Leon compelled it to start flailing its body and swinging its massive tail, forcing it to expel all the long, spear-like blade it could theoretically use to snipe Latia out of the air...

'Don't want to talk...!?' exclaimed Leon, his voice echoing in the enraged Nargacuga's mind as he laughed and shouted, 'Then let's go for a fucking ride...!

...

..

.