Seeing the firm resolve on Mu Xue's face, Oliver knew that the murals they had just witnessed had placed enormous pressure on her—and shaken her deeply.
The godlike power displayed by those mysterious Pokémon, capable of destroying heaven and earth, and the utter helplessness of the humans before them… that helplessness was not merely a gap in strength, but one of mindset.
To be fair, if such Pokémon appeared in the real world, even Mu Xue had no confidence that humanity could truly subdue them. But at the very least, humans would never sit quietly and wait for salvation from other beings. They would resist—fight back—even if it meant fighting to the very last person.
This was not to say that the choices made by the humans of the secret realm were wrong.
The path of human civilization in that world had been fundamentally different from that of Earth. They genuinely worshiped Landorus as a god. When divine punishment descended, they prayed instead of resisting. When given a gift that could sustain their civilization, they chose to enshrine it rather than use it.
There was no absolute right or wrong in that decision. In fact, the devotion and faith of that ancient civilization were deeply moving in their own way.
But the idea of staking everything to seize one's own destiny resonated far more strongly with Oliver.
Unlike Mu Xue, Oliver also knew something she did not—these Legendary Pokémon would inevitably descend upon this world one day.
Ten years from now.
One year from now.
Or perhaps… the very next moment.
That pressure weighed just as heavily on him.
Some Legendary Pokémon were friendly toward humans, yes—but to most of them, humans were nothing more than ants. When you walk down the street, do you pay attention to the ants beneath your feet?
Likewise, when such beings decided to act, they would never consider how their actions might affect the humans living on this planet.
Groudon and Kyogre were the clearest examples.
In the original records, their battle over natural energy had triggered disasters so immense that the entire Hoenn region nearly faced annihilation.
Because of this, becoming stronger was no longer a matter of choice—it was urgent.
With that thought, Oliver's gaze shifted toward the room at the end of the corridor.
If his guess was correct, that place was the "treasure land" Rhyperior had mentioned.
And according to the murals, this ruin still contained a drop of Landorus's blood.
That was nothing short of a Legendary-tier resource.
The moment Oliver stepped into the room, his Aura Power sensed an overwhelming presence of earth-aspected energy.
At the center of the chamber stood a statue of Landorus in its Incarnate Form.
Oliver focused his Aura toward the statue.
Sure enough—
Suspended within its core floated a single drop of blood, faintly glowing with divine radiance.
This room had gradually become a "blessed land" precisely because of that drop. Over countless years, the residual energy it released had subtly transformed the surroundings.
Rhyperior had merely stumbled upon the effects of this power and chosen to live here, unaware that the true treasure was hidden inside the statue itself.
If the statue had been accidentally destroyed earlier… this Legendary resource would have been lost forever.
"…So this is what that Pokémon looks like," Mu Xue murmured in awe.
"Just looking at it, you can feel that overwhelming sense of authority…"
Before she could finish speaking, she turned her head—and saw Oliver calmly directing Gardevoir.
A surge of psychic energy condensed.
Then—
Boom!
A powerful Psychic Burst slammed straight into the statue.
"Are you insane?!" Mu Xue exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief, instinctively trying to stop him.
That statue had enormous research value for the Alliance. It depicted a Pokémon never before recorded in human history. By any standard, it was priceless!
But Gardevoir did not hesitate.
The statue shattered into countless fragments.
In Mu Xue's heartbroken gaze, a golden light emerged from the debris, lifted gently into the air by telekinesis.
"That's—" Mu Xue froze.
Only then did she realize that the faint, oppressive sense of divinity she had felt earlier hadn't come from the statue at all.
It came from this.
"…That Pokémon's blood?" she whispered.
The glowing droplet hovered in the air, radiating ancient, heavy power.
Landorus's blood.
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