Chapter 680: So She Also Chose to Wither
The sacrifice of the Dragon Clan and Team Black Dragon saved this world.
But it still had to endure many tribulations.
The three ancient gods intercepted the most direct comet impact.
This not only prevented the creation of a crater thousands of kilometers wide, but also prevented the oceans from setting off a global super tsunami.
But the splintering of the continent was already a foregone conclusion.
The shockwave formed by the collision between the comet and Regigigas also circled the planet several times in a short period, destroying countless terrains and vegetation.
Volcanic eruptions, rock mountain collapses...
The entire continent seemed to have entered a doomsday era counting down.
The sky full of comet fragments scattered across the world were no longer as romantic as they first appeared.
Fragments of various sizes plummeted all over the world, falling back to the globe like a rain of burning bullets, igniting countless trees and wild grasses, sparking a firestorm that swept across the globe.
And the most deadly part was yet to come.
The impact and the global fires ejected massive amounts of dust and soot into the upper atmosphere, even the stratosphere.
These particulate matters blocked the sunlight.
Lasting for months or even years.
The surface temperature dropped sharply, and the world entered a cruel era of harsh winter.
The lack of sunlight.
Led to the death of massive amounts of plants and phytoplankton.
Thereby causing the entire food chain to gradually collapse.
There was no need for refutation.
This was a definable mass extinction.
The vast majority of ordinary creatures on land found it hard to survive; even Pokémon possessing miraculous powers were doomed to suffer a devastating blow.
But life is stubborn and tenacious.
The Dragon Clan carried the will of their King and companions.
Even for the sake of the departed, they had to strive with all their might to survive.
The Dragon Clan members split into two parts.
One part left with Florges.
The other part left with the Tyrantrum.
This wasn't parting ways, but to fulfill the task Kazuya had entrusted to the Tyrantrum.
Florges led the dragons with limited mobility to hide in the underground caverns of the rocky mountains, taking shelter from the natural disasters and lingering on their last breath.
The Tyrantrum led the powerful Dragon Clan members and began to travel around the world, doing only two things: opening up the underground world and transporting comet fragments.
That was an era that wasn't ancient, but felt incredibly long.
So long that this world had completely lost the concept of time.
Regigigas pulled the splintered continents far apart one by one, preventing them from colliding together due to crustal movement.
Groudon continuously pacified the restless earth, stopping volcanoes attempting to erupt one by one, so that those Pokémon still had land to set foot on.
Kyogre wandered everywhere in the ocean, calming the sea waves wherever it passed, so they could no longer kick up the slightest ripple, much less wash away and erode the distant land.
Rayquaza controlled his unstable body, continuously working hard to repair the stability of the ozone layer and the atmosphere, hoping to return the sunlight to this world sooner.
Blocking the comet impact was only the cornerstone of Team Black Dragon saving the world.
Upon this cornerstone.
Team Black Dragon was still using hundreds and thousands of years of effort to continuously repair the shattered world, creating an environment and space for the Dragon Clan to continue.
During that era.
The scent of death permeated the entire world.
The Cocoon of Destruction.
Was also born from this.
Time turned like a wheel.
Several years passed.
Sunlight once again pierced through the clouds and enveloped the earth.
The rocky mountain range had long since been reduced to a desolate land.
The once towering mountains were buried in dust; the scattered black rocks stood on this desolate land like tombstones, seemingly memorializing the Dragon Clan Pokémon buried underground.
Where had their souls gone?
Or were they still lingering here, restless and unwilling?
Florges stood alone on this desert, letting the bleak wind and sand blow her dress into disarray.
She quietly looked at the ray of light cast from the distant sky, but what echoed in her heart were unforgettable memories from many years ago.
Her eyes flickered between bright and dark, her thoughts unknown.
She didn't know how many familiar faces were still left in this world.
Was the Tyrantrum still leading the Dragon Clan around digging holes?
Were the Dragonites still gently comforting everyone every day?
Would the Altaria still hum the high-pitched Ancient Dragon's Chant in the darkness?
Right at this moment.
A touch of stubborn color broke into Florges's view.
She looked down, her pupils trembling slightly.
On this barren land, a small black flower had actually grown, swaying wantonly by her feet.
Its petals were as thin as cicada wings.
Yet it forcefully pushed its body out from the hard, scorched earth.
Blooming wantonly and flamboyantly on the ruins.
It looked just like those two reckless little dragons back then, who could still act fiercely and bare their fangs while facing a frantic siege.
As if saying:
The end of the world is nothing more than this.
The sandstorm howled, the cold wind was piercing.
This world still looked half-dead.
But even so.
There was still life stubbornly breaking through the soil.
Florges slowly bent down, reaching out to gently stroke that miraculous flower.
"Flor."
Florges's soft chuckle melted into the wind and sand, seemingly carrying a resolution.
She turned and headed towards the underground world.
The underground wasn't cold.
At least it was like that when everyone gathered together.
Just like countless days and nights in the past.
As long as everyone in the Dragon Clan gathered together, then no matter how cold the severe winter, there would be a day to get through it.
But the underground was pitch black, showing not the slightest sign of life.
The Dragon Clan members might have long forgotten what sunlight looked like.
How many little dragons.
Had survived until now by eating the corpses of their compatriots?
If this continued, how long could they last?
The outside world was still unsuitable for the Dragon Clan to survive. If no turning point appeared, how would the Dragon Clan's spark be passed on?
To survive.
They had already exhausted everything.
It was enough.
Florges looked at a little Shieldon pouncing towards her, reaching out to rub its head.
Feeling the prominent skull on the child's body, she gently hummed a lullaby she had heard from Kazuya.
Watching the little Shieldon gradually fall asleep in her arms.
Florges stood up.
Walking alone towards a certain cave.
When she turned and walked towards the deepest part of the cave, the older Dragon Clan members raised their heads one after another, seemingly sensing something, and let out low whimpers.
Florges didn't look back.
Her footsteps tapped lightly on the soil beneath her feet, rippling with wisps of radiance.
A shocking scene appeared before her eyes.
On the walls deep inside this cave, dark green moss had actually grown all over.
And at the end of her vision.
Stood a jade-green Plate.
Florges quietly walked forward and held that Plate in her arms.
You said good things would definitely happen if I kept living, that I should live in a better world.
But...
You're all gone.
I will absolutely not live alone.
Your Dragon Clan, I will protect it for you.
Your will, will be inherited within my body.
Forever...
["Life is but a tree in bloom, sometimes quiet, sometimes vibrant. Have you ever thought about how you plan to die in the future?"]
The jade-green fluorescence suddenly bloomed.
Endless energy full of vitality completely enveloped Florges within it; those threads of light cruelly pierced into her body.
The rainbow-colored light of evolution completely exploded on Florges's body.
This is my choice.
I will never regret it.
Under the rainbow light.
Her body gradually changed form, as if turning into a giant tree symbolizing eternity.
The scale of this giant tree continuously expanded.
Its canopy broke through the solid earth, its roots reached deeper...
The canopy of this giant tree turned into a plateau on the desert above; the originally barren land was now filled with vitality.
The originally lonely little black flower.
Also continuously grew at this moment.
Finally transforming into a Tree of Life.
The sunlight was entirely absorbed by the grass on the plateau, traveling down the trunk to the underground, illuminating every desperate corner.
A miracle was born at this moment.
From this day on.
Underground.
There was light.
There was a gentle breeze.
There were four seasons and flowers.
There was life and hope.
Only...
It was missing a gentle Eternal Flower.
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