An abstract trainer who taught Charmander the Incinerate move

Chapter 316 Groudon, the Earth Demon Lord

As the giant claw exerted its force, the crack widened further, and a colossal figure, so large it sent shivers down one's spine, slowly crawled out of the abyss from the ground as if a mountain had been uprooted!
Its body seemed to be constructed from cooled lava and the core of the earth, covered with dark red carapace, with golden-red patterns like lava flowing between the gaps in the carapace, radiating endless light and heat.

On its back, a row of huge bone spikes protruded menacingly, like the spine of a mountain range. Even with only part of its torso visible, its height already surpassed the top of the magnificent temple in the distance!
A terrifying pressure, as heavy as a towering mountain range, instantly swept across the entire bottom of the pool!
“Ah——!!!”

Zi Yan's bright amethyst eyes widened instantly. As a dragon, her senses were far more acute than those of ordinary elves.

The moment this colossal creature appeared, the dragon blood within her trembled uncontrollably, an instinctive awe stemming from the difference in their levels of life!

"Wow...wow...ahhh...it's so...so big..."

Xiao Huolong was so frightened that his liver and gallbladder were shattered, and even the burning pain of the Green Lotus Earth Core Flame in his body seemed to be temporarily suppressed by this sudden shock.

This colossal beast, which had just broken free from its ancient seal, raised its massive head and let out a roar that shook the entire underground world!

[Roar! Ro ...

After the roar, the monster suddenly sensed its own condition, and its lava-like pupils were instantly filled with shock and rage!
[Damn it! So many years have passed, and my divine power... has actually fallen to this level, reduced to a mere Dou Zong realm?! Unforgivable! Power of the earth, heed my command, return!!!]

As its ancient syllables, imbued with endless fury, fell, the rules of heaven and earth in the entire Tagh Desert seemed to be rewritten in an instant!

The water molecules that were originally thin in the air were forcibly stripped away at a speed visible to the naked eye. Above the sky, all the clouds were wiped away in an instant as if by an invisible hand, and the scorching sunlight poured down without any obstruction, becoming more intense and scorching than ever before!

The already arid and scorching desert experienced a sudden increase in surface temperature of several degrees in just a few breaths, and some drought-resistant cacti even began to turn yellow and wither at a visible speed!
The dramatic change in the energy of heaven and earth triggered in that instant was like throwing a boulder into a calm lake, with ripples spreading throughout the entire desert in an instant!
Inside the temple, the Serpent Clan warriors, who were locked in fierce combat with Gudek's Volcarona and Yunzhu's Garchomp, almost simultaneously stopped their attacks and stared in horror at the direction from which the terrifying fluctuations were coming from the depths of the temple!

An elder of the snake-people tribe, holding a scepter with a snake's head, stared intently at the source of the fluctuations with his cloudy eyes, as if recalling the terrifying legends recorded in the tribe's ancient murals.

"Ah! This power that caused the entire desert's ley lines to boil... It's it! It's that legendary [Earth Demon] sealed deep within the desert! It's said that this place was a grassland ten thousand years ago, and it was because of its existence that it became a great desert!"

"Boom——!!!"

Just then, the giant beast known as the Earth Demon took a step forward!
With just the simplest step of landing, the entire foundation of the temple shook violently as if it had been hit by a magnitude 50 earthquake!
As the giant red beast, resembling a world-destroying demon, approached the temple step by step, the snake-people warriors turned their attention and focused all their energy on this unprecedentedly terrifying enemy.

A relatively calm Arbok sage, carefully observing the behemoth's limited movement to the ground, suddenly channeled his fighting spirit, his voice echoing throughout the battlefield, attempting to stabilize the morale of his troops who were on the verge of collapse:
"Don't panic! Look closely! This guy has immense power and pressure, but he can't even fly. As far as I know, Dou Zong experts can walk on air. Since it can't leave the ground, its strength must not have recovered to the Dou Zong level. At most, it's only at the peak of Dou Huang! Our Snake-Human race has many powerful experts. If we join forces, we might not be without a fighting chance!"

This analysis was like a shot in the arm for those who were in despair.

In an instant, a fighting spirit rekindled in the eyes of the snake-man guards, who gripped their weapons tightly, ready to fight to the death.

【What--?!】

Seemingly struck at a sore spot, the behemoth's lava-like pupils instantly contracted, and the terrifying roar almost shattered people's eardrums.

[You insignificant, ignorant long-armed reptiles! With your meager cultivation, as faint as fireflies, how dare you presume to discuss my supreme Dao?! How could you possibly know the profound and subtle essence of the [Ending Land Technique] that I cultivate?!]

As it spoke, it stomped the earth and roared angrily.

[Once this skill is mastered, one's body will merge with the earth, connecting with the very essence of the continent, granting boundless power. What need is there for that flashy but impractical power of flight?! Today, I will let you personally experience what... the mighty power of the earth truly is!!!]

Upon hearing this, Gudike, who had been observing the situation, suddenly changed his expression, gasped, and exclaimed in shock.

"The End of the Land Technique?! Could this guy be the legendary Earth Lord—Groudon?! The ancient being who once competed with the Ocean God Kyogre for the throne of the Battle Emperor, unleashing a cataclysmic disaster?!"

Yunzhu, standing to the side, also turned pale, and the Garchomp beneath her let out an uneasy growl.

“There are records in ancient books and fragments that it is said that those who cultivate the End of the Land Technique can never escape the shackles of the earth for their entire lives, but once their feet touch the ground, they can draw on the inexhaustible power of the earth, and their power is almost inexhaustible!” Old Chi looked at the red behemoth that was like a moving natural disaster, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief, and he murmured to himself.

Legend has it that Groudon, the Earth Demon Lord, and Kyogre, the Ocean Demon Lord, waged an earth-shattering war across the entire Dou Qi Continent in their struggle for the throne of the Dou Di after the departure of Arceus, the Creator God Emperor. Mountains and rivers crumbled, and oceans boiled... In the end, a mysterious and powerful figure dressed in cyan-green robes intervened, defeating and sealing both of them simultaneously...

Shortly after accomplishing this feat, that powerful figure attained enlightenment and ascended to immortality, disappearing without a trace. He was revered by later generations as… the Azure Emperor! Unexpectedly, after countless years, this Earth Demon Lord, who should have been sealed away forever, has broken free of his seal here!

During the conversation, Groudon, the Earth Lord who was completely enraged, turned his endless rage into a tangible attack!
Its massive body resonated with the earth's veins throughout the Tagher Desert, and endless, earthy yellow power flowed from all directions of the desert like rivers flowing into the sea.

A colossal sword, so enormous it defies description, appeared out of thin air. Destructive energy flowed across the sword, and the space around it slightly collapsed as it could not withstand this terrifying power!
This is Groudon's signature move – Precipice Blade!
Ants, before the true power of the earth, turn to dust!

Groudon roared and swung its cliff-breaking sword, powerful enough to cleave mountains, down fiercely towards the crumbling temple of the Serpent People!

"Everyone scatter! Transform your battle aura into wings!!!"

The snake-man elder roared hoarsely, and the snake-man powerhouses, as well as Gu Daike and Yun Zhu, almost simultaneously and subconsciously activated their internal battle qi. Light flashed behind them as they tried to condense battle qi wings to soar into the sky and avoid this earth-shattering attack!
However, the next moment, desperate cries of alarm rose and fell.

"What's going on?! My battle aura wings can't be formed!"

"Space...space has become incredibly heavy, making it impossible to fly!"

"I'm locked to the ground!"

Gudek's face was deathly pale. He looked at the fire moth beneath him, which was flapping its wings with all its might but seemed to be carrying an entire mountain range on its back, like a fire moth that had degenerated into a crawling wing. His voice trembled slightly.

"This is bad! This is the domain effect of the Termination Land Technique! Within the Earth Demon Lord's domain, air is prohibited! Everyone is unable to fly and can only fight on the ground!"

At this moment, despair, like an icy tide, once again overwhelmed everyone's hearts!
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The sword of the precipice slashed down fiercely, and the snake-people warriors, unable to dodge, could only do their best to raise their battle aura defenses. The various lights shattered one after another like fragile soap bubbles under the destructive sword blade!
The massive temple was instantly blasted into dust, and in an instant, countless powerful snake-people were annihilated in the surge of energy!

Even Zi Yan and Xiao Huolong, who were at the edge of the pool, were severely affected by the aftershocks of this terrifying attack!

A violent surge of energy and shockwaves swept in like a tsunami!

"Spatial barrier!"

Zi Yan's face was tense, and she dared not be careless in the slightest. Her hands moved rapidly in front of her, and she forcibly drew out strands of silvery-white spatial power to protect herself and Xiao Huolong, who was at a critical moment in refining the strange fire, behind her.

The spatial barrier flickered violently under the shockwave, as if it would shatter at any moment.

With a single blow, the Serpent Clan's temple was reduced to ruins, and its powerful warriors were killed or wounded in droves!
The Earth Demon Lord Groudon's lava-like gaze immediately and precisely locked onto the deepest part of the pool, where the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame was still burning quietly, and onto Xiao Huolong, who was enveloped in the flames!
It sensed an extremely familiar aura from the blue flames!

[Damn it!!! Is this the thing that sealed me away for endless years?!]

Groudon's rage was instantly ignited to its extreme. It let out a deafening roar, raised its huge feet, and drew upon the power of the earth to launch a devastating stomp towards Xiao Huolong and the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame.

[Damn you, Azure Emperor! And you, you ant who dared to try and inherit my power! May you both be reduced to dust on this earth!!]

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Having successfully returned from Lunare, the ZA storyline was truly disappointing. It felt like they just added a few more NPCs as tools, with little impact on the main plot.

(End of this chapter)