I Make Games Inside a Mobile Game?! Chapter 86 86: Champion Saintess Lilesta

"Carl Agata!"

The mont the Academy Director saw Carl in person, he gritted his teeth and spat out his na.

"It's been a while, Boss. Thanks to the steady revenue stream from Oath, I've had plenty of funds to keep expanding the village."

Carl knew exactly how to provoke the Academy Director, or more precisely, the most shaless mbers of Oath's board.

Netherworld Village was now gradually eating into Oath's revenue. Every ti Oath made money, a portion of it had to be shared with Carl.

And as Netherworld Village continued to grow, the amount Carl took from their pockets would only increase.

Not only that, but Elysium, possibly to put even more pressure on Oath's official team, had also started transferring shares of Oath's parent company to Carl.

To put it bluntly, Elysium had created a dueling arena.

As long as Carl continued gaining player support, it was entirely possible for him to annex Oath and the entire company behind it.

That was why Oath's official team was trying to suppress Netherworld Village, or even destroy it outright, despite the risk of banning players' accounts.

For Carl, there was no need to kill his enemy in one blow.

Sotis, it was far more effective to slowly tornt them, stripping away everything they valued most piece by piece.

"What are you waiting for? His Character Core is the highest-priority target!" the Academy Director ordered.

Carl could understand why the Academy Director was so impatient.

According to Carl's investigation, many mbers of Oath's board had taken the money earned from Oath and invested it into all kinds of bizarre projects.

These people had started out making gas, yet looked down on the gaming industry. It was a common and rather amusing phenonon.

Unfortunately for them, the projects they thought would make them rich were all bottomless money pits. Once their cash flow broke, they could easily drag the entire company into bankruptcy.

The money earned from Oath should have been enough for them to squander freely.

Unfortunately, Carl's appearance had made them realize they were under threat.

"Go on, keep getting complacent. Keep exploiting and wasting the players' trust. I'm also curious to see how long Oath's first-mover advantage can protect you."

As Carl said this, Migard had already drawn her sword and charged.

But the person who drew their sword to block her path was actually soone Carl had not seen in a long ti.

The ever-reliable Griff.

"I thought it would be... well, this works too."

Carl had expected Anan to intervene, but since it was inconvenient for her to act right now, she had probably let Griff take the bla instead.

At that mont, Carl turned back to the Saintess and shouted directly.

"What are you standing there for? Run!"

"Run? But where can I even go?" The Saintess looked around in confusion.

If she ran away, she would have no place left in the main world.

The Holy Nation, the Empire, and Oath's official team were all hunting her down. She had also lost all of Oath's promotional support.

As a banner character, she was practically dead.

"Don't you still have another battlefield? Stop clinging to your life as a product here! Go to that other battlefield and earn the players' respect. Real respect. Make the players truly willing to follow you and adore you, Saintess Lilesta. No..."

Carl paused, then spoke the title the Saintess truly longed for.

"Champion Lilesta! Go. Win the match. Then stand beneath the players' cheers and let them be yours for real."

"..."

In that instant, the Saintess suddenly rembered.

She still had a match to finish.

Yes.

She still had a real honor waiting for her to fight for.

Her identity as the Saintess might have been fake, but her identity as a Champion would be real.

So the Saintess made a decision that banner characters rarely made.

She completely transferred her main consciousness from the main world into the players' open-world instance.

The Saintess's figure vanished from the main world. Instead, she focused all her attention on the final Pokémon duel against Crimson Night.

At that mont, the first Pokémon League had already reached its conclusion.

It was a best-of-five match, and both sides had won two rounds each.

This was the final match point.

The round that would decide the champion.

The Saintess focused her attention on the final Pokémon battle.

However, even though she was a digital lifeform capable of splitting her main consciousness into tens of thousands of parts, the emotional shock from what had happened in the main world still affected her decision-making.

Because of a command mistake, Lucario was caught off guard by Gardevoir and struck by a high-damage combo.

When Lucario fell from midair and hit the ground, its HP was almost completely depleted.

Wait.

When did I...

When did I get pushed this far in a Pokémon duel?

The Saintess was dazed.

She had not even realized how she had suddenly ended up on the verge of losing the final match.

To be honest, she had not cared that much about the Pokémon League final at first.

Even if she failed to win the championship, it would not have been a big deal.

After all, she could still go back to being a banner character loved by countless Saviors, then use other thods to deceive the residents of Netherworld Village.

Yes.

In the past, she had always had a way out.

At worst, she could just go back to being the Saintess.

But now, the Saintess realized she had no way out left.

Her identity as the Saintess had been stripped away.

If she lost here too, she would face a fate even more miserable than Hasumi's. She would be forgotten by the Saviors and reduced to an obscure, discarded character.

She could still survive, perhaps.

But the dream she had worked so hard for would vanish in an instant.

"It's... over."

When the Saintess realized this, her emotions finally collapsed.

She knelt on the ground and began crying uncontrollably.

"My identity as the Saintess is gone. My dream of rising through the Holy Nation has vanished. I couldn't play the ga well. I couldn't live my life well. And now I'm going to lose this match too, just because I got distracted."

"My life, my dream, my future... haven't they all been ruined?"

Just as the Saintess spoke those despairing words, Crimson Night showed no rcy and directly ordered her Gardevoir to deliver the finishing blow.

"Gardevoir! Use Psyshock!"

It's over.

The mont the Saintess saw Gardevoir fire a devastating beam toward Lucario, Macchiato, who was acting as the comntator, also shouted,

"This has to be the final blow! Lucario has less than two percent HP remaining! Even if it blocks this Psyshock, the piercing damage should still finish it off! It looks like the champion of the first Pokémon League will be Crimson Night, leader of the Navigator Guild!"

The Saintess closed her eyes in despair.

But then, the sudden cheers of the surrounding crowd made her flinch.

Those cheers were not celebrating the birth of a champion.

They were louder, sharper, and filled with disbelief.

They were the cheers an audience gave when they saw a glimr of hope appear at the very edge of defeat.

"Wha, wha, what? Lucario blocked it! The Saintess's Lucario didn't lose any HP!" Macchiato's shocked voice made the Saintess open her eyes.

Only then did she see it.

Her scar-covered Lucario stood firm, pale blue aura burning around its body, enduring the first impact of Psyshock.

"Lucca!"

During that mont, Lucario glanced back at its trainer.

It was as if it were saying,

I held on because I didn't want to see you cry.

"Lucca!"

It's not over yet.

There's still hope.

At that mont, the Saintess understood what her Pokémon was trying to tell her.

This is Quick Guard?

The Saintess naturally rembered the key ability Carl had taught her.

Certain skills had a perfect-guard chanic. As long as the attack was blocked at the critical mont, no damage would be taken.

Yes.

There was still hope.

As long as all the remaining attacks were blocked with Perfect Guard.

"Lucario! The next wave is coming!" The Saintess wiped the tears from her eyes and stared intently at Gardevoir's movents.

"Gardevoir! Use all accumulated skill points! Release every Psyshock!" Crimson Night gave the final command.

A massive amount of energy began gathering behind Gardevoir.

Lucario also assud a defensive stance.

At that mont, not only the comntator, but even the audience in the stands rose to their feet, staring fixedly at this final exchange.

"It's Perfect Guard! Lucario used a Perfect Guard-type skill to block the first Psyshock! But the Perfect Guard window is only 0.33 seconds! President Crimson Night's Gardevoir has already demonstrated rapid-fire Psyshock before, and it can fire a total of fifteen shots! Which ans..."

Before Macchiato could finish her comntary, Gardevoir had already fired a barrage of Psyshocks at Lucario.

"Lucario! Follow my rhythm! One! Two!"

The Saintess focused completely on the firing rhythm and commanded Lucario.

Blue aura erupted across Lucario's entire body.

The aura circulated around it and could only last for 0.33 seconds.

But the second Psyshock struck that aura.

Perfect Guard successful.

For the third shot, Lucario concentrated the blue aura on the back of its hand and parried the incoming Psyshock.

Then ca the fourth.

The fifth.

The sixth.

Both the Saintess and Lucario had entered a perfect state of flow.

And as Lucario blocked more and more Psyshocks, the cheers from the stands grew louder and louder.

Finally, the fourteenth and fifteenth Psyshocks were completely blocked by Lucario as well.

"It blocked them! It blocked every single one! Blocking once with a 0.33-second reaction window is already a miracle, but now we've just witnessed that miracle happen fifteen tis in a row! But Gardevoir's HP is still healthy, and Lucario's skill points are almost depleted! Can it still turn this around?"

At that mont, the audience's cheers were almost frenzied.

But the Saintess was calm.

She imdiately gave Lucario a new command.

"Now! Extre Speed! Then, Gravity Aura Sphere!"

"Luca!"

Lucario seized the mont of exhaustion after Gardevoir's ultimate barrage and charged forward.

With Extre Speed, it grabbed Gardevoir and threw her into the air.

Then a heavy Aura Sphere condensed in Lucario's hand and was thrown onto the open ground where Gardevoir was falling.

What followed was a combo performance that dazzled every spectator present.

It was so beautiful that after watching it, countless players would want to catch a Lucario for themselves. Even if they were terrible at the ga, they would still force their Lucario to learn this exact combo.

Gardevoir fell onto the Aura Sphere and was instantly bounced away.

But Lucario appeared ahead of Gardevoir's flight path, striking with tal Claw and knocking Gardevoir back toward the Aura Sphere.

The next mont, Gardevoir was bounced even farther away.

Lucario used Quick Attack to catch up again, then struck her back with another blow.

It was like repeatedly spiking a volleyball at the sa point, allowing it to build up more and more montum.

No matter how far Gardevoir was knocked away, Lucario predicted the trajectory, intercepted her, and sent her right back to the original position.

Finally, Gardevoir was knocked straight out of the arena by the combo.

At the sa ti, her HP hit zero, and she was judged unable to continue.

"She... she won! Lucario blocked every one of Gardevoir's attacks with Perfect Guard..."

"Then it used a dreamlike combo to drain Gardevoir's remaining HP in one go! I hereby announce that the champion of the first Pokémon League is Miss White Crown and her Lucario!"

After Macchiato announced the Saintess's victory, the audience beca so excited that they could no longer control themselves. They rushed down from the stands and poured into the arena.

"Well done."

The Saintess hugged her Pokémon, but before she could savor the emotion for long, she was surrounded by players.

"Pro, add as a friend!"

"Yeah, add too!"

"How did you do that combo just now? Can you teach ?"

"By the way, what's this Pokémon called? I want to catch one too!"

At that mont, a massive wave of emotions the Saintess had never felt before began gathering rapidly around her.

Adoration.

Longing.

Admiration.

So this is what it feels like to be admired by the Saviors?

However, when the crowd of players began asking her questions...

"Pro! Where did you catch this Pokémon?"

"I haven't caught this Pokémon yet, but I still want to learn that combo!"

The Saintess's gaze swept awkwardly through the crowd.

Finally, she saw Carl hiding among the players.

Carl pointed directly toward the City of Glory.

Carl could sense it.

The Dream Combo the Saintess had just perford would probably beco required study for all Lucario trainers from now on.

You call yourself a Lucario trainer and you don't know the Dream Combo?

"Dear Sav... dear players!"

At that mont, the Saintess no longer suppressed her emotions. She raised her voice and shouted,

"Please follow to the City of Glory! Take back what belongs to you! Um, I an, my Pokémon was caught in the City of Glory!"

In any case, surrounded by a huge crowd of Oath players, the Saintess arrived at the gates of the City of Glory.

Her eyes t Migard's, who was guarding the city gate.

At that mont, the Saintess realized that she could finally say the words she had been holding back for so long with complete confidence.

The Holy Nation has no right to treat like an ornant.

Today, I will take back everything that belongs to .

(To be continued.)