The remnants of Meteor City's forces had their main base in the heart of the district, surrounded by hastily built stone walls with three defensive lines.
However, the first and second lines had already been breached.
The Chimera Ant army had swarmed into the district, engaging Meteor City's combat troops in brutal street battles near the third defense line.
Brutal might not even be the right word—it was more like a one-sided slaughter. The fighters of Meteor City had to sacrifice countless lives just to momentarily slow down these man-eating demons.
At that moment, the torrential rain finally ceased, but the scent of blood and death only thickened in the night. Pools of crimson had collected in the war-torn streets.
Once the Chimera Ants moved as a unified force, they became truly terrifying. Their attacks were no longer battles but blood-soaked hunts. If they got hungry or thirsty, the fallen bodies around them became their "supplies."
The fighters of Meteor City had no choice but to fight to the death. If the third defense line fell, only the main base would remain.
And inside that base—along with the underground shelter below—were mostly the elderly, women, and children, with only a handful of warriors left to defend them.
If this last human barrier crumbled, everything would be over. The fate of Meteor City's people inside the base was all too clear.
This was no longer just a battle—it had become the final showdown. The dire situation had even forced one of Meteor City's last remaining elders to personally oversee the front lines.
And alongside them, at the very front of the battlefield, stood the new leader of the Phantom Troupe—Shalnark. Without a doubt, he was the main force, Shalnarks rallying around him.
The fact that Meteor City's forces had held out against Gyro's army for this long was entirely thanks to Shalnark's strategies. Without him, this final battle would have come a month earlier.
The soldiers had absolute trust in him. But no matter how strong one's spirit was, it could not change the overwhelming difference in raw power they now faced.
Shalnark didn't just sit back and avoid trying a decapitation strategy.
To prepare, he gathered a lot of intel on the Chimera Ant Extermination in the Republic of East Gorteau and studied it in detail.
At one point, he tried to find a feasible plan based on the actions of Germain, Netero, and Morel, but when it came to execution, it was nothing more than a clumsy imitation.
Back then, a strike team led by an elder, Shalnark, Machi, and Pakunoda managed to infiltrate the ant nest, only to be intercepted by the Royal Guards.
When the Ant King, Gyro, and the Ant Queen, Zazan, appeared at the team's weakest moment, they pushed the elite squad into the abyss.
In the end, most of the team, including the elder, perished. Shalnark, Machi, and Pakunoda barely escaped with their lives thanks to the sacrifices of their comrades.
Otherwise, the three of them would either be dead or forced into a fate worse than death—reborn as Chimera Ants.
But even surviving wasn't necessarily a good thing. Now, they had to inherit the will of the fallen and face the brutal reality ahead.
The bad news was that they failed to imitate Germain and the others to assassinate Gyro and Zazan.
Because their team had neither Germain nor Netero.
What they lacked wasn't a plan or strategy—it was a blade sharp enough to make it work.
The good news was that they managed to kill two Royal Guards and probe Gyro's Nen ability.
However, even with that information, they had no suitable opportunity to use it.
The ant nest's defenses had become even more impenetrable, and they couldn't win in a direct confrontation. They had lost what was likely their last chance to face Gyro head-on.
Meteor City's territory kept shrinking. On the surface, they still controlled a quarter of it, but Shalnark knew the truth—it was Gyro's scheme.
Gyro might be an even more cunning man than him.
He seemed to have figured out how Meteor City people thought. Instead of taking all the land, he deliberately left a quarter of it in their hands.
Following the philosophy of "We accept nothing, and we let nothing be taken from us," the forces of Meteor City decided to defend their last remaining territory.
However, Shalnark keenly realized that this was a trap—a deliberate scheme to spread their forces thin, forcing them to defend land that was impossible to hold.
He voiced his concerns to the surviving elders of Meteor City, suggesting they abandon unnecessary territory and consolidate their defenses. But only one elder supported him.
The rest of the elders weren't ignorant of his reasoning—they knew he was likely right. But they had no other choice.
With their forces already at a disadvantage in individual combat strength, weaponry, and strategic depth, the only remaining advantages Meteor City had were their morale and supply lines.
Abandoning land would be another devastating blow to their already fragile spirits.
Moreover, while they could transport food, they couldn't move water sources. Giving up territory meant losing access to safe drinking water and severing crucial trade routes with external arms dealers.
So, Shalnark proposed another plan—everyone would leave Meteor City, retreat to recover for several years, and then return to reclaim their home.
But this idea was also rejected.
The world's hostility toward the people of Meteor City was second only to the hatred toward the rampaging Chimera Ants.
Meteor City's people had no legal identities—they were, in theory, nonexistent in the world.
The outside world tolerated the brutal, survival-of-the-fittest conflicts within Meteor City because it was profitable. But they would never allow these "cockroaches" to leave, resettle elsewhere, and grow stronger.
If they tried, they would face an overwhelming assault no less severe than the one from Gyro's forces, forcing them back into Meteor City.
The war between Meteor City's forces and the Gyro faction raged on, like a relentless sprint along the edge of a cliff.
What followed was Gyro's strategy of systematically breaking Meteor City's forces apart, leading to a one-sided massacre.
The combat units were in complete disarray. The elders had almost all perished. The number of casualties was immeasurable.
Until tonight. Until this very night.
Shalnark realized—tonight was the final battle. The last night of Meteor City.
This place, with a history spanning over 1,500 years, would soon fall into the hands of another. It would become a Chimera Ant stronghold, spreading its influence across the world.
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