The thought of defeat lasted only a moment to the minds of the city lord and his knights.
As Lilligant, Froslass, and Gardevoir demonstrated their strength, the knights' eyes widened in shock.
First was the aerial battle between Gardevoir and Mismagius.
The moment they clashed, Mismagius unleashed its Illusion Realm, dragging Gardevoir into a fabricated world.
But with a single movement, space itself trembled—Gardevoir shattered the illusion instantly!
Raising its hand, Gardevoir condensed its psychic power into solid form and unleashed a devastating Psychic wave!
"Maa!"
Mismagius' face changed dramatically as it hurriedly formed a psychic defense.
Yet when their psychic powers collided, it realized in horror that it was completely overpowered and was forced to retreat rapidly.
"That Gardevoir has the upper hand!" the knights exclaimed in delight.
Their attention shifted to the other battlefields.
The two Froslass were locked in a blizzard, obscuring everything from view, leaving only the final battlefield—Lilligant versus Gengar—clearly visible.
"Lilli~"
Lilligant remained calm and composed.
Gengar, however, had already turned into a flickering shadow.
But in the next instant, Lilligant entered a state of complete unity with nature. Extending one hand, it grasped at the void.
No matter how fast Gengar moved, or how deeply it merged into the shadows, as long as it remained within this space, it could not escape Lilligant's lock.
"Hehehehe!"
Suddenly, Gengar's figure reappeared midair, wrapped in green light as its life energy was rapidly drained.
Without even making contact, Lilligant extracted Gengar's vitality through its mastery of life energy.
This was a new ability Lilligant had recently mastered.
Since successfully mastering the power of life energy in nature, its control over life energy had increased rapidly.
It had even developed an even more powerful technique for using life energy by combining the Giga Drain move with life energy, which Aven called Life Drain!
"HEEEE!"
Gengar screamed in pain as dark energy erupted violently.
Exerting tremendous effort, it finally broke free from the draining force.
But before it could react, the stolen life energy condensed into an energy ball—and exploded!
BOOM!
With a thunderous roar, Gengar was blasted away like a fallen leaf in an autumn wind.
"What… what kind of magical beast is that?" the knights gaped in disbelief.
A King-level magical beast—utterly helpless before a beast crowned with a golden flower!
"Could it be… a guardian deity?" someone whispered.
In their understanding, only guardian gods could crush King-level magical beasts so effortlessly.
Before the city lord could even finish pondering, the blizzard in the distance subsided.
Only one Froslass remained.
The other… had vanished.
A moment later, black mist seeped from the remaining Froslass, twisting violently before being drawn back into its body.
A piercing scream echoed as the mist were completely absorbed.
Silence fell.
The knights stood frozen, their limbs ice-cold.
A King-level magical beast… had been devoured alive.
"Are they… guardian gods?" they whispered fearfully.
Seeing the victorious Froslass return to Aven's side, they finally understood.
"He… won again," the city lord murmured.
Just then, the battlefield between Gardevoir and Mismagius erupted with terrifying power.
Darkness and rainbow light split the sky in two.
The pressure alone made the knights feel the urge to kneel in worship.
"Guardian god power… this must be guardian god power!"
As Aven called out to Azelf, the rainbow light surged.
Gardevoir unleashed a seven-colored beam that pierced the darkness and engulfed Mismagius entirely.
The world seemed to lose all color—save for that radiant light.
"So powerful… so this is a guardian deity," the city lord said in awe.
At the same time, he clenched his fists tightly, and the longing in his heart to find Heatran grew even stronger. Only a city protected by a guardian deity could truly become strong!
On the cliff, the expressions of the Grand Sorcerer and his companions had long since turned uncertain and grim. But the moment they saw the power radiating from Gardevoir, their faces turned completely ashen.
They all knew that this operation had failed once again—and failed miserably. Last time, they had lost Darkrai; this time, they were about to lose four King-tier magical beasts!
And those four King-tier magical beasts were already their final trump cards. Once these forces were lost, it meant that the strength of this branch under the Grand Sorcerer would be almost completely wiped out!
"W-we leave this place," the Grand Sorcerer said through clenched teeth, enunciating each word slowly.
Hearing his words, Ghost Shade, Ghostfire, and Frostghost were all momentarily stunned. Their expressions shifted as they glanced into the distance, before silently nodding in agreement.
"What about the other Sorcerers?" Ghost Shade asked hesitantly.
The Grand Sorcerer frowned slightly. After a brief pause, he said, "Let them retreat on their own. I still need them to complete their final mission."
As soon as he finished speaking, a rift to the Ghost World opened before him. Without the slightest hesitation, he stepped into it. The other three turned their heads to look once more at the Sorcerers gathered below the cliff, then silently followed the Grand Sorcerer into the rift.
On the front lines of the battlefield, after being struck by the Psychic attack infused with Azelf's power, Mismagius immediately lost all ability to continue fighting.
Seeing this, Aven slowly withdrew the seven-colored radiance from his body. At the same time, he took out a Poké Ball and directly recalled both Mismagius and the Gengar that had been defeated by Lilligant.
As for the one defeated by Froslass, it had already been sealed into the keystone hanging around Froslass's neck. Nearly all of its power had been absorbed by Froslass as well, leaving it with no remaining threat.
That meant only the final battlefield remained.
Relying on its own strength, Chandelure was still continuously suppressing Rhydon.
However, little by little, it began to sense that something was wrong—especially after witnessing its old rival, Froslass, being absorbed by the opposing side. At this moment, nothing but fear remained in its eyes.
Its gaze fixed on Froslass. Even Gardevoir, who had unleashed the power of a guardian deity, had not made it feel such dread.
In the past, it had absorbed other Ghost-type magical beasts, plundering their life energy. Now that it was its turn to become the prey, a sense of despair welled up in its heart.
Without any hesitation, Chandelure turned and fled. But no matter how fast it was, it was impossible to escape from Lilligant and Froslass, who had already locked onto it.
Facing this lone King-level magical beast, the two Pokémon chose to join forces. In no time at all, they overwhelmed Chandelure and defeated it cleanly, after which it was captured by Aven in a Poké Ball.
At this point, the plan launched by the Sorcerer Organization to seize the Volcanic Keystone had completely failed. All four of their King-tier magical beasts had been captured, leaving no chance of escape.
"Gardevoir, have you found those Sorcerers?" Aven asked.
Hearing his question, Gardevoir opened its eyes in midair and nodded at him.
Immediately afterward, Gardevoir released its psychic power, enveloping Aven and the group of Pokémon. Space energy surged, and their figures vanished instantly from where they stood.
In the next moment, they appeared on the cliff where the Grand Sorcerer and his group had been moments earlier. At that very instant, the Grand Sorcerer and his three subordinates had just disappeared into the Ghost World passage, leaving behind only a slowly closing rift.
"Are we a step too late again?" Aven frowned, his gaze shifting to the Sorcerer army below, who had yet to react.
At this moment, those Sorcerers were utterly bewildered. They had no idea what had happened on the battlefield ahead, nor did they understand why the Grand Sorcerer and the three commanders had suddenly departed.
Then they noticed Aven, who had suddenly appeared atop the cliff. But before they could react, an overwhelming psychic pressure descended upon them, plunging their consciousness directly into darkness.
"Although we didn't manage to keep the Grand Sorcerer, the forces left here should basically make up their main fighting strength," Aven said as his brows relaxed.
From this day onward, the Sorcerer Organization's team that had been active near Aspiration CIty could be considered completely finished. Whatever power they had left would no longer be enough to stir up any significant trouble here.
Moreover, the Sorcerers on the scene whom the enemy had been unable to evacuate in time should know some of the core secrets of the Sorcerer Organization. They could help him gain a deeper understanding of the organization, allowing him to find a way to uproot the remaining forces of the Sorcerer Organization on the Sinnoh Region entirely.
(End of Chapter)