At the Meteor City knight encampment, everyone stood staring at one another in silence.
What had happened today was simply far too sudden. Even now, they still had not fully processed it.
First, the attackers had appeared out of nowhere, attempting to abduct their lord. Then, that noble from Aspiration City emerged and crushed four King-tier magical beasts with overwhelming force. And now, that same Aspiration City noble had disappeared just as abruptly, leaving them all at a loss as to what they should do next.
"Whew… so does this mean Meteor City is safe now?"
"But both sides appeared almost at the same time. Could it be that their objective was the Volcanic Keystone?"
"The Volcanic Keystone… what exactly is it? Why would it trigger such an intense struggle between forces this powerful?"
The Meteor City Lord's gaze flickered.
"Could it be… that all of this is connected to the guardian deity, Heatran?"
This was the only possible origin of the Volcanic Keystone he could think of. And if it truly involved a guardian deity, then it made perfect sense that such formidable forces would fight over it.
"Lord, what should we do now?" the knight commander asked at this moment.
The Meteor City Lord snapped back to reality. Now was clearly not the time to ponder these matters—Meteor City's crisis might not have been fully resolved yet.
At the same time, he remembered that he had been in the middle of a mobilization meeting earlier, preparing to lead the knight order in a charge to crush the enemies outside the city.
"Knights, prepare yourselves! Follow me—charge!" the Meteor City Lord immediately issued the order.
Although the knights were still filled with confusion, once they heard the command, they responded swiftly and sprang into action.
However, just as the knight order completed its assembly, news arrived from the front—the Crawdaunt that had been pressing against the city walls had already begun to retreat.
"Hmph? Trying to leave? As if it were that easy!" the Meteor City Lord snorted coldly.
He immediately led the knight order in pursuit. After all, magical beasts carried countless valuable materials on them.
Take these Crawdaunt, for example—their shells were excellent materials for forging armor. Not only were they incredibly durable, they were also remarkably lightweight.
Before long, the knight order caught up with the retreating Crawdaunt. Without hesitation, they raised the longswords in their hands!
By the time they reached the cliff beneath where the sorcerers had gathered, they were greeted by a scene of black-robed sorcerers and magical beasts lying sprawled across the ground. At that moment, Aven was directing Mismagius to probe the memories of the sorcerers through their dreams.
"Earl Aven, thank you for saving us this time. As the lord of Meteor City, I sincerely offer you my deepest gratitude." The Meteor City Lord, Shen, stepped forward and bowed slightly in thanks.
A true powerhouse deserved respect wherever they went—even if he himself was the lord of Meteor City.
However, just as he moved closer, several vines suddenly rose from the ground, blocking his path. Lilligant frowned slightly as she stared at the human before her.
"Lilli… lilli…"
From this human, Lilligant sensed a strong aura of death.
"Lass…"
Froslass floated over as well. She, too, felt waves of resentful spirit energy emanating from the man.
Aven's expression shifted slightly. "I happened to have business to discuss with Meteor City anyway. This encounter was simply a coincidence."
"May I ask what business Earl Aven wishes to discuss with me?" the Meteor City Lord quickly asked.
"We can talk about that later. For now, let's deal with these sorcerers first," Aven shook his head.
In the time that followed, Aven had the Meteor City knights assist in transporting all the sorcerers and Pokémon back to Meteor City.
There were a great many sorcerers present. Even for Mismagius, it would take a considerable amount of time to read through their dreams thoroughly in order to extract the information Aven wanted.
"Very well, leave it to us."
"These bastards dared to attack Meteor City—I'll make sure they experience Meteor City's punishments firsthand!" the Meteor City Lord snorted coldly.
His words were steeped in aristocratic arrogance, and he himself was a blood-thirsty lord. Otherwise, he would not personally come to the battlefield every time there was a fight.
"These sorcerers are my prisoners. Naturally, they will be judged according to Aspiration City's laws," Aven frowned slightly, clearly displeased with the noble's tone.
Hearing this, the Meteor City Lord stiffened for a moment, then nodded lightly. After all, these sorcerers were indeed Aven's captives—there was nothing unreasonable about it.
The unconscious sorcerers were quickly loaded onto beast-drawn carriages. Aven keenly noticed that every beast pulling the carts was fitted with thick, heavy equipment like armor covering their bodies.
Only then did Aven recall that Meteor City specialized in crafting beast gear. That was precisely why the scale of the Meteor City knight order ranked among the top on the entire Sinnoh Region.
Aside from the lack of top-tier combat power, the sheer number and strength of the knight order alone gave Meteor City the ability to stand firmly on this land. If the battle had taken place within Meteor City itself, relying on the knight order and siege defenses, even four King-level Pokémon would have struggled to break through.
"Earl Aven, how does our Meteor City knight order compare to the knight order of Aspiration City?" the Meteor City Lord asked with a hint of pride.
If not for Meteor City's limited population and food shortages, the knight order's scale could have expanded several times over. As things stood, Meteor City was already close to being a city where everyone could fight.
"Naturally, the Aspiration City knight order is far larger in scale," Aven shook his head slightly.
Although Meteor City possessed enough beast gear to fully arm their magical beasts and their knights, Aspiration City's knight order no longer relied on such equipment to subdue Pokémon.
Moreover, Aspiration City's knight order had already begun transitioning into full-fledged Trainers. Each knight could command multiple Pokémon. With the same number of knights, Aspiration City's forces possessed several times the number of Pokémon compared to a traditional knight order!
Especially after the widespread adoption of Poké Balls, beast gear was destined to be phased out entirely.
Hearing Aven's words, the Meteor City Lord was visibly taken aback. He gave an awkward smile and said, "As expected of a city protected by a guardian deity. And Aspiration City's land is indeed fertile."
As they conversed, the Meteor City knight order continued advancing toward the coastal town. However, halfway along the route, Aven noticed Crawdaunt corpses scattered all over the ground.
In addition, many Meteor City knights were busy processing the Crawdaunt shells, carefully separating them. At the same time, the Meteor City Lord's explanation rang out beside him.
"To express my gratitude, I'll present Earl Aven with a full knight-order set of Crawdaunt armor. These armors are truly excellent—both sturdy and lightweight…" the Meteor City Lord continued enthusiastically, completely oblivious to the subtle changes in Aven's expression.
(End of Chapter)