"The Volcanic Keystone doesn't seem to be here," Aven frowned after surveying the area.
Since the Sorcerer Organization had chosen to attack Meteor City, they must have had accurate information. Under such circumstances, the Volcanic Keystone had to exist within Meteor City!
"Lord Shen, are these all the ores Meteor City possesses?" he asked, turning to the city lord beside him.
At his words, the city lord's gaze flickered almost imperceptibly. Lowering his head slightly, he replied, "These are indeed all the ores accumulated by Meteor City."
"If the Volcanic Keystone isn't here, then perhaps it's located in a certain mine. If that's the case, searching for it would become quite troublesome."
"Garde~ voir~"
Throughout this entire exchange, Gardevoir's gaze had never left the Meteor City Lord.
Once his words ended, Gardevoir shook her head directly, indicating that the city lord was not telling the truth.
"Lord of Meteor City, it seems you're still hiding something from me," Aven said calmly.
"Don't question my judgment. Having gained Azelf's recognition, I possess the ability to discern lies. Nothing can be hidden from me."
Aven looked at the city lord seriously, instantly making him feel as though he had no secrets at all. His complexion shifted erratically.
"Our Meteor City does indeed still have remaining ores and wealth," the city lord finally admitted.
"But those ores are not within Meteor City, they were taken out to sea…"
"Among them are some gemstones imbued with Fire-type energy. These are all offerings Meteor City prepared for Heatran!"
After hesitating briefly, the Meteor City Lord explained the matter of the Meteorite ship in full. He felt that if the Volcanic Keystone truly existed, it was very likely aboard the Meteorite.
"At sea… a sunken ship," Aven's gaze sharpened.
He then turned his eyes directly toward the Rhydon, which was still rummaging through the pile of gemstones.
In fact, the moment he first heard about the Volcanic Keystone, he had thought of the volcanic stone within Rhydon's body—he simply hadn't been able to confirm it.
Now, after hearing the city lord's explanation, he was already seventy to eighty percent certain that the Volcano Stone was precisely the Volcanic Keystone, and moreover, a legendary-grade resource!
"I understand. In that case, we can only wait for the Meteorite to return," Aven nodded, then continued, "Now, take me to your study."
"I want to know exactly what kind of connection exists between Meteor City and Heatran. Since you've been searching for Heatran all this time, you should know this guardian deity quite well, shouldn't you?"
He had already examined the treasury earlier and found nothing related to Heatran. It made sense—something so precious would certainly be stored elsewhere.
The Meteor City Lord let out a quiet sigh and led Aven to the study. He then directly opened a hidden chamber within it and brought Aven inside.
Upon entering the secret room, Aven's attention was immediately captured by the carvings on the walls. Besides Heatran, he unexpectedly saw a statue of Darkrai as well!
"Darkrai?"
"Do you worship Darkrai as well, in addition to Heatran?"
The Meteor City Lord shook his head and then briefly recounted the history of his clan.
When Aven heard that the earliest people of Meteor City had actually come from another continent, a look of surprise appeared on his face.
And that continent was the Almia Continent! Wasn't the Daly family also from the Almia Continent? And wasn't Darkrai the deity they worshipped?
"This is… a nautical map!" Aven suddenly exclaimed, turning his gaze toward a distant wall.
He first saw the familiar map of the Sinnoh Continent, and then, in the southwestern direction of Sinnoh, he noticed three smaller landmasses!
In an instant, a conjecture formed in his mind—the Almia Region must be one of those three smaller continents!
"This one here is the Almia Continent. The other two are the Fiore Continent and the Orre Continent," the Meteor City Lord explained from the side.
"However, the precise nautical charts were lost long ago. If we wish to find a way back, we can only rely on our own exploration."
Aven nodded. Even so, this was already an enormous gain. By combining the information passed down in Meteor City with that preserved by the Daly family, they would be able to further pinpoint the Almia region.
"However… we might still have another way to obtain information about the Almia Continent," Aven suddenly said with a smile.
Hearing this, the Meteor City Lord was momentarily stunned, then immediately reacted.
"Your Highness Aven, you mean… those sorcerers?"
"Yes—them," Aven nodded.
"From what we know, the Almia Continent possesses both Darkrai and Heatran as guardian deities."
"And my Darkrai was seized from the Sorcerer Organization. If Darkrai originated from the Almia Continent, then those sorcerers must also come from there!"
Aven spoke with certainty. Upon hearing this, the Meteor City Lord was utterly dumbfounded. His attention was completely fixed on one sentence—Darkrai had been taken from the Sorcerer Organization?
This utterly shattered his understanding. Shouldn't guardian deities be objects of faith? Yet the royal candidate before him, who had gained Azelf's recognition, had subdued Darkrai through sheer power?
Thinking of this, he lowered his head even further. He realized that he could see less and less clearly through this prince before him, and the last trace of resistance in his heart vanished completely.
In the time that followed, Aven remained in the Meteor City Lord's study, reading the books related to the Almia Continent. Meanwhile, Mismagius began interrogating the captured sorcerers without delay.
Originally, Aven's focus had been entirely on the Almia Continent, but Mismagius unexpectedly brought him shocking news, Heatran was actually located on the volcanic island across the sea!
"Heatran is on the island opposite us?"
"How is that possible?! We already explored that island long ago!"
The Meteor City Lord was filled with disbelief. He could not accept that the Heatran Meteor City had searched for so desperately was actually so close!
"According to the memories of these sorcerers, Heatran is indeed on the island across the sea," Aven said.
"However, Heatran has been sealed within Stark Mountain. Only the Volcanic Keystone can lift Heatran's seal!"
Aven relayed the information obtained from Mismagius. Given the scale of the Sorcerer Organization's operation to seize the Volcanic Keystone, the information should be reliable.
"Your Highness Aven, then what should we do now?" The Meteor City Lord was clearly growing excited.
His clan had searched for Heatran for so long, and now they finally had concrete news. Yet, upon thinking about Meteor City's current predicament, his emotions became conflicted once more.
At this thought, his expression grew solemn. Now, he could only hope that Heatran still remembered their clan and would once again acknowledge them as the descendants of its faithful clan.
If that were the case, he would regain the qualification to speak as an equal before the prince, and his status would rise dramatically. Even if Meteor City truly merged into Aspiration City, he would still retain an extraordinary position.
"There's nothing to hesitate about. Heatran is someone we must seek out," Aven said decisively.
"Although the plan to seize the Volcanic Keystone failed this time, the Sorcerer Organization will never give up on subduing Heatran."
"Besides Darkrai, they possess two other guardian deities. If all three guardian deities are mobilized, even Heatran would be unable to withstand them!"
(End of Chapter)