A few minutes later, Lin Dawei carefully lifted Kael and placed him onto Iria's bed.
Although his wounds had already been bandaged, dark red blood was still slowly seeping through the once-white gauze.
"This won't work if it goes on like this," Lin Dawei said gravely as he looked at Kael. "If we don't get him to the hospital soon, I'm afraid this young man won't be able to hold on much longer."
"There's nothing else we can do," Wang Shengnan replied, her expression equally heavy. "We've already done everything we can."
After all, she wasn't a doctor. Being able to reach this point was already the limit of what she could do.
"Mom, Dad, the hospital says it'll take at least an hour before an ambulance can get here," Iria rushed in anxiously. "Because of the Magic Abyss incident tonight, the roads around us are completely jammed."
Hearing this, Lin Dawei and Wang Shengnan's faces darkened.
Their home was so close to Guangming Residential District that they had a rough idea of what was going on tonight. With only one major road separating the two areas, the fighting in Guangming Residential District hadn't gone unnoticed by their family.
"Dad, Mom… what do we do now?" Iria asked, looking at Kael's pale face in panic.
They could already guess Kael's identity. Someone injured this badly, appearing at a time like this, combined with the Magic Abyss incident—there was only one possibility. Kael had to be a Trainer summoned by the authorities.
"We can only—"
Lin Dawei had just started speaking when his words abruptly cut off.
At that very moment, a piercing, razor-sharp cry suddenly tore through the air.
"GAA——!!!"
The sound was like thunder exploding beside their ears.
In an instant, their vision darkened as a massive shadow descended. When their sight cleared, they saw a giant bird Pokémon—its size comparable to a small helicopter—hovering outside the hole blasted through the wall, its enormous wings beating powerfully.
Its body was clad in steel-like armor, cold light glinting off its feathers. A pair of blood-red eyes burned with murderous intent as they locked onto Lin Dawei, Iria, and Wang Shengnan.
It was Kael's Corviknight.
That killing gaze was like an invisible blade pressed against their throats. A suffocating aura washed over them, forcing all three to stumble backward uncontrollably.
Lin Dawei's face went deathly pale, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. His only thought was to protect his wife and daughter.
Without hesitation, he spread his arms and shielded Wang Shengnan and Iria behind him.
Pop—
Almost simultaneously, a crisp sound rang out. The red-and-white Poké Ball hanging around Iria's neck suddenly opened on its own.
A flash of light appeared, and a brownish-green Pokémon about a meter tall materialized in front of the family.
Despite its smaller stature, it stood bravely between them and Corviknight, puffing out its chest and letting out a low, determined warning.
"Ka-ka!!!"
It was Iria's Pokémon—Munchlax.
"Little Ka, don't!" Iria cried out anxiously.
"Gah… gah-gah…"
Seeing Munchlax, Corviknight's violent aura instantly receded. It let out a series of hurried cries instead.
Munchlax relaxed as well, chirping back at Corviknight before turning to Iria.
"Ka-ka… Ka-bi…"
As if afraid she wouldn't understand, it pointed with its stubby little paw at Kael on the bed, then pointed at Corviknight.
"You mean… this Corviknight is that young man's Pokémon?" Lin Dawei asked before Iria could speak.
"Ka-ka."
Munchlax nodded.
"Gah-gah-gah… gah-gah!"
Corviknight cried urgently again.
Seeing this, Wang Shengnan immediately said, "Lin Dawei, carry him. We'll ride Corviknight to the hospital."
"Right, right!" Lin Dawei nodded rapidly.
He picked Kael up and moved toward the hole in the wall. Feeling the fierce wind rushing in and looking down from over twenty meters up, Lin Dawei silently prayed, Buddha, please protect us.
Then he stepped onto Corviknight's back.
"Good heavens… this is going to cost me my life," Lin Dawei muttered after carefully settling Kael down, glancing around nervously.
He really wasn't built for this kind of excitement.
"Lin Dawei, be careful! Hold on tight to the feathers!" Wang Shengnan shouted from inside.
"Dad, be careful!" Iria called out as well.
"I know! You two wait at home!" Lin Dawei shouted back, then yelled at Corviknight, "Big guy! Let's go!"
"Gah!!"
Corviknight let out a long cry and shot forward like a gust of wind.
In moments, it had turned into a distant black speck, leaving only Lin Dawei's terrified voice echoing in the air:
"Slo—o—ow do—o—own!!!"
The panic in his voice was unmistakable.
"Mom… Dad won't be okay, right?" Iria asked worriedly.
Wang Shengnan was worried too, but as a citizen of Yanxia, she couldn't just watch a young man die like this.
She knew very well that Trainers like Kael fought to protect people like them. If she had stood by and let him die, she would never find peace for the rest of her life.
She didn't voice these thoughts. Instead, she said calmly, "Enough worrying. Your dad will be fine. Hurry up and pack up your things."
Iria looked at her bedroom—now basically a ruin—and said bitterly, "Mom… is there really any point in packing anymore?"
At this point, demolishing and rebuilding the room would be easier.
"Idiot," Wang Shengnan snapped, rolling her eyes. "I mean your clothes."
"Ka-ka…"
Munchlax walked over, holding an ID card in its little paw, and handed it to Wang Shengnan.
"This is his Trainer license…" Wang Shengnan said after taking it and reading the information. "An Elite-level Trainer. No wonder that Corviknight was so oppressive."
She then glanced at the name.
"Kael… not a bad name."
Hearing that, Iria suddenly exclaimed, "I know who he is! Kael—that's Riven's good friend! He's ranked near the top among all high school Trainers in Magic City!"
She wasn't unfamiliar with the name. Although they weren't from the same school, Riven had mentioned him many times. She'd also seen Trainer rankings before.
Wang Shengnan sighed inwardly.
As expected, outstanding children always belonged to someone else's family.
Her own daughter was stuck in between—neither outstanding nor terrible—and even her Pokémon was a glutton. Thinking about it made her exhausted.
If only she had such an excellent son…
Unaware of her mother's thoughts, Iria took out her phone and called Riven.
It rang for a while, but no one answered.