Chapter 288: Prisoners

'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.'

This renowned sentence that Tristan saw and read more than once echoed throughout his mind as he looked intently at the situation he had at hand. He knew the stakes had just risen to a whole new level altogether, and if he was not careful, he would certainly once again land himself into such complications.

For these kinds of enemies, Tristan knew he had to be smart fighting them. Otherwise, he would be the one obliterated and be left with nothing behind. 

Therefore, what he should do first at this time was gather more information. And who else would give the best information other than one of their own. 

If his guess was on the mark, the person that was being mentioned on the communication device should be none other than the space knight captain who was currently in captivity. In fact, Tristan was pretty sure about this assumption of his.

With that thought in mind, Tristan swiftly ordered Professor Emmet to bring him to his objective.

"We will swiftly head to the transition facility, Your Majesty," said Professor Emmet.

The group swiftly departed, making their way to the so-called transition facility. As they walked through the street of O district, Tristan could see Serene seemed to be in some sort of deep thought. Hence, he couldn't help but ask her about it.

"What's wrong? Something on your mind?"

Serene turned her head in surprise as she didn't expect Tristan to suddenly question her. A faint smile unknowingly graced her lips.

She quickly schooled her expression and replied, "It's nothing, really. It's just.." She momentarily stopped in her speech, eyes gazing to the direction of Vanyar Kingdom. "..me and the Queen, we knew that Callan had always been fascinated with the outsiders; we just didn't know the reason why. We never realized that such threats existed."

"That's actually a good question, Serene." Tristan commented. He then looked upon Tobias and said, "I think now is a good time to speak about what Callan's real plan is."

Tobias looked a little hesitant at first, but eventually, he answered. "Callan went to seek the High Elves. They are, after all, considered to be the strongest beings on the entire planet."

Tristan gave a glance toward Serene and his wife nodded her head, confirming what the old wizard said. With this, it confirmed that the shitty king once again played him. For that, he planned to make the other party regret giving the throne to him while he was gone.

Not long after, the group finally reached the place Professor Emmet mentioned. The place was exactly something that Tristan expected for a location where captives were held. 

It looked exactly like a fortified prison, with its high walls and refined steel doors. As the place had restricted access, only Tristan, Tobias, and Emmet went inside while the others could only wait outside.

There, he saw a corridor of cells where many people were being held. Among them, the four space knights were being separated into four different cells that looked like a small room.

"You! You're finally here, Blood Elf!" shouted the man with a scar on his face.. It was the space knight captain, Sigfried.

He then tried to look beyond Tristan, as if seeking for something. "Are you looking for Chieng? I am sorry, but he's already dead."

The other space knights, who could definitely hear his words, immediately turned rowdy with the sudden news of the death of their companion. Captain Sigfried, however, only appeared to be frowning. The frown didn't even last for more than a few seconds.

Hearing the angry shouts coming from his subordinates, he surprisingly shouted at them to shut up. Afterwards, he took a long, deep breath before looking intently at Tristan's eyes.

"At least tell me this. Did he die bravely?"

Tristan's face turned serious as he recalled what happened back then. "Yes, he did." He somberly replied as he gazed back at Sigfried. "He died protecting me."

"Good.. that's good." muttered Sigfried. "So you came to take more of us? If so, may I suggest my sergeant Bradley in the cell over there? He really can't stand another day of not kicking ass. If he doesn't fit your requirements, then what about my strongest man Cekotei? ..As for the only lady member here, I have to say I'm sorry. She's not available until she gets her legs back."

"Captain! What are you saying?! It's clear that I'm the strongest!!" shouted Bradley from his cell.

"That's true, but you are too stupid!"

Tristan shook his head as he watched the farce happening before him. He really wondered if all the space knights were like this. They didn't seem afraid of death, not even the slightest inkling of it.

If that was indeed the case, five hundred of these people would certainly be troublesome, especially when they were fully equipped and prepared.

In the middle of the farce with his sergeant, Sigfried finally noticed the two old men following behind Tristan. All of a sudden, an elated expression appeared on his face and the man started to laugh.

"One is the capital's strongest wizard, while the other is the renowned professor! Hahaha, can I guess that finally, my reinforcements have come?" Sigfried laughed madly as he spoke. "Hahaha, you are all doomed!!"

It was just as if God had listened to his cry, Tristan suddenly felt something high above in the sky of the capital city. Seeing how Tobias' face turned pale quickly, he knew the man felt it too. The three ignored the cackling man and quickly went outside to see what was happening.

A huge mass of steel could be seen descending from the sky, its shadow looming over the sky of the capital. Even from a distance, Tristan could see its appearance, which proved its gigantic size.

It should be at least the size of Earth's aircraft carrier, or one of those five-star luxury cruise ships that he saw in a tourism brochure - only flying and covered with armor plating.

The sudden appearance of it quickly shocked the citizens of Prontera, even those who lived in the O District. Tristan could only imagine how the situation looked with the residents of the capital city.

"Arrrghhh! They have come already!!" shouted Emmet, panic was prevalent in his voice.

Tobias, who was stunned for a while after seeing such a sight, suddenly turned to look at Tristan. The man then said, "My King, what is your order?"

"Tobias, I order you to protect the city how you see fit. However, I warn you to not attack them unless it's absolutely necessary! Your priority is to stall for time. Do you understand?!"