Chapter 179 — Hero [14] - Stopped

"By the way, Duchess Lobelia, do you know why the two powerful monsters specifically besieged Hope City? Although other cities were also attacked at the time, the attacks of the beasts were far less intense.", the Commander questioned.

His words seemed to have caught the Duchess off guard.

She didn’t immediately reply; instead, she kept silent for a few seconds.

But very quickly, she recovered and shook her head.

"I don’t know. It might be that the beasts have realized my presence in the city. The defenses of other cities are far less powerful. It makes sense for them to specifically target this place.", she answered.

The Commander didn’t press any further.

He nodded his head, as if he took her words at face value, and continued chatting.

After a few more words, though, Duchess Lobelia glanced behind the Commander and saw the crowd gathered around them.

"Let’s go inside. This is not the place to hold such important conversations.", she said to the Commander, who nodded in agreement.

Turning around, the Commander waved his hand to the subordinates standing behind him and ordered:

"Act as usual. Make sure that no rat escapes your investigation."

After that, the Commander followed behind Duchess Lobelia as the two entered the manor.

The crowd outside was disappointed.

They wanted to see and hear more of these two famous people, even if it were from afar.

But before long, their attention was drawn elsewhere.

The Infernal Army soldiers who had been standing in formation all this time finally moved. Under the commands of their respective captains, they began spreading throughout the city.

Order after order was passed down through their ranks, and the soldiers began keeping watch and closely investigating any passers-by.

--

The actions of the Infernal Army didn’t cause much chaos at first.

After all, although they had just arrived at Hope City and were considered outsiders, it was a fact that these soldiers were their allies.

However, it soon became obvious that the residents of the city were truly naive.

As Liora wandered through the city’s streets to reach her residence, the actions of the Infernal Army soldiers caught her attention.

"Stop right there! Where do you think you are going?!", Liora heard a voice coming from behind, and when she turned around, she saw that it came from one of these soldiers.

However, his words were not addressed to her.

Instead, he was speaking to a nearby Hope City resident, who was rushing to get to his home.

Liora felt that this person was somewhat familiar.

When she combed through her recent memories, she realized that he was one of the people who had cried the loudest right after the battle of Hope City.

He had mourned for the death of his companions, as well as for the other fallen soldiers.

This person was absent-minded at this time.

Even though the voice of the Infernal Army soldier was loud and thunderous, he didn’t seem to hear it.

He continued walking as if nothing had happened, ignoring the soldier as if he were air.

Standing not far away, Liora noticed a hint of annoyance flashing in the young soldier’s eyes when he saw that his orders were disobeyed.

His hand moved to his waist, and he unsheathed his sword before striking at the absent-minded resident with all his power.

Though he wasn’t paying attention, it was a fact that this resident was a True Knight.

Thus, facing the attack coming in his direction, he quickly reacted.

His hand moved on its own and brushed against the sword’s sharp edge, knocking the weapon away, while his other hand turned into a fist and punched towards the soldier.

However, just when the fist was about to land on the soldier, the person seemed to recognize his identity.

Instinctively, he held back some of his strength, afraid that this punch would kill him.

The soldier was merely a Knight Apprentice. Even though this person held back in the end, he was inevitably knocked to the ground, though not suffering any injury.

But this wasn’t enough for him to be happy. If anything, it turned him furious.

When had he, a member of the Infernal Army, suffered such humiliation?

By a mere True Knight fighting at the border, nevertheless.

"You dare resist? What are you hiding?! Everyone! Someone is colluding with the beasts to murder me!", he shouted shamelessly at the top of his lungs, right under the stunned eyes of the True Knight.

Before the Knight could react, the companions of the soldier had arrived. Three True Knights worked together and, facing the unarmed man, they quickly managed to knock him out.

While they were placing shackles on his hands and feet, the Knight Apprentice stepped forward and kicked him a couple of times on the head, as if to take out his anger.

Then, the unconscious True Knight was carried away, arrested under suspicion of colluding with the beasts.

This whole sequence of events fell into Liora’s eyes.

Although she did not have much knowledge regarding the Infernal Army, she was able to judge a lot just based on the scene in front of her.

"How unreasonable... Are the Knights of the capital all like this? A mere Knight Apprentice dares to frame a True Knight in broad daylight and have him arrested.", she thought and shook her head, feeling that Hope City was destined not to remain calm for long.

But that was none of her business.

Or at the very least, that was what Liora initially thought.

Yet, just when she was getting close to her residence, she noticed from the corner of her eye that a team of armed True Knights glanced in her direction.

They whispered something in a hushed voice before they all got up and approached her quickly.

"Stop right there! State your identity and purpose for wandering at such a time—", the Knight in the lead yelled.

But before he could finish his words, Liora’s crimson eyes shone brightly.