Chapter 184 — Tension [4] - Answers

A few days later, a team of Knights left Hope City.

Wearing the signature red armor with the famous insignia, it was clear that they were all members of the Infernal Army.

For the following few hours, they wandered around Hope City, slaying any beast they happened to come across.

In fact, this team was not the only one doing this.

Many teams like theirs had left the city in the morning, tasked with clearing out the surrounding beasts.

It was just that this team was one of the strongest and one of the few that actually met a Great Knight beast during their search.

A deafening screech echoed in a ruined forest. Surrounded by a formation of True Knights, a beast that seemed to have evolved from a mosquito collapsed to the ground, uttering its final cry.

Shockingly, the team composed only of True Knights had managed to cooperate seamlessly and kill a Great Knight Beast.

However, their captain—the only Great Knight—who had been watching from the side, was not very pleased.

"Is this how the Infernal Formation is used? A mere Great Knight beast took you this long to kill!"

"Idiots! You’re bringing shame to the name of the Infernal Army! Once we return, each of you shall receive 100 lashes!", the captain angrily scolded the soldiers, who didn’t dare to retort.

Seeing that the soldiers showed that they understood their fault, the captain waved his hand and ordered:

"Okay. Let’s go. There should be other beasts nearby—"

Just when he was halfway through his words, though, the ground beneath the Great Knight began to tremble.

He initially believed that this was the result of a sudden earthquake, but was shocked to discover that the trembling grew increasingly intense.

In a couple of seconds, the whole field was shaking violently, as if the end of the world was near.

Before the captain could send anyone to investigate the cause, a dark shadow spread throughout the plain and engulfed him.

When he turned his head, he discovered that a massive beast had unknowingly appeared behind him.

Seeing the appearance of the beast—which perfectly matched the description he had heard not long ago—the captain recognized it.

"It’s the Ape Beast that attacked Hope City!", he yelled and was about to urge the soldiers to escape.

But it was too late.

The Ape Beast didn’t say anything.

It just turned its hand into a fist and punched down.

The air froze.

The mere aftershock of the punch caused the weaker soldiers to turn into minced meat.

In fact, even the captain had trouble moving. Facing the Ape Beast, who could fight against Duchess Lobelia, he was powerless to resist.

"It’s over!", he thought and closed his eyes, awaiting his death.

But the expected pain never arrived,

When the captain opened his eyes in shock and surveyed his surroundings, he discovered that a shadow had grabbed his ankle unbeknownst to him and was dragging him away.

Its speed was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, the Ape Beast had vanished from his field of vision.

"Thank you! Thank you for saving me! May I ask who Your Excellency is—"

Before he could finish his words, a hand struck him on the back of his head.

The captain’s vision turned blurry, and he lost consciousness the very next moment.

--

"Just when I was looking for a Great Knight to conduct some experiments, the Infernal Army happened to visit Hope City. Is this what people refer to as karma? Kind actions bring one good luck..."

"I saved Hope City and, in a sense, the human race. For this world, I should be its savior...", Liora muttered shamelessly as she placed the unconscious captain onto the operating table.

As she lowered her head and looked at him, her eyes shone with excitement.

This was the first Great Knight she had captured so far, and he was about to become her most valuable experimental subject.

Liora was almost certain that, with his contribution, she might be able to solve the issues troubling her.

"You might not realize it, but it is your great honor to participate in my experiments. If everything goes well and my research is successful, millions of people will benefit from your contribution.", she spoke to the captain, but, being unconscious, he was unable to respond.

"I’ll take your silence as agreement. Sure enough, the members of the Infernal Army are all heroes.", Liora nodded her head.

After she made a couple more jokes to contain her excitement, Liora’s face finally turned serious.

Without any hesitation, she grabbed a small scalpel from the side and opened the Great Knight’s skin with extreme precision.

Following this, she took out several vials containing beast blood and began pouring them into the wound.

Under the control of her demonic energy, the blood integrated into the captain’s body.

Slowly but surely, the captain’s strength was improved.

"As expected, the Life Force of beasts is extremely pure. For humans, their blood is a supreme tonic.", she thought, but her actions didn’t stop.

More and more blood poured into the captain and, before long, his aura had massively improved.

From the "Early" stage of Great Knight, to the "Middle", and then "Late".

Shortly after, at the cost of the blood of hundreds of beasts, the captain had reached the peak of the Great Knight rank.

This didn’t mean that Liora’s experiment was over, though. Far from it.

It had only just begun.

"Now it’s time to see what changes the Life Seed causes in a human. Why is it that Great Knight can accommodate the Bloodline Seed? What are the consequences of doing so?", she whispered the many questions troubling her all this time.

Her focus shifted. Her shining eyes moved to the captain’s abdomen, where a Great Knight’s Life Seed was located.

Then, her hand thrust forward.

Soon, strange sounds echoed within Liora’s research facility. Although the captain was unconscious and unable to resist, his shrill screams spread.