Lania was fighting.
The furious, savage giant scythe in her hands was as docile as a lamb; each swing resembled a peerless dancer’s graceful twirl of a purple skirt, lightly brushing past the heads of the green-skinned goblins, sending them falling like blades of grass.
The Arbitration Knights stood like iron walls, blocking the tide of green-skinned monsters.
“How did so many goblins appear in the city sewers? Is the Demon Hunter Order and those Adventurers just for show, completely oblivious?”
After fighting for only half a minute, Lania sensed something was wrong.
After all this time, why weren’t the goblins decreasing? Instead, there were more and more.
“Hero! There must be a source monster behind this!”
Having such a huge incident in her jurisdiction would definitely lead to a downgrade in this year’s annual assessment. A cut in funding from the Capital would be the lesser evil; if it escalated, she might not even keep her current position.
The Director of the Arbitration Office was drenched in sweat, no longer interested in playing any shady tricks—he just wanted to end this quickly before things got out of hand.
“Maybe a summoning-type monster has infiltrated the city! The sewers are constantly flooding with those damn greenskins, and once they come out, they head straight for the Arbitration Office! It’s like a stronger monster is controlling them from behind the scenes!”
Thanks to the Arbitration Office’s location on the second-highest mountain in Antler City, the view was expansive. With special magical devices, they could easily overlook the entire city.
Suddenly, the Director seemed to recall something and shouted toward the purple-haired Hero, who was nimbly leaping through the air, harvesting monsters:
“That’s right! Those are monsters with specialized abilities besides the Demon King!”
Summoning-type monsters weren’t very strong on their own, but they could launch beast swarms to assault cities. The higher their rank, the more monsters they could control.
Perhaps due to recent misfortunes and now this huge obstacle blocking her from settling a score with someone, Lania’s mood hadn’t been this bad in a long time.
“What about the Heroes stationed at the South Border?” Lania’s tone was heavy. Antler City was a port city, with complex, old, and filthy sewer systems.
Tracing the source of this disaster through such sewers and wiping out those cockroach-like green monsters wasn’t particularly dangerous but was extremely time-consuming and disgusting.
Unless they used high-level Holy Attribute Magic to scorch the entire city.
But that would be like using a cannon to swat mosquitoes.
Moreover, activating such a powerful city-wide purification magic required approval from the Arbitration Office and two other factions. If even one of the three disagreed, it couldn’t be used.
“Hah! Normally they’d strictly control the dock entrances, but now? They’ve just invited the wolves in.”
The Director sneered coldly, gazing at the chaotic Antler City and the faltering security forces amidst the goblin frenzy.
Suddenly, the Hero fighting the monsters withdrew from the center of the battlefield and returned to stand before the Director.
The Director was startled and quickly added, “Of course, I’m not blaming you, Hero. You’re just carrying out your mission, pushing those hateful monsters from the neighboring city to the Court for trial…”
Lania shook her head. “Leave these ones outside to you. Though there are many monsters, their strength is low. You can handle them. I’m heading back to the Office to continue investigating the infiltrator. Maybe Senpai Shiyu has found some clues too.”
“Heh, then I’ll wish Minister Hua’s extraordinary wisdom plays the perfect role,” the Director sincerely hoped.
“Also, remember to contact the nearest Hero to come here,” Lania said.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. We’ve already sent someone to the Transmissions Room.”
“…”
Lania was silent. She lifted her giant scythe and briskly walked away.
The Director watched her leave, then waited for a moment before a Transmission Knight burst out of the Arbitration Office, his face flushed from the exertion.
“Report! Emergency report! The nearest Star Hero has sent an urgent message!”
A bad premonition rose in the Director’s heart. He barked sharply:
“Speak!”
“The Star Hero says… says…”
The Transmission Knight spoke in panic:
“The Star Hero says the Demon Race has erupted into civil war. The losing side’s monsters are in retreat! Those retreating monsters arrived at the border of the Monster Forest half an hour ago; nearby villages have fallen, with no survivors!”
“Anything else?” The Director sighed deeply.
“Our first line of defense for the Human Race has been established. Everyone in Fengxiang Town who can wield a weapon has been conscripted to the front… The Star Hero says she can’t make it to Antler City in time…”
“Contact the Capital.”
The Director slowly turned, gazing toward the Monster Forest. Now, he didn’t seem afraid of being demoted:
“This disaster and predicament aren’t my doing. It’s them—the monsters!”
“The monsters!”
The Transmission Knight lowered his head, afraid to respond or even look at their Director.
“Send a message to the City Lord’s mansion and the Demon Hunter Order’s overseers, instructing them to activate the permission button for transcendental magic within ten minutes. If they don’t comply, send them a Court summons for delaying the war effort.”
“Yes, sir!”