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With this in hand, even if he couldn\'t directly defeat those high-level monsters, he wouldn\'t be helpless.

Seeing this, Franklin pulled out two bottles of green potions and handed them over casually, saying, "These are Life Recovery Potions. As long as you two are still breathing, they\'ll bring you back."

As he spoke, he didn\'t forget to add seriously to Sophia, "These potions aren\'t cheap, you know. I\'ll be billing Ryan for these later!"

Luca couldn\'t help but laugh.

His teacher really had a love for money—charging Sophia for potions even at a time like this.

Of course, Luca shared this trait; the two of them were truly kindred spirits when it came to money.

"Give everything to Luca, I have my own life-saving items," Sophia said, shaking her head, refusing their gifts.

While high-grade items were rare, as the only child of Count Ryan, Sophia was already carrying more life-saving tools than she could count.

Given the situation, it made more sense to give them to Luca, who needed them more.

The Howard family was wealthy and well-prepared, so Franklin and Lucia weren\'t surprised by her response.

They waved their hands, passing all four high-grade items to Luca.

Franklin chuckled, scolding him jokingly, "Lucky you, kid. You just made out like a bandit!"

Luca was overjoyed and quickly thanked them again.

With just a few casual gifts from these wealthy patrons, he had saved himself twenty years of struggle!

With these four high-grade items, as long as he didn\'t face an overwhelmingly powerful monster.

He could either defeat it or at least make a safe escape.

By now, they had caught up with the group of powerful figures who had gone ahead.

Their expressions were calm, and the other warriors didn\'t seem to notice anything unusual about them.

Kurk, the lord of Redwind City, urged them, "Hurry up! If we don\'t move fast, the monsters will break out of Beast Forest!"

Rudolph also wore a worried expression, saying, "I hope Cassman and the others are holding out. I\'m really concerned for them."

Luca couldn\'t help but inwardly applaud. Rudolph\'s acting was top-tier. If this were in the real world, he\'d be a shoo-in for an Oscar!

Right now, Rudolph looked like the perfect image of a city lord deeply concerned for the safety of Riverfall City.

If Luca hadn\'t already suspected him, he might have been completely fooled by Rudolph\'s performance.

But since Rudolph had already shown his true colors, there was no turning back.

A smirk tugged at the corner of Luca\'s mouth.

Sophia, on the other hand, had no patience for playing along with Rudolph\'s charade.

She spoke coldly, "Teacher, I\'ll leave him to you."

"Don\'t worry," Lucia nodded slightly, and with a flash of light from her pale hand, a silver staff adorned with a crescent gemstone appeared in her grasp.

The others hadn\'t yet grasped what Lucia was about to do.

Lucia raised her crescent staff and gently tapped the air.

A ripple, like a wave in water, spread out across the sky.

"BOOM!!!"

A deafening clap of thunder echoed above.

And in the shocked gazes of those present, blinding bolts of lightning split the sky in an instant!

Nine lightning spears, each as thick as a barrel, crashed down, encircling Rudolph in a flash.

At the same time, Franklin held an ancient black book, now brimming with a deep, eerie blue energy.

His Witch Doctor power swelled and quickly condensed in midair, forming a massive skull.

The skull shot forward with terrifying speed and slammed into Rudolph\'s forehead before he could react.

It was the High-Level Witch Doctor skill: Silence Curse.

Anyone hit by the curse wouldn\'t be able to use any skills for ten minutes!

The sudden ambush caused everyone present to pale with shock.

Rudolph, meanwhile, felt a creeping sense of dread in his heart.

But he forced himself to remain calm and asked in a deep voice, "What\'s the meaning of this?!"

"Old man, stop pretending! You know exactly why we\'re doing this!" Franklin grinned wickedly, his voice dripping with menace. "If anything, you should understand better than anyone."

Rudolph\'s heart skipped a beat. He didn\'t know where he had slipped up but tried to maintain his composure, responding, "I don\'t know what you\'re talking about."

"Enough with the nonsense! Let\'s just finish him off!" Lucia scoffed coldly, raising her staff higher as thunder rumbled ominously in the sky.

Lightning bolts intertwined, and in the blink of an eye, they coalesced into a massive sword of pure lightning!

The sheer power radiating from it made even the high-level warriors present feel a chill of fear.

"Wow, lightning-fire mages really are the definition of brute-force destruction! This level of skill blows most high-level powerhouses out of the water!" Luca thought to himself in awe. However, he didn\'t feel any jealousy, knowing full well that once he advanced to a High-Level Demonic Rune Mage, his power would surpass even this.

By now, the others had begun to catch on.

Bright, the head of the Assassins\' Guild, pulled out a dagger and asked seriously, "What\'s going on here? Why are you attacking Lord Rudolph all of a sudden?"

"This doesn\'t concern you. Stay out of it," Franklin replied dismissively, his body surrounded by a cloud of toxic, purple fumes as countless venomous insects.

Spiders, snakes, bloodworms—poured onto the ground and surged toward Rudolph like a wave, sending shivers down the spines of those watching.

"Franklin, you old devil! Explain what\'s going on before you start throwing around curses!" shouted Bayou, the head of the Adventurers\' Guild, as his palm glowed with a bright white light. With a wave, a blast of energy shot forth, scattering all of the poisonous insects across the ground.

Franklin\'s eyes narrowed in irritation. "You want a fight, old man? Come on then! Let\'s see how long it takes before you\'re crying for your mom!"

Bayou\'s face alternated between shades of green and white, clearly furious and ready to lash out.

At that moment, Luca spoke up.

In a firm voice, he said, "Honored elders, Rudolph is suspected of colluding with the Nightmare Cult! I ask that we work together to apprehend him!"

The entire crowd was stunned by this revelation.

"Rudolph, colluding with the Nightmare Cult?!" Kurk\'s eyes widened in disbelief, thinking he must have misheard.

Bayou and Bright were also filled with shock, their faces showing complete disbelief.

It seemed impossible—Rudolph was the City Lord of Riverfall City! How could he be involved with the Nightmare Cult?

Rudolph, on the other hand, was furious.

Clenching his fists, he shouted, "You brat, don\'t you dare slander me! When have I ever colluded with the Nightmare Cult? If you\'re going to accuse me, you\'d better have proof!"

Despite his outward anger, Rudolph\'s heart was filled with fear and confusion.

How could they possibly know about this?

He hadn\'t slipped up once—there was no way he should have been discovered.

Bayou hesitated for a moment and then spoke, "Could this be a misunderstanding? How could City Lord Rudolph, after all his years of service to Riverfall City, possibly be in league with the Nightmare Cult? We\'ve all seen how much he\'s sacrificed for the city."

Bright, Kurk, and the other powerful figures present nodded in agreement.

If Rudolph really was working with the Nightmare Cult, it would be unbelievable—like something out of a twisted fantasy.

Seeing the others starting to take his side, Rudolph\'s confidence grew.

In a deep voice, he said, "If you\'re accusing me of colluding with the Nightmare Cult, you\'d better have solid evidence. Attacking me without proof—does that do justice to all I\'ve done for Riverfall City and the Emerald State over the years?"

With that, Rudolph played the moral card, cloaking himself in the mantle of righteousness, trying to corner Luca and the others.

Sophia and the rest frowned.

They had no hard evidence to prove that Rudolph was indeed the traitor working with the Nightmare Cult.

Everything was based on Luca\'s suspicions.

And that was the problem.

Without concrete proof, acting on mere conjecture would be difficult to justify, especially in front of the others.

In the midst of this crisis, any misstep could lead to unnecessary chaos.

They all turned their eyes toward Luca.

But Luca had already anticipated this. Turning to Rudolph, he said, with a knowing look, "You say you\'re not the traitor. So, explain why Matthew used Demon Lure Potion in an attempt to kill over ten thousand Iron Mountain soldiers and adventurers. Wasn\'t that under your orders? Do you dare say you had no responsibility in that?"

In truth, Luca didn\'t know for sure whether Matthew\'s actions were at Rudolph\'s behest.

But that didn\'t stop him from throwing the accusation at Rudolph.

The details weren\'t the most important thing right now. The key was to restrain Rudolph immediately—once the current situation was resolved, the truth would come out in due time.

Matthew\'s role in triggering the monster horde and attempting to massacre the Iron Mountain soldiers was enough of a reason to justify their move to imprison Rudolph.

"Matthew tried to massacre the Iron Mountain army?!" The crowd was shocked once again.

None of them had any idea that such a thing had occurred before.

The attempted slaughter of over ten thousand Iron Mountain soldiers was nothing short of treason.

This wasn\'t just a simple offense—it was a crime beyond forgiveness!

Immediately, everyone\'s gaze toward Rudolph shifted.

After all, if your son did something so outrageous, who else would people suspect but you?

"That idiot Matthew! All he does is make things worse at critical moments!" Rudolph finally realized where the trouble stemmed from and cursed Matthew in his heart a hundred times over.

Still, he stubbornly tried to argue, "Everything you\'re saying is just hearsay! You have no real evidence!"

Luca remained calm and replied coolly, "Who said I don\'t have evidence? Catherine, her squad members, and the city guards can all testify to what Matthew did."

Catherine and the others nodded, their eyes filled with anger as they turned toward Rudolph.

Then, Luca took out a vial of purple liquid and casually waved it in front of the crowd.

With a slight squint and a faint smile, he said, "Freeman used a secret spell to control an eagle mouse and spread the Demon Lure Potion. Though they left few traces, it\'s quite unfortunate for you that I happen to know how to extract those traces."

"Whether or not Matthew was behind this, it will be easy to uncover once the situation with the Nightmare Cult and Beast Forest is settled. So, for now, I suggest City Lord Rudolph spends a few days in the dungeon. I\'m sure we\'ll have clarity soon."

Rudolph\'s expression darkened considerably.

His mind raced, trying to come up with a way to stall.

But Luca gave him no time, his tone unwavering. "If it turns out that I was mistaken and Rudolph has no ties to the Nightmare Cult, then my teacher, my senior, and I will personally come to your residence to apologize and compensate you for any losses. We will clear your name."

Having said that.

Luca fixed Rudolph with a cold gaze. "So, I ask you, City Lord Rudolph, to cooperate with our investigation and not make things difficult for us."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Everyone\'s eyes were now locked on Rudolph, whose face had turned deathly pale.