Chapter 661: The Ultimate Villain Saves The Day

"That isn’t true, and you know that."

The one to cut off the suited man’s announcement of charges was Kara rather than Aurora.

Although she also wanted to deny it, the fact that she did do it conflicted with the remnant part of her honest self.

While Aurora was no longer afraid of using deception to fight back, she also didn’t have the conviction to disprove the fact that her lie was in fact a lie.

If she tried to, she knew that her unconscious show of guilt would cement the charges against her even more.

"Come on now. I speak for the City Council; why would I lie to frame the Hero the entire city supported?! Wouldn’t I be turning the whole city against me by doing so with no proof?"

Despite his entire body turning stiff from the tension at the possibility of receiving a supernatural attack, the suited man’s face relayed absolute calm.

This time, the whole city was on his side!

"Even so, if you still believe that I have wronged you, then simply surrender willingly and let us apprehend you. If, and I mean if, your innocence is proven, then you will be free to go, and all the personnel responsible for this will receive the appropriate punishment, including me."

’As if anything would matter by that point.’

Although she knew that there was no way her crime could be proven, Aurora also knew that the crime itself wasn’t the point here.

Having uncovered the dark nature of the city council, she was sure the crime would stick to her even with no evidence.

Even in the best-case scenario where this was just a form of control tactic to make her know her place, Aurora knew that the week they had left would be wasted in the process, making their survival even more uncertain.

"Yes, Aurora. Just come quietly; we would hate to use force and end up hurting someone unintentionally."

Emerging from behind the suited man to form a wall in front of him, three Ability Users dressed in flashy clothes had faces full of evil grins as they further advised Aurora.

"Don’t worry, these Heroes are only here for the safety of everyone. As long as Aurora doesn’t do anything reckless, no harm will come your way."

Just like the Thorn Rose Trio explained to her by Leo, Kara could tell that these were certainly another group of villain-turned-heroes under the employ of the City Council.

’This is a trap.’

Both she and Aurora had the same thought almost instantly.

While Aurora couldn’t immediately discern the identity of these so-called Heroes as Kara did, she had grown aware enough to notice a threat when she heard one.

The crowd that had been brought to the remodeled location wasn’t here to celebrate her achievements from the very beginning.

They were brought here to act as hostages!

Since they knew that overpowering someone like her would take too much manpower with no guarantee of success, they opted to use human shields for proper containment!

"Why- why don’t you go with them?"

"Right? It should be alright if the charges are bogus."

"Y-Yeah, it would be great if you could explain the numbers covering the sky as well."

"The world isn’t ending. Right...?"

The crowd had been too stunned to speak until the very first one summoned the courage to do so.

Unlike Kara and Aurora, who understood the true meaning of the fake Hero’s words, these normal fans, who were hand-picked to exclude any Aurora fanatics, saw the now-fugitive Aurora as a threat through this shift in perspective.

Coupled with the shock the blood red messages had left them in, none of them looked at Aurora as the greatest Hero of all; she was now a dangerous being who needed to be contained.

’Do I even have to shed away what’s left of my morality?’

Looking at the people pointing fingers and throwing questions her way, Aurora’s mind started to darken as she considered her way out of this predicament.

The suited man and his gang of villains had an overly smug countenance, very confident that Aurora would rather preserve the lives of others over her own.

However, would their reaction be the same if they knew the changes that Aurora underwent?

Would they be able to keep their pants dry if they knew she was contemplating the least destructive massacre she could unleash to carve a path out?

Just then...

"I didn’t think you would act this quickly, but I guess it doesn’t really make much of a difference."

A nonchalant voice spread through, reaching the ears of everyone at the scene, leaving them confused, looking left and right in search of the source.

In such a tense stand-off, the appearance of any additional variable could literally throw the entire scene into chaos.

"Well, props to you. For traitors, at least you are enthusiastic with your preparations to sell off your world to the Conqueror."

As everyone kept looking around for the sourceless voice, a black circle spread underneath their legs before they knew it.

"This is..."

"It’s Cassian!"

"The Lord of Shadows is here!"

"Run!"

"Someone do something!"

"Hero Aurora, save us!"

Panic immediately ensued. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry knew about the terrors of the Lord of Shadows; the City Council’s propaganda made sure it would be that way.

"Heh, now you ask your Hero for help? Wasn’t she just a felon that you were happy to put away just a second ago?"

Rather than attempting to debunk Leo’s insults and accusations, everyone was busy running away, including the fake Heroes and the suited man they were supposed to protect.

As old Villains who lived to escape the first purge, they always knew when to bow. Unlike Aurora, who they believed was bound by her naive morality, they didn’t think that the Lord of Shadows would hesitate for even one second before tearing them to pieces.

"Well, that’s what I thought as well. I will be taking that, though."

Before they went too far, a dark hand extended out of the fake Heroes’ shadows, depriving them of their Special Abilities.

"It’s starting to sound repetitive, but once again, don’t you think it’s time we left this place?"