A noble who had remained seated in his place the entire time had shown silver-white on his shoulder during the inspection, clearly clean. Afterward, he had leaned back against his chair, far more relaxed than those around him.
But now, both hands gripped the armrests tightly, his face pale as though he were bearing some pressure. Something moved beneath the skin of his neck.
A dark green branch slowly pushed out through the skin near his left collarbone.
He lowered his head and saw it. His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.
Hilde saw it.
Her expression abruptly changed. The silver needle had actually failed to detect it.
Jie looked at Hilde's expression and tilted her head.
"Mm... we missed one." Her tone was airy.
Then she looked around the Main Hall again, watching the rampaging, struggling nobles. A sickly, seductive smile appeared on her face.
"Look... big sister didn't do anything. They did this to themselves."
The Iron Guard Battalion had fully deployed.
The commander charged into the chaos with two deputies. The dark red patterns on all three of them lit up to their brightest, furnace fire radiating outward across their bodies. The two deputies worked together to pin an Alienated Noble to the ground. When the branches shooting from the man's back touched the Iron Guard Battalion's palms, they instantly carbonized and shattered, blackening and falling away from tip to Root.
Furnace fire was exceptionally effective at suppressing plant-based alienation.
The commander pressed one hand against a Viscount's shoulder. Dark red heat poured from his palm, and within two seconds, the branches changed from dark green to charred black before snapping off at the Root. Every alienated person subdued by the Iron Guard Battalion could not last more than