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Hellknights are not a cult of Asmodeus, and only certain Orders have any loyalty to House Thrune.
Their response would vary wildly between Orders: the Lictor of the Order of the Pyre is an atheist, while the Order of the Scourge is actively investigating Thrune's corruption and the (Lawful Good) Order of the Torrent have no fondness for Asmodeus or Cheliax. The Order of the Godclaw worships Asmodeus as part of their pantheon, but plenty of others have no special regard for his faith.
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It depends heavily on the Order the Hellknight belonged to, whether the PC has lawful authority to do what they did or whether the plans of the high priestess/archdevil were lawful.
Hellknights as an organization swear no special loyalty to the hierarchy's of hell, simply using them as a mold to craft their own organization. While some Orders do have special loyalty to cheliax and house thrune which would make them biased (or adhere to a different standard of "law") it hard to say without knowing which order.
By-and-large Hellknight follow the "Measure and Chain" a special set of laws that they follow as well as following the laws of the place they are in as long as they don't conflict with the measure and chain. Since the measure and chain is never fully explained I usually default to the more extreme interpretations of whatever laws of society the Order currently operates in.
Despite all of this even if the PC was mouthing off and guilty of a crime, Hellknights are not stupid. They probably would know that anyone who could significantly alter the plans of an Archdevil probably can't be outright fought without preperation. Especially if the Hellknight is outnumbered. I think it would've been more along the lines of a retreat, reorganize, regroup. Then knock on the PCs door in the middle of the night unprepared and unarmored before being dragged back to a citadel for further interrogation.
I also dont recall anywhere that Hellknights have a mutual respect for strength...I think they more have a mutual respect for lawful obedience and discipline but I could be wrong.
Ah...so its THAT order..
Yeah so the Order of the Rack is as far pro-thrune as they come being the most defacto knock-knock burn your books and kill the resistance that I can think of.
That being said I dont believe Lady Kaltessa has any direct ties to thrune? In fact since Isger is pretty much a vassal state/owned by Cheliax already, Kaltessa's plot to take over Isger may be in direct conflict with the Order of the Rack's goals of maintaining Chelish supremacy. However, there isnt to say that perhaps some Hellknights have fallen under her sway.
Overall, Cheliax has every reason to keep Isger as unorganized and shattered after the Goblinblood Wars as it makes a great trade route to Druma without having to invest any money in it. Kaltessa's efforts endanger this plan. The adventurers have just eliminated a dangerous cite of undead activity effectively cleaning up mess after the war while also stopping a plot of a potential problematic element in Isger. I don't see why the Hellknights would be antagonistic. The Order of the Rack is the enemy of uprising afterall and all the PCs have done is maintain the status quo.
Its...complex...Asmodeus's motives are inscrutable and while I have heard it quoted he wants to bring mortal life to an end so that true tyrannical law can reign he is certainly in no rush to push that motive with his more subtle manipulations. I can also see how Mammon and Asmodeus collaborating seem like a forgone conclusion but Archdevils historically don't coordinate their moves or plots together like the story of Hell's Rebels being pretty singularily about being about one arch devil despite losing one of Cheliax's strongest nations, Ravounel.
I think its important to separate Cheliax and its government from Asmodeus and his church. The Chelaxian government views itself as above devils and uses their services and contracts like one would use other governmental tools (or so they like to believe). The church of asmodeus and the government of cheliax even clash on a few occasions outside of the country such as absalom.
The Hellknights serve the government side of cheliax not the church of Asmodeus. It just so happends that many of the laws of cheliax protect and server the church of Asmodeus so you'll find many hellknights fighting alongside preists. However this is a case where the church of an arch devil is going against the interest of the nation.
Though feel free to interpret their relationship in a different way. Your golarion does not need to adhere to every bit of cannon. I know my Gillamoor is way different then cannon's haha.
