Chapter 57

‘Hm? Did you really come all the way here?’

The wizard, Payne, looked at Charlize in the distance and thought. At that moment, Charlize looked around here as if she had felt a slight presence.

‘I can’t believe you’re reading the remaining air of my magic. You’re quick-witted anyway.’

He was always in a position after Charlize, but it was a little strange seeing Charlize showed herself to the inside of the underworld where Payne was.

‘But I wanted to see you, and it worked out at the right time.’

It’s the first time he had seen Charlize since the shadow monster on the day of the rebellion.

Payne first tightened his robe tightly. And he began to follow Charlize more secretly.

“I think it’s right here, young duke.”

Charlize caught Kahu’s attention.

Kahu nodded, looking at the black door that Charlize pointed to.

A white snake pattern was drawn on the door. The entrance to the headquarters found in the maze of the underworld.

When Charlize knocked on the door three times, geometric patterns interlocked with each other.

Soon afterward. The door opened with a sharp sound along with a monster opening its mouth.

Charlize took the lead first, followed by Kahu. Even though it’s an empire. A sense of incompatibility as if entering a different world wrapped around her whole body.

‘It’s more than just rumors.’

She could see a terrible and twisted city just like the notorious underworld. The reason why it was called ‘The Real Hell’ was enough to understand at once. It was a cruel sight.

A group of slaves with shackles on their feet. A black market that sells everything. A gladiator that fights people like fighting dogs.

However, Charlize remained brave.

‘She’s an amazing person.’

Although Kahu himself was raised as a successor to his family from a young age.  Charlize didn’t seem to care.

If it’s an ordinary young noble lady, just by looking at it. Either she shrinks and hardens. She would have burst into tears.

But Kahu’s surprise didn’t stop there.

“Who is it!”

“I don’t have a name to tell you.”

When the giant’s man was wary, Charlize smiled brightly and lifted her sword.

And with that.

Everything was settled.

Perhaps because it was the second day, Charlize no longer cared about Kahu’s view of her and acted according to her skills.

In an instant, half of the members inside the underworld were neutralized. Kahu also helped Charlize by her side. Charlize killed everyone at a pace that he couldn’t keep up with.

‘That’s ridiculous.’

Charlize’s swordsmanship was a level he had never seen before. He certainly cut it off with a sword, but the opponent didn’t die.

She didn’t even leave a scar and just knocked it down. With her overwhelming skills, she subdued the underworld.

It is known that the sword in the underworld is very good even without an official record. Therefore, even the imperial family could not wipe out the underworld and left it alone.

The shadow that no one could touch. But Charlize crushed them all with an indifferent face.

“Argh!”

“Ugh…”

The groaning and screaming of those who fell everywhere were raging.

Charlize’s sword was a cool burning blue sword specialized in an actual battle.

Kahu was convinced that Charlize would be far superior to the boy named ‘Liz’, who competed in the swordsmanship competition.

It was just a realization.

This was the real difference.

“Grandmaster.”

“Blow this and Shadow will come. When Shadow joins you, please sort things out together.”

‘Shadow?’

Isn’t that the name of the newly created Emperor’s direct knights?

Charlize handed him a long piece of thin silver. It was like a flute. Kahu took it with both hands and looked at Charlize.

“I’m going to go further inside and do the investigation.”

“I’ll follow your orders.”

A quick command to move separately. Charlize went straight inside, but Kahu couldn’t stop her.

What he had just witnessed was too strong to stop Charlize because she was dangerous.

She reigned like the god of death.

Rather than being fascinated, he was just afraid and overwhelming. It still lingered in front of him like an afterimage. Charlize with her sword was like a piece of work in itself.

Charlize drifted away in an instant. Kahu had a hard time pulling his gaze off her back. He has to follow orders first.

‘She told me to blow the flute and wait.’

Kahu blew the silver flute. There was a strange, low sound. Perhaps it was an object with a magic device hanging on it.

The wind blew from all sides.

As if being summoned. As Charlize said, dozens of Shadow soon appeared in the air. It was an amazing sight.

‘Indeed, the Emperor who cherished the grandmaster so much would have just sent it.’

The Shadow was dressed in a black knight’s uniform from head to toe. They gave Kahu a courtesy first.

“The grandmaster went inside saying that she would do an investigation.”

“I see. Thank you. Anything else?”

“She told us to sort things out together.”

Shadow brightened their eyes after confirming the horrors of the underworld.

Dozens of knights draw their swords at once. Kahu followed the Shadow.

Shadow randomly arrested the rebels. Slaves were being rescued elsewhere.

Scream, blood, salvation. Everything happened at once, and the underworld turned into ruins.

It was then.

The gladiators rushed to Kahu.

They, who were disoriented by taking medicine, attacked and looked at everyone.

“Keug…!”

He wasn’t vigilant. Crushed by the violent grip, he got a wound on his cheek.

However, Kahu was also a Master. He soon adapted to the anomalous actual battle swordsmanship and swung his sword. His breath fell short.

***

Charlize quickly penetrated inside. The deepest place was the shed.

All those who were in her way of coming were destroyed. When it appeared, she cut it off. She didn’t think anything of these behaviors. She moved insensitively.

The underworld’s shed. As the rumor has it, dangerous things were all over this place. But Charlize’s purpose was one from the beginning.

‘There’s a high possibility that there’s a clue about Kiera here.’

The long sword was also a bother, so she put it in the sheath.

Charlize pulled the dagger from the necklace that Dylan gifted. She bit the blade of the dagger on her lips. She won’t get hurt anyway.

She began to search around the shed with her free hands.

She was ready to pierce her opponent’s neck with the dagger as soon as she felt the presence.

‘Colluding with the underworld.’

The remaining forces of the rebellion. Now that the situation has changed, it’s correct that they should be called ‘traitors’.

They probably thought that the only place they could face against the imperial family was the underworld. Their judgment was wrong. Not the imperial family. There was nowhere on the continent to confront Charlize.

Charlize thought, looking down at the paper signed by the traitors.

“The Emperor Dietrich is evil.’

She folded it up and took it for proof.

Human slaves, drugs, pieces of Ehyrit, and monsters. It seemed to be managed elsewhere than here.

The shed was literally a shed. Documents that should not be stained with blood, items that could not be leaked to the public but were not needed immediately, and were filled with the certificates of rights of the discarded nobles.

Charlize soon found a document in it.

<Ki-e-ra.>

The Kiera Project.

Finally.

‘I found it.’

Charlize’s eyes got cold. She volunteered to get this clue from the beginning.

She read the letters in a hurry.

[Ehyrit has the original and the copy. God is not perfect. If it’s not perfect, it’s not omnipotent. Ehyrit is not a god.]

‘Original and copy?’

It has always been the case that the magic tower denied God, so she couldn’t think of anything. But the first sentence was not easy to interpret.

‘Are you saying there’s real and fake?’

Charlize was confused and continued reading the document for now. It was because she wondered if there would be more explanation.

[This is not the only proof that Ehyrit is not God. First, Ehyrit died. The axis is not God anymore.

Second, tens of thousands of Ehyrit were scattered in pieces across the continent, and all of them turned into monsters. It is contradictory to say that a piece, which used to be God itself, becomes the obsession of evil spirits.

Third, the sacred power of religion, which Ehyrit claimed to be its power. It turns out that all are fabrications and more advanced versions of healing magic.]

‘This is not the information that I want.’

Charlize turned the page quickly. It wasn’t until the fourth chapter was reached that Charlize’s gaze remained.

[We are selecting suitable slaves who can handle the pieces of Ehyrit.]

‘Slave.’

The word was written shockingly.

[Although it was not revealed much because it was in the early stages of the project experiment, the magic tower agreed that using slaves is the most efficient way to experiment.

Slaves are the communities that require the least time, money, and energy.]

Those slaves were citizens who originally lived well. A law was used to make them a slave by violating and trampling them into a slave.

‘The Kiera project wasn’t on hold.’

Charlize’s atmosphere became cold.

‘It was already going on without the support of the imperial family.’

Since then, there has been no respect for humans in letters.

The greed of the magic tower, the pain of the victimized slaves. As Charlize read the writings, she felt her head cool.

Just as before her return. The same abuses are being repeated.

“!”

Who is it?

As soon as Charlize felt a sign of presence, she grabbed the dagger she had bitten in her mouth. Shortly after, the dagger cut through the air. The presence figure jumped and shouted.

“It’s me, it’s me!”

Familiar voice,

Charlize recognized his face right away. If she stretches out her sword a little more, this man will die. Charlize was surprised because she didn’t expect to see him here.

His heart was pounding as if it were going to explode.

“…You.”

Charlize, who watched quietly, opened her Mana Circle without limits. High-purity mana is poured out and planted on the blade. Charlize put the dagger near his neck.

Payne slowly opened his eyes wide as if surprised. This overwhelming amount of mana can’t be dealt with even if it’s a wizard.

“You really are a genius…”

“If you don’t answer in 10 seconds why you keep showing up in front of me. I’ll kill you.”

Charlize interrupted Payne and warned him. Payne seemed bewildered but hurried to say if he didn’t want to die.

“I’d like to make a job offer! I want to work with you! I’ve been chasing you around! Is this enough to explain?”

‘Job?’

Charlize frowned on the forehead and took off Payne’s robe.

The shed was dark but bright enough to see his face.

He was unrealistically handsome. To the extent that he doesn’t look like a human. It felt a little creepy.

Blonde as the radiant sun. His eyes are black, like the underworld. It was dark enough so that his intention couldn’t be read.

On the day of the rebellion. The man who helped her deal with the shadow monster and then disappeared at some point. She tried to track him down, but there was no clue.

This was also the first time to look closely at his face.

“I told you, did you forget? I don’t believe in wizards. Then die now.”

“No, wait a minute! You have to hear what my goal is. I hate wizards like you. Does your dream want to kill them all?”

‘He’s a wizard who wants to kill wizards.’

That was a little interesting. Charlize’s sword stopped for a moment.

Payne looked into the gap as if Charlize’s swaying was considered as an opportunity.

“My name is Payne, and I belong to the secret organization ‘Alperier’. Now, we are focusing on tracking the Kiera project, and we desperately need you.”

This was something she never imagined.

Charlize’s gaze slowly stayed at Payne with clear intentions.