Listening to her command, Queen Evecles made the water go back to floating behind herself.

The loud noise of a cannon firing then resonated.

jump side out of the tunnel, Incus slashed the cannon in half.

"Ulna!" I shouted, but there was no response.

"Rising pillars!" Vertere conjured ice pillars to push us towards Incus, as she entered another tunnel in the vertical drop.

The people who fired the cannon stumbled back and fell on their bottoms.

Grabbing the cannon, Incus slammed it down to the ground, effectively crushing it.

"This is it? This is all the manpower you suffice?" Incus scoffed before smiling eerily.

"Anyone who dares to attack me will be executed on the spot!" Incus shouted, her voice booming, "I am the hero Incus and the king of Jansoara... The queen of Febritust is here with me as well! Don’t take my warning for granted—!"

A blade from behind then stabbed at Incus.

Parrying the attack, Incus slammed the attacker’s head into the wall, crushing it into a bloody pulp.

"Never mind... this is no longer a warning but a threat." Incus paused as she glared coldly off into the distance, "I will kill you if you instigate an attack."

The once silence pit of tunnels erupted in loud voiced.

"Please leave us, we have done nothing to you!" Said one of the men who fired the cannon, "Understand that we thought you were intruders that stepped foot in our home—!"

"Your home?" Incus laughed maniacally, "This is no home of yours, you are nothing but pests that lurk in the dark."

The man then did a kneeling bow and slammed his forehead into the ground.

"Please forgive us!" The other men who aided in firing the cannon did the same.

"Please forgive us!" Suddenly the raging roar of multiple heads slamming into the ground filled the pit of tunnels.

"Please! Forgive us!"

"Silence!" Incus shouted,

"I am not the one who you should be asked forgiveness from, but instead the queen!" Incus pointed towards her direction.

"Please forgive us!" Another round of foreheads slamming echoed.

Her voice was faint but Queen Evecles said:

"Don’t worry, I won’t condemn you... however I would like to know more on what exactly is going on..."

Walking past Incus hesitantly, one of the men who fired the cannon lit a torch.

After a few moments, multiple torches were lit.

"Let us meet at the bottom, our conversation will start there!" An old man’s voice shouted.

A wooden elevator then appeared in front of Incus and Queen Evecles who was on the other side.

Stepping on the wooden platform, it slowly descended.

"Wow, there’s so many..." Alleus looked up, and so I looked up too.

At the ceiling, there were multiple wooden elevators that were rising and slowly falling with control.

Observing around, there were many people that lived in the tunnels.

"If we take account the effort it took to dig the tunnels and build the infrastructures, the real question is how did they manage to life here for so long..." I pondered.

"Well thats an easy question to answer, they obvious used the manhole to sneak out..!" Alleus replied proudly.

"No, that wouldn’t make any sense." Vertere shook his head, "That manhole cover is heavy and queen Evecles said that ’Knights’ with an S, so it took the joint effort of multiple to open the hatchet."

"Then that only means that there is another way of getting to the surface..!" Alleus’ eye grew bright.

I nodded in agreement of her answer.

"But these are all theories until it’s been confirmed."

The sound of a soft thudding made us turn our heads.

We’ve reached the bottom.

Looking around, there was a small moat that surrounded the bottom.

The water was being funneled through waterways.

It also seemed that multiple people also reached the bottom, approaching the middle.

"Craftious, tables and chairs!" A hooded mage waved his want.

The ground the turned into a semi large circular table, it was wide enough just for everyone to hear each other and multiple chairs made of earth circled it.

Those who couldn’t find a seat stood around.

The five—Three of us stood behind Incus.

Sitting down, a muscular old man slammed his palm on the wooden table.

"Greetings Queen Evecles and Hero Incus, I’m the chief of this inhabitant..." Said the same voice that belonged to an old man from earlier, "Ask away for any questions that linger in your minds."

"Firstly, thank you for the grace you’ve shown us. But who exactly are you, the young girl said that you were people living here without a clearance? Would you clarify?" Queen Evecles asked softly, her demeanor graceful.

Clearing his throat, the chief answered:

"That’s correct, we are living here without permission but the people here have a good reason... Whether it was because of a business bankrupt or orphans that were too old to be kept any more, every single one of us was once living in the surface." The old man chieftain’s voice became softer, as he twiddled his thumbs together.

"I see." Queen Evecles sulked her head down.

"I have a question." Incus slouched back and placed both her feet on the table, "The water here was recently purified by Queen Evecles. Has a demon infiltrated this place?"

"Yes, there was." The old chieftain nodded, "We managed to take care of them but it wasn’t without sacrifice..."

"What happened to them." Queen Evecles raised her head.

Looking around, the old man chieftain sighed.

"Lets just say that they are sleep forever."

"By the way, what do we call you." Incus yawned.

"You can just call me Levis." The old man then stood up and turned his back, "If that’s all you have to say, please just leave us alone—"

"I will send over knights to polish this place, you can continue living here but I want you to give me a list of everyone... don’t leave anyone out." Queen Evecles stood up.

Turning around, Chieftain Levis’ eyes became watery.

"Thank you!" Chieftain Levis kneeled, followed by the rest of the inhabitants.