Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 113 113: Charon’s Trump Card

"If you truly can't think of anything interesting to talk about, perhaps you should spend your ti learning how to brew proper black tea. Maybe then you'd finally understand what elegance ans."

"That sort of thing doesn't suit . Ow–damn it! That idiot Rapture actually ambushed ! Great, now I've got another red paint mark on . Happy now?"

Hearing Charon's heartfelt complaint, Dorothy couldn't even be bothered to laugh anymore. By now, she was beginning to regret accepting this utterly aningless duel in the first place.

She could understand why the lee squad obeyed this man without question. After all, he was the one who had given them hope in the depths of despair.

But afterward, that hope would be inherited by the Goddess Squad. There was no need for a man who relied on nothing but cheap tricks.

"Although it's only just begun, I'm already growing impatient, Lieutenant. Would you kindly surrender on your own? We both know that when it cos to physical ability, humans cannot defeat Nikkes."

"Especially not a Goddess of Victory."

Charon calmly confird his current position, chose a direction, and continued forward while carefully listening for Dorothy's movents.

Locating enemies by sound?

That was his specialty.

This was not so random spur-of-the-mont challenge. He had chosen Dorothy specifically after careful consideration.

A woman born into a political family. Elegant and noble. Possessing unwavering pride and honor. Sharp-tongued, yet fundantally kind-hearted. Soone with her own strong sense of dignity.

She was the only opponent he believed he actually had a chance of defeating.

"Haha, unfortunately, I don't quite buy into that logic, Miss Dorothy. Since you dismiss my words so completely, perhaps I should tell you sothing you might not know."

"A story about Liliweiss."

"I wonder whether that interests you?"

He could clearly hear it–

Her breathing stopped for a single instant.

Even her footsteps faltered.

"There are many people who fabricate stories about Liliweiss. But honestly, you're the first person bold enough to say such things while standing this close to ."

She had even dropped the formal honorifics now. Clearly, Charon's words had touched a nerve.

"No, no, no. I would never slander Lady Liliweiss." Charon quickly rounded the corner of the corridor, eyes fixed ahead.

There it was.

Right there.

"What? Did you think I was about to spread so tasteless gossip about how Lady Liliweiss once fell hopelessly in love with a man?"

Dorothy smiled as she spoke, her tone light and amused.

But her eyes were ice cold.

"...That's seriously not what I'm talking about." Charon looked montarily speechless. "What possible benefit would there be in provoking you people?"

"Hmph."

Dorothy snorted coldly as she turned the corner.

Ahead was still nothing but darkness, yet she could tell with certainty that Charon was sowhere in front of her, because his footsteps had stopped.

"Five years ago, the footage of Liliweiss slaughtering her way through the orbital elevator."

"You've watched it countless tis by now, haven't you?"

"Maybe you don't rember the celebration that swept through the human world back then, but you've definitely seen the archived videos and online records."

"..."

Dorothy had no response.

Because he was absolutely right.

After becoming a Nikke, she had lost all mories from her human life. Desperate to fill in those missing gaps, she had obsessively searched through historical records and online archives. Among the Goddess Squad, she was probably the one who had gathered and organized the most information about that era.

"What if I told you that behind that televised broadcast, the human governnt not only betrayed the Liliweiss you admire…"

"But nearly scrapped her as well?"

"That they intended to nail her to history as a failed human experint?"

"Ridiculous!"

Dorothy's expression darkened instantly, and her pace quickened.

"The governnt had absolutely no reason to harm Lady Liliweiss. I don't know where you heard such conspiracy theories, but I suggest you shut that damned mouth before I do it for you."

"That wasn't so simple conspiracy."

"It was practically an open sche."

Charon leaned against the wall. Within the Styx Vision, Dorothy's figure appeared clearly at the end of the corridor, gradually drawing closer.

Then, slowly, he began recounting what had happened to Liliweiss back then–

From the data collection.

To the code implantation.

To the vote that paralyzed her body.

Then how Liliweiss slaughtered her way through the Raptures, using the cara Andersen provided alongside the hacking skills of a certain First-Generation body, exposing the entire truth to humanity.

But he never ntioned the commander nad Charon.

Nor the origin of the dagger.

Instead, he altered the ending slightly: Liliweiss herself crawled into the elevator shaft, using the elevator's movent to evade the shutdown intervals before ultimately becoming humanity's hope–

The Goddess of Victory.

At so point, Dorothy had drawn incredibly close to him.

Yet neither side attacked.

Charon stood beside the empty elevator shaft. If Dorothy made a move, he could simply fall backward into it.

Dorothy's expression grew complicated.

Because much of what Charon described overlapped with information she herself had uncovered–things officially dismissed as conspiracy theories, but which she personally suspected were true.

"Where did you hear all this?"

Dorothy's voice turned low and heavy. By now, she had lost all interest in the duel itself.

What she truly wanted to know was where this man had obtained such information.

"Heh. Want to know?"

Charon pushed himself away from the wall and slowly walked to the center of the corridor, his back facing the elevator shaft.

Dorothy paid no attention to his movents. Even if he suddenly drew his gun and attacked right now, she was completely confident she could evade it and secure victory instantly.

"There's only one thing I want to say."

"Do not trust the Central Governnt."

"In the eyes of the people, you are Goddesses of Victory."

"But in the eyes of those old n sitting high above everyone else…"

"You're nothing more than slightly expensive disposable batteries."

Before Dorothy could respond—

Charon spread his arms wide and deliberately fell backward into the pitch-black elevator shaft.

Dorothy froze.

She had never imagined he would do sothing so insane. Still shaken by the things he had just told her, she instinctively rushed forward and looked down into the shaft.

"Wait! Explain yourself properly–"

Below her was nothing but darkness.

Black as ink.

Impossible to see through.

And in the middle of the night, that darkness felt even deeper.

Then–

In the very next instant–

A blinding light exploded within the narrow shaft.

At the bottom, a cluster of drones had been set up beforehand, powering several ultra-high-lun floodlights, waiting only for Charon to fall before activating with a single command.

Even Dorothy's eyes were overwheld by the sudden flash.

For a brief mont–

She was blinded.

"Wha–"

BANG!

A gunshot rang out.

Dorothy's reflexes truly lived up to her status as a Nikke. She instinctively leapt backward, falling ungracefully onto the floor.