A few minutes later, Charles stealthily left the library and started walking towards the Royal District's entrance gate.
At the same time, he recalled all the information he got from Casper and started to think of a plan.
'Faith, huh. If I want to weaken Adur, I need to erase him from everyone's mind. But that would take too much time. There is a high chance that the other party might notice my plan and stop me from weakening him. Unlike the Fire Mages from Edhen, the Red Humans can also cast some unique memory-related fire spells. Adur is no fool; he would've long prepared for such unexpected situations. What to do? Wait...'
'Can I turn this identity into a new champion? Hmm, a young half-paragon female warrior came to this city to seek money, fame, and power; but got pulled into the conspiracy of the Paragons. Then, suddenly a mysterious person came to the Paragons' home and told them that this woman was the Fire Bird's chosen one. Then, the Paragons chose to support the new champion and planned to overthrow the Sacred Humans' rule. Hmm, this looks good. But to fool others, I need to do some tricks.'
'Shall I create a unique incarnation of the Fire Bird in the sky and let it give some hint to the masses? Nah, the Rank-5 Paragons and Adur will easily see through my disguise. I need to study more about these Divine Spells. I think Mr. Runeth might know something about these Divine Spells.' He nodded inwardly and continued to walk on the well-cleaned street road.
'I will create an opportunity for 'Hanna' to shine. Then, I will use that opportunity and weaken my opponent's strength slowly. After that, I'll let the Paragons take care of this weakened Adur and enter the dungeon. Before that, I also need to create some evil organization or cult. That will act as a stepping stone for Hanna's rise.'
While he was in muse, he already arrived in front of a metallic gate and noticed that it was already open.
At that moment, he saw a four-wheeled carriage drove out from the Royal District and soon stopped as it moved a few meters away from the gate.
The one who rode the carriage was a middle-aged Red Human, and he had brown hair, a short beard, and had a stern face.
Meanwhile, a young woman walked out of the carriage and looked in Charles's direction in confusion.
She had long wavy hair, an oval face, elongated eyebrows, and appeared to be around 178 cm high. She wore a luxurious traditional dress made of some silk-like material and looked 20 to 25 years old.
Reed also followed her gaze and soon widened his eyes as he saw Charles.
Confusion appeared on his face.
Without minding him, Charles adjusted his long hair and walked out of the Royal District.
But just as he walked past the gatekeeper Reed, he locked his gaze on Charles's back and asked in a cold tone.
"How did you get in there? Who are you? Wait. Your face looks familiar-"
At that moment, his eyes widened all of a sudden.
Although he didn't understand, he was sure of one thing.
'Something feels off about this woman!'
Without any hesitation, he also gripped his spear and began to infuse it with pure elemental power!
Meanwhile, the young woman wore a surprised look on her face and soon asked the coachman.
"Have you seen that half-paragon, Percy?"
Meanwhile, the coachman shook his head and responded in confusion.
"There is only a handful of half-paragons staying in the city, My Lady. But most of them are working for their families."
Just as the young woman was about to say something, she suddenly noticed the gatekeeper's aggressive action and frowned.
"Shall I stop him?" Percy asked.
"Nah, let him give her a small beating. Although she is a half-paragon, she still isn't qualified to walk into Royal District without permission. From the looks of it, she seems to have confidence in her strength." The young woman said in a calm tone and turned her attention towards Charles.
'Heh, they are going to watch my next action, huh.' A cold glint appeared in Charles's eyes as he halted his footsteps and placed his hand on the hilt.
He then calmly turned around and unsheathed the long curved sword.
Simultaneously, he mimicked Reed's technique and infused his weapon with his fire-elemental energy!
"You want to know my name?" A mischievous smile appeared on the female-looking face as he pointed the sword tip at Reed and added.
"Stand against me for 10 seconds."
Just as he finished his words, Charles took a step forward and moved.
But his movement speed appeared blurry and fast!
Before Reed could understand the situation, a weapon collided against his spear.
But what shocked him most was that his whole body went numb for a second.
Thankfully, he managed to calm down and backed away multiple steps.
Simultaneously, he cast [Divine Sense] spell and observed the surroundings to a full extend.
As long as he uses this Divine Sense, he can perceive the opponent's next movement to some extent!
'That woman is fast! She is aiming to get behind me!' He watched the blurry shadow with wide eyes and started to swirl the spear at a fast speed.
At that moment, the whole spear turned into a flame pole and started releasing rays of reddish flame towards the direction where Charles was moving.
No, the red flames moved in all directions and looked more like swirling fire!
On the other hand, Charles became surprised by Reed's spell and backed away a little.
Although he used 'Crimson Steps' and 'Accelerate Thoughts' to speed up his momentum, he was still not strong enough to toy with a Rank-4 Warlock.
'But I'm strong enough to crush him head-on. Hmm, it's better to use only three spells now.' He nodded inwardly and moved once again.
Unlike before, he cast [Burning Thoughts] on Reed and erased his current thinking.
A second later, the swirling fire began to disperse and soon disappeared from Charles's eyes.
Reed's spear also flew away from his hand and landed on the other side.
Meanwhile, he stood there dumbly for two continuous seconds and finally regained his sense.
But before he could understand the situation, a sharp blade appeared on his neck and made a light cut.
"You lost."
Saying so, Charles casually sheathed his sword and started walking towards Second Street's main road.
On the other hand, the young woman and the coachman stared at his back for a few seconds and then looked at each other in confusion.
"That woman… Investigate more about her." The young woman said in a cold tone and soon moved towards the carriage.
Meanwhile, Charles left the Second District and soon moved towards a particular street called Dawn Route.
After a few hours of walking, he soon arrived in front of a single-storied house encircled by a wooden fence.
It was still early in the evening when he emerged onto the Dawn Route, near the meat market.
Wooden shops with disintegrating roofs and broken signs stood next to the newly rented house.
The house appeared older, poorly maintained, and resembled more like an abandoned house.
Charles glanced at the yard and noticed that only a few ornamental plants looked attractive to his eyes.
'Tsk, there are so many weeds and thorny plants.'
Shaking his head, Charles walked near the wooden door, unlocked it, pushed it open, and walked inside.
There was no furniture in the house. Instead, the whole place appeared empty!
'Well, I won't be staying here anyway.' He let out a deep sigh and moved towards the bedroom.
After that, he locked the door from inside and began to inscribe runal letters all over the wall. He continued to work for the next few hours.
It was a simple anti-detection array circle.
After that, he placed the Twin Leaf and stealthily left the Fire-Elemental Plane.
…