"Name?"
"Cocolia Landau."
"Occupation?"
"Former Supreme Guardian of Belobog."
"Background?"
"An orphan from the Underworld."
Inside a sturdy prison cell, the assault team began questioning their captive.
"You're from the Underworld?" Oleg found it absurd. "How could someone like you possibly have come from the Underworld?"
He couldn't believe that an orphan from the Underworld could become the Supreme Guardian, only to treat the Underworld with such callousness.
"Why couldn't I?" the elegant, regal blonde woman said flatly. "Every Supreme Guardian has been a woman. They merely inherit the surname of the first Supreme Guardian, Alisa Landau. They aren't necessarily related by blood.
"Each Supreme Guardian is either appointed by her predecessor or elected by the High Council. It depends on whether the Supreme Guardian is powerful enough to overrule the Council and retain her autonomy.
"As it happened, my predecessor was a sufficiently powerful ruler, which allowed me, the daughter she adopted from the Underworld, to become the Eighteenth Supreme Guardian."
Hearing this, Oleg couldn't help retorting:
"If you came from the Underworld, we wouldn't demand that you do anything for us, but why did you seal this place off? Why did you abandon us?"
"I think only someone from the Underworld would understand that," Cocolia said, her gaze calm. "The Underworld was hopeless to begin with. Destruction could be a form of mercy."
"Letting us die is what you call mercy?" Oleg's hands trembled uncontrollably. "How could you be so vicious when you're the Supreme Guardian!"
"In fact, everyone is going to die. The Underworld's geomarrow mines are almost exhausted, and there are no new veins to replace them. The people of the Upper and Underworld will all die together." Cocolia leaned back in her chair, a mocking smile on her face.
She enunciated every word:
"Yes,