Chapter 717

〈Chapter 717〉 Part 2, Chapter 5, Section 11

Eeeeeeeaaaang—-

Every hour, the sirens blaring evacuation orders would sound. If Magical Gears weren’t suppressed, alarms were supposed to go off automatically, but among those gathered in the warehouse, none of their gears triggered any alarm.

“Hmph. So annoying.”

The leader of the villain organization <Fish and Socks> in England, A-Rank Villain <Jack the Ripper>, anxiously calmed himself while lighting a cigarette. His underlings, dressed in suits, were just as tense as Jack.

“Ugh, what a hassle these crazy people are causing.”

“Boss, should we really just sit here and do nothing?”

The subordinates revealed their unease. Unlike Jack, who used a special version of the magical gear that didn’t trigger alarms when turned on, the others had deliberately damaged their own gears to avoid setting off the alarms.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Nothing’s gonna happen.”

Jack chuckled nervously and took another drag from his cigarette.

“It’s all a scam, you know? The Jeolpung Gate thing? That’s all a fabrication by the royal family and the association to exploit villains like us. They’re trying to secretly steal our assets while we run around scared like chickens with our heads cut off.”

Jack kicked over a pile of duffel bags stacked on the table. One transparent orb fell out from a loosely zipped bag.

“Hehehe.”

Jack picked up the orb and fiddled with the elastic material wrapped around it.

“No one in this world knows, right? That condoms can block the magic power of cores. So you guys shouldn’t worry. Our entire fortune is safe from falling into other people’s hands.”

“Well, that’s a relief…”

Jack spun the tip of the condom between his fingers. Although the D-Rank core inside was considered low in commercial value, it still held enough worth to trade for an old gasoline car.

“So, all we have to do is guard these cores and wait for time to pass. Right? If anyone tries to come after our cores during this chaos, what are they gonna do about it?”

“That’s correct.”

Click!

An unfamiliar woman’s voice made Jack and his gang immediately raise their magic powers and weapons. The core-empowered villains pointed guns and swords, ready to defend against any threat.

“Voice transmission…?”

Pfft.

The hanging light bulb shattered. The villains aimed their weapons at the broken light.

“You morons! It came from far away!”

At Jack’s shout, the subordinates resumed scanning the surroundings. Jack also clutched the core tightly, keeping watch.

“Who’s there?!”

“Me?”

Pfft, PfftPfft, Pfft.

All the lights went out. An unseen blade of wind sliced through and broke the bulbs, plunging the room into darkness except for one spotlight shining in a specific direction.

“As for me…”

“Oh wow, damn, she’s so sleek.”

“…”

A woman wearing a cat-eared mask stood confidently in the spotlight. Jack and his gang aimed their weapons at her while ogling her figure from head to toe—except for Jack.

“…You idiots, she’s S-Rank.”

“What?! Boss, how do you even know that?!”

“I don’t know exactly how strong she is, but if she’s not S-Rank, why would she wear such a ridiculous outfit?”

“Ho ho ho.”

The woman walked gracefully toward Jack, each step resembling that of a proud feline. Her black armor-like attire left little to the imagination, exposing almost everything except for a thin vertical line covering her breasts.

Her ample bosom, estimated to be at least D-cup, drew the attention of the villains, who felt both gratitude and fear due to their inability to gauge her true strength.

“Are you the London slum group <Fish and Socks>? I’ve got a question. Why haven’t you evacuated?”

“Tch, some dark hero, huh? Mind your own business! Don’t ask why we didn’t evacuate and tell us why you’re here instead!”

“My reason for being here? Justice.”

She lightly clapped her hands. In response, an emerald-green magical suit enveloped her body, starting from her skin-tight swimsuit-like armor.

“Aaah…”

“What are you drooling over?! Damn it, shoot!”

Seizing the golden opportunity, Jack issued an attack order in anger. The villains’ Core Weapons unleashed streams of magic energy toward the woman.

“Hmph.”

With a flick of her finger, the woman summoned a powerful gust of wind. The villains were swept away and slammed into the walls.

“Guh, krrrgh…!!”

Jack stabbed his Core Knife into the floor and infused it with magic power. Though caught in a tornado-like force, he managed to cling onto the knife like holding onto a cliff edge.

“Not bad.”

“Aaaagh!”

The woman stepped on Jack’s wrist with her high-heeled boot, crushing it along with his magical barrier. Smirking sadistically, she pointed at the pile of duffel bags.

“The cores you stole will now be stolen from you.”

“No, nooo!”

The duffel bags began floating in the air due to the wind. Jack tried to rush forward with his knife, but the woman simply pointed her finger at him, immobilizing him.

Swoosh.

“Move and you die?”

A cool breeze transformed into a sharp blade, aiming for Jack’s vital points. Had he reacted even a moment later, his head would’ve been cleanly severed.

“Hey, what do you want…!”

“What I want? Those cores.”

With a wink, the woman hopped onto a tornado carrying the stack of duffel bags.

“Look forward to it. These cores you collected will turn London into a festival of chaos.”

“W-WHAT–”

WEEEEEEEEEENG—-!!

With a roar of wind, the woman vanished like the breeze itself—along with a large quantity of cores.

BOOM CRASH!

The windows of the warehouse shattered in the wake of the storm. Simultaneously, the device blocking magical reactions malfunctioned.

Eeeeeng—-

Alarms started blaring from the unconscious bodies of the subordinate villains. Upon closer inspection, they had smashed cheap Yu-Sung products and secretly hidden other magical gears. Clearly, those were supposed to be the latest models they were using.

“Damn it….”

As a group of heroes approached from afar, Jack lost consciousness.

Just before fading away…

“Shit…she’s so sleek…”

Before losing consciousness completely, all he could see were the mint-colored suit lines revealing the curves of the mysterious attacker’s chest and hips.

* * *

BANG BANG BANG!

Park Ra-on, formerly known as Fenris Park, banged her head against the wall in frustration.

“Why? She looks fine.”

“Now I’ll never get married…”

“You can come to me.”

“Where does someone say something like that in a situation like this?”

Ra-on snapped. Having already boosted Fenris’ favorability by explaining the uses of the Cube, casually increasing it further was indeed the greatest advantage of bringing Ra-on all the way to England.

– Naturally proposing lol

– Wow, putting a commander skin on Ra-on and confessing

– If this goes wrong, embarrassment could reverse the favorability! Are you insane?

Amidst the various voices echoing in my mind, I merely did what ‘he’ used to do to me. After giving Ra-on a brief moment of embarrassment, Fenris rested within her body.

“Why? We just robbed villain organizations fairly.”

“You only took the A-Rank cores and scattered the B-Rank ones or lower.”

“And handed the villains over to the association, too.”

Using Fenris’ power, I raided several villain organizations across London. They were tormented by the uncertainty of when their valuables might be stolen, while Fenris plundered them one by one.

Had it not been hours before the Jeolpung Gate incident, the British Association would have likely eradicated the villain groups and confiscated their cores, resulting in a month-long national celebration. The cores accumulated by the villains alone were worth trillions.

“With this, compensation for damages to Britain is complete.”

“…Ah, understood. It’s fortunate to alleviate this mental burden in some way.”

Ra-on carried significant psychological stress from our trolling. Therefore, I lessened the burden on both Britain and Ra-on by wiping out the villain organizations.

“Then, Fenris, let’s head to our destination.”

“Heheh, time for the real show, huh?”

“Of course.”

I entrusted myself to Fenris’ tail and firmly grasped her hand.

Destination: The British Museum.

WHOOSH–

We infiltrated the ceiling of the British Museum with the wind. Hunters hired by the British government guarded the outside, yet none detected our entry.

Swish, swish.

We quickly arrived where the Rosetta Stone was visible. Despite numerous magic radars surrounding us, they posed no problem for us.

“Fenris, see that?”

“Clear as day. Phoenix.”

The red laser beams weren’t the main issue. The real trap was the ‘magic wave’ that triggered upon stepping on the ground.

Any human would instantly have their ankles grabbed by protruding marble slabs the moment they touched the ground. With Fenris’ help, I floated above the ground on wind-formed boots.

Slurp.

A mound of dirt rose in front of the Rosetta Stone. A figure emerged beyond the golden boundary, concealing their body with earthy golem-like material.

[Who are you?]

A voice-modulated tone. I know her well.

“I’m the one who invited you by impersonating your name.”

Everyone in the world wonders about this woman’s identity, but I know exactly who she is.

“Sorry about interrupting your heist.”

First rule of Aruel’s conquest: meet her as the Phantom Thief.

Rather than meeting Queen Elizabeth, this encounter with Phantom Thief Zero marks the beginning of conquering her.

“Let’s take off your clothes and talk, shall we?”

SWOOSH!

A gust of wind from Fenris’ hand disarmed Phantom Thief Zero instantly. The dirt covering her body dispersed with the wind.

“……!”

In the blink of an eye, Phantom Thief Zero’s disguise as a golem disappeared, revealing her full form. The woman wore a tight-fitting black suit and maintained her cunning disguise with her hair and face.

“Wow, you’re a girl? This makes conversation easier. Hey, Zero. Let’s work together…”

I extended my hand to her.

“How about stealing Hitler’s legacy?”

“……What?”

“Exactly that. Not just Hitler’s legacy, but treasures from all over the world. For world peace.”

“……”

Phantom Thief Zero didn’t believe me easily. I never expected her to trust me from the start anyway.

Anyway, officially recruiting her can only happen after she visits Korea. For now, this is just a casual introduction.

“Think about it. I’ll come back when you’ve decided.”

“…Will you even have the time?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Is anyone making noise?”

Eeeeaang—-

Phantom Thief Zero’s wristwatch started sounding alarms.

“Monster Alert! Monster Alert! A-Rank monster spotted near Buckingham Palace!”

“Wh-What…?!”

“Busy? Got time to mess around with us here? Even the esteemed Round Table Heroes are tied up in France right now.”

“!!”

Phantom Thief Zero hesitated. Seizing the moment, I tampered with her magical gear.

Beep, BeepBeep, BeepBeepBeep.

Emergency call.

The urgent command sent by the ‘Commander’ to all heroes distorted Phantom Thief Zero’s expression. I smiled brightly and waved at her.

“Don’t worry. I won’t touch anything other than the Rosetta Stone.”

“…We’ll see.”

Phantom Thief Zero disappeared. Fenris set me down and erected a silent barrier around us.

“Aah.”

I spoke into the magical gear. My voice would naturally distort, so as long as ambient sounds were blocked, there’d be no issues.

“All heroes, heed the Commander’s instructions and respond to the Jeolpung Gate situation accordingly.”

I issued orders as the Commander.

“Fenris, relay the commands to the monsters as directed earlier.”

No one could interfere with us now, and I gestured toward the Rosetta Stone with Fenris.

“Let’s steal it.”

SCHLICK!

Fenris slashed her claws toward the Rosetta Stone. Calmly bypassing the lasers, I retrieved a small fragment embedded within it.

“Hehehe.”

“Commander, that’s…”

“Yeah. This is the Cube.”

The Cube imbued with interdimensional spirit’s magic power made Fenris salivate. Though indescribably powerful, she reacted as if spotting a mint chocolate ice cream, panting heavily.

“Calm down. When we return, I’ll supply you with magic…”

I stroked Fenris’ left eye.

“I’ll implant this into your body.”

“……!!”

A mint-colored heart briefly appeared in Fenris’ eyes before disappearing. Then she licked her lips and turned toward me.

“Phoenix…”

Fenris gently swept her tail across me.

“After this, let’s cuddle with three of us.”

“…If it’s a challenge, I’ll gladly accept.”

Fenris, Ra-on, and me.

There’s no Jeolpung involved.