Chapter 680: Magic
Under the night sky in Faraluo, several figures were soaring through the air. Their massive and heavy stone wings, sturdy and broad, were navigating the cold evening wind, carrying their heavy bodies forward. In the sky, the bright moon and countless stars shone, while the earth was enveloped in darkness.
Among these flying figures, Henri, one of the overseers of the Dark Gold Society, was leading. At this moment, he was stretching his stone wings, utilizing the wind power stored within to fly through the air. Near him flew two other gargoyles with stone wings, including Rock, and an elderly man with slightly white hair and dressed in standard gentleman’s attire.
“How much further, Henri?”
During the flight, the older extraordinary being spoke directly. Without turning around, Rock, who was leading ahead, replied straightforwardly.
“Almost there, Craven. That guy has stopped. It seems he has finally reached his hideout. Hmph, running such a long distance, he must be quite cautious,” Henri responded. Compared to before, a monocle now adorned his face. On the lens, faint glimmers flowed, as if conveying information that helped Henri pinpoint the distant location and guide the team towards it.
“This thief hasn’t noticed anything unusual for so long. Hmph… It seems he’s only good at fooling ordinary people. As an extraordinary being, he’s really nothing special,” Rock said from another side of the flight, his eyes revealing a mix of contempt and impatience. He seemed eager to find the thief who had stolen from his collection and teach him a lesson with his true power.
“You’re overestimating this thief too much. The fake item he stole was carefully crafted from fragments of Federico the Grand Overseer. Its ‘shadow’ concealment is profound and intricate, not something an ordinary extraordinary being could easily detect.”
“The thief should have performed extraordinary detection on the stolen items to remove traces like landmarks. But the anomaly hidden by the necklace in his possession can’t be detected by ordinary means. Only a powerful ‘lamp’ beyond the usual chalk level has a chance to reveal it. However, the thief is a ‘shadow,’ lacking that capability.”
After hearing Rock’s words, Craven, a middle-aged man, responded directly. Soon after, Henri added:
“Craven is right. The fake item wasn’t detected because it was made by Mr. Frederico and Mr. Daris. Though this thief behaves like a clown in front of ordinary people, he does have some strength. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have used the church in Adria to manipulate Garib. His strength might surpass the usual chalk level; we can’t afford to underestimate him.”
Upon hearing this, Rock nodded slightly and fell silent, continuing to follow Henri.
The exhibition of the Light of Maria, though set up by the Dark Gold Society as a trap for Thief K, had several members of the Dark Gold Society anticipating Thief K’s arrival. They did not believe he would bring along a golden base, unrelated to theft, without reason. Therefore, they never planned to capture Thief K at the exhibition site but waited for him to steal the Light of Maria and track him to his hideout through the trail left behind. They assumed Thief K would hide the golden base in his hideout.
Thus, the three continued their flight for a while until, after several minutes, Henri began to slowly descend.
“We’re almost there. Let’s land first.”
Henri said to his teammates behind him. Then, the three quickly descended toward the dark ground below. Soon, they landed on solid ground. In the darkness, they looked around and found themselves in a hilly area. They stood atop a small slope.
After scanning the darkness, Henri directed his gaze toward another small hill nearby. Under the moonlight, a dilapidated ancient fortress could be seen, standing there, seemingly ancient.
“That abandoned fortress is where the final coordinates point. He… or they, are likely there,” Henri said, pointing toward the distant fortress. Upon hearing this, Rock continued:
“It looks like it’s from the Cold Moon Civil War era… Does he think such old-fashioned fortifications can protect him? Hmph…”
“There’s no time to waste. Let’s begin.”
Rock said with a slight mocking smile. Then, Craven also spoke seriously. After these words, their bodies gradually sank into the ground, as if sinking into water.
The three gargoyles, using their abilities, quickly approached the abandoned fortress underground. Soon, they neared the fortress from beneath the earth. During this process, they used their abilities to perceive the structure of the fortress. Sure enough, they discovered clear signs of space underground, with subtle vibrations indicating activity.
Through these vibrations, the three realized that the seemingly deserted fortress actually had an active underground space with multiple occupants. They immediately quickened their pace, infiltrating the underground space of the fortress.
During this process, they encountered some extraordinary detection from anti-matter passage, but they swiftly resolved it and continued forward. Before long, they had entered the walls of the underground space. Despite the thin stone wall, they could see inside clearly.
As expected, unlike the pitch-black exterior of the abandoned fortress, the underground space was brightly lit. Many areas were illuminated, with several basements and corridors interconnected. The interior was spotlessly clean, with neatly arranged living objects, completely unlike a desolate scene. Clearly, someone had been living here for a long time.
Through the thin walls, the three saw people in different attire moving through the passages and basements. Key checkpoints had guards, and there were about ten residents in total. The three continued exploring the rocky terrain, observing the underground space from various angles behind walls and ceilings, searching for their target.
Soon, their search bore fruit. In a spacious basement with various exquisite furniture, they found their target, Thief K, sitting at a large desk. She was still wearing her costume-like outfit, even keeping her half-mask on. She was playing with her recent prize, the Light of Maria. Above the desk, a golden irregular object caught their attention—it seemed to be the golden base containing the crystal of the Light of Maria!
Amidst their intense gazes, Thief K slowly removed four of the largest crystals from the necklace and placed them onto the golden base. She then began fiddling with it, seemingly trying to figure something out. However, after several attempts, nothing happened. Seeing the thief using a fake item for such attempts, the three hiding behind the wall couldn’t help but want to laugh.
After a simple exchange, they decided to act together.
Just as the masked thief was carefully examining the object in his room, a shadow shot out from the sturdy wall above, diving down toward the seated thief. Rock, already covered in an impenetrable layer of black-gray rock, struck first with a sturdy stone spear aimed at the thief’s head.
Seeing the danger from above, the thief kicked the table in front of him, sliding backward along with his chair to dodge the spear. The spear missed and plunged into the ground, injecting its spirituality into the earth. Suddenly, numerous sharp stone spikes erupted from the ground, spreading rapidly outward. Just as the spikes were about to hit the thief, he leaped upward, avoiding them. The spikes shattered his chair and quickly filled the room, turning it into a hellish spike field. All the furnishings in the room were destroyed.
Leaping into the air, the thief adjusted his position mid-flight and landed on the spikes below, standing steadily on one foot. Holding the “golden base and crystal combination,” he tipped his top hat and smiled at Rock.
“Oh my… Guests have arrived so soon. Looks like I made a mistake in my previous performance.”
The thief said, but the Dark Gold Society trio clearly didn’t want to chat. After Rock’s failed attack, Henri and Craven, also covered in black-gray shells, burst out from the ground and walls, each wielding a stone hammer and axe. The thief jumped to another spike to avoid them, causing the original spike to shatter under the force.
Then, Rock also joined the fray with his stone spear. The three gargoyles continuously moved through the rocks, ignoring the spikes on the ground, launching coordinated attacks from all directions. The thief, trapped in this unfavorable terrain, dodged and jumped among the spikes, avoiding injury from the gargoyles’ attacks.
Seeing that regular attacks were ineffective, Henri temporarily disengaged the close combat, letting the others continue to engage the thief while he flew back a short distance. Then, orange-yellow patterns appeared on his body, and he unleashed a scorching flame from his mouth, sweeping toward the battling group. The other two gargoyles weren’t afraid of this level of fire, but the thief might be.
Facing the approaching flames, the thief, who had just dodged two attacks, grabbed his cloak and swung it, using it to shield himself from the flames. Miraculously, the flames vanished under the cloak, not spreading further. When the thief lifted the cloak again, a flock of white doves emerged, fluttering their wings and dispersing in all directions.
“What…”
Henri stared in disbelief at this scene reminiscent of street magic. Meanwhile, Rock and Craven didn’t stay idle. They opened their mouths, and after a flash of light on their bodies, one sprayed thick mist while the other released frigid air. Instantly, most of the room was covered in both. Affected by these forces, the thief rapidly formed a layer of ice on his body. Within seconds, he was frozen to a spike.
Once the thief was immobilized, Henri immediately sprang into action. He picked up his warhammer and rushed toward the frozen sculpture, smashing it with all his might. The ice statue shattered into pieces. The Dark Gold Society trio quickly searched for traces of the golden base among the broken ice, but found none.
Moreover, they didn’t discover any remains in the broken ice either. What scattered apart were only more ice, with no other substance.
“He’s not here… Where did that guy go?”
Seeing this, Rock couldn’t help but ask. Just as he finished speaking, in a corner of the room, a damaged wardrobe, pushed aside by spikes, suddenly creaked open. From inside, the thief, still wearing his black cloak, reappeared, jumping onto a spike. In his hand, he still held the golden base and crystal.
“Here you are, ladies and gentlemen…”
“You… Why did you suddenly appear there!”
Seeing the thief suddenly appear in an unrelated wardrobe, Henri was stunned. The thief smiled in response.
“Just a little escape trick. If you often watch magic shows at the circus, you’d remember. No matter what situation you’re in… A magician always escapes in the end.”
Adjusting his hat, the masked thief faced the three gargoyles with a calm smile. Hearing this, the Dark Gold Society trio retreated slightly, exchanging glances.
“This is extraordinary ability? It’s like street magic…”
“This guy’s ability is strange…”
“Let’s not tangle with him here. Use a direct approach, quick and decisive!”
At the end of their discussion, Henri pulled out a stack of sigils from his clothes and threw them into the air. Upon closer inspection, they were explosive sigils of the “lamp”!
“Can you escape anywhere? I’ll see where you can run when I destroy everything here!”
Henri said, followed by the appearance of orange-yellow light patterns on his body. He gathered intense light in his mouth. Craven and Rock followed suit, gathering explosive flames.
Finally, the three spat out fireballs simultaneously, which exploded upon contact with the floor, activating all the explosive sigils. The explosions echoed throughout the underground space. As the flames engulfed every corner, the structural support began to rapidly deteriorate, leading to a massive collapse.
