bookcurios Chapter 558 - 558
Chapter 558 - 558
The night was clear with a bright moon and sparse stars.Dressed in black tight-fitting clothes, Eiji scaled the ten-foot-high wall and infiltrated Duke Symphonia's mansion.
Carefully sensing the surrounding auras, he avoided the patrols and silently advanced toward the direction guided by his skill.
The divine artifact detected by his Treasure Sense skill naturally guided his path forward.
"Are there a bit too many patrols?"
The thought crossed Eiji's mind as he progressed.
In just a short time, he had already spotted over a dozen patrol teams.
Is this the standard security for a top noble's mansion in the kingdom? Or had Duke Symphonia heightened the alert after hearing about last night's theft at Count Gold's residence?
But a few extra patrols were utterly useless.
The Twin Wings Style allowed him to completely suppress all his energy, not leaking the slightest trace. Every movement was soundless, and even rapid running wouldn't stir the air, making his infiltration effortlessly successful.
Without attracting anyone's attention, Eiji reached the deepest part of the mansion.
"A magic lock?"
Standing before the vault door, Eiji examined it closely.
Unlike ordinary locks, a magic lock required specific methods to open. Any mistake in the process or attempts to break it would immediately trigger a chain reaction, sounding an alarm and alerting the entire mansion to the intrusion.
"Light of Saber!"
Eiji muttered under his breath.
After a moment, nothing happened.
"Tch! Portray!"
Reciting the incantation again, a golden lightsaber finally sprang from his fingertip.
The golden blade pressed against the junction of the metal door and the wall. With a few sizzling sounds, the door was detached from the wall, the magic lock remaining completely unresponsive.
For a mere vault, there was no need to pick the lock—just destroy the door to get in!
This was how he'd been doing it all these days!
"Hmm?"
Just as he was about to move the door aside, Eiji suddenly let out a soft sound of surprise. With a light leap, he retreated from the doorway and vanished into the shadows, his presence disappearing entirely.
Soon after, a figure crept stealthily to the vault entrance.
It was a slightly short figure, just over five feet tall, also clad in black tight-fitting attire with a mask covering the face, revealing only a pair of indigo-blue eyes that cautiously scanned the surroundings.
"So flat."
Eiji shook his head inwardly.
He could tell at a glance that it was a girl, and equally obvious was her unfortunate lack of endowment—only qualifying for an AA rating.
Still, she had a bit more than the Witch, who was truly flat, possessing nothing at all—a woman who could rival Tiona and Loki in that regard.
Thinking about it, maybe AA wasn't so bad after all.
"Unlock!"
She tiptoed to the vault door, pointed her finger at the magic lock, and whispered the command.
With a click, the magic lock obediently disengaged.
"A thief?"
Eiji pondered thoughtfully.
If he recalled correctly, lockpicking was a thief-class skill, costing only 1 point, but Eiji hadn't learned it.
"Never thought I'd run into a fellow thief here, but—"
The female thief gently pushed open the door.
"Crash!"
Then, to her utter bewilderment, the entire door toppled forward with a thunderous noise.
"Eh? Ehhh?! Why is the door broken?!"
It took her a moment to process what had happened before she let out an incredulous shriek.
From her voice, she sounded quite young, probably only in her teens.
"Heh heh heh."
Eiji snickered silently from the shadows.
"Who's there?!"
"It's coming from the Treasure Vault!"
"Could there be intruders?! Quick, apprehend them!"
In no time, the patrol squad reacted, swiftly converging toward the Treasure Vault.
"Ah, damn it! I scouted everything so carefully, bypassed so many obstacles—why did things go wrong now?!"
The female thief looked on the verge of tears.
But she didn't hesitate for long. Gritting her teeth, she dashed straight into the Treasure Vault, zeroing in on a specific item and snatching it away.
"See ya later!"
With the treasure clutched tightly, she bolted toward the mansion's exit.
"Hey, you little brat!"
Eiji, now frantic, leaped out from the shadows.
"If you're leaving, why take the divine artifact with you?!"
According to his treasure-sensing skill, the mansion's only divine artifact was rapidly moving farther away from him.
Without a doubt, the treasure stolen by that female thief was definitely one of Duke Symphonia's prized divine artifacts!
This woman had a treasure-sensing skill too!
Eiji immediately gave chase.
Meanwhile.
"Intruder spotted! Over here!"
"Don't let them escape!"
The moment she rushed out of the Treasure Vault, the female thief was immediately noticed by the patrol.
"Stealth!"
She barked the command, and her figure vanished from plain sight.
Stealth—a thief-class skill that concealed both presence and aura. If physical contact was maintained, the effect could even be shared with allies, making it incredibly versatile.
Thanks to this skill, thieves had become the strongest scout-type class among all professions, especially sought after for labyrinth exploration.
"Surround the area! Don't let them slip away!"
"Someone fetch an anti-stealth magic tool, quick!"
The patrol hurriedly issued orders one after another.
Using her petite frame to her advantage, the female thief flipped and twisted like a gymnast, vaulting over the human barricade and breaking free from the encirclement.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted!"
A full half-hour later.
Panting heavily, she finally escaped Duke Symphonia's mansion and ducked into an unnamed alley.
Thankfully, her level was high enough—her early skill points far exceeded others', allowing her to master every advanced thief skill available. Otherwise, escaping the Duke's estate would've been no easy feat.
"If I ever find out who sabotaged that door, I'll make them pay!"
The thought of tonight's grueling chase filled her with rage.
Had that door not been tampered with, she was confident she could've stolen the divine artifact undetected and made a clean getaway.
"At least I managed to snag this divine artifact!"
She unwrapped the bundle in her arms, revealing a dark golden longbow.
This was the sole consolation of the night.
Just then, a shadowy figure flashed past her.
In the blink of an eye, the Divine Artifact longbow vanished from her hand.
"...!"
The female thief's heart nearly stopped!
Her face beneath the mask twisted in shock.
She glared fiercely in the direction where the shadow had disappeared—only to see a tall figure clad in black, dressed exactly like one of their own kind, revealing nothing but dark pupils. The figure was now intently examining the longbow in hand.
"Another dud... how boring."
Eiji sighed.
Well, the moment he saw it was a bow, he'd already suspected this thing would be useless.