Chapter 851 |
Chapter 851 – Side Story 124: The Phantom Thief (3)
The phantom thief's form was invisible. Transparent, as if melted into thin air. But that thing definitely existed. To take the black diamond, it was clearly revealing its presence, which it should not have exposed under normal circumstances.
Just because it couldn't be seen didn't mean no one here would notice it.
Casey stared at Rudger. Her eyes said it. They had to catch that thing.
Rudger didn't respond. Her job was already decided anyway.
Casey moved. She slowly raised her crouched body.
At the same time, water droplets formed around her and shot like arrows toward the phantom thief approaching the glass case.
Not for killing. The purpose was clearly to subdue. However, the water droplets scattering like buckshot would hurt considerably if they hit, even if meant for subduing.
……!
-Thud!
With the sound of stepping on something, the phantom thief leaped high. Though invisible, they could tell that's what happened.
High enough to almost reach the ceiling, the jumping power was impressive. The water buckshot Casey shot didn't even graze the phantom thief's body.
This was unexpected and Casey was quite flustered. She thought it was a perfect surprise attack, yet it reacted.
What was more surprising was the phantom thief. From the moment it moved vigorously, the transparency was canceled. What was simultaneously revealed was that the phantom thief's gender was female.
Perhaps because she wore black leather material clothes that clung tightly to her body, her body lines were starkly exposed. Her face was covered with a black mask to hide the lower part.
Most noticeably, beast ears perked up sharply on her head. The round shape of the ears was reminiscent of a black panther. Casey realized the phantom thief's identity.
"A beastman……!"
The phantom thief who twisted her body gracefully in midair landed softly on the ground. Her nimble movements were extraordinary.
"You guys……!"
Conversely, the beastman phantom thief also recognized Casey and widened her eyes. That Casey Selmore had come this far meant her tail had been caught.
The phantom thief moved to escape the room without delay. Her form disappeared again. Moreover, unlike before, this time even her presence couldn't be felt.
"Should I help?"
"No! This is my role!"
Answering Rudger's question, Casey scattered a water barrier around her. Casey frowned. Though the storage room was spacious, this space was already dominated by the water particles she created.
It didn't matter how much the phantom thief hid her form. Even if her presence, scent, sound, and appearance weren't visible.
If she existed, her water droplets would immediately reveal that location.
But no matter how long she waited, there was no reaction. Casey sensed something was wrong.
"What? How exactly?"
She really seemed to have disappeared. Even her water droplets couldn't catch the phantom thief's existence.
Rudger stepped forward, watching this.
"I said I'll do this."
"No. I have to help with this. It can't be helped. That phantom thief, this may hurt your pride, but she's a bad matchup for you."
"What?"
Instead of answering, Rudger snapped his fingers. Small flames burst around him. It was like festival fireworks shrunk to a size that would only explode on one's palm.
Rudger swung his arm. Colorful flames scattered and flew in all directions.
Popopopopobang!
Gorgeous explosions accompanied by beautiful light dazzled the eyes. Rudger didn't stop there and snapped his fingers again. While the flames were bursting, this time a crack-thin electric current flowed in all directions.
Like a spider web spreading and encroaching on space, the electric current swept through the entire storage room.
"Kyaaaah!"
Finally, a reaction came from a blind spot in their vision, a corner of the storage room. When Rudger and Casey headed there, the phantom thief was sitting slumped. She had fallen and her legs were trembling.
She had been touched by the electric current Rudger spread, causing muscle spasms. The phantom thief glared at Rudger. Her eyes were full of hostility. But they also contained doubt.
Casey felt the same.
"What? How exactly did you do that? I couldn't find her at all."
The place where the phantom thief was now, Casey had already checked once using water. Casey hadn't found the phantom thief. Because the water she controlled told her the phantom thief wasn't here.
"It's because of spirit."
Spirit. That word struck Casey's mind.
"That's the mysterious power that beastmen use, I've heard."
"Right. You know it theoretically. However, spirit is hard to counter unless you actually see it."
Knights use aura and mages use mana but beastmen are different. They innately wield a power called spirit.
Spirit is a kind of spiritual power. It's the soul, will, and factor of ancestors, and also a channel for communicating with nature.
It's like a spirit mage, but subtly different. However, papers occasionally come out saying it's similar to spirits but communication is possible.
Though not clearly defined, that's why it's a power imbued with various versatility. That's what spirit is.
And beastman warriors use methods to strengthen their bodies using this spirit.
Beastman shamans sometimes call upon ancestral spirits through spirit to borrow their power.
Also, scouts could become one with nature through spirit, making it possible to hide their form and presence while moving.
Just as the phantom thief had done now.
"How exactly did you notice?"
The phantom thief asked in disbelief. She probably never thought a human would notice her weakness when surrounded by spirit to the extreme.
"I'm quite close with beastmen."
Especially Pantos. He was a mutant-level natural warrior even among the beastman species.
While ordinary beastman warriors only used one method of utilizing spirit, Pantos could encompass them all.
Concealment by hiding one's form—he'd already analyzed it to the point of exhaustion while sparring with Pantos.
"Hiding one's form with spirit is the same as being assimilated with nature. In such a state, conversely, Casey, you who uses single-element magic are the worst matchup."
If it were general magic, maybe not, but Casey could directly move the water of nature. That's why the water droplets Casey scattered weren't imitated elements implemented and completed by mana, but the real thing.
Those real water droplets perceived the phantom thief using spirit as being in a state assimilated with nature. That's why she couldn't notice the phantom thief's existence.
"Usually in cases like this, you have to evenly mix and use at least two to three elements. For you who only uses a single element, that's why it's an even worse matchup."
Even if she knew how to counter it, Casey, who could only handle water, couldn't find the phantom thief.
"No way, was that it?"
"Still, it's not like there's no method. For example, if you filled this room with water, you could have found her. Because even beastmen using spirit need to breathe."
But she couldn't go that far. Since they too had moved without permission, they had to avoid drawing attention.
"Anyway, we somehow managed to catch her. I vaguely expected it. An existing diamond suddenly disappeared."
That too used the power of spirit. The concealment power of assimilating with nature. Using that, she hid the diamond's appearance during the blackout.
As if someone had stolen it and it disappeared.
"She must have prepared the lifeboat in advance. To move according to that timing. Only then would people be more convinced the jewel was stolen."
The phantom thief didn't answer. She just glared at Rudger with a sharp gaze.
"Now. The game is over. Phantom thief. Since you tried to steal something on your own, it's time to pay the price."
The phantom thief flared up.
"Shut up! Stealing things? Those bastards stole it first!"
"Oh?"
The phantom thief's hostility was serious. That anger was truly what only one who had been robbed could possess. Rudger looked back at Casey. Casey pondered for a moment, then nodded.
Her genius-level intuition had noticed there was something more to this matter.
"If you know so much about beastmen, that means you have close beastman friends too."
"Well, I can't say I don't."
"Yet you'll take the side of such pig-like humans? Ha! Really. Humans are hopeless."
It seemed the phantom thief had some misunderstanding.
"We came to catch the phantom thief, we don't know what happened to you."
Casey stepped forward and protested.
"Would it change if you knew?"
"It could change. Depending on what you tell us."
Casey didn't hesitate. Her upright eyes gazed at the phantom thief. The phantom thief flinched. The anger subsided, and what took its place was bewilderment.
"You're…… human. I can't trust you."
"If you're an extremist who thinks all humans are bad, then conversation would be useless. But if you're really clinging to a glimmer of possibility, speaking would be right."
Rudger looked at the phantom thief and said.
"You don't have any choices anyway. Weren't you caught trying to steal something?"
"You think I'll just sit still?"
"You won't. But then, this side will have no choice but to get more serious too."
Rudger's voice became colder. The phantom thief's body stiffened. Her eyes captured Rudger's form. She could feel it. That human was stronger than any human she had ever seen.
Beyond beastman instinct, the spirit surrounding her was shouting. Never go against that man's mood.
"Go easy. You're scaring her too much."
Casey restrained Rudger. Rudger immediately withdrew his aura. The phantom thief gasped for breath. She belatedly realized she hadn't been breathing.
"Haa. Haa."
"Tell us. That's the only way we can know too."
The phantom thief looked at Casey. Her eyes were trembling. She was probably agonizing over whether to trust her or not.
But she had no choice. The phantom thief, with a sigh, spilled what she knew.
The phantom thief, no, the beastman woman's name was Irene.
Irene was the scout captain of a southern beastman village. The village she lived in was a small tribe that didn't belong to the beastman confederacy.
The village was small, but the beastmen were happy. They lived preserving their traditions.
But one day, a group of people came barging in.
"They said they wanted to trade with us. But it was a lie. What they wanted was the gem mine buried near our tribe. And our information knowing that location, and even our tribe's jewels we had collected from there."
Even without hearing a detailed explanation, the situation was clear. Humans wandering around lands with buried gold or jewels would entice beastmen and try to exploit them in the name of trade.
Especially if it was a small tribe not yet touched by civilization, they would have judged it even easier to take advantage of.
"We were deceived. We welcomed them with pure goodwill, but what came back were guns, swords, and violence. They pressed down on the village with force and plundered everything we had."
"Are there still people who do such things?"
She thought such things had decreased since the beastman confederation was formed. Rudger answered instead.
"Such things still happen in places out of sight. Especially in such remote places, people's eyes won't reach."
"I can't forgive those humans. Those bastards who took our tribe's things arbitrarily and act smug as if they're theirs. That's why I came forward. To take back what was stolen!"
Irene's intention was clear, and her justification was certain. If what she was saying wasn't a lie.
"But why did you imitate a phantom thief?"
"Because I couldn't get it back openly. So I came out into human society and searched for information. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Steal back what was stolen. The story of the phantom thief Arsène Lupin from a few years ago was impressive. That's why I imitated it."
Rudger felt a chill down his spine. Beside him, Casey was glaring with an enormous gaze.