Rick’s lips twisted at Lenok’s indifferent declaration.
“…Ha, as expected of a Special Ability mage, your nose is sky-high. Let’s see how long you can keep that up!”
Without waiting for a reply, Rick pulled a dagger the size of his forearm from his waist and rushed towards Lenok in an instant.
He sprinted at high speed, then swayed as if falling, disappearing from sight.
*Ssssh!*
Even as Rick vanished from her vision in an instant, Lenok didn’t panic and raised her fingers.
The magic threads that extended from her fingers wrapped around the dagger that was piercing her temple, stopping it with exquisite precision.
*Kiri-rik!*
“It’s not over yet!”
It was a marvel to see a 6th-level military-grade superhuman’s full-force attack stopped by just a few strands of magic threads.
It was beyond simply manipulating thin threads; it was impossible without exquisitely distributing the tension of the threads to manipulate physical force.
However, instead of being horrified by this fact, Rick didn’t hesitate to drop the dagger in his hand and plunged into Lenok’s arms.
*Kaga-gak!*
He moved erratically, changing his movements as if bouncing around, not giving Lenok any time to react.
His movements were so flexible and agile that it didn’t even feel like his feet were properly touching the ground.
Lenok, too, swung the magic threads she had released beforehand below her feet, suppressing Rick’s movements while lost in thought.
‘I need to be careful.’
The Rick she was currently facing wasn’t a big problem.
What Lenok really needed to worry about was the issue of her fourth identity, Victor, which she was currently using.
‘Victor is different from Evan. Both the timeline and alibi are half-suspect.’
Unlike Evan, who operated in the autonomous region and the Northern Continent far from the megacity, Victor was an identity created by appearing before Hairea, who was stationed in a church inside the Balkans.
Moreover, she hadn’t completely changed her face, and the fact that she was wearing a mask made it even easier to suspect her identity.
When she was operating as Evan, she had been using magic that she used as a half-identity, mixing them up haphazardly, but as Victor, she had to make a clear distinction.
She needed to differentiate the abilities and systems she used, as well as her identity and personality, from the existing ones.
A Special Ability mage with an arrogant personality that felt almost haughty.
And to make it seem like that arrogance was natural, she needed to appear to have excellent and rare abilities.
The system she would use was magic thread manipulation. And something that even Lenok had never seen before-
‘A space system.’
[Blink]
There wasn’t even a flash of light.
Ignoring Rick, who was rushing at her like crazy, she blatantly used Blink to move a few meters forward.
The moment she lifted her foot against the invisible air.
“Kahaak!!”
All the surrounding scenery melted away, and a painful scream echoed from beneath Lenok’s feet.
The sight of Rick, who had been wielding all sorts of weapons at Lenok just a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen; instead, Rick was crawling on the ground with his neck precisely stepped on.
His whole body was bound by magic threads, and his face, with his neck tilted, looked more horrified than in pain.
“H-How…?”
“I thought you might have some unique tricks up your sleeve.”
Immediately after the team was formed, Piller had raised an objection to Olga, but he hadn’t said anything to Rick or Tucker, who were in the same assault team.
While the existence of the leader, Tucker, was understandable, the fact that he wasn’t coveting Rick’s position meant that Rick’s abilities were playing an important role in this vault heist.
Lenok chuckled and put more force on the leg that was stepping on Rick’s neck.
“You were a high-level illusionist. You’re also a Special Ability mage, yet you were talking about having a high nose…”
“Kehk, keek!!”
Illusion magic, which is classified as a Special Ability due to the rarity and difficulty of the spell itself, like manipulation or space magic.
It was said that if one went beyond simply deceiving human senses and reached a high level, it was even possible to deceive local physical laws or phenomena.
It was famous for not only being selective about aptitude and talent but also for causing mental psychosis the deeper one delved into it, so even Lenok had never seen an illusionist who had mastered it to this extent.
*Kiri-rik…!!*
The magic threads that wrapped around Rick’s entire body crawled up like snakes and slowly began to tighten around his neck.
“It seems like it would be fine to tie up your limbs like this and drag you all the way to Kaiushu.”
“I-I was wrong.”
Rick’s face turned pale, and he frantically moved his facial expressions as he spoke.
“I just wanted to check the skills of my team, you know? As you know, the power gap here is too severe…!!”
*Thud!!*
Lenok, not even listening to the end of Rick’s words, slammed his head into the ground and coldly retorted.
“You talk too much.”
*Thud!!*
“I hate noisy things.”
“That’s enough.”
Olga, who had been watching the two fight with her arms crossed, said while chewing gum.
“He’s a pain in the ass, but he’s necessary to easily break through the vault security in this operation.”
“…”
“Or are you going to deceive the image scanning device and the biometric security and open the vault’s barrier for us?”
“No.”
Lenok replied.
“I don’t do such dirty work.”
Silence fell all around.
While Lenok was slightly pondering whether her concept was too much, Tucker patted Olga’s shoulder, who was frowning.
“Let’s stop being so irritable with each other and move on. Does everyone understand why I can’t mention the higher-ups?”
“…”
Everyone didn’t seem to agree, but no one objected.
Not only was there not much time left until the execution time, but also, since Rick had been completely defeated, it was proven that Lenok’s power was also considerable.
It goes without saying that Tucker was subtly taking his own justification by taking advantage of the gap where Lenok had trampled Rick.
Tucker looked around and threw out several formal words to smooth things over.
“I’ll explain all the details after this is over. Until then, everyone must follow my instructions faithfully.”
“That’s…”
“Let’s begin.”
After replying in a heavy voice, Tucker silently bent down and began to pick up his equipment.
His attitude seemed to have some complicated circumstances behind it.
It was such a perfect act that it was hard to believe that he had been acting like a discharged soldier to Lenok.
As Tucker, who had abruptly stopped talking, began to move forward, the others also began to walk behind him.
The group quickly climbed onto a hill overlooking the city.
Kaiushu, a mid-sized city located in the Western Continent.
With a population of 4 million, its width alone was enough to cover several districts of a vast megacity.
It was the time between late afternoon and evening.
The streetlights located throughout the city began to light up one by one, and the lights began to turn on little by little between the windows of the buildings.
“That old man who doesn’t even know he has a treasure in his hands doesn’t deserve to have it.”
On the hill overlooking the city, which was slowly regaining its light, in contrast to the darkening night sky, Tucker muttered.
“Let’s all be thieves for just one day.”
* * *
Finding the location of the penthouse was not difficult.
Tucker, Rick, and Olga quickly approached the inner part of the nearby street, and Lenok and the other three waited on standby. When the signal sounded, they would scatter in all directions to observe the trends.
The sight of the giggling men and women and Piller standing with an annoyed expression.
Lenok stared at them for a while and asked the men and women.
“I have something I want to ask.”
“Hmm?”
“What is it?”
She slightly adjusted her mask, and through the gap, she looked at Piller’s expression instead.
“We divided into the entry team and the guard team, but we didn’t decide how to enter the penthouse.”
“Of course, we had all the specific plans set up before you came.”
The men and women added a word each, giggling.
“No, are you asking that now?”
“Aren’t you curious about how the operation is going, even though you’re a parachute [a newcomer]?”
“Shouldn’t you have explained it on your own before I asked?”
“What?”
The men and women slightly opened their mouths as if they were dumbfounded, but Lenok maintained a confident attitude.
“I’m a guest who was invited to this place. I should be treated with courtesy, but I don’t know what’s going on.”
“…It seems like you’re misunderstanding something just because you stepped on Rick once.”
The man left the woman he had been clinging to and stepped forward.
A destructive aura emanated from the man’s smiling body.
“Do you think I don’t know that Special Ability mages have bad compatibility and are easy to exploit?”
“…”
The man quietly raised his power, mentioning a fact that even Lenok didn’t know.
A Saint-level physical ability user who had completed the seven levels. Along with Olga of the assault team, he was one of the most powerful superhumans in this operation in terms of level.
The man pretended to grab Lenok’s mask with his hand, which was full of power.
“It’ll be helpful to keep Special Ability mages alive. Shut your mouth and get ready to run away. Everything is ready.”
Outlaws who had lived by taking other people’s things without hesitation. They were people who had lived as they pleased as much as they were strong.
It was admirable how Hairea and the Devil’s Den had gathered such people and arranged manpower.
People who were intoxicated with irresponsible pleasure and could not understand the concept of conforming to an organization or order.
That’s why it was easy to gauge their reactions.
“You’ve already planned how to escape.”
“What?”
“And Tucker didn’t tell me that in front of me.”
“…”
At Lenok’s words, which immediately picked up on the carelessly spoken words, the men and women simultaneously closed their mouths.
Among the two people who were quietly looking at each other, the woman said with a strange smile.
“If you want to hear that, why don’t you take off that black mask and show your face?”
The man quickly added, as if he had been waiting for it.
“…That’s right. Are you going to keep your identity a secret and just pick up the information we give you?”
Lenok was about to answer when the terminal she had received from Tucker started ringing at the same time.
*Beep beep beep!!*
A signal to start the guard duty.
A tense atmosphere briefly flowed, and the four people who had been watching each other silently scattered around the penthouse.
Lenok also followed the other three, keeping a reasonable distance and spreading out in different directions.
The distance each of the three people had spread out was roughly around a few hundred meters. It meant that they could definitely sense any abnormalities within that range.
*Paaht!*
As if mocking them, Lenok, who had spread out a magic power detection that covered the entire area, naturally leaned against a nearby bench.
After all, the existence of the mask was not recognized by ordinary people.
Even if someone were to break through his sensory range and approach, it wouldn’t be difficult to be on guard, focusing on those who recognized this mask.
All that was left was to wait for the assault team to finish their work and come out.
“…”
The abnormality occurred not long after.
One of the four presences that had been standing around the penthouse had secretly begun to move.
It was Piller, a young man with a snake-like impression.
Judging by the fact that the other two men and women hadn’t sensed Piller’s movements, it seemed that he also had a way of hiding.
Lenok chuckled and immediately got up from her seat.
She glanced at the rooftop of the penthouse and stood behind Piller, who was heading towards the elevator hallway.
Piller, who had finally noticed Lenok’s presence, also turned his head and glared at Lenok.
“The assault team’s work hasn’t finished yet.”
“Get lost.”
“Tucker won’t like it if you leave the operation without the others knowing.”
Although it was a distorted voice, he couldn’t have failed to notice the blatant laughter in Lenok’s words.
Piller frowned with an unpleasant expression, but Lenok deliberately let out a chuckle once more, provoking him.
It was obvious that if there was a problem with this operation, it would start from the inside, and especially with a guy like this.
“Is the beating you got from Olga still lingering?”
“…You little bastard.”
Piller, who had turned his body around with a murderous glint in his eyes, said.
“Are you saying we should try it out right here?”
“No, I’m saying let’s do it together.”
“…What?”
Lenok smiled at Piller’s slightly dumbfounded face.
She had started working for the Devil’s Den after listening to the doctor, but she had no intention of moving as Hairea wanted.
The judgment and standards for Pandemonium had to be decided by Lenok’s will.
In that sense, this hot-blooded idiot was definitely a very useful pawn.
“While the two of them are watching the perimeter, let’s go in and take a handful of elixirs each. How about it?”
* * *
*Ding!*
As Lenok took the lead and hacked the door security device and touched it, Piller, who had been watching from behind with an unpleasant expression, also moved.
They took the elevator straight to the top floor of the penthouse.
“…Manipulation abilities are definitely useful. You weren’t just spouting nonsense.”
“I have no intention of talking about the ratio now.”
Lenok quietly shook her head, adjusting her mask.
“Let’s each take what we can, and cooperate only until we open the vault door and escape.”
“Okay. You’re much more reasonable than I thought.”
Only then did Piller smile and nod.
However, his faintly smiling expression instantly flipped and twisted like a demon.
“Tucker is inflexible. Does he think it makes sense to decide the success or failure of an operation based on a brawl? We came here to steal the Tears of the Archangel, not to fight with an old man.”
“That’s not wrong.”
As she gave him an appropriate response, Piller’s tightly closed mouth gradually opened.
“If you can see through the dummy artifacts I installed, your detection ability must be decent. You watch the back. I’ll open the way to the vault.”
With that said, Piller canceled the button for the top floor that Lenok had pressed and pressed the button for the floor right below it.
At Piller’s seemingly meaningful action, Lenok naturally released her arms, which had been crossed.
“You have something you believe in. I guess it’s okay to try it out?”
“Shut your mouth and follow me.”
*Whoosh!!*
Piller said that and unhesitatingly began to walk down the wide hallway of the penthouse.
“Because I’m going to get into the vault before the assault team.”
Piller unhesitatingly picked a room and entered it, then threw down a picture frame hanging on the wall.
A strange-looking control panel appeared from within.
Piller didn’t even look at the control panel properly and constantly looked around as he pressed the password.
*Beep beep beep!!*
At that moment, the light in the center of the room split open to the left and right, and a staircase descended from within.
Lenok stared at the scene with a dumbfounded expression and asked.
“What is this?”
“It’s a secret passage to the top floor of the penthouse. I didn’t think you’d still be alive.”
Piller unhesitatingly stepped onto the stairs and gestured to Lenok.
“Check if there are any guys following behind and come up.”
“Hmm…”
To be honest, Lenok had bad memories of stairs.
The disgrace she had with Ermong in the Hangsahami Labyrinth was a memory that was hard to forget even if she tried.
Fortunately, perhaps because it was a passage prepared right below the top floor, the length of the stairs was not that long.
As she climbed up to a corner of the warehouse with a warm aura, her sensory range opened up, and she could feel all the presences heading to the top floor at once.
The cleaners and managers who managed the inside of the house. And even the assault team, who had not yet entered the house and were focusing on breaking through the security.
When Lenok told him this fact, Piller smiled with satisfaction.
“I knew it. Those pathetic guys… If they had taken me, they could have handled things much more easily.”
“…”
Perhaps Tucker didn’t include him in the assault team because he didn’t know that he knew the internal structure of the penthouse this well.
Well, no one would have thought that Piller would know the internal structure of the penthouse this well.
“The vault where the elixirs are stored is over there. Follow me.”
He unhesitatingly crossed the wide lobby of the house and headed to the place where the rooms were densely gathered on the opposite side.
After tapping the light switch on the wall three times and turning on the emergency light, a small crack appeared on the wall of the hallway, and a hidden door appeared.
Before opening the door, Piller glanced back at Lenok and said.
“The moment the vault door is opened, a log will be left. From the moment the door is open for more than 5 minutes, a report will be sent to the old man at regular intervals.”
“You’re saying we have to finish the job and run away within 5 minutes.”
“No, I’m going to time it as close as possible.”
Piller’s lips stretched out long.
“Because when that old man notices that the vault has been opened and comes, those guys will stay behind and become the culprits instead.”
“…”
Indeed, why was he moving as a team when he knew the internal structure of the penthouse this well? It was because he needed someone to be the culprit instead.
Even this young man, who looked down on everyone around him, was afraid of the monster called the Wall, who was at level 8.
However, instead of refuting his words, Lenok calmly nodded her head.
“Not bad.”
“Okay. Then let’s start.”
*Thud!*
As soon as the door was opened, inside the dark, sunken small room, countless cases were piled up.
Lenok and Piller, who had scattered to both sides, simultaneously opened different cases, and inside, all sorts of elixirs, carefully wrapped in thin paper, appeared.
As the manufacturing methods and origins of the elixirs were diverse, their appearances were also varied.
Some elixirs simply took the form of pills, while others were as hard and subtly glowing as jewels, and some were even in the form of entire plant roots that had been pulled out.
Lenok, who had used her magic power detection to grasp the energy of the elixirs around her at once, nodded her head.
Since she had started a full-fledged distribution business with Jenny and had no shortage of money, she had never skimped on investments to maintain a balance between combat and daily life.
Lenok had also been steadily taking elixirs and testing various products on her body, so she was by no means ignorant in this field.
‘On average, they’re mid-to-high grade. Each one is worth hundreds of millions.’
Perhaps because they were elixirs hidden in the vault of a superhuman who ruled a city, each one was of considerable quality.
Even from Lenok’s perspective, who had taken all sorts of elixirs and experienced their effects, there were some rare items that she coveted.
If taken properly, there were quite a few items that would help increase her maximum magic power and stamina, which were always lacking no matter how much she had.
While she was carefully selecting and putting away items that were of a reasonable size to carry, Piller called Lenok with a gesture.
“I think I found it. Come over here.”
A case that was so old that its shape was unrecognizable.
The appearance of poorly pressed elixir residue inside a wooden box wrapped in bandages.
“It’s most similar to the appearance description I heard from Tucker. This must be it.”
“…I see.”
It seemed that Piller couldn’t feel it even though he saw it with his own eyes, but Lenok, who had rotated her magic eye behind her mask, could recognize the special nature of the wooden box.
Among the countless elixirs that were running wild inside this vault, the energy of this wooden box was not affected at all.
Was it an item that emitted a different aura when it was with other elixirs rather than the special nature of the wooden box itself?
That’s why the Wall also didn’t recognize the special nature of this item and had left it in the vault.
The Tears of the Archangel. The target had been obtained so easily that the plan they had made so far felt futile.
In the tense atmosphere, Piller asked.
“Should I keep it, or do you want to hold it?”
It was obvious how Piller thought of Lenok, judging by the way he was narrowing his eyes.
Lenok chuckled and casually pushed the wooden box he was holding into Piller’s arms.
“You opened the door and found it first, so it’s your credit.”
“…That’s right.”
“There’s still about 3 minutes left. Let’s take some useful items in the meantime.”
“Okay.”
At the same time as Lenok turned around without hesitation, Piller, who had been looking down at the wooden box in his arms with a strange expression, raised his head.
A faint murderous intent flashed in Piller’s eyes as he looked at Lenok’s back, which was defenseless as she bent over.
Piller, who had rushed in like lightning, struck Lenok’s lower back deeply.
*Hwaaak!!*
A surprise attack launched with all his might by a 6th-level military-grade physical ability user. The speed at which his forearm rotated was close to subsonic.
A hidden blade between Piller’s wrist pierced Lenok’s lower back accurately, tearing through her lungs and heart.
Lenok, who couldn’t even scream, trembled and slowly slumped down.
*Thud, thud, thud!!*
He stabbed and rose from Lenok’s body in succession, leaving no room for leeway.
“Thank you, you stupid bastard.”
Piller’s eyes, looking at the fallen Lenok, were coldly hardened.
“Even so, Tucker isn’t an idiot. If there are no obstacles, he’ll get out of Kaiushu quickly.”
“…”
“It would be nice if your corpse could hold Tucker back and buy some time. Right?”
“…”
“Hoo, I was nervous because they were hyping you up as a Special Ability mage… You were nothing special up close after all.”
The moment Piller, who had swept back his hair, took a breath and immediately turned his back.
A reply was heard from Lenok’s mouth, who had fallen.
“Rather, I should be the one thanking you.”
“…!!!”
A cold sneer echoed in Piller’s ears, his eyes wide open.
“To be honest… I would have been disappointed if it hadn’t ended like this.”
As if she were a puppet being controlled by a doll.
Lenok’s slumped body slowly began to rise.