Chapter 117: Chapter 117

C117: Magic, Science, and Tricks (2)

Chapter sponsored by grandafrato. Thank you for your support.

“What? Why is there no one here?”

The suppression team, who entered Vault 2, could not hide their embarrassment as they looked at the empty interior.

The instructions coming down through the crystal ball said that there was definitely a thief inside and he was diligently robbing valuables.

But what about the sight in their eyes?

There was no one and even the stored items were intact.

They thought the thieves might be hiding somewhere, so they looked more carefully, but the results were the same.

Feeling something strange, Old Guard lifted the crystal ball.

“This is Old Guard. Security room, can you hear me?”

[What’s going on?]

“Now I’m in safe number two but there’s a problem. I can’t see the thieves.”

[What? You can’t see them? What does that mean?]

“It’s literally true. There are no thieves. Are you sure there’s an intruder?”

[So…]

[Hey! Move!]

With a wild cry Ivan Luke took the crystal ball.

[What are you talking about? I can’t believe you can’t see the thieves!]

“Director? I mean, literally. Safe number two is clean, with no sign of anyone breaking in.

“[What? What are you talking about? Even now, those thieves are robbing the safe!]

“What? But we don’t see anything.”

[Then, what is this that I’m looking at?]

Ivan gritted his teeth at the sight that unfolded before his eyes.

The scene reflected through the artifact screen was still the scene where thieves carried things through the hole they made in the wall. In addition, there was no sign of the black guards entering.

“Are you sure you’re in the right place?”

[What? Never mind. I’m sure we’re in safe number 2.]

“Then why on earth…….”

Why is what he sees here different from what they see in the vault?

By this time Ivan Luke, too, had an intuition that something strange was going on.

“Oh, oh? Director! Look at that!”

At that moment, the subordinate was surprised and pointed to the screen. The scene where the thieves were busy robbing the safe No. 2 turned into a blur with the crackling sound, and suddenly disappeared and what was seen again was the black guards who went into Vault 2.

Ivan’s head was at a loss at the sight.

“What, what is this? Why? So what we just saw…….”

The screen they were looking at was fake? No, but how? It was definitely the same as inside the safe, how did they make it? No, more than that, the artifact. How could they……?

“Guards, what’s the situation?”

[Everything is fine without any objects being stolen. There must have been some kind of mistake…….]

“That’s not the problem now!”

[What can we do? The items in Vault 3 are being moved to a safe place by the other team, so should we bring them back to their original place?]

“That….”

Ivan pondered and concluded.

“No. Just in case, take care of the items in Vault 3 according to the original instructions.”

[Yes, I see. The guards just got on the elevator with the goods.]

“I got it.”

The communication was cut off.

Ivan and the security guards still felt like dreaming. It was hard for them to judge how this happened.

“No way. Did we just fall for a video?”

Someone said so cautiously.

“What?”

“Isn’t that it? Isn’t the artifact showing the scenes in the vaults on these screens?”

“……Keep talking.”

“So in the middle of that, someone might have stepped in and changed the images.”

“Hmm?”

“Yes. Someone interfered in the process of transferring the image taken by the Artifact to this screen and made it look completely different. Let me show you a record I took in advance.”

“No way.”

“I think someone changed the images to make us think Vault 2 was robbed.”

“……Then why? Even if they do that, they won’t be able to steal anything and they’ll be caught in no time.”

It didn’t matter how they did it since Vault 2 was safe but in that case why have they done it?

“Well, I don’t know…….”

Ivan clicked his tongue as he watched the guard answer in a cold sweat. At that time, his aide, who was watching the incident, shouted as if something had suddenly come to mind.

“No way!”

“What? What happened?”

“Vault 3! Director! It’s Vault 3!”

“What? What does that mean?”

“What they were after was Vault 3 from the start! This trick was done in order to make us think they’re after Vault 2 and wait for us to transport the goods to another place as per the manual.…!”

“What? Well, then…….”

Ivan’s complexion turned pale and their bad prediction came true.

[Security room! Security room! Can you hear me?]

They got a call from the black guards who were underground.

“What’s the matter?”

[We’re in trouble! The elevator is going up to the ground!]

The news heard through the crystal ball was like a bolt from the blue.

* * *

About 10 minutes ago Alex and Pantos, who went down through the underground elevator, carefully checked the basement hallway.

“Well, I don’t think there’s anyone yet. Is it somewhere else?”

“Let me check.”

“How?”

Instead of answering, Pantos closed his eyes and used the power of spirits. His gray hair fluttered in spite of the wind.

Alex stared at Pantos’ behavior with a calm face.

“Is this the power of spirit that the Suins are dealing with?”

It was a little subtle, but different, from the aura and mana handled by the knights and magicians.

The power of spirits was everywhere in the world but unlike mana and aura that the users refined for them the power of spirits could be used without that process.

Alex realized that the subtle waves spreading around Pantos had passed through his body and recognized what it was.

“Spirit search? It’s a technique to find out the location of others by the minute wavelengths spilled in the air. The Suins were not called natural hunters for no reason.”

Soon Pantos, who finished his search, opened his eyes.

“There are 8 men scattered around.”

“Where are only two of them?”

“Follow me.”

Pantos took the lead, his steps were strong but his footsteps on the ground were not heard at all. It was an instinctive hiding as a hunter when he started hunting.

Soon the two arrived at the entrance of a small storeroom.

Seeing that he could hear many conversations from the inside, they seemed to be killing time in moderation.

Pantos opened the door and went inside. The two guards, who were chatting, were bewildered when they saw Alex and Pantos suddenly appearing.

“What? Who are you?”

“There is still time until the shift ends…….”

However, at the same time they held the weapons that were placed next to them proving that they were professionals. However, their opponent was too powerful.

The guard, which was similar in size to Pantos, fell backwards with Pantos’ fist stuck in his face even before he could respond properly.

“Damn it!”

The other one stepped back and tried to take a stance but Alex tapped his foot and he lost his balance.

“What?”

I managed to avoid falling, but the gap shown for a moment was fatal. He, who was hit by Pantos, floated in the air and crashed to the ground.

“All right, let’s get ready now.”

“Yeah.”

The two immediately took off the guards’ armor and wore it.

Pantos was large so the armor was a little tight on him and he twisted around in the black armor.

“Hang in there. It’ll be over soon anyway.”

It was as Alex said. Shortly thereafter, an alarm sounded calling for reinforcements inside.

“What? What’s going on?”

“First, gather up!”

Alex and Pantos naturally joined the other Black Guards. Soon, reinforcements came down from the ground in the elevator and among them were Hans and Arpa, who pretended to guard the entrance.

“The suppression team will go into Vault 2, and the others will move the items from Vault 3.”

Old Guard set up a dedicated team he led and headed for Vault 2.

“Ha, look at you taking your close aides out to make a contribution.”

“What should I do? There is nothing I can do about it now that I have the opportunity to play an active part.”

The guards, who were left behind, grumbled but steadily, carried the items of Vault 3 in the cart they had brought under Old Guard’s orders.

After getting on the elevator with such important things, Pantos and Alex, who were disguised, moved.

“What’s this? Argh!”

“Ouch!”

A short scream rang out, and the guards collapsed without even being able to resist.

Watching the scene, Hans shuddered at the horrifying force shown by Alex and Pantos.

“What kind of knight falls down like this?”

He already knew that Pantos was strong, but it was completely unexpected that Alex, who was a con artist, showed such formidable skills. Contrary to Pantos, who is honest and powerful, he overpowered other guards with his ridiculous skills.

‘What was that move? He should be at least at the knight-level.’

He didn’t know what he’s been up to in the past, but Alex was definitely a great talent compared to his seemingly light-hearted words and actions.

‘What? Am I the weakest one here?’

Even Arpa, who seemed easy-going, had the ability to knock down a gigantic man, and he felt a sense of inferiority for no reason.

Of course, he’s in charge of gathering information and he can’t fight, so it’s not right to compare his power with theirs.

‘Wouldn’t my position be threatened if things go on like this?’

The problem was that they were not just good at fighting. Combat capabilities are just basic skills, and they showed outstanding talent in other areas as well.

He didn’t feel much when he was with Rudger, but moving with the others made him realize his weak spots.

The door of the lift that arrived on the ground opened and the four people took out all the objects and the fallen guards into the hallway.

“Well, that’s the last step.”

Alex lifted the spear and thrust it towards the key mechanism inside the elevator.

[Crack!]

As it is a sophisticated machine-powered object, nothing is more fatal than being hit in the key components.

[Rumble!]

The elevator crashed underground.

[Aww–!!!]

* * *

“The elevator it’s broken? That’s why I can’t come up……?”

Upon hearing the news, Ivan Luke looked as if his soul was going to come out of his mouth.

“What do we do now, director?”

“Is there no one outside?”

“There are but most of the Blackguard’s went underground…….”

He didn’t expect they would break the elevator and isolate people inside the basement and it was due to the fact that there was only one entrance to the basement.

“Should we inform the guest of this first? Or should we call the Leathervelk Police Department?”

“No! If we do this the auction will be ruined.”

“What should I do?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know either!”

Ivan had no choice but to shout like that since he couldn’t make a proper decision on how to deal with the situation.

‘Where the hell did it go wrong?’

He was in a bad situation since he had to handle the internal problems carefully so that the guests wouldn’t find out.

“I, I’m screwed. If my father finds out about this…….”

The aide, who judged Ivan’s condition was bad, gave instructions instead.

“You guys move! Get all the security team members together! We’re going to stop them!”

“Yes!”

It was the moment when security guards in the security room stood up and tried to go outside.

“The door won’t open!”

“What? What are you talking about?”

[Knock Knock Knock Knock!]

The guards pushed the door hard, but the door of the security room did not open. No matter how much they grabbed the doorknob and turned it, the door did not open as if something was blocking it at the entrance.

“Damn it! What’s going on?”

Seridan giggled when she heard screams coming from inside the security room. She looked proudly as she hung several hinges of metal in the door.

“They’re all in there like fools, so they’re asking to be locked up.”

Seridan walked down the hall, snorting.

‘The invention I made seems to have worked.’

Communication hacking equipment was something Rudger asked her to make in order to deal with the artifact that surveyed the vaults.

‘They didn’t expect we would change the video in the middle so that the display would show a completely different scene.’

For that purpose, Alex went into the vaults while hiding his identity and saw the entire interior composition with his eyes. It was something that ordinary people could never do.

Hans, who got the design and noticed the internal condition, Alex, who memorized everything he saw with his eyes and Rudger, who devised all these operations.

‘As expected, Nari is incredible.’

Meeting him in an underground mine in the Kingdom of Delica may have been a big turning point in her life. No, she was sure it was.

“Ah, sir, can you hear me? This is Wells.”

After exiting the large hall, she looked at the scene inside the auction house, which was more cluttered than before, and sent Rudger a message while her gaze was on 4 Blackguards that were carrying valuables.

“Operations. Success.”

[I see. You all worked hard.]

* * *

After completing the communication, Rudger glanced at the back of the auction house. The big duo, who were waiting to monitor him, suddenly left in a hurry.

‘You must be on fire because you heard the news of the robbery.’

“Hans, can you hear me?”

[Hey, brother. What’s up?]

“Where’s the item?”

[I got it all. Nothing left.]

“What did you say?”

[I knew it, so I took it out in advance. Wait a minute, I’ll go get my clothes changed.]

“Yeah, this communicator is running out of time, so let’s meet and talk about the rest.”

The sound was suddenly cut off because the time limit of the portable communication device was over. The timing was as if it had been measured with a ruler.

Rudger, who no longer felt the need to be in the auction house, rose from his seat.

There was nothing good about staying longer but at that moment a huge explosion swept the area on one side of the auction house.

A hazy dust broke out, and the host who was conducting the auction was swept away and collapsed.

Rudger frowned at the sight.

‘What is this all of a sudden?’