The Great Thief Daudet
Outside the holy city, the great war was on the verge of beginning. Leylin was also caught up in the imminent crisis.
A guard with slanting eyes and a sullen face reported to Thomas: “Young master! Our people in the coastal division have sent news. There isn’t the least bit of information on this Nick, and he seems to have appeared out of thin air. In addition, the other pure-blooded Alabaster Devilsnake clans have been contacted and they couldn’t find this Nick wither, perhaps he is from some remote branch clan…”
“You couldn’t discover his origins? That’s fine, arrest him on the charge of espionage. Set off immediately!” Thomas stroked his chin, with a trace of menace in his eyes. He couldn’t bear it any longer.
As for considering the bigger picture? He chuckled gently. This was not something that young master Thomas would ever consider!
“Yes sir,” the slant-eyed guard immediately accepted his order. If the butler from earlier, Mumbas, was still there, he would perhaps try to dissuade Thomas. However, this guard clearly did not intend to do that and even seemed to add fuel to the fire.
After all, small fry like them only wanted to seize all opportunities to climb up, and as for the overall situation— what about it? It made one want to laugh.
A squad aggressively arrived in front of Leylin’s building, pushing the door open smoothly.
“Nick, you are being arrested on the crime of espionage!” Thomas raised his head with a carefree smile on his face, as if he had already seen Leylin’s panicked expression.
‘Oh? He’s really restrained himself until now, it looks like Aegnis’ doing.’ Only, it seemed that Leylin’s response had gone beyond Thomas’ expectations. After hearing this, he unexpectedly showed no fear, and only thoughtfully stroked his chin.
“What’s the matter?” An awful sense of foreboding suddenly enveloped Thomas’ heart. He felt faintly regretful, and felt that he had done something extremely foolish.
“Capture him!” The slant-eyed soldier next to Thomas, however, didn’t think too deeply. after seeing how senile Leylin looked, with his life force at its very limits, he immediately issued an order without thinking.
Several soldiers charged forward immediately, and there were even sparks left in the air. The guards of the holy city were naturally all outstanding. The minimum requirement to enter the garrison was rank 3, and even the captain had the power of a rank 4 Magus.
Leylin was half-seated on the couch. Without even budging his fingers, he spat out a single word, “Obliterate.”
The sound of something breaking filled the air, and everything seemed to still as the loud crash of crystals shattering echoed in the room. The guards that had charged ahead earlier along with the slant-eyed soldier had been destroyed by a black gas, and not even their souls remained.
“This strength… and the black destructive gas… You must be the thief who stole away so many holy light crystals, the great thief Daudet!” As the heir to the Stewart family, Thomas possessed at least this much knowledge. His teeth began to chatter in fear.
The great thief Daudet! This was a new rising name in the holy city, and he’d only needed to do one thing to trigger an awfully dangerous situation. In the strictly guarded holy city, he plainly dared to make his move and pilfered the entire reserve of holy light crystals, and had even killed several of the strongest guards!
Daudet’s greatest strength was this black destructive gas! If they weren’t currently in the midst of war, Thomas believed that with these battle accomplishments alone, Daudet’s name could spread to the entire seven continents.
Daudet’s actions were clearly an insult to the Stewart family who guarded the holy city. Even Thomas’ sister Aegnis had vowed to apprehend the thief, but unfortunately there wasn’t even a single clue for her to follow.
Thomas could never have thought that this frightening great thief Daudet was unexpectedly hiding in his own home, and he was actually Nick! The strange difference between Daudet and Nick made Thomas feel a strong sense that none of this was real.
“You’re the great thief Daudet, then why…” Thomas took several steps back with a panicked expression and felt utterly humiliated.
He had already realised that when Leylin had so easily tolerated him and conceded the sisters to him, he was actually being used as a shield. When he had been so immensely pleased with himself before, he was actually being played for a fool.
“You really… really dared to treat me like this, I will absolutely get my revenge on you, I swear it!” Of course, on the surface Thomas still had a fearful and humiliated expression on his face. There was a ring laden with a huge red gem on his hand, which was secretly emitting unknown undulations.
“Do you know why I acted so directly today, and didn’t hesitate to expose myself?” Leylin calmly asked. He seemed as if he hadn’t sensed Thomas’ secretive action at all, but was still half-lying on the couch.
“I… I don’t know,” Thomas leaned against the wall, extremely afraid that if he went a few steps further, he would be pursued by Leylin. In his heart he was wildly roaring to himself, ‘Yes, yes! Just like this, before you catch your prey, you’ll humiliate me a little? Very well, come! Give me a bit more time until my family’s reinforcement arrives and I’ll pay you back a hundred times the humiliation you’ve given me!’
“Perhaps you are thinking that I’m acting like I’ve just caught my prey, and first I’ll humiliate you a little before killing you?” Leylin indifferently said, right at that moment. His voice was teasing and his bright eyes seemed to have completely seen through Thomas’ actions.
“No, how would I dare to think that?” Thomas knew that it would be harder to laugh than to cry. This feeling of being seen through made his heart sink a little.
‘Isn’t it almost time?’ Leylin didn’t bother with Thomas anymore, but looked at the position of the triumphal arc of the holy city.
Just as Thomas began to feel suspicious, a violent earthquake began to shake, and Thomas nearly fell.
With a great rumble, a loud sound came from the city gate. With the cries of countless gluttonous beasts and the sound of killing, a violent commotion began to spread within the city.
“Do you know why I didn’t respond to your little secret action earlier?” Leylin stood and ridiculed Thomas, who was anxiously wringing his hands. Thomas’ face paled immediately, as if all the blood had drained from it.
“It was because… The Stewart family, or the entire holy city, will become history after tonight. How could I care about your cry for help?”
“How.. How is that possible? Our holy city is under the protection of the Matriarch!” Thomas’ voice was very hoarse, as if he was a desert traveller about to die from thirst.
With a whistling sound, two black daggers shot out from Thomas’ sleeves like two concealed vipers in a flash, baring their fangs at Leylin.
Even though Thomas was a playboy, as Aegnis’ fellow clansman and with a pure rank 6 bloodline, even if he hadn’t really practiced he was still in the Morning Star realm.
Thomas’ twin daggers which were pitch-black with a dark lustre, emitted undulations which were not inferior to any high-grade magical equipment.
*Swish! Swish!* In an instant, the daggers were already flying towards Leylin’s eyes, and he could even see Thomas’ malevolent smile behind them.
With a crackling sound, countless sparks appeared, and shortly after a huge force could be felt. Thomas even felt like the daggers had pierced into steel, and could not even move an inch more.
“How is this possible?” Thomas’ expression changed in an instant. It felt like he had been sent flying after being hit head-on with a train. As his chest caved in completely, he threw up a huge amount of blood and fragments of bone.
Thomas fell to the floor like a dead dog, and seemed to have lost most of his fighting strength in that moment. However, his pupils dilated abruptly, as if he had seen something unfathomable.
“The daggers are rather fine, it’s a pity I can’t use them,” Leylin looked at the daggers he had caught in his hands, and sighed.
The powerful magical equipment that Thomas had shot out had been caught by him in both hands, and hadn’t really been able to inflict any damage to him.
Thomas’ astonishment was not because of this, however. He was surprised to find that phantoms of tiny snakes began to appear within the twin daggers, charging towards Leylin’s hands to bite him.
Sizzling sounded, and several wisps of white smoke appeared which caused Leylin to wrinkle his eyebrows and throw the dagger away.
With two puffs, the twin daggers slammed into the ground, and two traces of what looked like burn marks appeared on Leylin’s hands.
“My daggers are my family’s treasured heirlooms, and have even received the Matriarch’s blessing! You dared to…!”
“Haha… Ahaha… You’re definitely dead! Through the daggers, the almighty Holy Mother will definitely know about you, you’re definitely going to die! Haha…” Thomas began to laugh wildly.
“What? I’m afraid that she won’t have the time to care about me!” Leylin shook his head.
“What’s happening?” Thomas had also realised something was wrong, especially when the sounds of fighting at the city gate gradually grew weaker, and even began to spread inside the city. The sound of blood-curdling and surprised cries could be heard in response.
“You still don’t know? The city gate has been broken! The gluttonous beasts have murdered their way in, and what the Snake Dowager needs to consider now is how to confront Beelzebub instead,” Leylin looked down arrogantly at Thomas, his eyes filled with pity.
“Since the Stewart family is full of trash like you, no wonder you couldn’t guard the holy city.”
……
A little into the past. After she had bid Belinda farewell, Aegnis’ expression grew firm and resolute. “What’s the situation like now?” she asked once she’d reached the city wall.
“The preparations are complete, the disciplinary corps have been dispatched. Judging from the beasts’ response, our chances of success are very high,” a secretary-like snake man reported to her.