I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills

Chapter 73 Teaching the Cat a Lesson

On the eighth floor of Demonic Bastion.

A resounding explosion echoed fiercely.

“Boom!”

“Ebbling!”

With a shout, Pendal narrowly pulled Ebbling, who was clutching a sword, out of the way.

They barely escaped an explosion.

It was a mechanical soldier that had fired something resembling a cannon.

“Agh, thank you, Captain!”

“Fall back!”

Pendal’s command drew his team members quickly to his side.

“Hetoria!”

“Yes, Captain!”

At Pendal’s call, a woman with crimson hair immediately raised her staff.

From it, a red-tinged mass of ice shot forward explosively.

“Boom!”

The bursting ice shattered the approaching, sword-bearing mechanical soldiers.

Pendal landed in front of them.

With a soft exhale, he scanned the area.

They were tired but seemed uninjured.

“Clank, clank-”

Amidst the noise, Pendal looked up to see the busy scenery outside the window.

‘It never feels quite right.’

The wooden space, reminiscent of a carriage, lined with seats, was where soldiers had just been standing, leaving Pendal with a sickened expression.

The eighth floor Carriage District.

Each carriage had its own area, and the number and quality of soldiers increased the further one went.

Each carriage had four doors.

Without a scout or someone with special abilities, it was a place maliciously designed to reset the soldiers in each carriage from the beginning.

“Captain, it looks like we’ve almost made it.”

The scout spoke up, pushing his goggles up.

Nakcheon was close at hand.

At that fact, everyone’s faces tensed.

“We’ve made it this far.”

Pendal clenched his fist and looked around at everyone.

“This time, we will capture Nakcheon.”

The eyes of the entire Pendalord team sparkled clearly.

That’s when it happened.

“Clunk-”

A very short noise and the carriage shook slightly.

When Pendal looked up, there stood a woman.

Crimson ears perked up like a tiger’s and an eyepatch beneath her hair.

The woman, adorned with weapons all over her body, including her back, glanced inside through the open door.

“It’s annoying how you all crowd around.”

At her brief mutter, Pendal felt chills running down his spine.

“Everyone, run!”

And at that instant, when Pendal shouted.

“Crack!”

A brief sound of something bursting was heard.

When Pendal turned, he found the man called Ebbling dead.

“Let’s clear this up.”

His head was hollowed out.

“Ebbling!”

A team member shouted with fury, but someone covered her mouth and bolted through a door with all their might.

And it was the right move.

The other team members followed without a moment’s delay, escaping through the nearest door.

They all knew what it meant when even the strongest among them, Pendal, told them to run.

“Oh, are you fleeing?”

As the woman smiled mockingly, Pendal raised his arms high.

“Crack!”

In that instant, sparks flew from his hands and quickly spread inside the carriage.

“Boom!”

As Lioner exploded upon contact with aura, Pendal immediately drew Jade Heaven.

With the rising aura, he rushed forward, detonating Lioner.

“Clang!”

But his sword was blocked by a small dagger the woman had drawn.

“You have a pretty nice piece there.”

Her eyes, between the eyepatch, gleamed brightly at Pendal’s Jade Heaven.

The Armed Princess’s obsession with weaponry was flaring up again.

“Ugh!”

In that moment, Pendal narrowly dodged the dagger swung at his chin and rolled on the ground.

His chin bled, even though he thought he had evaded it; his reaction couldn’t keep up.

“What’s that toy’s name?”

As she inquired, Pendal bit down hard, feeling a chilling sensation.

Ebbling had been killed instantly, but the others had escaped.

“Find out yourself!”

So Pendal detonated Lioner again and without hesitation leaped through a door.

As he entered another area, a soldier noticed him and started to get up, but Pendal didn’t care.

His body was blaring danger signals more intensely than ever.

If he didn’t want to die, he had to run.

That woman was off the charts.

“Clunk!”

But as Pendal jumped through a carriage door, the woman kicked it open just the same.

Ignoring her, Pendal dashed off at full speed, and the Armed Princess smirked.

“If you want to save your teammates, it’s better not to run.”

In that moment, she showed a gauntlet with spikes protruding.

Soon enough, five shadows that resembled the Armed Princess appeared.

They might not compare to the real Armed Princess, but each one exuded a presence stronger than Pendal.

The gauntlet, named Marfalga, couldn’t match the original’s power by 30%, but it summoned shadow humans with the same patterns as the wearer.

Immediately, her shadow humans scattered through the carriage doors.

Realizing what this meant, Pendal’s eyes widened.

That woman intended to kill all his team members.

“Stop!”

Pendal shouted, but she twirled the dagger in her hand.

“It depends on what you do, asshole.”

The foul-mouthed woman painted a smile with one eye as if to say, “Figure it out.”

To think he’d come looking for Rain Thunder Prime and end up finding a new pet.

She was more than satisfied.

Pendal was not oblivious to her intent.

From the moment she saw Jade Heaven, her gaze had been fixed on it.

Pendal gripped Jade Heaven tightly in his hand.

“…If I give you Jade Heaven, will you spare my team?”

His voice was strained from the gash in his neck, but she tilted her head nonchalantly.

“Oh, that.”

She spoke as if it were trivial.

“They’re probably all dead by now anyway.”

Her tone suggested she’d never intended to spare anyone.

Upon hearing this, Pendal ground his teeth in rage.josei

“You, bitch, I will definitely, kill you.”

“Really?”

She looked at Pendal and raised her gauntlet, aiming for the head, smiling brightly in anticipation of the brain matter about to spill.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

As she brought her fist down without a trace of expectation.

“Boom!”

The Armed Princess was sent crashing through a carriage door, enveloped in black flames from behind.

“Ah, damn it! It’s hot!”

As she rolled on the ground, flames clinging to her body, Pendal lifted his head in shock.

There was a boy walking slowly past him.

Black hair, a black sword in hand, and a crow fluttering from his shoulder.

“Kraush Balheim?”

Pendal muttered blankly as Kraush glanced at him and then moved past toward the area where the Armed Princess was rolling.

As Kraush passed through the shattered carriage door, it regenerated and closed behind him due to Demonic Bastion’s self-repair capability.

Kraush stepped in and saw the Armed Princess, who had put out the black flames.

She seemed a bit scorched but otherwise unharmed.

‘It’s the heat from the Annihilating Sword of Erosion.’

It was ridiculous that he could only cause such minor injuries.

Such a monstrous creature.

“Why do I have wounds? My Eguardium should protect me?”

She swung the dagger, yelling at Kraush, seemingly baffled by her injuries.

‘Well, Eguardium doesn’t reflect world erosion, does it?’

But instead of replying, Kraush casually stretched his neck, warming up before the fight.

He had planned to time his encounter with Nakcheon or retreat, but the early movement was caused by the Armed Princess’s attempt to kill Pendal.

‘I can’t lose Lioner before stealing it.’

Every skill was crucial in such times.

Kraush glared at the Armed Princess.

‘That stupid-looking face hasn’t changed at all.’

Despite her cautious nature, like a cat’s, she wouldn’t act hastily until she was certain.

Of course, if she senses a clear difference in power, she acts without restraint.

However, when facing an ambiguous and suspicious foe, she doesn’t rush.

The Armed Princess keeps her moves as hidden as possible, testing her opponents with her various weapons except her real armament, the Thirteen Demon Kings.

But once she deems them inferior,

She doesn’t hesitate to hunt them down like prey.

‘And that habit of yours will work against you here today.’

She would learn that caution can sometimes be a venom.

“…You’re a Balheim, right?”

Seeing Kraush’s features, hair color, and eyes, she realized he was from the Balheim family.

Kraush decided to add one more piece to the puzzle.

“Armed Princess, Shua Delpia.”

At her full name, the Armed Princess’s eyes narrowed.

“…Eguardium didn’t work because you’re a world eroder, aren’t you? Are you using a Balheim shell?”

And then she reacted as if she had completely seen through Kraush’s identity.

It was a typical probing statement by the Armed Princess.

But her eyes gleamed keenly at Kraush, her caution revealing her knowledge that battling another world eroder wouldn’t be easy.

Kraush didn’t answer; instead, he kindled black flames on his black sword.

The flames convinced the Armed Princess that Kraush was indeed a world eroder.

“Rain Thunder Prime is mine. Get lost.”

Go covet someone else’s belongings.