The Strange Cat from Fuuto

I recognized him in his eyes; he was the same man!

“That’s right, I agree with you, Mr. Haruto!”

"Then let's hurry up and go!"

Chapter Nine: The thief was a weirdo cat, what does that have to do with me, Miku!

"Then let's hurry up and go!"

After exchanging a glance with Shunpei, the two of them ran excitedly toward the source of the sound, their cheerful little steps revealing their restless and expectant hearts.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk!"

Rinko Daimon, arms crossed, and Alex exchanged a glance and simultaneously snorted coldly:

"Ha, men!"

When the four wizards arrived at the place where the sound came from, they found that there was no one there!

"There's nobody here!"

With a sigh of disappointment, the mage crossed his arms, as did Shunping; their head-shaking movements were extremely synchronized!

"But it seems there was a battle here!"

As a police officer, Rinko Daimon would not give up on any valuable clue. With a serious expression, she picked up a fragment of Medusa's clothing from the ground and placed it in her palm.

"Haruto, come look at this!"

"what happened?"

After the mage approached, he took the fragment. Suddenly, the cheerful smile on his face slowly disappeared, replaced by a solemn expression.

"what happened?"

Because of the mage's solemn expression, Alex and Shunpei also came over. The mage, with his five fingers clasped together, looked at the path in front of him and said, "Everyone, split up and search. These pieces of clothing are not ordinary pieces of clothing!"

"Ok!"

"Ok!"

"Let me look for it!"

The four who had split up began searching the surrounding area. The mage squatted alone beside the shallow ditch left when Miku was pushed away by Medusa's power, slowly grinding the soil in the pit with his fingers.

"Mr. Haruto, I've found this!"

Holding the wizard's gun and sword that Miku had casually tossed aside, Nara Shunpei hurriedly ran over.

"It seems that this whole thing was done by that guy!"

The mage, having taken the gun and sword, stroked his weapon and asked in confusion, "Then who did he fight?"

"Do you think there's a problem, Haruto!?"

Rinko Daimon walked over; she and Alex had just collected most of the pieces of clothing.

"Well, I don't want to think about it anymore!"

The mage, having sheathed his sword, instinctively reached for his ring, only to find, embarrassingly, that it had already been "borrowed"!

"That guy is a real scoundrel!"

The mage muttered to himself, recalling his previous experience with a sense of helplessness. Under the influence of his magic, the sleeping ring's effect did not last long, but during this time, Miku stripped him naked. Fortunately, the other party was sensible and only took some rings that he usually used for combat assistance, while leaving his four elemental rings and the very important rings untouched!

"I must ask him properly next time we meet!"

........

Night falls inside an abandoned house in Torii-zaka.

"This is truly a bumper harvest!"

Miku, who was playing a fetch game with Iggy while his tail curled up and he threw a ball, stared at the rings laid out in front of him with gleaming eyes.

"As the saying goes, a horse won't get fat without night grass, and a person won't get rich without unexpected wealth!"

After tossing the ball, still covered in Iggy's saliva, out again, Miku narrowed his eyes. "So, is there anything else that can make me fat again?"

After a moment's hesitation, Miku pushed away the dog that was leaning in. "Stop messing around, go play with your ball!"

After dismissing Ichi, Miku's thoughts began to wander.

Whether the rings will be returned or not remains to be seen. However, with so many rings now, Miku has made up for the monotony of his battles, and the tactics he can use have become more diverse. He no longer needs to forcefully kill the Phantom with brute force as before!

But that's still not enough. I've only managed to steal a few experience points from the mage in the early game. You have to understand that besides his protagonist aura, the mage also has the strongest Phantom, the wizard dragon, his wicked father-in-law White Mage, and his several henchmen!

As for Miku, now all he has left besides the dog is his own strength!

To allow the Phantom within him to evolve again, he must adhere to the principle that "the knight and the monster are two sides of the same coin!"

By using the ever-evolving power of the Rider, one can slowly digest the Phantom within their body until completely absorbing it, thus taking the power of the Sabertooth Memory to the next level. Therefore, the three forms of enhancement, sublimation, and finality are all indispensable!

The mage can evolve again by bringing the power of the wizard dragon into reality, and use the power of the four elemental dragons to challenge infinity!

Therefore, Miku would need to have the same level of power as the mage!

His own driver and the Wizard's driver are similar in that they are both scanning drivers, unlike the Beastman's plug-in type. That is a starting point!

"Perhaps I can intercept several of the mage's future opportunities in advance!"

A glint of light flashed in Miku's eyes, and a slight smile appeared on his lips: "Then we can get back into drama-watching mode!"

"Iggy, come here!"

After summoning Iggy, Miku said to him seriously, "I'm going to sleep for a while now, so you'd better keep an eye on me!"

"Waaah!"

Iggy tilted his head to the side, indicating that he didn't understand, but Miku didn't care and climbed onto a sofa covered with a dust cloth.

Let's begin!

At the same time, on the rooftop of a building in Torii-zaka.

Phoenix, a member of the Phantom crew, sat on a pipe on the rooftop, smiling as he looked at Medusa beside him.

"Judging from your expression, it seems you've suffered quite a loss!"

Medusa, who had changed back into a different outfit, clenched her fists: "That damned sorcerer, I'll tear him to pieces next time we meet!"

"Leave it to me, I'll burn that guy to ashes!"

The phoenix that jumped down from the pipe approached Medusa. Medusa glanced at him indifferently and said, "Don't interfere. That guy is my target. I will make him feel the taste of despair!"

"Alright, alright!"

The phoenix, hands on hips, gazed at Torii-zaka under the night sky, a defiant smile playing on its lips: "I really want to plunge this entire city into an abyss of terror!"

"Yes, even if not for us, it's for the Sage!"

"Yes, for the Sage!"

The next morning, in the empty house, Miku opened her eyes from the sofa: "Found you!"

Miku, who had just smiled, was shocked to find that he was buried under something, his entire body completely covered except for his cat head!

Withered branches and leaves, torn cotton wadding, mud, and smeared curtain fragments.

"this..."

Miku, his lips twitching, roared, "Iggy, you get over here!"

......

"I'll be at headquarters soon. You can start preparing for the meeting!"

After hanging up the phone, Officer Kizaki of the National Security Bureau's Zero Division focused his attention back on driving.

On the passenger seat next to him was a silver-white briefcase, a precious item he carefully guarded every day.

"It will be soon. As long as we keep a close watch and observe, we will definitely be able to obtain the power of magic in the end!"

Kizaki gripped the steering wheel and stepped on the gas, increasing the car's speed once again. With his attention focused on the briefcase, his eyes were filled with determination.

Just then, several strange figures covered in gray-black bandages suddenly appeared on the road ahead. The bandaged figures, swaying their bodies, walked towards him with extremely stiff movements.

Moreover, their sheer number has completely blocked the highway.

"Damn it, where did this monster come from?!"

Kizaki slammed on the brakes, jerking the steering wheel. His investigation and research into the Phantom began six months ago with the series of disappearances, but these suddenly appearing monsters were unlike anything he had ever seen before!

"squeak..."

The tires left deep black marks from rubbing against the ground, and amidst the screeching sound, the car came to a near stop in front of the group of strange people.

Kizaki, who had put the car in reverse, dialed a phone number while backing up.

"Hello, this is Kizaki. I'm currently on Tamamo-no-Mae Avenue. Someone has attacked me. Send reinforcements immediately!"

As Kizaki was reversing, he suddenly felt the car stop. Looking in the rearview mirror, he saw that several more bandaged men were blocking his way.

"Damn it, is this a trap specifically set for me?"

Kizaki, having turned off the car and shut it down, pulled out his sidearm and handcuffed himself to the box again.

"We have no choice but to give it our all!"

Gritting his teeth, Kizaki pushed open the door and fired repeatedly at the bandaged monster in front of him. "Tamamoku Avenue is only a ten-minute drive from headquarters. If we speed up, it will only take five minutes. If I can just hold on a little longer, I'll be able to wait for rescue!"

After firing his gun repeatedly and repelling several bandaged monsters in front of him, Kizaki seized an opportunity to escape the encirclement of the bandaged monsters through a gap.

"It's still no use. As for the Devouring Monster, any ordinary person could easily defeat it if they could overcome their fear. Now it can only serve as a showpiece!"

In the bushes beside the road, a figure like a demon was hidden behind a tree.

"Time is limited, let's hurry!"

Estimating his remaining time, Miku emerged from behind the tree and walked towards Kizaki.

"Hey, human, if you don't want to get hurt, hand over the box you're carrying!"

"You came here for the magic gem, huh!?" A few beads of cold sweat rolled down Kizaki's forehead as he clutched the box with both arms.