I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

"Wisdom" and "Art".

Blue flames gathered behind her, and the philosopher's plaster statue appeared as if summoned. It picked up an oversized ruler made of some unknown material, clearly an art piece, and swung it at the trumpeter's furious counterattack.

With a whoosh, bright blue nuclear flames rose from the oversized ruler, forming one bright blue halo after another.

"Fredain: Deals massive nuclear thermal damage to one enemy."

A blinding blue flame rose up, then vanished in an instant.

The 'Whistleblower' was, after all, a top-tier shadow in the entire book of demons, so it naturally did not suffer any obvious damage. However, its ribs and tattered robes showed clear signs of burning and shrapnel damage.

The trumpeter flapped his wings to steady himself, then attempted a counterattack, taking a deep breath before bringing the horn to his lips.

'The fluctuations of the abyss...'

"Abyssal Fluctuation: Medium chance to plunge all enemies into a state of despair."

Having dealt with these shadows for a long time, Amamiya understood what He wanted to do just by looking at the trumpeter's movements.

All I can say is that... before Amamiya obtains that bond skill, the trumpeter's attacks might still be somewhat useful, and could even be quite troublesome.

But now, He is doing nothing but futile and useless work.

Seed of Hope: Neither the user nor their teammates will be affected by the "Despair" mental debuff.

Golden light swirled around Amamiya, but the apocalyptic notes played by the trumpeter had no effect on the scattered crowd.

The grand "ultimate skill" landed, but not a single drop of water was splashed.

It's just... quite embarrassing.

In terms of game mechanics, it gives the impression of [the enemy unleashing their ultimate attack, only to have "NO EFFECT" displayed above the heads of all our teammates].

Seizing the opportunity, Aru gripped the brim of her witch's hat and shouted confidently.

"I am you, and you are me."

"—Come on, Robin!"

A rose-colored pillar of fire erupted as she summoned it.

With the added bonus of Aru's own "Most Appropriate Cooperation" bond skill, Robin, with many teammates, can deliver performances that are beyond imagination, even "perfect".

The pillars of fire surged together and then condensed into a seemingly dazzling flame rose.

"Brilliant Flames: Deals massive fire damage to all enemies, with a moderate chance to stun, blind, or charm them. Damage is doubled against enemies afflicted with any mental status ailment."

The fiery rose exploded into petals, which rained down on the trumpeter's tattered robe, the skull's eye sockets, and the wings behind him.

The damage wasn't particularly noticeable... but it did have a significant control effect.

Just as the trumpeter was about to retaliate, his wing tilted, and half of it was ignited. Flames exploded inside his skull, briefly disrupting his vision.

Having learned from her frequent defeats at Hina's hands, Aruru, who was well-versed in the art of "hit and run," would unleash a dazzling burst of attacks, then turn and retreat with her sniper rifle.

How could a sniper be allowed to get close?

The "blinded" bugler was momentarily thrown into disarray, and Kayoko knew... it was time for her to shine.

—That's the fighting style of the phantom thief: seize the moment during a close fight, knock down the enemy in one fell swoop, and then eliminate them in one fell swoop.

"Cheshire Cat..."

A vibrant smile.

The black cat, which had been either perched on Kayoko's shoulder or lying on her head, finally got up, let out a lazy "meow," and then made the stretching and yawning motion typical of felines.

Then, it gave the horn-blowing Cheshire Cat a chilling, dark smile.

"Vibrant Smile: High probability of inducing a target to enter a state of fear. The probability of inducing fear increases for each negative status the target has."

For a moment, the 'bugler' seemed to hear a chilling chuckle.

"The opportunity has come—"

Kirino, who had been gathering her strength, took a deep breath and steadily gripped her revolver.

The bullet of fate has been reloaded, and Kirino's cowboy hat shattered, transforming her into a cowboy dressed in Western attire, wielding two volcanoes.

Although the cowboy hat that served as her 'persona' was gone, Kirino still did what she thought was a cool hat-pressing gesture, and pointed her gun at the bugler with one hand in her other hand.

"Today is your end! Arthur—the Eye of Death!"

"Death's Eye: Eliminates the target's firearm resistance, rendering resistances to 'Reflect, Absorb, Nullify' ineffective and temporarily turning them into weaknesses."

"In the next round, apply the 'Charge' and 'Focus' effects, then deal six hits of low-damage, guaranteed-hit, guaranteed-critical-hit shots to a single enemy."

The menacing marks of vital points were continuously projected onto the 'trumpet blower's' body, wings, and robes.

Kirino then maintained her position and fired in sync with Arthur behind her.

'bang bang bang-'

Under continuous, direct attacks, even the massive "bugler" was forced to fall to the ground.

"Go! Now, it's time for the all-out attack!"

Upon hearing the 'general attack order,' the girls became increasingly excited, each transforming into a shadowy figure.

The curtain was temporarily drawn, and from Fubuki's perspective, a large silhouette of a "bugler" could be seen being tortured in various ways by one abuser after another passing by.

Close-quarters combat with close-range shooting, tail slashes, stomping on the defeated's cheeks from above and then firing downwards, alternating attacks with sniper rifles and melee weapons, strangulation with playing cards...

Everything was as magnificent as the final curtain call of a stage play.

After the final explosion, Yuriko's figure landed in front of the city backdrop.

The black-haired, fox-eared girl remained calm as she tossed aside the smoke bomb in her hand. At the same time, the firelight behind her created an artistic conclusion.

"Lent Death falls lent."

'The silent Grim Reaper returned to silence because he himself "died"...? Hmm, an interesting pun.'

Fubuki from the UFO [Prometheus] commented with great interest.

The battle is a long story, but...

From the moment the 'bugler' emerged from the mud to the moment he was defeated and fell to the ground unwillingly, it was less than three minutes in total.

That's truly... the kind of efficient and swift "annihilation warfare" unique to phantom thieves.

With the "buglers" eliminated, the captain's cabin was completely purged.

After confirming that the room was safe, Amamiya immediately turned around and closed the door leading from the captain's cabin to the ship's cabin.

'Crash...'

The flooded room quickly disappeared. Thanks to some kind of 'unscientific' drainage system, the room soon returned to dryness.

'Hmm... he's already a qualified phantom thief.'

After briefly commenting on the girls' reactions, Amamiya turned her gaze to the cage in the room.

Inside the cage, some shadows that still retained human form were imprisoned.

'It's time to extract useful information.'

Chapter Thirteen: How Book Synopsis First Appears

The sooner the battle begins, the sooner it ends.

Swift and fluid, done in one go... the 'giant' that could roam in hundreds of square meters was completely eliminated in less than three minutes.

Only when the enormous skeletal remains crashed to the ground and began to disintegrate little by little... did the shadow imprisoned in the iron cage of the captain's cabin temporarily break free from fear.

They huddled together, trembling and swallowing, staring in disbelief at the "bugler" that had melted away like a mountain of gold and a pillar of jade.

"Such powerful guards... and you... you actually managed to take them down so easily?!"

"Though they are invading thieves, I must admit they are truly skilled...something we could never hope to reach even in our entire lives..."

"How did you manage to infiltrate this isolated island ship's cabin?"

After recovering from their terror, the shadows began to try to communicate in a way that was no different from that of ordinary students.

Their seemingly unremarkable way of communicating amused Kirino and Fubuki, who were standing next to Amamiya.

It's hard to imagine... that the Shadow, who can transform into a 'monster' at any moment, could have such a smooth conversation...

Out of curiosity, Kirino tried to take the initiative to negotiate: "Who are you, and why are you locked up here?"

After all, they were his 'saviors,' so these shadowy figures naturally spoke their minds without reservation.

They immediately crowded around Kirino, expressing their gratitude with an enthusiasm that Kirino couldn't comprehend.

"Thank you...you brave hero who saved us!"

"We, the maintainers of justice and righteousness, are the original inhabitants of this great sea, serving as attendants at the foot of the temple."

"We are 'idealists.' To pursue our ideals and beliefs, we try to piece together those shattered wings..."

"Unfortunately, thieves, coveting my abilities or for some other reason, forcibly kidnapped me onto the ship..."

"Today, we are all thanks to the great hero. Otherwise, we would have been dragged into the 'temple' established by that villain and 'baptized' into becoming his followers..."

"Thank you so much, righteous cowboy sheriff!"

Kirino was stunned by these flowery compliments and tried hard to keep her expression from bursting into a silly grin.

Although I don't know what they're talking about, but...

Hehe...hehehe...

Being told that makes me feel like I'm already at least capable of being a mature police officer who can handle things on my own...

Unlike Kirino, Fubuki, also a Valkyrie student, is trying to understand and practice 'equivalent substitution' using the knowledge she has gained from the other world.

Judging from the clothing and style of these shadows, they definitely correspond to the student shadows of the Federal Student Council.

Attendants serving at the throne of the temple... To be able to serve at the throne of the temple, a position so close to the gods, must be a very high position in the mythological system, at least one that ordinary people would never be able to come into contact with.

In the real world, these roughly correspond to the heads, deputy heads, and key personnel of various departments in the Federal Student Union.

Being coveted for their abilities, or forcibly brought onto the ship for other reasons... that's easy to understand.

There are already enough proverbs, allegorical sayings, and slang terms like "people in the same boat" and "grasshoppers on the same rope."

What does it take for someone who has made an irreparable mistake to try and pull another wavering person into their camp?

It's very simple. All you need to do is push them to commit a similar, irreparable mistake as yourself.

In this way, they will naturally choose to stand on your side for reasons similar to themselves, such as "not being caught" or "not being punished".

Is this how they try to win over key members of the Federal Student Union whom they deem fit, and then 'plot a grand scheme' together...?

The prediction yielded the expected result, but Fubuki couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat.

"The water is too deep..."

If we extrapolate further based on existing speculations, these shadows in front of us should be those that Huaye 'tricked' onto the ship using force, enticement, or other means, and are currently wavering, not yet having started 'doing bad things'.

Once these room leaders or key members in reality start doing bad things, it means that the women here have been 'baptized' and become so-called 'believers,' forming a symbiotic relationship with Huaye where they share both glory and loss.

"Did you notice anything, Fubuki?"

Fubuki hesitated for a moment, not answering immediately but carefully observing the movements of the other members.

After defeating the "Blower," the members who participated in this temple exploration dispersed and each had their own tasks.

Kayoko and Aru immediately began scavenging for spoils from the gradually disappearing wreckage of the trumpeter—Aru's 'intelligence' may be questionable, but her taste is not.

Although the convenience store struggles because Aru often "spends money on cheap things," Aru gradually develops the ability to "distinguish high-end goods at a glance."

As for Kayoko...

Her Persona - Cheshire Cat - is perfect for collecting high-rarity loot.

Cats are probably second only to dragons in their love of shiny things; they have an extraordinary curiosity and attention to (what they perceive as) unusual objects.

Moreover, the Cheshire Cat is an exceptionally skilled collector of loot.

As for Yuriko... she went straight to the nearby bookshelf that had been soaked in water inside the cabin for who knows how long, clearly to gather information.

Once she was sure no one was watching, Fubuki looked away and took one last moment to gather her thoughts.