Upon entering the rift, we arrived at the entrance of a large forest.
Next to the stone-paved road was a wooden sign with some weird characters written on it.
Alas, without knowledge of the world's language, any effort to understand it would be pointless.
Seeking more information I checked the messages that were inscribed inside the cobalt colored crystal on my wrist.
[Claim the treasures inside the vault of the Gyorm. King of the Elyan race]
-If there is a king then there must be a kingdom, it isn't going to be easy.
"Let's lay low for now Julius"
Being certain that he was about to start murdering every creature we would encounter, stopping him from causing unnecessary havoc was my first priority.
-It's impossible, even for Julius, to face a kingdom's army, no matter how small it may be.
And given that the mission wasn't an elimination, it would be foolish to take such a risk.
{Speech}"The inhabitants of this world may not be as aggressive as goblins, don't tell me you are prepared to kill hundreds of innocents?"
-Of course, that is only if the mission doesn't require it...
{Speech}"Remember, from their point of view we are the invaders, it's not a sin to be another race"
-Only if they don't get in the way of my plan...
"Ah yes, you are right, then we won't fight them?", Julius looked at me with a slightly sad and curious expression.
"Of course we will fight them, but for now we should avoid a frontal assault before we collect more information"
Therefore, we followed the road inside the forest.
...
After walking for 20 minutes we were met by the kingdom's stone walls, their height easily exceeding 30 meters with several archers mounted on top of them.
Guarding the gates to the city were 4 creatures wearing chainmail armor which was covering their entire body and metal plate armor to protect their torso, arms, and legs.
As we got closer to them I was able to distinguish their racial characteristics.
Their skin was covered with brown fur, their thin tail was constantly moving, their long mouth was directly connected to their nose, and their sharp alligator-like teeth were visible each time they laughed.
The members of the Elyan race were similar to humanoid rats with the facial attributes of an alligator and the laughter of a hyena.
At that moment, a sound that seemed similar to a carriage being pulled by horses, originating from the opposite side of the castle gates, entered my ears.
"Julius hide! A carriage is coming!"
"I don't hear anything, how can you tell?"
Julius was confused from my sudden instruction, given that he didn't have the sharp senses I had in order to hear the carriage heading in our direction from half a kilometer away.
"Trust me and hide!"
After quickly hiding behind the nearby trees we waited for it to pass by us.
When it was only 50 meters away from me and had entered the effective range of my sixth sense, I began to analyze the respective auras of the creatures riding it.
To my surprise, aside from the two riders in the front of the carriage that no doubt belonged to the Elyan race, inside the interior of the carriage which could be more accurately described as a moving prison, were the remnants of the Beta squad who had entered the rift some hours ago.
With their numbers being reduced to one-third of their original size, and having sustained numerous injuries all around their body, the two survivors, who had come here as the hunters, had now become the hunted.
Next to them was a leather sack emitting ample amounts of energy.
-Artifacts!
With no time to spare, I constructed a plan in order to take the artifacts the challengers brought with them and also successfully infiltrate the city.
Supplying half of my magi to my right arm, I picked up a small sharp rock from the ground and threw it at one of the creatures that were pulling the carriage.
The creature, which shared most of the characteristics of a deer, had thick white fur, majestic grey antlers, and yellow eyes, and upon being struck in the face, stumbled, and collided with the other one.
Thankfully the carriage was not destroyed and the riders simply dismounted to check the condition of the animals.
"Julius, stay hidden and wait for my signal at midnight!"
"Ok?", he answered with a confused expression as he saw me sprinting towards the carriage.
I stealthily approached the wagon from the riders' blind spot and grabbed the sack with the artifacts with amazing speed, and upon erasing my presence, hid underneath the archaic means of transport.
Luckily, the prisoners, being severely injured, were unconscious and thus didn't hinder my plan.
After a brief moment, the riders returned to their seat and proceeded to the gates that led to the city beyond the walls.
...
'Salute comrade'
'Salute, what is the situation with the prisoners?'
-What?
To my surprise, even though the words I heard from the world's inhabitants were definitely from a foreign language, their translation was instead projected in my mind.
-So that's what the [Communication] ability does
'The invaders caused a large commotion at the west gate, but the royal guards reached the scene and subjugated them before they managed to flee', one of the two riders responded to the guards.
'We were sent to capture the survivors and bring them in for questioning'
'Very well, go on'
Behind the walls awaited me a large and seemingly peaceful city, with children running around laughing and adults kindly conversing with each other.
The buildings' architecture was almost identical to that from the medieval era, consisting of a framework that was constructed from timber and stone, triangular rooftops, glass murky windows, and a medium-size chimney.
Upon passing by a small empty alley I relaxed my grip and dropped down to the stone pavement.
Without further delay, I rolled inside the dark alley and hid behind a stack of wooden boxes.
After making sure no one had seen me, I opened the bag and examined the artifacts I had successfully stolen.
[Drake Sword (Rank F)]
A sword made from the scales of a drake.
Effect: Harness the residual soul of the drake and temporarily imbue the sword's edge with fire. Remaining uses: 7
[Talisman of True Faith (Rank F)]
A dying priest's last ritual to false gods. Despite none of his prayers being answered, the priest's devotion to the gods he worshipped was unwavering even in his final moments.
Effect: Reinvigorates the body and heals minor and medium injuries. Remaining uses: 4
[Chains of Binding (Rank E)]
Chains created by a member of the demon race who enjoyed immobilizing his victims before brutally torturing them.
Effect: Upon supplying magi, the chains will bind and immobilize any target they come in contact with. Duration and power of the effect are relative to the amount of magi used.
...
"It appears those bastards didn't have many artifacts with them. At least I obtained a decent weapon"
Since there was still time before midnight, I settled on searching for the location of the king's vault.
...
After half an hour of jumping from rooftop to rooftop, I reached the palace which consisted of two magnificent towers separated by a large building between them.
The tall cylindrical buildings were at least 80 meters tall with an inner diameter of approximately 30 meters.
-It is only logical to assume that the vault must either be in one of the towers or inside the main building.
Reaching as close as possible to the castle's entrance while remaining undetected, I began surveying the area.
The entrance was guarded by Elyan knights, which, in contrast to the previous ones, were wearing a gold plated cuirass with a red insignia depicting a crown.
-They must be part of the Royal Guard.
Given that the royal guard was capable of annihilating a squad of challengers armed with artifacts and skills, it would be unwise to mess with them.
At that moment, an explosion occurred at the top of the left tower.
By enhancing my eyesight to make sense of what was unfolding before me, I was able to notice that one of the inhabitants of this world had exited through the hole in the tower and was now climbing down the smooth surface of the tower with remarkable speed.
The Elyan was covered in wounds and only wore a set of tattered and bloody clothes.
'Catch him, it's the Ghost Thief, he escaped!'
The guards at the top of the tower were yelling and swearing, but being unable to climb down the tower like the prisoner, they were left with no means of apprehending him.
-A thief...maybe I can utilize his expertise to enter the vault.
Therefore, I calculated where he would land and headed to "greet" the severely injured thief.
...
"Huff Huff!"
Sven, also known as the Ghost Thief, was panting frantically as he was descending the tower.
Each small descent resulted in his already traumatized body to experience immense pain.
His throat was dry from the severe dehydration and each one of his fingernails had been brutally pulled out as a means to give information about the location he had hidden his treasures.
But Sven could never do that.
Not only because all the treasures he had stolen had been already sold in order to buy medicine for his sick sister, but because what awaited him afterwards was death.
But he couldn't die, at least not before he managed to find a cure for his sister's terminal illness.
Normally, Sven would stay as far away as possible from the palace, stealing only from rich nobles and private auctions.
But when he intercepted a letter claiming that the royal physician had found a herb that could cure the illness his sister was suffering from since birth, he took the huge risk of infiltrating the highly guarded vault.
But, despite his unparalleled skill in thievery, he failed to complete his mission and was imprisoned in the Tower of Madness and Despair.
After finally descending the entire tower, he immediately ran towards the city slums, confident that if he could manage to endure the excruciating pain, he could somehow elude the guards that were after him through sheer speed.
But his plan made a 180 degrees turn when an unknown person wearing a black cloak had chased after him.
The shrouded figure that seemed too tall to be an Elyan, was not only keeping up with him in terms of speed but was steadily closing the distance between them.
"Fuck, if only I wasn't injured, I could have easily escaped"
Suddenly, a black chain touched his ankle and quickly tied his arms, legs, and torso together, immobilizing him and leaving him to the mercy of his pursuer.
"I am sorry sis, I have failed you again"
His eyes began to tear up after realizing the cruel fate that awaited him and his sister.
'Why are you crying? Relax, as long as you give me information on how to get inside the vault I will let you go'
Realizing the meaning behind the man's words, a glimmer of hope appeared in front of him.
And so, the Ghost Thief decided to join hands with the peculiar man.
....