Through communication with Tim from other universes within the Doujie System, Tim learned critical information—the Grand Mage Faust's real name was Felix Faust, and the Faust family was a family of wizards, including his son, Sebastian Faust, and daughter Funa Faust.
Felix and Sebastian were rather distant from Human Society, and Tim, after investigating these two names, didn't gather much information.
However, Faust's youngest daughter, Funa, was a notorious fugitive famous for robbing magical items globally. The Federation Shield had been monitoring her and had upgraded her warrant to blue.
The last information gathered about Funa was when she raided the Metropolitan Museum, stealing an Egyptian artifact that was suspected to be a magical item, captured by the museum's hidden cameras.
Emboldened by being a magician, she was extremely arrogant. Not only did she not disguise herself when thieving, her silver hair with sunglasses made her notably conspicuous, making it impossible to forget her.
With this clue, everything that followed was easily managed.
The capabilities of the Federation Shield being insufficient, although they could follow Funa's movements to locate her hideouts, they couldn't arrest her directly; however, with the Young Avengers, catching a magical little thief became much simpler.
Amanda immediately accessed the pursuit information and sent people to meet Dick and his group, bringing them to the outskirts of Metropolis by helicopter. They speculated that Funa was active on a local farm, utilizing the sparse farm environment to hide herself.
Amanda had a knack for leading the team. The subordinates she had placed nearby had already narrowed down the search area to one of the farms. Raven eagerly rushed in, and in less than two minutes, a brawl had broken out inside.
Funa, being much stronger than the average person and a skilled magician, was still no match for Raven—a paternal powerhouse—who, though not the most graceful in harnessing Energy, overwhelmed with shear force and floored Funa with a few robust punches.
After subduing the thief, Dick explained their purpose to her, which strangely made Funa cease resisting. When she heard they were aiming at her father, her motivation surpassed everyone's. She revealed all she knew about Faust cleanly and neatly.
It turned out Faust was not involved in decent deeds; he intended to use his children as sacrifices to the demons. If not for their unique physiques that not only protected them from being devoured by demons but also let them acquire demonic powers, they would have been killed by him long ago.
After the children grew up, Faust, undeterred, tried to imprison them to extract their powers. Funa had once been confined by Faust; had it not been for a magical item she stumbled upon that saved her life, she would have already been fatally harmed.
Her current quest in collecting magical items worldwide was also to guard against her father, whose demonic allies were much stronger than them. Confronting them head-on was impossible, so she could only rely on ancient magical items for self-defense.
Funa, who had grown up among the general populace, was a trendy cool girl. Upon hearing Dick's intention, she flipped her hair and said, "That old man indeed visited the Netherworld and brought back a bottle of Nether River Water. It was with this that he trapped me in a special dimension."
"I don't know how he managed it, but if, as you say, there's a key, then he must have stored it in his Dark Vault. I know where the entrance is, but once you get the key, everything else in the vault belongs to me."
Dick was about to respond when Raven stopped him, then said, "Do you think that possessing your father's treasures will allow you to contend against him? You can't erase the blood ties between you; he will find you sooner or later."
"I'm going to make him pay this time." Funa clenched her teeth and replied.
"We can help you," Raven said. "Your father is no match for me. If you join us, he can't do much against you. You might even gain greater power and really teach him a lesson."
Dick tugged at her, whispering, "Why are you recruiting her?"
"Every accomplishment counts, and she's quite strong."
Having just exchanged a few blows with Raven, Funa knew the young girl in front of her was formidable. She wondered what she ate to grow so big, almost worried a kick would send her sunglasses flying.
Joining them would mean the next time Faust sought her out, thinking her the same vulnerable girl only to be overwhelmingly fended off by Raven—a sight so satisfying to imagine.
Funa immediately nodded and said, "No problem. Count me in. I'll lead you to the key."
Funa led them to London, England. As she explained, not much was known about the Grand Mage Faust's life trajectory before he became a mage, but it was certain he had lived in England for some time and had a stable job there, as only that could have supported his research into forbidden Black Magic.
During his time working in England, he had amassed many peculiar black magical items and stored them in his private vault, which remained his preferred storage location even after becoming a Grand Mage.
Barclays Bank, being one of England's oldest banks, offered private vault services to many clients. Funa magicked her way past the staff and entered the private vault area, successfully locating Faust's vault door.
However, simply passing through wasn't enough since only common jewels were placed inside. It required a Magic Attack on the door to open a path to the Dark Vault.
Aisha had been holding back for a long time, and hearing it needed a forceful attack, she charged head on without a second thought.
With a loud bang, the original vault door remained intact, but a dark crack gradually appeared before everyone.
Funa seemed surprised, assessing the young girl beside her, guessing her extraordinary origin.
As they walked through the passage, Funa explained, "Faust added a very complicated magical protection to this door. Even a Grand Mage couldn't easily open it. My brother once tried to break it but didn't even get past the outermost defense."
Aisha touched her forehead and said, "Was it really that exaggerated? I felt no resistance..."
The group was stunned by the scene they encountered just after passing through the passage.
It wasn't that the inside of the Dark Vault was extravagantly luxurious; rather, it was the opposite. The place was a mess, clearly just plundered, with various display cabinets, treasure chests, and display cases collapsed all over, and shattered magical items lying dead on the ground.
Funa was completely stunned, realizing why the door had been so easy to open—it had already been opened by someone else.
She led the group through the mess toward the innermost part, only to find that the innermost chamber had also been breached, and the item that had been hung on the central wall of the chamber was gone.
They hadn't seen what had been there before, but the thick scent of Death in the chamber made the answer clear.
"Has someone taken the Key of Tartarus before us?!" Dick had to voice the worst possibility; someone had gotten there before them and taken the key.
To their shock, Funa quickly turned to look at the chamber next door. Disbelieving, she said, "I can sense Faust's presence; my father might be here!"
Without hesitating, Raven used magic to shatter the wall. Indeed, there was another chamber next to it, but there was no sign of Faust. Entering, Funa realized his presence emanated from a toad in the room.
Thinking it was some tool containing magical power, she grabbed and fumbled it, only to hear a familiar reprimand and an old voice echoed in the room.
"Put me down! Rascal! I'm your father!"
Funa immediately threw the toad out.
Aisha caught the toad and was about to stuff it into her mouth. Fortunately, Jason, quick to react, snatched the toad away before it reached Aisha's fangs, just mere centimeters away.
Obviously frightened by Megalodon, the toad roared, "You can't kill me! I'm the victim!"
"Are you Faust?"
"If you mean Grand Mage Faust, yes, it's me. Someone raided my vault and turned me into this!"
"Who?!"
"Witch Circe!" Faust growled through his teeth. "That damned witch controlled a man, used witchcraft to break the lock on the vault door. I sensed someone intruding and rushed back, only to be ambushed by her with a Beastification Curse."
"What did she take?"
"The key!" Faust raised his voice. "A key that leads to the Netherworld. You need to hurry to the Gate of Netherworld and stop her. Once the creatures of the Netherworld are released, they'll devour everyone!"
Jason and Dick exchanged looks, realizing the gravity of the situation. Dick took the toad and said, "Where's the Gate of Netherworld? How do we get in?"
"The Gate of Netherworld is in the backyard of Queen of the Underworld Persephone. You just need to go to the deepest part of Samaritan Canyon at sunset. After the last ray of light disappears, the Gate of Netherworld will appear."
"But we no longer have the key..."
"Once the Gate of Netherworld is opened, it won't close for a full day and night. If that damned witch goes and opens it now, you should be able to get in before the gate closes."
Faust's eager cooperation raised Dick's doubts, but Faust could only helplessly explain, "That witch is a lunatic. Her beliefs are different from all magicians. She wants to win back her so-called source of witchcraft, and by that time, the Magic realm will be directly overturned, and all magic will cease to function. Helping you is helping myself!"
Dick and the others were indeed anxious to head to Mount Olympus. Reluctantly, they said, "You'd better be genuinely cooperative. If Circe can't be killed, you'll be a toad for life!"
"I understand more than you! But entering the Gate of Netherworld is the easiest part. You must know there's a Three-headed Dog guarding Hell's Gate. Are you sure you can defeat it?"
"How did you manage to defeat it initially?"
"I sneaked in!" Faust said. "That dog is attracted by the scent of the Other Shore Flower. I made a magical incense that briefly confused it, allowing me to truly enter the Netherworld."
"Where's the magical incense?"
"It's long gone. Besides, that's not a real dog. It has wisdom. The same trick won't work twice. You either have another way to distract it or you'll just have to force your way through."
"Do you think we can't force our way through?" Raven asked.
"It's not about whether you can defeat the dog, but attacking the dog is provoking the Lord of the Underworld, and you're still in his domain!"
Faust indeed lived up to being sly and cunning, carefully weighing the pros and cons of the situation.
A thief should perform their role cautiously, stealthily, and swiftly retreat after stealing.
Barging into someone's home, beating their dog, and trying to escape with stolen goods isn't called theft; it's called home invasion robbery. Just see if the homeowner doesn't beat you then.