I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Momoi's comment made Amamiya nod in agreement.

What you see are rooms separated by rusty electronic iron fences... and most of the rooms are empty.

A few rooms, however, hold the shadow of some students.

The vast majority of these detained students were dressed in rags, looked emaciated, and had a dim aura, suggesting they had been imprisoned for a long time.

When they saw Amamiya and his group enter, the shadows merely glanced at them listlessly and then ignored them.

Only one of the shadows reacted differently—

It was a figure bound in the room by chains, with his neck, hands, and feet restrained by intelligent torture devices... looking like a 'Demon King's subordinate'.

She was wearing a white uniform dress from the Millennium Symposium, with only simple stains on the clothes. Her pink cross-shaped pupils, which sparkled with tiny stars, were slightly unfocused as she stared outside the fence, seemingly lost in thought.

"Ugh... I'm in solitary confinement again..."

Amamiya spotted the familiar figure immediately. Feeling intrigued, he walked over and knocked on the cell door with the hilt of his "God of Destruction" short sword.

"Hey, hey."

In the shadows of the prison, Xiaoxue struggled to lift her head, but her movement immediately caused the clanging of chains.

Immediately afterwards... the intelligent torture device seemed to sense that someone wanted to escape or break free, and began to emit bright blue electricity to punish them.

"Waaaaah...!"

A faint smell of burning quickly filled the air.

"Cough cough cough... It hurts, it's numb... Damn 'Dark Lord'..."

After angrily spitting out the Demon King's 'wicked deeds,' the shadowy Xiaoxue, who had just been electrocuted but showed no signs of injury, slightly reduced her movements: "You...aren't subordinates of the Demon King's castle, are you? Why are you here?"

Momoi was the first to speak, and she looked the seminar member from the real world up and down, who was bound by various instruments of torture.

After a moment's consideration, she spoke with the aura of a 'hero of justice': "Before we answer you, you need to answer some questions for us... Who are you? Why are you locked up here?"

"I am one of the three generals under the Demon King... As for why I am imprisoned here, it is naturally because I have embezzled and misappropriated the military funds of the Demon King's castle without authorization."

Amamiya's expression turned slightly strange upon hearing this, thinking to himself that Rion was quite adept at diverting funds... so this was a coincidence?

Little Green then asked, "What's your opinion of the Demon King?"

"My opinion...? Hmm, in my opinion, the Demon King is an ruthless person. She seems to only think about herself and the implementation of her own plans..."

Yuzu hesitated for a moment before stammering out her question: "You...you..."

"If you were given a chance to rebel against the Demon King... would you... rebel against the Demon King?"

"Rebel against the Demon King...? That sounds interesting."

Shadowy Xiaoxue perked up slightly because of Yuzu's problem, and glanced around at the three little ones from the game club who were only separated from her by an iron fence.

"You're not members of the Demon King's castle... yet you claim to rebel against the Demon King. You... are heroes from a foreign land, aren't you?"

"How about this... we make a deal? If you release me... I will help you in your fight against the Demon King."

Alice, standing to one side of Amamiya, planted the Hero's Sword in the floor, leaned on it with one hand, and asked, "How can we trust you?"

"My being locked up here now... is the greatest proof of that for you."

Shadowy Snow raised her hand and shook the iron chains binding her arms: "Whether it's to gain freedom from the Demon King's control, or to obtain the Demon King's legacy... for any reason, I can help you."

'Obtain the Demon King's legacy...'

...That's a very practical starting point.

When it was Sofia's turn, she felt a little sorry for Xiaoxue's current situation, but she still asked rationally, "We can let you out... but after you are released, how do you plan to help us?"

"I'm very good at calculations and decryption... I can help you crack all the 'locked treasure chests with passwords' in the Demon King's castle. However, in return, you'll have to share some of the loot you get from these locked treasure chests with me."

Good heavens... this is practically 'stealing from their own wall'!

Amamiya never expected that the conditions for Yuki's betrayal would be so simple.

After a round of conversation, Amamiya stepped forward and used the [Parchment Emblem] to open the seal on the underground prison, while also removing the shackles from Shadowy Yuki's body.

"Well then... I look forward to taking care of you for the time being."

"Heh... Since we're all 'accomplices,' then... let's raise our flags and cause a ruckus together to overthrow the Demon King."

Shadowy Snow temporarily joined the team.

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Fleshy Demon King, the Super-Heavy Armor Warrior, the Ruthless Calculator - Yuka?

With the addition of Shadowy Snow, the Amamiya group's 'exploration speed' increased significantly.

As a subordinate of the Demon King's Castle, Shadow Xiaoxue's understanding of the castle was quite thorough.

She remembered the location of the 'treasure' better than anyone else.

The most obvious benefit that Amamiya and his group received came from Koyuki's expert guidance, which she described in great detail.

"This is the Demon King's armory, where some special treasures are stored..."

……

"There should be enemy troops stationed here beforehand, so we need to be a little careful when we go over..."

【珊?飼另齐迩二把蒝宭……】

"I remember there's a locked treasure chest here... but actually, this chest is a special mimic. If you try to unlock it, the mimic will grab you and eat you. So everyone should be careful."

……

"I know a secret path leading to the Demon King's palace... Huh? Why was this path designed? Of course, it's to make it easier for the Demon King to escape after a defeat... Isn't it only natural for the Demon King to prepare an escape route in advance?"

With Koyuki's knowledge of the terrain, her calculation of the Demon King's castle's troop rotation time, and her ability to crack codes... Amamiya's group's already low encounter rate plummeted to a new low.

Previously, there was a chance of occasionally encountering one or two enemies... but now, there isn't even a single enemy to be seen.

After being plagued by one inhumane puzzle after another, Momoi finally broke down a bit.

"It's alright... We have the 'cheat code' provided by the Great Sage, otherwise we would definitely be forced to search for keys everywhere or upgrade our access cards by these inhuman torture mechanisms... thus wasting time meaninglessly."

While feeling sentimental, she understood to some extent what the mindset of the players who played "Final Goddess Legend Blade" was back then.

Even though they had a lot of lingering fears along the way, Xiaoxue knew the terrain map and enemy deployment in advance, which allowed her to avoid battle...

Having the highest level of access can eliminate most of the decryption steps involved in finding permissions...

Various 'puzzle games' and 'deciphering elements' can drive people crazy.

Sofia, seemingly used to it, said, "Fortunately, with Jok's wisdom and decryption experience, we had a very easy time getting here."

Momoi didn't say anything more, just pursed her lips sullenly, lowered her head resentfully, and looked at the lava ground beneath her feet, falling into silence.

It seems... being a phantom thief is really not an easy thing...

To silently infiltrate the target's inner world, steal the treasure formed from the crystallization of their desires, and bring the target to 'repent'... becoming such a phantom thief requires agile skills, formidable strength, a stable mindset, and the wisdom to solve decryption all at once.

After experiencing the daily life of a 'phantom thief' firsthand, she suddenly lost her longing for that life.

"The main area of ​​the Demon King's castle is just ahead..."

After witnessing the challenge before her being solved, Shadowy Snow did not breathe a sigh of relief; instead, she became even more serious and issued an advance warning.

"If things go as expected... we might encounter the remaining two 'Demon King's henchmen' from the seminar next..."

Before Xiaoxue could finish speaking, a series of tremors, as if the ground was being shaken, came from beneath everyone's feet.

"Hmm...~?"

Upon feeling the tremor from the ground, Xiaoxue's expression immediately changed. Her face turned pale, and she immediately bent over, looking as if she wanted to run away. At the same time, she began to nervously look around for cover.

"No, no... It's that 100kg super-heavyweight warrior... the accountant of the Demon King's castle! She's here, she's here!"

"Everyone, quickly find a place to hide..."

Rumble; boom...

The tremor came from afar and approached, and at the same time... the four members of the game club also heard the eerie sound that made them feel as if they had fallen into an ice cave, and made the hairs on their bodies stand on end.

"Let's find a place to hide... Why hide?"

"Sensei... and the kids in the games club..."

"Waaaaah...!"

Recalling the fear of being dominated by Yuka the Great Demon Queen, Momoi's expression was as if struck by lightning. She looked up at the fleshy legs that she could never reach in her entire life and the jet-black seminar-style short skirt—at this moment, she realized what 'despair' meant.

"I encountered a legendary, fleshy-legged demon in the Demon King's castle, and even with all my strength, I couldn't defeat him!"

"Momoi~? What are you talking about...?"

The figure with horns on its head and wings on its back, resembling a succubus, seemed to be directly enraged by Momoi's words, and its sharp, piercing gaze fell directly on Momoi.

"Quack! Everyone, back off your teeth!"

Momoi instinctively stepped back and hid behind Amamiya, who looked slightly speechless.

"Hmph..."

After drawing out a long, inexplicable "humph," Shadow Yuka then fixed her gaze on Shadow Koyuki, whose eyes were darting around as if she might run away at any moment.

"Did they still manage to escape...?"

"I... I didn't escape... I was released by these rebels against the Demon King!"

Under the terrifying pressure from Shadow Yuka, Shadow Yuki weakly protested, "I'm a teammate of the heroes now, don't look down on me!"

"That is to say..."

As Yuka's face grew increasingly gloomy, she lowered her head slightly, the shadow of her bangs obscuring her already terrifying eyes, which were already lacking in texture.

The aura was gradually rising, and Shadow Yuka clenched her fists, walking slowly and deliberately towards Shadow Koyuki.

"Are you... going to betray the Demon King's castle...?"

Shadowy Snow didn't reply, but looked at Amamiya with a nervous and pitiful expression: "Hey! You guys... quickly think of a way to subdue her..."

If handled properly, there's no need to fight Yuuka in the shadows...

Judging from the ever-increasing aura and terrifying power of Shadow Yuka, Amamiya was able to conclude that Shadow Yuka's combat strength was probably second only to the BOSS level, an unprecedented level of power.

Once a battle breaks out, it will drag on and on, leading to all sorts of unpredictable consequences...

By the way, Yuka's 'weakness'...

Amamiya took a deep breath, stood behind Alice, patted Alice's head, then leaned down and whispered a few words to Alice, who was also a little scared.

"Huh? Is that so..."

Alice understands.

In the tense atmosphere where a battle could break out at any moment, Alice suddenly jogged and blocked the path of the approaching shadow, Yuka.

Then...

Under the bewildered gaze of Shadow Yuuka, she tilted her head up and gave Shadow Yuuka a sweet and charming smile, the kind of smile unique to a 'junior girl,' and opened her arms to her, as if to ask for a hug.

Alice wants a hug...

"...Yuka's mom!"

Chapter 25 Yuka: The Most Touching Episode

"Alice wants a hug... Yuuka's mom!"

"..."

Shadow Yuka abruptly stopped moving, and the evil spiritual energy swirling around her vanished in an instant, like spring snow melting away.