Hearing Chevreuse's shout, the smile in Luna's eyes only deepened.
"Miss Captain, you're so naive."
Despite feeling disappointed and betrayed, she still wanted to hold onto her.
What kind of emotion is this? Luna wondered, but now wasn't the time for questions. She drew her pistol.
"While your naivety is your most radiant quality, I'm afraid—you can't stop me. I decide how this story ends, and no one can change that."
A chaotic dance of gunfire and sword flashes erupted, instantly felling all the enemies surrounding them!
"If you want to witness the story's conclusion, then come along, my dear Miss Captain."
"But I advise you all to leave this place as soon as possible."
Luna gently raised her hand, snapped her fingers, and vanished in the blink of an eye.
"She's disappeared again!"
"Captain, what do we do?"
"Aaaaaah..."
The mercenaries sprawled on the ground cried out in agony.
Chevreuse's heart skipped a beat as she immediately ordered her team to assess their condition.
"None of the wounds are fatal, Captain, but calling them 'minor' would be a stretch..."
Turenna struggled to describe the precise, scalpel-like accuracy of the gunshots and sword strikes, all aimed at their joints. Whether they would ever walk again was now uncertain.
Of course, that wasn't their concern. As long as they were alive, that was enough.
Perhaps the White Cat never intended to kill them? Chevreuse wasn't sure anymore. Maybe she simply had no killing intent toward these mercenaries.
But the couple were her true enemies. It was hardly surprising that she would personally eliminate them.
Don't let Luna's calm demeanor fool you. When she hunted down corrupt officials of the Court of Justice, she maintained the same composure: calm, polite, and utterly decisive, never offering explanations for her actions—concealing the truth that her actions were meant to save the parents of her victims.
She knew exactly what she was doing and what she intended to accomplish.
"Get these people out for immediate medical attention. Once the Maison Gardiennage arrives, hand them over to their custody. After the initial treatment, have everyone wait outside—I have a bad feeling about this."
"Yes, Captain!"
Turenna asked, "What about you, Captain?"
Chevreuse pressed a hidden button on the bookshelf, revealing a secret passage.
"I'm going after her."
She would never give up on Phantom Thief White Cat!
Meanwhile, Malo was fleeing through the newly constructed secret passage at breakneck speed.
Anticipating pursuit, they had invested heavily in building this underground passage and its hidden chambers. The labyrinthine network was designed to easily disorient any pursuers.
Only they knew the correct path to take.
How did the Phantom Thief White Cat know about the artifacts we took years ago? Malo wondered as he fled.
And why was she after that sword in particular?
Could she be related to that adventurer couple from the past?
Golden hair, crimson eyes... could she be their daughter? No... Phantom Thief White Cat could change her appearance at will—golden hair, silver hair, black hair—she could become anyone she wanted.
Could she be a friend of the couple?
Regardless, he had to escape!
Being captured by the Special Task Force would be bad enough, but being caught by Phantom Thief White Cat would mean certain death without even a grave.
He glanced back—no pursuers. Good.
The exit was just ahead!
If I can just reach that point!
If Phantom Thief White wanted the sword, she could have it!
A glimmer of light appeared before him. Malo, overcome with joy, dashed into the radiance, reaching the exit—which was also the vault where they stored all their treasures.
"I made it! Huff... Finally..."
"Finally arrived, Mr. Malo."
"?!?"
Malo's heart froze. He looked up to see Luna perched on the vault's table.
There was no sign that any of the gold or jewels had been touched. The only thing in her hand was a longsword.
Beneath the ornate golden hilt, the blade shimmered with rippling patterns like water. As she gently caressed it, the sword seemed to respond with a crisp, ringing chime.
The Azure Radiance of Hydrell—the very sword the Phantom Thief had been after.
"A truly beautiful sword, don't you think?"
"Phantom Thief White Cat..."
After his initial shock, Malo reached for the hidden button in the wall.
The brick recessed, and the secret door swung open.
"No matter how you managed to get here ahead of me, you're trapped now! Don't think this place only holds treasures—it's also rigged with traps for intruders!"
Come out, Clockwork Meka!
-
But nothing happened!
"If you're looking for this scrap metal, I can give it back to you."
A cold, unfamiliar voice spoke from behind him.
Malo whirled around to see a woman wearing a black mask and hood who had materialized silently.
In her hand, she held the shattered remains of the Clockwork Meka.
With a casual flick of her wrist, the metal fragments clattered to the floor. Arlecchino stepped forward, her heel grinding the twisted remains into crumpled metal scraps.
"You—who are you?! An accomplice of the Phantom Thief White Cat?!"
Malo's face drained of color as he recoiled involuntarily.
"You don't need to know."
Arlecchino turned her gaze to Luna.
Luna's attention, however, was fixed on a notebook she had just discovered on the table.
This is...
Luna picked up the notebook.
"White Cat!"
Just then, Chevreuse rushed in, pistol raised, only to freeze in shock. The room should have contained only the Phantom Thief White Cat and Malo, yet here was a third person.
A black mask... Appearing here with Luna... Could she be...?
Arlecchino!
"Don't move! Hand him over!" Chevreuse demanded fearlessly.
Malo tried to run toward Chevreuse.
Thank goodness, it's the Special Task Force! He had never wanted to see them more.
But Arlecchino kicked him to the ground with a single blow and pinned him with her foot on his back.
"Captain Chevreuse, could it be you're trying to protect this criminal?" Arlecchino asked.
"Of course not. I'm simply escorting him to the Court of Judgement."
Arlecchino smiled slightly. "Why not let us deliver our own judgment?"
"...I won't allow you to do that."
Chevreuse summoned her long spear, gripping its shaft tightly. Suddenly, she noticed a flicker in Luna's eyes.
"That's..." she murmured involuntarily.
Arlecchino turned to see Luna had already opened a notebook.
"'I'm sorry, my child. Your father failed to protect you. Please don't repeat my mistakes.'"
What's this? A confession?
It didn't seem like that either.
"'I don't want to die, but what can I do? How could an ordinary person like me possibly resist a gang like this? It's impossible... I don't want to die, and I don't want to write this last will...'"
A last will?
Chevreuse thought of something. "Could this be—?"
The Blood Money Gang had a particularly cruel tactic: forcing their victims to write last wills before death, which they would then use to threaten the victim's family or friends.
The purpose was simple: intimidation and entrapment.
They intimidated the other party to continually extract profits from them.
They lured the other party: if anyone lost patience and fought back, they would similarly be persecuted by them.
When the gang was finally dismantled and its members arrested, the Special Task Force had searched for these last wills but found none.
Now it seemed they had simply been hidden here.
Like the treasure, they had become "trophies" of the Malo couple—the dying lamentations, hatred, and rage of the innocent instead set off their "power."
Chevreuse clenched her fist... Wait.
If these were indeed those last wills, then...
"Wait, White Cat!"
Luna turned to the next page.
"To my dearest..."
Another page of the suicide note. Though the handwriting was distorted, shaky, and barely legible, Luna still recognized the distinctive script—
To my dearest daughter, Luna, it read.
A strange odor permeated the room, causing Chevreuse to frown.
What's that smell?
Malo burst into maniacal laughter. "So, you managed to find our Clockwork Meka, but you missed the explosives we buried!"
"It's just as well. I may not escape, but neither will you. When the smell reaches you, the ignition has begun. Countdown: 10, 9..."
Luna remained transfixed by the notebook.
Chevreuse sprinted toward her. "Hey! White cat—!"
But in the next instant, a dark figure seized her.
It was Arlecchino.
"You..."
Her vision blurred as Arlecchino leaped toward the upward exit with incredible speed. Chevreuse was stunned, unable to comprehend.
Arlecchino isn't taking Luna with her?
"What are you doing?!" Chevreuse snapped.
"Don't worry."
"You're her 'Father,' aren't you? Why—"
"You'll see soon enough."
Arlecchino said no more. Then...
BOOM!
A blinding white light flashed, followed by a deafening explosion. It was impossible to estimate just how much explosives the Malo couple had buried underground to cause such a massive blast.
The ground itself was torn open!
Arlecchino had brought Chevreuse to the surface, unharmed, but she seemed to have lost her spirit, staring blankly at the scene before her.
A dead silence fell.
"It blew! It blew! That old bastard must have died with the Phantom Thief and the Captain of the Special Task Force! Everyone, charge! The remaining Special Task Force members are nothing to fear! Dig up all my money, and I'll give you half!"
That voice...
Chevreuse snapped back to reality, hearing the crackle of the Special Task Force's rifled muskets.
Enemies!
"Captain, a large number of enemies are approaching! We believe it's Kacey Debra, the former President of the Blood Money Gang, along with other gang members!" Turenna reported.
Chevreuse gritted her teeth.
So they didn't flee—they went to get reinforcements. One after another... She clenched her fists, then exhaled slowly and commanded calmly:
"Arrest them!"
WHOOSH—
Suddenly, a pillar of flame erupted. Even the raging storm couldn't diminish its intensity or brilliance. Waves of heat washed over them, forcing everyone to stop in their tracks.
And within that fiery light was...
Arlecchino whispered, "A Vision."
A Vision... Chevreuse stared as the glowing orb drifted downward.
The Vision descended gently, landing softly upon a white-gloved hand.
A crimson cloak whipped violently in the wind like flames. Luna took a deep breath, then clenched her fist tightly around the Vision!