Gringotts was, as always, peaceful.
The bank, located in Diagon Alley and run by goblins, was a highly trusted repository.
That is, until a few minutes ago.
The goblins, who had been conducting their banking business under the light of ornate chandeliers using old-fashioned balancing scales, suddenly saw a mountain of paperwork topple over.
No, it wasn't just the papers that had fallen.
The entire building was shaking violently.
Even the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling were flickering ominously as they swayed.
Rumble... Rumble.
The goblins could not help but panic at the massive tremor that was shaking Gringotts, a place they prided themselves on being the safest in the world (by goblin standards, of course), protected by hundreds of layers of wards.
The chairman, who was conducting business from the most prestigious seat, beckoned a security guard over.
"Find out what's going on, immediately."
Fortunately, the security guard the chairman had summoned did not have to go to the trouble of carrying out the order.
This was because the human wizards, dispatched by the Ministry to assist with Gringotts' security, rushed in through the main entrance, shouting.
"Everyone, it's dangerous, please evacuate! It's an earthquake!"
The chairman, who was in charge of the long and proud history of Gringotts, spoke calmly.
"There is no need to worry. This Gringotts was designed so that an earthquake of this magnitude would not cause significant damage..."
But the human wizard rudely cut the chairman off and shouted.
"It's not just Gringotts! It's a quake strong enough to bring down all of Diagon Alley!"
What.
Even the calm chairman's hands trembled at that news.
An earthquake strong enough to bring down all of Diagon Alley... why in the world would that happen?
Not only Gringotts, but the entire wizarding street should have been inscribed with countless formulas to prevent such disasters.
This was certainly no natural occurrence.
Suddenly, a report that had come in about thirty minutes ago flashed through the chairman's mind.
'A user attempting to visit Vault 731 has paralyzed the supervising goblin and has proceeded deeper inside.'
There had always been those who underestimated Gringotts' security, and not a single one of them had ever succeeded in their goal.
The chairman had dismissed the report about the thief, who would soon be caught, to the back of his mind.
But why was the report about that thief—who was surely destined to become a ghost of Gringotts, trapped forever by its formidable security—popping into his head at this particular moment?
The chairman forced his trembling eyelids shut and said.
"...Everyone, evacuate."
A bomb.
Tsar Bomba.
That was the name of the greatest, and most heinous, weapon ever created by modern humanity.
A hydrogen bomb that used nuclear fusion, a step beyond the atomic bombs that used nuclear fission.
The principle of hydrogen meeting neutrons and transforming into another element was, literally, a small sun.
Humanity's ultimate weapon, with immense power and range, capable of turning all surrounding life and matter into ash.
I can say with certainty that, in terms of sheer power, no magic could ever hope to match it.
Of course, the Tsar Bomba I used had a much smaller range than the original.
It wasn't that I couldn't replicate it, but it was just too inefficient. How could I use a spell that blows away an entire city every time I fight?
But simply reducing its power felt like a waste. Of course, it was overkill, but this was a matter of romanticism.
Reducing the beautiful firepower of the Tsar Bomba would be such a shame.
Therefore, the version of the Tsar Bomba I developed was one where only its range was extremely compressed. The blast radius was suppressed by magical power and compressed into a single point.
A form that focused the full power of the Tsar Bomba into a relatively localized area of about a thousand cubic meters—a cube with sides of ten meters.
In a way, it could be said to be a much more heinous version than the original.
And my new magic, used for the first time in reality, possessed a power that far exceeded my expectations.
It didn't even make a sound. Because it far surpassed the limits of what the eardrum could detect.
All that was generated was a massive shockwave. The mass, which had been converted into an enormous amount of energy in an instant, pushed away the air and expanded in a flash.
My targets were only the Gringotts vault door and the goblins. It wouldn't suit my original purpose if other areas were swept away, so I had naturally cast protective spells on the other sections.
The only problem was that the power of the Tsar Bomba, focused on a single spot, was far more vicious than I had anticipated.
Even with the Elder Wand, I was momentarily unable to completely contain its power, and I could not stop a single beam of energy from breaking through the designated area.
Oh, if I do this right...
For a moment, the sight looked like some kind of beam weapon and gave me an idea, but that wasn't important right now.
After focusing on controlling it for some time, the energy of the Tsar Bomba finally subsided.
In the lowest level of Gringotts, which was now filled with all sorts of heinous things like alpha, beta, and gamma radiation, I stared at the scene with my mouth agape.
"Wow... this is beyond imagination."
A part of Gringotts had been erased as if with an eraser.
Including the human-discriminating goblins, and even the vault walls.
Moreover, no matter how much I suppressed the blast radius with magic, I couldn't contain the vibration, and the resulting earthquake was causing rocks to fall from the cavern ceiling.
And one section, the part where I couldn't control the energy and some of it was released, the vault there had literally vanished.
Not only the vault, but also the gold coins that must have been inside, had literally evaporated.
Feeling a pang of regret, I muttered.
"Oh dear, was that the Mal- Malpoeyu family vault?"
[T/N: Malpoeyu (말푀유): A humorous, non-standard transliteration of "Malfoy" used by the author in this chapter. It sounds like the French pastry "mille-feuille." The standard Korean spelling is 말포이 (Malpoi).]
They didn't seem to be a particularly historic family, so I felt a little sorry that what little money they had was now gone.
No, wait. If they weren't a historic family, the fact that their vault was in this lowest level meant there was a high chance the money wasn't earned through legitimate means.
Remembering this made me feel a little better. I'll look into the Mal-something family later, and if they seem like decent people, I'll help them out a bit.
So, what happened to my target, the Lestrange vault?
"Oh."
As expected, since I had put special effort into this part, only the entrance of the Lestrange family vault had been erased as if with an eraser.
With a satisfied smile, I entered the Lestrange family vault.
Indeed. They must have been a rather prosperous family before being sent to Azkaban, as all sorts of gold and treasures were scattered about.
Of course, to just take these treasures as they are would be the work of an amateur.
Usually, the items in the more heavily guarded vaults in Gringotts are protected by all sorts of defensive curses.
So what should be done?
Surprisingly, the solution existed within Gringotts itself. Ah, those goblins.
I tore out not just the treasures, but the entire vault, including the floor, and made it float with a levitation charm.
And the place I maneuvered it to was none other than the waterfall inside Gringotts.
As I washed the vault in the waterfall, I left a consulting point with one hand.
[Consulting Point 3: What's the point of putting protective curses inside a vault? There's a waterfall that dispels all magic right next to it. Limit the function of the waterfall!]
Then, a thought occurred to me. If they followed all these points, would I still be able to rob Gringotts? Hmm, I probably still could.
In the end, I added one more point before nodding with a satisfied expression.
[Finally, as much as possible, do not incur the wrath of a powerful wizard!]
While I was leaving my notes, the treasures were completely cleansed. I collected them and prepared to leave.
Rumble... Grumble...
Just then, I heard a pathetic-sounding groan from somewhere over there.
"Ah, right, you were here too."
Right, that albino dragon.
I had been thinking of taking it as a souvenir of my Gringotts visit, but the power of the Tsar Bomba had been so impressive that I had momentarily forgotten.
I hadn't forgotten about it when I set off the Tsar Bomba, so of course, I had cast a protective spell on the poor dragon.
Perhaps because it had felt what I had done through its skin, even though it was blind, the dragon covered its head with its front paws as I approached.
I didn't know much about dragon ecology, but from the looks of it, it wasn't being hostile.
Tsk, tsk, goblins tend to treat dragons too harshly. Feeling an automatic sense of pity, I said briefly.
"Want to come with me?"
Grrr!
At the sight of the dragon nodding its head with a low growl, I waved my wand and took out a bag for capturing magical creatures.
"Here, get in."
But will that huge body fit?
My worries were brief; the dragon got into the bag without any problem. Though the bag did feel a little heavier than usual.
Well then, all that's left is for me to disappear from here with the treasures.
My initial plan was to use a phoenix's Apparition, which operates on a different system than the goblins' anti-Apparition spells, to escape via Ardeura.
But looking at the situation now, perhaps due to the earthquake, I could feel that the anti-Apparition spell had been disturbed.
This much should be possible with the Elder Wand.
I took one last look around the almost-ruined lowest level of Gringotts, closed my eyes, and thought of my desired destination.
"I want to go back to the hotel and wash up."
The next day.
I had been exhausted after yesterday's fierce battle (I mainly used my energy to control the Tsar Bomba) and had fallen asleep. In a daze, I began to sort through the treasures I had brought back.
The Galleons could be used as they are, but rare treasures had to be treated as stolen goods to be converted into cash.
...But there's something strange.
Why the hell is Hufflepuff's cup here?