Northern Conquest Sea, outskirts of Navaha. In the late afternoon, beneath a brooding sky, the cold seawater relentlessly pounded the rocky coastline of the desolate tidal flats, far from Navaha’s city center. Driven by the tidal current, the waves surged into the cracks between stone and sand, their roar rising and falling in constant succession. Upon the gravel-strewn shore, Massimo—severely wounded and missing an arm—stood frozen in shock. His eyes were fixed on the young man who had appeared not far away, smiling at him. From that man’s body, Massimo could unmistakably detect a familiar scent: the same trace from the button he’d found in Bins’ possession. And the one that trace pointed to... was Thief K. “Thief K… so it really is you? I knew it—you’re a spider guy from the Blood Shade Path!” Grinding his teeth, Massimo glared at the young man. Costa had mentioned before that Thief K might be a Beyonder from the Blood Shade Path, someone capable of altering their appearance. And now, the man standing before him bore no resemblance to the figure he had once encountered aboard the Shimmering Pearl. Only someone of the Blood Shade Path could manage such a disguise. “As for my true identity… wasn’t it obvious from the beginning? No need to look so surprised, Mr. Massimo.” With a faint smile, the young man replied in Ivengardian, his tone light and mocking. Hearing this, Massimo growled again, voice thick with fury. “You bastard… how did you slip away from the ship without anyone noticing? How did you know I’d be here? That spiritual mist that exposed us—was that your doing too?! What the hell did you pull?” “My, my. So many questions, Mr. Massimo. You’re not seriously expecting me to answer them all, are you? You’re already as good as dead. Even if I told you everything—what good would it do?” Looking down on him with blatant contempt, the young man’s eyes gleamed coldly. Massimo’s fury flared at the ridicule, but he quickly forced it back down. Straightening his weak, battered frame, he looked up and sneered. “Hmph… seems like from start to finish, we’ve been dancing in your palm. You’re standing before me now to gloat, aren’t you? Trying to savor your victory.” “But of course~ After all, I’m the one who won in the end, didn’t I? You’re half-crippled now—there’s no way you can defeat me. And this taste of triumph? I’ve more than earned it.” Spreading his arms wide, the young man’s mocking grin deepened. Massimo’s face twisted, but then he suddenly laughed coldly. “Heh… You’re right. In this state, I probably can’t beat you. But don’t get too full of yourself. And unfortunately for you, that’s exactly what you’ve done.” “Don’t be so cocky, Thief K!” All at once, Massimo roared—and with that, he swung the only arm he had left. As his arm moved, the gravel beneath the young man’s feet began to stir. Several jets of water burst through the stones, surging up from underground and thrusting straight toward the young man. “What?!” The young man’s face shifted into shock. He leapt aside, narrowly evading the first jet—but the others quickly encircled him, forming a curtain of water that restricted his movements. And this was only the beginning of Massimo’s counterattack. “Nice dodge… but that won’t help you!” With Massimo’s shout, the water pillars around the young man exploded into sprays. Then, under a strange force’s manipulation, the water reformed into torrents and surged inward, converging on him from all sides. In the blink of an eye, the young man was engulfed—completely trapped inside a large, hovering sphere of water. One moment, he had been on land; the next, he was submerged. Suspended midair, fully enclosed within the floating orb, he flailed desperately. But without any leverage to push against, it was utterly useless. Bubbles streamed from his mouth, and his expression twisted in agony as suffocation set in. Taken completely off guard, the young man had fallen victim to Massimo’s surprise move. The water he’d summoned from beneath the earth had formed a prison—a watery cage from which there was no escape. No matter how hard he struggled, the trap held firm. Seeing this, Massimo burst out laughing. “Hah! You let your guard down, Thief K! Bet you didn’t expect I could control the water beneath your feet!” “You waited until I moved away from the shoreline to show yourself—trying to avoid letting me draw on the sea, weren’t you? But I’ll tell you something: beneath this entire reef and tidal flat, the sea has carved countless fissures through the rock. Which means... beneath your feet, there’s water everywhere for me to control. You miscalculated!” Massimo shouted triumphantly, all his earlier rage and humiliation wiped clean from his face. He had turned the tables. “Don’t waste your strength, Thief. Once you’re caught by a Water Prison cast by an Ocean Chanter, no amount of brute force or agility will let you escape! Even if you try turning into a bat, you won’t break free from the currents! Hand over the Deep Blue Heart right now, and maybe—just maybe—I’ll let you live!” Massimo barked at the young man still struggling within the floating sphere of water. He was fully focused on maintaining the Water Prison’s hold—when suddenly, several figures burst out from behind the nearby reef. Armed men, revolvers raised, all took aim at Massimo and opened fire in unison. Gunshots rang out across the rocky shoreline. Bullets tore through the air, striking Massimo in the back. Wounded and preoccupied with holding the prison, he had no time to react to the ambush. Though he managed a last-second dodge, at least five bullets still found their mark, piercing his body and opening bloody wounds. One even tore through his neck, causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood. “Kh… still more… lackeys?” Massimo gritted through the fresh waves of pain, forcing himself to endure what would be lethal injuries to any ordinary person. He kept the Water Prison stable while glaring at the gunmen with bloodshot eyes, convinced they were Thief K’s reinforcements—coming to rescue him after he’d been trapped. Still glaring, Massimo activated his power once more. The ground beneath the gunmen suddenly shattered, and high-pressure jets of water erupted from the cracks, spearing the attackers before they could react. Screams rang out as the gunmen were torn apart and collapsed in agony. But just before hitting the ground, one of them used the last of his strength to light a stick of dynamite and hurl it toward Massimo. Acting quickly, Massimo condensed a floating sphere of water in midair, catching the explosive before it could reach him. The fuse fizzled and died in the water—neutralized. Massimo exhaled in relief. “Tch… that was close…” But inside the dynamite—a small insect embedded earlier suddenly sparked with a flash of electricity. A faint jolt surged through the payload, igniting the dry powder inside before it could be fully soaked. BOOM!! A deafening blast tore through the air. The thin water shell containing the dynamite burst, but its suppression had blunted the explosion. The blast kicked up a cloud of dust midair, but caused no harm to Massimo, who remained intact and untouched. He flinched at the explosion, startled—but when he realized he was unhurt, he relaxed just a little. And then, something completely unexpected happened. From the cloud of dust, a blurry figure shot forth—blazing fast and razor sharp—rushing straight toward Massimo. His eyes locked onto the figure: a woman in sleek black attire, her dark hair tied back, face hidden behind a half-mask. Her lean figure was unmistakable, and the piercing vertical pupils beneath the mask were exactly the same as those he’d seen days ago aboard the Shimmering Pearl. “It’s you!” Massimo’s eyes widened. In that instant, he realized the truth—he’d imprisoned the wrong person. He immediately dispelled the Water Prison holding the young man and tried to muster what little strength he had left to form a new one around the real thief. But it was too late. The thief lunged at him with agile precision. Her dagger slashed toward him with lethal intent. In a split-second reaction, Massimo raised his only remaining arm to block it. The dagger struck his arm—hard enough that under normal conditions, it would have cleaved through it completely. But Massimo flexed with all the might of a White Ash-rank Chalice Beyonder. His muscles tensed, spirituality surged through his body, and the toughness of his flesh multiplied several times over. The dagger only cut slightly into his arm—barely deep enough to draw blood, and far from reaching the bone. Massimo had withstood a lethal blow using nothing but his raw physical strength and Beyonder resilience. “Die, Thief!!” He roared, preparing to launch his counterattack—when, suddenly, a powerful force surged from the thief’s body into her blade and passed directly into him. In that moment, he felt it again—the same searing, abnormal pain he’d felt on the Shimmering Pearl’s deck that night. Only this time, it was far more intense—and it wasn’t just in his arm. It was everywhere. A massive current of electricity surged through his entire body, forcing a scream from his throat. His muscles convulsed violently, and he completely lost control of his limbs. The pain overwhelmed him. The thief seized the opportunity. With a powerful jerk, she hacked through his raised arm, severing it cleanly. Then, grabbing his shoulder to maintain contact and continue the discharge, she slashed again—this time across his throat. The blade bit deep, slicing nearly two-thirds of the way through his already-wounded neck. And she didn’t stop there. To ensure the kill, she drove the dagger straight into his skull. Blood erupted. Massimo’s eyes were wide with disbelief as his body crumpled to the ground. Even after he collapsed, his body continued to twitch uncontrollably, his lips opening and closing as if trying to utter something. But after several minutes of convulsions, he finally fell still. Not a single movement remained. He was dead. The thief stood silently over Massimo’s corpse, her vertical pupils under the mask fixed coldly on his final, pathetic struggle. Once she was certain he was truly dead, she reached up and removed her mask. Nephthys’s emotionless face was revealed beneath. Possessed by Soulwhisker, she calmly watched the death of her prey. All of a sudden, a translucent lynx-shaped spirit body emerged from Nephthys’s back, drifting lazily through the air. The moment the spirit left her, Nephthys’s expression turned vacant for a brief second. When she regained her senses and saw the blood-soaked corpse at her feet—and the bloodied dagger in her own hand—she gave a small gasp and staggered back two steps. The dagger nearly slipped from her fingers. “U-Um… he looks completely dead now, Miss Dorothy.” Turning her head, Nephthys glanced uncertainly at the young man who had only just been freed from the water prison. He was wringing out his soaked clothes as he spoke. “Ahem… You’ve done well, Senior Nephthys. Leave the rest to me. You probably have your own business to take care of, don’t you?” “Mhm… yeah, that’s true. My mentor and classmates are still waiting for me in the city. I need to get back right away. Mm… I’ll go change now, so I’ll leave things here to you.” Mumbling in a hurry, Nephthys dashed off with Soulwhisker trailing behind her. The young man—merely a corpse marionette—watched her go, then slowly turned his gaze back to Massimo’s mangled corpse. “Well then… looks like it’s time for the spoils~” Not far from the shoreline, inside a scenic seaside pavilion, Dorothy sat calmly and murmured with a smile. Then she began issuing silent commands to her corpse marionettes scattered along the beach, ordering them to clean up the battlefield. And with that, Massimo and Costa—the two thorns in Dorothy’s side for the past few days—had finally been eradicated. Dorothy could finally breathe a long-awaited sigh of relief. Back on the Shimmering Pearl, Dorothy had purposefully used Bins to feed the duo a scent clue from the button, giving them a faint hope of retrieving the Deep Blue Heart. This illusion of hope kept them from going completely desperate and reckless, while gently steering them into a fatal trap. After that, Dorothy had anticipated that the two would try to trace that scent while the others disembarked, hoping to locate its source. She orchestrated their exposure at just the right moment—right in front of the Radiance Church. To do so, Dorothy had made use of a few mosquitoes. She still had a vial of the Eight-Spired Nest’s smoke bomb liquid left in her possession, so she had several insect corpse marionettes each sip a little of it. Then, she sent those tiny insects flying toward Costa and Massimo. Once they had latched onto the targets, she deliberately overloaded them with her Flowing Current Form, causing their bodies to rupture and release a faint burst of spiritual mist—just enough to draw the Church’s attention. Beyond the insects carrying the condensate, Dorothy had also sent others into Massimo’s clothing. After he dove into the sea, it was thanks to one of these hidden insect marionettes that she was able to track his position and swimming route with precision. Judging from his trajectory, Dorothy had determined where he would land. Without hesitation, she had dragged Nephthys along, riding an untiring corpse steed long kept in her magic box to arrive at the landing site ahead of him. Due to Massimo’s injuries, his swimming speed had been significantly impaired, giving them just enough time to get there first. “Whew… Who would’ve thought a simple outing would turn into such a mess? Days of mental chess and cat-and-mouse… and in the end, the whole ship went down. But I suppose it all worked out. The cultists are dead, almost everyone else is safe, though it did cost a fair amount of resources. Hopefully the spoils will be worth it, at the very least.”