I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills

While the children murmured at the commotion coming from the Theology Hall.

“Everyone, don’t move recklessly and stay on standby.”

Professor Ganon Sarcha of the Martial Arts Department calmed the children to prevent any hasty actions.

‘Of all times, the headmaster had to be away.’

Ganon clicked his tongue internally while signaling to the assistant professors, wanting to understand what was happening.

The gesture meant for them to quickly grasp the situation. The assistant professors who caught the signal dashed out.

Meanwhile, Haring was glancing around nervously.

She looked like a cat searching for a way to sneak out.

“Haring, you’re not planning to go, are you?”

Karandis, noticing Haring’s behavior, asked her.

If something went wrong while she ventured out, the responsibility would ultimately fall on Haring.

“This might be what Kraush mentioned.”

“Lord Kraush?”

Karandis showed a puzzled expression, curious about what Kraush might have hinted at.

“He said something might happen at Rahern Academy, so we should always be ready to respond.”

“He never told me that. Seriously, he’s so unfair.”

Karandis grumbled but still paid attention to Haring’s words.

“So the explosion we just heard might be related to that. Could this be the sound?”

“There’s a possibility.”

There were assistant professors and professors in the academy.

Karandis thought they would be the first to handle the situation, but as Haring mentioned, it wasn’t a bad idea to be prepared.

After all, not too long ago, even an assistant professor, Jenikalen, had directly caused an incident.

But making rash movements could lead to confusion.

“Let’s wait a little longer. The assistant professors are already moving. News will come faster from them than if we act. We can move after hearing that—it won’t be too late.”

Karandis calmly restrained Haring’s actions.

“You wouldn’t want to look like that over there, would you?”

She pointed toward Ballak, who was in the distance.

“Wow, an explosion! I want to go!”

Balak, jumping excitedly in place, was making a scene.

Haring nodded, agreeing, and stopped her actions.

She certainly didn’t want to appear as childish as Ballak.

Karandis’s gaze then shifted to Glen, standing beside Balak.

Glen Diana, the cousin of Mary Diana, had a much darker expression than before.

Recently, his proactive behavior had noticeably diminished.

‘I heard Sigrid Ephania made some kind of proposal to him.’

Could it be because of that?

Karandis, known for her keen perception of such matters, couldn’t help but feel concerned as she thought about it.

＊ ＊ ＊

The temple building embroidered in white and gold.

Rahern Academy’s Theology Hall.

A place where countless individuals study theology, including even the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom of Freeman, the Theology Hall was a prestigious space frequented by the academy’s most renowned theology students.

In fact, its reputation was such that even students who were not theology majors frequently visited the hall.

It was no exaggeration to say that the Theology Hall was always at full capacity.

The explosion that echoed from such a place was, of course, completely unexpected.

“Ugh, w-what on earth…”

Amid the aftermath of the explosion, a male student, also a theology major and aspiring priest, swallowed nervously.

Biiiiiiiii—

A high-pitched ringing filled his ears, and he swallowed again before lifting his head.

What he saw in that moment was a bizarre sight.

A woman, wrapped in pitch-black tentacle-like appendages that sprouted from her back, was floating in the air like a spider.

She hung her head low, her long hair cascading downward.

The light streaming into the temple shimmered off her blue hair, a color he recognized.

“W-what… Mirei Beakis-nim?”

Mirei Beakis.

The youngest Cardinal in history.

She had always been the idol of everyone in the Theology Hall, but now she was in an utterly grotesque state.

As the male student, dazed, called her name, her head slowly tilted to the side.

And at that moment, he realized the truth.

Her pitch-black, hollow eyes revealed that she was no longer in her right mind.

Just as he hastily tried to stand and escape.

Kwaaaang!

A jet-black tentacle-like appendage flew out, blocking his path.

As he saw the appendage smash through the temple’s outer wall, he gulped, realizing its devastating strength.

Then, as more tentacles began to rise, he felt the cold grip of death closing in.

Crackle—

A crackling spark echoed from somewhere, followed by a blinding burst of lightning tearing through the tentacles.

Mirei, sensing the sudden attack, tried to respond immediately, but the lightning was faster.

The lightning bolts rained down like a barrage, obliterating Mirei’s tentacles in an instant.

Moreover, her tentacles, which naturally possessed regenerative abilities, couldn’t recover due to the lingering electricity.

A woman stepped forward toward Mirei, brushing her ash-gray bangs to the side.

It was Taria Vales, the top first-year student of the Magic Arts Department and servant of the Crimson Garden.

Adjusting her glasses, Taria scanned the surroundings with her eyes.

“What a mess.”

As she said, the Theology Hall was in utter chaos.

The furniture was completely destroyed, the inner walls were shattered beyond repair, and the once-pristine hall was unrecognizable.

The only saving grace was that there had been no casualties.

Taria’s gaze landed on a bald man wiping blood off the corner of his mouth.

It was Denver Ezuris, the assistant professor in charge of the Theology Department.

Despite being the first to face Mirei’s rampage and her attacks, Denver prioritized casting holy protective barriers over the students.

Thanks to his quick actions, he managed to shield every single student without any casualties.

It was an incredible sense of duty.

Of all days, today was the day of the annual festival preparation assembly held by the Holy Kingdom of Freeman.

Not only were the Theology Hall’s professors away, but even Saintess Astria had traveled to the kingdom, leaving Denver as the sole guardian of the Theology Hall.

Taria shifted her gaze from Denver to Mirei.

The Cardinal, now collapsed on the ground after all her tentacle-like appendages had been torn apart by lightning, seemed to have little willpower left.

Watching her, Taria furrowed her brows deeply.

‘Rona Imblaze.’

This disaster was undoubtedly caused by her.

Taria’s gaze moved to a corner of the Theology Hall.

There lay a figure with teal hair cascading around her, unconscious from hitting her head.

Her body was adorned with an array of magical artifacts.

Rona Imblaze, a renowned magical artifact maker.

Rona had known from the beginning who the servant of the World Eroder was.

Her magical artifacts were designed to identify the servants of the World Eroder.

And the servant of the World Eroder she had in mind all along—the servant of the Black Witch—was none other than the youngest Cardinal, Mirei Beakis.

Moreover, the person who caused Mirei’s rampage was Rona herself.

「It’s complete!」

Taria recalled Rona’s triumphant shout through the surveillance magic spell.

When Taria checked the screen shortly after, a chilling sensation ran through her.

She could see an ominous black energy surging from inside Mirei’s body.

Taria immediately realized that this was the power of the World Erosion.

[What a preposterous thing she’s created.]

Even Crimson Garden, observing the scene, reacted with disbelief.

The reason was simple: the artifact Rona had created wasn’t just an identifier but a tool that triggered the World Erosion itself into a state of uncontrollable rampage.

「At last, today is the day I’ll proudly unleash my creations onto the world!」

With that exclamation, Rona hastily gathered her artifacts and ran outside.

The moment Taria saw this, she quickly stood up, a sense of dread washing over her.

「Unnie, Rona couldn’t possibly be planning to use that on…」

[She’s going to use it on the servant of the World Eroder.]

Crimson Garden immediately responded, sharing the same thought as Taria.

Taria opened the window and jumped out of the classroom of her student group.

When she leaped from the third floor and landed on the ground, a crow from the Crimson Garden flew into the sky.

Taria immediately kicked off the ground and began running.

The wind magic that had wrapped around her body before she knew it made her steps lighter.

「The incident caused by Rona’s magical tool recently, it’s probably because of that, right?」

As she thought about it, Taria asked Crimson Garden about Rona’s sudden behavior.

Crimson Garden agreed.

[ Yeah, her magical tool evaluation has dropped. ]

An incident where a student wielding a magical tool, which maximized abilities by burning its user’s body, went on a rampage, injuring several students and even an assistant professor.

Because of that incident, no one sought Rona’s magical tools recently.

However, Crimson Garden, who knew some of the details of the incident, clicked their tongue.

That was because, even from Rona’s perspective, the incident was rather unfair.

Rona had been consistently requested to create magical tools by various people.

The field of magical tool creation itself was rare to begin with.

Her magical tools exhibited outstanding performance, so everyone wanted them.

However, Rona also created several personal works aside from those custom orders.

Many of these personal works had dangerous functionalities and were mostly stored in her private workshop.

One day, after she had made a magical tool as usual and stepped away, a student visited her workshop.

He was someone who had recently commissioned Rona to create a magical tool, intending to use it in an upcoming mock battle practice.

But since the production period turned out longer than expected and the practice was approaching, he ended up taking a seemingly good tool from her workshop without permission.

As a result, the rampaging magical tool caused injuries to several students and even an assistant professor.

The problem was that the student who used the magical tool shifted all the blame onto Rona’s tool instead.

Moreover, that student came from a significant family.

Rona, who already had a reputation as an eccentric, had the rumors twisted further by her peculiar personality.

It was said that Rona had selfishly conducted the incident because she wanted to test her own magical tools.

Such baseless rumors spread among the students.

Later, the academy investigated and announced that Rona was not at fault.

However, her reputation, which had already fallen to rock bottom, did not recover easily.

「Rona’s magical tools? How could anyone use something so dangerous?」

「Still, the fact remains that she created such a dangerous tool. What’s the guarantee that others won’t be the same?」

「I heard some of the injured are still dealing with aftereffects. That’s a real danger.」

Rona herself only apologized but did not actively explain.

She wasn’t particularly concerned about the criticism directed at her.

In fact, this wasn’t the first time something similar had happened.

However, there was one thing Rona couldn’t tolerate.

That was the devaluation of her magical tools.

This was something she absolutely could not accept.

Just in time, an incident caught her attention.

The noble student kidnapping case orchestrated by Jenikalen, the assistant professor of magical studies.

A servant of the World Eroder.

They are feared beings and enemies of humanity.

Moreover, their existence is a source of shocking events that ripple through society.

Discovering that someone close by was a servant of the World Eroder is an overwhelming revelation.

Then, what if she could subdue a servant of the World Eroder using her own magical tool? Wouldn’t that instantly change the evaluation of her tools?

With that thought in mind, Rona immediately crafted a magical tool capable of tracking servants of the World Eroder.

When she completed the magical tool, she made a bold declaration to the Women’s Association.

There is currently a servant of the World Eroder in Rahern Academy.

Not only did she inform the students about the servant’s presence, but she also made herself a target to draw out the servant of the World Eroder.

However, the servant did not make a move against her.

Thus, Rona had no choice but to take action herself once more.

‘I need to create a new magical tool.’

And what she brought into existence was none other than a magical tool that could force a World Eroder into a rampage.

Since the servant wasn’t taking direct action, her plan was to trigger a rampage through the magical tool, reveal the servant’s true form, and then subdue them with another magical tool.

Taria, who realized Rona’s plan, clenched her teeth.

Taking the servants of the World Eroder lightly was one thing, but this was going too far.

No matter how powerful her magical tools were, a single mistake could cost Rona her life.

‘How on earth does she come up with ideas like this?’

A madman.

‘And why does she go through with creating things like this?’

A genius.

Taria keenly felt how thin the line was between the two.

Translators note:

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!