The air in the throne room was tense, though no word had been spoken. Odin stood motionless at the foot of the great steps, the Keeper of the Treasury kneeling before him in rigid silence, as if afraid to shatter the quiet pressing down upon them.
Thor arrived a moment later, armor still dusted with ash from morning drills. His expression shifted when he saw the strain in the room.
"Did something happen?" he asked, though no one answered.
Odin's gaze stayed fixed on the Keeper. "Speak."
The Keeper lifted his head just enough to respond. "All-Father… the vault has been emptied. Every artifact and every alloy deposit is gone. The guards never left their posts. There was no forced entry, no activation of the doors, and the records show nothing was ever opened. Yet the vault stands bare."
Thor stepped forward, disbelief etched across his face. "The only one who could do this would be Loki, but he already is…" The words faded before he could finish.
"Even Loki cannot walk through Asgard unseen," Odin said, quiet but firm. "His magic is powerful, but not enough to deceive me. If he had returned, I would know."
"Then who?" Thor demanded.
Odin finally turned, the hall's golden light deepening the shadow around his single eye. "I do not know," he admitted, fingers tightening on Gungnir. "If someone wished to take Asgard's greatest treasures, they would have reached for your hammer… or for Gungnir itself. Those hold far greater value than what lay in that vault."
The silence that followed settled like iron.
Thor exhaled slowly. "Or perhaps the thief simply understood their limits. Taking either weapon would border on impossible. The vault was the only target where precision could triumph."
Odin's gaze drifted toward the far horizon. "Perhaps. Yet it reveals something far more troubling. Someone entered Asgard and removed what they wanted without the slightest resistance." His grip tightened again. "If they can breach one treasury unseen, we must pray they never look toward the Armory… especially now that we no longer have the Destroyer standing guard."
Silence returned—denser than before. For the first time in centuries, Odin felt the edge of his sight blur. The world was shifting beyond his reach, and he no longer stood as the one who understood all things.
Far from Asgard, another mind wrestled with its own upheaval. While Luthar had been stealing from the Asgardian vault, he discovered that someone else had taken his work.
The thief had been robbed. Worse still, others knew it before he did.
Inside the forge lab, Luthar stood motionless, eyes fixed on the slim, rune-marked book in his hands. He turned the pages with slow, controlled precision—not because the content was difficult, but because his thoughts were wrapped around the insult of being violated so cleanly.
Behind him, Freya and the others who had just arrived waited in silence. After a moment, Lily released a tense breath.
"Luthar… could you stop reading for a moment?" she asked, voice steadying with effort. "We are all meant to return together. If we wait too long, it will cause problems on the other side."
Her composure wavered as she spoke. The others might have thought she was impatient, but only she knew what she had endured waiting for this moment.
Luthar closed the book, the last traces of light fading from its carved symbols. "You and Freya should go ahead," he said, calm and decisive. "I will follow with Hephaestus after I secure everything properly."
Lily adjusted her device. Then, unexpectedly, she said, "Before we leave… I need to ask something."
Luthar waited until the final protective sigil sealed along the book's spine, then looked up. "Ask."
"Why are you not coming with us?" Her hands tightened at her sides. "A few minutes ago we were returning together. Why start delaying now?"
"Nothing special. Just an annoying thief." He handed the book to Hephaestus. "I will explain everything once I arrive in the dungeon world."
Still missing the point, Lily said, "If someone stole from you, then take your gun and kill him."
"Unfortunately, I am not a Grey Knight who specializes in killing demons," he said. "My guns cannot kill something that has no physical body."
While Luthar considered how to counter Mephisto, Freya decided the matter of the theft could wait until they were safely back in Orario, where nothing from this world could overhear. "Lily, let it rest. We will speak after he returns."
Lily nodded and looked at Luthar once more. "I will wait for you. Do not take too long."
"I will join in a few days."
She held his gaze for a moment, then moved to Freya's side. Their devices activated in unison; within seconds, both women vanished.
Luthar exhaled once, then walked toward the deeper section of the workshop, where Hephaestus waited.
She examined the first page of the book. "Where did you get this?" Even from a glance, she knew it was not his usual work.
"From the Ancient One," Luthar said without turning. "Since I cannot use magic, I hope you can apply the knowledge to create traps at the Mars base."
Hephaestus followed. "I can. But if you are truly worried about losing your work, it would be wiser to keep your weapons and technology inside the church for now. No one has ever breached it."
Luthar stopped and faced her. "i did not store anything valuable here. Aside from the local technology that belongs to this world, only basic teaching materials remain and few weapons."
Hephaestus let the book rest in her palm, brow tightening. "Then teach in a secure place. Or give the guidance yourself instead of leaving knowledge unguarded."
Luthar exhaled through his nose, controlled and clipped. "It will not happen again. For now, we go to Mars. We will establish traps and warning systems. While we are there, we can evaluate whether relocating the entire base is more practical."
Hephaestus regarded him, still baffled by the scale of his plans. "I do not understand your obsession with Mars."
"It is simple," Luthar said, activating his device. "It is a beautiful planet."
She adjusted her gloves and activated her own device with a soft chime. "Then let us see whether your beautiful planet has attracted any wandering intruder."
Luthar gave the workshop one final glance—the silent machines, the empty spaces where his work had been, the book now secured.
"We fortify Mars first," he said. "Then we prepare the extra weapons."
The devices flickered in unison. No flash, no dramatic surge of power—only a sharp displacement of air as both vanished.
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