The Absolute Godspeed of Infinite Worlds

Chapter 559 - 559

Eiji turned to leave."Stop right there!"

"What?"

Eiji halted, looking back at the female thief with confusion in his eyes.

Her chest heaved violently, clearly seething with anger.

"Give the artifact back to me!"

She glared at Eiji with predatory intensity.

"Why?"

"It's mine!"

"No, this belongs to Duke Symphonia."

Eiji chuckled.

The female thief suddenly choked on her words, unable to refute.

Fair enough—she had stolen it from someone else's residence in the first place, so she had no right to demand it back.

"Are you Duke Symphonia's guard or something? Planning to return it to him?"

The female thief eyed him suspiciously. His attire suggested he was more of a fellow thief than a guard.

"Nope, I'm keeping it for myself."

Eiji replied bluntly, making no effort to hide his intentions.

"So you're no different from me!"

The female thief's lips twitched.

No doubt about it—this guy was a thief too!

"Don't slander me. How am I like you?"

Eiji scoffed, his face brimming with smug triumph.

"I just happened to get lost in the Duke's mansion and wandered around a bit. I didn't steal anything—I'm a good person! I merely ran into a thief along the way!"

"So you're pinning the crime on me while keeping the spoils for yourself?"

The female thief suddenly understood, her murderous gaze impossible to conceal.

For days, Eiji hadn't stolen a single artifact because none of the ones he found were usable—taking them would have been pointless. At most, he'd dismantled the doors to a few noble treasure vaults.

But today was different. Though he still couldn't use the divine bow, the blame for stealing it had fallen squarely on this female thief.

In other words, Eiji hadn't stolen from the Duke—he'd taken it from the thief instead.

And if he didn't know who the original owner was after taking it from the thief, wasn't it only natural to keep it for himself? A perfectly logical outcome, right?

"This guy is such a scoundrel!"

The female thief gnashed her teeth.

"What will it take for you to give that thing back to me?"

"Find me something I can use, and I'll gladly hand this useless thing over to you."

"Do you have any idea how hard those are to find? Even if I do, if the compatibility is low, it's still useless!"

The female thief was speechless.

You really know how to set conditions, huh? You just don't want to lose out, do you?

"That's your problem."

Eiji shrugged indifferently.

He had already scoured the capital for artifacts.

The only place left unchecked was the royal palace.

That place was several times larger than Duke Symphonia's mansion, and his artifact-detection skill's range wasn't enough to cover it. He still hadn't located the palace's treasure vault.

Besides, he felt a little guilty about stealing from Iris's family.

For the female thief to find an artifact he could use would be no small feat.

"...What about an artifact with limited power output? Would you take that?"

After a long silence, she finally spoke up.

"...You actually have one?"

Eiji was stunned.

Damn, to think I'd randomly run into a fellow—no, a thief—who actually has a lead on a Divine Artifact?

All the Divine Artifacts he'd found these days couldn't even unleash their full power. If what she said was true, this might be one even Eiji didn't know about!

Eiji's gaze gradually turned dangerous. Should he strip her down and search her?

"It's not on me. I just know where this Divine Artifact is."

Oh, in that case, never mind.

The female thief remained blissfully unaware that she had nearly been subjected to a full-body strip search.

"Tell me about it."

"Give me the Divine Artifact first."

"Do I look like an idiot to you?"

"...Fine, I'll tell you a little first."

The female thief scoffed, then took a moment to organize her words.

"From what I know, it's a Divine Artifact shaped like a necklace, with the ability to swap bodies with others."

"That powerful? Can it swap permanently? Does it ignore power differences?"

"Exactly."

The female thief confirmed without hesitation.

"If the true wielder is recognized, they can permanently swap bodies with anyone, completely ignoring power differences. Even someone as powerful as a lich could instantly become an ordinary person."

"That terrifying?"

Eiji was shocked.

Even a lich couldn't resist the power of that artifact and could have their body swapped with a commoner?

How horrifying is that?

Under normal circumstances, no one would be wary of a mere necklace. If caught off guard, it was entirely possible for the artifact to succeed!

If someone could swap bodies with a lich or a Vampire Progenitor, a commoner could instantly become a supreme being standing at the pinnacle of the Undead, surpassing even the Demon King in strength!

Just thinking about that possibility sent shivers down Eiji's spine!

Damn, if someone used that necklace to ambush me and stole my body, things would get seriously out of hand!

He wasn't sure if his skill "Bladeheart's Valor" would work against the artifact. If it didn't... well, he had his instincts, so maybe it'd be fine.

"Fortunately, only the true wielder can unleash that kind of power. Otherwise, the world would probably be in chaos by now."

The fact that the world wasn't in chaos yet meant no one had gained the artifact's recognition so far. Thinking this, Eiji felt slightly relieved.

"Not necessarily."

The female thief spoke up again.

"If I'm offering to trade for this Divine Artifact, it means it can still be used with limited power. In that state, the swap would only last for a limited time."

She paused briefly here.

"That shouldn't be too bad, right?"

Eiji sounded uncertain.

"True, it's not too bad since the swap only lasts a few minutes."

The female thief continued, "But what if, during those few minutes, one of the swapped parties is killed?"

Eiji fell silent.

"Then the swap wouldn't revert. In other words, it'd still be a permanent exchange!"

The female thief didn't beat around the bush and laid out the answer directly.

For example, suppose a commoner got their hands on the Body Swap Necklace and targeted a lich. Using its limited power, they swap bodies, then—with the lich's immense strength—kill the lich now trapped in the commoner's body.

In that case, the temporary swap would become permanent. No one would know the mighty lich had been taken down so easily, and no one would realize a commoner had taken the lich's place to reign supreme.

"Here, take this bow. Where's the Body Swap Necklace?"

Eiji handed the divine bow back to the female thief without hesitation.

"So straightforward! Are you that eager for a body swap?"

The female thief took the bow but looked at him with an expression of disgust, her gaze turning quite peculiar.

"No, I intend to destroy this divine artifact before it can cause any harm!"

Eiji's expression was resolute.

"Alright... The body-swapping necklace was recently offered to the royal family by a noble and is now in the palace."

The female thief hesitated for a moment before speaking in a tone that suggested she wasn't sure whether to believe him or not.