Eternal Thief

“What? From your tone, you really don’t know, do you?” Eva’s voice held a strange mix of amusement and disbelief. “My dear husband, you turned the entire Black Hermit Region upside down!”

Ace knew Eva wasn’t joking as he frowned deeply, “Explain.”

Eva smirked, but her tone was cold and crisp. “Although I don’t know the details, after you went inside, Mirage Shadow kept watch as you’ve ordered her.

“However, then… about an hour ago, every single abyssal beast within a thousand miles went berserk. The mines started collapsing, spiritual arrays shattered, and even the city above was hit by tremors. Dozens of Abyssal Lords lost control, and the Grand Lords beneath the mines awakened.

“Mirage Shadow naturally panicked because she knew about your so-called master and couldn’t sit still, so she instantly informed the Dread Duchess, who was happening to be with me, that’s why I couldn’t talk with you. I was afraid that she might detect something if I communicated with you while she was beside me.”

Her tone darkened, “Although Dread Duchess didn’t care about Black Hermit City much, she placed extreme importance on you, and the moment Mirage Shadow reported this event, she left in a hurry.

“Right now, she was probably on her way to the Black Hermit City or might’ve already arrived there. I tried to tag along, but she disagreed. Nonetheless, Mirage Shadow also said that the disturbance carried a scent she hadn’t sensed in Abyssal Plains for a long time.

“According to Mirage Shadow, she said it was the Sin’s corruption, and it has spread like wildfire through the abyssal Qi veins, twisting everything.

“The city lord, with Mirage Shadow’s help, personally sealed the outer perimeter and ordered the city’s army to stand by. Right now, the entire Black Hermit City is under lockdown. No entry. No exit.

“However, Mirage Shadow’s main purpose is still you, and she won’t stop until she finds you. Anyway, what did you do, really, and where are you? Was that your plan all along, and that’s why you insisted on going to the Black Hermit City?” Eva couldn’t help but question in a curious tone as she really wanted to know what Ace had been up to.

One had to know that even for Eva, who had been within the Abyss of Wandering Souls for many years, it was impossible to cause such a stir in a short while, not to mention doing it within the territory of an Evernight Duke of the Evernight Council!

Ace was astounded when he heard Eva’s explanation, and he was about to tell her when his brows furrowed as the words sank in.

He asked with a peculiar expression, “You just said that it happened within just an hour?”

Eva found Ace’s question strange but still replied, “Yes. Mirage Shadow reported the incident the moment the beasts went wild, and it’s only been about fifty minutes, and the Duchess received it a few minutes ago before she rushed over there.”

Ace went silent as his heartbeat thudded like war drums, and a realization dawned on him, ’Only an hour has passed?’

In Ace’s perception, he remembered the endless expanse of crimson mists, the Ancestor’s apparition, the vast ocean of Sin Law, and the Legacy’s branding; it felt like days, maybe weeks, yet here… only an hour had passed.

His mind reeled as he again marveled at the Ancestor of Profane Chains’ setup and prowess, ’So the Trial of Sin exists in a place where the time flow is different from this place. Just like the time flows differently in the Thief’s Space from the outside world…’

Just when he could voice the thought, his entire body suddenly stiffened, and a sudden chill slid down his spine as the world’s air seemed to twist.

The next moment…whooom!

An immense aura swept across the mines like a tidal wave, filled with the stench of corrosion and madness.

With Ace’s current attainment, he instantly noticed that this aura was filled with the Law of Sin, and it was dense, suffocating, and alive!

Ace’s pupils shrank to slits not because he felt the profound aura of Sin Law, but because he knew that aura specifically.

’It’s that same presence!’ He thought as his eyes narrowed, and his senses sharpened instinctively.

Ace remembered this aura because it was the same aura he had encountered before he broke the seal on the door, and it was also the reason he entered the door without any prior preparation, in a hurry.

However, it seemed that the owner of that aura was still in close vicinity instead of leaving after not finding Ace or anything at first.

Eva’s voice rang again with a hint of concern. “Why aren’t you speaking? Where are you exactly?”

Ace didn’t have time to chat with her as he answered, “I’m fine, don’t worry, just in the middle of something. I’ll tell you once I’m back, don’t worry.”

With that, he cut the call and his focus snapped to the Live Fate Map as he instantly opened it, and the projection bloomed in front of him.

The moment he saw the map, his breath caught because he saw hundreds of dark red fate points flickering within the map’s radius, crawling like living insects across the mine’s web.

Dozens of them were Black Fate Points, and they were moving in unnatural patterns, almost as if guided by a single will.

Furthermore, one of them was brighter and darker, and right now, it was moving straight toward him.

Ace’s heart tightened as he muttered, “…it’s searching for me!”

The pressure in the air thickened as he could see the black fate point rushing towards him at a terrifying speed, and that law sense filled with madness was becoming stronger.

Right at that moment, his gaze was locked on the pulsing black point while its velocity doubled, tripled, and then, the Live Fate Map flashed black!

Ace’s expression hardened as the corridor trembled as that terrifying aura descended, closer and closer with each pulse, warping the space around him like the heartbeat of some ancient monster.

Ace’s hands clenched as the Law of Sin flared faintly within him!