Eternal Thief

Dread Duchess seemed to sense Eva’s gaze and glanced at her with a hint of a smirk on his veiled face, “I sense disquiet from you, dear disciple. Don’t tell me, you are afraid of this little challenge?”

Dread Duchess might be teasing, but her words also contained a hidden warning, as it was clear she had high expectations of Eva, and this entrance trial seemed to be also her way of testing her.

Eva instantly saw through the Duchess’s intention and quickly acted playfully, “Hehe, you know me, master, I like challenges the most. I was just surprised you kept it to yourself for so long. At least you should’ve told young master Nomad about it, or have you taken a liking to him?”

Ace nearly tripped when he heard Eva’s words and felt a chill running down his spine because he wasn’t expecting Eva to be so bold as to tease Dread Duchess. But he also knew that she was also testing him, and he was speechless because he had never even had such thoughts about the Dread Duchess.

Dread Duchess was also astounded, and she could help but glare at Eva with reproach, “You dare to tease your master? I guess your training wasn’t hard enough. See how I deal with you later. Forgive her antics, Nomad, she didn’t mean any disrespect towards your exalted master.”

“She didn’t get it, did she?” Eva couldn’t help but ask Ace with a hint of bewilderment as she looked at her master’s stern yet clueless demeanor.

“I don’t get it either!”

Ace quickly took Duchess’s side while he was also secretly amused because Duchess seemed to have no sense of these things despite her extraordinary age.

Dread Duchess took Eva’s words as if she were trying to switch Nomad’s allegiance to Dread Duchess, which was extremely dangerous, especially since his ’master’ was listening to it.

That’s why she quickly explained it, or if she knew what Eva’s true intent was, she probably wouldn’t have reacted like this.

“No offense taken, your highness. I know Lady Evil Diva likes to joke around.” Ace quickly replied, shooting Eva a warning glance because it could be dangerous if Duchess suspected something.

“Oh, you seemed to know me well, young master Nomad? But if I’m right, we only met once.” Eva completely ignored Ace’s warning and playfully said as if she wasn’t worried about Duchess suspecting anything.

“Don’t be disrespectful now! Nomad meant well, so be grateful, or I’ll hold you accountable.” Dread Duchess retorted before Ace could, as she found Eva’s words very disrespectful without even suspecting anything.

’I guess she’s just clueless about these things. Or she trusts Eva too much to be like her?’ Ace couldn’t help but sigh in relief as he found Dread Duchess slightly less intimidating now, even somewhat cute.

Eva was the same and couldn’t help but sigh as well, but for another reason, ’I guess it’s normal for Abyssal Beings to be so clueless about these emotions. They are born in this merciless environment and taught to fight for everything from birth. Even their parental love is based on their talent and bloodline density. Their curiosity is only provoked by strength and benefits, and their love is for those who can match their status and potential. I truly pity you…’

Ace could feel subtle changes in Eva’s emotions because of their connection, but didn’t know the reason, while the Dread Duchess was simply clueless.

At this moment, Dread Duchess’s expression turned serious as she said, “Let’s talk about the entrance trial. Although I know about it and didn’t tell you anything beforehand, even if I had, it would be meaningless because the entrance trial for the sanctuary is always different. However, there is one unchangeable fact about this trial, which is that you can die!”

Ace and Eva’s expressions turned serious when they heard this, and Dread Duchess’s eyes flashed with a cruel glimmer, “That’s why you both should be careful, because even if the Council is specifically opening the gate of the Evernight Sanctuary for Nomad, they won’t waste so many resources for just one person.

“So, just like my disciple has been given an invitation and allowed to enter the trial, this means other eligible candidates have been given the same privilege.

“Furthermore, even if Nomad had earned the right to enter the sanctuary without joining the council, he still has to clear the trial, and not even your ’master’ can change that, and probably that’s why you weren’t warned about it before, or maybe this was your master’s intention all along.”

Dread Duchess, at this point, no longer judged Nomad’s master’s intentions as too profound, and after what happened in the Black Hermit City, she thought that his master was training him by placing him in extreme situations.

Nonetheless, Dread Duchess still has her suspicion about his master’s true motives, and she was even warned to keep a close eye on Nomad and report any suspicious activities or anything related to his master.

Furthermore, Dread Duchess was hiding another matter from Ace, related to the opening of the Evernight Sanctuary, but it also concerned ’Nomad’, and he didn’t know about it.

“Please don’t worry, your highness, I’ll earn my access fair and square, and I’ll also look after Lady Evil Diva!”

Ace solemnly nodded as if he were ready for any challenge. Still, inwardly, he was cursing the council for being unreasonable after he had done so much for them, even helping that Evernight Devil King by ’gifting’ him that Ghost King!

Eva remained silent, but she had her own thoughts, especially after spending some time with Dread Duchess; she was more familiar with her than Ace.

Eva looked at Ace with a peculiar look in her eyes and said, “Don’t let your guard down; something is up. They might try to probe your ’master’ by doing something in this trial. I guess I shouldn’t have created such a persona for you.”

Ace easily saw through Eva’s real thought and couldn’t help but sneer, “Well, you sure don’t feel like you are regretting it. You want to see the council suffer in my hands, for you know, as long as Abyssal Kings and Abyssal Grand Lords won’t get involved, they can’t do anything to me or to the venerated E.V.A!”