Eternal Thief

Ace felt the terrifying auras, not just one but too many, and he never felt that sort of ghastly ambiance before. Furthermore, there was boundless killing intent emitting from these auras as if they wanted to kill everything in their path. 

Ace's heart palpitated when he suddenly sensed an extremely familiar soul signature within those auras. 

Even though it was weak, Ace would never forget the soul signature of the giant demon who forced him into the space tear in the demon continent, and he ended up in the Regal Fiend Tower!

'But it doesn't make sense! Isn't that guy supposed to be on the voyage to subdue the White Crown with the Devil Race, humans, and the Blood Ancestor forces? Just what in the world is happening? How can he be here and closer to the Union Leader, no less!' Ace's mind raced as the more thought, the more complex it all became. 

Ace knew from Winter and Alina that the Devil, Demon, and the Blood Ancestor with the hunter race forces were heading towards the White Crown so they could force him out if he didn't take the first bait. 

He was pretty sure that giant demon would be with them since that guy seemed to be obsessed with the scepter he stole. 

Now that he was proven to be right, this only made him more confused. 

'Is the Union related to the White Crown? Or they were bullshitting about everything?' Ace thought with bafflement, but he forced himself to calm down since he knew it wasn't the time nor place to mull over these things. 

Those ragging auras were extremely terrifying, far more than the giant demon he faced, and one of them was the auras of his fake master, the Union Leader. 

Ace quickly opened the live fate map with a grim feeling as he wanted to see where those last three orbs were. 

The moment he opened it, his heart sank when he saw there were 15 black fate points, and two of them were carrying the two elemental orbs while the last one was the Wind Orb was somewhere in the palace! 

Furthermore, he saw one of the fate points had a ring of glittering silver around it but didn't have the elemental orb. 

Ace didn't even dare to get close to them, much less try to steal those orbs. It was also hard to tell which fate point belonged to whom since all of them were too close to each other. He really missed that naming function of the blueprint treasure mood. Even the separated Wind Orb was too risky to go after. 

Nevertheless, at least now he knew what sort of entities he had to face to get the final three orbs, and he didn't have to search around for them aimlessly. 

However, right at this moment, a crazy thievish thought appeared in Ace's eyes as his heart started to beat wildly, 'Should I try to use the Devil's Horn and go for the Wind Orb? I won't get such a chance again…' 

The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to do it because he knew if he missed this opportunity, he might never get another one like this. Furthermore, Ace could feel the tension; for some reason, they seemed to be facing each other, and they were in a stalemate. 

In the end, the temptation was too good for Ace to give up. If he could have two elemental orbs, he would be able to reach the seventh realm, and he didn't dare to imagine just how much power boost he would get, and the Heaven's Stealer Mission would become so much easier! 

'Shit… no risk, no rewards!' Ace gritted his teeth and commanded the system, "Activate the Devil's Horn!" 

Without wasting a single second, Ace bolted toward the ruin of Above Mountain Palace! 

The High Union Elders were also paying attention to the Moon Mountain peak with pale expressions, and they didn't notice Ace brushing past them. 

At this moment, an eerie voice guffawed in everyone's ears before it spoke, "Hehehe… now, who could've thought you were hiding such a thing all this time? Old Swindler, consider us convinced. But your reputation is not so much of someone to be trusted. Take out a soul contract, then take a Heavenly Oath upon your Law! Let the children of the Union bear witness to it, and only then we'll spear you and the Union!" 

Ace was astonished as he was a few hundred meters away from the peak, and the closer he got, the more pressure he was under.

'What are they talking about? Who's he calling the Old Swindler, and what is Heavenly Oath? But this also confirmed they are fighting against someone, and they clearly won't have time to pay any attention to me. After all, who could be crazy enough to try sneaking past so many terrifying existences?' Ace couldn't help but smile bitterly at his own thoughts. 

Ace not only found his act quite suicidal but also thrilling, and he was intrigued at the same time for the situation to take such a turn. If he recalls correctly, they should be bloody for him, but it appeared they were fighting among themselves for some reason. 

So, this could only mean it was even more important than hunting down the culprit who did all of this, and Ace's thievish institution tingled as he accelerated even more. The pressures weren't locked on him. 

At this moment, a familiar voice sounded, not to just him but the High Union Elders as well, and the Sun and Moon Lords, who had just appeared from the rubble, were also shocked. 

"Very well, I hereby take the Heavenly Oath upon my law that what I've told you is nothing but the truth, and I will help you acquire and share the 'secret' with you all. Unless you betray me, I won't betray you…" 

The thunderous voice belonged to none other than the Union Leader, and his words caused everyone to become shocked and curious about what he was ambiguously saying. 

Furthermore, everyone suddenly noticed the moment the Union Leader took that oath, the splitting sky suddenly torn apart, revealing the dark sky filled with thunderous clouds, giving off an aura of oppression. 

But those clouds soon dissipated after rumbling for moments!

Ace, who was the closest, felt that extremely familiar aura from those clouds and was dumbfounded!

'Those were heavenly punishment clouds?! Why in the world they were here? Don't tell me because of that Heavenly Oath? What is going on here, and what secret he just vowed to share?' Ace's heart raced with uneasiness as he didn't want to think about it. 

But he knew things were going south as it seemed the Union Leader somehow knew about Heaven's Secret and where to find it! 

A sense of crisis and anxiety washed over him because if it were true, then it would turn into a race, and those guys were far stronger than him. 

Not to mention, for Ace, it was a matter of life and death, not just a simple matter of stealing a treasure. The joy that he felt from completing the first step washed away with disquietude, and now he was determined to get that orb no matter what! 

'I need to see what is the second mysterious condition as quickly as possible!' 

With that grave thought, Ace reached the foothold of the destroyed Above Mountain Palace and snuck in without those guys even noticing a thing. 

Meanwhile, the sky and the endless darkness were getting vague, and the Union Continent was slowly emerging in the center of ten continents!