Eternal Thief

After settling down, Eva finally broke free from his embrace as she was finally calmed down and smiled faintly, looking at his worried face, "Thank you for being here." 

"Always." Ace solemnly declared. 

Eva nodded with gentleness in her eyes before she glanced at the glass cage where her mother's corpse was being displayed as some trophy and ruthlessness surfaced in them. 

She coldly said, "After I searched their memories, I found that the old dog Devil Ancestor held a lowly ritual called matrimonial ritual every century when he took the most beautiful woman from ten main devil clans and made them into his plaything for a year. 

"And those clan bastards did everything to please his sick ass to get more benefits. The more beautiful the women are, the more benefits they receive. Moreover, if he ended up liking a woman, he would keep her and send her to this place. 

"They were then turned into his trophies, plaything to vent his lust whenever he pleased, and they couldn't leave once they entered here. They will receive cultivation resources to prolong their lives, and that's it. They are just high-quality slaves." 

Killing intent began to emit in her eyes as she continued, "My mother seemed to be selected for this in the last ritual. But she turned out to be just pretending to get close to him so she could rob him of his treasures, and she seemed to have succeeded even. 

"But she had underestimated the old dog and was discovered. Yet, she still somehow managed to escape, and that's how she ended up in the Azure Wind Continent. 

"Afterward, the old dog seemed to be obsessed with finding her no matter the cost, as it hurts his pride that a woman gets the best of him—especially the woman he wanted to add to his collection. 

"And sadly, he succeeded with the help of a curse mark, the Dream Shatter, and the sect my father belonged to, the Soul Flame Sect. Although he doesn't get her alive, he gets her dead, then turns her into this nauseous display and places it right here. 

"It was a warning and also a show of his authority as he bragged about it in front of his playthings. Now, I know the identities of the people who took part in the attack that day and killed my mother." Eva softy told Ace about what she found. 

She didn't want to hide it from him since he was the one who killed Edward, and that's how this secret was revealed to her, or she might've been still in the dark. 

Furthermore, she trusts Ace more than anything; only he is her family in this world, so she wants to share her burden with him instead of hiding it. 

Ace's eyes were cold as he never expected killing Edward would lead to this kind of result. If anything, he regrets killing him so quickly. 

He said nothing useless as he seriously asked, "What do you want to do now? I'll help you whatever you want to do." 

Eva tenderly smiled as he didn't disappoint her at all like always, "I want to know what happened to my Dad. That old dog never said anything about him, and after my Dad left that day, there was no news on him. So, I first want to confirm if he's alive or dead, and to do that, I need to ruffle the entire royal lands of the Azure Wind Continents!" She stated matter-of-factly with deep conviction. 

"Only then would I set her free from that cage and cremate her with the devil race custom. I know she also would've wanted that and not turned into some sick display. If my father is also dead, then there would be two burials, but if not, then…" 

Ace sensed deep hope hidden behind her brave front and sighed, "Then we'll do just that after your breakthrough in the law comprehension realm. And what do you want to do with them?" He glanced at the unconscious devils behind Eva. 

Eva's eyes flashed with a complicated light before she sighed ruefully, "They are all just victims and pitiful like my mother. They had no choice but to do all that for their clans who used them as means to earn riches. 

"Some of them even had children, but that sick old ghost just took them away because he won't allow anything else to contaminate this place. He was a ruthless, vile lecher who had no remorse nor care for anyone else but himself. I'll brand them with my abyssal brand and then just set them free. They won't be trouble for us anymore." 

Ace cocked an eyebrow as this was an unexpected response from the devil before him, "You want to release them, not torture them to death?" 

Eva pursed her lips and snorted, "What do you take me for?" 

"Not merciful, at least…" Ace seriously stated. 

Eva's eyes narrowed dangerously as she meaningfully said, "Do you want me to be merciless with you?" 

In defeat, Ace quickly raised his hand, "Nope, I was just joking. How could my gentle wife not be merciful? But what is this abyssal brand?" He quickly changed the topic. 

"Shameless as usual." Eva scoffed, but the gentleness in her eyes deepened as she replied, "It is like a soul brand technique, but instead of artificially made, it formed innately in races with the same level as the abyssal bloodline who had the capability of divine traits.

"From the information I've inherited yet, these brands originated from the progenitor of a bloodline and are part of something called the Ancient Edict. The Abyssal Brand is just a signal function of an Ancient Edict. 

"Even the Divine Traits seemed to be passed down generation after generation through this mysterious thing. This is all I know about it after I comprehended the abyssal brand when I reached the law awareness realm. 

"The terrifying part about it is that if I'm willing to sacrifice a portion of my soul and brand, someone with this brand originated from the Ancient Edict, that person and his entire bloodline after him will be born with this brand, and they can't disobey an order placed on them. 

"In layman's term, this is akin to branding a bloodline as a slave for all eternity unless someone equally powerful come to save them!" She solemnly revealed. 

Ace was astounded by this information and felt his blood run cold just by thinking what being enslaved for all eternity implied. This method of enslavement was so ruthless that not even your children and their children can't escape from it. 

Only after experiencing the authority and now learning about his mysterious Ancient Edict did he start to get the picture of just how boundless and ruthless the world outside the first heaven was. 

The most lamentable part about all of this was he was probably the enemy of the ruler of all these terrifying existences with terrible means at their disposal!