Eternal Thief

Adorned in black robes, a dainty girl with delicate features and white skin was looking at Damien dazed as she was bewildered about how she appeared here when she was in the middle of placating the Thieving World Society.

She was also surprised when she saw this place still unaffected by the darkness, and behind her was an endless wall of Qi radiation, giving her a feeling of death. But strangely, she didn't notice the beggar beside her as if he was invisible.

"Miss Emmie…"

However, she quickly snapped out of her stupor when she heard Damien's soft call, and she knew it wasn't an illusion. He really appeared again after being taken away by this mysterious expert, making her somewhat excited since Damien was the pillar of their organization. With that expert's mysterious means, their people might be able to avoid this calamity, so this made her hopeful.

"You're back to save us, Leader?" She asked with a hint of hope and elation in her bell-like voice.

Damien felt pained in her heart. He saw Emmie's hopeful expression, and he didn't know how to reply. Within just a few minutes, his whole world had turned upside down, and he knew the truth behind his existence and the reason for this approaching calamity.

Still, he wanted to bring her with him instead of letting her fall into the hands of Sky Stealer, whom he now considered a villain instead of a savior.

"I… I'm here to save you, Miss Emmie. Please come with me." Damien crudely said as he didn't know how to explain himself to her anymore.

Emmie's eyes visibly dimmed as her heart sank. She knew the meaning behind Damien's words, "Just me? What about all of our people?" She asked with a somewhat cold and disappointed voice.

Although she suspected Damien to be her savior, Sky Stealer, she was never able to confirm it. But with how mysterious he was and his point of view, she was quite sure that he was him. Yet now, she was feeling unsettled since, in her heart, Sky Stealer wouldn't abandon those in need.

Damien felt even more pain, "I can't do anything about this calamity; it is out of everyone's scoop. I can only save one person, and you are the closest thing to a family in the world I have. So, please come with me, and I'll explain everything to you!"

Emmie's heart flattered slightly as she looked at Damien's sincere eyes, and she couldn't help but avoid eye contact as her heart raced slightly. How could she not know about Damien's special feelings for her?

But she always avoided it since she still didn't know if Damien was truly the same person who saved her in the past and showed her great kindness. He also never made it clear. She wanted to devote her life to him and always dreamed of standing behind him.

Instead of answering directly, she questioned with a tingle of nervousness, "Are you really Sky Stealer?"

Damien's heart raced as he still wanted to avoid this topic, at least not until Emmie agreed. He knew how much she respected and adored the Sky Stealer; it was her faith. Although he has also given her many things and even brought her out of the lower lands, he knows she still considers him the Sky Stealer.

He was never able to bring himself to clear this misunderstanding, he was afraid of loosing her. But now he was regretting it.

Taking a deep breath, he solemnly said while shaking her head, "No, I'm not the Sky Stealer. I should've told you sooner, but I was afraid you might not like me if you found out. But I'm not like him; I can't abandon you, and I'm willing to put my life on the line for you to be together with you.

"Sky Stealer is someone who has everything, unlike us. We are different then. He might not even remember you anymore. Why are you still stubbornly fixed on him? I admit he saved your life, but that was it, and he never came back. Please stop looking in the past and look at the present." He sincerely advised, and he tried very hard not to hurt her feelings.

Emmie was slightly paled, but she couldn't refute Damien's words. She knew he was stating the fact. Sky Stealer indeed saved her, but it was unintentional and a coincidence. She just happened to be at that place.

So, her insistence on finding Sky Stealer and being with him was nothing but her selfishness. He might really have forgotten about her and don't even want her anymore.

On the other hand, Damien has also shown her great kindness and brought their group out of that cage and even helped them take revenge on Dream Shatter, who was behind the lower lands' caged state.

He had done far more than Sky Stealer, and his feelings for her were sincerer; how could she have remained nonchalant? She was still a girl with a tender heart, and now that Damien had come back for her, she was moved.

However, as someone who had founded the Sky Stealer Society and then managed the Thieving World Society, she has many close friends, especially a group of sisters who have been with her since the start of her journey to look for Sky Stealer.

She still remembers Sky Stealer's words to look after those sisters, and she can't abandon them for her happiness.

She calmed her messy mind and replied with a look of determination, "I'm flatter by your feelings, and I don't think someone has ever cared about me in this manner, so I'm a little lost."

Damien's heart raced when he heard those words, and a glimmer of ecstasy flashed past his eyes, but Emmie wasn't done.

She continued, "But I can't leave those people who rely on me. My life was never mine alone since the day I embarked on this path. Please send me back. I'll face this calamity with them and die together if this is what I'm destined for. If there is another life, I'll repay your kindness and favor."

Towards the end, her voice was emotional, and she bowed in front of Damien.

Damien seemed to have become petrified. Although he didn't get rejected, he wasn't accepted as well. This situation was something he never had imagined before.

He knew Emmie's personality; she was not meek and had a sense of responsibility towards her people, and she would rather die than choose to abandon them.

"Alright, I have enough of melodrama." The beggar's impassive voice rang at this moment, and Emmie suddenly stopped moving as if she had turned into a statue.

"What are you doing?" Damien snapped out of his stupor and angrily yelled as he panicked when he looked at Emmie's statue-like state.

"Don't worry, she's under my spell and alive." The beggar said, "Now you get your answer, what is your decision? We don't have much time left; once that darkness reaches here, the Rain of Death will start, and it would be troublesome to leave at that point."

Damien shuddered as if a hammer has been smacked to his head, he looked at Emmie and felt his heartache like never before. A hint of hatred crept into her eyes, 'If the Sky Stealer didn't exist, would something like this happened?'

He knew if nothing like this had happened, he might've really been able to live peacefully with Emmie, and she didn't need to take this stand. Yet now, everything was over.

Still, he was unwilling to give up, he suddenly looked at the beggar and plead, "I'm willing to come with you, in return, I want you to erase her memories completely and bring her with us. Please, it will be my one and only selfish request. I know you're fully capable of doing it. So, please, just this once, accept this request of mine, and I'll do everything to make sure the Sky Stealer will die a painful death!"

The beggar didn't reply as he looked at Damien's bowing figure without moving.

A sigh escaped his mouth, "What a foolish child you are. Forget it; since you're willing to take responsibility and this girl also seemed to have a good opinion of you, I'll allow it.

"But it will be the first and last time, and you have to pay the price as well. You both will share a common enemy from now on. Either live or die, you'll be together. If she dies, you die; if you die, she will die as well… a life for a life.

"This is Eternal Justice, sempiternal and impartial…"