Eternal Thief

Not far from the Imperial City was a massive forest filled with vicious demonic beasts. In the center of this forest, a vast river flowed, connected to the endless sea.

On this moonless night, in the dark forest, a barely visible dark silhouette appeared around the river bank, holding a strange compass in its hand.

After confirming something on the compass surface, "The hidden entrance should be here." It muttered to itself before diving into the raging river without any regard for the many marine demonic beasts in it.

The compass in its hand began to tremble as it glowed brightly in a specific direction in the river's depth. The black silhouette continued diving as the river seemed quite deep.

Suddenly, because of the brilliant white light from the compass in this darkness, it was like a torch that could be seen from miles away.

Powerful auras locked on the silhouette and bolted in its direction with dense bloodlust.

"Hmph!" The figure snorted in disdain before a gentle, silvery light emitted from its body. The moment those demonic beasts came in contact with the gentle light, it was like they met with some poison and quickly escaped.

Paying no mind to this, the figure continued down while using this strange light, and no one dared approach it. After following the compass direction, it reached the riverbed, which was around twenty miles deep from the surface.

"Holy Light, show me the hidden mysteries…" It suddenly begins to chant some spell as the silvery light around it expands.

Something strange happened. The riverbed suddenly lightened up, and all the sand, pebbles, and plants vanished, revealing a neon formation circle.

"Open in the name of Holy Light…" Another chanting started before the rune symbols on the formation circle began to dim, and suddenly, a black tunnel appeared under the formation.

The figure quickly entered without hesitation, and the next moment, the spell seemed to have lost its effect. The formation started to work normally again before vanishing again like nothing had happened.

"I've finally entered the hidden entrance!" The figure exclaimed in a hoarse voice filled with ecstasy and belief, "It's all thanks to Holy Mother…"

Without wasting more time, it used the white compass again and swam through the hidden tunnel. But just after swimming a few hundred meters, many cross paths appeared.

The silhouette used the compass and entered a particular pathway without any hesitation, where the compass shined brightly. These hidden tunnels and pathways seemed endless and extreme. If someone else had entered without knowing this place, they would've been lost forever.

After crossing many paths and swimming the whole night, the silhouette entered a tunnel with an extremely strong water current. But suddenly, the moment it entered the tunnel, some mysterious energy seemed to affect the surroundings.

At this moment, the compass suddenly shone brightly and enveloped its owner, and the strange energy finally seemed to have lost its effect.

'If not for this compass she made for me before dissipating that day, I would've never been able to scale the ancient pathway and reach this place. Too bad, this compass will vanish once this holy Qi dissipates… I just hope I reached the altar before it happens…' it thought with agitation as it crossed the tunnel.

At this moment, the tunnel pathway ended, and the figure could finally hear the water current from the surface and quickly approached the surface.

The moment it broke out of the water, it appeared in a massive cavern with twelve water channels in front and a huge sealed gate at the back.

"I've finally reached the hidden place where those guys are hiding the altar!" The voice was filled with emotions as it exited the water and landed on the ground.

After this journey and using its Qi continuously, it wanted to rest and recover its Qi. But at this moment, the white compass seemed to be turning corporeal.

'It's really going to disappear! But it's too soon!' The figure panicked before quickly waving it around in front of twelve pathways. When the compass pointed toward the narrowest pathway, it suddenly blasted apart into white particles!

The figure was shocked and confused, as it didn't know if this was supposed to happen while its eyes were affixed to that pathway. 'That might be the pathway towards the altar since the ascension guidance light showed such a reaction to it. I can't go back now, even if I want to, so I just have to scale this pathway myself…'

Deep resolution flashed past this person's eyes as it quickly decided.

"Well, well, I guess the show is over. I wanted to watch more, but I'm afraid I can't let you enter that pathway for both of our sake." A voice suddenly rang out of nowhere at this moment.

The figure was startled as its complexion turned ashen with fright and trepidation; silvery light suddenly gushed out of it, making it appear extremely holy, as powerful pressure covered the entire cavern.

"I never thought, even with my preparation, I would still run into an imperial family guard dog! I'll have to silence you then!" the figure declared in its hoarse voice, with dense killing intent.

"I think we have some misunderstanding here. First, I'm not an imperial family dog, and second, you should stop using that voice; it didn't suit a charming princess like you, Princess Riana Golden Lion.

"And last, I'm curious about how you were able to find this place. What was the light leading you here, and who is this 'Holy Mother' you were muttering about? Don't take offense, it's just that I'm very interested in this thievish ability…" The voice replied, filled with sarcasm.

The silhouette suddenly trembled as the beautiful eyes hidden behind this disguise widened to the extreme in horror, and the surrounding aura became chaotic.

"W-who are you, and how long have you been following me?!" Now, the hoarse voice suddenly became a charming woman's voice.

The silver light around her brightened even more as she released her full power. Since this person knew what she was muttering on her way in, it was pretty clear he had been following her from the very beginning, and she didn't even sense it.

Her back was drenched with sweat, and she knew she had to treat this seriously. She might even have to use her final trump card to preserve her life or escape. But once things were clear, she had run into someone far more powerful than herself, and this person might have an ulterior motive!

Moreover, he somehow knew who she was! She was indeed the princess of the Golden Lion Kingdom, the former number genius of the Sky Heart Plains, and the owner of a Fantastic Physic, Princess Riana!

As for this person who sounded her out, in a dark robe and hood, he suddenly appeared in front of Riana, who now lit like a human torch.

The next moment, the silver light suddenly began to dim as darkness seemed to descend, and the source of this darkness was this person in the hood.

Riana suddenly felt like death was gripping her throat as she could literally sense a sharp blade around her throat. She never felt so helpless before, but now she finally understood the person who brought this darkness with him was not someone she could dare to retaliate against.

'After all that I've been through to reach this place, will I still fail in the end? Is it my fate to be forever a helpless mortal whose life is in someone else hand and die in the end without getting the freedom…' She thought as her eyes dimmed down considerably before madness surfaced in them, 'If I die, I'll drag down this guy with me!'

But at this moment, the aura of death and darkness suddenly vanished before the person in front of her turned into an ordinary mortal, and he suddenly performed a noble courtesy, making her dumbfounded.

"Nice to meet you, Your Highness; my name is Sky Stealer, and I'm but a humble Thief. Now that I've shown you my power, I should be qualified enough to talk with you on equal terms, right? Oh, and this isn't our first meeting either!"

Who could this be but Ace?