Eternal Thief

After issuing the missing to Winter, Ace closed the system interface with a stern look in his eyes and looked toward the gray, gloomy sky as if he wanted to peer right through it.

'I must leave this place as soon as possible and reach the Azure Wind Continent. I never thought I would still end up encountering Dream Shatter despite keeping my nose out of Empty Dream's matter.

'If I hadn't known Empty Dream and his current state, I might've underestimated Dream Shatter. According to him, the guy planned a coup d'état for his soul cultivation technique with Devil's race…' Ace thought in a gloomy mood.

He remembered everything Empty Dream had told him to seek his help with the Dream Shatter. He had already predicted that Dream Shatter wasn't someone he could mess with the very day Empty Dream revealed about his past.

That guy was an astute fellow who even backstabbed his father like master and Ace; of all people knew, this type of person didn't have a bottom line, and they could do anything to achieve their objective.

In a sense, Ace was also the same, but he still wasn't cold enough to abandon someone he cared about deeply.

That's why Dream Shatter had an absolute advantage over him.

'Well, he still didn't know whether I would come, and this is someone I could exploit. I just need to exit this damn tower!' Ace's eyes shimmered with indignation before he stood up and headed toward the next entrance at full speed.

He knew the biggest obstacle in his way was actually the Regal Fiend Tower, and the most infuriating thing was he knew even if he used the instant flash teleportation, he would end up in the dark realm where the tower's actual body lies.

This tower was his only gateway toward the Golden Sky World!

However, after over twenty minutes, Ace's steps came to an abrupt halt as his expression changed because all of a sudden, the crimson true soul shone dark ghostly light giving off a sinister feeling.

But Ace didn't feel anything life-threatening and thought with uncertainty, 'Did the tower spirit spy on me or something else?'

He soon got his answer, albeit a dreadful one.

Suddenly, a pillar of blinding white light descended on him, reaching all way up to the sky, and it was five meters thick.

Ace's first reaction was to block, as he thought it was an attack. But he didn't find any oppressive power from it, and despite him dodging it, the light seemed to mark him as it landed right on him.

His entire stealthy figure flashed in white light like a beacon in the darkness.

Ace tried to escape the light pillar, but to his astonishment and horror, the light pillar moved with him like it was completely attached to him. No matter how much faster he moves or uses treasures, he can't get rid of the mobile light pillar.

Although the light pillar was not physically harmful, it was even more appalling because Ace was completely exposed, and there was nothing more dangerous than this to him.

'Don't tell me; it's that tower scheme to get back at me and stop me from crossing into the next floor!' Ace's expression was nasty as he knew there was no room for doubt here.

The shimmering crimson true soul was evidence of it, and he knew the pillar of light was probably connected to the crimson true soul. He could easily destroy it and get rid of this light pillar, but he knew it wasn't the time or place.

So, he gnashed his teeth and endured, but he knew this pillar of light was absolute bad news because he wasn't alone there. Those elves might take the pillar as some kind of treasure, and they will try to investigate it.

The only relief was that he was still far from the elves' settlement.

However, when a minute passed, the light pillar suddenly started to fade as the crimson true soul also went dormant.

Ace felt massive relief when he saw this, but his expression was not too good. He grimly thought, 'It only lasted for a minute? What in the world did that shit stirrer try to achieve by this? It's quite clear it didn't want to kill me, or it could've marked me permanently; I know it can….'

The more Ace thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.

So, he didn't dare to move toward the elven settlement anymore, not before finding out if the light pillar was just a malfunction or trap. He was inclined toward the former.

Because it was a trap then, if it got activated close to the elven city, he knew thousands of elves would be hunting him down.

The moment he thought of this point, Ace's eyes widened as it finally dawned upon him, 'Don't tell me it's forcing me into killing others?'

Ace knew there was a high chance that it was the actual reason; even if it weren't, he'd find out soon.

He quickly headed in another direction. He was distancing himself from the next-floor entrance. Likewise, he wanted to test his theory about the light pillar first before making another move.

After an hour, the crimson true soul suddenly stirred, and Ace's expression was not good because the very next moment thereafter, a tick pillar of light descended upon him, just like before.

'This bastard is really up to no good!' Ace cussed with killing intent in his eyes as he looked at the light surrounding him. He started to wait with an awful expression.

However, Ace's heart went cold because, after forty seconds, his thief sense suddenly picked up something or things!

Without hesitation, Ace opened the fate map and nearly cursed out loud because many red fate points were appearing around him like fireflies.

'He's really pushing me to kill!'

Ace knew his conjecture was most probably correct, or this many enemies won't be able to appear in this part of the fifth floor unless they were looking for him!