Eternal Thief

Ace was gobsmacked when he heard the system's explanation about this mysterious voice's owner, and he had to admit the chances of this information being true were pretty darn high.

Furthermore, the system was clearly telling him not to mess with her or let her enter his body, or if she did something, even the system wouldn't be able to do anything to prevent it.

As for the Soul Resurrection Bead, he got it when he tricked Winter into joining the Thief's House. There was a soul hidden in her using this Soul Resurrection Bead, but the system got rid of it when she joined the Thief House.

But Ace didn't know what it was used for or what its grade was since the system only told him its name while its grade and description were filled with question marks (???), so he almost forgot about it.

However, now that the system was telling him to exchange the Soul Resurrection Bead to draw this mysterious voice's attention away from himself, it was quite sure that she would go for it. So, he could guess this Soul Resurrection Bead was quite important, even for an old monster like this voice.

Lastly, Ace was astounded by how the system evaluated this voice as having some kind of enmity with Heaven, and she might be important enough to draw Heaven's attention away from him.

He knew that after what he had done in the ascension temple, his existence was fully exposed to Heaven, and from now on, his journey would not be easy, and he had fully accepted this fact.

However, if this woman could help him with that, he wouldn't mind causing some trouble for Heaven. In fact, he would love it do it anytime.

"Hey, why are you mute all of a sudden? Look, if you have any misgivings, I can assure you that it…"

The voice was about to assure Ace again about the process when Ace cut her off in the middle, "You Holiness, do you know about the Soul Resurrection Bead?"

"Oh? Soul Resurrection Bead? What a nostalgic name…" The voice said in astonishment, "How do you know about the Soul Resurrection Bead? Very few people know about it, especially this original name that should've vanished from the annals of history… WAIT!"

The voice suddenly screamed from mumbling as the black flame trembled, and she asked with a hint of agitation, "D-don't tell me you have the Soul Resurrection Bead? Or why would you suddenly bring up this random name? This could only mean that you knew exactly what the Soul Resurrection Bead is used for and how important it is for a soul like me. Tell me the truth, boy, do you have it!?"

Ace was slightly surprised, as he could sense just how shocked this voice was after hearing the Soul Resurrection Bead name. From her tone, he could tell she was really agitated about finding out if he really had one or not. She might even turn hostile if she didn't like her answer. Moreover, this also conformed to what the system said; she wanted the Soul Resurrection Bead more than anything!

"Yes, Your Holiness, I have the Soul Resurrection Bead!" Ace replied calmly.

The black flame trembled before a burst into wanton laughter, "Fufufufufu… my luck is finally turning, about damn time!" She screamed in ecstasy before her focus turned to Ace, and suddenly, Ace felt a horrendous presence locked on him.

"Give it to me!" Her irrefutable words reeked of horrifying power and authority as if she were the ruler of everything. Even Ace felt like kneeling and kowtowing in front of her.

The pressure of the Path of Doom or the pain from the Cinderfall of Doubt was nothing in front of this presence. He finally understood why the system evaluated her power as 'beyond your imagination', and he couldn't help but sweat when he thought about how he wanted to trick this kind of existence.

But Ace couldn't just hand over the Soul Resurrection Bead. What if she decided to go back on her deal or even killed him to keep this matter a secret?

So, he endured the pressure and the urge to prostrate himself in front of her and said, "Your Holiness, I'm planning on giving it to you from the start. There's no need to use force, or why would I tell you about it if I don't want to give it to you? But please complete your part of the deal first, or even if you can kill me, you'll never get the Soul Resurrection Bead because only I can get it. If you do not believe me, you can even check this storage ring in my hand and scan my body to see if I'm telling the truth or not."

Although it was a risky move, he didn't want to be disadvantaged, and he knew that if the Soul Resurrection Bead were as important to her as he thought it was, then she wouldn't risk killing him. After all, this was her only chance of freedom.

Just as he thought, the moment he said those words, the horrifying presence suddenly vanished, and her laugh, which was filled with amusement but not anger, rang, surprising Ace.

"Fufufu, you at least have some backbone. Don't worry; I'm not petty enough to kill my savior~. Besides, I've already checked your ring; if the Soul Resurrection Bead was there, I can assure you it would've long fallen into my hands whether you like it or not.

"I was just confirming whether you're telling the truth or not. You're very interesting… you have a space that can hide from even my detection. This just confirmed that you're not ordinary at all. Very well, I've decided you'll be the one!" she suddenly declared and sounded very pleased with herself.

Ace was startled by this sudden mood swing and that final verdict, which was giving him a bad feeling for some reason.

"Umm, I don't get it?" Ace asked with an iffy expression.

"Fufufu, since you're going to give me the Soul Resurrection Bead, sending you to the end of the Primordial Ascension Path is nowhere near enough to repay you for your favor. So, I've decided that you'll be my Steward!" She declared.

Ace's expression changed slightly. He didn't want to have anything to do with this old ghost, who seemed to be very troublesome. He just wanted to set her free so she could cause trouble for Heaven, not bring that trouble to him. Not to mention, becoming a Steward was the least of what he was expecting.

"Your Holiness, I'm very content with our previous agreement, and I'm not worthy of this noble status; I'm too dumb! So, there's no need to trouble yourself." Ace politely declined.

"Fufu, at least you know what kind of opportunity I'm bestowing upon you. But you don't have to worry. Once I've decided on something, even the laws can't change it. So, there's no trouble, no trouble at all, my dear Steward~!"

Ace was perplexed, as he knew there was no escaping it now, and couldn't help but sigh in frustration. He decided that once he got out here, he would make sure to run as far away from this 'Master' of his as possible, and she wouldn't be able to find him anyway because of his abilities.

"Steward White, greet Master!" So, he finally decided to get it over with, and it wasn't like he hadn't done something like this before.

"Fuu~ good, very good; as your master, I should give you the key of my treasuries to handle, but they are hidden somewhere; once I collect them, I'll give you the key to handle them properly.

"Moreover, now that I'm your master, you have to help your pitiful master search for her body; I'm counting on you, my Steward!"

Ace was astonished when he heard the early part, but that astonishment turned into stupefaction, and he felt something amiss.

His new master didn't give him any chance to respond and said, "Let's get out of here, my steward!"

The black flame suddenly enveloped flabbergasted Ace, and they both vanished from the sea of flames.

Although Ace got a master out of the blue, he was planning on running away. However, what he hadn't expected was that this was just a pipe dream, and he would curse this very day in the future, the day when he met his first-ever Thief Master!