Eternal Thief

Stella's eyes seemed mysteriously swirling as she stared at the black stele. After observing it for a little while, she finally looked towards the wizened man and asked, "What's the meaning of this?" Her tone was deadly cold.

"Little sister Stella, are you pretending to be ignorant? Everyone in the ??? Heaven knows the Alexandros Clan is the most proficient in deciphering the God Runes, and you are the most talented heir of the Alexandros Clan they have ever seen. You should've already recognized some characters!" The golden-haired woman replied with a hint of scorn before the wizened man could.

A faint starry lightning flashed past Stella's eyes at this moment, making the golden-haired woman's expression pale, "Ahhh!" She moaned in pain.

"Enough!" The wizened man suddenly released his aura, and the golden-haired woman's complexion returned slightly. He then glanced at her coldly and uttered in an irrefutable tone, "If you dare to speak again, you'll suffer a penalty!"

The golden-haired woman's eyes flashed with a hint of fear as she quickly looked down in submission, but a malicious expression changed her fearful look.

The middle-aged man's expression also turned slightly ugly, but he didn't speak. He glanced at Stella coldly and waited for the widened man to continue.

The widened man then shifted his focus to Stella again and spoke, "This black stele was given to House White's progenitor by a mysterious entity. According to House White's annals of history, this mysterious entity was the reason behind the Progenitor's rise, and only because of this mysterious entity was House White able to stand in this lofty position today.

"This black stele was bestowed to the Progenitor at the same time with an opportunity, and it contained an absolute prophecy that has been passed from generation to generation in House White. A prophecy that predicts not only the House White but also the doom of the entire ??? Heaven!

"You might not have known about this, but the entire alliance has known about this prophecy, even your Alexandros Clan. In fact, your Progenitor deciphered it for our Progenitor!

"The God Runes on the stele interpret a prophecy that was called by that entity [The Song of Dawn, Whisper of Doom].

"A babe of light, a herald's song, Across the land, a melody strong. Twin beasts of fortune, a celestial dance, a fiery bloom, Golden light dispels the earthly gloom. For fortune's smile, a fleeting guest, May shroud in darkness, all it blessed.

"But shadows lurk in the joyous light, A creeping dark, a starless night. The owl's wing, a chilling breeze, A whispered doom on gilded knees. The light devours, a ravenous night, Hope withers, swallowed by endless blight.

"Heed the discord in the heavenly choir, The flicker of flame, the dying pyre. Flee, child of dawn, from a shadowed guise, For light's embrace may be a sweet disguise. Darkness beckons, a twisted delight, Despair, and Death, a chilling sight.

"Lost in a paradox, a twisted dream, Where light itself fuels a nightmare's scheme. When darkness sings, it sees the sun's embrace, But light reveals only an empty space!" Slowly, he spoke word for word while closely monitoring Stella's wilting expression.

"What do you mean by this?" Stella asked cryptically, and at that moment, an invisible barrier appeared around the baby.

'Sigh…' A long sigh escaped the widened man as he clearly noticed her action, for he was beyond powerful. He gently said, while trying to hide his own helplessness, "After Progenitor got this interpretation, he didn't believe it right away; he didn't dare to ignore Progenitor Alexandros's words either.

"Progenitor Alexandros also knew the gravity of those words, so he suggested placing this stele into the alliance so future generations could also decipher it. Who knows, his interpretation might be wrong.

"Thus, for a very long time, every Sage of the alliance spent a vast amount of time deciphering this prophecy, and in the end, it emphasizes the same thing; both the rise of a 'Babe' and the doom brought by this 'Babe'.

"Everyone reached the same conclusion; if this really happened, then the 'Babe' should be dealt with without any mercy or whomever it belonged to. But nothing like that happened, as countless geniuses were born in House White, and all were monitored without any reserve.

"However, when my Grandson Ace was born two days ago, celestial music could be heard from hundreds of miles away, auspicious dragons and phoenixes danced in the sky, and the sky was filled with golden celestial radiance.

"Everyone witnessed that scene, Peerless Beyond Beginning and End; that's what White Sage expressed. I was happy beyond imagination about his talent and future. But then…" His expression went dark, "That strange phenomenon, in the end, occurred when that strange appalling darkness suddenly appeared and spread like doom and then devoured everything. The Sages strongly reacted to this, and after a long debt, they reached the same conclusion…"

At that moment, his eyes fell on the smiling baby, and his heart ached as he said these words with absolute reluctance, "My Grandson Ace might be the prophesize 'Babe' in the ancestral prophecy. So, effective immediately, he was to be sent to the Alliance for further monitoring. But don't worry; I can assure you…"

"STOP!" Stella literally screamed as powerful undulations released from her like tide waves, and the bright room suddenly turned dark as her sapphire was glowing with killing intent.

On the other hand, Ace was completely appalled when he heard this conversation, which sounded familiar yet unfamiliar. It was like he had heard it before but didn't understand it and had forgotten it long ago.

However, he didn't have the mind to pay any heed to this strange detail because Ace felt cold creeping all over his body from the contents of this conversation. He didn't know if this was just a nightmare or something he had experienced long ago.

But one thing was clear; this might not be just a dream. Instead, he's remembering something from the time when he was born, which should have been impossible.

Furthermore, from their conversation and current situation, Ace has a pretty good idea of what this was about; it was exactly what he always wanted to know!

But for some reason, he was calm despite feeling a sense of betrayal. There was also a lingering fear as if something unbearable was about to happen. Lastly, he was feeling RAGE, enough rage to want to destroy everything and bring about this impending doom!

Furthermore, he feels even more rage towards the 'mysterious entity' that foretold this horrendous obsolete prophecy!