Eternal Thief

Eva wore a sleeveless, black attire, which complimented her devilish figure and that crimson crown on her forehead, and was looking anxious at Ace, who was wearing his jet-black deft thief's robes and had a stern expression on his face.

Ace couldn't help but feel heartache seeing Eva's anxious face, but he knew this had to be done, or she might do something she regretted later.

He gently asked, "Eva, earlier you said the Ring of Endearment could only form if the partner didn't have any malice toward their wife or husband, but what will happen if they had malice?

"I want you to be honest with me, or it would simply mean you won't trust me enough and think of me as some incompetent idiot who can't handle the truth."

Eva's expression changed, and she instantly averted her eyes in panic when she saw Ace's scrutiny gaze. She immediately tried to hide it, "T-then nothing will happen! But you truly love me, so the Ring of Endearment formed, and I can't be happier!"

Ace sighed ruefully as he turned somewhat cold as he said, "Then, were you testing my commitment toward you and see if I'm really in love with you or not?"

Eva panicked even more since the formation of the Ring of Endearment could really be looked at as such. Because only someone with doubts would put their loved ones to the test, and the Devil's Love Ritual was really made for such a thing.

There was an old saying in devil race, 'Even the love of a Devil is Devil!'

Especially the love of a Devil Woman. Usually, they were extremely cold and cruel towards other races, even their own. But once they fell in love, they were downright crazies!

They will go to any length to be the one they loved and make sure they are loved back, or they will rather die than live without them. But they will not die alone; they will ensure the person who rejected them follows them. At least they will be together in the afterlife!

This was the true mentality of a devil woman, and Eva had inherited this mentality strongly at that after her bloodline changed to Shadow Abyssal Devil.

Although she didn't have any doubts about Ace, she just couldn't help it and couldn't suppress her natural instinct and try risking the formation of Ring of Endearment.

It's not like she doubted Ace's commitment toward herself. It's just that she had too much faith in him, especially after she awake. She would never forget that passionate gaze filled with longing.

She never doubted for a second that the ring of endearment formation would fail, and she was right.

However, she never expected Ace to take it the wrong way and notice the hidden details she left deliberately.

She was completely stunned now as she didn't know how to explain herself, and that piercing gaze was directly stabbing through her heart. She just couldn't endure it.

Ace's stern expression instantly crumbled when he saw tears forming in her eyes, and his heart ached. He immediately hugged her, "Why are you crying? I just want the truth. I never doubted your intention."

Eva felt warm as she buried her head in his chest and mumbled, "I-I never doubted you…."

"Neither do I. But you shouldn't hide about the Ring of Affliction as well as you, bonding your life with mine." Ace didn't hide anymore and revealed.

Eva instantly trembled when she heard the 'secret' was exposed and quickly looked at him and saw him wearing an 'I got you' smile.

"Y-you knew?" She questioned with uncertainty.

Ace snorted, "Silly woman, I know from the start that what you have done by giving up your freedom for mine. But this kind of thing should be mutual, and do you think I could live if you die for me?"

Eva was flattered when she heard this and muttered gently, "I just don't want you to die before me."

"Heh, still as crazy as ever, huh?" Ace helplessly chuckled, "You still don't get it, do you? Tell me, how do you get this bloodline?"

"You gave it to me." She replied without hesitation.

"Then, now that you have your blood heritage, do you think it is possible to make a Half-Shadow Devil a Shadow Abyssal Devil?" Ace asked again.

Eva couldn't help but fall into thought at this moment since she had never thought about it.

She said doubtfully, "No, it's not possible. But it's because of the Blood Rose and the special living space, right?"

Ace then smiled mysteriously, "Then who gave me that space and told me about the blood rose effect?"

Her eyes widened as she finally got what Ace was trying to say and instantly questioned, "Who?"

Eva couldn't help but feel something was really not right because Ace was only a human, and he belonged to the low-level lands of the Azure Wind Continent. She knew there was no doubt about it since she had done a deep background check on him herself before she approached him for his help.

Furthermore, she always felt that Ace was exceptional with all those strange abilities and that strange closeness she felt toward him, but she never thought much deeper into this.

However, with her current self, she couldn't just ignore it, and she knew just how absurd it was to originate the Shadow Abyssal Bloodline in a halfling like her. Someone like Ace definitely couldn't do it unless… someone helped him!

The information Ace revealed was more than proof of that, and she was now even more sure that Ace had someone extremely terrifying behind him.

Ace looked at her ruminative expression and was glad. He wanted to achieve exactly that. He didn't want to appear superior. Furthermore, he just wanted to tell her that he wasn't some clueless or helpless idiot who needed her protection.

He just wanted to make sure she won't try to pull something crazy again just because she thought he needed it.

"Just know I have a 'God' behind me, and they're always watching over me. As long as I perform well, it will reward me with unimaginable powers and treasures.

"But my biggest reward is naturally you. So, I don't want to lose you, and I hope you don't try to do something which threatens your own life again. At least discuss it with me first.

"And you don't need to protect me. I can do that just fine. I still remember we are teammates before anything, and a teammate will always have each other backs, right?"

Eva couldn't help but fall into deep silence as she looked at Ace's confident expression filled with gentleness toward her. Happiness bloomed within her heart, as she didn't care about if he had some 'god' or 'demon' behind him. She just wanted to be with him.

"I understand." She gently uttered before her expression turned strange as she asked in a low voice when she thought of something, "You said the god is always watching over you, t-then… then does this mean it also watched us…."

Ace's prideful expression instantly wrapped when he heard this, and he also felt this question was worth mulling over. But he didn't have the face to question the system since it was too embarrassing.

So, he dryly changed the topic, "Alright, enough with this stuff. We should leave this place."

Eva also didn't push this embarrassing topic as she nodded before she looked around the strange room, "Now that you mention it, where are we?"

Ace looked at the doom-like room, which was now completely empty after the 'death' of both the Tower Spirit and the old ghost Moon Fiend King.

He really has no idea how to leave this place since he was too busy focusing on Eva at that time and didn't heed the old ghost Moon Fiend's warning that he won't be able to leave this tower if he killed him.

However, now that he thought about it, there seemed to be no way out, and they might have to break their way out of it, which was quite cumbersome.

But before he could explain, Eva suddenly mumbled, "Why do I feel connected with this place and this strange set of memories?"

"You are feeling a connection with this place and memories?" Ace's eyes instantly narrowed.

Eva nodded with uncertainty as she suddenly looked behind Ace and squinted her eyes, "Like there is a door, right there!"

Just as her voice trailed off, something strange happened. The wall where she focused suddenly trembled before it sided away, revealing a passage!

Ace was stunned when he saw this and quickly thought about something as his face turned pale and questioned the system, "System, don't tell me she had turned into this tower's treasure spirit because she absorbed that mirror?!"

"[No. But because she had absorbed this tower's core with tower spirit as well as the previous owner, she had become the new owner of this treasure!]"

Ace was relieved when he heard it and couldn't help but feel this make sense. But the system's next word makes his expression dark!