Eternal Thief

Chapter 1581: Hunter’s Hunt! (5)

Unaware of the watchful eyes of the Evernight Kings, Ace ended the house call with Eva. Although Ace had already discovered the truth behind the Hunter’s Hunt, he couldn’t show it.

He also decided not to rendezvous with Eva right away, and Eva agreed with him because he had a feeling that the Evernight Council would be monitoring this ’special trial,’ especially the Evernight Kings, since they were the only ones with enough power to completely overwrite the Evernight Trial.

Ace looked at the Ring of Lone Hunter with a cold smile as he saw the last section in the projection...

”Lone Hunter of the Hunter’s Hunter: LOCKED SECTION!

”NOTE: This section is locked and will be functional once the Hunter’s Hunt begins, please remained patience!”

Ace mused with an expressionless face, ’I guess it’ll only start when all the participants are done entering the trial grounds. Considering the sheer size of this trial, I guess it will take a while to get started.

’But those who have been sent here might not sit around and wait because the rules have already been announced, which is a shrewd way to tell every ’Hunter’ that all they needed to do is to ’hunt’ because there are no restrictions or rules about not starting hunting.

’Moreover, I still don’t know what a ’Hunt’ needed to do to pass this trial, but considering all possibilities, they’ll also be fighting for their lives. Nonetheless, everyone except me have one common goal, the Ring of Lone Hunter with the richest rewards!’

As a thief, Ace could already imagine the mentality behind the Hunter’s Hunt, and whoever had created this trial really hates ’Nomad’ guts.

Furthermore, Ace had only been in contact with the Evernight Devil King, and some Evernight Dukes, and since this new trial could only be arranged by an Evernight King, he was sure that someone among the Evernight Kings don’t like his ’master’; the Moonless Wandering King.

’The Evernight Devil King didn’t seem to have any hostility against me because he appeared to be neutral in the Live Fate Map, and even seemed quite appreciative when he got the Ghost King. So, it must be either the Evernight Demon King or the Evernight Fiend King.

’Eva also has the same thoughts, but she didn’t know much about any Evernight King nor the Dread Duchess had ever discussed them with Eva...’

His eyes flickered with sharp light, ’Nonetheless, everything will be transparent once this trial is over once I ruined the perpetrator’s plans. However, I must make sure not to reveal too much and only use Clyde’s abyssal Qi.

’But since Clyde was an exile, no one should know what kind of laws and techniques he had cultivated throughout his days as an Abyss Wanderer.

’Not only that, but his master is an Abyssal King, so even if I showed something extraordinary, and others are monitoring me, they will all think it’s the Moonless Wandering King’s inheritance!’

Ace has already formulated a plan to trick everyone, and he knew that as long as he didn’t show suspicious abilities, he could talk his way out of anything.

After finalizing his plans, Ace didn’t rush to act because he didn’t need to; once the trial starts, everyone will rush towards him, and that’s when things will get more interesting.

He slowly lifted his gaze and surveyed the wasteland again. Since the trial had not officially begun and no countdown had appeared on the ring yet, time was temporarily on his side.

But this place bothered him because the air itself felt wrong, as a dense, pervasive death saturated the surroundings, so thick it was almost visible.

It clung to the wind, seeped into the soil, and lingered around every fragment of bone and rusted weapon. This wasn’t the natural death that followed battles or disasters.

It was more like cultivated death, accumulated deliberately over countless cycles.

’No wonder the entire Live Fate Map is dyed crimson,’ Ace thought with a hint of curiosity. ’This place isn’t just dangerous. It’s been soaked in slaughter for who knows how long, and the killing intent here is simply too dense. Furthermore, with the Law of Sin, can I sense something peculiar and foreign!’

With that in mind, Ace decided to explore as he moved at a measured pace, neither careless nor overly cautious, his senses spread wide as his Law Thief Sense swept across the terrain.

His footsteps crunched softly against blackened earth mixed with bone dust, and the deeper he went, the more signs of ancient carnage he encountered.

Broken blades jutted from the ground at odd angles. Some were snapped clean in half, others warped as if melted by terrifying force. Shields lay cracked and pitted, their defensive formations long since collapsed. Tattered banners, reduced to ash and threads, fluttered weakly in the hollow wind.

Ace paused beside a shattered halberd half-buried in the soil.

With a flick of his finger, ’abyssal’ Qi brushed across it, but the weapon responded with nothing; no resonance or lingering spirit, not even a trace of law.

”...Completely deteriorated,” Ace muttered.

He scanned several more treasures along the way, hoping to salvage something worthwhile. But the result was always the same.

Whatever these items once were, their true essence had long since dissipated. Laws had eroded, inscriptions had collapsed, and even the materials themselves had degraded into little more than high-grade scrap.

’This battlefield has been harvested before,’ Ace concluded, ’Multiple times.’

That realization alone made his expression colder as someone, or something, had been using this place repeatedly, and he could only think of the Evernight Council.

As Ace continued roaming, something else struck him as odd. There were no living beings. Not a single corpse could be considered fresh.

No lingering aura of recent combat. No signs of active movement. It was as if everything here had already died long ago, leaving behind only windy echoes.

Just as Ace began to wonder if the trial grounds were deliberately empty at the outskirts, he suddenly stopped.

His eyes narrowed as he looked ahead, ”...That’s strange.”

Ahead of him, the flow of killing intent subtly changed. It wasn’t stronger or weaker, but it was disturbed.

Ace crouched and placed his hand against the ground. The soil here was slightly displaced, mixed unevenly with bone fragments that hadn’t fully settled. More importantly, faint residual fluctuations lingered in the air.

’Very resent! Someone’s been through here,’ Ace realized instantly, ’And not long ago!’

He stood up and followed the disturbance, his movements becoming lighter, almost soundless.

As he advanced, the signs grew clearer. Cracked stones that didn’t match the surrounding erosion. Bones shattered at unnatural angles. Even traces of suppressed aura that hadn’t completely faded.

A trail of activity that piqued Ace’s interest!