Eva and Alina finally sat on empty seats, their expressions sowhat gloomy. They looked at Ace with indignation. The other house mbers were also silent.
Ace knew there would be consequences for going against those two, but he really had to show them the servitude of what he was about to tell them.
"Since everyone I consider close to my family is here, I'll be straightforward with you all. The first thing I want to tell you all is that my heritage cos from a mysterious thief lineage called the Heaven Stealer, which makes the Heaven's Stealer. I got it from the Mortal Sky Heaven when I was twelve by the entity you all know as 'Thief Goddess.'
"Although I didn't know it chose , recently, I've learned sothing about myself, and I think it has sothing to do with my bloodline. Anyway, the main point is there are countless perks of being a Heaven's Stealer, like the one you all are aware of, the ability to cultivate in both soul and martial paths.
"But since everything has a cause and effect, the biggest disadvantage of the Heaven Stealer heritage is that the mont they embark on the path of Heaven's Stealer, they will be marked by Heaven itself as the Eternal Enemy of Heaven!
"I know it's vague, but it is what it is, literally. My enemy is probably the creator of ti and space or at least the sa level of existence.
"The Heavenly Punishnt is also the result of my status as Heaven's Stealer. Don't think of it as re Heavenly Tribulation, which seems to grant rewards after you successfully overco it. The Heavenly Punishnt has only one goal, which is to actively try to kill by remaining within the boundaries of sothing called [Natural Order]…"
Ace starts to explain the truth behind his existence, but he still doesn't reveal anything about the system, not directly. He decided to keep the façade of 'Thief Goddess' because he felt that revealing the system's existence would be detrintal to anyone.
As Ace recollected everything he knew about being Heaven's Stealer, his final mission in the Mortal Sky Ascensions Temple, and then finally brushing with the Heaven's Advocate, the five people listening to him thought they were hearing a ridiculous story.
Furthermore, as Ace explained more and more about the truth behind his existence, Eva and Alina's expressions warped in horror as they completely forgot about what happened earlier, and they paled with anxiety.
On the other hand, Noa had a similar reaction to Eva and Alina, while Freya and Winter were completely ashen. Their hearts went cold with sheer fear and trepidation when they understood the gravity of Ace's situation. Moreover, unlike Alina and Eva, who can still choose not to enter the thief's house, they don't have such a luxurious option. They were completely in the sa boat as Ace, whether they liked it or not.
Furthermore, all the benefits they received from the 'Thief Goddess' by only doing so thieveries no longer appeared lucrative. They were simply being neutered to go against the freaking Heaven itself, and now those thief house's benefits felt greatly lacking in front of their true goal.
But they didn't voice out their inner thoughts because, first, they had already completely assimilated into the thief's house and had accepted their identities as thieves. Second, they knew if they hadn't joined the thief's house, they would've been nobodies or already been dead with the grim circumstances surrounding them.
Third, Ace had it far worse than them, and despite having the authority to use them as tools, he actually never did, and he's always fought on the front lines; their last mission was a good example of it.
After they heard Ace had stolen directly from one of the most guarded places by Heaven, just thinking about it made them shudder in fear. They knew they would never be able to keep their calm, knowing that they were going to steal from the creator of their very life.
Instead, they were filled with gratitude toward Ace for giving them an easy pass on the last mission and taking the most difficult part for himself. There was no doubt that he was a competent leader. Not to ntion, he didn't consider them tools; instead, he just called them family, which sohow moved them.
Lastly, despite their dread, deep down, they felt a tingle of excitent at the prospect of the very Heaven going after them. Just how many could they say that they were marked by Heaven, and it was actively trying to kill them?
Absolutely no one because they were nothing but a speck of dust. Now, all of a sudden, a minion of Heaven, Heaven's Advocate, was personally here to hunt their leader and them down; just the implication behind this was so huge that no one could imagine.
Nonetheless, what Ace just revealed had completely turned their lives upside down, and their view of the world would never be the sa. After all, Heaven was just a vague concept for them a few monts ago, but now they knew it really existed, and their leader was even marked by such an existence as its Eternal Enemy.
Doesn't this an Ace had the potential to take down Heaven? At that ti, those who were closest to him would bask in endless glory with him. Although it was still an impossible dream, they wanted to believe it, and this also beca their motivation!
Ace was unaware of how twisted the minds of two won were. After explaining everything and making sure they all understood what was at stake, he fell silent, let them absorb all the surreal information, and waited for their response.
Eva was the first one to speak in an anxious tone, "Can't you discard this Heaven's Stealer business? Going against sothing as elusive as Heaven is a path of death! Please, if you could, give up on it! We have a long life ahead of us, and we can live it as we like!" Her eyes were bloodshot and filled with grievance.
"She's right!" Alina also slapped her hand on the table, making it tremble, as trepidation filled her eyes. "This is very dangerous, not it's a death sentence, and I don't want that for you! This ambition is simply a death trap! You are being beguiled into this, and I won't let this happen!"
"Leader, even if it's my death, as long as you can live, I'm willing to accept it!" Noa also grimly voiced out her opinion. "Wait a minute! Who cares if you're willing or not because I'm certainly not agreeing to this!" Winter glared at Noa before snapping at Eva and Alina. "And you two, if you're afraid of death, then don't join the thief's house. So people here didn't have that opportunity!"
"What did you say?" Eva was enraged as she glared back at Winter as an icy aura started to release from her; she wasn't suppressed here because of her unique connection with Ace.
Alina again took the side of her love rival as she murderously looked at Winter as well. Although she had a good opinion of Winter since they had saved her from Dreams Shatter's sches, she wouldn't just stand by and watch Winter sending Ace to the depths of hell just because she was afraid to die.
Noa also showed her hostility as her eyes started to turn darker, like black holes.
"Everyone cald down!" At this mont, Freya suddenly stated loudly, drawing everyone's attention, but their looks were cold as they all waited for her stance.
Freya took a deep breath, ignored everyone, and looked directly at the man on the throne, who was watching this with a neutral look despite being the very reason for this upheaval.
"Leader, please make sothing clear for everyone here. Just like the mbers of the thief's house, the only way to quit is to 'die,' does the sa rule apply to you as Heaven's Stealer?"
Freya's question instantly made everyone's expression, especially the three who wanted him to give up on this path. Only now, this possibility occurred to them that Ace was not doing this willingly, but he simply didn't seem to have any other choice.
Ace was surprised by Freya's calm deanor in this situation and asking such a deep question. He hadn't spoken before, and he wanted to see everyone's reactions, and they were not out of his expectations except Freya's.
But now that everyone's attention was on him again, he thought it was a good thing the debate ended without his intervention, yet he also wanted to avoid this exact question.
Nonetheless, since he was being honest with them, he decided to answer it.
"In the past, it might have been possible. But now, not only is it not possible for to back down, but I'm not going to back down even if I have the option because of two main reasons.
"First, Freya is correct because, like you guys, I have cleared many missions with the death penalty as punishnt, including the last one. And I have no control over it, so all I can do is keep increasing my strength to avoid such an outco.
"Second, I have personal matters that I need to deal with in the future, and I don't think it would be possible to achieve my goal without being Heaven's Stealer!"
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