Chapter 493 A year later  

Aliya expected this question and her expression also turned gloomy. "I'm paying attention to this matter from the moment it started.

"The first theft happened two months after the treasure pagoda robbery. It was in a marquis demon tribe of moon demon province. Everything was exactly the same, even your famous owl mark in the treasury, but the thief also killed the entire marquis clan.

"Afterward every month or three weeks, same patterns, theft after the kill. To this day, there are nine thieveries, five in Moon Demon Province and four in Blade Demon Province.

"But your impersonator is quite professional. He won't leave any trace behind, except for the symbol and gruesome deaths." She looked at the demon before her with a stony gaze.

When the first incident happened, she simply thought it was Ace, just like everyone else. However, when she got reports about how the thief killed all those demons in the cruelest ways, she knew it wasn't Ace.

Besides, after Ace's theft of the treasure pagoda, there wasn't any need for him to theft from those small tribes or take risks when the entire demon continent was searching for him.

Ace's expression turned stern. "Do you think it's some high-level demon who using this method to lure me out?"

He was sure it was the case because he personally witnessed just how badly the life demon association wanted to capture him and without his skills; it was impossible to escape them.

Now, all of a sudden, someone dared to impersonate him despite knowing just how furious the life demon association was, it was simply courting death.

The biggest omission in all this was that the life demon association still wasn't able to capture the so-called thief, despite knowing the pattern of his raids. They were simply slapping their own face by using these tactics to draw him out.

"This is the only explanation since that impersonator can easily cross the border between moon and blade provinces after they activate the border protecting formations on the entire continent." Aliya had the same thought.

A faint sigh escaped, Ace said, "They all think I'm after fame and this might be the easiest way to draw me out. Well, I had to admit if someone was really doing it for fame, they might've already made some kind of mistake."

He shakes his head and sneers, "Although they anger me, if they think I'm going to defend myself, heh, they had another thing coming in their way."

Aliya scoffed, "What if all of this was all real and this was some fanatic who just wanted to express how 'inspired' he is by certain someone and wanted to prove himself and get his attention? Then what?"

Ace snickered coldly, "If this is indeed the case, then he got my attention."

His subtle reply made Aliya narrow her eyes, but she simply can't see through this man.Ace suddenly changed the topic, "What about the corpse army?"

She coldly replied, "Already taken care of, but they paid a steep price." A hint of fear could be seen in her eyes at this moment.

Ace narrowed his eyes. "How steep?"

"If we're talking about the canon folds, then they are numbered in millions, while if we are talking about the experts, then over two million and this is the number the royal council made public. Their causalities are much greater. As for what they didn't reveal to the public, I think two demon kings and a big shot of the royal council have also died." Aliya was uncertain since it was quite hard to believe that even demon kings died under the corpse army.

Ace was also astonished when he heard, "Why do you think so?"

"Blood Demon King and Spear Demon King hadn't appeared in public and there is some kind of tension going on in their domains, which is impossible if they were present. Especially the Spear Demon King, that guy is famous for his iron fist rule.

"Lastly, the royal demon council, although I don't know who died, there are five hidden experts in the royal council. From our spies, we got a rumor that in the last upper-echelon gathering of the council, only four were present.

"This could be a completely different matter or mere rumors, but I think they are no more." Aliya declared with uncertainty.

She knew just how grave the matter about the death of a demon king was, and probably there hadn't been a death like this in ten thousand years.

Ace was also astonished, even he deemed a demon king-level existence couldn't perish. But when he remembered the corpse king's and that other demon's clash, he shuddered.

Ace took a deep breath and said, "Lastly, I want all the information about this city, especially about the Magistrate Clan, Puppeteer Demon Clan."

Aliya's eyes narrowed as she looked at Ace deeply, "Are you planning to…"

Ace sighed, "Yes and no. It's better if your mistress explained it to you. Where will I be staying?"

Aliya didn't ask any more questions when she heard Freya was involved in this. "Give me two days to arrange everything. You'll be the fifth-floor manager from now on. You can't appear in public with some other appearance because they are currently recording every person present in the city and even I don't know just many observers are out there, so it's better to be careful than sorry."

"You mean a salesman?" Ace frowned slightly.

Although he didn't mind the job, he just can't waste time meaninglessly.

"You can put it like that. You don't have a choice because if you vanished after you appeared on the first day it'll raise suspicion. We don't want that, right?" Aliya impassively replied.

"Fine, you're the boss." Ace feigned helplessness."Hmph. Do I need to arrange another identity for the mistress?" Aliya quested sternly.

"Probably not." Ace smiled mysteriously and left the room just as he appeared.

Aliya was at a loss for words since she still wanted to question Ace about where Freya was or how she will come, but he left after getting what he wanted. Resentfully, she clenched her pristine fists, she wanted nothing but to smack his smirky face. But she was helpless.

Ace's departure from the hidden passage didn't alarm anyone, and he again appeared as the gray demon and head toward the fifth floor.

The fifth floor was where all the weapons were sold and he had three assistants to help him. All he had to do is to entertain some important customers, and he was free to do anything in his free time.

Aliya had already arranged everything for him and he couldn't help but praise Freya for having a good eye for people.

After greeting his assistants, he told them he was going to rest for a while and they can find him in his office if they required his assistance.

"Finally, out of those damn woods." Ace couldn't help but moan as he threw his head back on the comfortable chair.

But his expression soon turned serious again. 'Time is short…' He closed his eyes and sent his consciousness into the thief's house.

Although he can spy on his house members' personal space, he has never done so since all of them were women and they had their privacy and he doesn't want them to think he was a deviant.

Furthermore, as long as someone called his name, he will instantly know they were calling for him even if he wasn't paying attention. Without it, he won't know what was happening in their personal spaces if he doesn't pay attention.

This was a strange yet convenient function of the thief's house.

He can also focus his voice in a particular space or the entire house, as long as he willed it.

So, he sent his voice to the entire house at this moment, "Alright ladies, give me a favor, and please gather in the meeting hall."

The space where all the rooms were connected was no longer empty. There was a big jade table and comfortable chairs, as well as some lavish decorations.

They were all set by Ace, he can send anything and take out anything in this place so he turned this place into a proper meeting hall.

Soon after Ace's summoning.

The door of Noa's room slowly opened, and she appeared in black robes that display her perfect figure. She also wore the white Mist Camouflage Mask on her face, and only her pitch-black eyes were visible.

Furthermore, her aura was completely gone, as if she wasn't alive anymore and one couldn't tell she was standing there if they didn't focus on her.

Thereupon, Freya also emerged, clad in body tight armor. She looked even more ravishing than a year ago, as she was excluding a mysterious charm.

Winter was the last one who appeared. However, when everyone saw her they were all shocked because what emerged from her space wasn't a big pink fox, but a little adorable girl with a fierce expression on her face which made her even cuter!