Ace said as he sighs deeply, "It seems like I was truly naïve."

Two black swords emerge in his hands and his Qi pours in the swords. The dark Qi starts to leak from the pitch-black blades like haze.

Mathies grimaces deeply as he saw Ace takes out his weapons and for some reason, he felt extreme dread from those two swords from the bottom of his heart. 'He didn't act like I think he would.' Think Mathies as he holds his sword hilt tightly.

The truth was when he saw Ace fell in despair and blame himself when Dulce tells him about the destruction of the city. At that time, Ace was vulnerable and if Dulce takes that chance to strike she would've succeeded in capturing him but she decided to toy with him like her other victims and she pays the price in end for her vanity.

Mathies scoffs at her idiocy in his head that time.

That's why Mathies takes his time to give a sorrowful speech first, he wanted to attack him mentally to make Ace hesitate to attack him and that would be his chance to take him down. He was not like Dulce and the whole other level of schemer from her. He was confident in his acting skills and the ability to control his emotions, but this time around his skills seem to be failed.

He was observing him from the moment he laid his eyes on him and after his analysis, he concluded that Ace was inexperienced and naïve. And he has never been wrong before in his analysis of someone.

But Ace has somehow gained the ability to remain calm in the face of desperate situations after the Dulce incident. He was a completely different person, not like before when he loses his calm easily.

Little did he know that Ace has soul sense and he can feel his inner self emotions.

Mathies can hide his emotion on the surface but he can't do that with his soul because he wasn't a soul cultivator.

Now Ace was calmer because he already touched the law of [Despair] once and his mentality has undergone a drastic change. And Mathies was like an open book when Ace solely focused on him.

Mathies still wanted to try something else to make his chance of winning higher but he saw Ace has vanished. There was still dark and because of the clouds, it was as dark as it could be.

Cultivation can vaguely see in darkness when they reached the Qi foundation realm and their sense become much sharper than any mortal, they can even hold their breath underwater for ten hours straight. That's why Mathies can move around freely but he misses the details about Ace can also move freely and much better than him in dark.

Ace never has proper education much less on cultivation and he also didn't know about the details of what can a human do in specific after he cultivates. He only knows how to read and write because of his grandparents' teaching.

Mathies panicked and said as he raises his hands in surrender, "We didn't need to fight I admit my mistake!" He didn't want to fight an opponent that he can't even see or sense. And Ace can sneak up on him without even him noticing before. So, he decided to wait and find another opportunity.

Ace was in his stealth and heard Mathies words but he didn't stop. 'Empty words.' He despises.

He didn't want to expose himself to his old fox anymore after seeing his backstabbing and scheming nature. He was thanking his decision to keeping Eva inside the thief's space until now and didn't show that old fox anymore of his secrets.

Otherwise, Mathies would've become more alert and hide like venoms snakes. When he got the chance, he would strike the moment when he was in a difficult situation and Eva would be in danger as well because of his idiocy and naivety.

But Ace didn't know Mathies showed his true colors exactly because of Eva! He didn't saw him taking that girl with him and in his mind, Ace has abandoned her. Moreover, he was poisoned and Ace didn't give him an antidote that's why he thought Ace wanted to kill him as well.

However, that was not the case at all, it was just that Ace has forgotten about the poison! If Mathies asked him Ace would've given him right at that moment. It is just that his motives were not pure from the start and that poison only made those desires intense.

But now Ace was very appreciative towards Mathies for showing his true colors so soon and gave him a lesson to never trust anyone completely. Besides, he would never let an incident like River-Flower city happened again as long as he lives.

Ace was moving with silent steps as he saw Mathies has raised his hand but didn't let his sword go, his eyes turn sharp as he brandishes the long swords and slashed towards Mathies sword holding hand.

Mathies felt a cold and sharp sensation coming from his back and quickly wave his sword backward vertically.

'chee' 'kaachha'

Mathies did manage to connect the attack with Ace's sword but the moment that black blade touched his sword, the sword cut in half like butter and landed on his chest. A deep cut appeared and blood gushes out from it.

Mathies didn't even know what happen and why his 3-star sword would cut in half like it was made of paper. Dulce gave him this sword to capture Ace and he knows it was really a 3-star weapon. But now it was cut in half easily and he starts to doubt that Dulce has played him.

Ace didn't stop here because the cut was not deep enough to take Mathies life and again decided to go in stealth.

After killing so many elite guards sneakily in the Inn Ace has finally found his fighting style. His skills were made for fighting in dark and silently not in a frontal assault. As long as the opponent is not stronger than him by a huge gap he could easily kill them sneakily.

Mathies has a taste of Ace's newfound understanding of his skills and technique. He felt horrified after being cut by his Qi because he felt Ace Qi was not normal at all it was cold but at the same time it gives him a feeling of emptiness like he was alone in a dark place with no sliver of light.

Mathies somehow suppressed Ace's Qi that was making him numb, he was after all a Qi Foundation expert. But just he was about to say something to get himself out of this situation a chill run down his spine because a black blade was coming towards his neck like a grim riper scythe.

Ace didn't want to drag this fight because his HD-Qi was limited and he was still exhausted so he decided to end Mathies. In his view, Mathies was extremely weak for a Qi Foundation realm expert or he was just too powerful for a Qi Gates realm practitioner.

"STOP! I know very important information about your parents!" Shouts Mathies in horror, this was his final trump card for getting out of this situation. Now he finally understands just how much he underestimate this little thief.

The moment he said those words he felt a cold sharp object was touching his throat. It was a black blade that emitting a black aura from its sharp edge.

If he was a second late in uttering his head would be flying right now. He was drench in sweat and he gulps nervously, he nearly dies. Now he understands what it means by 'power can overcome any scheme'.

Ace was looking at Mathies in eyes coldly while his sword was still on Mathies's throat, "Tell me everything if you even speak a single lie you're dead." He said coldly.

He also wanted to know the complete truth about his parents and decided to hear Mathies out. If Mathies tells him everything truthfully, he didn't mind sparing him. He wasn't a cold murder in the end. If not for Mathies vile character Ace would've never brought himself to kill Mathies in the first place.

"I-I'll speak the truth just don't kill me." Said Mathies with dread in his voice. He could tell Ace was dead serious.

Ace only stare at Mathies deeply and didn't say anything like he was telling him 'you better be'. He didn't retract his sword from his throat either.

Mathies could only sigh helplessly after seeing Ace was not reacting to him and finally decided to tell him everything it was after all his life that was hanging on a thread right now.

"The things I told you before were true but I didn't tell you that when your father used his power to send me away before vanishing I heard your mother yell that time, she was clearly referring to her enemies." Said Mathies slowly, he was still looking at Ace to see his reaction but to his dismay, Ace didn't even flinch after hearing his word.

Mathies only felt the blade was starting to press in his throat and because of that black aura his skin starts to cut like jelly and blood starts to flow.

He didn't dare to play riddle anymore and said quickly, "I-I heard her shouting 'White Crown!' before I was sent far away from that place. I-I swear I'm telling you the truth. As for what I have done it was because I was awed by them after seeing their prowess and wanted to possess that kind of power myself. I just want to be someone strong to protect my family. That's the whole reason I wanted your secret but I was wrong greed truly blinds me, I…!"

Before he could finish his words, something passes through his throat with lightning speed and he didn't even feel what happened. The last thing he saw before his view gets dark was Ace's serene face.

Mathies's head was rolling in the soil with his eyes wide open in disbelief, horror, surprise, and hatred.