Although it was true that Ace roteg the others from fag a small force that may well be to for most of them, there was another, more selfish reason for ing alone, and that was to vent.

  There art of Ace that wished he was heading to the battlefield on his own so he could rampage through the O'Brien Armies ranks wantonly. Unfortunately, with Amira and Killia, he couldn't be so urained.

  As strong as they were now, they wouldn't be able to follow Ace as he sughtered a path into the depths of his enemy's forces.

  As the leader of the team, he couldn't afford to, nor was he willing to put their lives in unnecessary danger. As such, he would have to suppress his urge for blood. So when he seheir group speeding towards the enemy's camp, he couldn't help but hope they were the enemy so he could vent some of the rage he was holding onto.

  More specifically, he hoped they were from the O'Brien Empire.

  Hearing the madman's question, the warrior who was being held up by the throat hesitated.

  As terrified as he was and as much pain as he was, he was nothing if not loyal. It would take more than the loss of an arm to get him to talk.

  "AHHHHHHHH! NO! WAIT! PLEASE! I'LL TALK!" The man roared in agony as he suddenly felt his neck being burnt by his captor's sizzling hand. "WE'RE FROM THE O'BRIEN EMP-"

  Before the man could finish his sentence, his slowly melting neck was snapped in two.

  "Good!" Ace said with an evil grin suffusing his lips. "Very good!"

  Though they couldn't see his expression under his hood, they could feel the chilling killing i he radiated ahe excitement and anticipation in his tone.

  That was the straw that broke the camel's back for each of them. They no longer cared about turning their back to this robed demon. Everyone who could run ran as if their lives depended on it.

  Had they stayed and fought together, Ace would've had to expend a fair bit of effort to defeat them, but like this…

  It turned into a plete massacre.

  The smell of blood and burning flesh wafting through the air would've made most sick to their stomach, but Ace wasn't phased in the slightest. In fact, he wished there were more. The anger in his heart hadn't diminished by much at all.

  Thankfully he didn't allow his ao cloud his better judgement. The fact that there was such a powerful squad sneaking behind enemy lines spoke to a bigger pn, and if for no other reason than that this was Amira's homend, he had to do everything he could to help.

  "Now," Ace said slowly. "I need you to tell me everything your team had pnned."

  After everything he'd witnessed, Haruol, the member of the O'Brien Empire who'd used the cover identity he'd created to infiltrate the Rohault Army, was shaken to the very depths of his soul in plete and utter fear.

  Previously, he would've sidered himself a highly experienced warrior who couldn't be taken aback by much, but never in his life had he seen a massacre quite like this.

  It had to be remembered that even the weakest members of their squad were at the sixth rank. With that kind of strength, they'd be respected almost ahey went on the ti a every single member of their elite squad was pletely massacred. Still, the thing that really put the fear of god into him was that, despite not being able to see his attacker's face, he could sehe pleasure he took from hearing the screams of each of his victims.

  "Devil… You… You're the Devil," Haruol muttered, his fear keeping him from f full cohereences.

  "I don't have time for this," Ace said as his rising killing i forced the lone survivor to stop his rambling. "Tell me what I want to know, or I'll show you a fate far worse thah!"

  If his loved ones from his previous life saw Aow, they would be hard-pressed tnise him at that moment. Even in the face of Bckbeard, the man who killed his good friend and fellow Whitebeard Pirate ahatch, the anger he felt couldn't even begin to pare to the anger he felt after finding out the truth about his mother's past.

  And then, finding out about what that same family had doo his master, his anger was right at boiling point. If it weren't for his having a first-hao how his impulsive as could affect those he cared about in his previous life, Ace would've long since sughtered a crimson path into the O'Brien Empire.

  They might not know it, but his desire to keep his loved ones free from harm was ag like an anchor keeping him grounded and preventing him from giving in to his wrathful desires. That being said, he would still take every opportunity he could to vent in the most brutal ossible.

  "No, stop. I'll talk…" Haruol hurriedly excimed when he heard Ace's voice. It was almost as if he wanted him not to talk.

  "… And that's everything I know," Haruol expined. "Please, I'm begging you. Don't kill me!"

  "Don't worry, I won't kill you," Ace replied, taking off the interspatial ring oeam leader's finger as well as the man's head st them both in his own spatial ring. "I still need you to retell everything you told me to the Rohault army's higher-ups."

  With that, Ace disappeared with the O'Brien spy, hurriedly heading back to his own team, ign the growing fear and ay of his hostage. It for debate which he was most scared of, Ace or the Rohault Army, a group he knew hated nothing more than traitors, but whehought back to everything Ace had doo his rades, he couldn't help but wish Ace would move faster.

  Subsciously, Haruol believed that whatever happeo him after being handed over, it would be infinitely better than what Ace had inteo do to him.

  .

  .

  .

  "What's taking that Ace fellow so long?" Chukaya asked, giving voice to his obvious displeasure.

  Unfortunately for him, he was all but ignored by the rest of the team, as none of the others could be bothered to care about his s, but before he could say anything else, Leo suddenly raised his head to look in the dire Ace had left from.

  "What is it?" Amira asked. "Is Ace heading back?"

  Seeing the horse-sized lion nod its head, everyouro look in the dire it was staring, only to see Ace making their way towards them, leaving a faint afterimage with every step he took, causing both Ebeze and Chukaya to stare in amazement.

  They khat with the speed he exhibited when leaving, Ace must've used a movement teique, and from what limited information they had about the Yin-Yang Pavilioher were too surprised that Ace had access to one.

  Still, because Ace had left in such a hurry, they weren't able to truly appreciate how impressive it was before, but now…

  Movement teiques that could be used without battle-qi were exceedingly rare, but as one of the most powerful forces on the ti, their Rohault Empire also had oill, they only needed one look at the way Ace was able to casually travel over 30 meters with each step to uand that theirs wasn't as impressive as his.

  The truth was, their [Evanesg Step] was a lot more plicated than [Soru], but it was the simplicity of [Soru] that made it so special. The more steps you could take in one go, the faster you could move, whiherently made it so that whilst skill and prehension pyed a big part in one's ability to use it, the higher one's warrior cultivation realm, and in turn one's raw speed, the better their [Soru] would be.

  Ace ighe shock of the two Rohault talents as he casually threw Haruol on the floor in front of his team, and then with a flick of his wrist, he removed the ste riaken from Haruol's now deceased team leader and tossed it to Killian.

  "Here, you have this," Ace said casually, ign the shocked expressions of Ebeze, Chukaya, and Haruol.

  To be fair, their shock was uandable. It had to be remembered that the only group of people that one could definitely expect to find a ste ring on were saints.

  Not only were they unbelievably rare, they were also incredibly expensive. Mahy noble families would have to sell all their belongings just to afford one, but because of that, the cheapest way to get your hands on one was to do as Ace had dowice already and steal it. So unless one had the corresponding strength, just owning one would put a target on your back.

  Both Chukaya and Ebeze could be sidered nobles with powerful backgrounds, yet her of them could even hope to get oil they reached at least the eighth rank. The only reason Amira had one was because she had two saint-level parents – you'd o have a death wish to even attempt to steal hers!

  The one Ace had stolen from Haruol's team leader wasn't even his in the first pce. Instead, it had been loao him by one of his superiors for the purpose of their mission.

  So to see Ace give it away so casually was nothing short of astounding, but her Killian nor Amira batted an eyelid. Killian simply dripped a drop of blood on it to bond with it, whilst Amira was more focused on the man on the ground.

  "Who's this?"

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  P.atreon./ACoilingDragon

  Book 6: Chapter 4 – Son of Heaven