The Azure Patriarch, Shane, was flying above the sky, leaving behind an azure streak, and had an ugly expression as his eyes were twinkling in azure while an active formation plate was in his hand.
Seemingly flustered, he flipped his hand, and a communication cube appeared, and he activated it.
"Did you find her?" He questioned grimly.
Another perplexed voice sounded in reply, "No, Patriarch, that Elven Queen used her life force to cast a secret skill. I can't find any traces even after using a secret skill of my own. It's been four days since she escaped. We should quit this and retune.
"Even if she had escaped, her vitality would be thoroughly damaged, her cultivation would regress, and all her treasure would be used just to keep her alive. So, she is no longer a threat to us.
"What we need to do is to focus on rooting out the devils and demons as well as found those two high-value targets. With the hunter princess in the mix, we would have enough leverage to hold off the three races until the Grand Elder returned.
"More importantly, we needed to draft a plan to retrieve the first elder's entourage safely, or it will all be for nothing. I'm pretty sure right about now; the other races will also be planning to intercept them."
The Azure Patriarch's eyes narrowed as he had already thought of this possibility. But he wanted to get rid of the variable like the Elven Queen or at least contain her so she won't cause any trouble for them.
Yet, not only she managed to escape despite their surprise attack, she even managed to flee from their sect's massive formation, just like how the Devil Duke and the Demon Princess.
This was the second defeat as well as a wound to Azure Patriarch's pride, who thought their sect formations were invincible under the Law Comprehension Realm.
Nevertheless, as the Second Azure Elder stated, it was not the time to hold grudges.
"Alright, call of the hunt. Let's retune and change the hunters' position before something like that happens again." He sternly commanded and turned around.
However, half an hour later, he received an unexpected call and received it with a frown, "9th Elder, is everything okay?"
An aged voice sounded riddled with panic, "No! Nothing is fine, Patriarch! Quickly come back, or the 3rd and 7th Elder might kill each other and thoroughly damage the peak court!"
Azure Patriarch's expression went ridged upon hearing this unexpected, absurd news, "Wait? Why in the world are they fighting?!"
"I don't know, but from how she's been madly cussing at him and had lost her reasons and burning her life force while completely putting her life on the line to kill the 3rd Elder. I think the 3rd Elder might've defiled the 7th Elder!" The 9th Azure Elder's grim voice filled with disgust rang.
Azure Patriarch almost fell from the sky, and his eyes went wide before fury surfaced, and he roared, shaking the surrounding, "HE DID WHAT!?!"
---
On the other side of the Azure Wind Continent, Winter and the three hunters were resting in an abandoned cavern.
Winter had just gotten off from the house call from Ace and couldn't help but grumble as she clearly felt uncomfortable with Ace's soft tone.
"Where are we going now?" Herman, who was sitting in a corner, couldn't help but question the hooded figure who gave him the creeps.
He never expected that the 7th Azure Elder was nothing but a pawn of this woman, and whether she was the real Faceless Thief or not, he couldn't be sure anymore. He had been under the impression that it would be hard for her to escape, and in the meantime, he could guide Alina away without her having to meet with Ace.
However, he was deadly wrong and even more alarmed by just how terrifying Ace's associates were, and he knew that meeting was inevitable.
Lillian was also completely awed by Winter's abilities and even wanted to befriend her, but that woman gave her unapproachable vibes.
As for Alina, she was still continuing her recovery, but she was somewhat vigilant of Winter and felt threatened because if such women surrounded Ace, then she was just above average, and it was completely unacceptable.
She never expected that her poor mortal brother, who always had spoken about righteousness and principles, would be turned out to be so extraordinary and become a terrifying existence like the Sky Stealer.
She even felt uneasy about Ace's relationship since it's been 16 years since the last time they met, and time changed many people.
Winter glared at the old hunter with coldness as her face was fully hidden. No one can tell what she looks like or guess her thoughts. She was sensing hostility from Herman, but he was being quite obedient, so she couldn't just act because of Ace's specific orders.
But she was keeping an eye on this old hunter, and if he did anything, she would not be merciful.
"Of course, we are leaving the continent. You might not know since you were trapped in that prison, but the continent is chaotic right now, and humans have turned into massive targets. So, this place is not safe, but it also gave us the chance to sneak away." Winter coldly stated.
Alina spoke at this moment, "Where is my brother?" She had a very bad feeling about it since Winter's words clearly implied that Ace wasn't present in the continent at all.
This made her feel somewhat sad since this could easily be taken as she was no longer his top priority, but she didn't want to believe it.
Winter then turned toward Alina, and she could feel her uneasiness and then remembered how happy Ace was and his message he wanted to rely on her.
If he had been all smug, she might've withheld it, but she didn't feel like it anymore.
Because she knew if he found that she had been antagonizing Alina and her attitude changed because of it, he might punish her severely because he clearly cared too much about that huntress.
"He's on his way but still quite far. But he did tell me to relay a message to his Lil sis. He said he's looking forward to finally meeting you."
Alina's sadness instantly vanished when she heard as her eyes turned into a crescent moon in happiness. It was like a massive relief washed over her when she heard those words.
She softly muttered, full of ecstasy and shyness, "I-I can't wait either!"
On the other hand, Herman's closed his eyes which were just lurking with foreboding gleam!
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