Ace's rage was instantly reflected by the thief's house as the gloomy darkness covered the entire hall, and it wasn't just Ace but the other house members, except for the newcomer, Zaria, who all showed similar reactions to Ace.
After all, Noa was the first member of the Thief House and extremely loyal to Ace; not only that, but Noa was the only one who never showed any kind of ambition except for her overwhelming sense of duty to protect Ace, and she never had any conflict with anyone unless someone goes against Ace.
Moreover, there was another thing that only Alina and Eva knew: Ace was going to accept Noa's feelings, but he never got the appropriate opportunity, especially after they entered the Mortal Ascension Heaven. Everyone chose their own paths to become more powerful, and Ace also influenced these decisions.
'It seemed she's been hit with poison and a curse like Qi…'
Ace quickly used his house interface, entered the thief assassin's shop, and bought compatible pills in her shop. Taking the pill, Ace imbued his primordial Qi into it, turning it into dense mist, and sent it directly into Noa's mingled body.
The system's pill was extremely effective as Noa's wounds instantly began to heal, and even her dismembered hand quickly grew back. Furthermore, Noa was practicing a new demon physique technique of ascension grade, and she was already an Ascension Grand General, so her vitality was extremely tenacious.
Furthermore, if someone else was in her state, they would've lost consciousness long ago or were crying in pain, but Noa was completely conscious and didn't even squeak; she only seemed to be exhausted.
Ace looked at Noa in her arms; her mask that she usually wore was cracked, yet her pitch-black eyes were clear as she was looking at him gently, making Ace's heartache with guilt.
"Who did this to you?" Ace softly asked as the house members surrounded them and waited for Noa to speak.
Noa seemed to have recovered her energy with the pill as she pushed Ace back and stood on her own. She nodded towards Ace, "Thank you for your grace, Leader."
Then she looked at the house members and said, "Don't worry, everyone, this was because of my own negligence. Let's sit, and I'll explain."
"Tsk, she's still acting like nothing happened," Winter muttered with a frown.
As she wasn't expecting to encounter something moment, she answered Ace's summoning, and she thought she was summoned here because of this and no longer showed any annoyance.
Freya gently hit Winter with her shoulder and sent a spirit transmission, "Why are you being so mean? I can tell you are worried about her despite your comment, right?"
Winter, whose head was covered in her hood and face hidden behind the Faceless Mask, instantly retorted through spirit transmission, "What are you talking about?! Do you want to be in the same state as her?"
Freya snickered playfully, "Well, someone is embarrassed. Do you want a huge?"
"Freya! If you continue, I'll cut ties with you!" Winter glared at Freya.
Everyone gathered around the table at this moment, but the atmosphere was cynical. Ace looks at Noa and waits for her explanation, while Zaria looks at Noa with curiosity.
'Although they seemed like a chaotic bunch, they seemed reliable and cared about their own. Furthermore, that woman smells just like those evil path races; which race does she belong to? And with how that scoundrel leader reacted just now, don't tell me it's another one of his 'girlfriends'?'
Zaria wondered before she glanced at Winter, and she couldn't even sense any kind of fluctuations from her; it was like she wasn't even a living being, making her feel the creeps.
Noa looked at Ace and didn't do anything to tell how worried and enraged he was, and she felt warmth in her heart.
"The reason for my injuries was because I was ambushed by a 9-Star Ascension Grandmaster and the leader of the Fiend Assassin Guild," Noa stated impassively.
Ace's eyes narrowed as a hint of sharp intent flashed past his eyes, "Why would they attack you? Did your identity get exposed? And where is Thomas?"
Noa shook her head as she replied, "No, actually, they attacked me because they felt threatened by how much the higher-ups behind the Fiend Assassin Guild were favoring me, and because of it, I'll be able to join the main power behind the Fiend Assassin Guild the moment I became an Ascension Master within five years.
"My relationship with the Leader of the Fiend Assassin Guild was never good, to begin with, so he just decided to get rid of me before I became too powerful to threaten him and snatch away his positions, and the Ascension Grandmaster was his backer.
"As for Thomas, I have him play a double agent, pretending to betray me while keeping an eye on their movements. While also for his own protection since he was still quite weak enough to handle those Ascension Masters."
"Heh, a typical power struggle. Those fools wouldn't have guessed that sister Noa had no interest in a power struggle. But your move to use Thomas was extremely wise." Freya nodded with a hint of disbelief, as she wasn't expecting this kind of play from Noa. Ace frowned, "Then he didn't inform you about their intentions to ambush you?"
"He might not even know since why would they reveal they would assassinate Noa?" Alina presumed, and others agreed with her.
But unexpectedly, Noa shook her head and calmly said, "No, I plan my own ambush despite his protest."
Including everyone else, Ace was dumbfounded when he heard this shocking fact. He almost laughed out loud and berated her, "You daredevil! So, you plan your own demise?!"
Noa calmly nodded under Ace's furious eyes, "It was necessary to draw out the one behind the leader and uncover the power behind the Fiend Assassin Guild."
Eva sternly stated, "But it was reckless, and if I Ace hadn't summoned you, you would've ended up in the worst situation. You should've called Ace!"
Noa glanced at Eva and coldly retorted, "I know I was reckless, but I know my own capabilities, and that's probably why Leader entrusted me with this task. Besides, it all worked out in the end. I managed to kill the Leader while also maiming the Ascension Grandmaster before escaping. It's just that I've overestimated my abilities; I shouldn't have confronted him recklessly.
"As for why I didn't contact the Leader, you should be more aware of how much we all need to make our own decision because Thief House is no longer playing Mortal Sky Heaven's field.
"You also went to the Abyss alone without any backup, knowing how dangerous it would be. If we can't even do this much and must call for the Leader every time we encounter a little trouble, what's the point in being his helpers? Shouldn't we stay in the protection of Thief's House?"
Noa looked at Freya, Alina, and Winter, who looked at her with a hint of astonishment and asked, "Aren't we all doing the same? Especially after knowing who our enemy is? In the face of such an 'enemy,' this much danger is nothing!"