Eternal Thief

When the six corpse puppets of the Half-Abyssal King Realm showed up and the Evernight Dukes descended to counter them, everyone on the battlefield felt their presence, and almost all the battles stopped.

After all, for all the participants, and even the members of the Evernight Council, watching so many Evernight Dukes in action was an extremely rare sight, and even among the Corpse Clan, the Corpse Commanders rarely move personally.

Watching the clash of life and death between the Half-Abyssal Kings was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because of their profound realm and insights into the laws, and just by witnessing it, those lower realm cultivators could gain tremendously.

However, unlike them, Ace and Eva were different: they both had their own unique paths, and the laws they cultivated were a rarity among rarities, but that didn’t mean they weren’t going to take advantage of this situation and miss this rare opportunity.

Moreover, before descending, the Dread Duchess had ordered Eva to watch carefully as she was going to use the Void Annihilation Trinity Scripture to deal with two of the Half-Abyssal King Realm corpse puppets.

After all, the Dread Duchess wasn’t even afraid of real Half-Abyssal Kings, much less mere substitute puppets.

Lastly, the Dread Duchess seemed to know that the high-ranking cultivators of the Corpse Clan would also show up now, so she also told her to move as she pleased as long as she was careful and wouldn’t pick an opponent out of her league.

As for Kharon Veyth or Ace, the Dread Duchess didn’t even glance at him and probably left it to Eva to decide, as she didn’t have high hopes for him to survive.

Now, after witnessing the scene of the Dread Duchess descending and facing two Corpse Commanders’ corpse puppets, and their subordinate showing up, Eva and Ace’s eyes flickered with a peculiar glimmer.

”How lively, should we join in as well?” Eva playfully asked Ace.

Ace’s eyes shimmered thievishly, ”I guess it won’t hurt to show off a little since it’s been a while since I’ve confronted an opponent. It’s a great opportunity to test my swordplay.”

Eva couldn’t help but snicker as she commented, ”Oh, don’t you mean a great opportunity to pick-pocket and then silence the victim?”

Ace’s smile widened as he shrugged his shoulders, ”It won’t hurt to do both, but I’m going to sit this one out. In fact, I’ve already gathered enough Thief Points for myself, so I’ll leave all these free house points to you. Not to mention, there is still a risk of exposing myself if someone manages to escape. So, I’ll draw attention, and you’ll do the pick-pocketing.”

Eva’s eyes shone brightly when she heard it, as happiness bloomed in her heart, but not because Ace was giving her house points, but because they were finally going to steal together.

”I guess I’d better perform well for my house leader.” Eva seductively stated.

Ace quickly sensed the underlying meaning behind her words and couldn’t help but feel a little flushed, but quickly calmed himself since it wasn’t a place to flirt around.

”Alright, focus, they’re about to begin!” Ace’s tone turned solemn as he looked at the Dread Duchess!

---

Soon, the battlefield descended into complete chaos.

The moment the first exchange between the Evernight Dukes and the Corpse Commanders erupted, the entire Upper Ancient Battlefield seemed to split apart under the weight of their overwhelming might.

Unlike ordinary Corpse Cultivators, the Corpse Commanders never revealed their true bodies. Towering in front of the Corpse Clan’s battle lines stood six gigantic Corpse Puppet Vessels.

Each puppet was over thirty meters tall, forged from unknown black corpse bones, ancient abyssal metals, and pulsating crimson corpse veins that crawled across their massive frames like living serpents. Their hollow eyes burned with emerald corpse flames while terrifying corpse formations rotated beneath their armored feet.

Every movement released earth-shaking tremors, and every breath exhaled dense Corpse Qi as they looked less like cultivators and more like walking calamities.

Within every puppet rested a part of the consciousness of a Corpse Commander, while the real bodies of those commanders remained hidden deep inside the Lower Grave Strata, desperately attempting to break into the Abyssal King Realm.

These were merely their battle vessels, yet each possessed genuine Half-Abyssal King combat power.

The Seventh Corpse Commander moved first as its enormous skeletal palm descended from above, dragging countless corpse chains that transformed into an endless cemetery, attempting to suppress Eastern Battlefront entirely.

Standing opposite him, the Yin Duchess merely sighed with disgust, ”So uncivilized brutes...”

Without even drawing a weapon, she slowly raised one delicate finger, and the surrounding temperature instantly plummeted.

Everything, space, Qi, and even sound seemed to freeze, and a single pale snowflake drifted downward.

”CRACK!”

The entire cemetery shattered into billions of frozen fragments before the skeletal giant itself was blasted thousands of meters backward, layers of corpse armor exploding apart.

The Yin Duchess calmly lowered her hand and disdainfully stated, ”It seems your corpse isn’t fresh enough.”

Her tone carried pure contempt.

...

On the western battlefront, the Enchantress Demon Duchess giggled as her enchanting laughter echoed across heaven and earth.

”My, my...you ugly little things have ruined my eyes.”

The Eighth and Ninth Corpse Commanders erupt with killing intent after being underestimated.

The Eight Corpse Commander suddenly roared before unleashing endless corpse beasts that covered the horizon like a black tide.

But instead of showing panic, fear, or retreating, the Enchantress Demon Duchess simply smiled. Her beautiful eyes glowed with strange pink demonic runes.

”Sleep!” Her one word seemed to stir the laws themselves and invoke a profound power.

The next moment, the entire battlefield fell silent; the charging corpse beasts suddenly stopped, and then, one after another, they began attacking each other instead.

Madness spread like a plague as even the gigantic Corpse Puppets of the Eighth and Ninth Corpse Commanders suddenly hesitated as countless illusion flowers bloomed across their vision.

The Ninth Corpse Commander instantly realized something was wrong.

”My consciousness...!” His roar quickly turned into panic.

The Enchantress Demon Duchess covered her mouth while laughing.

”Oh dear...you’ve become confused already?”

The illusion only deepened.

...

Far away, on the Southern Battlefront, the Corpse Duke quietly stood before the Sixth Corpse Commander.

Neither moved immediately, as, unlike the others, both seemed to have cultivated corpse-related abilities as the battlefield between them became eerily silent.

The Sixth Corpse Commander’s hollow eyes seemed to flicker with astonishment as he couldn’t help but ask with resentment and killing intent, ”Why? Why are you following the Evernight Council?! Aren’t those hypocrites claimed to be our enemies, the Undead Race? Then why are they allowing someone like you among their ranks!? And you have become their slave!?”

The Sixth Corpse Commander unleashed rivers of Corpse Qi.

The Corpse Duke didn’t seem to be interested in explaining himself as he answered with equally terrifying death Qi.

The two opposing authorities collided invisibly.

”BOOOOOOM!!”

Invisible shockwaves ripped across hundreds of kilometers, mountains collapsed, and the earth split open, with countless lower cultivators hurriedly escaping before being reduced to dust by the collision alone.

The Corpse Duke finally spoke calmly, ”You’re wrong. I’m not an Undead Cultivator, and don’t put me in the same league as a filthy corpse cultivator like yourself. For you imitate death, when I...embody it!”

The next moment, an enormous black coffin phantom descended from heaven, and the Sixth Corpse Commander’s puppet immediately groaned beneath unimaginable suppression.

...

Finally, the battlefield belonging to the First Battlefront, sitting on her crimson throne, before the Fourth and Fifth Corpse Commanders, the Dread Duchess remained motionless.

The gigantic Corpse Puppets of the Fourth and Fifth Corpse Commanders seemed to recognize the Dread Duchess!

Without wasting a single moment, the Fifth Corpse Commander immediately swung an enormous corpse halberd.

The strike split the sky apart, and the surrounding Grand Abyssal Lords instantly retreated.

Yet, the Dread Duchess merely glanced upward and tapped her slender finger on the throne’s armrest.

’Tap...’

Only a single tap, and an overwhelming scarlet killing intent erupted from her body like an endless ocean before A colossal crimson devil phantom appeared behind her!