Eternal Thief

The Dread Duchess was in deep thought after witnessing Kharon taking down a Corpse General, someone with a major realm above him, with just three sword draws.

Moreover, she didn’t sense any hint of any unique spells that the Evernight Council had distributed to the trial participants before the war. Instead, Kharon had just used pure sword law, with a peculiar ’Abyssal Qi’ that even she couldn’t fathom.

’Just what kind of secret is he hiding? The unique Qi he used clearly seemed to have an overwhelming effect on Undead Soul and suppression force, so it couldn’t be merely a law but an innate ability.

’Yet his bloodline is rare at best. If the Weaponized Mystic Haven truly knew what kind of sword talent he possessed, he would be one of the Mystic Weapons instead of some insignificant outer disciple.’

The Dread Duchess concluded, her eyes sharpening as she looked at Kharon’s figure, impassively hovering in his place beneath the scattered shards of Corpse General.

’But if he had such a talent, why would he want to leave the Weaponized Mystic Haven, and why hadn’t he shown it until now? Unless...’

The Dread Duchess’s eyes instantly turned cold as a peculiar thought surfaced, and her gaze shifted to her cherished disciple, who was filled with pride.

’Did this degenerate have some thoughts about my naïve disciple?!’

The moment this thought occurred to her, the Dread Duchess wanted to execute Kharon right there and then, like a lioness protecting her cub. She even portrayed Eva as a naïve girl about to be tricked by a playboy.

But she quickly suppressed it and thought she was overthinking things because, first, Kharon wouldn’t dare cross that line even if he had a thousand guts, and second, Dread Duchess had never detected any degenerate emotions in Kharon.

However, for some reason, she couldn’t detect his Sword Heart or anything extraordinary about him, and now, all of a sudden, a strange thought surfaced in her mind.

’Maybe if Nomad or her maids were here, she wouldn’t have taken him in...’ The Dread Duchess’s thoughts.

She couldn’t help but think about the missing Nomad again, as, despite her initial suspicions, she had taken a liking to his character, and if this were Nomad instead of Kharon, she might’ve had a completely different opinion.

”So, master, are you satisfied?”

Dread Duchess’s strange train of thought was disrupted by Eva’s smug voice, and the former instantly felt irritated.

”Hmph, he’s passable, but tell him to know his place!” The Dread Duchess snorted coldly, leaving this cryptic remark.

Eva, on the other side of the battlefield, was startled when she sensed a hint of annoyance from the Dread Duchess’s voice. She didn’t know she had just barely let her affection for Ace slip, and Dread Duchess caught it.

However, since the Dread Duchess had little understanding of love and matters between a woman and a man, she couldn’t truly tell what it was, yet she still ended up almost making that assumption because of her terrifying comprehension.

Nonetheless, Eva didn’t care even if Dread Duchess would be suspicious of them; the latter could never confirm it.

In fact, this was even beneficial for them, because this way Dread Duchess would focus on their relationship, not on what was happening around them, like just now, when Eva pickpocketed the Corpse General’s storage ring under Dread Duchess’s scrutiny.

But they weren’t the only ones who had witnessed those three impossible sword draws.

---

Several dozen miles away. A group of Weaponized Mystic Haven disciples was weaving through the battlefield, deliberately avoiding the fiercest clashes as they searched for isolated Corpse Clan Abyssal Lords.

Leading them was none other than Vael Drakhar. The dark-scaled devil lazily scanned the battlefield, his golden eyes filled with confidence.

”This war isn’t ours.” His lips curved upward. ”We only need enough contribution points to secure outstanding evaluations. Leave the dangerous prey to the Evernight Earls.”

The surrounding disciples immediately nodded.

”As expected of Senior Brother Vael.”

”Wise.”

”There’s no need to risk ourselves.”

Just then, one disciple suddenly pointed into the distance.

”Senior Brother... look!”

Everyone instinctively turned, and their eyes immediately landed upon two familiar figures intercepting a Corpse General.

”...”

Vael frowned, ”Isn’t that the trash hunt?” His brows rose in surprise before his expression quickly became amused, ”So the little Hunt survived after all.”

His gaze then shifted toward the veiled woman standing beside Kharon. He couldn’t sense her identity beneath the veil, nor did he recognize the Evil Diva

”A mere Abyssal Grandmaster...” He sneered, ”So another Hunt.”

One disciple immediately laughed, ”They actually teamed up.”

”Trash really does gather together.”

Another disciple couldn’t help but mock, ”I suppose birds of a feather flock together.”

The group burst into laughter.

However, the laughter slowly disappeared because they watched the veiled woman calmly point toward the Corpse General.

Even from this distance, they could read her body language perfectly. She wasn’t preparing to fight, but she was giving orders.

”...”

Vael’s smile gradually faded. ”Did...did she just order that trash to fight?”

The surrounding disciples blinked.

”She can’t be serious...”

”That’s a Corpse General.”

”A Sixth-Star Abyssal Lord...”

”Even Senior Brother Vael wouldn’t confront one head-on.”

Another disciple subconsciously nodded.

”Only an idiot would challenge something like that.”

Vael crossed his arms while shaking his head, ”So that’s it. That trash became someone else’s expendable shield.”

A cruel smile appeared, ”What a fitting end. Even I almost pity him.”

The others nodded in agreement.

”He’ll probably die within a single exchange.”

”I doubt he’ll even leave a corpse.”

Some even chuckled openly.

”What a waste.”

Far away, they saw Kharon calmly step forward; he neither hesitated nor looked back as he simply accepted the order.

Vael almost laughed aloud, ”What an obedient fool.”

But just the Corpse General attacked, or that was what everyone believed, because in the next instant, a faint streak of black lightning flashed.

”....”

It appeared and disappeared before everything returned to silence.

”...?”

Vael frowned, ”What was that?”

Even with his Initial Sword Heart, he had only sensed an indescribably condensed Sword Intent erupt for the briefest instant before vanishing completely. It was so fast that even his perception almost failed to catch it.

His pupils shrank, ”No... that...”

Before he could finish, the Corpse General’s arm quietly fell.

”...”

The laughter disappeared as every Weaponized Mystic Haven disciple froze, and no one spoke or even blinked. Their eyes remained fixed upon the battlefield.

Right at that moment, the second black lightning appeared, and again, no sword slash or movement. Only silence before another arm fell.

The disciples collectively forgot how to breathe.

”...”

”...”

”W-What...”

One disciple’s lips trembled violently.

Vael’s pupils had already contracted to needlepoints. Unlike everyone else, he possessed a Sword Heart. Although only at the Initial Stage, it allowed him to glimpse something none of the others could.

During those fleeting instants, he had felt the Sword Intent so absolute, so pure, and so overwhelming that his own Sword Heart had instinctively trembled.

It wasn’t fear born from Vael himself; it was instinct. The instinct of a weaker sword acknowledging something infinitely superior. His entire body became cold.

But then, something even more horrifying occurred. The life sword sleeping within his Sword Heart suddenly trembled violently.

The sword’s cries echoed throughout his soul. However, not with excitement or battle intent, but with regret and a profound lament, as though it were grieving, and had finally encountered the swordsman it had always wished to follow, only to realize it had already acknowledged someone else.

’No...’ Vael’s expression instantly became deathly pale, and his breathing became ragged, ’My sword?! Is it rejecting me?’

The life sword continued to shake uncontrollably, but it wasn’t trying to betray him, since that was impossible. Rather, it was lamenting the fate that prevented it from following the true master of the sword.

That silent figure, standing beneath the drifting ashes...Kharon Veyth!

”No...” Vael whispered as cold sweat drenched his entire back, ”This...this is impossible...”

At that moment, the third draw descended, and the Corpse General split apart into body and soul before everything vanished, and absolute silence followed.

Only then did Vael finally recover from his daze, but his legs nearly gave out beneath him, and his eyes never left Kharon’s unmoving figure.

’An...Advanced Sword Heart!? No...it has to be! But how? ”How could that trash...’

His mind descended into complete chaos because that insignificant outer disciple, that Hunt, that trash he had ridiculed only moments ago, had actually been hiding such terrifying swordsmanship.

The disciples behind Vael naturally couldn’t sense everything he had.

Yet they weren’t fools, as they saw that every Evernight Earl had stopped moving, and even the Evernight Marquises had looked toward Kharon. That alone was enough to tell them that something unimaginable had just occurred.

One disciple swallowed hard.

”S-Senior Brother...”

”That...”

”...was really the same person?”

Another disciple’s face became completely bloodless.

”We...we mocked him...!”

No one refuted him because everyone knew that had they truly encountered Kharon alone rather than left, they might already be dead. The realization made every one of them shiver.

Meanwhile, Vael remained rooted in place, staring blankly into the distance, and, for the first time in his life, his pride as one of the Ten Mystic Weapons took an unprecedented blow.

The genius he had looked down upon had revealed a sword intent that made even his own Sword Heart bow in silent terror!