Eternal Thief

Chapter 1436: Three Strata of Abyss

Bathed in perpetual twilight, the Abyss of Wandering Souls stretched endlessly beneath a canopy of darkness pierced only by the crimson glow of the Eternal Moons.

These twin celestial bodies bled light like oozing wounds in the void, casting everything in an eerie luminescence that neither comforted nor illuminated. No stars adorned the sky, and the absence of a horizon made direction meaningless.

Forests of bone-pale trees shimmered under soul mist, their leaves chittering with the cries of forgotten spirits. Fields of ghost light flora swayed without wind. Crystalline lakes, black as ink, mirrored not the sky above but flickers of memories long-lost.

At times, entire landscapes shifted without warning—solid ground turning into void, waterfalls reversing midair, and soul winds sweeping across to erase any trace of presence.

Time here was broken. Seasons did not exist. Only silence and sorrow reigned, punctuated by the wails of wandering souls and the occasional pulse of abyssal spirit Qi rising from unseen depths.

The Abyss of Wandering Souls was a vast, layered dimension of chaos and despair, akin to a chaotic battlefield where the living and the dead, the mindless and the intelligent, the cursed and the damned all coexisted in a cycle of endless predation.

This abyss was divided into three major strata, not by landmass, but by levels of sanity, corruption, and control.

First, the Strata of the Mindless. These are the edge territories of the abyss, a sprawling wasteland of blackened stone, bleeding skies, floating soul fragments, and bottomless pits. Here dwell the Mindless Abyssal Creatures—soulless husks, parasitic soul-beasts, and malformed monsters that act purely on instinct.

In this place, time and space distort randomly. Abyssal storms roam freely, bringing corruption and mutation—the corrupted abyssal Qi, poisonous even to the weak-willed.

These lands act as a barrier zone between the abyss and the outer realms. Constantly shift, merge, and collapse under the influence of soul storms. Dangerous but relatively predictable for high-level beings.

Second, Strata of the Lost, where the Wandering Souls reside—those beings were rumored to be those who failed reincarnation, resisted death, or were shattered by forbidden laws. They drift across broken landscapes as remnants of immense power and madness.

This place was filled with ever-shifting Soul Graveyards, Soul Tempests, and Memory Labyrinths. Wandering Souls possess partial consciousness and can manipulate the surrounding reality, making them the most dangerous entities in the abyss.

Legends have it that the Abyss of Wandering Souls got its name because this realm is where the boundary between death and the afterlife failed completely. These souls neither moved on nor perished but became immortal terrors.

There were many corruption zones, known as the Wandering Realms of spiritual entropy. The moment a living or intelligent being tries to inhabit these areas, their soul begins to corrode, and their sanity erodes due to residual corruption.

The reason intelligent races avoid the Strata of the Lost isn’t because of a lack of power, but the sheer unpredictability. Every few years, massive Soul Stampedes destroy any standing power not shielded by top-tier soul formations or abyssal arrays.

Moreover, the Wandering Souls’ territory is resistant to the imposition of new laws. Attempting to build formations or territories in these areas without a foundation of devoured soul laws results in total failure. Only after absorbing enough Wandering Souls can a region be ’stabilized’ and turned into habitable land.

Last but not least, Strata of the Civilized Realms, also known as Abyssal Plains. These plains are bastions of law and structure. Home to the intelligent races like the Abyssal Devil Race, Abyssal Fiend Race, and Abyssal Demon Race.

These civilizations built their cities atop the skeletons of old soul emperors and enslaved the edges of the Wandering Realms.

The Strata of the Civilized Realm was special because it was protected by a mysterious power that prevented wandering souls from entering.

Despite its dreadful presence, the Abyss of Wandering Souls was teeming with life—if such twisted, mutated, and soul-bound existences could be called ’life’. Here, strength dictated survival, and the strong forged kingdoms over the shattered bones of the weak.

In these endless, eerie landscapes, the Evernight Council’s dominion was massive. It was not a mere kingdom—it was a colossal, ever-shifting empire etched into the bones of the Abyss of Wandering Souls.

Spanning nearly a third of the Abyssal Plains, the Council’s domain encompassed dozens of powerful realms, fragmented lands, floating sanctuaries, cursed rivers, and ancient soul forests.

The terrain defied mortal geography, shaped by twisted laws, corrupted by residual abyssal spirit Qi, and molded by the will of its rulers—the Abyssal Fiends, Demons, and Devils.

Top members of the Evernight Council oversaw each territory. These members belonged to at least the Lord Circle and governed a specific stratum of this empire, with increasing levels of authority, power, and Abyssal Spirit Qi.

Among the countless territories governed under the Evernight Council, one nation stood out like a black crown rising from the soul-choked marshes: The Obsidian Myriad Kingdom.

Located at the heart of the Evernight Council’s territory, the Obsidian Myriad Kingdom was built upon a colossal floating landmass known as the Souldrift Shelf—a slab of continent-sized obsidian rock suspended by thousands of bound abyssal spirits.

Its cities were carved directly into the rock, layered downward in concentric rings, each level reserved for different races, castes, and strengths.

The Obsidian Myriad Kingdom was known for its Soul Crafts & Blood Contracts. The kingdom specialized in creating soul-bound artifacts and weaving blood contracts that even the Abyssal Grand Lords feared.

The Obsidian Myriad Kingdom was a treasure trove of abyssal resources. The Evernight Crystals, Soulblood Ores, and Phantom Lotus Seeds were traded under the strict supervision of the council.

Only those who wore a recognized Evernight Contract Seal could engage in trade without being executed on sight.

Even among abyssal nations, the Obsidian Myriad Kingdom was a force to be feared. Its capital, Myriad Hollow, was a labyrinthine metropolis of bone towers, soul-refining temples, and grand law halls dedicated to the Abyssal Order.

Because of the importance of the Obsidian Myriad Kingdom, at the Myriad Hollow’s core stood the Throne of Ten Thousand Screams, a pyramid-like fortress where the Dread Duchess Varathia, a Half-Step Abyssal King and member of the Evernight Council’s King Circle, governed this territory!