Eternal Thief

Chapter 1638: The Sky Stealer in Undead Cradle! (4)

The moment Corpse Governor arrived, the entire cavern seemed to bow under his presence, which seemed to become even more majestic as his terrifying spiritual pressure amplified even more through every one of his Corpse Puppets!

His towering figure appeared before the violently stabilized portal, corpse flames roaring like a storm given form. The blazing spatial passage reflected in his hollow eyes.

For a single heartbeat, everything went still before killing intent erupted as it wasn’t contained or controlled, for it flooded outward like a collapsing ocean as his Law Sense spread across every inch of the vicinity, sweeping, tearing, probing for even the faintest anomaly.

But in the end, he found nothing, not even a trace of anomaly, and the silence that followed was suffocating.

”Sky Stealer!” Abruptly, his voice exploded, echoing through the fractured domain, ”Is that your name!? Come out and face me!”

Madness and hatred twisted every word, shaking the space itself, but no response came, not even an echo beyond his own.

The Corpse Governor’s expression contorted further, something dark and uncertain creeping into his mind. His gaze snapped back to the portal, corpse flames narrowing sharply.

’Could it be...?!’ His thoughts raced violently, ’If that ’Sky Stealer’ truly is the entity sealed within the Undead Heart Seal... then everything made sense. The impossible disappearance, the unseen movements, and now this flawless evasion. Just like before, always beyond detection!’

”The last time as well...” He muttered hoarsely, eyes flickering with realization as he looked at the portal grimly, ”That portal didn’t close immediately, which meant this passage might still remain open for a set duration!”

The moment this realization settled, a vicious light surged in his eyes. But he had already tested it earlier, when he used a corpse puppet to probe; the Qi had been instantly repelled.

However, something was different now as the Undead Heart Seal and the core formation were gone, so everything tied to them should be destabilized, just as the exchange platform’s vulnerability.

”...It might be different now.” He muttered with a hint of hope.

The next moment, without hesitation, he commanded one of the corpse puppets, and it stepped forward, its massive arm extending toward the portal.

But, the moment it made contact, ’BANG!’, just like what happened with the giant skeleton, the corpse puppet’s arm violently deflected as if space itself rejected its existence.

The Corpse Governor froze for half a breath, and then, rage detonated.

”ATTACK!”

All remaining corpse puppets unleashed their full power as waves of Corpse Qi crashed against the portal like a storm of annihilation, distorting space and cracking the already broken platform further.

But it wasn’t enough as it didn’t even tremble, and that’s when the Corpse Governor moved.

His corpse flames surged to an unnatural intensity as ancient, forbidden runes ignited across his body. The surrounding Corpse Qi twisted violently, gathering into something dark, something absolute...he was casting a Forbidden Spell!

”Grave King Annihilation Art...!” The air collapsed inward, ”...Death Star Annihilation!”

The next moment, a colossal mass of condensed Corpse Qi formed above him, rotating like a black star of death.

It pulsed once, and then it descended.

’BOOOOOOM—!’

The entire cavern caved in as the ceiling shattered, the ground collapsed, and a massive crater formed as the forbidden spell unleashed the power of an Abyssal King, swallowing everything in its path.

For a moment, nothing remained but dust and ruin, but when the dust slowly settled, the portal remained untouched and unshaken!

The Corpse Governor’s body trembled.

”...No...”

His voice cracked.

”...No...!”

His flames flared wildly, unstable, as disbelief twisted into something far worse.

”NOOOOOOOOO—!!!”

The roar tore through the entire Lower Grave Strata, reverberating across every layer like a declaration of fury and despair.

---

Meanwhile, within the spatial passage, Ace moved like a streak of absolute darkness. The tunnel stretched endlessly, currents of distorted space flowing around him in controlled chaos.

But suddenly, the passage trembled, and a violent shudder ran through the tunnel, the walls warping for a split second as if reality itself had been struck.

Ace’s heart skipped, ’Don’t tell me it’s because of the formation core?!’

For a fleeting moment, he thought the collapse of the Undead Boundary had finally caught up to him, but just as quickly, everything stabilized, and the tunnel returned to its previous state, as if nothing had happened.

Ace’s eyes narrowed beneath the hood as he couldn’t know that what he just felt was the aftermath of a forbidden spell powerful enough to tear apart a whole region.

Nor did he know that the Central Repository, despite being connected to the Undead Boundary, was still an independent treasure, sustained by its own rules and power source.

It wouldn’t collapse so easily. But it also wouldn’t last forever without the core formation feeding it; its functions would slowly degrade before it would detach from the Lower Grave Strata entity. Still, it would take a very long time.

Ace didn’t dwell on it because he couldn’t afford to, as a single thought made him anxious...

’This passage might collapse!’

The next moment, his speed surged again as Dark Tempest pushed to its limit, while the Lawless Darkness held firm.

But beneath it all, a deeper urgency burned with a grim expression as he thought, ’What if he follows...? After all, the Corpse Governor is no ordinary existence. If there is even a slight chance that the portal would lose its protection.

’Even if he were committing suicide, if he dared to enter the Central Repository without a proper key or protection, it’s become uncertain after I took the Undead Boundary’s core formation.’

Just that thought was enough for Ace to give it his all and quicken his pace, for he didn’t want to risk it.

After a few minutes of anxiously rushing, the end of the passage finally appeared as Ace saw a faint opening with a familiar light.

Without hesitation, Ace stepped through, and in the next moment, the vast, silent world of the Central Repository unfolded before him once again.

But before anything else, Ace made a decisive choice as he looked back at the still-opened portal of Terminal No.47, and there were still a minute or a few seconds left before it would be closed.

He ordered coldly with a hint of urgency, ”System closed this portal!”