Eternal Thief

The Corpse Puppets possessed tremendous advantages, and because of it, high-ranking Corpse Cultivators like the Corpse Commanders rarely risked their true bodies on the battlefield.

Instead, they refined substitute corpse vessels before splitting a fragment of their undead soul and integrating it into those puppets.

After countless years of refinement, the split soul and puppet became one, allowing them to unleash nearly all of their combat strength while keeping their true corpse vessel and complete undead soul hidden safely away.

It was an almost flawless substitute technique. Yet that advantage carried an equally terrifying weakness: it was a taboo spell.

In truth, if the split undead soul were destroyed before returning to the original soul, the damage would become permanent, and unlike ordinary soul injuries, this wound wasn’t merely spiritual.

It was an incompleteness of existence itself. An unhealable scar upon the undead soul. Even if the original soul survived, it would remain incomplete forever. Such injuries couldn’t naturally recover.

Even the Corpse Governor would require hundreds of years and unimaginable treasures merely to repair a fraction of that damage.

As for the Fifth Corpse Commander, who was currently attempting to break into the Abyssal King Realm, the consequences were catastrophic, as the backlash alone would probably force him into seclusion for centuries.

His already slim chance of entering the Abyssal King Realm had now fallen below zero unless he somehow healed that terrifying soul scar. The Abyssal King Realm had become an impossible dream.

That’s why the Fourth Corpse Commander reacted so strongly and felt his entire undead heart sink with fear.

Terror finally surfaced in his mind as he no longer wished to continue fighting. He absolutely couldn’t afford to suffer the same fate while his own breakthrough was within reach.

But he also couldn’t retreat or flee the scene like this since all the high-ranking members behind him would be akin to fish on a chopping board against the Dread Duchess.

Without hesitation, he secretly transmitted a message toward Belfast.

"Send the remaining three Corpse Commanders immediately! This woman is beyond expectations! Only our true bodies can suppress her! But if all five of us descend personally with our original corpse vessels and complete undead souls, she will not be able to withstand us!"

Having sent the message, the Fourth Corpse Commander slowly began retreating as he no longer possessed any intention of exchanging blows with the Dread Duchess.

But he was cunning and wasn’t directly running away since he wanted to draw the Dread Duchess away from the first battlefront.

"Dread Duchess, if you have guts, try to catch me!" He taunted while trying to hide away his own unease and fear.

But the Dread Duchess calmly watched him withdraw as if she could guess what he was up to, and her devilish eyes were filled only with contempt.

A cold sneer escaped her lips as she mocked, "Trying to lure me away? How childish can you be?"

But instead of striking him down, she slowly lowered her bow and coldly challenged, "I know these are not your real bodies. So, I’ll give you a chance to bring your true bodies here since these empty toys will break just like this. No matter how many you send."

Her gaze pierced directly through countless layers of space, as though looking toward the hidden Corpse Commanders themselves.

"At least make things interesting. How about you send your cowardly Corpse Governor here? I’ve heard he has held quite the grudge against me and nursed his hatred for me for hundreds of years."

A chilling smile slowly appeared beneath her mask as she looked toward the distant Corpse Fortress, "Now is the perfect time for him to take his revenge for his beloved corpse bride."

Right after her contemptible declaration and open mockery, the battlefield fell deathly silent, and even the retreating Fourth Corpse Commander seemed to halt with utter astonishment.

The Dread Duchess had just openly issued a challenge against the Corpse Governor himself, without even putting the entire Corpse Clan in her eyes, as if they were all nothing but cannon fodder.

---

On the other hand, seeing all six Corpse Commanders suppressed almost immediately, and one of them even died under the Dread Duchess, the expressions of the Corpse Clan experts changed drastically.

The Corpse Clan seemed to know the gravity of the situation and their Corpse Commander’s predicament. Since the Evernight Dukes were so strong and couldn’t be suppressed, they decided to choose the next best thing to do for the sake of survival.

"This won’t work!"

One Abyssal Grand Lord shouted hysterically, "The commanders are buying time! Even if this meant getting killed, kill the trial participants!"

Almost simultaneously, hundreds of Corpse Clan Abyssal Lords, dozens of Abyssal Grand Lords, and countless Abyssal Guardians suddenly abandoned the frontlines.

Instead, they transformed into black streaks rushing toward the Evernight Trial participants scattered across every battlefield.

Their objective was obvious: if they couldn’t stop the Evernight Dukes, then they would massacre the younger generation.

After all, eliminating trial participants was their mission from the very beginning, but unfortunately for them, the Evernight Council had expected exactly this.

"Intercept them."

Cold voices echoed simultaneously.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

One after another, Evernight Council’s Abyssal Lords emerged from hidden positions, and Abyssal Grand Lords descended from the skies while the Elite Evernight Council experts immediately intercepted every advancing Corpse Clan powerhouse. Some were equally matched, while others were even stronger.

The battlefield instantly fragmented into thousands of individual life-and-death battles. Everywhere was filled with explosions, sword lights, corpse Qi, abyssal Qi, law clashes, blood, and death.

The true war seemed to have finally begun.

---

Above the First Battlefront, Eva quietly watched the regal Dread Duchess watching the entire Corpse Clan in contempt without any intention of interfering with the battlefield beneath her.

"She’ll probably be the next Evernight Devil King." Eva couldn’t help but comment with absolute certainty.

Ace also nodded as he had witnessed everything, and he had to admit the Dread Duchess really lived up to her name.

"Even though she’s confident and has the power to back it up, she’s too arrogant right now. Although I haven’t personally seen the Corpse Governor, he’s not as simple as those Corpse Commanders."

Eva didn’t refute that statement, but she had a feeling the Dread Duchess could still hold her ground against the engrammatic Corpse Governor.

At this moment, around them, the Evernight Council experts had already engaged the enemy’s Abyssal Lords, and there was no longer any reason to remain idle.

"Well, this has nothing to do with us anymore, has it?"

After her casual remark, Eva slowly looked toward Ace and finally spoke with a charming smile, "Let’s move."

Ace, still disguised as Kharon Veyth, respectfully lowered his head, "As my Lady commands."

The next moment, the two transformed into streaks of black light and descended directly into the First Battlefront.

Their targets were the Corpse Clan’s Abyssal Lord forces.

The moment they entered the battlefield, an overwhelming tide of Corpse Qi, murderous intent, and violent Law fluctuations crashed toward them from every direction.

Their first true battle, or pick-pocketing quest, had begun!

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