Eternal Thief

Far above the Upper Ancient Battlefield of the Undead Cradle, almost the Hunter’s Hunt trial grounds, within a suspended obsidian citadel anchored at the edge, the Midnight Duke stood in the heart of the trial’s control formation nexus.

The chamber was circular and vast, its ceiling formed from layered black crystal that refracted faint violet light into shifting constellations.

Below, an enormous formation array spread across the floor like a living map. Countless runic lines intertwined, forming districts, canyons, bone forests, ruined citadels, and marked entry points where participants had been scattered at the beginning of the trial.

Above the formation, dozens of projection screens floated, each linked to a Ring of Hunter, a Ring of Hunt, or key environmental points.

Every movement, every fluctuation of Abyssal Qi was recorded and relayed back to this chamber.

Around the perimeter stood the Midnight Duke’s most trusted subordinates, all cloaked in dark indigo robes bearing the crescent insignia of his division.

They operated smaller auxiliary arrays, adjusting spatial seals, stabilizing law turbulence, and marking the entered participants. Their expressions were cold and disciplined. No one spoke unnecessarily.

The entire Hunter’s Hunt was like a machine, and the Midnight Duke was its central cog. Directly appointed by the Evernight Fiend King himself, he oversaw the orchestration of this trial.

Every participant passed beneath his gaze before it would reach the Sanctuary’s final judgment.

His position was elevated upon a half-moon dais at the center of the chamber. Before him hovered the primary control screen, far larger than the others. With a mere thought, he could magnify any location, isolate any ring signature, or replay any recorded moment within the trial grounds.

He first surveyed the entry zones where several Hunters were already testing the perimeter, probing for weak Hunts to eliminate early.

In a bone-ridden valley, a trio of Hunters cornered an outsider Hunt already, and their movements were efficient and coordinated.

In another sector, two Hunts had formed a temporary alliance, hiding within the ruins of a shattered fortress, attempting to delay detection.

The Midnight Duke observed with calm detachment. He marked potential talents while noting cowards.

Then his attention shifted to a separate window exclusive for the Lone Hunter, who was none other than Nomad.

A faint sneer touched the edge of his lips beneath the demonic mask as he had personally reviewed the evaluation results when Nomad first entered the Evernight Sanctuary.

Abyssal Grade-7 Bloodline of Ash-flame Fiend Branch with no exceptional physique recorded, or any divine trait flagged by the Evaluation Platform, which was disappointingly ordinary.

The Duke, like the Evernight Kings, had expected something more from the disciple of the Moonless Wandering King. Instead, he saw a mediocre Abyssal Master wrapped in borrowed mystique.

Even the ’special status’ assigned to the Lone Hunter had been designed with layered cruelty. It looked like a privilege while in truth, it made Nomad the center of invisible pressure. Hunters and Hunts alike had incentives tied to him, though he would not see those clauses. With the current trial design, remaining passive would not be sufficient.

The Midnight Duke’s eyes dimmed slightly, for in his calculations, Nomad was destined to fail. Whether by misjudging the terrain, being forced into conflict, or becoming collateral damage in a larger clash, he would eventually crumble.

The trial was not built for spectators, for the Evernight Fiend King made sure of it!

The Duke shifted his attention away as the trial had not officially begun counting down yet. There was no need to waste focus on someone he had already categorized as unworthy.

But soon after, a sharp fluctuation rippled across the main formation, and one of the supervising subordinates stiffened.

“My Lord… the Lone Hunter’s ring signal…”

Before the report could be completed, the central display flickered, and the signature representing the Ring of Lone Hunter vanished completely.

The Midnight Duke had witnessed this scene, his pupils constricting as his other subordinates also turned to look with inquisitiveness.

“Impossible!” He muttered under his breath.

Even if Nomad had encountered another strong Hunter or abandoned his Ring of Lone Hunter out of fear, the Ring of Lone Hunter shouldn’t have vanished like this.

The Ring of Lone Hunter was not merely a tracking prop. It was an Upper-Abyssal Grade-7 treasure. It could not be concealed within ordinary storage rings. Its signal could penetrate spatial containers unless suppressed by a treasure of Upper Abyssal Grade-8 or above.

Such a treasure was virtually nonexistent outside the highest tiers of the Sanctuary, not to mention that these treasures would be treated like legacy treasures anywhere, including the Evernight Council.

For a brief, unguarded second, the Duke felt something close to disbelief before he immediately seized control of the primary formation.

Runes flared violently across the chamber floor as he isolated the Lone Hunter’s last recorded position. With a cold gesture, he activated the recording array linked directly to the ring itself.

The projection rewound as it showed Nomad discovering the Corpse Cultivators trails before following them into a canyon, then approaching a stone wall. There was no visible disturbance in the law flow or activation of a high-grade spatial artifact.

But suddenly, he stepped forward and passed through before the projection froze on the instant his figure slipped into the invisible boundary.

The next frame dissolved into nothingness, and at that moment, the chamber fell into deadly silence. Even the Midnight Duke’s trusted men stared in stunned stillness in utter disbelief because they all could guess what just happened.

The Duke was stunned by them all as he replayed it again and again. Each time, the result was identical. No flare of overwhelming power, no spatial collapse, and not even a treasure signature exceeding Grade-7, just a seamless passage.

“The Undead Boundary!” He couldn’t help but utter in absolute disbelief as his fingers tightened unconsciously.

As the Evernight Duke lived in the Evernight Sanctuary, he was well aware that the Undead Boundary had obstructed the Evernight Council for years, and even the Evernight Kings had failed to break it.

Yet, somehow Nomad had simply walked through as if entering his own backyard, and for the first time since assuming control of the Hunter’s Hunt, the Midnight Duke felt his composure fracture!