Eternal Thief

In the deepest part of the Lower Grave Strata was located the forbidden location of the Undead Boundary, which even the Corpse Commanders weren’t allowed to enter without an ’invitation’.

The atmosphere of this forbidden location is heavy and ancient, and somewhere within it exists a solitary platform suspended above a vast subterranean expanse.

Apparently, this platform was also an exchange platform, but unlike the exchange platforms outside, it wasn’t made from that dark crystalline substance but from layered black stone fused with pale bone fragments, forming a circular dais etched with dense corpse-runes.

Those runes pulsed faintly, not in a steady rhythm, but in slow, breathing intervals as if the platform itself was alive.

Beyond this exchange platform stretched a colossal cavern that defied ordinary scale as the ceiling arched impossibly high above, lost in darkness, yet faint currents of Corpse Qi descended from unseen fissures, drifting like ghostly waterfalls.

Massive stone rings floated at varying heights throughout the cavern, each one inscribed with ancient runes that glowed dimly, forming overlapping layers of formation structures. These rings didn’t move, hovering in absolute stillness like guardians of something deeper.

The air here was thick with dense Corpse Qi, and pressure of a silent, suffocating authority lingered in every direction, far denser than anything in the Lower Grave Strata.

Even space itself felt reinforced, as if this region existed under constant supervision by some higher law; yet, despite this overwhelming presence and the importance of this location, there were no guards or movement.

Only the lone exchange platform stood in the middle of this vast, sacred emptiness, like a forgotten access point buried within the heart of something far greater, as it was clear that this location was not meant to be accessed casually.

But today, something out of the norm took place when the calm platform flickered without warning, and the runes beneath it surged faintly, distorting for a split second.

Even though no exchange had been initiated, without any presence detected nearby, and without any signal having been given, the space above the platform twisted.

The next moment, silently and unnaturally, a portal abruptly formed as a thin tear appeared in the air, rapidly expanding into a dark, swirling aperture filled with dense spatial energy.

The moment it manifested, the stillness of the entire cavern broke, and from the ground below, something stirred, its low rumble spreading outward like distant thunder.

’Crack…’

The stone surface beneath the platform fractured, and a massive skeletal structure began to rise from beneath the earth.

It was a gigantic bare skull, and its hollow eye sockets were empty, but only for a split second before they ignited with two eerie corpse flames.

As those cold and ancient corpse flames burst into existence within its eyes, they started to burn with a suffocating intensity, carrying an authority that seemed to rival the laws of this place itself.

But even those burning flames flickered in shock and disbelief as they were completely locked on the portal above the platform.

The next moment, the ground continued to tremble as the rest of its body emerged.

It was a towering skeletal giant, over ten meters tall, and its entire frame was composed of stark white bone, yet every inch of it was covered in writhing corpse-veins, like dark roots embedded into its structure. These veins pulsed faintly, channeling dense Corpse Qi throughout its body.

As it fully rose, crimson Corpse Qi surged outward, forming into long, flowing robes that draped over its skeletal frame, giving it an eerie, sovereign presence.

It didn’t look around, and the moment it emerged, it stepped forward directly in front of the portal, stopping just three meters away. The corpse flames within its eyes flickered violently as it stared at the swirling aperture.

Right at that moment, a terrifying law sense erupted from its body, and surged forward like an invisible tide, condensing into a focused stream as it shot directly toward the portal as if trying to see what lay beyond.

But the moment that probing force touched the portal, it rebounded instantly as if it had struck an invisible, absolute barrier. The skeletal giant froze as its eye flames trembled with a flicker of incredulity.

Yet it didn’t try again because just now, when he tried to send his law sense inside the portal, something deep within its instincts warned it of a mortal danger despite his prowess.

Nonetheless, it remained there, standing in silence and watching the portal with scurrility as the distance between it and the portal remained unchanged.

When ten minutes passed, the portal remained open the entire time, yet nothing came out, with no movement, presence, or unusual disturbance, leaving the skeletal giant confused.

But right at that moment, abruptly, the portal collapsed as space folded inward, making the aperture shrink rapidly before vanishing completely, leaving behind nothing but stillness.

The skeletal giant’s eye flames flickered sharply, and a trace of incredulity surfaced as it remained there like a statue, as if trying to understand what had just happened.

But what it didn’t know, and couldn’t perceive, was that something had come out of that portal, and not only that, it had already left far beyond the range of its perception!

—

Cloaked in absolute nothingness, Ace was bolting as his figure was completely erased under the Lawless Darkness, moving like a streak of invisible death through the vast cavern pathways beyond the platform.

His speed had reached its peak with Dark Tempest pushed to its absolute limit while his heart raced violently as a genuine sense of danger gripped him.

’What in the world was that thing?! A Corpse Vessel?’ He thought with trepidation as the image of that towering skeletal giant, when he came out of the portal, flashed in his mind.

Ace almost jumped in shock when he saw that towering giant standing not far from him the moment he stepped out of that portal.

If he wasn’t careful and had already activated the Lawless Darkness before coming out, he knew he would’ve been in world of trouble because that presence and pressure he felt from that skeletal giant was far beyond anything he should be dealing with right now.

’A Half-Abyssal King…?’ His thoughts tightened, and then another possibility surfaced, ’Was that… the Corpse Governor?!’