Eternal Thief

After what felt like a long traversal through endless winding corridors, the environment began to change.

Ace was ecstatic as he knew he had finally overcome this accursed labyrinth, and he began to slow down before he finally stopped.

At this moment, his gaze lifted slightly because in front of him, the narrow, oppressive tunnels had disappeared, which means the labyrinth had ended. What replaced it was something entirely different. A vast, open expanse unfolded before his eyes.

The ground here was no longer rough cavern stone but a smooth, dark surface that resembled polished obsidian, faintly reflecting dim streaks of corpse-light flowing beneath it like veins.

The air here was heavier, denser yet eerily still, and in the distance, massive structures loomed. They were not natural like cavern walls, but something constructed, as they were ancient and monolithic.

Their forms were indistinct, partially obscured by drifting currents of dense Corpse Qi, but their presence alone radiated a silent, overwhelming authority. At the very center of this new terrain, a faint, subtle but unmistakable distortion lingered.

Ace’s eyes narrowed slightly as even without Moira’s guidance, he could feel it.

’...So, this is where it leads...’ Ace thought solemnly.

The Lawless Darkness continued to cloak him as he took a step forward into this new domain, carefully, because whatever lay ahead was no longer just part of the labyrinth.

He had crossed into something deeper, something closer to the truth and to his target, the Transcendent Void Obsidian, as well as the core formation of the Undead Boundary!

The next moment, Ace stepped onto the smooth obsidian-like ground, and without hesitation, he kept the Lawless Darkness fully active. He didn’t even consider turning it off.

The drain on his Primordial Spirit Qi was immediate and brutal, pressing down on his mind like a constant weight. A faint ache spread behind his temples, but Ace didn’t slow.

Instead, he calmly took out another vial of Heavenly Spirit Recovery Elixir and drank it in one motion. The cold, starry liquid dissolved the moment it entered his body, and the surge of energy steadied him again.

’No room for mistakes now...’ Ace thought quietly, and then he moved forward with a hint of anticipation.

The further he advanced, the stranger the path became. This was no longer a natural cavern, nor was it a part of the shifting labyrinth. It was something older and ancient.

The walls began to change first. Faint murals appeared, etched so deeply into the black stone that even time hadn’t erased them completely. They were worn, fractured, and incomplete, yet they carried a presence that made even Ace unconsciously slow his steps.

Within these murals, there were countless figures. Some seemed humanoid, some monstrous, and some completely unrecognizable. But one commonality among them was that they were either shown kneeling, rising, fighting, or collapsing.

In one stretch, he saw towering silhouettes standing above endless corpses, their forms blurred, almost erased, as if whatever they represented was not meant to be understood.

In another, vast lands seemed to crumble while something descended from above or perhaps rose from below.

Ace’s eyes narrowed slightly, ’Is this the history of the Undead Cradle?’

However, it was still uncertain because they were not the kind recorded in words; instead, this was something else, as if fragments of an era so distant that even meaning had begun to decay.

Moreover, between the murals stood massive stone pillars, each carved with strange symbols and figures that resembled statues more than decorations. Some looked like rulers, others like executioners, and then there was a certain one among them.

Ace’s steps slowed in front of the center of a long stretch of wall, where a single figure stood more prominent than the rest.

It was taller, clearer, and somehow preserved better than everything around it. Its face was indistinct, blurred by erosion or perhaps by design, but its posture was unmistakable. It stood alone, while everything else in the mural seemed to revolve around it.

Ace’s gaze lingered for a brief moment before he looked away.

’...Could it be the creator of this place?’ He speculated it like this for an unknown reason, silently.

But he didn’t dwell on it, as this wasn’t the time, nor was he here to unearth the history of the Undead Cradle.

As he moved deeper, the Live Fate Map suddenly flickered, and his eyes sharpened instantly because, amidst the golden expanse, a single point appeared, which was black.

’A black fate location?’ Ace’s heartbeat slowed instead of quickening. ’Since it’s like this, then this could only mean that I’m on the right path. There’s no doubt now for only places tied to the greatest risks have ever shown this kind of fate indication.’

Even though Ace was assured and relieved, at the same time, his vigilance rose to its peak.

Because one mistake here means he’ll be in a deadly situation, but he didn’t hesitate, though. If anything, his movements became even more precise.

Every step was controlled, and breath measured as the Lawless Darkness wrapped around him perfectly, leaving no trace, no fluctuation, nothing for this place to detect.

Just as he expected, no traps triggered or formations reacted; it was as if the entire path had accepted that nothing was there, and he knew keeping the Lawless Darkness active was the right move!

Time passed quietly.

Eventually, the murals faded, the pillars disappeared, and the ground began to change again. Dark veins started to spread beneath his feet, thick and pulsing faintly with Corpse Qi.

They twisted and intertwined across the surface like roots of something enormous buried deep below.

Ace’s expression grew solemn as he had seen this before, ’...Corpse veins!’

The deeper he went, the denser they became, and soon, they were everywhere, on the ground, along the walls, and even faintly pulsing through the air itself.

The environment began to resemble a peculiar domain he had never glimpsed before, and the presence of Corpse Qi here was unimaginably dense.

Ace’s eyes darkened slightly as he thought, ’So this path leads...’

The realization settled heavily in his mind as he knew he was getting closer to not just the Transcendent Void Obsidian but to the very heart of the Corpse Clan’s power!