Eternal Thief

”Purgatory of the Sacred Moon...” The Evernight Demon King’s whisper seemed to freeze time itself.

Even the Evernight Fiend King’s grip upon his halberd unconsciously tightened. His fiendish eyes stared into the gradually whitening heavens as disbelief slowly surfaced.

”...That Supreme Ordeal?”

The Evernight Demon King slowly nodded.

”Normally it shouldn’t appear.” Her voice had become unusually solemn. ”Among the countless Abyssal King Ordeals recorded throughout the history of the First Abyss, only twelve are recognized as Supreme Ordeals.”

”They aren’t simply trials. They are calamities, for they do not merely judge the one attempting to become an Abyssal King...” Her beautiful eyes slowly swept across the endless Undead Cradle, ”...they judge the world itself.”

A deep silence followed.

”The Purgatory of the Sacred Moon is said to contain the power of purification that can purify everything in its wake, like sins, resentments, malice, and anything that contradicts its nature. Maybe because the Corpse Governor is an Undead Race and this secret realm itself had a terrifying background, he ended up drawing this supreme Abyssal Ordeal.

”I’ve remembered a record describing a forgotten Undead King, and countless Ages ago, this entire Undead Kingdom vanished beneath this Ordeal. There were no survivors, no inheritance, no ruins, and not even resentment remained. Everything...was purified.”

Even the Evernight Fiend King’s expression darkened. ”Order the evacuation!”

The Evernight Demon King nodded immediately, and without another second of hesitation, she contacted the Midnight Duke.

”Immediately activate the Realmbreaker Conquest Ark. No one remains, not even the Dukes.”

Her voice became incomparably serious, ”Leave the Undead Realm at once!”

---

Far above, the heavens continued changing as the endless darkness of the Abyss did not disappear. Instead, it became transparent like filthy water slowly being washed clean.

But strangely enough, no sunlight descended as there was no concept of day inside the Abyss. Instead, it felt like something older, something infinitely more terrifying, was awakening.

Everyone instinctively looked upward.

Right at that moment, the sky split open, not through lightning or thunder, but reality itself silently opened, and a gigantic circular crack stretched across the heavens.

It resembled an eye opening, and then within that crack a moon appeared. It was enormous, larger than continents, and its surface was pure white as if it was purity itself.

It radiated no light, yet wherever its presence reached, darkness quietly retreated, corpse Qi evaporated, death Qi dissolved, and even Abyssal Qi became strangely sluggish.

The entire Undead Cradle fell into complete silence.

But it wasn’t over, as suddenly another crack slowly opened beside it. Everyone watched with frozen expressions as a second moon slowly emerged.

Unlike the first, this moon was crimson, not blood-red or like the ethereal moons of Abyss outside the secret realm; rather, it resembled countless oceans of ancient blood condensed into a single celestial body.

This was the manifestation of the Purgatory of the Sacred Moon, for one moon represented Absolute Purity, and the other Absolute Judgment.

Moreover, these two moons also represent one of the embodiments of the Ethereal Moons of the Abyss of Wandering Souls, as legends whispered that the Abyss had no sun because these two moons forever watched over every sinner that entered its endless darkness.

Now they had appeared together!

A low humming suddenly echoed throughout the entire secret realm; no one knew where it originated. It seemed to come from the moons themselves as the humming gradually became louder until...

’BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!’

The white moon erupted, not with light but with endless pale fire as white flames quietly flowed downward like waterfalls. They did not burn, but purified as wherever the pale flames touched, Corpse Qi vanished, death Qi disappeared, and ancient resentments accumulated for millions of years ceased to exist.

Entire mountains covered in corpse miasma became crystal clear, ancient rivers blackened by endless death suddenly turned transparent, and even the skies were becoming clean.

The Corpse Clan screamed.

”AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!”

Countless Corpse Cultivators simultaneously fell onto the ground as their corpse flames shrank violently, their bones cracked, and dark smoke continuously escaped from every pore.

Some weaker Corpse Lords simply collapsed; their bodies began turning into ash, completely purified as they watched their own corpse bodies become clean skeletons before quietly dispersing into countless white particles.

Without any bloody scene, explosion, or violence, they simply ceased to be undead, meeting their doom!

Fear exploded across the battlefield!

Even Belfast roared, ”My Abyssal Miasma!”

The endless gray sea surrounding him shrank by nearly half within seconds. Every strand touching the pale flames vanished, and it didn’t resist or struggle, but simply stopped existing.

”My Corpse Vessel!” The Bloody Abyss Barbarian suddenly knelt as its enormous skeletal frame trembled uncontrollably, and cracks rapidly spread across its ancient bones.

The First Commander’s split soul screamed, ”No! What kind of terrifying ordeal is this!? This is merely the manifestation! It hasn’t even begun!”

---

The Evernight Council wasn’t spared either, as at first they merely watched, and even enjoyed the cozy feeling of the purification, which seemed to be very beneficial for them.

But then, one Evernight Marquis frowned, ”My cultivation...my Abyssal Laws...they’re slowing.”

An Evernight Earl suddenly coughed, and black smoke emerged from his mouth, ”What...my Abyssal Qi!? ”

Although the pale flames never touched them, merely existing beneath those moons caused every abyssal race to experience suppression.

It was not destruction, but rejection, for even Abyssal beings were impurities beneath the Sacred Moon.

The Evernight Dukes’ expressions changed.

The Yin Duchess looked at her own palm and tiny white sparks quietly burned upon her skin. They didn’t seem painful, but they were impossible to extinguish.

”They’re judging us as well...” The Enchantress Demon Duchess no longer smiled as she also made a terrifying guess, ”So this...is a Supreme Ordeal!”

---

At that moment...

’BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!’

The crimson moon finally moved, and deep crimson ripples spread across the heavens before countless scarlet flames appeared like hellfire from purgatory itself.

They weren’t heavenly thunder nor heavenly punishment; instead, crimson bolts of infernal fire continuously formed inside the skies. Each bolt resembled an ancient beast forged from scarlet flames.

They swam between the two moons; occasionally, one bolt descended, and it struck a distant corpse mountain. But there was no voice; yet the entire mountain instantly turned snow-white before crumbling into pure dust, and nothing remained.

The Corpse Governor’s flaming pupils contracted as he had already gotten the name of his upcoming Abyssal Ordeal.

”So... this is the Purgatory of the Sacred Moon.”

At that moment, even he felt fear!