Eternal Thief

Chapter 1530: Madness in Black Hermit! (3)

Black to when Ace opened the sealed on the Sin Trial...

The first quake tore through the Black Hermit Mines like a heartbeat from the abyss itself, and then came the screams.

Crimson mists erupted from the deepest shafts, rolling upward in waves as if the abyss had begun to bleed. The very ground convulsed underfoot, and a stench of molten corruption flooded the air.

All the abyssal beasts within the mines went mad, and for the first time since the mines’ discovery, they left their territories, causing a massive stampede.

The miners, cultivators, and guards, who had long grown numb to the groans of the underground, froze as those groans became roars filled with raw fury and madness.

From every tunnel and fissure came the sound of chains snapping, walls collapsing, and monstrous bellows that clawed at the soul. The formations meant to suppress the corrupted abyssal Qi shattered one after another, each detonation echoing like war drums.

Above ground, the Black Hermit City trembled as the black lanterns hanging from the high spires flickered, some shattering outright as waves of abyssal energy surged upward from the depths like a volcanic eruption.

The city’s sky, normally dim and serene, was now laced with streaks of red lightning, twisting and roaring like veins of wrath piercing the ethereal night.

Within the City Lord’s Castle, panic spread like fire as the defensive formation blazed to life, and black-armored guards scrambled to their stations.

Abyssal horns blared across the plateau as a sound no one had heard in centuries.

Khazar, the City Lord, stood at the highest balcony, his usually calm expression twisted by disbelief as he looked toward the horizon where the mines were buried.

The earth there heaved like the surface of a boiling sea, and streaks of crimson light burst through the cracks.

”Impossible,” He muttered, voice hoarse. ”The mines shouldn’t have acted like, not to mention the seals were personally arranged by her highness, Marquis Kayleigh! They shouldn’t have been broken! How...”

Then a shadow descended from the sky as the figure appeared without a ripple, without sound, and yet the moment she arrived, the air itself bowed.

The teleportation formation atop the Black Hermit Citadel flared, its silver glyphs igniting like dying stars.

The Hall Guardian stationed there—an Abyssal Lord, towering and wreathed in defensive armor—had been shouting orders to stabilize the array when the world froze around him.

The light of the formation dimmed to pure black, and from its center, a figure stepped forth, her silhouette delicate, graceful, yet heavy enough to crush the soul.

Her long hair swayed behind her like living night. Her devilish eyes were twin abysses, calm yet unfathomable, and her gown, woven of shadowed silk, shimmered with ancient sigils that pulsed with restrained destruction.

The Dread Duchess of Myriad Hollow had descended!

The Hall Guardian felt his breath seize in his chest. For a moment, his instincts screamed to kneel, yet his body refused to move, paralyzed by awe and terror.

Finally, he dropped to his knees only after a heartbeat delay, enough to shame any lesser being...

”H–Her Highness...! You honor this forsaken city with—”

But she did not even glance at him. Her gaze was already locked far beyond, piercing through layers of stone and distance as if the mines below were laid bare before her sight.

The black hem of her gown fluttered once, and the next instant, she vanished!

A streak of darkness swept across the sky, and the oppressive aura she left behind lingered like a scar in space.

For several breaths, the Hall Guardian simply knelt there, trembling, before his reason returned. He activated his communication talisman with trembling hands.

”Inform the City Lord immediately! Her Highness has descended in person, and...she’s headed toward the Black Hermit Mines!”

The moment Khazar received the message, he nearly dropped the talisman, ”The... Dread Duchess... personally came here?”

His mind raced, torn between terror and disbelief. For an Evernight Duke to act personally, he knew something catastrophic must have occurred.

He turned sharply to his aides, voice harsh, ”Gather every Abyssal Lord! Full lockdown! I will personally head to the mines!”

Moments later, a storm of energy tore across the city skies as Khazar led his elite retinue toward the Black Hermit Mines.

By the time he arrived, the landscape had changed beyond recognition, with half the mountain range gone, swallowed by a crimson storm. Rivers of black ichor flowed from the shattered cliffs, sizzling where they touched air.

Yet there, suspended above the chaos like a dark star, she stood...the Dread Duchess!

Her powerful spiritual pressure was enough to silence the roars of beasts. Her presence bent the light itself, twisting the surrounding mists into spirals of submission.

Every Abyssal Lord accompanying Khazar faltered, bowing instinctively even before they could clearly see her face.

Beside her hovered Mirage Shadow, cloaked in gloom, her presence nearly erased beneath her mistress’s overwhelming might.

The Duchess’s gaze was fixed on the abyss below as the source of the crimson mists where sin, corruption, and madness coiled like serpents.

Her voice was calm, melodic, and yet it carried through the entire minefield like an absolute decree, ”Mirage, report.”

Mirage Shadow bowed deeply, her tone trembling with reverence, ”Your Highness, the disturbance began shortly after Young Lord Nomad entered the mine. The corruption spread rapidly, faster than any known abyssal plague. It carries traces of the forbidden law of Sin!”

The Dread Duchess’s eyes darkened slightly, a hint of distant memory flickering within their depths.

”The forbidden law of Sin...” She whispered. ”I’ve never heard this term for countless years now. Don’t tell me that wretched freak is back and dare to cause trouble in my territory?!”

Dread Duchess’s voice was filled with killing intent and fury, but there was a hint of apprehension as if she really wanted her prediction to be just a superstition.

Almost instantly, she extended her claw-like, slender hand, fingers cutting through the air. From her palm, a field of abyssal light expanded, forming a massive sealing formation across the mines.

Chains of dark lights, woven from her own law, wrapped the skies and anchored into the ground, caging the spreading corruption.

Khazar, watching from afar, dropped to one knee, cold sweat pouring down his back.

”She’s sealing it... personally,” He whispered in disbelief.

At that moment, the Duchess’s gaze lingered on the depths where the crimson storm howled, and she mused thoughtfully, ’Is this related to the Moonless Wandering King or that sly bastard? Or was this just a coincidence?’

For the first time, uncertainty flickered in her eyes; it was rare, fleeting, but real. But she was sure that whatever had awakened beneath the Black Hermit Mines, it was not merely corruption. It was something that could make even her tread carefully.

Thereupon, she turned slightly toward Mirage Shadow, her tone calm and commanding, ”Maintain position. No one approached the mines until I figured out what was happening. We do not act until we know whether this upheaval belongs to him.”

Mirage Shadow instantly understood what the Dread Duchess implied and bowed deeply. ”Yes, Your Highness!”

’I should report it to the Council since it’s related to the Law of Sin...’ The Duchess’s gaze lifted once more, her silhouette framed against the bleeding horizon, her expression veiled in shadow.

”Nomad...” She murmured to the wind. ”I hope you won’t perish here!”

With that, her form blurred into the darkness, not vanishing, but dispersing, her essence merging with the surrounding shadows...

Right now, she is watching and waiting....!