Eternal Thief

Chapter 1686: Evernight Marquises and Vice Corpse Commanders

The moment the Corpse Clan’s experts abandoned their original formations and charged toward the Evernight Trial participants, the battlefield fragmented into countless smaller wars.

Across the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Battlefronts, thousands of life-and-death struggles erupted simultaneously. The skies darkened beneath violent Law fluctuations.

Everywhere, Space Laws cracked, Abyssal Laws collided, Death Qi devoured Abyssal Qi, and Corpse Qi polluted entire regions before being swept away by overwhelming counterattacks.

This was no longer merely a battle between armies; it had become a contest between generations!

The first to intercept the Corpse Clan’s Abyssal Grand Lords were naturally the Abyssal Grand Lords of the Evernight Council.

Unlike ordinary nobles, these experts were the true pillars supporting the Council beneath the Evernight Dukes, for they were the strongest Abyssal Grand Lords of the Evernight Sanctuary, the Evernight Marquises!

Every Evernight Marquis of the Evernight Sanctuary possessed extraordinary achievements within the Abyssal Grand Lord Realm that not even the Evernight Marquises in the Abyssal Plains possessed.

They had all cultivated inside the Evernight Sanctuary since childhood, receiving the finest inheritances, resources, and guidance available to the Evernight Council.

Each one had already reached the peak of the Abyssal Grand Lord Realm. To many observers, becoming an Evernight Duke was no longer a question of talent but merely of opportunity.

These Evernight Marquises possessed terrifying combat strength capable of suppressing ordinary Grand Lords several realms above themselves, and even contending with Half-Abyssal Kings!

They were acknowledged as the closest existences beneath the Evernight Dukes.

Opposing them were the Corpse Clan’s Abyssal Grand Lords, yet the difference in numbers was immediately apparent. The Corpse Clan possessed far fewer genuine Abyssal Grand Lords.

Most of those charging across the battlefield were actually towering Abyssal Grand Lord Corpse Puppets. Each puppet was controlled by one of the Corpse Clan’s Vice Corpse Commanders.

Although these Vice Commanders possessed tremendous combat strength through their puppets, they lacked the profound Law comprehension and adaptability of true Evernight Marquises.

Still, their overwhelming numbers quickly compensated for that weakness as dozens of gigantic corpse puppets descended onto every battlefield. The heavens continuously trembled.

One Evernight Marquis fought three Vice Corpse Commanders alone, and another was surrounded by four Corpse Puppets while calmly manipulating endless crimson lightning.

Elsewhere, an Evernight Marquis wielding twin moon blades danced through the battlefield like a phantom. Every slash severed enormous corpse limbs before crimson moonlight exploded inside the puppets’ bodies.

The battle between Grand Lords instantly reached an unimaginable level.

Below them, the battlefield belonging to the Abyssal Lords was equally ferocious, and leading the Evernight Council forces there were the Evernight Earls.

Compared to the Marquises, the Earls were one rank lower, yet every one of them had likewise graduated from the Evernight Sanctuary. They represented the Council’s elite beneath the Grand Lord Realm.

Each Earl personally intercepted one of the Corpse Clan’s Corpse Generals, powerful Abyssal Lords responsible for commanding tens of thousands of corpse soldiers.

Destructive lights, Law domains, Corpse oceans, Spatial storms filled the entire battlefield as it became a sea of destruction.

Yet, not everyone chose to remain behind the protection of the Evernight Earls as many trial participants rushed directly toward the Abyssal Lords of the Corpse Clan.

Some did so for merit points, others wished to solidify their positions inside the Evernight Sanctuary, and some desired nothing more than to bring glory to their noble clans.

But most of them simply hoped that one of the Evernight Dukes might notice their performance because if they could impress even a single Duke, their future would change forever.

Thus, despite the overwhelming danger, countless geniuses voluntarily entered battles far above their own cultivation realms.

---

Meanwhile, near the center of the First Battlefront, Eva and Ace had already found their first prey.

Far ahead floated a burly Corpse Clan Abyssal Lord covered in dark corpse armor. His emerald corpse flames burned fiercely as if he were searching for a target to slaughter.

But suddenly sensing two figures intercepting his path, he frowned as he felt Eva and Ace’s realms; one was merely an Abyssal Grandmaster, and the other was a 5-Star Abyssal Guardian.

For a brief moment, he actually became stunned, then he laughed.

”Hahahaha!” His disdainful, murderous laughter echoed across the battlefield, ”Has the Evernight Council become so desperate?”

His cold eyes swept across Eva before finally stopping on Kharon and sneered, ”A mere Abyssal Grandmaster, and a pathetic Abyssal Guardian? You two dare block this General?”

The Corpse Clan expert slowly lifted his enormous corpse saber, and his killing intent instantly enveloped both of them.

”I don’t have time to waste entertaining insects. So, I’ll grant both of you a quick death!”

His aura erupted, and corpse Qi surged like a tsunami. The surrounding space trembled beneath the overwhelming pressure belonging to a 6-Star Abyssal Lord.

Yet, neither Eva nor Ace moved. Eva merely smiled behind her veil, a smile so calm that it almost appeared disappointed.

---

Far above, standing upon her crimson throne like the sovereign of the battlefield, the Dread Duchess quietly observed everything. She had completely ignored the retreating Fourth Corpse Commander.

Whether he was stalling, calling for reinforcements, or preparing some hidden scheme, none of it interested her.

She knew the true players had yet to reveal themselves. Until then, there was no reason for her to move; just standing there, she was enough of a deterrent.

Instead, her gaze shifted elsewhere, toward Eva and Kharon, who had found their target, and a faint ripple of curiosity finally appeared beneath her indifferent eyes.

’Let’s see what my disciple has truly learned.’ She thought with a hint of anticipation.

She also wished to know how much Eva had progressed, and on top of that, she wanted to know exactly what kind of man had managed to earn Eva’s favor despite possessing such an ordinary background.

Just then, several Evernight Earls noticed Eva’s ’predicament’. Recognizing her immediately as the Dread Duchess’s sole disciple, they prepared to descend and eliminate the Corpse Clan Abyssal Lord before anything unexpected could happen.

However, a cold voice suddenly echoed inside every Evernight Earl’s mind.

”Stand down!

”No one is to interfere. My disciple’s battlefield belongs to her!”

The Evernight Earls immediately halted, and not one dared question the order as they respectfully withdrew without hesitation.

The Dread Duchess rested one elegant hand upon the armrest of her throne as a faint smile appeared beneath her mask.

Her gaze then shifted toward the silent Kharon standing behind Eva, and she thought, with a hint of coldness, ’Now, let me see whether you’re truly worthy of standing beside her!’