Eternal Thief

Chapter 1542: Return from the Depths (3)

In another location of the lord castle, the chamber of alchemical stasis was carved from obsidian and lined with pulsating runic veins that breathed like a living organism.

Each pulse radiated a cool, stabilizing energy like the perfect balance between life preservation and abyssal suppression.

Alchemical Stasis was a special healing method developed by the Eden Alchemy Abyss of the Abyssal Plains, and this effective method of healing could heal even Abyssal Kings as long as the rank of the Alchemical Stasis was high enough.

Nonetheless, it was extremely costly no matter which grade of Alchemical Stasis one built, and only powers like Myriad Obsidian Kingdom can put together this alchemical stasis of 7-Abyssal-Grade on such quick notice!

Currently, it was quiet, save for the faint hiss of condensation escaping the glass-like cocoon at the room’s center, and within that cocoon lay ’Nomad.’

His body was wrapped in a pale sheen of stasis Qi, wounds still visible yet perfectly preserved as if each gash and bruise had been frozen in time.

His mask was cracked, revealing only part of his pale jaw and the faint rise and fall of shallow breaths. To any observer, he was a man on the brink of collapse, but to Ace, behind the veil of his carefully measured stillness, every heartbeat was deliberate.

’Still alive… barely. I can’t afford to act careless now,’ He thought, ’That woman probably won’t believe appearances alone.’

He had long expected Mirage Shadow to inform the Duchess; in fact, he counted

on it. Because if the Dread Duchess had even the slightest suspicion, she would come to verify him herself, and when she did, Ace knew one thing above all that there could be no lies in her presence, only perfect illusions.

Furthermore, Ace has a pretty good idea where the Duchess was at that time, and for better or worse, he was very curious about that vault as well, and what kind of secrets were hidden there by Khazar.

Although he was pretending to be vaguely conscious, he had already noticed that when Mirage Shadow took him out of that strange barrier, there wasn’t any trace of Khazar or the Dread Duchess.

That’s why he was presuming that Khazar had gone with the Dread Duchess, especially if he was hiding something that shouldn’t see the light of day from the Duchess, or he might have already escaped, since going back there would be suicidal under the Duchess’s presence.

Right at that moment, the air shifted, and a subtle ripple in the chamber’s Qi was discernible, impossible to mistake. Even the alchemical runes stilled as if the room itself bowed to a greater will.

The next moment, the Dread Duchess manifested in a form condensed from a storm, her abyssal veil trailing wisps of living night. The chamber dimmed under her presence; even the runes hesitated to glow beneath her shadow.

Her heels clicked once against the black floor, a sound sharper than thunder, and her gaze fell on the stasis cocoon.

For a long, unbroken moment, she said nothing. Her aura didn’t flare; it coiled, quiet and suffocating, like a serpent ready to strike. Even the faint hum of the stasis Qi faltered under her will.

Finally, she spoke, soft, elegant, but carrying the weight of an executioner’s blade, “So you truly returned… Nomad. You don’t know how glad I am!”

Her words may sound like a warm greeting, but Ace could vaguely feel the sharpness hidden behind them, and he knew that they were a test.

’I have to make sure she won’t suspect anything, or I might miss the opportunity to go to the Evernight Council!’ Ace thought solemnly as a tremor passed through the stasis cocoon, subtle enough to seem involuntary, yet deliberate enough to sell the illusion.

Ace let his eyelids twitch slightly, his breath stutter, a perfect imitation of an exhausted cultivator caught between consciousness and delirium.

“Y-your… Highness…” His voice cracked, strained with just the right mix of reverence and pain, “For…give…for…what happened to…”

As if guessing what he was about to say, Dread Duchess cut him short, “You don’t need to worry about the Black Hermit Mines, nor do I care about such a trifle territory. Let me see how you are doing…”

At that moment, she paused, and her eyes narrowed slightly as she moved closer, slow, deliberate, every step a measure of scrutiny. When she reached the edge of the stasis field, she extended a gloved hand.

The alchemical barrier didn’t resist her; it yielded, and runes bent away from her touch like frightened insects.

The Duchess’s abyssal Qi sank into the cocoon, rippling through Ace’s body like cold fire. Ace’s mind went taut as he wasn’t expecting the Duchess to be so blunt.

Under the Duchess’s abyssal Qi, Ace’s every muscle screamed to react, but he didn’t. He let her Qi scan him, trace every wound, every faint rhythm of his soul.

He had prepared for this, as a false Qi resonance was built to mimic the recovery from corruption, overlaid with genuine pain feedback, and the Law of Sin made it more believable.

After several heartbeats that felt like eternities, her power withdrew as a faint smile curved beneath her veil, “Hm. So it seems Mirage was correct. You survived what no one else could.”

’Good!’ Ace was inwardly relieved, but from outside he exhaled shakily, eyes fluttering open. “Than…k, you…for your c-care your…highness!”

“If you want to thank me…” Her tone was languid, but her interest sharpened like a blade, “Tell me what it was you found down there, little Nomad? What exactly happened? I think I deserve this much, no?”

Ace knew this couldn’t be avoided since the Black Hermit Mines were strange enough, and on top of that, Duchess also found that secret vault built by Khazar. Everything seemed like a massive coincidence, and he was in the middle of it all.

Even if the Duchess won’t act against him, he knew suspicious circumstances couldn’t be avoided, and he had to give her some explanation, no matter how vague it might be.

Under the Duchess’s scrutiny, Ace paused as the hesitation was genuine this time, because any wrong word could unravel everything.

“I was sent here by my Master to perform a task for him, and it is related to an Ancient Remnant sealed within the depths of the Black Hermit Mines…!”