In the depths of the Blackheart Maw, even below the Hollow Ring, the space here grew dense and oppressive, filled with swirling banks of cloudy abyssal Qi that hung like living fog.
Here, the darkness felt alive; it pulsed with residual malice, the remnants of ancient beings that had long since lost their origin yet still existed, hidden in this terrifying abyss.
Amid this suffocating abyss stood a fortress—the Dread Umbral Fortress, the hidden base of the Dread Duchess Varathia.
Unlike the towering citadels and grand villas of the Myriad Hollow above, the Dread Umbral Fortress was an edifice seemingly born from the abyss itself. Its walls were shaped from colossal slabs of soul-black obsidian fused with bone, carved into harsh, angular spires that twisted skyward like the ribs of some colossal prehistoric beast.
Crimson abyssal runes pulsed faintly across the fortress’s surfaces, casting light that illuminated nothing, merely deepening the surrounding darkness. Bridges of solidified shadow connected towers to suspended halls, while ghostly flames of violet and black burned silently in braziers of petrified demonic bone.
At its very heart lay the Dread Throne Hall, a cavernous inner sanctum draped in veils of living shadow. Floor tiles of polished black jade reflected no light, only the silhouettes of anyone who dared to enter.
Columns of fused soul iron and abyssal crystal supported a vaulted ceiling so high it vanished into gloom, while the walls themselves were etched with ancient, crawling runes of law and dominion.
In this chamber, on a dais of black crystal shaped like an unfurling lotus of the abyss, sat the Dreadful Throne—a seat not carved, but grown from abyssal bone and obsidian, its armrests ending in stylized dragon skulls.
At this moment, the Dread Duchess herself appeared there—her robes flowing like living night, abyssal horns catching the faint crimson glow of floating soul lanterns. Her presence seemed to ripple outward, the shadows around her growing deeper, denser, more watchful.
A contemplative look played on the Dread Duchess’s charming face as she was still thinking about her meeting with the mysterious Abyss Wanderer, who claimed to be the disciple of the Moonless Wandering King.
Suddenly, a cold smile surfaced on his lips before she gracefully sat down on the Dreadful Throne and tapped on the dragon skull at the end of the armrest.
Thereafter, a black pillar of light suddenly bloomed in front of her, before slowly fading away. Now, in its place stood a polished black obelisk, its surface swirling with pale runes and locked sigils.
The Dread Duchess Varathia raised her slender, claw-tipped hand, and as her abyssal Qi flowed forth, the runes across the obelisk ignited one by one in baleful violet and crimson light.
"Connect to every member of the King Circle of the Evernight Council!" The Dread Duchess impassively commanded, and the black obelisk seemed to react to the Dread Duchess’ voice after confirming her identity.
This black obelisk was called a Council Conclave Obelisk, which allowed the highest-ranked members to communicate across the abyss; their wills and voices could even transcend distance and the turbulent corruption of the Wandering Realms, thanks to this obelisk developed by the Council.
At this moment, an unseen ripple spread through the hall, and the shifting shadows coalesced into half-formed figures. These silhouettes represent members of the King Circle of the Evernight Council, all Half-Abyssal Kings just like the Dread Duchess Varathia, each veiled in illusion to obscure their true appearances.
A low resonance, like the murmur of countless lost souls, filled the Dread Throne Hall as the Evernight Council’s King Circle gathered in shadowed communion.
"Well, this is certainly a rarity. To what do we owe the honor of communion by the exalted Dread Duchess, herself?" A playful voice of a woman among the King Circle’s silhouettes sounded at this moment.
Varathia’s eyes flickered with a hint of disdain as she knew the owner of this voice, and replied dismissively, "Yin Duchess, I see you still have an insufferable mouth as ever. But it still can’t make up for your incompetence."
The obscure silhouette of the ’Yin Duchess’ flickered violently when she heard Varathia’s remark, and she coldly retorted, "Watch yourself! You are in the presence of the King Circle!"
Dread Duchess didn’t seem apprehensive at all, as her lips curled up in an icy smile, "Exactly, if it wasn’t the gathering of the King Circle, I would’ve already been on my way to ’pay’ your Nightfall Kingdom a visit. It’s been a while since I’ve ripped your tongue, Yin Duchess. I’ve started to miss your painful moans and screams. Oh, how wonderful they were..."
"Y-you dare...!" The Yin Duchess’ voice was filled with hatred as those painful and humiliating memories were ripped open like a wound by the Dread Duchess.
"Enough! Lord Ying Duchess, please refrain from further comments." At this moment, a deep, authoritative voice of a man interfered before the Ying Duchess further provoked the Dread Duchess.
After all, Dread Duchess ranked very high within the King Circle, and not only was she powerful and talented to back up her claims, but her background and the backer behind her wasn’t someone even the Half-Abyssal Kings could provoke or offend.
However, the person who just spoke had the guts and means to go against the Dread Duchess, not to mention that he was ranked higher than the Dread Duchess. So, the Yin Duchess, no matter how unwilling she was, had to stop her, and the Dread Duchess also no longer exchanged words with Yin Duchess, albeit unwillingly.
"Lord Dread Duchess, please state your reason for using the Council Conclave Obelisk and calling this communion. We all have things to handle, so please refrain from squandering everyone’s time." The deep voice spoke impassively, yet it carried a warning.
Dread Duchess pursed her lips before she spoke, "Certainty. Since Lord Midnight Duke has spoken, I won’t dare to waste the council’s time. The reason I used the Council Conclave Obelisk to call this communion is because I found ourselves a Ghost King!"
The moment Dread Duchess mentioned ’Ghost King’, an eerie silence followed by some incredulous exclamations sounded in the Dread Throne Hall. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novel⚑fire.net
"What are you talking about, Lord Dread Duchess? Every Ghost King of the Ghost Race had been wiped out from the Abyss of Wandering Souls by the Council millions of years ago." An aged, eerie voice like a fiend from the depths of hell suddenly rang, and it was filled with threatening might.
Dread Duchess seemed to have expected this kind of response, and she responded to it without hesitation, "I completely understand Lord Darkwise Duke’s concerns. After all, you are the one who knows about the annals of the Evernight Council the most and is in charge of the Evernight Chronicle Hall back at the Evernight Sanctuary. However, if the source of this information wasn’t someone I couldn’t ignore, I wouldn’t have dared to disturb you all."
"How interesting, what is your source?" Another female voice sounded, but it was incredibly alluring and contained a mystical law within it.
Dread Duchess’s lip twitched when she heard this voice, and she even seemed apprehensive of the owner. But she kept a straight face and replied, "It’s the King of Abyss Wanderers, the Moonless Wandering King!"
Deadly silence reigned in the hall the moment Dread Duchess mentioned that name, followed by huge commotion.
"Hahahaha!" Yin Duchess burst into laughter filled with ridicule and scorn, "Perhaps Dread Duchess is drunk on her famous Ebon Vein Nectar. Moonless Wandering King, you say? Why would an esteemed Abyssal King reach out to you of all people? You’re clearly spouting nonsense!"
"I also have the same thoughts..." This time, even the Midnight Duke coldly retorted as he completely agreed with the Yin Duchess, "I hope you have an explanation for this."
Dread Duchess also expected this kind of overwhelming response from the King Circle. Even though she didn’t believe the credibility of this information, for some reason, that mysterious Abyss Wanderer made her take this risk for a reason even she couldn’t comprehend.
"I know you all must be skeptical, I was as well. However, I have an explanation for you all. Today, I was approached by an Abyss Wanderer who claimed to be the Disciple of the Moonless Wandering King..."
The Dread Duchess then truthfully explained the entire event to the Council Members, even using her disciple relationship with the disciple of the Moonless Wandering King to clarify the situation.
The King Circle’s members silently heard everything, and they even exclaimed when the Dread Duchess mentioned the Moonless Wandering King’s meticulous arrangement.
They were especially astounded when they heard that all they needed to do was arrange a secure place to stop the Ghost King from escaping, and the Moonless Wandering King would deliver the Ghost King to any location of their choosing. They don’t need to go personally anywhere.
Just like the Dread Duchess, almost every member of the King Circle now started to believe in the credibility of this information. After all, they’ve got nothing to lose, and if it turns out to be true, then they’ll get rid of a hidden threat like a Ghost King without even doing much.
A Ghost King could pose a huge threat to the entire Evernight Council, and the council knew better than anyone the true terror of a Ghost King of the Ghost Race. That’s why, even if they didn’t want to believe Dread Duchess, they had to because there was too much to gain from this and less to lose.
Noticing everyone’s silence, Dread Duchess smiled coldly as if everything was under her control as she declared, "I know you all still have doubts, but if everything is accurate, not only we’ll obtain a Ghost King’s entire hideout and treasures, we’ll also establish a connection with the Moonless Wandering King that we’ve been trying for years.
"That’s why I’m calling for a vote to awake his majesty, the Evernight Devil King!"