Eternal Thief

At this moment, the entrance to the Black Hermit Mines lay under a deathly hush. The world there seemed to hold its breath after the Duchess vanished beyond the sealed barrier with City Lord Khazar.

Mirage Shadow stood silently before the abyssal mines, her figure half-shrouded in gloom. Behind her, dozens of black-armored Abyssal Lords maintained their positions, their auras interwoven into the defensive formation she had established at her mistress's command.

Every rune carved into the surrounding cliffs pulsed with the Dread Duchess's personal mark.

The barrier she'd woven was translucent and almost invisible to mortal sight, yet to those who sensed abyssal Qi, it was like staring at a boundless wall of living night.

At that moment, Mirage's eyes narrowed faintly as she could still feel her mistress's presence towards the Lord Castle.

'Her Highness has reached the location, and it was the Lord Castle?' She was astounded but didn't think much of it, 'Well, the disturbance should settle soon!'

She again focused on the mines, a hint of unease in her expression, but something shattered the silence the next instant.

"Raaaahhhhh…!"

It was a roar, but more like a scream, thundered up from the abyssal depths of the mines. It wasn't the cry of a beast, for it was anguish, rage, and pain all entwined, shaking the air and clawing at the soul.

The mines trembled as rocks splintered and formations rippled.

'A Half-Abyssal Grand Lord?!' Mirage Shadow's expression snapped into sharp alert as she barked, "Maintain formation!"

But before her words even finished echoing, a shockwave burst forth from the main shaft of the mines, and a spiraling torrent of corrupted abyssal Qi mixed with black blood and shredded flesh.

The wave struck the invisible barrier like a crashing tide, sending ripples of dark light across its surface.

The Abyssal Lords behind Mirage Shadow reeled, some coughing blood as they struggled to stabilize themselves.

"What—what was that?!"

One of them gasped as they couldn't believe, even with the Dread Duchess barrier, that the shockwave still managed to inflict wounds on them. They didn't dare to imagine what would've happened if the barrier hadn't been there to block most of the power.

However, Mirage wasn't much affected by it as her gaze pierced the chaos, and then she froze because amid the dissipating shockwave, something streaked out from the collapsing tunnels!

It was a lone figure wrapped in dark light. He was fast yet unstable, his aura flickering between life and death. His robes were torn, his mask half-broken, his entire body drenched in blood and soot.

But it wasn't the carnage that made her heart stutter. It was the way he moved.

Even through the distortion, the gait, the flow of Qi, that wild, burning rhythm… it was unmistakable.

'That faint Abyssal Qi pattern… could it be… him?!'

Mirage's eyes widened, disbelief flashing across her face, and then, in the next heartbeat, it was replaced by something else, a hope!!

The figure was indeed 'Nomad' as he stumbled toward the shimmering barrier, barely staying upright.

The abyssal Qi trailing him was chaotic, unstable, as if he had just escaped something that should've killed him a hundred times over.

At that moment, he crashed against the invisible wall, his hands slamming against it, sparks of Qi crackling from the impact.

"Damn it… open…!"

His voice was weak, ragged, yet it carried the same magnetic cadence she remembered. Mirage's heart clenched.

'It really is him!'

Yet she hesitated because her instincts warred against her reason.

The corruption flooding from him was immense. His aura was laced with residual Sin Law, something even she couldn't fully comprehend. For all she knew, the figure before her could be a corrupted entity mimicking Nomad's shape.

Behind her, several Abyssal Lords tensed, readying their weapons. "Esteemed Lord, should we…?"

But then something flashed in the struggling figure's trembling hand.

It was a talisman, dark gray, engraved with the insignia of the Duchess's personal command, that gleamed faintly through the shadows.

Its surface shimmered with living abyssal script, the very same that only Dread Duchess and her chosen lieutenants could wield.

Mirage's breath caught as instantly recognition struck like lightning.

"That's—!" She gasped, her eyes lighting up. "The Duchess's safeguard talisman!"

There was no mistaking it. That talisman was given to Nomad by Mirage Shadow when he entered the mines earlier that day, and her hesitation was shattered.

"It's Young Lord Nomad!" She declared, voice ringing with sudden conviction and relief.

Without wasting another moment, Mirage's shadow flared outward, merging with the formation lines. The entire barrier pulsed once in response, recognizing her command authority.

With a twist of her wrist, a pattern of runes bloomed midair, and the personal override sigil the Dread Duchess had left her, precisely for emergencies like this—a safe channel to open a temporary passage through the Duchess's impenetrable barrier.

The runes whirled and then parted like a blooming flower, and a thin seam of light appeared on the barrier's surface, widening just enough for a single body to pass through.

A rush of abyssal wind spilled out as Mirage Shadow leapt forward, her form dissolving into streaks of darkness. In a blink, she was through the barrier and at his side.

Up close, the damage to him was even worse as blood crusted over his robes, Qi channels flickering erratically, his face pale beneath the cracked mask. Yet beneath that ruin, Mirage could feel the pulse of life, strong and stubborn.

"Young Lord Nomad!" She called sharply, catching his collapsing body before he hit the ground. "Hold on! You're safe now!"

Ace, his disguise flickering subtly beneath the shadows, let out a ragged breath, his voice hoarse but steady enough to sell the act.

"I…made it out…the mines…I didn't…d-disappoint…maste…"

Before he could finish, his eyes rolled back, and he went limp in her grasp.

Mirage's grip tightened. "Rest well, young lord!"

Her aura surged as she summoned her talisman. "Dread Command!'"

The runes responded instantly, and the barrier shimmered open in full for a breath's span, just long enough for her to drag his unconscious form through before it sealed shut again with a thunderous boom.

Outside the barrier, the air was still charged with tension, but Mirage stood firm, her gaze dark and unreadable as she held the bloodied Nomad in her arms.

Behind her, one of the Abyssal Lords whispered in awe, "Who is he? H-he…survived the mines?"

Mirage didn't answer as her eyes lingered on the unconscious young man, on the faint, residual aura around him that didn't belong to the abyss at all. Something ancient, foreign, and strangely familiar pulsed within that faint Qi.

Her jaw tightened, 'Just what did you find down there? What was your task?'

Then she turned sharply toward the city. "Prepare the alchemy stasis! Her Highness will want him alive and conscious the moment she returns!"