At that moment, Khazar's expression twisted into something hideous, no longer that of a trembling servant before his mistress, but a mask of venomous hate and desperation.

His pale face contorted, veins bulging around his temples as if his very flesh was at war with itself, and his fingers twitched once.

The next moment, without warning, a crimson dagger manifested in his hand, its blade pulsing with a baleful, corrupted aura that made the air itself recoil.

Abyssal Qi curdled around it like blood turning to smoke, and without missing a heartbeat, Khazar lunged.

The dagger sliced through the air in a blur of red, aimed straight for the Dread Duchess's skull, her veil fluttering faintly as her head remained turned, fully exposed!

But just as the dagger's tip was about to graze a single strand of her silken hair…

'Thud!'

It suddenly stopped in its tracks, frozen midair.

An invisible wall, dense as reality itself, stood between blade and target. It was as though the distance between them had stretched from inches to an abyss.

Khazar's eyes widened. His hand trembled, muscles bulging, yet the dagger would not move even a breath closer.

"Hmph." The sound that left the Duchess's lips was colder than the void.

Her voice followed, cutting through the suffocating silence like a blade of frost, "I thought something was wrong with you… Lord Khazar. Or should I say, whoever you are."

She didn't even turn to face him as she continued, each word weighted with regal disdain.

"So, will you tell me who you really are and accept a painless death…or should I make you wish for death while I tear your truth out myself?" Her tone dropped to a whisper, soft and merciless.

The next instant, a terrifying spiritual pressure burst from her slender frame, locking Khazar's body in place like a marionette bound by iron strings. The dagger quivered helplessly in his grip as his entire body was pinned mid-strike.

Only then did the Dread Duchess turn around. Her movements were unhurried and elegant, her veil shimmering like a river of bloodlight. But the devilish eyes that met Khazar's were like twin abysses that reflected his fear back at him a thousandfold.

Khazar's expression twisted further as fear gave way to something worse, utter madness, and a wild grin split his face. His breathing turned ragged, hysterical laughter bubbling in his throat.

The next moment, 'crack', a sound like glass shattering, echoed through the chamber, and a crimson seal blazed to life upon his forehead, etched with runes so vile that even the Duchess's aura recoiled.

The sigil pulsed once…twice…then began to fracture, spilling streams of black-red light.

"What!" The Duchess's eyes narrowed sharply as she extended her hand, abyssal law surging forth in an attempt to stabilize the breaking seal.

But the moment her power touched it…hissss!

Her energy was rejected violently as the corruption was too alien and too heretical, even her Half-King domain couldn't reach it.

The next moment, Khazar's flesh began to melt, and his jaw sagged, his skin liquefying into crimson sludge. The dagger clattered to the ground, dissolving with it.

No matter what the Dread Duchess did, she couldn't stop or reverse whatever Khazar had initiated.

At this moment, just before his face completely melted away, a voice spoke.

However, this voice wasn't his; it was vast, distorted, and layered with countless whispers and screams.

"Well played, Duchess!" The voice sneered, heavy with mocking venom, "We underestimated you…But it changes nothing. You may delay the tide, but you cannot stop it. The fate of the Evernight Council is already sealed!"

The voice deepened into something primal, its final words echoing with cryptic weight, "When the Heretic Star rises, and the moon bleeds upon the Abyss, the true master shall descend…and all Kings shall kneel beneath the inverted dawn!"

The last syllable carried a tremor that cracked the nearby stone. Then, with a wet hiss, Khazar's body collapsed entirely, turning into a puddle of corrupted crimson sludge that steamed with malevolent Qi, and there was even a hint of Sin aura present.

The chamber reeked of decay and something worse—desecration.

For the first time, the Dread Duchess's composure fractured. Her eyes glinted with fury and a rare shadow of unease.

'The Sin aura again…don't tell me…' She had already decided to report everything to the council because things were turning out to be extremely complicated, and her Obsidian Myriad Kingdom seemed to be the central stage for it.

At that moment, she lifted her hand, her fingers tracing a sigil midair, "Whoever you are…Begone!"

A wave of abyssal fire erupted, obliterating the crimson sludge in an instant. The corruption sizzled, evaporating into black smoke, leaving behind nothing. There was no corpse, no dagger, not even treasures. No trace of Khazar was gone, and only silence.

Her brows drew together, deepening into a stern frown, "Even his storage treasure… all dissolved. Not even residue left. That seal was probably a very powerful curse!"

She was about to inspect the area when suddenly, crackle…thrum!

The sealed vault door behind her began to flicker. The runes that once burned steadily and bright now pulsed erratically, like a dying heartbeat.

The Duchess turned sharply, realization flashing across her face.

"Since the Master Key is also destroyed, the lock is now ownerless!" She murmured coldly. "Well, that fool's death severed the connection!"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as her hand hovered near the seal. As a Half-Abyssal King, she knew that without a master key, or in case the primary master key was destroyed, the Master Lock would become either ownerless or sealed forever.

In this master lock case, it now stood ownerless, and its control could fall to anyone strong enough to claim it.

It also just happened to be the Dread Duchess who was strong enough to tame an ownerless Quasi-Grade-8 Master Lock without any hitch!

'Let's see what the hell you were hiding here!'

Dread Duchess scoffed as she felt slightly pleased when she thought about how that hateful fellow's scheme didn't seem to work, and she didn't even believe that the contents behind this sealed door might not be as important as she thought they were.

Without hesitation, she started to place her Abyssal Mark on the ownerless master lock, and it only took her a few moments to claim that master lock's ownership.

When the lock was stabilized under Dread Duchess's will, the sealed door started to open under her expectant look!

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.