Undead Cradle, Upper Ancient Battlefield...

Deep within the most heavily guarded region of the Evernight Alliance Hub, beyond layers of concealment formations, spatial locks, and mutually enforced restrictions between the Evernight Council and the Corpse Clan, there existed a place that had once been forbidden to all outsiders.

The Realm Gateway of the Undead Cradle, or more accurately... what remained of it. The colossal gateway stood within a canyon-like chamber carved from corpse-marble and abyssal iron.

Ancient runes covered every surface, some belonging to the Corpse Clan, others forcibly engraved later by the Evernight Council after countless years of conquest and suppression.

At this moment, the gateway was no longer dormant; it pulsed with dark crimson currents as they surged through the enormous circular frame while ancient spatial laws twisted violently around it.

The air itself distorted under the pressure of countless activated formations like defensive formations, realm suppressive formations, spatial anchor formations, and even long-range annihilation formations, as everything was active!

Because this very gateway had once become the beginning of the Corpse Clan’s greatest nightmare.

Even among the Evernight Council, many knew about the previous Corpse Governor, who had been driven by desperation and ambition and had attempted the impossible.

He had tried to weaken the restrictions of the Undead Cradle and free the Corpse Clan from the prison-like realm that shackled their cultivation through a mysterious ritual.

For a brief moment, he succeeded, and this Realm Gateway opened, but what arrived through it wasn’t freedom. It was the Evernight Council!

That single mistake had nearly exterminated the entire Corpse Clan. Since then, this place became both the Corpse Clan’s deepest humiliation and the Evernight Council’s greatest foothold within the Undead Cradle.

Now, countless elite Evernight cultivators moved throughout the chamber like shadows of war itself, while armored fiend guards stood at every corner.

At the center of it all stood the Midnight Duke, yet the usually arrogant and domineering Evernight Duke no longer carried even a trace of his former bearing, for he stood respectfully behind a small figure.

It was none other than the Evernight Demon King!

The childlike figure of the Evernight Demon King stood calmly atop a floating throne of white stone inscribed with dark crimson glyphs. Her tiny pale fingers rested against her cheek while those empty white eyes stared at the activated gateway in silence.

A faint smile lingered on her face, which was anything but normal; it was profound, icy, and dripping with dangerous intent.

Even the Midnight Duke kept his head lowered slightly, his back subtly tense. Sweat faintly lined his neck beneath the demonic mask despite his cultivation.

Because every Evernight Duke understood one terrifying truth, among the three Evernight Kings. The Evernight Fiend King inspired fear, the Evernight Devil King inspired dread, and the Evernight Demon King inspired foreboding.

At that moment...

’RUMMMMBLEEEEE!’

The enormous realm gateway trembled violently while the ancient runes lit up one after another as the spatial passage fully stabilized. A terrifying aura began pouring through before the figure even emerged.

The Midnight Duke’s pupils shrank as he knew what was coming or who!

’BOOM!’

The next moment, a towering figure stepped out from the portal.

It was none other than the Evernight Fiend King!

He hadn’t concealed his aura in the slightest. Infernal crimson pressure exploded outward like a tsunami of slaughter and destruction. The surrounding space distorted while countless cultivators instinctively lowered their heads in fear, even though they were nowhere near this location.

Even the activated formations trembled faintly.

The Midnight Duke immediately felt his breathing become difficult as cold sweat dripped down his back. Every Evernight Duke feared the Evernight Fiend King the most because, unlike the other Kings, this one truly enjoyed slaughter!

At this moment, the Evernight Fiend King’s eyes burned with terrifying battle intent and bloodlust, as though he could hardly wait to begin massacring the Undead Race personally.

The Evernight Demon King smiled faintly, "You came quickly, Eldest Senior Brother."

The Evernight Fiend King snorted, "The others are too slow, so I came ahead first."

His savage eyes flickered with disdain, "And I don’t think we need them anymore. I alone am enough."

However, his expression soon shifted slightly as he looked at the Evernight Demon King; though his tone remained domineering, there was unmistakable disbelief hidden within it.

"Of course... that’s only if everything you said is true." His brows furrowed, "I’m still having a hard time believing it. Even Second Brother is the same."

The Evernight Fiend King’s eyes narrowed dangerously, "Just what caused all this? Did you find out anything?"

His gaze shifted upward toward the enormous devilish owl hovering across the heavens of the Undead Cradle.

"And who exactly is this Sky Stealer?" Even he sounded solemn as he said, "Is that thing something we should worry about?"

Behind them, the Midnight Duke’s ears subtly perked up beneath his composed expression because he also desperately wanted answers about that devilish owl, the Sky Stealer, and finally the waning of the Undead Boundary.

Everything that had happened since the start of the trial had completely shattered all logic.

But the Evernight Demon King merely smiled mysteriously as those empty white eyes flickered with strange light.

"Follow me, Eldest Senior Brother!"

The Evernight Fiend King didn’t ask further, and the next moment, both Kings vanished instantly.

Only after they disappeared did the Evernight Fiend King’s cold voice echo through the chamber.

"Midnight Duke."

The latter immediately bowed deeply, "Your Majesty!"

"Alter the Hunter’s Hunt according to my instructions." The voice carried unquestionable authority, and a terrifying chuckle echoed faintly, "From this moment onward, the trial truly begins."

"By your decree, your majesty!"

Thereafter, silence followed, and only after several moments did the Midnight Duke slowly raise his head with a chilling light flickering within his eyes.

"...Now this is how it should’ve been from the start." His lips curled beneath the mask, forming a cruel, blotchy smile, "Those degenerates of the Undead Race shouldn’t even be allowed to speak of standing on equal footing with us!"