The Dread Umbral Fortress was like a vast citadel, spread outward like a sprawling black lotus across a fractured, abyssal plateau, with its heart being the palace of the Dread Duchess herself.
From this heart radiated four massive divisions, each like a dark continent of its own, stretching into the gloom and tethered to the central palace by titanic obsidian bridges.
The northern division was the War Bastion, a militarized stronghold filled with legions of abyssal soldiers, war beasts, and the Dreadful Legion, all commanded by either the Duchess or one of her stalwart generals.
The eastern division was the Vault of Shadows, a place of research and the keeping of abyssal treasures. Great halls of runes and libraries stretched endlessly there, watched over by one of her most enigmatic lieutenants.
The southern division was the Abyss Court, where politics, diplomacy, and the Duchess’s more subtle intrigues took shape.
Finally, the western division—the bastion of law and punishnt, where the iron will of the Duchess was upheld without compromise. It was here that the Kingdom’s feared Law Enforcent Division resided, presided over by one of her most ruthless and loyal generals—Marquis Kayleigh.
The western side of the fortress was dominated by a massive abyssal manor, black spires rising into the void like an armored crown.
Obsidian walls inscribed with glowing scarlet talismans pulsed faintly, constantly emanating waves of suppressive force. The manor was known as the Iron Abyss Hall, and it was here that all judgnts, trials, and executions within the entire Kingdom were decreed.
Since the establishnt of the Myriad Hallow, the very na of this hall had beco synonymous with absolute authority.
Within this manor, deep past its countless shadow-warded corridors, lay Marquis Kayleigh’s personal cultivation chamber.
Unlike the opulent, throne-like chambers of other generals, Kayleigh’s sanctuary was an austere hall of stone and rune. Arrays glowed faintly on every wall, overlapping and shifting like a sea of symbols that breathed with their own life.
Abyssal ink, soul-blood, and rune-carved jade talismans were scattered neatly on stone tables, while racks of refined abyssal bone plates hung overhead.
Kayleigh herself stood at the heart of this chamber, her tall fra cloaked in fitted black robes etched with flowing scarlet runes. Her sharp, beautiful face was half-shadowed by an obsidian crown, her presence radiating the steel of unyielding law.
At this mont, with steady, precise motions, she pressed the final rune into a talisman hovering in midair. The abyssal light dimd, then steadied—the rune flared alive.
A thin smile tugged at her lips, "Perfected!"
Apparently, Marquis Kayleigh was an Abyssal Rune Crafter and not just any rune crafter but a 7-Star Abyssal Rune Crafter, and she was very famous among the circle of the Rune Crafter for she was also the closest one among those who were going to break into the realm of 8-Star Abyssal Rune Crafters!
Furthermore, the formations, arrays, and talisman marking around the Iron Abyss Hall were all personally inscribed by the Marquis Kayleigh herself.
But to the Abyssal Beings who don’t know Marquis Kayleigh personally, they all thought of her as a bloodthirsty devil who was rciless and unbiased because of her status as the Lord of the Law Enforcent Division.
There was also so truth in this statent, because she never spares anyone, regardless of their status or backing. Even the Evernight Nobles were punished by her harshly and even executed if found guilty of a cri against the Obsidian Myriad Kingdom’s law.
She even has a na, Crimson Executioner. Everyone feared her, and also because of her reputation carved with blood, no one dared to commit a cri within the Myriad Hallow, or if they dared to, they would have to make sure the Crimson Executioner wouldn’t get wind of it, or she would relentlessly pursue the matter to the very end!
Rune Crafting was the only thing that brought the Marquis Kayleigh joy and serenity. This mont was also one of those rare monts when she succeeded in mastering another talisman, and she felt refreshed.
Yet before she could admire her work further, a flare of abyssal fire tore through the air. A burning talisman, marked with the crest of her division, materialized before her eyes.
The fla writhed with urgency. Kayleigh’s brows furrowed, her calm expression hardening. She raised a slender, claw-tipped finger and tapped the talisman.
The rune burned into her mind, and a deep, gravelly voice rang out with suppressed tension, "Lord Marquis, this subordinate has sothing urgent to report!"
Kayleigh’s frown deepened as she knew no one would dare to disturb her while she was in her cultivation chamber unless the matter was of utmost importance. She closed her eyes for a fraction of a breath, then vanished in a ripple of shadows.
The next mont, she erged within a lavish hall of the Iron Abyss Hall—its black marble floor gleaming faintly under violet ghost-flas, and a figure was already kneeling at the center, waiting.
It was a tall, handso abyssal devil clad in the dark crimson robes of law enforcent, his aura sharp and disciplined like a blade honed in silence. The mont he saw her appear, he pressed his head low to the ground, his voice booming with deference.
"Lord Marquis!"
The hall fell silent, the atmosphere trembling beneath the gravity of her presence as Marquis Kayleigh’s devilish eyes narrowed slightly, a cold edge flashing within them, nothing like they had been just a few monts ago when they were filled with joy and exaltation.
Marquis Kayleigh didn’t speak as she walked towards the throne-like seat and gracefully sat down before emitting a regal aura and finally spoke in an emotionless, icy tone, "Black Hall Minister, you have one minute to make your case, or you’ll have to ditate in Yin Fla Chamber for 10 years!"
The Black Hall Minister trembled slightly as he knew the Marquis Kayleigh was probably in the middle of her rune crafting, and he happened to be unlucky to disturb her at that mont.
He cursed his bad luck, but he knew the arrow had long left the bow, and there was no taking it back. Now he only prayed to Devil Gods that the Marquis Kayleigh demand this report noteworthy enough to not punish him with ditating in Yin Fla Chamber because that place was nothing short of a torture chamber!
With a respectful tone, the Black Hall Minister quickly reported, "Lord Marquis, recently there have been reports of thefts in the capital which are similar to the infamous thefts of the Bone rcenary City!"
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