Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

The battle was well and truly underway.

After creating a border within which they hoped to keep the range of the Beasts' rampage, the Knights of Kalkoa City charged and fought under the command of their Captains, most notable of whom were Aegir and Haegis Kalkoa, brothers in capable might.

As the Fourth Order Knights the brothers were, they were able to make short work of the weaker beasts and managed to keep themselves from being bombarded and overwhelmed by the numbers.

Gillert was similar, being at the Fourth Order as well but he fought close to Carleine who tried her hardest not to look at Evian and Ember with jealousy as they 'loved' up while slaughtering the horrific beasts.

The only one not to take action yet among all the Knights at the battle scene was Zayda.

The Squad commander had a focused look on her face as she folded her arms beneath her breasts and surveyed the battle in all its intense grandness. She felt satisfied that she had not yet had to act in assistance of the members of her not-yet-battle-tested Squad but she remained reserved. Her fingers tapping her arms with restlessness.

And then, she decided to make herself useful.

She looked at the battle, past the oncoming horde in search of the source... In search for the Portal, they had been told about on their way here.

She sighted it...

"There!"

... And charged right toward it, her entire body coated with the pressure of the Sixth Order and tearing through the Beasts with incredible ease. Killing the Beasts had never been an issue... It was their never dwindling numbers that caused concern and for that, Zayda now approached the source.

She stopped in front of it, shadows of defeated Beasts dissipating behind her, and cocked her head to the side observing the Portal. It was irregularly circular and was about 5 feet in diameter.

It exuded a deathly chill that caused Zayda to shiver but with the use of Spiritual energy, she was able to dispel the effects.

And then,

*RARRRRRRRR*

A new Beast wave charged out of the portal. Those in the center slammed into Zayda immediately and were smashed by her might, stationary as she was, but the others continued on to join the already massive horde being barely contained already.

*Whoosh*

*Whoosh*

*Whoosh*

Evian's movement was a blur to the sights of even those at the Fourth Order as he pushed his speed to the absolute limit, and cut down as many Beasts as his Spear could touch. So long as a spearhead could stab through their leathery coat, they died.

Ember tried to keep up and to a commendable degree, she succeeded. Never getting too far away from each other, together, she and Evian had felled over 200 Beasts with Evian having the majority of the numbers without feeling even the slightest bit of fatigue.

Against this bunch, Evian did not feel like he was truly exerting himself besides his continuous burst of speed. Also, as he absorbed their Quasi-Eldritch Essence, he allowed himself to spare a good bit of those units to revitalize himself with Eldritch energy and ensure his reserves never got too low.

With an incredible mental capacity for multitasking, he could be stabbing Beasts left and right and still send out Eldritch arrow after Eldritch arrow to assassinate Beasts he was not close to.

And then, at some point, while he pierced the head of a Beast and stomped another with his boot, crushing it to mist, he looked around at the source of the new wave and saw Zayda standing in front of the Portal.

Besides the ones that had come directly at her and gotten crushed, Zayda did not pay attention or harm any of the new wave of Beasts, instead, she remained focused on the Portal, stretching her Spiritual energy-coated hand toward it.

Her hand touched a membrane and encouraged, she continued pushing until a few knuckles of her fingers broke through... And then came the problem.

She felt a chill akin to the creeping grip of death strike her hand from beyond the portal but instead of her protective layer of Spiritual energy to shield her from the effects, she found it broken apart as the cold infiltrated her body.

It went past her skin, past the surface, and ran deep to her nerves, numbing them, but that was not the end as it continued to go even deeper, past a physical threshold of 'feeling' for a more mental impact that pulled her mind into a deathly vision that had her entire psyche shaking with worry.

"Ahh--" Zayda let out and her knees shook but even as the feeling, both physical and mental tried to force her to subdue, her presence of mind as a Capable Knight won out and she showcased her prowess in an explosive release of her pressure and an outburst of Spiritual energy that contended and repelled the cold that sought to take crippling control of her body while also shaking the spatial stability of the portal.

"Ngh!"

With a groan of effort, she pulled her hand free and dispelled the chill creeping up on her but now she eyed the portal with even more focus.

"Dame Zayda," Aegir called as he fended off a few Beasts and killed a couple, "Dame, be careful with the portal. It claims lives even more creepily than these Beasts ever can."

Zauda looked over at him, quite at ease despite how close she came to being subdued by Eldritch chill,

"So you've made contact with this Portal before?" she asked.

"Not me," Aegir said.

"Not us," Haegis clarified.

"Anyone who did, died upon contact," Aegir said.

"It was like the Portal sucked the life out of them," Haegis added and shivered for effect.

"Huh," Zayda said, and as the brothers returned to battling beasts, she pushed her hand into the portal again and swarmed it with Spiritual energy in hopes that a reaction would confirm her forming hypothesis,

"I knew it!" she exclaimed out loud.

When she first reached out to the Portal and it attacked her with its chill, she was ready to dismiss it as merely the portal's nature which was no doubt as nefarious as the Beasts it poured out but the fact that its stability shook when she flooded it with her Pressure and Spiritual energy made her wonder if it could be closed forcibly which would mean the cold that attacked her was a defense mechanism aiming to discourage the process and keep the portal open.

"I can end this," Zayda said as she stood resolutely and pushed in her other hand to increase the effort she put into destabilizing it. She worked fast and earnestly hoping to have succeeded before the next wave of Beasts flooded out of the portal and stopped her progress while also adding even more numbers to the already massive horde.

As she worked, Zayda cracked a smile,

"Heh, if this works, Evian might actually have been right about not needing Reinforcements."

Those Kalkoa Knights who got close to the portal lost their lives to it because they lacked the martial might and the quality of Spiritual Energy to contend against it. Even their Baron with his Fifth Order strength and Spiritual energy quality would likely fail. Zayda did not share that predicament and after about five minutes, her effort bore fruits.

The Portal became erratic, its size began to diminish and then increase again only to diminish even more in a chaotic ebbing that foretold its eventual collapse.

Zayda's smile got even wider and her effort increased at the increasing possibility for success and then, she felt a presence beyond the portal. Someone- Something was agitated from beyond...

*BANG!!!*

The portal imploded and as the force pushed her back, Zayda allowed it and controlled her backward slide while also protecting herself from the force of the implosion with a layer of Spiritual energy all over her body. She also released her pressure to counter the force.

Dust erupted from the implosion and Everyone who could afford to look beyond the debris did so to see the result of Zayda's effort.

"And that's that-- Ack!"

Zayda had barely completed her triumphant sentence when a massive clawed fist reached out from behind the settling dust to grab her throat and squeeze it right.

Now the dust cleared and everyone could see the full figure of the culprit.

"What in all Fucks---" Evian mumbled just as he pierced three beasts on a single Spear thrust and absorbed their Quasi-Eldritch Essence.

His exclamation was well worth it.

The Beast that had Zayda's neck in its tight grip looked just like the roaming beasts with a few differences in features;

It could stand upright on its hind limbs and was much, much taller and larger.

It was at least Eight feet tall and wider than three muscular knights put together. Its fists, distinctly different from the more animalistic front limbs of the roaming beasts, were large and furry with veins that flexed with a clear intent to crush Zayda's neck.

It leaned in close, blew its breath into Zayda's struggling face, and sneered in a tone deep and loud with malice,

"BITCH, HOW DARE YOU?!!!"

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