Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

[You have acquired 1000 Soul Points]

[You have acquired 1000 Soul Points]

[You have acquired 1000 Soul Points]

[You have acquired 1000 Soul Points]

[You have acquired 1000 Soul Points]

[Balance: 11000 Soul Points]

Evian leaned back and closed his eyes.

As he advanced on the road of decadence, so also did his desire for souls and the days he had gone without them were causing him to itch for a meal which made this all the more satisfying.

"A fascinating sight," Astrid said as she broke through Evian's moment of decadent serenity.

"Let me guess," Evian started with a smile, "You could see the souls."

"Yes, I could," Astrid said as she stepped out from under the shadows cast by the trees blocking the moon shine coming from on high, "Hyper spirituality grants the ability to see beyond the physical."

"Interesting to know," Evian says while turning around to face her, "Let's go after the other lookouts?"

"Sure. And then we find the Commander," Astrid said as she led the way with her far-reaching senses.

And so began the hunt… Truly.

Because the operation relied a lot on stealth, Evian had no avenue to dazzle the opponents with his current mastery of the Spear. However, because of how much he used the Reaper chains, he got better at it and could now group his Ten attacking chains into five and control them simultaneously to precisely attack separate targets.

Speed was essential.

Because they had hardy cared to get rid of the bodies they had left behind like a trail all around the enemy camp, Evian and Astrid knew it was only a matter of time before their presence became known and so, after killing the Twentieth lookout (not counting the first five), Evian allowed one of them to raise the alarm by not muffling its yell of pain.

With his Soul Points now sitting pretty at 31,000, Evian now desired better, stronger kills and he realized he would not find that with these lookouts who were all frustratingly at the Fourth Order of strength. They might sometimes be at the peak but unless they made their breakthrough, their souls would still count for the same.

The Alarm called a group of six Trolls and by the energy the leader gave off, the presence of a Fifth Order Monster was clear and even if the energy had not been sensed, the way the monster looked would have given it away.

A grey hide thicker than that of its fellows, bloodshot eyes, and a misshapen nose that kept billowing out angry steam while it seemed to sniff away for the enemy that caused the sounding of the alarm.

Whatever impressive strength the Fifth Order Troll had to show off, it never got a chance as it was snagged up by Astrid's vine spell which was followed by Evian going in and getting the kills.

[You have acquired 1000 Soul Points]

[You have acquired 1000 Soul Points]

[You have acquired 1000 Soul Points]

[You have acquired 1000 Soul Points]

[You have acquired 1000 Soul Points]

[You have acquired 10000 Soul Points]

Evian saved the strongest Soul for the last and relished that taste.

Dull as trolls were, the realization that those who had gone to investigate a disturbance were yet to return, caused another group to set out which guaranteed that Evian's feast would not yet end and this had the potential of being the moment he made his largest gains yet.

-

-

•••

A man with greying brown hair and a small beard of similar coloring walked out of the largest Tent in the Arkadae camp. A Tent widely known as the War Room, used regularly for War meetings while also being the residence of the Force Commander.

The man paused and raised his head toward the sky,

"Beautiful night," he mumbled, "I can only hope its the last I have to see surrounded by this darned trees."

It was not being outdoors that annoyed the man but rather the fact that this region was monster territory which they had made a makeshift camp for strategic reasons.

*Pitah* *Pitah*

"Lieutenant Keron," A Knight bowed once he was three feet away from the man, his tone urgent.

"What is it?" Keron asked.

"We've received word from the Trolls and Orgres. Apparently, a number of their tribesmen who were keeping a lookout have been found dead."

Keron's brows furrowed as he glared at the Knight who just delivered him the bad news.

He had never trusted trolls or Ogres or even any of the Lithe monster races. He believed they were a bunch to be exterminated for even daring to encroach on land that rightfully belonged to humans.

The best compromise was to simply ignore them and so when the Commander mentioned a brokered deal, Keron had opposed but his opposition was brushed aside by more support from others and so he had to hold his piece.

All this being said, there was a reason the Trolls and Ogres were made lookouts instead of humans and that was because their physicality surpassed that of a Knight on the same level. If they were being done in, then this was serious. The enemy might have struck.

But how?

Keron glanced back at the large tent where his Commander was,

'How could any Verlice Kingdom Knight have made the journey over without us being alerted?'

"Where?" he asked.

"All over the Western side of the Camp," the Knight answered.

"Call a Squad and follow me at once," Keron said and set off toward the Western side.

As a Knight at the Seventh Step of the Sixth Order, Keron possessed incredible speed and he used that speed to journey the distance, quickly finding the group of trolls investigating the deaths.

He looked around and there were no signs of Assailants so he stretched out his senses and only then picked up sounds; Tiny, stealthy sounds, from the North-end of their Camp.

He set off.

About Thirty seconds after he left, the Squad he had called for arrived.

"Have you seen Lieutenant Keron?"

"Rude man go that way," pointed an Ogre who did not like how Keron had ignored them and their grief.

Alas, the Squad was no better because as soon as they received the information they wanted, they set off after their Lieutenant.

"Humans," said an Ogre with a snort.

Trolls and Ogres alike nodded in agreement.

-

Meanwhile…

'Update,'

[Balance: 230,000 Soul Points]

'Wonderful, this is working out even better than I'd hoped.

Increase my Decadence!'

[-20,000 Soul Points]

[Congratulations, You are now a Cursed Wraith Lord]

[Your innate ability, Eldritch Authority has advanced]

[You have acquired a new innate ability; Visions of the Eldritch;

Immerse your victims in visions of the Abyss, inflicting them with Eternal torment. Can only be purified by Energy Stronger than yours.]

Evian's eyes widened and he let out a chuckle,

'So I DO get an ability. Nice!

Is the Decadent Store having an Update?' he asked.

[Temporarily. You will be alerted when the update is complete.]

Evian frowned and then let out a sigh,

'Fine.'

Astrid was watching him and had left him alone to what looked like a studious display of insanity with how he gestured, smiled, and frowned at nothing, and then her senses were piqued,

"Someone's coming."

The warning pulled Evian out of his thoughts and he looked in the direction Astrid was.

"Should we leave?" he asked.

Astrid paused, and then said slowly,

"No. It'll be far more interesting to stay."

"If you say so," Evian said gently, "But if you are going to fight, I hope you will not object to my stealing your kill?"

The approaching Knight was close enough now for Evian to feel his energy for himself and he knew this was a bountiful harvest of Soul Points he could not afford to miss.

Astrid shrugged,

"I'll just take it as fulfilling the basis of our deal. However, I kill fast. I wonder if you'll have a chance to swoop in."

Evian barely had time to really take in the chillingness of her words when Lieutenant Keron arrived.

Keron looked around, his frown deepening whenever he laid sight on her body so by the time he was done, he looked aged.

"Who are you?" he asked coolly.

"What good would that information do you?" Astrid asked.

"You're right. Verlice scum have no right be remembered by me!"

Keron stretched his hand and summoned a Spear that he charged with Spiritual energy and let loose in a destructive arch. Evian recognized the move. He could do the same with his Spear only with Eldritch energy instead.

Astrid's sword was already in hand and she cleaved the attack into two before vanishing.

Keron's eyes widened because her presence was completely gone and then he crossed his Spear to the side in defense.

*Clang!*

The sound of metal hitting metal made Keron believe he had succeeded with his block only to let out a yell of pain…

"Ahh!"

… When the tip of a sword slashed through his Abdomen.

He lost blood, felt lightheaded, and went to his knees. It was then that the Squad he called for arrived.

Leading the bunch were Five Fifth Order Knights and before Astrid could do a thing, Evian stepped forward, deciding to try out his new innate Ability.

Evian was smiling in excitement to test it out but that smile turned quickly into a horrified grimace as he realized that the ability didn't cost him Eldritch energy, rather it cost him his mental stability.

His mind broke just so he could break those of his victims.

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