Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

Evian nodded.

"Larnak played it to me when I spoke to him. Right before he tried to capture me."

The Resistance had maids and servants as informants in the Estate but none of those had been inside the room when Evian met Larnak so they didn't know the contents of the meetings. They only knew Evian went there, escaped, and currently had Herbert Larnak fuming.

"Wow, he kept it?" Carleine said with eyes wide in surprise, "I was sure he would have crushed it in anger."

Gryon nodded.

"Me too."

Evian looked over at Ember who was peering hard at the plans on the table.

"How involved is your father with all this?" he asked.

Ember raised her head and then shrugged.

"He knows enough but keeps well away. Reputation of his business and whatnot."

There was something about her tone that indicated she was not totally on board with her Father's attitude towards the Resistance but her face remained so neutral that Evian was not sure if he was reading too much into it.

Gillert cleared his throat.

"There isn't much Erik Lockheart can do. He doesn't command an army ready to die for his cause. The private security he occasionally employs is sometimes even resourced to him by a Local Lord."

Gillert sounded as though he was trying to clear an awkward air. Evian would have been confused as to why had it not been for Ember clenching her fists against the Tabletop.

"You don't have to do that, Gillert. We both know there's more he can do," she said.

"Ember-" Gillert started but was quickly interrupted.

"He's in the Renan Territory right now. Constantly welcomed into Lordess Renan's Estate and all he does is spend his time trying to get into her pants!" Ember snapped.

Clearly, this was not the first time the topic had come up.

"'Lordess?'" Evian repeated with a raised brow.

Gillert nodded.

"The head of the Renan Estate, governing the Renan Territory, is a woman," he said.

"You didn't know?" Carleine asked.

Evian shook his head.

"My knowledge of the City is still not perfect," he said.

Gryon sighed with a mystified smile on his face.

"Ah, Lordess Renan is so beautiful and dignified- If you ever saw her, you'd understand why Erik Lochkeart wants to cop a feel."

"Gryon!" Ember snapped.

Gryon looked startled but he recovered quickly.

"What?" he said with a shrug, "I'm just saying I get it."

Ember groaned and looked away from him.

"The point is, Father could be doing more- But he's not."

Gillert placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"He has been generous enough."

Ember snorted. She didn't agree but she said nothing more.

Evian cleared his throat.

"Another heist might not be necessary anyway. An investigation is being carried out as we speak and once evidence points to Larnak, you'll likely get your Turf war," he said.

"Haha," Gryon laughed.

"What?" Evian asked and the others laughed as well, "What is it?"

"Evian, if nothing has been found to link Larnak to it already, your Estate won't find anything," Ember said.

Gillert nodded.

"Unless any of the intruders survived to confess, it's very unlikely anything is found."

"Besides, it might be even more essential we pull it off now. The heist I mean," Ember said, "It's almost time for Tax collections and if Larnak fears for a war, we might be witnessing a hike in Taxation."

Gillert nodded in agreement.

"War IS expensive," he said, "Our duty as the Resistance is to alleviate the People's suffering."

Evian eyed them all, spotting their resolve and furrowing his brows.

In all honesty, he had no strong feelings for the territory the Crew was fighting for. He had not inherited Dead-Evian's memories, motivations, or feelings about the situation, however, what he had said to Gillert outside remained true; He indeed had more to gain fighting against Larnak than fighting against the Resistance.

'Putting aside the fact that Larnak hates me to the bones -And this is without him even having any knowledge that I fucked his wife- Of the four members of the Crew, only Gillert is confirmed to be at the Fourth Order and while his soul is worth 1000 Soul points, I don't currently see a way to defeat him without help.

On the contrary, Larnak's forces are stacked with the so-called Elites in the Third Order all individually worth 100 Soul points each. It will take many round trips and careful planning to avoid ambush but I'll eventually make the 1000 soul points I'll get for Gillert and more.

In this case, it seems smarter to go for quantity rather than quality.'

"Hey," Evian said out loud, "Does Larnak have any Arcanists in his ranks? You know, among his recruits I mean."

'The Extra Soul Points can't hurt.'

The Crew had incredulous looks on their faces.

"Arcanists? No," Carleine said and shook her head.

Evian looked confused.

"What do you mean No? He had Koln," he pointed out.

Gillert shook his head.

"Koln wasn't a recruit. He was an outcast. Dishonorably discharged from the Church and only barely avoided death for his crimes.

Larnak could maybe find others like Koln but it will be a time-consuming and expensive task. Plus, they need to be at least at Koln's level to be really useful. Anything less and they are hardly a threat to any Knight on a Corresponding level."

"What were Koln's crimes?" Evian asked as he absentmindedly rubbed the ring on his finger.

Gillert shrugged.

"We don't know."

"What we do know is no one with Talent in the Arcane Arts would join forces with any Local Lord much less strive to be recruited," Ember said.

"Why not?" Evian asked.

"Well, the Arcane Arts are 'sacred' according to the Arcane Church. They monopolize everything about it. The knowledge, the spells... The only way anyone can have access to them is by joining the Arcane Church after which you're forbidden from sharing.

They keep all the original manuscripts and their devouts are not allowed to duplicate them from memory." Ember explained.

Evian's brows furrowed. Even as he rubbed the ring on his finger, he remembered the Arcane Spell manuscripts within.

'Illegal property perhaps?' he wondered.

Carleine's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, sometimes the Arcane Church seems more like a Cult," she said.

"Probably because it is," Gryon said with a snigger, "Tsk. Who wants to spend a lifetime stuffing complicated spells in their head anyway? The Martial Temple is easily superior."

Evian smiled at the admiration in Gryon's tone.

"I take it you wish to join the Martial Temple, then."

Gryon's eyes got misty with the 'wonderful' thought.

"Well, of course. Receiving the best resources, getting stronger, and using my strength to serve my King. Sign me right up!"

...

There was no real 'end' to the meeting of the Crew.

To reduce or outright stop any attention they could draw to themselves, they all just made the mansion their home under the guise of being a branch for Erik Lockheart's business.

It was why Gillert was wearing corporate attire. If visited, he would introduce himself as caretaker of Viyeen Complex, and Ember being the daughter of Erik Lockheart gave their hideaway more credibility.

Evian left the hall about an hour later. It was early in the Evening and he decided it was about time he returned to the Stygian Estate.

"Evian, wait!"

The call was made by a feminine voice and Evian turned around to see Ember walk out of the hall and approach him. He raised a brow at her and she cleared her throat.

"I wanted to ask you something," she said.

Evian flashed her a smile.

"Ask away."

"How did you do it?" Ember asked.

"How did I do what?" Evian asked confused.

"You entered the Larnak Estate, stood before Larnak, had the attention of his guards and himself and you got away. Did you run out, slide out, jump out... How did you do it?" Ember asked. Her brown eyes wide.

"Is that admiration I hear?" Evian asked with a smile.

"Well, it WAS an impressive feat," Ember said, "We heard Daria, the Witch was there as well."

"Daria wasn't a threat," Evian said.

Ember's brows furrowed but she didn't comment on that. She just asked again,

"How did you do it?"

Evian opened his mouth and then paused. He turned until he and Ember facing each other and he was staring at her wide expectant face.

"You're expecting to hear something grand, aren't you?"

"Well, it would be pretty disappointing if It was something mundane. But it CAN'T have been, right?" Ember said shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"Stand still," Evian told her.

"What?"

"Stand still," Evian repeated as he raised a hand and stretched it toward her. His fingers spread and moved until they touched her neck.

Ember's eyes went round but she didn't move. Just as he had asked.

"What do you feel?" Evian asked in a low voice.

'Besides a strange tingling?' Ember thought but did not say out loud.

"Nothing much. A slight touch," she said wondering what any of this had to do with his getaway tactics.

Evian nodded and his hand began to go down until his fingers were above Ember's chest. Her cheeks turned red at the proximity of Evian's hand to her breast. She would probably have slapped him for what looked like a perverted move but she was just stunned and frozen by his audacity.

Evian could guess what her thoughts were. He paid no mind to them. If he cared about thoughts like that, he wouldn't have chosen this as a showcase for his Phasing.

Ember expected contact, she expected Evian's hand to be resting comfortably on the round curve of her bosom but her eyes widened when she felt nothing.

Not even the light touch she had felt on her neck before.

She looked down and saw Evian's hand was translucent and about five inches inside her body.

Evian smiled at his phasing success. If she was beyond the Third Order, he would have failed, and he would have copped a feel but that would not have been satisfying. A tease was far more enjoyable.

Evian pushed his translucent hand even further in and Ember's eyes went wide with shock.

"That's how I got away," Evian told her as he slowly pulled his hand out.

"That- W-what- I don't understand," Ember said, breathless. A consequence of holding her breath waiting for a perverse touch that never came.

"Look behind you," Evian told her with a smile.

She did, and in the second before she looked back, Evian sank into the ground.

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