Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

The weapons Arleen had created with Spiritual energy, stormed out and stabbed into Abyss Beasts, skewing them all over and turning them into Eldritch mist that returned to where they had come from.

Agenon frowned at the loss of his precious Beasts but even as he shook with building rage, he did not summon more.

Even being in his natural element, the Wraith King still had limits to what he was capable of and with all the Beasts he had already summoned to battle the weakening Cardinals (All beasts whose physical might was comparable to the Seventh Martial order and very close to the top of said rank), he appeared to have reached that limit.

He was so 'tapped out' that the sets of beasts he summoned next were only equivalent to the physical might of the Sixth Order and nowhere near the top of that rank. Even then, the numbers should have given them the advantage if not for the raging Arcanist with the Red Spiritual energy.

Things had not gone as smoothly as the Wraith King planned. All he planned to do was create a commotion that would force a devastating outcome of allies killing each other for survival. The wild cards to all this were the Cardinals but seeing as they were the targets of this assault anyway, Agenon had not been worried and was prepared to take care of them.

So why, oh why was it that those powerful cardinals were not causing a slow change of tides but rather a measly group running around and destroying Anchors that should have been smartly and cleverly placed?

Plus, why was it that he could feel a different flavor of Eldritch energy among those valiantly fighting against his beasts?

'Hmm, curious,' Agenon thought with furrowed brows, and as his eyes roamed, they found themselves paying more attention to a handsome grey-haired young man in the hall. A member of the small group of nuisances.

Evian felt the eyes that were on him and he looked over, across the hall to lock eyes with the Agenon before raising his hand in a wave right before he brought his Spear down and destroyed yet another Anchor.

"Ngrrrr, Get him!" Agenon yelled which caused a group of Abyss beasts to break away from the herd and charge toward Evian who got ready to receive them with a smile.

Arleen did not react fast enough to stop the first set of Beasts from charging toward Evian but when she swiveled to interfere and save him, he called to her loudly but calmly,

"It's fine. Focus on the others,"

"Again with the orders!" Arleen yelled back at him but she complied.

With her body oozing Red Spiritual energy, Arleen approached the Abyss Beasts storming their way over, and with a few seals and a chant of a spell the Evian did not understand and did not try to understand, she created a large spell circle that unleashed her might at the very top of the Sixth Circle, inching and striving for a breakthrough.

A wild tornado appeared, carrying with it, powerful gales of wind all conjured from Spiritual energy, slamming into the Beasts and tossing them all to the side away from their unfortunate victims.

*RAARRRRR!!!*

The beasts all roared as one but Arleen quickly shut one of them up with a Sword blade of Spiritual energy right to where the heart of a human would be. It proved as effective as it had proven many times already and the beast returned to the abyss.

She set her sights on another but right then, a battle cry sounded out as someone flew out from over the heads of rabid Arcanists and sane ones.

"Ah!" Olivia yelled with her body still oozing the energy of her Spiritual energy outburst.

Her sword made contact and there was the instant *Bang!* of an explosion that destroyed the beast's head and eradicated it.

The moment she landed on the ground again, a rabid Arcanist came at her, and with a powerful slam of her elbow, she sent it flying without care for its survival. She only had eyes for the Abyss beasts and the death of the lot.

Despite the callous attack on a corrupted Arcanist, Olivia's mindset put her in the good graces of Arleen and when she slid to avoid getting bludgeoned, she slashed the legs of a beast, sending it to the ground where thorns erected by Arleen took care of the rest.

Meanwhile, Evian became the target of five Beasts, and the first thing he did, was call to his Assistant,
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'Increase my Decadence!'

[Expending 80,000 Soul Points…]

[Congratulations, you are now a Condemned Wraith Lo…]

'Another' Evian called out before the message could be completed.

[Expending 90,000 Soul Points…]

[Congratulations, you are now an Abhorrent Wraith …]

'Another!'

[Expending 100,000 Soul Points…]

[Congratulations, you are now an Unholy Wraith Lord!]

[Balance: 6,230,000 Soul Points.]

"Nghh!" Evian groaned at the physical discomfort he felt from making three subsequent advancements and then, when the gains set in, he raised his head with a grin and said out loud,

"Perfect!"

To be honest, he had been feeling bad thus far. Although what he had been doing had certainly been important, he had simply watched as beasts raged about even though they were all basically packs of Soul Points just waiting to be harvested.

The ones equivalent to the Sixth Order were especially the best because now that he had improved his Decadence to the very top of the Wraith Lord rank, he was Eldritchly capable enough to do this;

'Eldritch Authority!'

The power swarmed from Evian's body and struck the Beasts right where they stood, forcing them to stop their charge, pushing against the order they had already received from Agenon and were already acting on.

The two orders clashed and seeing as Agenon was ahead of Evian in Decadence, it wasn't going to be long before Evian's Eldritch Authority was overturned but even one minute was enough.

The beasts encircled him, frozen and Evian began a swift round of decapitation that ended with an almost simultaneous transformation into Eldritch mist for all five.

[You have acquired 120,000 Soul Points.]

[You have acquired 120,000 Soul Points.]

[You have acquired 120,000 Soul Points.]

[You have acquired 120,000 Soul Points.]

[You have acquired 120,000 Soul Points.]

[Updated Balance: 6,830,000 Soul Points.]

Unlike the last time something similar happened, Evian was not surprised or confused. As 'martial' beasts from the Abyss with capabilities equivalent to the Sixth Order, the beasts all gave the same number of Soul Points as Sixth Order Knights (100,000). However, because they also possessed pure Eldritch essence from the Abyss, they counted for a bonus of 20,000 each.

All that being said, Evian would not be Evian if he didn't remain greedy,

'I wanted the bonus to be more.'

[From Beasts with average to low intelligence, you would have been foolish to. If you want to make a killing in bonuses, go after the Leader; The Wraith King.]

'I AM considering it. Something just feels off about him though.'

[…]

The pointed silence from his assistant told Evian he was right but he decided not to prod. There were still important matters to deal with anyway.

Even during the brief moment he had spent preparing and then vanquishing the Abyss beasts, Evian had not neglected Daria and Armin who were still busy with the destruction of the Anchors. He pointed out many already to Daria through the mental connection they now shared thanks to his Seal and she then relayed the information to the Knight who gazed at her in awe of the strength of her perception.

Agenon shook not just with rage but also a realization,

'The energy— That feeling— Boy, how do you have that?'

The Wraith king was especially confused because from what he had felt, this grey-haired stranger should have been well into Decadence and should not look as he did.

The gaunt look of Wraiths is a matter of pride but also a show of power that would manifest without fail in a Wraith from the Wraith noble level of Decadence so how did this boy, seem like a Wraith Lord and still look like an Adonis?

*Bang!*

With a loud sound of impact, yet another Anchor was destroyed as Daria and Armin threw themselves into the crowd all so they could reach the other side of the hall to destroy the others.

Evian followed closely to provide the required protection from the attacks Agenon would still launch and launch he did by sending forth his Sixth-Order-equivalent beasts after the trio.

Arleen and Olivia, joined by a few of the surviving members of the Martial Temple Knights, could not keep them in one place so they settled for the next best thing by clearing everyone off the Beasts' paths to reduce casualties.

Evian was glad no one killed the beasts that came after him, Daria, and Armin because it was a valuable opportunity to secure more Soul Points, and secure he did.

With Eldritch Authority to hold them in place and his Spear to deliver final blows, killing had only ever been this easy for the young Wraith Lord when he had Astrid Renan as his partner.

[You have acquired 120,000 Soul Points.]

[You have acquired 120,000 Soul Points.]

[You have acquired 120,000 Soul Points.]

[You have acquired 120,000 Soul Points.] …

Even while reaping Soul Points which he had done splendidly, Evian lent his hand in destroying the Anchors and that was why when the numbers were down to three and his Soul Point Balance had reached a staggering [7,790,000], he, Daria, and Armin had taken position, raised their weapons and struck…

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" Agenon yelled while he ordered some of the beasts battling the Cardinals to stomp down the trio but it was too late.

*BANG!!!*

The final three Anchors were destroyed and the ripple effect was such that the entire party hall was shaken. The impeccable Architectural designs received cracks but the darkness finally pulled away.