Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

It was something so obvious and yet, Evian had not realized it; Innate abilities did not cost him Eldritch energy.

Eldritch energy was for spells or martial abilities but Innate abilities were something more. They were abilities fundamental to Evian being a Wraith.

Eldritch Authority! was a force of will. Evian just had to 'will' every bit of Eldritch energy within the body of his victim to obey his command and it had been so instinctive that he had not stopped to really think about it.

'Visions of the Eldritch' was a force of the mind. A mental attack of insane proportions that could attack even beings that were not made up of Eldritch energy. A grace that was not afforded to Eldritch Authority which was likely why its blowback and cost were so great.

The Knights who had stormed over to support Lieutenant Keron were still well within Evian's sphere of influence and their eyes were all widened while their heads were knocked back by the sheer force of the mental attack.

There was a pause and then the Knights all raised their heads towards the sky and let loose a bloodcurdling scream that seemed to originate from the torturous hell of the Abyss their minds had been unanimously pulled into.

"ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!"

The intensity and sheer horror of that scream was of such a degree that Keron winced even though he was in the Sixth Order and had a mental fortitude that surpassed all of those Knights combined.

Keron's eyes went from the tortured Knights to the one who had apparently caused their mental distress as evidenced by his outstretched hand.

Astrid watched as well in curiosity. She realized she had not felt the fluctuation of energy (Eldritch or Spiritual) that could be said to be the cause of such an intense attack.

'A mental strike,' she realized, 'And one moving on a wavelength I can't follow. Interesting.'

Meanwhile, Evian staggered where he stood.

His mind, an intangible thing, felt like it had been shattered like glass into hundreds of pieces.

[You are at a Risk of Wraithic Insanity! Beware!!!]

The 'Beware' flashed over and over in an urgent Red but even without being warned, Evian knew what was happening to him. It was information that was instinctively made known to him the moment he used the 'Visions of the Eldritch'.

Also, although Wraithic Insanity sounded like a horrible outcome, it was actually a sometimes optional evolutionary state of a Wraith that came with its boons.

For one, A Wraith who has fallen into Insanity finds it easier to advance in Decadence. This for Evian would mean that his requirements to level up would reduce by at least 40%.

Second, A Wraith who has fallen into Insanity can use 'Visions of the Eldritch' more naturally and can even inflict the malicious mental attacks on beings stronger than it even if by an entire level and sometimes even two depending on individual talent.

The rewards were great but it was not termed 'Insanity' for nothing. If Evian fell victim, he would lose his sense of reasoning and become decadently ravenous. Unable to distinguish friend from foe or ally from a meal. Everyone would become fair game.

He would let loose his Eldritch horror on any being that happened to cross his path and feed until he reached the apex of the Wraithic Decadence or until he was killed. Whichever came first.

Evian preferred to keep his mind as is so he hurried to rectify this situation.

Luckily, since this was the first time he ever shattered his mind, he was able to pull the pieces together and make it whole again. To Evian, this had taken an insanely long time but for those watching him, he had only staggered for a second before opening his eyes with steely determination.

He stretched his hand forward and an Eldritch Spell Circle appeared behind him out of which emerged chains that slithered around, stabbing heads and slashing necks until every one of the tortured Knights was freed by the finality of death.

Keron had taken advantage of the brief break in his battle with Astrid to swallow a few pills that stitched the long wound on his abdomen together and it was while Evian was swallowing the Souls that pulled free from the bodies that the Lieutenant spoke again,

"That energy!" he said with wide eyes before rounding on Astrid, "I see Verlice is also now allying with Decadence!"

Keron spoke with spite as though he were pointing out some hypocrisy and to that, Astrid's lips stretched into a grin,

"Is that really what you should be worried about?"

"What—?" Keron started to say only for his eyes to widen when he sensed an attack coming at him from the side. Evian sent every single one of his chains at him but like the Sixth Order Knight that he was, Keron parried every one of the chains and found himself space to charge at Evian.

"Did you really think that would work?" Keron questioned, confident that the difference in strength between him and Evian was enough for an easy kill.

It was.

Alas, he lost the plot since Evian had never really been his opponent.

"Huh?" Keron let out in surprise as a green vine wrapped around his waist to pull him toward Astrid.

He let loose every bit of Spiritual energy he had to break free from the vine but it was all for naught. He was in contention with energy far beyond his station. He was up against energy at the Seventh Order and being wielded by the Verlice Kingdom's Martial Temple's Golden Child no less. He never had a chance.

Astrid calmly went for the kill and then…

*THUNK!*

… The sound of a heavy impact to the side of Keron's head interrupted her.

Evian's Spear, oozing Eldritch energy that Evian had imbued into it so it would carry much greater force and piercing power was lodged into the side of the head of the Sixth Order Knight who, after his head was almost knocked off his neck by the sheer striking power of the weapon, rolled his head back so he could stare at the sky one last time before surrendering his Soul.

Astrid had cast a thin field of Spiritual energy to keep the blood splatter off her body and by canceling her spell, she let Keron's body fall to the ground while she looked to the side at Evian.

"What?" Evian asked her as he walked towards Keron's corpse and pulled out his Spear only to raise his head and realize Astrid was still looking at him, "Is there something on my face?"

"You really did it," Astrid said, "You stole the kill."

Evian wiped his weapon clean of blood and brain remnants.

"I told you I would," he said and then shrugged, "Besides, you let me."

"Hmm," Astrid let out looking amused by the accusation.

It was true and they both knew it.

Had she not taken her time, Evian would not have had the chance to swoop in for the steal.

Why had she taken her time? Evian wondered.

'She had to have done it on purpose.'

It made no sense to Evian that Astrid would want to savor the kill of a Sixth Order Knight. Especially a kill that had come so easy and lacked any payoff.

He looked at her and she looked back at him, smiling like he amused her— Like the fact that he had not realized what her goal was, was hilarious to her and she was the only one in on the joke.

"So another Soul down your ravenous gullet," Astrid said, a sparkle in her blue eyes.

"All thanks to you," Evian said with a slight jovial bow as the notification sounded in his head,

[You have acquired 100,000 Soul Points.]

Evian was keeping the reaction locked in deep but he was actually very excited to get to taste the soul of a Sixth Order Knight and even better was what his Soul Point balance looked like when he called it up.

With five being at the Fifth Order and the other Ten at the Fourth Order, all those whom Evian had inflicted with the 'Visions of the Eldritch' had rewarded him with 60,000 Soul Points and, added to the most recent 100,000 gained, his balance looked like this,

[Decadence: Cursed Wraith Lord {370,000/50,000 Soul Points}]

Astrid watched his joy and chuckled to herself,

'Eat your fill, rejoice in your wins and steals, and then, when this war is over, I will personally estimate your progress. Let's see how hard you can smile then.'

Evian could of course not read his Partner-in-hunting's mind but he was gripped by a strange chill that gave him a bad feeling.

Anyway, the horrid screams by those Evian had tortured had called even more attention to their infiltration.

Evian considered staying and facing them with Astrid by his side but then he resolved that leaving this region to attack the enemy from somewhere else would catch them off guard and keep these stealthy attacks going even though their presence was now known.

He grabbed Astrid's hand without even asking and before she could reprimand him for his audacity, he had phased them through the ground and away from the coming forces.

With a balance of 370,000 Soul Points, Evian's plan had been productive. However, faced with the daunting amount of points he would require to even advance within the Wraith Lord level not to mention all that he needed to purchase from the Decadent Store, Evian still wanted more.

No.

He needed more.