Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

"What Crew are you talking about?"

*Puh*

The Leader leaned up and spat the blood in his mouth into Evian's face.

Evian raised a hand to touch the spewed blood and then he grinned before stabbing the sword into the Leader's stomach.

"Arrrrrgghhhh"

Evian twisted the sword inside the Leader's guts as he chuckled.

"You are losing a lot of blood but I can tell you still have some life left in you.

There's still enough time for me to make the rest of your life miserable before I top it all off with a satisfactory consumption of your soul."

The Leader's face screwed up in agony as he clawed first at the ground beneath him and then started reaching up at Evian who just comfortably smacked his hands aside before they could touch him.

"ARRRRRGGGHHH- You really were foolish. Imagine risking a turf war and for what? Some excitement? Ack- Ahhhh..."

*Puh*

He spat out once again. Blood pooled inside his mouth by the volume.

"Just you wait, he'll get you and the rest of your thieving crew... JUST YOU WAIT!"

Convinced he was not going to get the information he wanted, Evian swung his sword and slashed the Leader's neck leaving him to gurgle for a few seconds before his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he flopped to the ground- lifeless.

"Where the hell are the guards?" Evian mumbled to himself with his eyes glancing over at his door.

"There has been more than enough noise to alert them by now"

*Bang!*

The room doors blasted wide open but it didn't reveal the guards Evian was expecting but rather a thin man who was holding a staff and had a crooked smile on his face.

The man had shoulder-length salt and pepper hair and a full beard. Although his face made him appear like he was in his late forties, Evian had learned in the few days he had spent in this world that looks could be deceiving. The man might very well be a few centuries old.

The man looked around at the dead bodies in the room and then let out a sigh.

"Not surprising. If anyone can manage to screw up a kidnapping, it would be this sorry bunch.

Well, thank goodness he had the foresight to send me here in case things got- difficult"

"Damn! Another one?" Evian asked with a groan, "And who might you be?"

The man grinned.

"Not important. You'll be coming with me now"

*Thud!*

The man slammed the end of his staff into the ground and released a wave of magical energy that formed into chains and slithered toward Evian.

Evian frowned and gripped the sword in his hand even tighter while releasing Eldritch energy to combat the chains but these chains were beyond the Third Circle and pushed back his Eldritch energy with ease before they wrapped around his body.

Evian tried to yell but the chains wrapped around his mouth and shut off all sound.

Bound tightly, Evian floated over to the man who nodded with a satisfied smile.

"Good. Very good. Honestly, he should have just sent me from the start and not as some glorified backup."

*PITAH* *PITAH* *PITAH*

The sounds of heavy footsteps sounded as Guard reinforcements finally arrived.

"Release him!" one of the guards said with his sword out.

'Finally! What took you fuckers so long?!' Evian yelled in his mind since his mouth was wrapped shut and rendered all sound to incoherent mumbles.

The thin man simply rolled his eyes and stamped his staff into the ground sharply twice.

*Thud!*

*Thud*

One thud was to cast a wide Four-ring circle at his feet and the second was to conjure a magical wall that slammed into the Guards to block their sight and distract them while the Four-ring circle took him away from the Estate.

By the time the Guards regained their bearing, the Man and Evian were gone and the direction they went in was unknown.

"Th-This is a travesty," One guard said.

"Raise the Alarm!" yelled another.

In minutes the news that Evian Stygian had been kidnapped spread all over the Estate.

...

Meanwhile-

'What a useless bunch!' Evian yelled in his mind as he floated beside his kidnapper who was skating along so fast the scenery became a blur.

His first time out of the Estate since he took over this body and Evian was not even allowed to appreciate the view. That annoyed him but not as much as it annoyed him that the guards had failed to protect him.

'A one-second distraction was really all it took to lose them? By God!

I mean, I did my part! I killed three intruders by myself! And when reinforcements finally arrive, they don't even make a difference!"

As irate as he was, Evian remained very aware of his situation.

He still struggled against his bounds and still released Eldritch energy but neither was any help.

All was looking grim.

And then...

*Whoosh*

Evian's eyes became as large as saucers as a shaggy, shoulder-length black-haired masked man suddenly started running alongside them. Keeping up with the skating circle with ease.

The Masked man studied Evian's face for a few seconds like he was thrown off at first because of the different hair and eye color. He either confirmed Evian's identity or he just decided to help anyway because he addressed the Kidnapper in an upset voice.

"Let him go, you demented fool!"

The Kidnapper frowned and raised his staff but before he could cast another spell, the masked man stretched out an arm and slammed him off the skating circle and into the wall of a dilapidated building nearby.

*Bam*

*BANG!*

Wrapped by the Kidnapper's chains, Evian slammed into the wall as well but ironically, the chains that bound him also protected him from the impact.

By the time the Kidnapper returned to his feet, the masked man was swinging a kick at him so he cast a small shield to protect himself.

*Bam*

*Crack!*

The shield worked well with its defense but cracked under the force of the kick while also forcing the Arcanist to slide a few meters away.

The Masked man bent low, grabbed the chains binding Evian, and pulled hard until they broke with a sharp sound.

*Snap!*

The chains unraveled and dissolved into magical energy as Evian was set free and stood to his feet, still holding the bloody sword he had used to kill the Leader of the Intruders just minutes before.

The Masked man studied his face again and his brows furrowed behind his mask.

'The hell happened to his hair and eyes?' he thought before standing and addressing the Kidnapper who had already recovered from his kick.

"Koln, I think it's best you leave while you still can," The Masked man said.

The Kidnapper cocked his head to the side.

"You know my name. I should know yours too. How about you take that Mask off and introduce yourself?"

"No," the Masked man said simply.

Koln chuckled dryly.

"Then- Am I to assume, you're a member of the infamous 'Crew'?" he asked.

The masked man nodded.

"You assume correctly. So you can understand why I can not allow you to take Evian away. He's much too important to our cause."

Koln's grin widened.

"Oh my, who would have thought? I set out for one and I get two. My pay just doubled!"

*Thud!*

Magical energy surged from the spot the staff hit on the ground and chains were conjured again and charged forward.

The masked man smacked the chains aside and then charged forward with his fists raised in attack. In seconds, fists and spells started clashing before Evian's eyes.

Realizing he had a few minutes to himself, Evian directed his attention inward.

'Hey, Assistant?'

[Yes?]

'Bring up the Status Screen'

-

[Name: Evian Stygian.]

[Race: Wraith]

[Decadence: Cursed Wraith {300/500 Soul points}]

-

'300 soul points? Those guys' souls were worth 300 points?'

[Yes. 100 points for each. All three were at the Third Order and 100 points are the standard for souls at that level.]

'You say 'standard'- Does that mean 100 points is not always the case?'

[Well, souls scale in strength with their practitioner, however, if the practitioner is more spiritually enlightened, the number of points goes up quite a bit.

For this reason, the souls of Arcanists give more points due to them being more spiritually enlightened compared to their Knight conterparts]

Evian's eyes rolled up to the battle happening in front of him.

'How many points for the Kidnapping geezer?' 𝚋ｅｄｎ𝚘𝚟ｅｌ.ｃｏ𝚖

[As a Fourth Circle Arcanist, his soul will grant you 1500 soul points.]

'Wow!' Evian thought with wide eyes.

Suddenly, he saw an opportunity.