Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

Evian grabbed the bloody sword lying by his side and stood to his feet.

"I'm fine"

The Captain nodded with a relieved expression bent low over Koln's body as though studying him. He searched the body likely looking for a storage item but Evian had slipped that off already.

"Captain, do you know who he is?" one guard asked.

"Of course," the Captain said with a nod,

"He's Koln the Arcanist. Discharged from the Arcane Church years ago and works for hire. I just wish there was something on him to indicate who sent him.

The Lord will want to know"

Evian's brows furrowed and he considered name-dropping Lord Larnak but eventually decided against it.

A lot had happened in the last hour or so and he was as confused now as he had been when it all started. Without memories of what the Old Evian did or didn't do, Evian wasn't sure what to believe.

What if Lord Larnak had nothing to do with any of this?

What if the so-called Rebellion was indeed just a thieving Crew?

What other secrets did the Old Evian keep?

What if Gillert was all part of an elaborate ploy?

'Damn, when did I become so cynical?' Evian thought and shook his head.

The Captain stood to his feet and reached into a pouch attached to his waist to pull out a liquid that he doused over Koln's body.

"Well, there's nothing more to learn from his corpse," he said before sparking the liquid with his spiritual energy.

*Whum*

The flames blazed instantly and right before Evian's eyes the clothes and flesh of Koln's corpse became ashes, exposing the skeleton and even that was getting broken down at an insane rate.

'Damn. Imagine having that poured on you.'

"Escort the Young Master back to the Estate!" The Captain ordered.

The guards formed a formation around Evian, all looking alert and ready for any attack to come from any direction (except from above) and they started guiding him back the way they had come.

...

A journey that Evian remembered to have only lasted a few minutes when he was being taken by Koln, lasted close to an hour now that he was walking back with a guard entourage all around him.

There was an air of worry all over the Stygian Estate and Evian could feel it even before he walked through the Gates. Once he stepped into the Estate grounds, he felt an intense aura that had him sweating bullets.

Lord Stygian was standing just a few feet into the Estate and he wasn't alone. Notable members of the Stygian Family were standing with him. Just like it had been at the Feast, Evian only paid Lady Myrine and Adrian any attention. They were the ones he actually recognized.

Adrian stood a bit aside with his arms folded, looking like he had been forced to be there.

"How could this even happen?" Lady Myrine asked in a steady tone and a steely look in her eyes.

She wasn't shaking and she wasn't in tears. Whatever worry she was feeling, she let it show in the intensity of her aura.

It was her aura that Evian had felt.

Lord Stygian sighed looking exasperated.

"My Lady, you've asked this already-" he said.

"And I'll keep asking until I get an answer. You told me to trust the guards to find him so you might as well satisfy my curiosity and make things make sense to me.

How could three men get inside the Estate and attack my Son?"

"The guards at his door were only at Second Order and they weren't expecting an attack. None of us were" Lord Stygian said while shaking his head and then he turned to one of the Stygians close to him.

"Did we learn anything from the bodies in Evian's room?"

The woman shook her head.

"They had nothing on them that pointed to a culprit. If Evian hadn't killed them-" the woman said before she was forced to stop when an intense pressure began to choke her.

All eyes turned to Lady Myrine whose brown eyes were narrowed in anger.

"Are you blaming my son for defending himself when there was no one else to?!"

"Th-Th-That's not what I'm saying at all." the Stygian woman struggled to say.

Lord Stygian quickly placed a hand on his Wife's shoulder.

"My Lady, please calm yourself"

Lady Myrine pulled her pressure back but her expression did not soften. She shrugged her husband's hand off her shoulder with her eyes still staring at the Stygian woman.

"So what ARE you saying?" she asked.

"I just meant, if the Intruders weren't dead, we could have questioned them"

It was the end of the exchange that Evian caught by the time he entered the Estate with his entourage of guards. Now that he was aware that the intense aura that had him sweating was from his Mother, he had a newfound respect for her.

It was the first time he would have someone be so worried for his survival. Or even worried at all.

The Captain of the Search Party announced their arrival and Evian's safe return but by the time he was done speaking, Lady Myrine was already pulling Evian out of the encirclement of guards and wrapping her arms around him.

Her intense aura was gone and in its place was an air of relief.

"Oh thank goodness, you're safe!"

The hug was crushing, almost suffocating and Evian liked it.

For the first time since he arrived in this world, he allowed himself to be swept up by the warmth he was shown by his 'Mother'.

He raised his arms and wrapped them around her back while still holding tight to the bloody sword.

While mother and son hugged, the rest of the Stygians walked over and the Captain of the Search party approached Lord Stygian to give his report.

"The Arcanist who kidnapped Young Master Evian was Koln. He works-"

"- He works for hire, yes. I know who Koln is" Lord Stygian interrupted to say, "Where is the slimy bastard?"

"Dead," the Captain said.

Lord Stygian nodded.

"Well done."

"We didn't kill him. Young Master Evian did"

The eyes of the Stygians widened. Adrian's folded arms even slipped just a bit.

"He did?"

The Captain shrugged.

"Well, I think he did.

Koln died from a stab wound through the jaw and out the top of his head,"

The Captain paused, gestured at the bloody sword in Evian's hand, and then continued.

"It had already happened by the time we arrived. By the look of the scene, an intense battle happened leading up to that conclusion. Also, Koln and Young Master Evian don't seem to have been the only ones there.

We owe the young master's safe return to that battle. It stopped the Kidnapper from getting away."

Lady Myrine pulled away from Evian to look back at the Captain and beat her husband to an important question.

"Who sent him?"

The Captain shook his head.

"Unknown. There was nothing on Koln to suggest the mastermind. I have no idea what the motives of the attacks were"

"It could have been for ransom. Someone might have been trying to shake us down" said a Stygian Man.

"But why go for Evian and not Adrian?" Asked a Stygian woman,

"Adrian is the known genius of the Stygian Family and so far, it's not yet well-known that Evian can now even cultivate.

It's Adrian who is about to get Examined with a chance to join the Martial Temple. If they'll go for anyone to shake us down, logic dictates it would be him." 𝗯𝗲𝐝𝐧𝗼𝘃𝗲𝐥．𝗰𝗼𝐦

"Exactly!" Adrian voiced out and eyes turned to him.

The sudden looks he was getting caught Adrian by surprise but he stood his ground and held his head high.

"It's possible the intruders made an error. I must have been their actual target"

Evian had to work hard to stop a snort of laughter.

"You're really jealous that you weren't attacked and kidnapped? How stupid can you be?"