Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

Although the Horde Captains possessed strength greater than that of the average Horde beast that Karenssa could create, their intelligence was still very much limited which meant there was no real resistance against Evian's control.

However, Karenssa's blood was still within them and it lashed out at Evian's Authority but ultimately bowed its head and allowed its essence to be absorbed, creating an interesting gain;

[You have absorbed 1000 units of Tainted Semi-Eldritch Essence]

''Tainted' I understand must be due to Karenssa's spiritual energy still slightly infused in her blood and her Eldritch constructs but as I have done with souls that had been strengthened with Spiritual energy, I have absorbed it easily and completely made its energy mine.

But... What's Semi-Eldritch Essence?'

[Semi-Eldritch Essence is much greater than Quasi-Eldritch Essence and has climbed closer to being a complete replication of its creator's source energy.

The Exchange rate is as little as 10 Semi-Eldritch Essence for 1 Soul Point]

"Heh, good to know," Evian said and with the Captain behind him vanquished and absorbed, he immediately relied on his instincts to especially avoid a strike that came at him next.

He stabbed his spear at his opponent who quickly made use of its speed to put as much distance between them as it could while its three other fellows crowded over in an obvious attempt to overwhelm their opponent.

Evian spun his Spear around and unleashed a massive wave of Eldritch energy from his reserves to strike against the gathering Captains, pushing them back only for a while before they were quickly crowding over again.

As they moved, they all shook as one, and it didn't take long for Evian to realize what they were up to. Apparently, drawing in Eldritch energy from the atmosphere to thicken up their forms had not been a one-time thing... They truly had the ability to command the Eldritch energy within this space for their benefit.

It transformed into weapons that struck at Evian who struck out with his Spear and parried them all away while looking between the gap between two Captains at Karenssa's smiling face.

"Yes, begin to despair!" she said in a wicked whisper that carried over to Evian's ears.

"Despair?" Evan repeated with a chuckle, "Over this minor inconvenience? Haha, you overestimate yourself."

Again, he parried weapons and by now, the Captains had come together to form a tight circle with their claws almost crossing in a net they were confident of Evian not being able to escape.

The creation of weapons was only to keep Evian busy, to wear him down so they could deliver a unanimous final strike and they all reveled in their control over their surroundings that Evian could apparently not wrestle from them.

If that was what they thought, they were right.

[Eldritch Authority] could not control actual unprocessed Eldritch energy but rather beings created from it. It was more of a mental control rather than a physical one. Think of it like a hypnotist that can control its target's mind and thus its actions but can't control the blood within said target.

Evian's Authority was mental which allowed him to command targets to disintegrate for his sake but he could not use it on Eldritch energy in such raw form but of course, he did not have to.

He parried wave after wave of weapons and when the net of claws came at him, he pulled every bit of strength he had into one violent outburst. Two of the captains stood their ground and refused to be pushed away.

One of them succeeded in stabbing Evian with its dagger-like claws but both were cut almost simultaneously by Evian's double-ended Spear and before they could continue where they had left off, they were commanded to disintegrate.

[You have absorbed 2000 units of Tainted Semi-Eldritch Essence]

The cuts had been tiny, mere scrapes but they did not need to be deep for the condition for [Eldritch Authority] to be in effect.

"Nghh!"

Evian groaned at the pain of the attack he had sustained but he retained his smile believing the sacrifice had been worth it. There were now only two targets left to be killed.

He sent his Spear into his Spatial ring and cast the [Whiron's Barbed Spear] spell that called out the torturous weapons of Eldritch energy to be tossed and then he dashed towards the Horde Captains.

They both hunched, even more than they were already forced to do by their monster forms, and came at Evian who tossed the Spears at them when only a foot of distance remained between them.

The Spears struck, the torturing sensation it should have had was rendered useless by the Horde Captains' inability to feel pain but it did manage to strike with enough force to momentarily pause their pace.

Of course, the Spear spells (Only at the Wraith level of Decadence) lacked the required power to match Evian's current level or the level the Horde Captains were at so they were merely an inconvenience but that pause was enough.

Evian called out his Spear from his Spatial ring and stabbed out. The Horde Captain dodged but could not avoid the tiny nick across its monstrous smoky leathery hide, and that spelled its doom.

As it disintegrated into nothing, it cast a look at its seated creator looking almost disappointed.

[You have absorbed 1000 units of Tainted Semi-Eldritch Essence]

'One More!'

Fuelled by the command of its Creator, the last Horde Captain had no sense of self-preservation and faced Evian in a fearsome duel of claws versus Spear. It appeared to have gained even more strength and speed than before and refused to let Evian have the distance that was required to use the Spear efficiently.

Evian enjoyed wielding a Spear and he was getting better at it but he still struggled so getting pressed made things quite difficult. The Horde Captain also managed to avoid getting hit at all while landing many successful strikes.

Evian's bare chest, which he had not covered since his dip in the bath, was marred with bleeding scars. His arms showed many signs of injury. A long scar adorned his cheek and he especially felt open with the inability to use Wraithic Phasing against an opponent on the level of the Wraith Noble of Decadence since it required an upgrade from its previous level.

All of his attempts to open the Decadent Store had been unsuccessful. And when he kept insisting, he received a message from his Assistant;

[The Store is currently undergoing upgrades to match your current level of Decadence.

Check back in after your fight.]

'That bastard!' Evian thought with a chuckle, 'I can't help but feel I'm being punished. Although I don't know what I did wrong.'

Anyway, without the ability to heal his wounds, Evian's health was dropping from an optimum state, impacting his stamina and strength but he did not relent in the face of the pursuit from his opponent.

It was not the first time he would face an opponent stronger than him and he felt confident in the fact that all he needed was a chance... Just one chance!

He got that chance...

He struck aside his opponent's arm and delivered a massive headbutt. The impact caused Evian to bleed heavily out of his forehead but he had succeeded in knocking his opponent's head back, creating a precious opportunity to stab in his Spear...

... And when his Spear struck his opponent and went all the way through and out the back, Evian looked past the beast at the seated Karenssa whose face was twisted in an expression of intense rage.

[You have absorbed 1000 units of Tainted Semi-Eldritch Essence]

"No more tricks. Why not fight me yourself, Hmm?" Evian asked, his spear in one hand and the other hand dominantly stretched towards the seated Witch.

Karenssa managed a smile,

"To speak so confidently while you're in that state, you're quite brazen."

"And what will you do about it? Fight me? Oh wait, you can't! If you try to, this entire space will attack you. Oh, the irony!" Evian said and threw his head back to let out a 'wicked' cackle.

"What irony?"

"That this is your 'domain' but you're even more of an outsider in it than I am.

Well, if you won't fight me, why not call out more of your beasts or even your Horde Captains? I assure you, I've not yet had my fill."

Evian's grey eyes glinted with genuine hunger that was only furthered by the lick of his lower lips.

"Keuk--" Karenssa clenched a fist.

Creating the Horde Captains had been a particularly stressful endeavor. Requiring her to draw from her reserves in ways she had never had to do for her other creations and although she could still create more, what would be the point?

She would be wasting a resource that was already so finite and for what? A chance that Evian got tired?

So far, she could not make her Captains go beyond the level of strength they had already displayed so again, what was the point?

"No," she eventually said.

"Oh?" Evain said with a smile. He was actually hoping she created more beasts. He was serious about devouring them. It would be a shame to let all the Eldeitcg energy here go to waste after all.

"Let's move this somewhere else, shall we?"

*Snap!*

With a snap of her fingers, Karenssa called out her portal and returned her and Evian to the outside world.

Evian was ready to fight her, thinking that was her intention since she was now free from the dimension's restrictions but then he heard her yell out in such a delicate and ensnaring voice,

"Husband, dear! Save me!... Ahhhhh, Save me from this brute!"