Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

Chapter 174: Called To Arms

-Two Days Later-

Nothing about the Squad and their schedules had changed ever since Evian imparted his seal onto Ember and Carleine— At least things did not change enough to attract the attention of the oblivious duo of Gillert and Gryon.

Now that he was no longer out hunting, Evian trained with the rest of the Squad, getting better with his moves with his Spear, and all the while, he kept an eye on the duo of Ember and Carleine as they got used to Eldritch energy coursing through them and strengthening their muscles past the Third Order that they were still at.

Unlike Karenssa who had gained her connection to Eldritch energy through a slightly unstable connection with the Abyss by pulling a piece of it away -A piece she had been unable to truly command- the duo of Ember and Carleine had a solid and stable connection with Evian who himself was more than enough as a source of Eldritch energy for them.

As a Wraith Noble at the peak of that level of Decadence which granted him speedy recovery of his reserves even if he were to use it all up, Evian was like a powerful battery enough power to constantly support the two ladies— The first members of his newly created Decadent Family.

Anyway, to keep up the facade of spiritual energy users and hide away their corruption from the senses of sensitive Spiritual energy practitioners they were sure to meet in the near future, Ember and Carleine needed to continue cultivating and it was then they discovered they had been changed by Evian's seal even more than they realized.

The moment the two ladies crossed their eyes and revolved the Stygian family Spiritual energy cultivation technique, unique markings spread out from the seals above their left breasts, spreading all over their skin until it gained a grey hue very akin to the hue of a Wraith's true form and then their pores opened up and started to guzzle Spiritual energy at a scary and painful rate.

You see, with the power of his Seal, Evian had made sure to mark both Carleine and Ember as being against the 'Natural Order' thereby turning the two into enemies of the 'pure' forces of Spiritual energy, which then called the Spiritual energy in their vicinity to coalesce around their bodies and attack them.

Alas, because both ladies were making use of high-grade cultivation techniques, their established Spiritual energy roots, arose within them and seized the aggressively surrounding Spiritual energy for urgent use. Inadvertently directed by Evian's Seal.

"Ack!"

"Nghh!"

With their roots absorbing the abundant energy and tempering its aggressiveness to be used to improve their bodies, both Ember and Carleine were in immense pain of speedy improvement that their minds were finding difficult to keep up with…

… But of course, they endured.

Almost simultaneously, they broke through multiple steps until they stood at the peak of the Third Order, and yet their Seals did not leave them be.

Both Ladies could feel an incredible amount of strength flowing through them but Evian's Subjugating seal was unsatisfied. It pulled at them and pushed them to reach out, get stronger even faster so they could finally be on the same level as the power imbued in the Seals— The Power of Evian's Decadence that was currently at the Peak of the Wraith Noble level of Decadence.

The equivalent of the Fourth Order/Circle.

This pull was done deliberately by Evian and was one of the boons he promised both ladies when he officially accepted them into his fold— They would not be left behind… He could not allow that.

With the Pureness of Spiritual Energy and the Decadence of Eldritch Energy constantly in battle and helping push Ember and Carleine towards higher thresholds of strength, Evian knew he was on the right path for his plans of a unique energy only he could control.

He refined the methodology involved in the battle of Spiritual and Eldritch energies and named the process 'Decadent and Pure Revolution Art'.

And now,

As Gillert and Gryon watched Ember and Carleine display impressive, almost surprising strengths, they were in awe of how a week of cultivation had given rise to such a high level of improvement.

The duo of Ember and Carleine were harder at work than usual with a strong urge to get used to such a quick increase in their strength and agility. That was the side effect of their multiple instantaneous breakthroughs and they were in a hurry to shed that detriment.

Meanwhile, Evian observed Gryon as the next target of his Seal. The tattoos the large man had had fascinated him for a good while and apart from wanting to implement them himself, Evian could also imagine how much farther Gryon would be able to get with the 'Decadent and Pure Revolution Art'.

He had a similar thought for Gillert as well.

Anyway,

Once she and Carleine had sparred with bladed weapons for a good while, Ember grabbed a bow, the one she had been training with all week, and did aiming practices showing that although small in progress compared to how good she already was, she was still improving.

The strength to pull a bowstring was one that all cultivators had. It was the sharp eye for bullseyes which Ember possessed that set her apart from the rest of the Squad.

Evian took his eyes away from his Squad members and stood down from his Spear Practice when he heard a Carriage stop in front of their mansion followed by hurried footsteps that he recognized.

*Bam*

Slamming the mansion gates aside, Zayda walked in with urgency, waving a letter at the others,

"Everyone, get ready right now!" she announced.

"Already?" Gryon said gruffly, "I thought we had the rest of the day."

"Well, you don't," Zayda said with a frown, "This Mission is urgent. We must get moving at once."

"What's the issue this time?" Gillert asked.

"Another City we have to save?"

Zayda walked past all of them, the letter tight and crushed in her grip with a frown on her face, looking uninterested in answering any questions.

"Zayda," Evian called to her and she paused, "We will get ready but can you at least tell us why you have that letter crushed in your hand."

Zayda let out a sigh,

"The Western side of the Kingdom is currently under attack. Border Knights placed at the border have already met their ends and the Enemy almost managed to step foot on the Kingdom proper had they not quickly met with resistance.

However, the battle has gone on long enough for the enemy to have now called for reinforcements and thus, Cities have been evacuated and some of the very best of the Martial Temple, Royal Army, and the Arcane Church have been rallied.

It's almost all hands on deck and our newly-formed Squad has been 'Specially' called to the battlefield."

Evian frowned. In that instant, he realized that that very last sentence was the reason for Zayda's frown and the reason the letter she was holding was so crushed,

"Specially called by who?" he asked.

Zayda let out yet another sigh,

"Our Squad has been specially called by Astrid Renan, the Appointed Commander of the combined force at the Border…"

The next words that left Zayda's lips were through gritted teeth that called more weight to the declaration than any other member of the Squad thought was required,

"… The Martial Temple's Golden Child has called us to Arms."