Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

And now, she stood with them, watching the ongoing battle and witnessing the -masse harshness of war. It wasn\'t exactly a new sight for her and she didn\'t really feel pity for the injured or dead regardless of which side they were on.

But of course, there was one person she hoped to see alive and well. He was the only tie she had to this battle and so she pulled herself away from the Stygians and wt searching.

"Elites, join the battle," Lord Stygian commanded in a booming tone, "Captains, stay with me! We shall storm the Estate and strike that cowardly Lord down!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" the Stygian Knights chorused in boisterous spirits and their approaching mass filled the hearts of the Larnak Knights with despair. Their already weaking resolve lessed all the more.

*BANG!*

Despite calling his Captains to fight by his side, Lord Stygian did not take the fact that they were slower than him into consideration as he dashed into the Larnak Estate gs, slamming into the Gate with a force that blasted it op and ev threated to rip them off whatever hinges they were on.

Ev without stretching out his superior Martial sses, the Stygian Lord could very easily tell what building Herbert was in by the organization of Guard placemts in front of the massive double doors.

"Get into-"

*Bam!*

"Ahhhhhhh!"

The Guard had barely gott out his call to order wh a single blow from the Stygian Lord\'s fist st him flying feet away from the door and right out of the already, mis-organized formation.

Lord Stygian said nothing. The blow had not ev caused him to exert himself. Without looking and with a kick that mostly slammed the next Guard with his Pressure, the double doors were free of obstructions and he pushed them op to behold the congregation of Larnak Relatives.

---

Yvette would have had to be deaf not to have heard the war cries.

"It\'s happing," she mumbled with her finger stroking her Spatial ring and staring at the items within almost subconsciously while her mind focused on the role she needed to play right this minute and wh the dust evtually settled.

She walked out of her room calmly and despite the fact that she had be ignored during such a momt of insecurity or the fact that every thought of her was pushed to the side for a pottial afterthought, she managed to adopt a look of dutiful concern as she stepped into the hall where her husband adamantly refused against surrder.

She needed to play her role to the letter.

"My Lady," Herbert called once Yvette\'s heels clacked loudly in the hall courtesy of the silce he had brought on by his adamance, "What are you doing here?"

Yvette allowed herself a smile that looked like an attempt to ease the tse atmosphere as she answered in a smooth tone thick with unwavering conviction,

"Shall I stand idly by as my home is attacked?" she asked, "Shall I sleep soundly in my bed while the home I have lived in for years is torn down brick by brick? This is MY home and I intd to fight for it... Right here, by your side!"

The hearts of everyone in the hall softed. Whether they agreed with Herbert\'s chos head-on approach or not, they were all touched by the conviction in Yvette\'s tone.

Never had they had a reason to not treat the Lady of the Estate with respect.

Her conduct had always be the most composed and she had long pushed aside any possible aspirations of her own to simply be an ever-long support for their Lord\'s rule.

For the first time that day, Herbert\'s expression softed and he reached out to Yvette to grab her hand and pull her closer gtly,

"My dear, I would be shattered to watch you fight. Your place has never be in battle and should never be," he said before raising the hand he held so he could plant a kiss on the back of it.

The words, while delivered gtly, had a slightly condescding tone to them but just as she had resisted the urge to physically cringe at his touch, Yvette took her husband\'s words in stride as her lips stretched in a wide false smile of solidarity,

"Nonsse!" she said and with a flick of her wrist, she retrieved a sword from her Spatial ring. A sword Herbert recognized as a Wedding prest he had gifted her back in the days wh her Martial prowess stood as a reason to wed her.

Holding the sword up, Yvette words words came out a bit like a vow,

"My place is right here by your side and if battle is what is required of me, th I shall battle with every last drop of my strgth."

*BAM!*

Right after this proclamation, sounds of one-sided combat turned all eyes to the double doors that led into the hall and every single person within had only just got into a fighting stance wh the doors blasted op to reveal a black-haired, black-eyed man whose glare was immediately focused on Herbert\'s face.

"Protect the Lord!" Amira called out, rallying her fellow Captains to form a defsive wall in front of their Lord.

Behind said wall, Herbert sneered, his vision of Lord Stygian not too obscured,

"Averill," he called in a tone dripping with malice.

The Stygian Captains finally caught up and they spt a few seconds overwhelming the Elite Guards outside the hall with their Fourth Order Martial strgth before they filed in and formed a supportive line behind their Lord.

The Larnak Relatives looked from Herbert Larnak\'s face to Averill Stygian\'s as the two held their g in a standoff of sorts, almost like they were sizing each other up and th...

*Boom*

... Averill Stygian bt his knees and sprang forward with an impactful forceful sound that caused the aggressive blow of wind all a as he charged forward.

With his speed, he could have avoided the wall in front of Herbert but he saw no point in doing so.

Three simultaneous releases of Fourth Order Cultivation pressure as well as a locking of weapons in crosses for defse meant nothing in the face of a Sixth Order pressure that wielded the powerful cleaving might of a six-star large sword blade.

*CLANG!*

*CRACK!*

*BANG!*

The superior weapon and Martial excellce won out instantly. The impact of striking a higher quality weapon like Averill Stygian\'s sword caused the weapons of two out of the three Captains to crack, right before the force of the Stygian Lord\'s pressure death the final blow that smacked them all aside.

Herbert paid this no heed.

With an expression as normal as ever, besides the craze that had be plaguing him for days now, he retrieved his weapon from his Spatial ring and met Averill\'s sword in a parry that resulted in separation. Equal strgths canceling each other out and forcing them to slide away from one another.

Averill Stygian recovered first but that hardly gave him an advantage since Herbert\'s weapon, a red Spear, had the greater reach and gave the Larnak Lord a bit more leeway in regards to reaction.

Before Averill could get close ough to bring his sword down to cleave his oppont in two, the Spearhead came stabbing at his neck.

His eyes wided, he sidestepped and made to keep moving forward only for his eyes to bug out wh an impact struck the side of his face and st him flying into the wall with an impact strong ough to crack the structure.

*BANG!*

Radiating with satisfaction at his successful strike, Herbert followed up by stabbing his Spear toward Averill\'s stomach while the Stygian Lord was slumped against the wall.

Meanwhile, the downed Larnak Captains recovered from their counter with the might of the Sixth Order and stirred only to be at the receiving d of attacks from Stygian Captains.

Thanks to not having to deal with ongoing battles outside the Estate gs, the Stygian Knights kept their numbers intact easily outnumbering the Larnak Captains but of course, there were still the Larnak Relatives to be tak seriously;

While they did not agree with Herbert\'s approach, they all still felt compelled to follow his wishes and put plans of surrder on hold for the momt. Also, Herbert\'s crazed confidce, and impressive maneuver in his battle against the Stygian Lord uplifted morale.

The Larnak Relatives retrieved their weapons, and let out their Cultivational Pressure which revealed of them was beyond the Fourth Order which made them all feel immediately outclassed wh Yvette\'s Pressure blew past theirs to settle comfortably at the Fifth Order.

Whatever reaction her outburst of Pressure caused, Yvette paid hardly any heed to it.

Her focus was screwed up on controlling her Pressure and congealing it into a wall that struck a Stygian Captain into the opposite wall and th, forced forward by her Pressure, her speed was boosted to a degree no one on the sce, besides possibly the combatting Lords, could follow all so she could deliver a strike with her Sword hilt and knock the Captain out...

*Bam!*

... In an instant.

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