With so many Wolves already felled, the rest of the pack became more cautious, growling and barring their fangs but stalking in hopes of catching some sort of opening that had not yet obviously turned out to be a trap.
And then, when Evian was ready to go in and kill a good few more, the wolves raised their heads and let out a long and loud howl that was so obviously meant for a call of solidarity for an ally that had yet to show itself.
And sure enough, after the rustle of forest shrubs, and the sounds of heavy paws landing on the soft floor, a larger wolf showed itself. Its eyes were red with viciousness and it was at least as tall as two of the other wolves stacked on top of each other— The pressure that seeped out of its body betrayed its strength almost immediately.
"A Rank Four Martial Beast!" yelled the Disciple that had been admonishing Lorient before Evian's arrival.
Martial Beasts could not be termed the same as Knights so ranks were naturally used instead but the synergy in naming remained so a Rank Four Beast was of course of the same level of Spiritual pressure density as a Fourth Order Knight, although as a Beast, it had the advantage in its raw beastly strength heightened by its ability to rely entirely on its instincts whether or not it led the right way.
With the Leader of their Pack having arrived, the wolves received an increase in morale and rallied together to strike at Evian as one.
Evian took a few steps forward and out as much distance as he could between himself and the group of Disciples which put him even closer to the fangs of the Wolf pack leader and then he let out a grin,
"Well, are you just going to stare?" he asked, "Come!"
The instigation sounded like a command and without a second thought, the Wolves leaped at him. Evian phased and they all passed through his body and once they were now behind him, Evian ran toward the leader. The thought of a thousand Soul Points ignited his excitement to a point he could not ignore.
He was so close, with the Spearhead of his weapon about to stab through the wolf's snout, when his instincts warned him of an approaching attack.
'Fast!' Evian realized but never lost his smile. Even in mid-air, his Wraithic Phasing was still effective and with it, the wolf paw passed safely through his body and when it was past, Evian canceled the spell and stabbed his Spear into the Wolf's snout as he had intended.
"RARRRRRR!!!"
The yell of the Pack leader was so loud and impactful that Evian found himself slammed back and then, the Wolf let out a level of killing intent that seemed to slam Evian in the face with the fact that the Pack Leader exceeded him in steps even if they were both at the Fourth Order level of Strength.
"Damn!" Evian said through gritted teeth and he rolled to the side to avoid the Wolf pounce that would have surely flattened him into paste had it succeeded.
When he got on one knee, Evian didn't go after the wolf pack Leader again but rather ran toward the Pack members who had left him to their leader and gone after the shivering disciples who were trying and failing to resist getting overwhelmed.
"Fuck!" Lorient yelled as the feeling of doom shrouded him and caused him to feel even colder than his blood loss already had.
Again, Evian came to his rescue with a powerful Spear stab that caused the Wolf to whimper before its Essence was absorbed by a smiling Wraith.
[You have acquired 100 Soul Points]
"Th-Thank you," Lorient said.
"Heal that wound," Evian said Lorient obeyed right before the next order followed, "You all, stay as far back as you possibly can."
The Disciples went back and as they did, the remaining wolves aimed to follow after them but Evian let out a cloud of Eldritch energy that struck the Rank Three Wolves and froze them in place to be easily reaped by Evian one after the other.
[You have acquired 100 Soul Points]
[You have acquired 100 Soul Points]
'Hmm, increase my Decadence,' Evian told his Assistant while stroking his jaw.
[Are you sure you wish to increase your Decadence?]
'I'm sure.'
[Increasing Decadence...]
[Congratulations! You are now a Corrupted Wraith Noble]
With his Spear stabbed into the ground beside the carcass of the felled Pack leader, Evian clenched and unclenched his fists to truly appreciate the strength increase.
Although Evian had so much he needed to get from the Decadent Store, those were matters of future importance and to reach that future, Evian believed he needed strength now.
He was in a forest with so many Soul Point reapping chances and he would only be rewarded when he went after the truly high-profile targets to get the highest amount of Soul Points so It would be a tad foolish to face such threats with himself only at the very start of the Wraith Noble level of Decadence.
The only choice Evian had wrestled with was the choice between purchasing spells or upgrading his Decadence but he realized, since he was currently relying more on close combat at the moment, increasing his Attributes made more sense than purchasing spells. At least for the moment.
"Umm," said a voice from behind that caused Evian to pause and look back at the Disciples to see them all bowing deeply to him,
"Thank you so much!" Lorient, the apparent spokesman of the group, said on behalf of his brethren.
Evian eyed them all for a good while, his wide-spread senses told him there was no one close for miles, and, for a second he wondered if he should reap their Souls. Eventually, he let go of such a thought, thinking it to be weird.
Instead, he smiled at the five and graciously accepted their gratitude,
"You're welcome."
Even though Evian's smile and his mellow tone were meant to put them at ease, the five were not able to be fully ignorant of the killing intent that they had felt from him just seconds before.
'Even if we ran, we can't get away,' Lorient thought both in fear as well as in awe of Evian's martial prowess.
"Are you perhaps a Disciple of the Sect?" Lorient asked.
Maybe this was a reclusive senior he had just never seen before. Because, with Evian's looks and his peculiar-looking hair, no one among the five felt it was possible they had ever seen him before and for some reason forgot.
And sure enough,
"I'm not a member of the Sect," Evian told them, "But I am a member of the Martial Temple..."
With a flick of his wrist, Evian retrieved his insignia and showed it to the five,
"I'm Evian Stygian.
I'm a Border Knight."