Death Heir’s Devouring System

"It will appear there."

The moment Azrael heard Victor's words, he spun, acting on pure instinct and adrenaline. His fingers wrapping tightly around his scythe, getting ready to defend.

Fortunately, Seraphina had been a mere foot behind him. She also reacted fast, raising her sword, getting ready to go for the kill.

The blinding light her sword gave off illuminated the area even more brightly, allowing one to see past the thick smoke.

And the being that was about to attack.

A tall monster about Azrael's height, with a humanoid figure. Body made out of grey-whitish smoke. A maw widely opened, showing a void of pure blackness inside, as well as two eyes with the same color as its mouth.

Instinctively, Azrael used [Inspect].

Name: [Rook]

Race: [Lost Soul]

Danger Level: [Savage]

Corruption Rank: [Profane]

It seemed that his theory about it being a Rook-named monster was correct. However, he didn't have any time to be happy about his correct assumption.

Faster than any Marked could perceive, the Lost Soul moved. Putting both of its long arms that ended in four large fangs, it attempted to get hold of Azrael's skin.

A second later, Azrael staggered back, gasping. The moment the monster touched him, he felt an unspeakable pressure wash over his whole body. Something had attempted to force its way in and skin him alive.

The good part was that Truth Devourer was of the Radiant Purity Rank, meaning it managed to hold against the attack.

The bad part was that it was only able to protect the parts of Azrael's body it covered.

And while the armor he had been gifted by Seraphina covered almost his whole body, it left a crucial vulnerable area widely exposed.

His head.

The world seemed to slow down momentarily; what Azrael's eyes witnessed was his own skinned face. It had been skinned by the Lost Soul in a matter of a second.

Oddly enough, seeing it from this angle, he realized that his skin had become much fairer than before after ranking up his Purity to the Cleansed Rank.

Sadly, his face wasn't on him anymore.

Crimson blood seeped from the exposed tissue, painting his vision red and reducing his visibility.

It was rare for him to feel fear or panic, since he had a stoic personality. Still, there was a limit to how many things one could witness before breaking. It would have been understandable if he were to lose himself. Now it made sense how the Proven he had witnessed from afar could be killed so easily.

But there was one thing that was different about Azrael from any other Chosen.

The one who raised—the Skinwalker—had been perfectly aware of how humans function and think in extreme situations such as this. So it made sure to plant one idea as deep into Azrael's consciousness as possible.

'If there is pain, fear, paranoia. You are still alive. So it's too soon to give in.' Azrael recalled the words, his body already on the move.

His scythe had blurred through the air, positioning behind the Lost Soul's neck. The bleeding from his head intensified as he tensed his body and pulled forward. Gravebloom hit the abomination's head but failed to do any kind of damage.

But that was already enough. The purpose of the attack wasn't to kill. It was to make the monster unable to go back towards the mist.

A heartbeat later, Seraphina darted in from his left. Her sword moved, managing to make a large cut on the being's torso.

Rather than blood, mist came out. By the cry of pain that escaped from the abomination's maw, it was clear that it had been wounded.

'If it bleeds, it can be killed.'

A subtle smile appeared on Azrael's skinned face as he multiplied the force of the scythe, making the monster stagger forward, forcing it to its knees.

At that moment a towering figure cast a shadow over it. Victor loomed behind the monster with an unnatural smile. In a flash he brought down his axe at staggering speed.

He was but a mere Blessed, not even of the Cleansed Rank. His strike would have never been able to wound the creature… That was if Isolde didn't intervene, increasing the power of Victor's strike; it went down like a guillotine of death. The ground cracking in a spiderweb pattern.

Lost Soul's scream echoed across the whole area. It was much louder than the last one, managing to stun the Chosen that had been busy fleeing just a few seconds ago.

"It's on its knees! Attack while it's still down!" James was the first one to take the initiative, making golden grass blossom past the cracked rock. The golden greenery twisted itself around the monster's knees, keeping it in place.

Rachel—James's girlfriend—was the second one to react, hurling an arrow in the being's eye.

Azrael, seeing he had managed to stagger the creature long enough, got closer and called forth Mother Needle. It was a higher Purity rank than his scythe. Therefore, it would be able to do more damage.

The blade dug deep in the monster's skull. But he didn't wait, as he unleashed a fearsome storm of endless stabs.

Seraphina and Victor did the same, causing the ground beneath them to cave downward, forming a small crater from the sheer power they exerted.

James threw his spear, impaling the left kneecap of the Lost Soul.

In the span of a few seconds, the Chosen who had been busy running away joined the melee. Elemental and ranged attacks of all kinds soared through the air, passing over the Chosen that had encircled the monster and hitting it head-on.

The abomination's cries of pain were drowned out by the Chosen's roars. Each time they felt like slowing their attack due to exhaustion, they would glance upwards to the roofs where their brothers and sisters, who had been skinned and made into scarecrows solely for the monster's amusement, were watching over them.

The seconds blurred into minutes; by the end it was unknown who struck the final blow. The body of the Lost Soul disappeared, reduced to nothing more than mist blending with the area.

Everyone panted, barely standing on their feet as they stared at Isolde.

After a second her words echoed in their heads.

[It's reduced to nothing but mist; there is no soul around us…]

She took a deep breath.

[We killed a Rook monster.]