You wouldn't expect it, but the Wraith-form was totally fun. Why? Well, going through walls without being noticed will always be nice. Who said that being angry meant that you couldn't enjoy the moment as well? Oh, no, no, I didn't wanna destroy my poor walls; I only wanted to silently tear apart every other living creature in the vicinity. So everything is A-OK—haa, that's a Wraith's Wrath for ya. 

The only drawback was the amount of mana that this flying-through-walls-thingy consumed; otherwise, I would do this all day long...technically, I could do it all day long—my mana pool was more or less gigantic. Still, wasting resources was bad! You'll never know what might happen. The extra saved-up energy might save you one day.

Anyway, step by step—or was it wall by wall?—I came closer to the origin of the tremor. But wouldn't it be bad if people saw me in this form, you ask? Haha, of course, it would be...if they had the ability to see me at all. You know, Wraith came with one of the most potent illusionary magics that you could imagine. So strong, you might call it actually mind-bending. To be able to see through this, you had to have either the exact countermagic, a natural super-super high resistance to this shit, or you were an expert in soul magic. You might say now that this ability was totally broken, and yeah, it was...kind of. The problem began with the fuel of this magic. It wasn't mana; it was the accumulated fury inside yourself. The more the hatred ate you up inside, the stronger the spells were—resistances of your enemy not included. Once you were nearly depleted, the spells would be rendered useless. Luckily, I was fuming in rage right now.

-------

I heard shouting and angry voices. Then, as I passed through the last wall that separated me from the source of this annoying interruption, I found my entrance hall in a ruined state. 

The large double door had been torn off its hinges and lay partly in many small fragments scattered around the room. Parts of the stone floor were cracked, while the grand staircase, which started independently on both sides and then curved upward, reuniting in the middle, had also suffered damage. The guards lay unconscious on the floor—useless idiots. The enormous chandelier, made of solid gold, which bathed the hall in a beautiful light, had also fallen down. 

Next to the chandelier, shattered on the floor, stood three people in strange uniforms, which I found so unimportant that there was no need to describe them further. What was much more relevant was that across from them were Deidre, apparently Tulsi, and Nyriel. There were also some maids behind them cowering on the ground in fear. The head maid seemed to be bleeding from the head—first strike for the intruders. 

However, when I took another closer look at Nyriel, I noticed the large gash on her arm, which she tried to cover with her hand. I could also see the red liquid flowing down the corner of her mouth—second strike. 

However, the other two demonesses didn't seem to have sustained any injuries; they looked a bit battered, though, with the almost entirely tattered clothing presumably playing a significant role. Tulsi seemed out of breath—her hair was completely disheveled. Deidre had minor scratches and light fighting wounds all over her body...her cleavage was a bit, well, too exposed due to the fight, making it quite noticeable. Fortunately, neither of them had let their charm slip, which led me to conclude that they were hoping I would arrive just in time. If the two were busted, my organization's founding would be doomed before it began—clever girls. Without anyone noticing, I floated behind the intruders, right in front of the destroyed entrance.

"Haven't you puny peasants had enough yet? You're supposed to get us the damn person responsible for you!" yelled and commanded a terribly shrill voice. It came from a girl about five feet tall who could have been between sixteen and twenty-five years old. She had long platinum blonde hair, which ended in princess drills on both sides. It gave me chills, and I hoped that she wouldn't get uppity now too. I didn't dislike coincidences, but sometimes it felt like the world was deliberately trying to provoke me. The only thing still missing now was a situation where she immediately would compare herself to Deidre's bust size, which would have been more than sad...especially for her. However, something else happened. 

"Ida, it's not worth talking to such low lives. You do notice that they are unwilling. It is almost a sacrilege that such rabble is allowed to be within these walls at all. We, as aristocrats, are obliged to ensure that the common folk knows where they stand," with those words, the second girl present let a bright silvery flame appear on her palm. I was puzzled for a moment about what kind of magic it was until I sensed the mingling of light, fire, and a tick of holy magic—ridiculously weak but interesting. Unfortunately, Deidre didn't seem to share my opinion. She took a step backward. 

The second girl, who was a bit taller than the other one and had long straight raven hair that flowed almost all the way down her back, was about to do something with the weird flame before I cleared my throat. 

Jerkily, the three intruders turned around, causing the girl to throw the flame at me now. Before it reached me, however, it simply faded, as if it were a match blown out by the lightest breeze. Shock crossed their faces at that sight.

"Tsk-tsk-tsk, here I am, polite enough to comply with your requests, and yet I am immediately attacked—right in my own home. But I'll be a friendly host for once and overlook it. So, to what do I owe the honor for this destructive visit?"

The person in the middle, a tall, rather well-toned young man with a hideous bob haircut, looked at me and instantly sneered before answering me with terrible feigned grandeur. 

"We are of the Order of the White Knights, a student society whose mission is to keep our empire, and especially our beautiful King's Garden, free of all that is lower races. Like that vixen over there.A disgusting beast that at most has a place in the slums as the lowest-priced slave. Moreover, I am the eldest son of the Marquis von Grau, and therefore the heir, which means that you must show the respect I deserve. Just look at us; our wealth makes even the Grand Dukes envious.

"The reason for why we are here should also have been told to you when you bought this property. We want to use this mansion as our association headquarters because it explicitly satisfies our requirements. We already held a reservation and only had to negotiate the details when we suddenly received a message from our intermediary that the mansion was bought spontaneously by someone without any meaningful title. Furthermore, none of us has ever heard of the Asche family. Accordingly, we are more than incensed that someone like YOU would dare to buy it from under our noses.

"So, we are here to make sure that you abdicate the deed and all related documents and transfer them to us. Otherwise, something might happen to you and those inferior servants. Whereas, looking at you, I might even reimburse you by allowing you to spend a night with someone like me, so you can comprehend what true 'greatness' means for once."

After ending his last sentence, he looked at me with a smirk and lecherous eyes. Yet, I only returned his monologue with a mocking simper. Suddenly, I held up my hand and flashed three fingers at them. "Before you started, the count was two strikes. Now, after what you said, it's three."

Before he could reply anything, I suddenly vanished from my position in front of the door and appeared next to Nyriel. It wasn't teleportation; I had simply walked past them in the meantime by creating an illusion of me still standing there whilst casting invisibility on me. My immediate relocation seemed to startle the three wannabe nobles.

"What the?! Adelheid, what just happened?" the person—I think she was named Ida—asked the other girl. 

"I-I don't know. It looked like teleportation, but that can't be. Richard, do you know what just happened?" 

The latter just looked puzzled. He was about to say something when I began to wave farewell to them by raising my hand and repeatedly move the fingers down toward the palm.

Why farewell? Weeell... 

 

---

 

Adelheid's POV

Shortly after the girl named Asche waved, the world before my eyes began to blur and darken. When I could finally see again, I stood the temple's surroundings situated in the city's heart. Even though this area looked quite beautiful, there were far too many commoners and other lower races moving around for my liking for me to really find it appealing. Whatever had happened, it must have somehow transported me here. Maybe a sleeping spell? But then, wouldn't the people around me react differently?

While still wondering how I'd gotten here, I approached one of the town guards so that they could call a carriage for me. 

"Guard!" I yelled as I stood in front of him. "Assign someone immediately to order a carriage for me so that I can leave this horrible place!"

Yet, nothing happened. The guard looked briefly in my directions but just as quickly wandered off again with his gaze. It seemed like he hadn't noticed my existence at all.

"Hello?!" I shouted angrily at him. "Are you deaf or something? How dare you ignore a noblewoman? Do you know what kind of punishment you'll face for this insolence?!"

But the guard still didn't respond. Horrified, I reached for him, whereupon he unceremoniously shoved me away roughly. 

"Begone, you filthy wolfkin!" he demanded, still not dignifying me with a glance. 

"W-wolfkin?" I exclaimed loudly, to which, of course, I got no response.

I looked around and dashed to one of the fountains, in whose water reflection I could look at myself. As I sat on the edge, I couldn't believe my eyes. Big gray fluffy wolf ears had grown on my head. My hand shakily went up to them, hoping they weren't real, but I could feel them. 

"No, no, no!" I cried out desperately. I peeked and ran up to the nearest person, a woman, to make sure this was all just a bad dream. But she ignored me. I tried another person, again and again, yet, I didn't seem to exist in their eyes. I only got a reaction when I tried to touch someone. They forcibly shoved me aside each time and, like the guard, continued to treat me like air. 

When I tried to leave the area around the temple, I was continually prevented from doing so by the guards. I was trapped. 

Eventually, evening came, and fewer and fewer people were here. Nevertheless, the guards stayed where they were. I was slowly getting hungry, but I would definitely not stoop so low as to even considering food from here. 

-------

That attitude changed quickly after the fourth day. Trying to talk to one of the merchants failed. When I attempted to seize something—I was treated as if I weren't there anyway—the merchant grabbed me. But what hurt more than the blows was that he didn't look directly at me either. My existence wasn't worth it. 

-------

After four more days and countless more attempts, I finally managed to steal something without being seen. It was one of the best meals I ever had in my life. In the meantime, a beast-kin walked by, by her master on a leash behind her. She was the first one to really look directly at me. My heart was pounding wildly at the fact that someone was finally acknowledging my existence. But when I walked in her direction, she just shook her head. Shocked at myself for enjoying the attention of someone lowly like her, I stopped. 

-------

Day ninety-five—I think I started to lose my mind. I'd tried everything possible so far to break out of this district, but those ridiculous guards just caught me every time. I'd become quite good at stealing, though. I was missing home. Didn't see another beast-kin either. Everybody still acted as if I were air. How much longer could I endure this? 

-------

Day three fifty-two—I don't want to live anymore. Everything feels like an endless repetitive day. The routine of beatings and scorn was grueling. I yearn after a conversation, a hug, or just being noticed by someone again. No other beast-kin had come by since. How nice it would be if I could see one of them again. The only comfort is my fluffy tail, which I regularly clean in the fountain's water. I found a place to sleep in a gap between the houses—it was pleasantly secluded and protective. 

-------

Day nine o' seven—I couldn't tell any longer if the life I'd lived before I came here were real or just an imagination to escape the truth that I am a wolfkin. What was reality? What was just a mere fabrication of my mind? I didn't know and care anymore. Didn't leave my hiding place anymore either. Just wanted to die. This couldn't be called living...

 

---

 

Ida's POV

Shortly after, as the Mistress of the house waved to us, mist abruptly spread all around us. I quickly tried to erect a magic barrier, but it was too late. Panicked, I looked around and realized that I was suddenly alone in a small clearing surrounded by conifers, in the middle of which stood a large mansion. Suddenly I heard a cracking sound behind me. Slowly, I turned around and caught sight of a group of goblins. With rotting teeth and leering gazes, they gawked at me. 

"Pshaw, just a bunch of pathetic goblins!" I exclaimed, about to cast a spell on them only to be startled, realizing that my runes were gone. My other mediums were gone, too. I swallowed hard—I couldn't use magic. 

Then I heard the goblins rushing toward me.

Without thinking about the consequences, I took flight and ran to the run-down mansion, where I would be safe..or at least could try to hide from them. 

The mansion's front door was wide open, but as soon as I went in, it slammed shut behind me. I heard the goblins banging on it, trying to get in, but to no avail. 

Whatever just happened, I first took a deep breath and looked around. I was on the ground floor. Everything seemed rotten and long abandoned. After a few steps towards the staircase, I heard a childish giggle. The giggling seemed to come from everywhere. First from the left, then from the right, then above, then in front. It stopped briefly until I heard it a tad louder than before, this time from behind me. When I heard the creaking floorboards, I turned—very slowly—around. 

Behind me, on the old parquetry, sat a little doll in a long black frilly dress—decorated with many bows—and long hair that shimmered with the same platinum blond like mine. But when I noticed her face, I turned pale. It was as if I were looking into a detailed portrait of myself, only instead of eyes, there were two black hollows.

There was a crack behind me. I spun around, and right in front of my face was the doll that had just been sitting on the floor in front of me. Black slime was flowing from its cavities. I tried to move, but I was paralyzed. Then I noticed out of the corner of my eye that more and more dolls appeared out of nowhere. Laughter rang out again behind me, followed by a questioning voice. 

"Are you here to play too? We all want to play games. A game in which we search for something. And found it we did, oh yes we did. We were looking for two jewels, and you have them. Are you so kind to give them to us?"

Suddenly, I felt fingers sliding through my hair from behind, moving closer and closer to my face before they finally reached my eyes. But then I felt the foreign fingers begin to force their way into my eye sockets. Full of pain, I cried out. I tried to squirm, but I just couldn't move my body.

"Oh, such beautiful, beautiful jewels. Don't worry, you won't need them where you'll soon be," the childish voice spoke again while the hands drilled further into my eyes. 

The pain was unbearable, and I prayed to the goddess that I would simply pass out or die right away, but my prayers were not answered. Finally, I felt my eyes being pulled out. The nerves were still connected to it. With a jerk, the eyeballs were torn away from the nerve endings.  

Another child's voice sounded, "What about her arms, her legs? She doesn't need those anymore! They look tasty!"

"Yes, yes. You're right!" spoke a third.

And in the very next moment, like my eyes, the limbs were slowly pulled apart from my body—it was a disruption. In-between, I lost consciousness. 

When I regained my consciousness, I could—for some reason—see, but it was different from before. I attempted to look around, but the only thing I saw was a mirror in front of me with a shelf on which countless lifelike dolls were sitting—I was one of those. 

"Welcome, sister!"

"Welcome, to our family!"

Echoed the chorus of children's voices.

"One of us."

"Forever with us."

"oNe Od Us!"

"eTERnaLly wITH uS!"

"..."

 

---

 

Richard's POV

I was about to charge at her when the bitch waved at us for some reason. The next thing I remembered was that I found myself in a poorly illuminated—they really were using those outdated candles for it—corridor. One could either go forward or backward. There were doors on both sides at regular intervals, but they wouldn't budge. So I proceeded in one direction. 

As time passed by, nothing really changed. Everything remained the same. So I continued to stroll along the path, thinking about how I got here. My first thought was teleportation, but this was impossible so close to the old ruin, or how other people called it, the temples. That thing was of unknown origin and probably built by some pagans who preferred to worship one of their strange creatures. But neither the writings nor the magic could be deciphered yet. Some of the professors at the academy claimed that this ruin must be from a time before the age of the gods and rambled something about Old Ones. I absolutely had to coax my father into suspending these heathens—so that their teachings were not spread any further—or ensure that they might eventually be involved in an unlucky accident.

Anyway, if it wasn't teleportation, the question still remained how she accomplished using something like this on me? I, who was well on the way to gaining a paladin class evolution, and would cleanse this world of all this filth that didn't belong to humanity...or at least enslave a large fraction of them. Even if they were inferior, the women could be used as good sex toys. But women were generally only good for that. Even though my fiancée thought otherwise about this subject but, oh well, in the end, she was merely a woman too. 

All the worse that I was forced into this situation by such a bitch. I would make sure she got what she deserved. And then I'd—

Suddenly, I heard a soft whimper coming from the front. 

"Hello?" I called out but got no response. 

In the dim glow of the candles, I continued to walk forward and saw that a small room opened up to me, in the middle of which was a table with five chairs. On one of them, with her back turned to me, sat a little girl who held her hands in front of her face and continued to whimper softly.

Slowly, I approached her. "Hey you, girl. Where are we?"

But the girl didn't respond. Angry about ignoring someone like me just to weep pointlessly, I was about to grab her shoulder with my hand and turn her towards me, but just before my hand touched her, her voice rang out. 

"D-daddy? Is it you? Are you here to take me with you? Mama left a long time ago, but she told me to wait here for you and that you would surely come. And you came!"

What the-

"I missed you so badly, daddy. I've been so alone. So, so alone." 

"What kind of bullshit are you spouting? I don't have a child!" I contradicted the girl.

"But daddy, mama Susan always said you would come!" the child replied innocently. 

Susan...Susan. Oh, darn, who was that again? "Ahh, you mean that strumpet who thought I loved her. So I actually knocked her up, huh? Well, I don't care. You might as well be somebody else's child. Whores are whores."

"B-but Daddy!" it said, turning slowly to me.

"I already told you, I'm not-" I froze when I saw her face. While the left half looked relatively normal, the other was simply sickening. Her eyeball was half fallen out, and flies and maggots were already eating it. She had a gaping wound on her jaw, allowing one to look directly sideways into her oral cavity, whereby the jawbone could also be seen. Her teeth were rotten, and worms and vermin were feasting around there too.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Am I really that pretty? Yes, that's right. I'm as pretty as mom and you!" the girl yipped happily, some maggots falling in the process on the floor. I wanted to throw up. 

Then she slowly stood up, at which point I took a few steps back. "Daddy? Why are you afraid? You do love me! We can always be together from now on. You, me, and all my siblings!"

"S-siblings?" shot out of my mouth in surprise. 

"Yes. My little sister, for one. Mom said she passed away while still in her tummy, but I know she's unmistakably doing well. So are we all!"

"For fuck's sake! I don't have any kids, you fucking freak. It's not my fault if those hoes get pregnant. It's not my problem! I'm Richard von Ramondt, and the only children I accept are those with blood just as noble as mine. Not an abomination like you!" I screamed. 

But the crazy kid just started giggling. "Now, now, daddy! We know you love us. And we love you too; that's why we want you with us forever and ever!"

Before I could put an end to this crazy thing, I heard a horrible watery splashing sound from behind the table. I took another step back and was about to turn around and get the fuck out of here when I saw it...a disgusting little blob-like thingy. It pulled itself forward with a deformed and barely developed hand, leaving a trail of blood and mucus behind. It squealed and screeched at a disturbing frequency.

"Sister, sister! There you are! Look, it's daddy. He wants to be with us forever! He—" before she could even finish the sentence, I had already turned tail and ran away. This freakshow was too much for me. I would have torn her to shreds if only my sword hadn't disappeared.

So I ran down the corridor into the opposite direction from which I came from, hoping there would be an exit on that side and not something like those things. But suddenly, I heard the girl's echoing voice from behind.

"Papaaa. Wheree aaarre yooou? Don't be afraid; we just want to be with you. We love you so much!"

My heart galloped and nearly was in my mouth. For the love of gods, what kind of sick shit is this? Did I accidentally walk into the lair of a necromancer?! 

Suddenly the doors to the sides fell open, and more little kids, no older than four or five, rushed out. 

"Sister was right! Papa came to us!"

"Papa!"

"Father?"

"We missed you so much!" shouted the chorus of emaciated and neglected children. 

I tried to fight my way through the onrushing masses. A kick here, a punch there, but they were too many. They pulled at me, jumped, and held on to me. Ultimately, I fell to the ground. The children held my arms and feet so tightly that I couldn't move. The splashing resounded, and I saw with a movement of my head that the creature, whatever it might have been in the end, was crawling towards me. Behind it followed the crazy girl. 

"Heh-heh, it was fun playing catch with you! But now it's time for you to help my poor sister. You know, she feels soooo cold, and she really needs to get back into a tummy so she can be happy again. So tell me, why don't you take over what mama had already started? Now, that you're already here?"

"W-what the hell are you up to? What the?! No, god damn it, go away! I said, go away with that thing! I don't want it in my mou-argfk ödaw adsasd," everything just went black.

Suddenly, I was back in the corridor, at the same point where I was initially, but this time, I could hear the girl's whimpering from here, in the distance.

"Daaaddy?"

Please, not again... 

 

---

 

No sooner had I waved adieu than the three intruders fell to the ground, eyes open. After that, they just lay there motionless.

"What did you do?" asked Tulsi curiously. 

"Soul magic," I answered. 

"And what kind?" she inquired curiously.

"A spell called 'Nightmare'. It does exactly what the name promises...depending on how much energy you pour into it. The three of them should—if they're lucky— wake up in a couple of hours and will probably be a little emotionally disturbed. But, apart from that, they should be fine." 

Tulsi looked at Deidre. "Can you tell what kind of nightmares they're having? You know, because you're also a dream demon and so on..."

Deirdre was about to answer when I raised a hand to signal that this would be a terrible idea. "Please don't do that, Deirdre. If you do, you might get trapped in it yourself for a while. You know, Nightmare works in such a way that it finds the best possible way—whomever is in its area of effect—to thoroughly torture everyone. Also, the nightmares don't end quickly for most of those unlucky participants. Once you reach the end of a scenario, it usually starts over again. But sometimes, you may get stuck in the exact moment forever. Well, forever is an exaggeration, but it sure feels that way for the affected person. So be damn careful not to get into that kind of magic. But I'll teach you how to prevent something like this from happening in the future. 

"First of all, I want Tulsi and Deidre to go to the dining room. I'll join you later with Nyriel after I heal her. And then we'll talk about the future of my planned organization."

I turned to the head maid for a moment. "Get those weird High Guards and make sure these three get off my property. If they have a problem with what happened here, tell them to contact the—now—archduchess with the words 'oink oink'. She will know what it means and vouch for me. And please, the next time I see such useless guards like them, heads will roll. Get me some good ones, will ya? Regardless of how expensive they might be, got it?"

The injured head maid just stood up and bowed curtly, "Yes, my Lady."

I turned to Nyriel. "Here, let me help you. Also, I have something that should satisfy your cravings," I said, helping her up, whereon we made our way to my new bedchamber.