Warning! You are nearing the of Soullings. Threat assessed and ra level E-. Good Luck.

  Yeah no. Luck isn't something I will need here. Leo waved off the notification as he and Nyx settled on a roof a street away from their target. Not like I pn to go in. We're just gathering information.

  The small Gothic church of Wolford always had quite a gloomy appearance. But now, after an Outbreak and the sed Cataclysm, the pce looked straight-up dreadful. It was only fitting that it became a for some unique Voidlings.

  Though... dreadful it might be, it now has a certain weird charm. Leo snorted, carefully studying the eructure.

  Just like anywhere else, Vetilim already found its way around and, most likely, into the building. It crawled over the walls and small windows while c the few pces that seemed destroyed. In a few tiny spots, even Corcera mao sprout, slowly iwining with the other Void material.

  Yet, the final cherry on top was the siower the church possessed, or rather what it became. Where o just housed a nice, big cross, now Vetilim tried to climb higher than that, easily making the tower twice as tall as it was before. It spread out at the tip, growing into the same unfettable pnt Leo had seen multiple times.

  Crimson Mirage.

  He didn't know how exactly the alien struct coexisted with the , but it robably some kind of a setup if he had to bet. He could try t the trap ahe rewards. It wouldn't even be hard. He just didn't want to.

  Endlessly fighting ehat couldn't hit bad didn't provide any experience or Ether just wasn't worth the trouble. Besides, if he killed every Voidling of above-average strength iy, the other survivors would soon staghout anything to push them forward.

  In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have destroyed the Ameist y. Leo frowned, shaking his head. Nah, whatever. They will be fine as it is. I'm sure a new will pop out sooner or ter. It's not like it's my problem anyway.

  Dropping the subject, he turo Nyx. "Am I blind, or are all the Voidlings inside?"

  They had been sitting there for quite some time now, yet not a single Soulling showed itself. In his opinion, those Voidliher khey were outside watg or just refused to leave their until a specific time of the day. Although, sidering that both Leo and Nyx used their own kind of stealth, there was no way anything spotted them.

  Or they are just that good... Doubt it, though.

  'If you're blind, then I'm not better,' the feline huffed. 'Should we just bait them out? I don't really want to spend the rest of the day here. My legs are growing stiff.

  Leo threw her a look, brow furrowed. "You know... I don't think I will ever get how, at one moment, you're a cloud of shadows, and at the one, you fun like any other creature with a normal body."

  'You will,' Nyx tered. 'One night just isn't enough to prehend a process that requires a trait for me to aplish. Give it time. We even work on it after this. For now... the Soullings. Are we leaving or...'

  He sighed, his gaze returning to the church. "We didn't waste so much time just to leave now." He rose to his feet. "Stay here, I will be ba a minute."

  True to his word, Leo returo his old spot as fast as he had promised. Nyx gave him a curious gnce, which he just shrugged and motioowards the old church. It was time to find out what the was hiding.

  At first, nothing seemed out of pce, but then a single Cursed Runner approached the church. It didn't run or eve out a single sound; it just strolled right toward the half-operand banged on the door as hard as possible.

  Good work. Take a few steps back. Leo grinned just as Nyx shot him another look. "What? You said to bait them out."

  The feline's body wilted. 'I suppose you're right. I just thought we could go there ourselves and have some fun. This is b."

  He snorted. "I doubt they would e out if they spotted us. Besides, trust me, it wouldn't be fun. It's an E minus . Nothing there could challenge or make us stronger."

  A sudden muffled squeaking filled the area, taking away Nyx's ce to respond. Their argument fotten, they settled their eyes ba the churd the single Ruanding before it.

  Another series of squeaking reached their ears, this oronger, louder.

  Here they e. Leo grinned, giving his e to the Voidling a and strong and fight baatter what.

  Out of the slim entrawo Voidlings rushed out. 'Unique' was the first word that came to his mind when they entered his vision. Though 'amusing' came as a close sed.

  What else could he call a mohat looked like a ghost from a very pame during his childhood? The only difference was that Soulings had arms and a somewhat more defined head. Apart from that, they floated like ghosts, glowed like ghosts, and even came in different colors like those ghosts.

  Gotta say. Leo blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't imagining things. Blue and bright yellow aren't the colors I thought I would see on any Voidling. Now I want to see more.

  Soulling (Voidling) | Rank: F+ | LVL: 10 | Type: Soul, Aerial

  No Ghost type? I'm almost disappointed. Before he could opeiary to learn more about those unique Voidlings, the two dived towards the lone Runner.

  The level twelve beast tried to score a hit first, only it didn't work out. The moment it struck the Soulling, its attack sank into the colorful creature like it was made of goo. The same happeo its other hand; thus, the Runner was trapped.

  The taken-over beast tried to wiggle out, but its arms didn't even move an inch. Before it could try anything else, the sed Soulling struck, one of its limbs now transformed into a nce.

  The o straight through the Runner's heart, yet it didn't leave a hole or even make the Voidling bleed. No, somehow, when the Soulliracted its left pure, unblemished skin behind. It was as if the attaever happened.

  Yet it did. The broken link and the Runner colpsing to the ground only proved that.

  What? Leo watched wide-eyed. What the hell did I just witness?

  'Leo,' Nyx muttered, her voice calm and steady. 'Look at its transformed hand. Do you see it?'

  Not questioning anything, he looked away from his dead minion, squinting at the Soulling. Like Nyx ordered, his gaze traveled to the nce, or rather, the swirling mass of darkness attached to it.

  Elemental Essence? He frowned. Did it drain the Runner with a si? No. That doesn't make sense. My minion would turn into dust if that was the case. Nyx? Any ideas?

  'I... I think you should check your Bestiary,' the feliered, her eyes not breaking away from the Soullings that began to float back to the church. 'I would rather not say what I think if it isn't true.'

  His frown deepened. Okay? Because that didn't sound ominous at all.

  Race: Voidling | Subspecies: SoullingExpected Potential: F to E-on of choice: Soul Strike, TelekinesisKnown weaknesses: Esseeiques, Overall StrengthThroughout the Void, Soullings are known as some of the most dangerous and annoying Voidlings finner survivors to fight against. Their bodies are made up of liquid Essend thus are almost pletely resistant to physical attacks. Likewise, their attacks strike only against souls, not physical bodies. As such, it's essential to always use Essence against those creatures. Otherwise, they easily harvest your soul. Important note: Soullings are primarily noal creatures.

  "It was the Runner's soul," Leo muttered. "Those fuckers just went ahead and ripped out my minion's soul with a si. Not gonna lie, that's a bit scary."

  'More than just a bit,' Nyx shuddered, stepping away from the roof's edge. 'However, I doubt whether this soul harvest would work on us. Your minion's soul was weak. Ours are not.'

  "True," he nodded, joining her side. "Not gonna give them any freebies, though. I like my soul where it is." He let out a heavy sigh. "And now I want to take a peek inside... What do you say, Nyx? Think we up this p ten minutes?"

  The feline growled, shadows swirling around her fur. 'We do it in five.'

  "That's the spirit," Leo chuckled, giving her a firm pat on the side. "Alright, the's get to it. Stay close, though. Better not to risk it. We still have a visit to the Graveyard pnned for ter. Wouldn't want to miss it."

  Nyx only roared in response, alerting everyone in the area of their presence.

  I guess stealth was never an option…

  Chaos65