"You're very brave to confront me, I'll give you that." A man draping a shawl around his lower body spoke calmly as he held the figures of two women, grabbing each by the neck as he absorbed their essence until they turned into a sack of withered bones.
He snapped his finger, causing them to become dust and fall to the floor as a follower of his hurriedly scooped the contents into a paper flask and pocketed them. There were three followers in total, each wearing a mask made from monkey skin, giving them an eerie aura.
The leading man with a shawl draped around his lower body smiled casually as he licked his lips and stared at the hooded individual a few metres away, "Maybe you're just a reckless brat that has yet to witness the horrors of the world."
"Is that so?" The hooded man spoke with a hoarse tone, one that was screeching to the ear, as if a massive spider was talking human language.
Upon hearing his grating tone, the shawl-draped man frowned, "You're not human, are you?"
"Anyway," He waved his hand, motioning his three underlings to deal with the intruder, "Since you saw me in action, you have to forfeit your life."
"If anything, blame it on your curiosity…"
The underlings had just run past him when a knife plunged into the eye of one, causing him to collapse to the ground and scream in pain.
The shawl-draped man was surprised at the hooded man's swift attack, smiling as he muttered, "It seems you're not entirely helpless. But, do you believe a mere attack like this is enough?"
He snapped his finger and seeped a stream of energy into the injured underling, causing the lodged knife to fly out as his eye regenerated instantly. The underling glared at the hooded man and pulled out a short sword, causing a layer of wind to coat it.
"Die!" He bellowed and swung the short sword, unleashing an air blade that flashed toward the hooded man. But surprisingly, it missed its mark.
The hooded man wasn't fast in his dodge or anything, but rather, the moment the underling made the swinging motion, he stepped to the side, calmly watching the air blade move past him as if he were aware of everything regarding the attack.
"Be careful, this bastard doesn't seem like your average joe." The shawl-draped man said in seriousness as he thought, 'It seems I can't hold back any longer. I should use up some of the faith I stole.'
Within his enclosed fists, a thin arrow of wind formed, taking shape as a good amount of energy was condensed in it.
In the meantime, the three underlings rushed at the hooded man, launching attacks at him.
"Ugh!" The hooded man grunted every time a wind blade nicked him, tearing up the thick layer of cloth covering him. Suddenly, he pulled out a mini crossbow and shot tiny pellets everywhere, ones that exploded upon impact, producing a small dust cloud each.
"Cover your nose! Don't inhale it." The shawl-draped man shouted as he pulled up the shawl and wound it around his face, ignoring his donger that now lay bare out in the open.
Tssch!
The smoke was rapidly dispersed by the wind they unleashed as the shawl-draped man frowned, seeing the hooded man had vanished. "Don't let him escape…"
He furiously scratched his skin, feeling an uncontrollable itch all over his body. Moreover, his throat felt sore and mildly ticklish, as if tiny hair-like worms were squirming all over it. He immediately poured in some of the absorbed lifeforce to heal the injury, only to scream in pain when the itch worsened.
Moreover, he noticed the squirming sensation worsen sharply the moment he poured in the lifeforce. The shawl-draped man stared at his chest in aghast, watching a small vein squirm and move by a few centimetres, "No, that's not possible."
Nerves weren't supposed to move like that, meaning it wasn't a nerve but something else.
He picked up the knife from the ground nearby—the one his underling had been stabbed by in the eye—and cut open the skin on his chest, startled to see a worm squirming within, "Dammit!"
He yanked the worm out and threw it on the ground, watching it twitch in pain and die in a matter of seconds, 'Is it a parasitic lifeform?'
But of course, he couldn't relax, for the squirming sensation came from all over his body. Without any hesitation, the shawl-draped man made multiple cuts all over his body, tanking out tiny worms that were only hair-width. Sometimes, in his paranoia, he also pulled out his actual nerves, suffering in response as blood spilled out.
Immediately in fear, unwilling to die from blood loss, he expended more lifeforce that he had accumulated, healing the wounds in a matter of seconds, only realising a moment later as his face paled in despair.
His pristine-looking healed skin suddenly bloated a second later, having absorbed all the lifeforce as thousands of worms now squirmed underneath his skin, "Gross! Die! Die! Die!"
Unable to bear the pain, he repeated the cuttings and ended up in a bloody state, realising the smoke wasn't poison but seemed to be pollen of some kind that was infested with the eggs of some parasitic creature that fed on lifeforce.
Moreover, they were capable of seeping in through the pores on his skin, a weapon geared to counter his abilities, "Who the heck are you? You dare confront the Essencer Guild?"
There was no reply to his shouts as the shawl-draped man collapsed to the ground, twitching as he tethered towards death. As for his subordinates, they didn't have as much life force to rely upon, and hence, after the first mistake, they bled out to their deaths.
Time passed as seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours. After more than five hours had spanned, a capsule fell upon the shawl-draped man, bursting out to sprinkle oil on him. A few more capsules fell on him as suddenly, the eyes of the worm-filled man shot open as he bellowed, "There you are!"
He raised his arm and unleashed a violent arc of lightning that slammed into the roof of a building, destroying it. The lightning also circulated through his body and killed off all parasitic creatures. Moreover, his injuries rapidly healed in a matter of seconds as he snorted, "You are way too careful."
"Who the heck are you?"
