I could still hear them laughing.
Even now, I still saw their faces — bloody, messed up, still trying to grin.
They just wouldn't stop. Even dying, they had to spit 'trash' one last time.
I didn't even feel angry anymore.
Just… done.
Done hearing it. Done letting it mean anything.
I looked past them, at the five Echo Wraiths lying nearby.
Their bodies were still solid, black and cracked like burned charcoal. No smoke, no fade. Just lying there — waiting for me.
Perfect.
"Trash, huh?" I muttered, voice low, almost bored.
"Fine. Let's show them what trash really looks like."
I started walking, slow steps, the dirt crunching under my shoes.
I felt their eyes on me. Fear, maybe shock — didn't matter.
Didn't even bother looking when one of them croaked out, "What… what are you doing?"
I raised my hand, palm open.
"Void Eater."
I saw dozens of shadow snakes crawl out of my hand, moving and coiling around each other as they reached for the corpses.
I couldn't hear any sound — just silence.
One by one, the Echo Wraiths started to vanish.
Their bodies tore apart bit by bit, shadow fangs ripping through them until nothing was left.
No bones, no dust, just the emptiness where they'd been.
[ Void Eater Activated ]
[ Devoured: 5 × Echo Wraith (F-5) ]
[ Experience Gained: +7500 ]
[ New Skill Gained: 1 × Resonance Drain (F) ]
[ Skill Acquired: Resonance Drain (F Rank Skill) – Adjusted to Host ]
[ Effect: Host can absorb life force from living targets upon physical contact. Drains vitality and stamina, replenishing the host's own. Duration and strength scale with contact time. ]
[ Cooldown: None ]
[ Seed Growth: +10 ]
[ Taint: –10 ]
The blue screen flickered once — a faint light brushing across my face — then faded like it was never there.
I didn't need to hear them. Their faces already told me everything — shock so raw it almost looked stupid.
Wen's lips started shaking — I could see it before I even heard him.
"Th-that… that's impossible… you—how did you…?"
His voice cracked halfway like his brain was still trying to load what he just saw.
Lin's eyes went wide, pupils twitching.
"No… no, that can't be a skill… you—what are you?"
Yeah, I could hear the panic in her voice — the kind that doesn't ask questions, just begs for the answer not to be real.
She tried to crawl back, dirt catching under her nails.
"Where did they go?! You— you can't do that! You're a Null! You can't—"
Her voice broke there — not because she ran out of breath, but because fear finally shut her throat.
I just watched.
Didn't say anything. Didn't even blink.
Kind of funny, how their words fell apart faster than they did.
I watched their faces twist, trying to process what just happened.
That disbelief — you could almost see it spreading, crawling up from their throats to their eyes.
Like their brains were still begging for someone to explain it all made sense.
I could hear the disbelief hit Wen Zhihao first.
"N-no… no, that can't— what the hell was that?" he stammered, eyes darting to the empty ground.
"They… they just vanished! I saw it— the bodies— those shadows— they ate them! I swear I saw them crawl up—!"
He stopped himself, shaking his head, as if denying his own words. "No… no, that's not real. That's not real!"
Then I heard Lin Qiao.
Her breath hitched first — sharp, shaky — and when I looked, her eyes were already wide, darting between me and the spot where the Wraiths had vanished.
"No… no, that can't be a skill… you—what are you?" she whispered, voice cracking halfway through.
I could hear the panic in her tone, that desperate kind that isn't really asking anything. It's just hoping the answer doesn't exist.
She started crawling back, nails clawing at the dirt like that would save her.
"Where did they go?! You— you can't do that! You're a Null! You can't—"
The last word broke apart in her throat, choking itself out before it could finish.
I just stood there, watching.
Didn't say anything. Didn't even blink.
It was funny, in a way — how their words kept falling apart faster than their bodies.
Almost funny, watching them freeze like that. Like their brains were buffering, trying to restart the world that just broke.
I saw Wen first.
His jaw hanging, eyes darting between me and the spot where the Wraiths had been.
Five corpses, gone like smoke sucked into a void — and he still looked like he was waiting for someone to tell him it was a trick.
Then Lin.
Her lips moved, but nothing came out.
Her pupils shook, wide and glassy, like she was trying to piece reality back together right in front of me.
I didn't say anything.
Just watched.
Let them drown in it.
Good. Let it sink in.
I tilted my head slightly, a grin slipping out slow, lazy.
"Still think I'm trash?"
They didn't answer.
Couldn't.
The air changed. Heavy. Quiet. Full of fear they couldn't hide.
I looked at them for a second longer, their disbelief still painted all over their faces.
That silence — that perfect, hollow silence — was the sweetest thing I'd heard all day.
They were still breathing.
Barely, but still.
Arrogant to the end — I could see it in their eyes.
That stupid confidence. That "we can't die" kind of look.
Lin's grin twitched again, blood spilling from her lips, but she still had the nerve to talk.
"You… can't kill us," she said, voice shaking but proud. "That thing you used — it doesn't matter. The Gift protects us. No Rank F can hurt us. No poison, no burn, no rot, nothing."
I tilted my head, watching her face.
"Oh?" I said softly. "A Gift?"
She nodded — slow, weak, but still trying to act like she won something.
Her hand lifted, showing me that golden charm again, glowing faint gold under all that dirt and blood.
"Your sister gave it to us," she whispered. "Said it'll make us untouchable. Even your tricks won't work on us."
I didn't laugh. Didn't even smile.
I just stared at that little thing pulsing in her hand — the same charm that made her think she was immortal.
Then it hit me. Not what she said, but the joke behind it.
Echo Wraiths drain the soul, not the body. That 'Gift' only blocks things that touch the skin.
I could feel my grin stretching wider, slow and ugly.
"You're right," I said, voice calm. "It won't work."
She blinked. "What…?"
"Yeah," I whispered. "Not against me."