Aldric and Anastasia spent a while recovering their essence since the essence cost of a Baleful Spectre is double that of the standard {Create Spectre}.

  Sensing the feedback from the other spectres, Aldric felt the prompt to share their vision if he desired.

  Marcus had already integrated into the role perfectly, with it being disturbing how seamlessly the spectres resumed the roles of the marauders they possessed.

  Despite the immoral nature of the skill, the twins found themselves gladdened to have the ability.

  Since the fief is vulnerable if it remained without a standing army, if not for the skill to replenish the army it would be impossible to recover from the damage the marauders caused.

  It seemed ironic that the marauders themselves would not only fix their problems but would also provide a superior army.

  The twins already knew the marauders were well-trained, boasting far superior prowess to the guardsmen under Clayton.

  The only issue was the assurance of loyalty yet that problem is solved with the spectres guaranteeing that.

  They even found themselves excited at the prospects of controlling such an army.

  Ambitious even since Aldric always felt destined for more on Earth.

  He felt his particular skill set didn’t suit his time explaining his mediocrity on Earth. However, Anastasia was far more subdued reigning in these feelings.

  Calming down the bold thoughts they settled on focusing on subduing Harken first.

  The Baleful Spectre required an even more lengthy summoning compared to Marcus.

  Nonetheless, it did not disappoint its formation carrying far more weight than the Baleful Spectre emitting an aura leagues above Marcus.

  Similar to Marcus the Baleful Spectre was a man-shaped shadow, though where Marcus was of average size, this spectre towered over them.

  The Baleful Spectre retained the gaseous, tar-like quality, though its shadow had clusters of crimson.

  Once fully formed their eyes met with it bowing its head to signify subservience.

  They sighed in relief with the tension they didn’t even realise they had left their bodies.

  With the large spectre remaining still, they realised it was awaiting orders.

  “Rise. Your task will be to remain hidden, find Marcus and let him direct you to your target.” Aldric said assertively.

  With its order received, the large spectre left silently, disappearing from the room as it floated through the stone wall of the cell.

  Through the vision of the spectres they already learnt none of the occupants here could see them.

  They were similar to the ghosts in stories in their old world, able to remain unseen unless they wanted others to see them.

  Therefore, as long as the spectres stayed incorporeal it remains challenging to discover them.

  It is not fool-proof though, of course, with there even being strange occupations such as ghost hunters in this world, yet the twins were assured there were currently no measures in place in the fief.

  There were records of monsters and creatures like Spectres though usually they were directionless, unintelligent or fixed to a location.

  And since formations, exorcists, and priests to protect against them are rare and expensive, a fringe noble like Clayton would never have access to them, the marauders even less so.

  This allowed the Baleful Spectre to move unhindered as it quickly rendezvoused with Marcus, who was yelling at some marauders before it once again made its way further into the castle.

  Aldric and Anastasia were already familiar with the fief and the castle that stood proudly in the centre of the territory.

  The Westerling fief held a medium-sized Town of a few thousand individuals with the castle in the centre overlooking it.

  A decently sized wall surrounded the Town, with there being a second wall in the inner layers formed around the castle.

  Clayton had focused much of the available funds on the castle, with it being the prized asset of the fief.

  Not that it served much use with the marauders securing entry under the meddling of Harken.

  Now the marauders were entrenched and secure as ever using Clayton’s tireless work.

  Numerous marauders littered and patrolled the castle grounds, with even more located on the outer walls ensuring the civilians remained confined to the Town.

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  Looking through the Baleful Spectre's vision, they admired the simple yet stylish decor of the castle. The twins couldn’t deny that Clayton had a good sense of style and class.

  It was a shame this Father of theirs met his maker before they awoke their powers; Clayton was a hard man and was cold to his children, though they couldn’t prevent the deep yearning of the former Aldric and Antastia's need to impress him.

  It seemed it just wasn’t meant to be though, as Clayton, their Mother and brother all were long dead.

  The marauders were thorough and merciless, it was strange the twins were the only ones left alive, though maybe Harken might have answers.

  Shortly the Baleful Spectre seemed to reach its target. It stopped before a large door that the twins recognised as their father's bedroom.

  They were curious towards the reason Harken was there until they heard the loud thumping noises.

  “Call me the Baron! Say I’m the Boss!” A high-pitched voice groaned as they let out vulgarities.

  “Oh, Baron! You're the best! Everyone loves you! Only you are worthy of one such as me.” A sultry female voice yelled in reply as the thumping continued growing in intensity.

  “Oh, Genovere!” The high-pitched voice grunted in reply.

  Wait a minute why does that name sound familiar?

  The twins were at first disgusted at the sounds of their father's murderer daring to do such a thing in his bedroom, yet when they heard the name the man yelled they realised something even worse.

  Isn’t Genovere their mother's name?

  Feeling even further disturbed, Aldric voice grew cold as he mentally ordered, “Destroy that cretin already. He does not deserve to live a second longer.”

  The Baleful Spectre vanished quickly reappearing inside the bedroom.

  Inside the decor of the bedroom remained consistent with the rest of the castle, simple yet stylistic.

  It was neat and every item was placed functionally.

  An area of the room recently dishevelled ruined the orderliness, however, as a large desk in the centre of the room was left disturbed.

  In front of the desk was a sleight fair-looking man who seemed diminutive compared to the large desk, especially when he was currently thrusting with all his might, red-faced as he stood on his tip-toes barely reaching waist level with the lady in front of him.

  Harken did not seem weighed down at all by his betrayal. He did not even wait for their father's body to turn cold before he began frolicking in his bedroom.

  The lady meanwhile was someone whom the twins did not recognise, she was for sure not their mother who had her throat slit by the marauder's leader lieutenant.

  She did not seem particularly impressed with Harken though, her voice yelling all sorts of profanities whilst her face told another story, remaining stone-cold with a look that screamed ‘Please hurry up and finish already’.

  Luckily for her, Harken won’t be around for much longer because the Baleful Spectre has already made its way towards him.

  “Oh yes Genovere I am the best’ only I am worthy! Who does he think he is taking you from me?” Harken was going to continue his rant until his eyes suddenly rolled back and he trembled.

  It was at that moment the Baleful Spectre began its possession, and unlike Rat-face it seemed Harken was far more weakly willed.

  The Baleful Spectre did not even have to put up much of a fight as Harken's mind crumbled in moments.

  Despite being the first awakened to be consumed by their spectres, Harken was a weak man with a victim complex never once considering that his inadequacies made him undesirable, not what he offered as a man.

  He grew up as a simple boy, both innocent and free-spirited, he became best friends with the local lord and despite him treating him nothing but as a good friend, the simple boy became envious of the local lord to the point where this initial friendliness turned to hatred.

  Even when he was among the best guardsmen in his unit, where he was treated above and beyond normal guardsmen, despite receiving everything that he always asked and dreamed of from what he told the Lord growing up. The boy never stopped wanting, always envious of the life he always wanted, the one person who had more than him, Clayton Westerling.

  ‘What a sad way to live…’ The twins thought shaking their heads.

  The bond formed with the Baleful Spectre was even more impactful than they imagined, showing a glimpse into the person Harken was.

  And frankly, it was disappointing. All of this for such a petty reason. It made Aldric want to kill him all over again, even Anastasia who held the more forgiving aspects of their personality felt deeply dissatisfied towards him.

  “Are you alright, sir?” A quiet, meek voice suddenly sounded reminding them of the woman in the room.

  “Everything is good! Did I ask you to speak wench?” Harken replied as the Baleful Spectre resumed his mannerisms without pause.

  A fearful look appeared in the woman's eyes as she hurriedly said, “No sir! Oh sorry sir!”

  The twins couldn’t stomach the sight anymore and told ‘Harken’ to come up with an excuse to make her leave.

  “Great job you ruined the mood. Get dressed and leave, I want some alone time.” Said Harken.

  The woman just nodded obediently and rushed to leave, dressing quickly before heading out the door.

  Noticing they missed a notification they took a look at the interface.

  [You have defeated a low-foundation awakened human. 25 EXP awarded. You are now 25/100 EXP towards reaching the next level.{3}]

  A grin appeared on their faces. Already a quarter away from the next level after dealing with one opponent was a great feeling.

  Though a grim thought appeared at the sudden high of levelling, were they relegating humans to just EXP in their mind?

  Harken was pure scum and his memories showed that, however, they knew it was a dangerous thought to start viewing humans as a resource to grow stronger.

  Deciding to take precautions but knowing they had to continue, they knew Harken couldn’t be the only awakened in their ranks otherwise they’d stand on a chance at handling the marauder leader.

  At the same time, the twins had a bad feeling that they needed to hurry, from all accounts the bandit leader was no schmuck.

  And involving someone like Harken in such a regimented, disciplined company did seem to fit his character.

  Even Marcus despite his vulgar attitude was loyal to the marauder leader to a fault before their possession.

  A man like that would not keep traitors and turncoats like Harken around, he seemed far too paranoid for that which made them realise Harken's days were likely numbered even without them intervening.

  It was one of the reasons they were confident this plan could work despite the marauder leaders strength.

  He would never expect his company to turn on him, which is why they needed to keep up their production of spectres, eventually, they would entrap him in a net without him none the wiser.