With his ravenous abyss having killed all but one of the thieves, Marcus dismissed the magically created monster that liked to eat living beings.
And for the poor unfortunate soul that Marcus currently had wrapped up with his tendrils of shadows, an even worse fate than being eaten by his ravenous abyss was in store for her.
"Well, I was hoping to get ahold of the big boss, but the creature I summoned got a little out of hand and ate him first. Still since you had the second highest level, I am guessing you were privy to at least a bit of information."
Struggling with all her might, the last remaining thief, tried her best to break free from Marcus' tendrils of shadows, but to no avail as he simply tightened his grip around her.
"Please someone hel- umguggnd."
As the thief, began trying to scream out for help, Marcus wrapped one of his tendrils around her mouth preventing her from making any noise, and ending the last of her resistance.
Then once that was done, Marcus walked up to her, and placed his hands right on her face, and activated his soul devour skill.
The thief woman feeling the invasion into her soul, instinctively fought back with all her will, but the difference between her soul's power and Marcus' was too great.
Soon her soul was ripped asunder, being broken apart and absorbed by Marcus leaving only the dead husk of an empty body.
Taking in her soul, the most prominent memories of the woman played out in Marcus' mind forcing him to relive some of her life as he absorbed her soul.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtLuckily though, this woman who Marcus quickly learned was named Selmia, did not have some tragic story or was a sadist with a warped personality, and had lived a fairly simple life.
In fact, most of her important memories were just receiving promotions within the gang she was apart of and the pride she felt.
However, at the end, there was one memory that was filled with absolute terror, and it was actually her last one as Marcus slaughter all of her friends and ate her soul.
"Ughhh, I hate using this ability. But at least I found the information I wanted. Still watching from the other point of view, I see how scary I really look."
Shaking his head, Marcus got back to his senses and was somewhat grateful that his experience this time with his soul devour skill was not too bad.
"Clara, Lilia, it is done you can come out now."
Just a moment after Marcus said this, both Clara and Lilia, rushed out of the carriage, and looked around confused.
Clara herself was especially confused, as just a minute ago, they had been surrounded by thieves, but now, all she could see was one body.
"Lady Irene where did they all go." Clara asked, concerned that the thieves might still be around.
"No need to worry Clara. They are all gone and will not be coming back."
Looking around one last time, Clara wanted to be absolutely sure that there was no more danger.
On the other hand, Lilia looked a bit disappointed that she had not gotten to fight. But while Marcus would normally be fine with her help, he did not want her to see the ravenous abyss eat people by the dozens, and him devour someone's soul.
"I am sorry. I put both of you in danger because I wanted to see who was targeting us. Like you Clara, I understood that the damage to the road was most likely a trap, but I let my curiosity get to the better of me."
Bowing his head Marcus apologized to his head maid and little sister. He had wanted to learn who was targeting them and for what reason, so he had willingly wandered into that ambush even though he knew it was coming.
"Please Lady Irene, there is no need to bow to me." Clara said somewhat flustered that her employer was bowing to her.
"Yeah, everything is fine, and you found out what you wanted, right? Lilia said.
Raising his head, Marcus said, "Yes, I did. One of the staff members at the auction house tipped off a gang calling itself The Crimson Stalkers about the auction goers who he believed to be easy marks. So, we should head back to the auction house and inform Amelia, especially since we were not the only ones being targeted."
After saying that, Marcus and Lilia got back into the carriage while Clara drove it back to the auction house.
Once there, Marcus found one of the employee's, though obviously not the one that had not been selling information on the bidders to the Crimson Stalkers.
And showing this employee the silver card Amelia had given him, he was taken to a meeting room, and told that Amelia would see him shortly.
"Lady Irene. I did not think I would see you again so soon after the auction." Amelia said as she walked into the room, looking a bit exasperated.
She then sat down across form Marcus and said, "One of my staff said that you had something important to tell me. And I really hope that it is because I am quite busy since our auction just ended.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Yes, it is of the upmost importance." Marcus said with a grave expression.
"I was just attacked by a group of thieves, and after interrogating one of them I found that an employee here tipped off these thieves calling themselves The Crimson Stalkers."
Giving Amelia a moment to digest this information, Marcus saw the complicated expression on her face changed rapidly over the next few seconds before she said, "Do you know who it is, and do you have any proof?"
"The employee's name is Jude, and as for proof I am afraid I do not have any. Unfortunately, the method I used to extract this information, left the thief dead."
Hearing this Amelia winced, since this either meant Marcus performed a torture so brutal that it killed the thief, or that he used some type of skill that ripped the knowledge from them and killed them in the process. Either of which was extremely brutal.
"I am sorry but even though I trust you, just your statement is not enough for me to arrest one of my employee's. As their boss I have to look out for them, or I will lose their trust. Still, I will make sure that Jude is watched closely, and pass on the information you gave me about The Crimson Stalkers to the city guard."
Shrugging his shoulder, Marcus understood that Amelia could not just throw one of her staff under the bus on his word alone.
"Oh, but I did also learn of the other targets that he gave to this gang."
Marcus then gave the list of names to Amelia, who had a frown on her face.
She recognized all of the names and they definitely were at the auction, and some of them had won some valuable items.
However, there was one thing in common with all of them and that was their lack of visible security, which was the reason Marcus was targeted.
"Hm, this is quite disconcerting. I will need to look into this more tomorrow and reach out to make sure all of them are okay. Thank you for brining this to me.. If I find that Jude really was involved in something like this, I will make sure he is punished to the fullest extent of the law."