Transmigrated as a Ghost

With the soldiers of the empire on the eastern continent being quite resistant to torture and Marcus not really wanting to go through grueling hours of it just to break someone's mind. He decided to try a new strategy.

If they did not care about dying or their physical wellbeing, perhaps they would want to preserve their souls.

Of course, he was pretty much bluffing since at this point in time he had no intention of using his soul devour skill. But the blonde-haired captain did not know that.

"What will it be Emilia? Some information or oblivion?" Marcus said just like an evil monster while possessing Enzo's body.

She appeared to be sweating now, though Marcus was not sure if it was from fear or because he was still choking her with his spectral arm.

Quickly he let up and allowed her to get a breath but kept the hand firmly around her neck to prevent her from trying anything.

When she had stopped gasping, she looked at Marcus with a murderous gaze, and said with a raspy voice, "If you could eat our souls and take our memories you already would have. Go ahead, you will get nothing out of me."

With his bluff being called out, Marcus decided to up his intimidation, and moved right up in front of Emilia who had closed her eyes and seemed to eb waiting for death.

Once again, he left the body of Enzo and this time appeared right in front of her in the form of one of the leaders of Permafrost whose soul he had devoured long ago.

Then he placed his hand over her mouth and activated his soul devour unique skill.

For just a moment he allowed Emilia to feel a tug on her soul, and right before he ripped it out of her body, he stopped the skill.

'Damn just using it like that for an instant was close. I nearly gave into temptation and ate her soul.' Marcus thought, having his wariness of this skill reaffirmed.

Breathing heavily and with a look of absolute terror in her eyes, Emilia could certainly feel that she was just a moment away from having her soul ripped from her body.

"You see, I can do as I have threatened. But I do not want to waste it to the two of you. I can only eat so many souls each year, and both of yours are not the ones I want. It is your leaders I am after, but I need to know their skills and whatever weakness they have first. You can never be too careful." Marcus said, making up a lie about a limited use to his unique skill

Of course, he could devour as many souls as he wanted without limit, but he already knew that would cause him to lose his sense of self since just eating a few souls in the past had nearly caused him to fall apart.

Now knowing that Marcus' threat was very real, Emilia started glancing her eyes around the room, hoping to find some way out. If she could somehow shut the silencing device off she could call for help, but she knew she would never be able to chant a spell before Marcus tightened the spectral hand still around her neck.

"I think I have been pretty patient. Go ahead and make your decision. Do you want to become another helpless soul eaten by me, like the form of the man I am taking right now, or do you want to tell me what I want and live?"

After experiencing the immense fear of having her soul nearly sucked out, Emilia's she was beginning to lose her nerve.

What good would the secrets she was trying to keep matter if she ended up absorbed by a monster that could steal people's memories and forms.

"What assurance do I have that you will keep your word?" She asked.

Shrugging his shoulders, Marcus said, "You have none, but there is no reason for me to kill you if you tell me what I want to know. I swear that you and Enzo here can keep on living with your soul's intact."

Closing her eyes and gritting her teeth, Emilia wanted to spit in Marcus' face and scream out that she would never give up her other soldiers. But she just could not.

The creeping fear and the slimy feeling she had experienced as her soul was begin torn out of her body was a sensation she never wanted to feel again. It outclassed any physical pain she had ever experienced by many times.

"Fine, I will tell you what you want to know." She eventually said.

She had chosen to save her own soul and betray the empire she was loyal to. Death she could accept but being absorbed was too scary a concept for her.

Quickly she began giving Marcus the information that he wanted and told him everything she knew about the top brass here and the details of their mission.

When she was finished, Marcus smiled and thanked her for her cooperation, before knocking her out with his phantom pressure.

'Now let me go over what I have found out. There are a bit more than five hundred soldiers here, with twenty captain class soldiers from forty to forty-eight just like Emilia here. But they are no real threat. The ones that are truly in charge are the four lieutenant colonels, the two full colonels, and the singular general. Though I need not worry much about the lieutenant colonels much as they range from level fifty to fifty-five. The full colonels on the other hand she did not know the level exact levels of, but they have to be at least fifty-eight so they might be a bit threatening. Then there is the general. He is the one I really need to be wary of. She did not know his exact level either, but knows it is at least level seventy which all generals must have to achieve the rank. I also now know that he uses a rapier and staff as his weapons, and is a master of not just space magic, but also destruction, war which I have never heard of, and water magic. And above all, he definitely has at least one unique skill. Truly I am glad I did not get overconfident. If I got caught off guard against them without knowing what they are capable of I could have been in trouble.'

Now fairly satisfied with the information he had obtained, Marcus possessed Emilia's body, since as a higher-ranking officer she would be more useful.

Quickly he buttoned back up her shirt which had been undone the entire interrogation and used healing magic to clear up the hand shaped bruise on her neck.

'Well, I did make a promise.' Marcus thought as he picked up Enzo's body.

Carefully making sure that the coast was clear outside, he left the meeting room he had been in while carrying Enzo's body.

Finding the nearest lookout window Marcus knocked out the man keeping watch with his phantom pressure and pushed him aside.

'Inten, I need you to cause a commotion for me. Make it big and flashy.' Marcus said as he let the diamond mouse out of his companion storage.

Happy to finally have something to do, Inten scurried down the side of the pillar and moved into to position. On Marcus signal he created a large sphere of diamond and fired it at the nearest pillar, before going down the lien and hitting the others.

Not long after an alarm went off, and the base of the eastern empire went into high alert as they were besieged by a legendary grade beast.