That was the sound of the Soul Eaters.

They were horrors unlike any other demons. Their bodies were like black smoke—shifting, changing form into human, beast, or simply a creeping shadow that slithered across the ground. Yet their eyes were hollow, deep—like bottomless voids that consumed everything they gazed upon. Once that gaze fell upon a human, the victim’s soul would be slowly drawn out, forced to abandon the still-living body.

Their victims never died beautifully. Their bodies withered, their faces froze in their final moment of terror, and their skin cracked like parched earth. But far more horrifying were those who remained—soulless shells that walked, moved, and spoke with strange, broken voices, like puppets forced to mimic humanity. From a distance, they appeared normal. Yet upon closer look, their eyes were empty, their tone flat, and their movements no longer in rhythm with the pulse of life.