The Kind of Evil

Rasmus held Rullein's orb and it felt like a massive cotton ball that was as big as a basketball. The lingering black smoke around the orb wrapped around his hands and arms like tentacles. He couldn't stop wondering what would happen if he let the orb consume him and the other way around.

The sound of clanking steel made Rasmus look in front of him at Aris who had wore the black clad armor that belonged to his late mother. Flashes of memories and traumas invaded his mind, remembering the day and the moment of his mother's headless body being displayed in front of the people. He didn't expect his memories and traumas to overwhelm him still, and knew that he had to overcome it.

Aris grabbed Rasmus's wrist and put his on his chest plate. She stared into his eyes when she saw that same distant gaze of his whenever he looked at something that connected with his past.

Rasmus could feel the energy from the armor seeping into his pores. He felt a familiarity, something that he couldn't describe with words. The feeling that clenched his heart, both in a good and bad way. He then pulled his hand from the armor, feeling the warmth that lingered inside him.

"This is Aristoria's energy, her memories and residue of her existence when she wore this armor..." Aris said as she looked down at the armor she wore.

"All of these residues of her, how did she do it? Leaving trails of her life as if she did it on purpose," Mykel asked as he looked at the armor and stared at the Blackheart family crest of a silver crown on the pauldrons.

"It's similar to some animals. They're leaving traces and scents of themselves when they know they're dying. She didn't do it on purpose, she just knew that the time she has left was already short," Aris answered as she stared at Mykel and took Rullein's orb from his hand.

"So you would know when you were going to die?" Rasmus stared at Aris with his brows raised.

"Yes, all Orthias can tell if we are dying. Not because of old age, but something like fulfillment and giving opportunities for the new ones to live in this world," Aris answered as she looked around at the vault and saw something interesting. "That ring. It has the same crest as this..." She pointed at the ring inside a shelf and then pointed at the cress on her pauldrons.

Rasmus looked at the ring and noticed it was the ring that his father always wore, something he failed to remember. He opened the case and took the ring, staring at the family crest on it. He realized that Relius took all his father and mother's possessions after they got executed.

"Where's the swords? The swords that Aristoria used?" Aris asked, looking at the swords that were displayed on the walls. "It's not here, these are man-made," she muttered as she kept searching for the swords.

"The swords aren't here. Lenin said the swords were too powerful for humans to hold. Even the strongest Swordmaster struggled to hold them," Rasmus answered as he put the ring heirloom on his left middle finger. "Lenin said that the locations of the swords are unknown, but she believed they're kept in the Holy Nation because people believed the swords are cursed," he continued.

Aris turned around to look at Rasmus, confused as to why he hadn't taken the swords when they were there. However, she knew that Rasmus would have taken the swords if they were there.

"The swords weren't there?" Aris asked.

Rasmus shook his head as he carefully opened the glass case to take the red book.

"Astrea said that the Holy Nation didn't have anything to do with the items that belonged to the Blackheart family. I'm assuming someone took the swords, but I don't know who..." Rasmus said as he carefully held the book and saw the lock on it. "It could be a filthy rich noble family that bought the swords then sold it in auctions," he continued, finding the key hidden underneath the book's cushion.

When Rasmus was about to unlock the book, they felt an earthquake, a powerful one. Rasmus hurriedly stored all the items from the vault into the spatial ring since he knew he had been in there for too long. Rasmus and Aris went to check what was going on since there shouldn't be any enemies anymore.

Rasmus and Aris found the Jester still in the hallway, but his gaze was pointed at the sky. The moment they heard a loud screeching in the air, Rasmus and Aris knew what it was.

"Wyverns again?" Rasmus looked at the sky and saw dozens of Wyverns flying above the palace and bombarding the palace with fire breath and fireballs.

Yur was trying its best to prevent the wyverns from destroying the palace, manipulating the air to change the trajectory of the fireballs and the fire breaths. Yur single-handedly dealt with dozens of Wyverns, showing how powerful Yur really was.

Rasmus, Aris, and the Jester walked out of the palace and looked at the wyverns that looked like flies up high in the sky. Aris narrowed her eyes, knowing that they behaved similarly like the ones that happened back in the Holy Nation. Those wyverns were being mind-controlled, and it was impossible to communicate with them.

Aris bent her knees and jumped up high into the sky with just a little effort. She was surprised when she realized that the armor boosted her strength as if the armor had become a part of her own body. She couldn't help but smile, amazed by Aristoria's craftsmanship, something that Aris couldn't do.

When Aris reached the apex of her jump, she was already on the same level as the Wyverns. She began to float and looked for the strongest one, believing there should be a leader among them. When she found out and her eyes met with the Wyverns, she felt an undeniable threat, a moment where she felt threatened and forced her to be on guard. Her eyes glowed bright blue and coated her whole body with Aura and blue energy in an instant.

Aris knew that the threat wasn't coming from the wyvern, but from the one that was controlling it. She felt a similar power to Videl, or even stronger than Videl. She gritted her teeth and glared at the wyvern when she realized the power she felt was the same power that took Illidan. She knew it was the same being that single-handedly toyed with her, making her powerless and kneeling.

Aris released a shockwave the moment she flew toward the wyvern. The shockwave was enough to make the wyverns that were near her pass out. She didn't care about the other wyvern but one. She slashed her sword at the wyvern's head, decapitating it with a clean cut. However, before she could react, a dark purple tar-like substance came out from the wyvern's neck, pouncing at her. She was covered by it and it covered her face, making her unable to see.

Aris was forced to descend and the remaining wyverns were ready to bite her. They intended to rip her body apart with their razor-sharp teeth. However, before they could get close to her, Yur flew and created a powerful hurricane where Aris was the eye of the storm, pushing and shredding the wyverns into pieces.

Yur created a breeze of wind below Aris and slowed down her fall. When she landed on the ground, Rasmus looked at Aris's face which was covered in tar. She tried so hard to not open her mouth and eyes, not wanting any of it to enter her body. Rasmus didn't know what he could do at that moment until suddenly Aris caught herself on fire with a bright blue flame that was so blinding.

The tar-like substance melted and evaporated until there was nothing left. However, she didn't stop burning herself, she could feel that a tiny part of the substance had entered her body. It didn't take long until she put out the flame on her body, and then she collapsed to one knee as she spat out the remnants of the substance.

Yur approached Aris and landed on her shoulder, hugging her with its wings. Yur was trembling in fear, the fear of Aris becoming like those wyverns, corrupted and controlled by a powerful being.

"That thing..." Aris said under her breath as she wiped her mouth. "The same thing that I encountered beyond the Blackcliffs. The ones that took Illidan, it was that thing that I saw inside that wyvern..." she revealed.

Rasmus narrowed his eyes, knowing exactly who it was, Satan. He didn't like it when suddenly Satan piqued interest in their affair. The wyverns' attack seemed to be like a warning from that being, and he knew that he was about to be observed by one of the three Sovereigns.

"I'm fine..." Aris said, without having Rasmus ask her. "I'm fine..." she repeated herself.