The Kind of Evil

Aurelia stared at her reflection, wearing a mitre hat and a white robe. She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes before she heard a soft knock on the door. She didn't respond and kept herself silent for a moment before she finally decided to speak.

"Yes?" Aurelia asked, her gaze lingering on her reflection in the mirror.

"Everyone is almost here," Serena's voice could be heard from behind the door. "I have nothing but bad news for you," she warned.

Aurelia let out a shuddering breath before she turned around and approached the door. She slowly opened the door and saw Serena wearing a simple white gown and a circlet on her head. She realized that Serena had the air of being a Saint more than herself, feeling like she was just a child playing a Saint in the face of a real Saint. However, she shook that thought and knew it wouldn't matter soon enough.

"Bad news?" Aurelia moved aside and pointed at the couch.

"Demons, powerful ones are here. Wearing the skins of humans or even shape themselves like one," Serena said, her voice soft and soothing as she walked past Aurelia and went to sit on the couch. "The time is short. You can change your mind before it's too late," she pointed out, sitting on the couch and staring out at the window.

Aurelia closed the door behind her and walked to the couch, placing herself across from Serena. She had to carefully sit down because she didn't want her robe to crumple and become unpresentable. The moment Serena's eyes met hers, Serena knew that Aurelia wasn't planning to back down, and had steeled her heart.

"Chaos it is then..." Serena smiled softly at Aurelia, nodding her head with understanding.

"You have seen it, and I have never asked what you think of it. Can I ask you that now? What do you think about the secret that this nation and my family have kept hidden from the world?" Aurelia asked with uncertainty in her voice.

"Your whole nation should be burned down and disappear from this world," Serena said with a cold gaze pointed right into Aurelia's soul. "Humans can be purer than angels, but they can also be more vile and evil than demons. Your family, they fall on the second category," she pointed at Aurelia, affirming how sickening the truth was.

Aurelia's heart clenched, didn't expect to hear a blatant truth like that. She also said something similar to her mother when she found out about the truth. She realized how painful it was, to be looked at and to be told at like that.

"I know..." Aurelia muttered as she lowered her head.

However, the atmosphere got defused when a priestess knocked on the door, informing that all the guests had gathered in the great peristyle. Aurelia was anxious and her hands couldn't stop trembling because she knew that there was no going back. She exhaled deeply as she rose from the couch and fixed her robe before she told the priestess to announce that she would be there soon.

"Will you stay by my side, Saint Serena?" Aurelia asked, her voice shaky and breathy.

"Of course, Saint Aurelia. After all, I'm one of the countless victims that your family has murdered," Serena answered as she stood up and offered her arm to Aurelia.

Aurelia nodded as she wrapped her arm around Serena's arm and began to leave her chamber. They went straight to the great peristyle, and their presence was enough to make everyone quiet. The kings, queens, leaders, and powerful figures began to murmur about the rumors that had been going on

"They're here, I can feel them..." Serena muttered as she kept her chin up high and faced forward, unbothered by the intense gazes. "Beware..." she warned, her voice low and cold.

Aurelia nodded and kept her face forward toward the podium that had been prepared for her. She then glanced at Astrea, being surrounded by leaders of nations since she had never appeared ever since the great war against demons in South Neva. She could see how Astrea didn't show any fear and anxiety in her eyes when their eyes met. When She saw how her mother gave her a nod, she knew that she wasn't alone.

Aurelia walked up to the podium and looked at the dozens of pairs of eyes in front of her. She had seen their faces and remembered who they were since she had traveled across continents since she was small.

"What is right and what is wrong?" Aurelia asked, opening the gathering with such a question.

"I believe everyone must have pondered about this question in their lives more than once, but it's too vague, too taboo to even think of," Aurealia said as she placed her hands on her lower abdomen, stacking them together. "Because the answer will never be a satisfying one even it's aligning with your belief," she continued and never shy away from staring back at the gazes that were pointed at her.

The peristyle went into complete silence when she spoke, but then soft murmurs were heard from every corner of the peristyle. She then glanced at Videl, the only one she could trust to carry the dark and the most disturbing evidence.

Everyone turned their heads toward the knight that had been wearing his helmet, hiding his identity. They saw the knight walk into the door and heard the sound of something heavy being dragged. When the knight came back, everyone covered their mouths with their unsettled gazes toward the coffin.

"For this nation, this family..." Aurelia said, to pull the attention back to her. "There's no such a thing as right or wrong. We fall to the place called greed of power," she revealed with a cold and stoic expression as the coffin was brought up to the podium.

Astrea's expression was unreadable when the leaders turned their focus to her. Her eyes only focused on the coffin, knowing exactly what was inside it. They wondered what the coffin was for or who or what was inside it. There were so many questions, but no hints to allow them to speculate, something that unnerving and terrifying.

"You must be shocked and wondering what kind of nonsense am I talking about," Aurelia said as she stared at the shocked, confused, and discomfort expressions that everyone put on their faces. "Let me reveal the truth, the day long before the Angelis family and the Holy Nation exist," she slowly turned her head toward the coffin and walked toward it.

"The history of this world, about Neva, there seems to be a massive gap that we don't even know. From this world before humans existed, when the ancient race Orthias protected this world, or when Dragons roamed this world. There are gaps in our knowledge, but let us not go that far," Aurelia said as her hand hesitated to touch the coffin. However, when she held the coffin, she felt shivers all over her body. "The Blackcliffs, the civilization of humans before ours. The world where humans could travel the remaining a third of the world, before it became a place that no humans had ever reached for hundreds of years..." she continued.

Everyone at the peristyle never bothered to find out about what had happened at that time. The scholars had tried to unravel the truth about the missing civilization. However, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't even find any clue related to their disappearance and why it was coincidentally being blocked by tall black cliffs that separated the two-thirds of the world as if the black cliffs were meant to protect them.

"There are records about the ancient race Orthias, of how we humans hunted them, trying to take over their reign from this world. That glimpse of history should be enough to make you grasp of the story that I'm going to tell you," Aurelia said and stared at the tiny gap in the coffin. Although she couldn't see the inside, she knew what was inside the coffin and got chills all over her body as if the thing inside was staring back at her.

Everyone was unconsciously holding their breaths when they realized where Aurelia was trying to lead them into the story. They knew they were intrigued, but somehow deep inside them, they felt like they didn't want to hear it and told their hands to cover their ears.

"All of you must have heard the real culprit behind that history, the one who led humans to hunt the ancient race Orthias," Aurelia slowly turned her head toward the crowds, noticing their unblinking eyes. "The first Saint of human, the one that was so powerful with their miraculous feat and power that could bring down the most powerful race had roamed this world for thousands of years," she continued as she walked to the edge of the podium, staring down at all the figures.

"The first Saint, Urius Zevrathi," Aurelia revealed the name of a figure that was enough to make everyone's hearts stop beating for a moment. "Open your ears, and I will reveal the truth..." she muttered.