The Kind of Evil

Rasmus arrived in a small town, and this time he didn't bother to hide his identity anymore. His arrival was enough to put the knights and guards to tremble in fear even though they pointed their spears and swords at him. Although they wanted him to leave, they didn't dare to do anything, not when an Orthias was by his side.

"Please, Count... leave us alone..." The knight's captain begged as he pointed his sword at Rasmus with dozens of knights behind him. "We have nothing to offer nor do we want to serve you. We just want to live in peace."

"And I'm not asking you anything. We just wanted a place to rest for the night. You can keep pointing your weapons at us and see where it leads you, or you can put your weapons down and nothing will happen to any of you, or the townspeople," Rasmus responded as he stared at the knight captain.

The knight's captain clenched his jaw, gripping his sword more tightly, but then he closed his eyes and let out a shuddering breath. He lowered his sword and signaled to the knights to lower their weapons. They knew that they had lost everything, the lord to serve, the income to feed their families, and the future they had planned.

Rasmus walked past the guards and the knights while the townspeople stared at him with disgust, hatred, and fear combined. None of it bothered him as he looked for the best inn for the three of them to stay in.

"So many drinks to choose... lovely..." Rullein grinned as she looked at the shelves filled with bottles of alcohol. "You chose this place just for me, right?" She looked over at Rasmus, who was reading the red book he had taken from the royal palace's hidden vault.

Rasmus was sitting at the counter with the book in his head when he glanced at Rullein. He noticed the changes in Rullein's appearance, especially how she projected her body to be more appealing and alluring. Ever since she devoured the Fallen Watcher, she had become more and more bold in expressing her emotions and feelings.

"All yours, but do keep in mind that Aris might fancy a few of them," Rasmus answered and continued to focus on the book. "Share it with her, and please don't make a scene since I have promised them that we won't cause any trouble," he muttered as he flipped the page.

"That depends, if Aris took the bottle that I fancied, then there would be matter to discuss... in our own way..." Rullein chuckled as she glanced at Aris with a cold gaze.

Aris shook her head as she looked at the gauntlet of Aristoria, trying to understand the power behind the armor. Yur was standing at the table, trying to help Aris understand the power. However, Yur had been feeling down ever since Yur found out that all the spirits in the Trivula forest had been devoured by the Fallen Watcher. Although the spirits were technically in Rullein's body after she devoured the Fallen Watcher, the world couldn't produce more spirits because the essences were gone.

Rasmus had read half of the book, and he could finally understand the content of it. The lost civilization, the civilization of humankind that was powerful enough to outmatch Orthias. The existence of the Zevrathi family and their miraculous power that could make humans immortal by their power. Such power was unquestionably suspicious, wondering if God truly allowed mortals to hold such power.

Rasmus unveiled the events behind the fall of Orthias and the fall of the lost civilization. However, on the last page, it was stated that the Zevrathi family still existed and was hiding, but their location was unknown. There were so many powerful figures to this day that had sworn their loyalty to the Zevrathi family. They were waiting for the moment of the resurrection of the Zevrathi family, the true heir that could rule over Neva.

"You... love... books?" Rullein sat beside Rasmus, her breath smelled of alcohol. "Not women?" She asked, her striking orange eyes with draconic pupils staring right into Rasmus's.

Rasmus closed the book and stored it in the spatial ring before he stared back into Rullein's eyes. He was convinced that something had changed within her as if she was being corrupted or if it was she had finally broken her limitations as a Dark Spirit. He could see a seductress in her eyes, a monster that was holding back from appearing, and the insatiable thirst for something immoral and sinful.

Aris ignored Rullein since she didn't want to be a part of it and thought similarly as Rasmus about her.

"What makes you think so?" Rasmus asked.

"You have two beautiful ladies with you..." Rullein rested her elbow on the bar counter and cupped her own cheek as she kept her eyes on Rasmus's. "You had a few encounters with beautiful ladies like, Anastasha, Serena, Erlina, and those pretty ladies in the brothel house, and yet you never touched them, not sexually..." She narrowed her eyes, her lips curved into a more playful way.

"I'm not questioning your sexuality at all, Rasmus... I'm just wondering if you're interested in something intimacy..." Rullein arched her brow, reaching Rasmus's hand with her free hand. "After all, a man needs its time to loosen up a bit. How about it? Just once?" She muttered with a playful smirk.

Rasmus slowly pushed himself away and got up from the stool chair. He walked toward the stairs and looked over his shoulder at Rullein. He didn't need to say a word, but a simple stare was enough to make her smile widely. Rullein then followed him upstairs while Aris was focused on the gauntlet she was holding.

The morning came, Rasmus walked down the stairs with a few buttons open on his shirt. He saw Aris was still busy with the armor, trying to decipher it, and when their eyes met, Aris raised her brows.

"Did you find out what makes that armor special? Compared to your skill?" Rasmus asked as he poured himself a glass of water before he walked toward Aris's table.

"No, not yet..." Aris muttered as she stared at the tiny details with her draconic eyes. "I have never seen anything like this before, not even on the equipment that the elders or previous Aristorias made. This is completely different, and I'm confidence that this armor is unbreakable," she continued as she offered the gauntlet for him to check.

Rasmus sat down and took the gauntlet from Aris's hand and used his draconic eyes to see what she meant. However, it was as Aris said, the metallurgy of the armor was indeed unheard of. Every inch of the armor seemed to be carefully tampered with and hammered with an immense amount of the blue energy that lingered and lived within the steel.

"It's beautifully made, impeccable even..." Rasmus nodded in agreement.

A hint of black smoke appeared behind the bar counter and thickened in an instant before it dispersed and Rullein appeared. She poured herself a glass of whiskey and then turned into a big puff of black smoke before the puff of black smoke appeared behind Rasmus and she reappeared there.

"Ayla is outside..." Rullein took a sip of her whisky, staring at the door and used the black smoke to act like a hand to open the door.

Ayla was about to knock on the door, but it had been opened in front of her. She immediately walked in and closed the door behind her. She bowed her head and pulled out a scroll from under her cloak then offered it to Rasmus.

"Something happened in the Holy Nation, My Lord," Ayla said as she watched Rasmus take the scroll.

Rasmus read the report and found out what had happened in the Holy Nation in a detailed manner. He found out the truth behind the Holy Nation and the Angelis family, connecting the dots he found from the red book. A smile appeared on his lips when Aurelia chose to strip all of her identity as the Saint, as the Angelis, and as the leader of the Holy Nation. He slowly burned the report and took a sip of water, still with the smile on his face.

"Someone is happy," Aris raised her brows as she stared at Rasmus.

"Yes, it appears my former student has decided to play her own game," Rasmus answered as he put down the gauntlet. "This momentum, we should use it."

Rasmus stood up as he buttoned his shirt and pulled out his suit from the spatial ring. He looked at the others, giving them a nod, signaling to them it was time for them to get ready.

Aris looked at the spatial ring that Rasmus had taken from the royal palace's vault that was given to her. She then placed Aristoria's armor into the ring as she got up from the chair. Rullein simply wrapped her body in black smoke and turned it into her black long see-through gown.

"Let's force Nemu to start the war..." Rasmus said as he fixed his suit and walked toward the door. "Let's make the world confused who's the evil one in this continent."