The Kind of Evil

"Fire!" A knight shouted as he pointed his sword at Rasmus, Rullein, and Aris.

Fire arrows covered the night sky with their flickering orange light and the sound of arrows that filled the silent night. Rullein pointed her left hand at the fire arrows up high in the sky, and then flicked her index and middle fingers down. In an instant, all the arrows went down vertically and stabbed the grass.

Rullein jumped down from her horse as she spread her arms, turning the fire arrows into a massive wall of fire. She walked toward the wall of fire with a grin as she pushed her left hand forward. The wall of fire moved like a tidal wave, burning everything it touched, all the way toward the hundreds of knights and mages that blocked their path.

The mages cast magic formations, to create a magic barrier, but all their magic formations got disturbed. They repeatedly tried to cast magic, but none of them worked, and the fact the sea of flames was approaching, they began to panic. It was already too late for them to run away because there was no way for them to run.

Rullein watched as the sea of flames devoured the army with a single move. She closed her eyes, giggling and turning into mischievous laughter as she listened to the screams of pain. She then raised her left hand and swirled it around, making the sea of flames into a flame tornado. The heat and the intensity of the force shredded and melted the army as their screams of pain faded away.

Rasmus and Aris watched the flame tornado slowly dissipate and reveal the gruesome scenery. A big pile of combined flesh of hundreds human bodies and the melted steel. The worst part was the fact they still could see life energy coming from the pile with their draconic eyes.

"Finish your job, Rullein. There's no point of making them suffer," Rasmus said as he looked at Rullein approaching the pile of flesh, melted skin, and steel.

"Oh, I'm about to, just give it a moment..." Rullein chuckled as she stood in front of the pile of abomination.

Rullein pushed out black smokes from her back, shaping itself like massive wings until the smoke wrapped itself around the pile of abomination. She devoured everything without leaving a single piece of flesh behind, not even a drop of blood was spared.

"She has the tendency of being a sadistic personality it seems," Aris said as she looked at Rullein's satisfied expression. "Maybe you should rethink of giving her the freedom of doing whatever she wants to do," she suggested and glanced at Rasmus.

"Yes, but that's going to be useful in the future nonetheless. I might need her sadistic side one day," Rasmus nodded in agreement. "We are close to the Lusinia Kingdom territory. We are no longer on the southeast of the continent, and yet these people know our movements and where we are heading," he looked around, using his draconic eyes to see if there was someone following them, but found none.

"Nemu sent someone to keep an eye on us?" Aris asked, glancing around but found nobody or felt any presence.

"He might gave an order, but I don't think it's the demons," Rasmus answered as he watched Rullein approach her horse as she licked her lips. "Remember about The Wraiths that I mentioned before and those people we threw in the sea back in Eddenvilla? The secret organizations that have connections with demonic cults. I believe it's them," he pointed out and watched Rullein get back on her horse.

"This is good for them. We are basically reducing human manpower when they might spread the word about our locations. We are criminals, or perhaps monsters that humans want to get rid of. They use the opportunity to make righteous people to die in our hands, smart," Rasmus said as he patted the horse's neck. "Well, little that they know that sending these people are only feeding us with power," he muttered.

Rasmus decided to continue the journey to Foern city port where Erlina and Carrion were staying. He knew that going there would make those two easy targets, so he was hoping to find Javi's ravens.

When the sun rose, they were in the middle of the woods, taking the route that nobody would use. They were taking a short break for the horses and let them eat while Rasmus decided to take a bath in the river. To his luck, he heard the croak of a raven on the tree near the river, and he could tell it was Javi's.

"Come here," Rasmus raised his arm as he stared at the raven.

The raven croaked and tilted its head before it finally flew toward Rasmus and landed on his arm. The raven croaked once again and stared into Rasmus's eyes.

"He's telling you to follow him," Aris said as she stood on the edge of the river. "But we don't want that, so how about we send Yur to guide Erlina, Carrion, and Javi somewhere else? Somehwere we can be comfortable and safe at the same time," she suggested.

Rasmus, Aris, and Rullein could easily change their appearance to hide their identities. However, Aris was marked, and even though the chance of a powerful demon existed in Foern, Rasmus didn't want to take the risk.

Rasmus looked over his shoulder and nodded in agreement, finding it was a perfect idea. It didn't take a minute until Yur flew away with the raven at the front, guiding Yur to Foern to meet Erlina, Carrion, and Javi. Since Yur could detect Aris, it wouldn't be a problem for Yur to find them when Yur came with those three.

The three of them went to the nearest small village, a village that seemed to be secluded from the outside world. It was a perfect place to hide and stay low, keeping Erlina and Carrion safe from getting dragged into Rasmus's mess.

Two days had passed, and Rasmus had rented the whole inn for himself. The villagers were aware of who he was, and they were scared of him. However, he paid them enough money to keep their mouths shut and to live comfortably for the next few years.

"They're here..." Aris said as she walked toward the door.

Rasmus enjoyed the cheap ale that the innkeeper had provided for him. He slowly glanced at the door when Aris opened it, and saw Yur, in its owl form being hugged tightly by Erlina. He saw Carrion and Javi standing behind her, wearing cloaks to hide their faces.

"Aris..." Erlina let Yur go and immediately placed her hand on Aris's arm. "You look, unwell," she tilted her head as she stared at Aris.

Aris was surprised when Erlina immediately said that and it didn't take Erlina a while to see it. She knew Erlina was similar to Rasmus, who could read people's minds through expressions and eyes, but she never thought Erlina would be that sharp.

"I'm fine," Aris said as she stared into Erlina's eyes. "It's good to see you again," she smiled softly at Erlina.

Erlina gasped as she covered her mouth and took a few steps back until her back hit Carrion's chest. She was shocked and stunned, making Carrion confused and worried at the same time.

"Did you just smile at me? My heart..." Erlina muttered as she kept her hands covering her mouth. "You have changed..." she slowly put down her hands and put a playful smirk as she wrapped her arm around Aris. "Can we just have a casual conversation for tonight, please?" She turned her head to look at Rasmus with a frown.

Rasmus raised his mug of ale, and immediately Erlina giggled and dragged Aris to the counter. Rullein was surprised when she saw Aris being so relaxed and calm when a human touched her. When her eyes met Erlina's, they both looked at each other with a confused look on their faces.

"So you're Erlina, the one that Rasmus and Aris talked about," Rullein stood across from Erlina. "My name is Rullein, a Dark Spirit..." She grinned as she offered her hand for a handshake.

Erlina without hesitation shook Rullein's hand, unaware that Rullein had used that opportunity to read Erlina's whole life in a flash. The moment Rullein pulled her hand away, the grinned turned into a wide smile, finding out how Erlina's background intrigued her.

"Are you not afraid of me? Have you never heard about Dark Spirit?" Rullein asked, resting her cheek on her palm.

"I know I should, but you're here with Rasmus and Aris. I know nothing about you, but I believe Rasmus won't let anyone see his casual and relaxed side other than someone he trusts," Erlina answered with a smile on her face.

Rasmus chuckled as he took a sip of his ale, not having anything to say.

"I like you..." Rullein chuckled as she leaned forward, her face only a few inches away from Erlina.