The Kind of Evil

"Count! On your left!" James shouted as he blocked Belvia's attack and was overwhelmed by her strength.

Erglade glanced to his left and saw Cruden, his oldest companion who had been following him for almost a decade. He clenched his jaw and turned the snowflakes into icicles and pierced through Cruden's chest, impaling him to the ground.

Erglade floated and went up high into the air as he spread his arms, turning the snowflakes into icicles. He impaled all the possessed knights that had been consumed by demonic energy. However, some of them dodged his magic and continued to kill their own friends.

"(How did it end up like this...)" Erglade looked at his surroundings and watched everyone fight each other to the death. "(I need to find the one behind all this, the one who control this madness...)" He gritted his teeth and tried his best to protect the remaining members of his team.

Before Erglade could think of a solution, he heard growls and screams in the distance. He knew that they wouldn't be able to survive this situation if they chose to fight here.

"Leave! Let's leave and I'll hold them all back!" Erglade shouted as he looked down.

"I don't think it's possible, Count!" James grunted as he pushed Belvia away, but then Jacques appeared and slashed his chest plate. "You should leave! You're the only one who might be able to leave this place, Count. Please, leave this to us and just go!" He grabbed Jacques face and kicked him away.

Everyone looked up at Erglade, some of them had the lingering fear, wishing that he would stay with them. However, they knew, they were just going to hold him back, and it would only prolong their deaths and not prevent it.

Erglade flinched his eyes, knowing that James was right since he was the only one who could sense Mana and magic. However, he also knew that they wouldn't be able to survive without him. He had two choices, one with a high survival chance but sacrificing a lot of lives, and the other one with a small survival chance but not sacrificing anyone.

"Be safe, Sir James, everyone..." Erglade said with a heavy-heart. "Antonius! Come and follow me!" He looked down at Antonius, who didn't show any struggle in dealing with both the undead and the possessed.

Antonius swung his sword and decapitated the possessed without hesitation, and then he looked up at Erglade, nodding his head.

"Good luck, kid. Protect Count Blackheart for us," James said as he looked at Antonius with a serious look on his face.

"I will," Antonius nodded and then ran to follow Erglade.

Erglade and Antonius followed a path that wasn't blocked by the invisible wall. The sound of steel clashing slowly began to fade away, and it only made Erglade worry about them. He knew he had to find a way out and came back to save them.

"The walls... they disappaered..." Antonius said after he threw snow around and didn't hit any invisible walls.

Erglade stopped moving and couldn't feel any Mana around him, and cast flares around him from the Mana he had stored in the spatial ring. He watched the halo of fire spread. It was as Antonius said, the invisible wall had disappeared and the flares kept spreading widely until it got extinguished by the cold.

"This doesn't mean that we are safe, it might be quite the opposite," Erglade said as he brushed his fingers together. "I can't feel any Mana here, not even a tiny bit. Which is why the wall disappeared," he muttered to himself.

"No Mana? That's unheard of, Count," Antonius said as he followed Erglade and kept his eyes around and behind him.

"No, it's possible if something absorbed the Mana. Perhaps like a powerful magic formation, or something else similar," Erglade answered as he looked around and made sure the Mana in his spatial ring didn't get absorbed. "This whole forest is a mystery," he muttered under his breath and left marks on the trees that he walked past.

After ten minutes of walking, he heard a faint scream and the sound of clanking steel in the distance. Erglade recognized that voice, it was one of his men's voices, and it confused him. He decided to follow where the voice was coming from, and to his surprise, he came back to where James and the other were.

The fallen knights had turned into undead, including Belvia and Jacques. The numbers of the undead increased than before, and Erglade knew he couldn't stay still.

"This is... no..." Erglade was in disbelief when he watched the remaining ones that were still alive were James and a few of Northerners. "Everyone! Run toward me!" He shouted and cast fireballs to assist James and the others that were heavily wounded.

James and the remaining survivors were shocked to see Erglade back to save them. However, they didn't ask questions and followed Erglade's order. He then watched the fireballs flew past them, exploding and making the ground tremble with the sheer power of Erglade's magic.

Erglade flew up high and released a torch of blue flame toward the undead. He used all the Mana he had in his spatial ring. He knew that it would be a waste, but eliminating those undead was necessary. He didn't stop burning the forest down with the flames, and then created one big fireball with the remaining Mana he had left. He threw it toward the burned undead and exploded, producing a massive blast that toppled all the trees in a hundred meters radius.

Erglade felt weak as he fell to the ground on his chest, struggling to stand up as his arms and hands trembled to support his body. Antonius grabbed Erglade's shoulder and helped him stand back up to his feet.

"Count... why did you come back..." James said as he grunted in pain and tried to stop the bleeding on his chest.

"We didn't... we had been walking to find a way out but ended up circling around and came back to where we were..." Erglade answered as he stared at the sea of flames in front of him. "Illusion magic, and I'm no longer sure what's happening here. But one thing for sure. If we want to escape from this forest, we have to get rid the one who controls everything here," he continued.

"With our condition, I don't think we can even do anything, Count. We are being played and we are losing," James said as he used Divine energy to heal his wound. "I can heal everyone here, but we need a place to hide, somewhere that we can breath..."

Erglade nodded in agreement and brought everyone with him to find a place to rest. From three dozens of team members reduced to 6, including Erglade and Antonius. However, no matter how far they walked, they would end up in the same spot over and over. The worst part, Erglade had used all his Mana, and could no longer use magic to support anyone.

In the end, they had no choice but to rest at that spot and treat their wounds. Erglade was busy finding the trace of dark magic where the illusion was projected. He dug the ground, checked the trees, and the roots, but he knew it was impossible to find it.

"We are stuck here, Count?" James asked when he saw Erglade coming back.

"Yes, I can't detect it at all..." Erglade rested his hand on the tree as he looked down at his feet. His gaze was cold and his jaw clenched. "Give me a moment to think..." He said as he walked away once again.

"I'm coming with you, Count," Antonius said as he got up.

"No, I want to be alone. You have been following me all this time, so get some rest," Erglade said and disappeared into the distance.

Erglade fastened his pace as he went as far as he could, looking at the tree formations around him. He left trails as he kept moving forward, not taking a detour or looking back. He wanted to try something that had been bothering his mind ever since this happened.

After what it felt like ten minutes of walking, he realized that he was in a new area of the forest. He saw a small open space in front of him, and realized that his suspicion was right. However, he felt it and smelled it again, the subtle changes that only he could sense it.

"It was really you," Erglade said as he clenched his fists.

"Since when did you notice it?" A man's voice could be heard behind the tree.

"Who knows. Does it even matter, Antonius?" Erglade asked as he slowly turned around.

Antonius came out of the tree, then James and the others appeared behind him. They all had a cut wound on their necks, and they all had turned into undead under his command.

"This whole situation wasn't yours, but someone else's. You're only associating with whoever behind this, aren't you?" Erglade asked with his eyes narrowed.

"Who knows. Does it even matter, Count?" Antonius smiled coldly.