The Kind of Evil

‎After the banquet-like meeting, Thalior and the representatives from the Alliance finally decided to start the real one. Everyone went to the throne room, and everyone took a seat at the table.

‎Xena was the first to speak and inform everyone about the current situation in the revolutionary parties. She revealed there were four parties that were distancing themselves from the others.

‎The Fesilis party was the one that the Servil faction took down. The remaining three were the Yagesliv party, the Bornalis party, and lastly the Durant party.

‎"We managed to take down one of them. The chance of them banding together is more likely to happen. We sent a scout team a week ago to check any movements from these three parties," Xena said and stared at everyone at the table.

‎Before Xena could continue her report, a knight from the Servil faction came in with a scroll in her hand. She gave the scroll to Xena and immediately left the room.

‎"It appears they have decided to band together," Xena said as she passed the scroll to Thalior. "There have been movements from those three parties, and they seem to have gathered in the Mildferd Kingdom and centered their forces there," she added.

‎"50,000 soldiers..." Thalior raised his brows, surprised by the amount of enemy forces. "They have a strategic terrain that makes it possible for them to leave two nations unoccupied since the Mildferd Kingdom is the only way to reach those two nations because they were surrounded by mountains."

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‎"Yes, and with our current forces and the evil that lurks in the shadow, we can't risk fighting them until we are sure that our surroundings are safe before we advance," Xena nodded in agreement as she looked at the map on the table.

‎Thalior stared at the map for a moment before he decided to speak.

‎"They're not a threat," Thalior pointed out.

‎Everyone at the table was surprised by Thalior's words, all eyes were on him.

‎"They can't risk their current position to invade us. The moment they try to attack us, it will make their home vulnerable by leaving their safest place to invade us. They're not a threat to us, but we are a threat to them," Thalior explained as he pointed at the map.

‎"And what are you trying to propose, Your Grace?" Astrea asked as she stared at the map.

‎"A treaty with them. Our goal is to eradicate revolutionary parties, but now it has slightly changed. These three parties aren't an immediate threat, the remaining are," Thalior looked at everyone at the table. "The remaining parties have decided to side with demons. They're the ones that we should be focusing on," he added.

‎"If we decide to do that, I'm thinking of deploying Commander-in-Chief Uriel with her trusted knights at the border near the Mildferd Kingdom. Even with the treaty, we can't lower our guard," Thalior continued as he tapped on the map.

‎It was a solid plan, and no one could argue with Thalior's logic.

‎"It won't be just us who think of this as an opportunity, Your Grace," Rasmus said as he looked at the map. "It was as you said that they have the support from the terrain that makes their home safe. But those mountains are the best places for demons to live. The moment they realize that those three are gathered in the Mildferd Kingdom, what will happen to the two nations that they leave behind?" He asked as he made a circular move with his finger at the mountains on the map.

‎"It's good that we are minimizing problems, but it's not going to work when there's a third party that might gain something from our decision," Rasmus said as he looked at the map with a serious expression. "What we believe is a great plan, it might bite us later on..." he sighed.

‎"That's why I propose that we should use what His Grace had suggested. Make a treaty with those three parties in exchange for their safety and the people. We have seen how dangerous the Corrupted are, even a boy who got turned into a Corrupted would be impossible to kill. If their pride is more important than the lives of others, then we get rid of them before the demons occupied those two nations," Rasmus suggested as he stared at everyone at the table. "We don't make half-baked plans. We can't afford such a thing in this kind of situation," he said with a serious expression.

‎"You want us to pressure them, Count?" Xena asked with her brows furrowed. "If they decide to go to war against us, they still have 50,000 troops behind them. The moment we clash with them, that also gives the demons a chance to gain the upper hand from that," she added.

‎Everyone nodded in agreement with Xena's argument.

"I know that you don't want that, so why don't you let me meet them in person? I can assure you that they will agree with the treaty and prioritize the safety of the people. They don't want to side with demons in the first place, and we can use that to bargain," Rasmus said calmly.

"Or..." Rasmus sighed as he looked at Astrea. "Her Holiness can do it in my stead. After all, she's not a part of the South Neva Union or the Alliance. She's a Saint, and I believe they would listen to her."

‎Nobody dared to ask Astrea to do that for them since they would be asking too much. Astrea came to assist them to deal with demons, not to help them in politics.

‎"Now, Count. I would help, but in exchange, I want something from you," Astrea said with a gentle smile. "It's not something grand, and I won't ask you to do it now. Let's just say it's a favor," she crossed her arms on the table and stared at Rasmus.

‎Rasmus knew that Astrea might say something like that and used the opportunity to bind him.

‎"Of course, Her Holiness. Since it was my idea after all," Rasmus nodded with understanding. "I will come with you, Your Holiness."

‎Astrea was a bit surprised that Rasmus agreed with her demands without hesitation. She expected him to be reluctant to agree with her demand and had planned on pressuring him later if he did. At that moment, she felt like it was her who fell into his trap.

‎"Thank you, Count," Astrea nodded and smiled.

‎"I should be the one thanking you, Her Holiness. We are the ones who forced you to help us," Rasmus said.

‎After that, they began to create plans for the next moves they should make. Since Astrea and Rasmus were the ones who dealt with the Mildferd Kingdom, the others focused on the revolutionary parties that had sided with demons.

‎Since the Alliance was still recovering from their losses, they decided to stay behind. It was a good thing for the South Neva Union since they would maintain their status in South Neva. The Servil faction had decided to collaborate with Thalior in eliminating their next targets.

‎The faces of the Alliance's representatives were sour, hiding their frustration. They were planning to be on top once it was over, but ended up being left behind. They were powerless, and was unable to demand anything thanks to Astrea's presence at the table.

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‎Thalior thought of the possibilities that might happen to the Alliance. He was grateful that the South Neva Union's position would stay strong, but the dissatisfaction of the Alliance might raise conflicts in the future.

‎He glanced at Rasmus, and the moment their eyes met, his gut told him that Rasmus was thinking the same thing as him. He then remembered Garret's role, and he knew it would be best to use Garret to prevent disunity among the Alliance leaders.

‎Once the meeting was over, representatives from the Alliance left the room first. Thalior immediately wrote a letter to Garret about the current situation and asked him to begin his move. Garret was an opportunist, and the Alliance's current situation would make it easy for him to slip in and become their savior.

‎"Count, shall we?" Xena looked at Rasmus with a serious expression.

‎Rasmus nodded and then looked at Novia and Astrea. He had already told Astrea about what Xena had found in the records. She wanted to come along since she wanted to know what kind of things demonic cult members had done.

‎Rasmus pulled out his armor from the ring and immediately put it on. Thalior didn't join them since he had to stay behind and keep an eye on the representatives.

‎"I have prepared the carriage, Your Holiness, Count, Lady Novia," Xena said as she put on her helmet.

‎"Shall we?" Astrea asked as she put on her black robe and looked at Rasmus and Novia.

‎Rasmus and Novia nodded.