The Kind of Evil

‎Mages bombarded the capital city toward the remaining revolutionary parties that had been cornered into one nation. Thalior, Xena, Astrea, and Uriel were gathered outside the city wall, watching thousands of knights and mages try to occupy the city. Oddly enough, there was no sign of resistance from the revolutionary army.

‎The demons hadn't shown themselves yet, not even a single demon had been found in the past months. It was unnerving for Thalior and the others because they felt the demons were lurking behind them every time.

‎Rasmus had been on the frontline with Aris and Javi on the past dozen battlefields. Those three kept their identities hidden from the other knights because of the armor and helmets they wore. They stayed low and pretended to be ordinary knights to avoid being targeted by the emissaries and the demons.

"Your Grace, the city has been breached, and we got the report from the scout team," a soldier entered the tent where Thalior, Astrea, Xena, Uriel, and Novia were gathered. "There are no civilians, not a single soul, only a few hundred revolutionary knights within the city who have surrendered themselves."

Thalior already knew about it since Grayson had informed Thalior about the suspicious movements of the revolutionary parties in the past few weeks. There was no explanation for the sudden weakened state of the revolutionary parties, or of where they had all gone. However, Rasmus had a hunch that the remaining leaders of the revolutionary parties had become vessels of the demons.

"Your Grace? Your order?" The knight asked.

"Guard on the city walls. Don't let anyone enter the city," Thalior ordered.

The knight nodded and then left the tent hurriedly. Thalior looked at Astrea, Xena, Uriel, and Novia then nodded his head. The four of them nodded and followed him to check the city on their own.

All the knights watched the five figures walk past them, the expression those five wore was something that put the knights on the edge. There was uncertainty and anxiety in their eyes, and the knights already knew of the sudden weakened state of the revolutionary parties, which also made them anxious. They had heard about what had happened that day two months ago, when Thalior's and Xena's armies got wiped out by a powerful demon.

The tragedy had spread across South Neva, and it was heard by other continents about that event. People began to fear the demon's existence, the Corrupted, which people believed was a myth, they actually existed, and it made everyone cower in fear. That fear made the situation worse and better at the same time because the world knew about the threat that might bring humanity to extinction, causing them to cooperate and rely on the Holy Nation and the powerful nations that could protect them. However, some chose to accept it and turned themselves against humanity, choosing the side of the emissaries that pretended to accept them and protect them.

"You three, come with us," Thalior looked at the three knights who were standing next to each other, staring at them from beneath the helmets they wore. He knew that they were Rasmus, Aris, and Javi.

The three knights nodded and followed Thalior from behind.

As they entered the capital city, it looked like a city of the dead because there was no sound or any sign of living, not even birds could be seen in the trees. Astrea felt traces of demonic energy everywhere, and she could see how scared the revolutionary knights and mages were, and how glad they were for getting captured.

"They're terrified to stay in this place," Astrea muttered with her eyes narrowed at the revolutionary soldiers. "Something must have happened here, and they might know the answer," she pointed out.

Uriel nodded and immediately approached the prisoners. She ordered the South Neva Union's knight to bring one prisoner to Astrea. The knight chose one randomly and escorted the prisoner to Astrea.

"What's your name, child?" Astrea looked at the terrified young knight.

"Jasen, Your Holiness..." The prisoner answered as he lowered his head to show respect to the Saint.

"Jasen, what happened here? Where are the people?" Astrea asked with her brows raised.

Jasen glanced to his left and right as if he was afraid someone was listening or watching him. He hesitated to answer the question, and it was visible in his eyes that he didn't want to answer the question. Astrea could see it, and she decided to smile at him and nod with understanding.

"The palace, Your Holiness," Jasen answered, his voice barely above a whisper. "We didn't know what happened there, but we knew something happened there. Nobody dared to go near that place, Your Holiness," he muttered, his voice shaky.

Everyone's heads turned toward the palace in the center of the city, the tallest building in the city. Astrea and Aris could sense demonic energy looming over the palace from above. They were convinced that Jasen was telling the truth and that he had the right to be scared.

"Thank you, child. You may go now," Astrea smiled at Jasen.

Jasen bowed, and then the knight escorted him back to where the other prisoners were being escorted out of the city. Once they were alone, Astrea pointed her finger at the palace's roof.

"This is the first time I've seen anything like that. The density of demonic energy is out of this world, and I don't know what's happening in there, but I can assure you, no humans should be in that place," Astrea warned, her eyes focused on the looming demonic energy. "Let's find out what's happening over there. We might find the answer that we are looking for. I can protect all of you, so stay close to me," she said and began to walk to the front, leading the group.

They barely reached the tall fence and gate to the palace, and they were already suffocated by demonic energy. For Thalior, Xena, and Novia, they could bear it while Uriel was struggling to breathe. Uriel looked at those three and remembered what kind of suffering they had been through, realizing that she was the only one who hadn't seen the death door.

Astrea prayed as she clasped her hands together, releasing divine energy. For the naked eye, they couldn't see what was happening, but for Aris, she could see the white translucent light that cleansed and purified the demonic energy that loomed around the palace. She realized that Videl, who pretended to be Astrea, was a lot weaker compared to Astrea's divine power.

They proceeded to enter the palace area, looking around for any sign of life, but they couldn't even find a single insect or bug. The foul smell began to overwhelm their nostrils, not knowing where it came from, however, Aris and Astrea could see it, the most dense demonic energy that was hard to cleanse and purify.

"That path over there, where does it lead to?" Astrea pointed at the path on the right side of the palace.

"If I remember correctly, it leads to the dungeon, Your Holiness," Thalior answered, since he was the only one who had visited all nations in South Neva more than once.

"Then we will head there first..." Astrea nodded with understanding and took the path toward the dungeon. "We will be fine because I don't sense any demons, only remnants of them..." she assured.

They followed Astrea toward the building that led to the dungeon. Uriel and Thalior opened the heavy wooden door for her. As soon as the door was open, the pungent smell and the heat were overwhelming. The pungent smell, with the combination of damp and hot dungeon, made it far worse.

Rasmus learned about the dungeon from Videl after Videl managed to communicate with his minions, who acted as spies to keep an eye on Kiel and Yaza. That dungeon was where Yaza did his experiment to try to create a perfect being, better than the human that God had created.

"This is worse than what we smelled beyond the Blackcliffs..." Astrea covered her nose with the back of her hand.

As they went further into the dungeon, the damp and pungent smell worsened. Novia had to create a wind barrier to prevent the smell and the heat from reaching them. As they walked down the stairs, they were welcomed by the trails of blood on the floor, walls, and even the ceiling. They all then looked at where all the trails went, and it was a heavy wooden door that was tightly shut.

Astrea looked at Thalior and gave him a nod. With hesitation, Thalior walked toward the door and slowly opened it. Everyone immediately turned their heads away except for Rasmus and Aris. They saw a few eyeless, lipsless, or noseless heads rolling down as soon as the door was opened, and the next thing they saw were bodies hanging from the ceiling, stuck on the walls, or even stacked on the ground, missing a few limbs and heads.

"I can't..." Novia muttered as she hurriedly left the scene, then Xena, Thalior, and Uriel followed her.

Astrea stayed there, staring at each body, believing it was her fault because she couldn't save them or prevent them from being butchered by demons. She slowly went down to her knees, clasping her hands together, enduring the stench and the gruesome scenery in front of her as she prayed to God to save those souls.

Rasmus, Aris, and Javi stood behind Astrea, watching her pray.

"Who was she?" Astrea asked with a serious tone as she kept clasping her hands together and stared at the bodies in front of her. "The one who pretended to be me?" She asked.

"You remember the records that we discovered, Your Holiness? The ones that shook you deeply?" Rasmus asked back. "The Saint that the Cardinal killed, her body is out there, and I found it," he answered.

Astrea's eyes widened as she slowly turned around and looked up at Rasmus with a shocked expression. She slowly got up and stood in front of him, trying to look into his eyes beneath the helmet he wore.

"You knew?" Astrea asked, her voice shaky.

"I knew. It was a coincidence that I found her body," Rasmus answered and stared into Astrea's eyes. "As we speak, she's out there, perhaps... alive as we speak," he pointed out.

Astrea gulped, realizing there was another saint out there somewhere.

"What are you going to do about that information, Your Holiness?" Rasmus asked.

"I... I don't know..." Astrea answered, furrowed her brows, and stared down at the floor.

(At the same time, in Hell)

Videl walked through the piles of souls being tortured where their genitals were being melted by molten steel, or ripped apart from their bodies, before they poured lava on the wounds by demons. He listened to the screams like it were music to his ears, but he ignored their request for forgiveness.

Videl stared at a woman shackled on the dead tree, naked, with her burned body because the tree released hot molten steel from its branches and pores that dropped onto her head and body. He smiled at the woman, squatting, and looked up at her as he chuckled mischievously.

"It's been a while, isn't it?" Videl asked with a huge smile on his face.

"What do you want?" The woman had a deep and soothing voice filled with pain and desperation.

"You're so cold, Lilith. Why don't we have a talk?" Videl grinned. "I might be able to get you out of here, to breathe air into the world of the living. A place that God forbids you to follow your former husband. What do you think, Lilith, the first wife?" He asked.

Lilith stared down at Videl with her eyes barely open, there was only emptiness in her eyes.