The Kind of Evil

‎Aris rode her horse toward an open space, making herself an easy target for the wyverns. The paladin took that opportunity to move behind buildings where the wyverns couldn't see them. Aurelia, Serena, and Videl went toward the Mana barrier to assist the Sages and the injured Paladins.

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‎The wyverns floated and flapped their massive wings above the city as they stared at Aris. There was nothing but resentment and anger in those eyes, and Aris could see them since she was an Orthias.

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‎The biggest wyvern in the sky suddenly roared, attracting the other wyverns' attention. All the wyverns suddenly flew toward its leader and flocked like birds above the open space where Aris was below them.

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‎All the wyverns began to roar and screech as if they were communicating with each other in their own language. Aurelia and Serena were busy healing the wounded, but that didn't stop them from observing what was going on in the sky.

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‎"They're... acting strangely the moment Lady Aristoria showed herself..." Aurelia said as she stopped the bleeding of the paladin who lost his left hand due holding the melting shield, protecting the people from the fire breath.

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‎"It's because Orthias said to be the origin and the descendant of True Dragon, Lady Aurelia. It's confusing, but that's how it is. So I'm assuming, the wyverns who shared the same blood as dragons, see Lady Aris as a threat. I think it's similar to conflicts between the human races?" Serena responded as she hugged a small child who was crying because he lost his parents, giving him comfort.

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‎"Rivalry?" Aurelia looked at Serena with a curious look with her brows raised.

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‎"Perhaps, or rebellion..." Serena answered as she caressed the boy's back and calmed him down. "We won't know... not until Lady Aris chooses to tell us," she smiled gently at Aurelia.

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‎Aurelia nodded slowly, eyes drifting to the sky. Only then did the weight of it hit her, not just the destruction, not just the wyverns, but the quiet power behind every figure that stood beside Rasmus.

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‎They weren't allies, they were forces. Then it struck her, when she looked at it from a different perspective. Serena wasn't left behind by accident. Rasmus purposefully left Serena in the Holy Nation to shield her, perhaps to watch every move she made.

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‎Aurelia felt grateful nonetheless because it didn't change the fact she felt safe and she could focus on her growth as a Saint. But deeper than the gratitude there was a creeping fear, something that could keep her awake at night.

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‎Aris stared at the wyvern that seemed to be the leader with a cold gaze, challenging it. However, the wyvern didn't show any fear and then it opened its mouth wide open, gathering Mana and turning it into a ball of fire that grew bigger and bigger. The other wyverns followed the leader, gathering Mana into their mouths and creating massive balls of fire.

The wyverns blasted the balls of fire, creating extremely hot flares and pointed at Aris. The moment the flares reached Aris, everything melted, the street, the building and even the glass melted in almost an instant. Aurelia and the others that were far away from the scene felt the heatwave, and if they were exposed to the heatwave for more than a minute, their insides would melt.

The sea of fire slowly devoured the fifth layer, and the paladins that were looking for survivors couldn't save everyone. They wanted to find more, but knowing it would be pointless since no humans could survive such heat if the wyverns didn't stop pouring fire into the city.

The Sages released a mist of ice to lower the temperature under Aurelia's request because she knew the paladins that were out there and the remaining survivors would die from the heatwave. They tried their best and poured cold mist from the sky, neutralizing the heat, however it wasn't enough because they were outnumbered and their cold mist couldn't outmatch the constant heat.

Suddenly, all the wyverns lost their ability to gather Mana around them. They stopped releasing fire breath and watched the sea of flames dissipate slowly because of the cold mist. They kept their gaze on the sea of flames beneath them, but then they saw a silhouette inside the flame, untouched and unmoved.

The moment the silhouette showed the greatsword in its hand and swung it around, the sea of flames that was blazing the city dispersed in almost an instant. That was when it was revealed that Aris was unscratched, her clothes were untouched by the flames even though everything around her had melted.

The wyverns roared as if they were in disbelief and enraged by Aris's ability. They all began to dive and showed their razor-sharp teeth at her, ready to rip her body apart. However, before they could get close to her, a gravitational force pushed them all down vertically to the ground. They were slowly being crushed by the force as they roared and screeched in pain.

Aris watched dozens of wyverns around her, screeching and roaring with a cold gaze. The moment she stabbed her sword to the ground, all the wyverns' heads exploded and killed them instantly. The only one that was still alive was the wyverns' leader, and Aris purposely let the wyvern watch as the other wyverns died and was unaffected by the gravitational force.

The wyvern began to show fear the moment Aris showed how powerful she was. It was in its nature as an animal, to fear the strong. However, because the wyvern was affected by demonic energy, it chose to keep fighting out of hatred that had been deeply rooted in its nature.

"Come down here..." Aris said as her eyes glowed bright blue.

The wyvern suddenly lost its ability to control its body as it began to descend. It tried to fight it, but it was pointless because the body was being under Aris's influence. And when it landed, the wyvern lowered its head and touched its chin to the ground as Aris approached the wyvern with the sword in her hand.

Aris placed her foot on the wyvern's nose and put a lot of pressure to the point the wyvern felt pain. She stared down at the wyvern and she could understand wyvern's weak growl. The wyvern wanted to kill her no matter what because the wyvern wanted to kill everything that he saw no matter who they were. Knowing that, Aris swung her sword around and then stabbed the skull, piercing through its brain and killing it instantly.

‎"Is it... over?" Aurelia noticed the complete silence in the city as she kept healing the wounded paladins.

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‎"It's over, Lady Aris killed all the wyverns. It's safe now," Videl answered as he stared into the distance. He couldn't wait to absorb the remaining live force in the wyverns corpses.

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‎"I see, let's get out of the barrier and find the remaining survivors. We need to gather all the bodies so I can bless their souls..." Aurelia said as she looked at the Paladins.

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‎Without wasting a single second, Aurelia left the barrier with Aurelia, Videl, and the Paladins following her from behind. They checked every rubble for dead bodies, and that part was the hardest for Aurelia because of the guilt.

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‎(At the same time in the temple)

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‎Rasmus and Astrea were enjoying their tea when suddenly they heard a knock on the door. Astrea allowed the person to enter the parlor, and she realized it was one of the Cardinals.

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‎"Your Holiness, may I have a moment of your time?" The Cardinal asked as he glanced at Rasmus. "Privately?" He added as he looked at Astrea.

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‎Rasmus stared at the Cardinal's eyes and noticed the anxiety in those eyes. He then noticed Javi standing at the door, and when he looked into Javi's eyes, Javi gave him a nod.

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‎"Make it quick, and don't hurt him," Rasmus said.

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‎Astrea and the Cardinal looked confused and shocked by Rasmus words. Javi suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind the Cardinal, hitting the Cardinal's nape with his hand. The moment the Cardinal collapsed and unconscious, a dagger came out of his robe sleeve.

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‎"What's going on...." Astrea was dumbfounded when she saw the dagger.

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‎"I apologize for my rudeness, but I sent Javi to check every Cardinal ever since we arrived here," Rasmus answered as he slowly got up. "It seems things have changed when you were away, Lady Astrea," he said as he walked toward the Cardinal and grabbed the dagger.

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‎"What..." Astrea muttered with a confused look written all over her face.

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‎"They want to get rid of you, Lady Astrea. Some Archbishop and him are plotting something and they want to make Aurelia their puppet," Javi revealed as he carried the Cardinal on his shoulder.

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‎"Wait! Where are you taking him?" Astrea asked as she tried to reach out to Javi.

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‎"Where else, Lady Astrea? I'm going to cut him open, literally and figuratively," Rasmus answered with a stoic expression. "You can join me if you wanted to find the source of the pungent smell," he continued.