The Kind of Evil

Rasmus walked out of the inn as he buttoned his cuffs, and all the villagers were hiding inside their house. They were peeking at him through the windows when they realized Rasmus and the others were leaving the village. He then saw the innkeeper hesitating to approach him, scared and anxious to open his mouth.

"Thank you for letting us stay in your inn, and thank you for the hospitality," Rasmus said as he pulled out a sack full of silver coins that was worth at least 50 gold coins. "Please convey my gratitude to the village chief and everyone for allowing us to stay here. I believe everyone deserves to get a fair share of this," he continued and offered the sack to the innkeeper.

The innkeeper held the sack with both hands, and when Rasmus let go of the sack, the innkeeper was shocked by the weight. The innkeeper saw a glimpse of silver coins, shocked that Rasmus had given them a lot of money even though he had given them a lot beforehand.

The innkeeper lowered his head and watched Rasmus walk toward his horse where the others had been waiting for him. The innkeeper and the villagers watched the six of them ride their horses and leave the village.

Rasmus had decided to visit someone that would play a big part in the future event, Lenin and the Magic Tower. Rasmus wanted to have a few words with her while Erlina and Carrion wanted to discuss the Mana stones with Lenin and Carrion's brother, Garret.

Rasmus, Aris, and Rullein changed their appearance, using the same appearance as Vije and Vije while Rullein turned her appearance as a handsome and beautiful man with long sleek black hair. Carrion, Erlina, and Javi were surprised by how effortless those three were from changing their appearance, finding it fascinating and terrifying at the same time.

"My... you really making it hard for me to not look at you," Erlina smiled playfully as she stared at Rasmus's tanned skin and muscular body. "If I saw a man like you, maybe I wouldn't even consider to look at Carrion," she chuckled softly.

Carrion raised his brows in disbelief. He knew that Erlina was being playful as always, and Rasmus didn't even bother to look at her like he looked at her. However, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy in his mind.

They went to the nearest airfield, which was in the Lusinia Kingdom, and it would take three days to reach Gratlan with a blimp. Rasmus used the opportunity to read Erglade's journal, to finally have an extra few days that he could use for reading.

"This is the place?" Erglade asked, his breath visible on the cold night. His gaze was uncertain when he looked at the darkness beyond the woods in front of him.

Erglade turned his head to both sides and saw nothing but trees that looked like a wall that separated the open field and the woods. He looked at the knights and mages that had joined him on the expedition to North Neva. Half of them were from Central Neva and the other half were from powerful families in North Neva, including the Wyverncrest family and the Sancticus family.

"This is the place. A report came in a month ago about the missing villagers. Every single one of them disappeared without a trace," James nodded as he tried to calm his horse, who had been so eager to turn around and run away. "The Sancticus Nation sent five paladins and twenty templars to investigate this matter, but none of them came back," his gaze never left the darkness that loomed in the woods.

James Snowvein was a part of a unit that tied themselves to the Sancticus Nation and the whole continent. They were above the paladins and equal to the cardinals, they who preached and fought in the name of God and religion. The unit was called the Order of the Dawnbearers, and they were all Northern Stars, powerful warriors that were recognized by the people. They were also capable of using and sensing divine energy, making them capable of using magic, aura, and divine power.

All the Order of the Dawnbearers were from the Snowvein family. The Snowvein family was related to the Sancticus family. All the sons and daughters that weren't the successors of the Saint would separate themselves once they got married. They were stripped of their family name and given a new one, Snowvein.

"Such force didn't make it out alive?" Belvia asked, her voice calm as she glanced at James. "Paladins are the frontline when it comes to fighting demonic beasts, so does that mean whatever deep inside this forest is something more terrifying than demonic beasts?" She arched her brows.

"That's why we are here, aren't we, Belle? We have enough experience in dealing with these kinds of sickening problems. Count Blackheart is the most experienced compared to all of us, so the chance of us surviving would be at least higher than the previous investigation team," Jacques said as he tightened his gloves and looked at the snow and the cold that pierced through his bones.

Erglade didn't bother to listen to Belvia and Jacques's words and focused on what was in front of him. He felt something was off about the forest, something that his instinct told him to just walk away from this one. It was as Beliva and Jacques said, he had so much experience dealing with demonic cults and the presences of demons, but this one was enough to make him reconsider everything.

"What do you see in front of us, Sir James?" Erglade asked, his eyes cold and sharp toward the darkness beyond the forest.

"If I can be honest, Count. This is something that I myself find it, unsettling," James answered as he sighed. "But we don't have a choice, and we have a lot of experienced people with us. It's as Lord Jacques said, I think our chance of survivability would be higher, and every piece of information would matter," he continued.

Erglade hummed as he nodded his head. He slowly turned around and saw the familiar faces that had been with him for almost a decade. These people who had stayed by his side and witnessed all the rotten truth that the world would look away. However, there was a new one that had joined the team, his name was Antonius, a young man with such skill in both magic and physical combat.

Erglade found Antonius to be a suspicious individual because he couldn't find much information about him. His background was too ordinary to be real, and the fact he was still young and had the mentality of an experienced knight, it didn't feel right. However, other than that, Antonius had been a great addition, and he was a nice kid, someone who would love to tell his tales when there was nothing else to say.

"Shall we?" Erglade said and exhaled deeply, feeling the tingles that ran from his forearms to his fingertips that had been happening ever since they arrived at the forest.

Everyone nodded their heads. When Erglade jumped down from his horse, the others followed suit. They took their equipment and items from their horses since no animal dared to enter the forest. They had no choice but to go in on foot, toward the village where the mystery lurked. With the first step, Erglade entered the forest without hesitation, but once again, the tingling feelings on his fingertips had been bothering him a lot.

The moment they all walked into the forest, the cold became twice or even thrice colder. The deafening silence, the damp air, and the darkness in front of them, everything made everyone on the edge immediately. Words formed in everyone's throats, wanting to spit it out, telling them they might need to bring more people or to prepare more time, but they swallowed it down.

"Let's move," Erglade said as he flicked his finger under the cloak and formed a strong magic barrier around them.

Everyone moved at the same pace, their eyes wide open and their hands holding their weapons tightly. They didn't know when danger would appear, or what kind of encounter they were about to face. All they cared about was having each other's backs, ready to protect each other.

As they followed the path for almost an hour, they finally saw the village where it was believed the villagers had gone missing. Everyone unconsciously placed their hands on their mouths as their index fingers covered their noses.

"The report said that they went missing? I don't know who it was that reported it, but I think they were blind..." Jacques said as he narrowed his eyes. "They weren't missing, they're still here..." he muttered.

Everyone looked at the skin of humans, scattered on the ground all over the village. The organs, the flesh, and the bones, everything vanished, leaving only the human skins. They saw not only the skins of adults but also children, and even babies.

"My God... what the fuck happened here..." James eyes narrowed, disturbed by what he had witnessed.