The Kind of Evil

The news about Aurelia defeating a whole army had spread across the continent. The truth about how Aurelia massacred more than a thousand army with fire, it placed her in a different light. People began to speculate that she also used the power from the body that the Angelis family had kept in secret. That made the people hate her even more and gave leaders a reason to invade the Holy Nation to possess that body for themselves.

It was as Aurelia had expected, and the scout had informed movements from different nations and their armies. They were marching toward the Holy Nation with full force and sieges that were ready to breach the city wall. Approximately, they would arrive in a day, and there was nothing she could do but defend her home.

The issue related to getting rid of the body was a complete failure when Daryus used the corrosive solutions. It was as Astrea and Serena had expected that the body was immune to any kind of damage other than cuts. They even tried to use maggots to eat the body, but the maggots appeared to ignore the body as if they refused to harm it.

"The Divine seal, should we use that?" Serena asked with her brows raised, staring at Aurelia who was standing next to the window with a distant gaze. "Everything that's happening right now, and how those nations have moved almost in unison, this isn't a coincidence. I'm afraid Nemu has something to do with this, and he might want to keep us busy and use that opportunity to take the body," she said with a serious expression.

"If we both use our power, I believe it will be strong enough to stop Nemu from taking it quietly. He might need to use force to break the seal, and that would be enough to notify us if someone tried to break the seal or steal the body, and we might be able to prevent that from happening," Serena explained.

Aurelia took a deep breath as she closed her eyes, slowly nodding in agreement. She knew there was no reason for her to dismiss Serena's suggestion. With that being said, they both went to the secret chamber to seal the body with their combined powers.

Aurelia stood at the end of the rectangle stone table while Serena stood at the other end of the table. They both clasped their hands together, feeling each other's Divine energy and slowly combining. The Divine energy turned into a dome barrier, feeding it with more and more Divine energy, reinforcing the barrier even more. The barrier seemed to turn thicker and more dense in color, a bright yellow color with unknown language on the barrier like a warning.

It was the first time Aurelia had seen that language, and she had never seen any Divine power that released such engraving before. She looked at Serena who seemed to be aware and not surprised by it.

"Saint Serena, what language is this?" Aurelia asked as she walked around the barrier, staring at the writings around the barrier.

"It's an ancient language, a language of God," Serena answered without hesitation.

Aurelia's eyes widened and she turned her head toward Serena with a shocked expression.

"Language of God?" Aurelia asked with her brows furrowed, shocked, confused, and suspicious at the same time. "Where did you learn that? How did you know that?" She asked, searching through Serena's eyes for deception or lies, but she saw nothing.

Serena smiled gently as she approached Aurelia and held her hands, lifting them up to their eye level.

"Repeat my words," Serena said, staring into Aurelia's eyes. "Ha Fi La..." She muttered.

Aurelia didn't know if she wanted to repeat those words, not knowing what they were for or if she was ready for it. However, Serena waited for her to say those words, to repeat the words she said. Aurelia closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, knowing that there was only one way to find out if Serena was telling the truth or not.

"Ha Fi La..." Aurelia muttered, still with her eyes closed.

"Dho Mun La..." Serena muttered.

"Dho Mun La..." Aurelia muttered with a shaky breath, beginning to regret it, but it was already too late to stop now.

"In-Kar..." Serena muttered.

"In-Kar..." Aurelia muttered, flinching slightly when she knew it was the final words.

Aurelia felt warmth in her hands, a warmth that she had never felt before. She slowly fluttered her eyes open and saw a ball of light that looked like a miniature sun floating above her hands. She felt nothing but lightness on her shoulders, her mind cleared up, and her heart beat calmly. Tears slowly fell to her chin when she stared at the ball of light floating above her hands.

"This light, I bestow upon you this light, you're free. That's what those words mean," Serena said as she let go of Aurelia's hands, slowly taking a few steps back from the light. "I have heard those words so many times, echoes in my mind for my whole life," she revealed.

Aurelia slowly cupped the ball of light and when she touched the light, it dispersed into tiny light particles. It spread across the whole room like thousands of fireflies until they all disappeared into thin air. The effect lingered in her body, the calmness and the peacefulness as if she was being embraced by a higher being, something divine that she had never felt before.

"It has been a while... it has been a while since I can breathe like this..." Aurelia said, smiling and chuckling in disbelief as she wiped off the tears on her face. "Thank you, for showing me that, Saint Serena..." She smiled gently at Serena, and realized that she might have been suspicious toward someone as holy as Serena, and that made her feel guilty.

"God is by your side, Aurelia. You pursue truth, uphold it, strip everything behind, and you want nothing but the world to see the truth. Not only that, you still have compassion toward others, bearing all the responsibilities on your shoulders. There's nothing more noble than that. You're the Saint, not me," Serena said with a gentle smile on her face.

Aurelia smiled as a fresh tear fell to her chin and she immediately wiped it off from her chin. She didn't know what to say to Serena, didn't expect Serena to say those things to her, which affected her deeply.

"Now, shall we focus on what's in front of us? There will be bloodbath, and I want you to assure everyone that this won't be the end for them but a beginning," Serena said as she reached her hand to Aurelia. "Salvation is given to those who seek it. Even if there's bloodbath, forgiveness is still there, and you will be the one to give it to them," she smiled.

Aurelia nodded and held Serena's hand before she was guided out of the secret chamber. She looked over her shoulder at the barrier for one last time, knowing that it should be strong enough to prevent Nemu or any demons from taking the body from them. She prayed that nothing would happen and things would go in their favor.

As the morning came and the sun rose, Aurelia was already standing on top of the city gate, staring at the distance where the enemy forces were gathered. Her expression stiffened and serious when she could see dozens of catapults, ballistas, and trebuchets in the distance. She was in disbelief that they would go that far to destroy her home although they knew she had nothing but a few dozens of Paladins by her side.

"They seem to be forming alliances just for this. I wonder how long until they cut each other's throat when they have the body of Zevrathi right in front of their eyes," Serena said as she leaned in on the stone railing. "Should we do that instead? Using the body as bait then watch them kill each other?" She asked with her brows raised.

Aurelia shook her head with a smile on her face, finding Serena's joke to be a bit extreme.

"No, I don't want to see them kill each other, Saint Serena. I will defend this city, I will not let anyone take this place because I want this place to be the only place that will welcome them in the future with open arms," Aurelia answered as she clenched her fists, watching the enemy forces march toward the city.

"Videl will help you. He's ready over there and will make sure nobody breaches the city wall," Serena said as she looked at the knight in full body black armor that looked so intimidating even to the Paladins, Esper, and Ulric.

Aurelia knew that Videl alone would be enough to prevent anyone from entering the city. Everyone had witnessed the man who could fight equally with a Prime Lord, and no humans could fight against someone like that.

"Thank you, Saint Serena," Aurelia smiled softly at Serena.

"The pleasure is mine, Aurelia," Serena smiled back at Aurelia.