The Kind of Evil

‎Rasmus was sitting on the cliff, watching as thousands of knights and mages marched in the distance. He slowly turned around, looking at Aris, Rullein, Yur behind him and the Blackhands behind them.

‎"They're marching to take the Refenus Kingdom, ready to claim and fight the territory against the other nations. In total, there will be at least ten thousands armies that are about to clash with each other," Joshua informed as he offered a scroll to Rasmus.

‎Rasmus looked at the scroll for a moment before he took it from Joshua's hand.

‎"That's a little less than I have expected. Any reason?" Rasmus asked as he opened the scroll and read the information inside.

‎"It has something to do with Emperor Suncrown's decree. He forbid nations from waging an all-out wars because the demons might use this opportunity to take their own lands if they chose not to listen to his words," Erdinand answered and offered a scroll to Rasmus.

‎"So what's the current situation here? How many factions are there now?" Rasmus asked, taking the scroll from Erdinand's hand and reading the content.

‎Ayla revealed the current factions and alliances between nations in Central Neva. There were a few strong factions that she knew Rasmus would only care about, so she only gave the factions that were worth his attention.

‎The Suncrown Empire's faction with 5 Kingdoms and 2 Republic nations under Julius' command. Approximately, the Suncrown faction had two million army with half of them belonged to the Suncrown Empire. A few of those nations were led by rulers that were a part of the Council of Neva, making them the most formidable faction in Central Neva.

‎The Federation with 7 Republic nations across Central Neva, and the leader was Fergus, voted and chosen by the leaders. Approximately more than a million army that were ready to be deployed when needed. These nations chose to form alliances to show the world that they were against nobility and the hierarchy system.

Nemu's faction with 3 small Kingdoms and a Republic Nation that had chosen to follow and support his cause. Approximately more than 200,000 army that were ready to fight for Nemu's cause and would sacrifice themselves in the name of God. Although the number was small, Rasmus knew nothing could stop them.

There were so many kingdoms and nations that hadn't formed any alliances or joined any factions. They were being neutral for as long as they could even though the situation was forcing them to choose a side with every second that ticked by. Most of those nations and kingdoms were used to be the major nations that supported the Holy Nation.

Rasmus looked at the two scrolls in his hands, the scrolls that revealed the location of the Wraiths. He was hoping that the Wraiths might have a lead toward who they served, which royal families they associated with, and who their masters were. He wanted to know what their plans were, how far their connections were, and what their history was.

"Look..." Rullein nodded up as she stared at the marching army.

Everyone squinted their eyes and saw something flying in the sky, something dark with wings. Rasmus and Aris noticed it was a demon, and a high-ranking one, perhaps a Demon King rank. They knew what was about to happen, and they were going to watch, not stop the Demon King from devouring the army.

The general and his army noticed the demon as well, and they began to panic. But the general ordered them to go on a battle formation, ordering the mages and the archers to get ready. They had never fought a demon before nor had they any knowledge of how to fight them.

"Fire!" The general screamed as he pointed his sword at the demon that was flying toward them.

The arrows were shot at the demon, and yet the demon didn't try to dodge the hundreds of arrows that were flying toward it. Before the arrows could hit the tar-like skin of the demon, the arrowheads melted and the wooden arrows turned into ashes in almost an instant. The magic spells dispersed into thin air before they could hit the demon, and that was when they noticed they were powerless in the presence of that demon.

"Retreat!" The general shouted as he kept his eyes on the demon.

The demon stopped flying and floated in the sky with its massive black wings that looked like a bat's wings. The demon's skeleton and skinny like body with its grotesque and nightmare fuel face and its glowing red eyes were like death that was about to devour them. The demon watched as the thousands of soldiers ran for their lives, throwing their bows, shields, and weapons on the ground.

The demon raised its left hand and snapped its finger, releasing a ring of hellfire that surrounded the army. A few of the soldiers didn't care about the dark flames and tried to walk over it, but before they could even reach the flame, their armor and helmet melted into their skin and their faces. The rest of the soldiers watched as their comrades died in the most painful way.

"We are stuck here? No! Mages! Get rid of the flame, now!" The general shouted as he glared at the mages behind him.

The mages cast water and ice magic, but before they the spell could hit hellfire, they vaporized into mist. Their magic was powerless against hellfire, and they knew it was pointless to resist anymore. Their fates were in the hands of the demon that was watching them with amusement like a man watching ants struggling.

The demon landed behind them, watching how the thousands of soldiers went down on their knees, begging for their lives. The demon watched and listened to their please as tears filled their terrorized widened eyes. However, the demon didn't say a word nor did he react to their pleas until he suddenly snapped its fingers and a huge portal appeared on the ground behind it.

The soldiers could hear the kind of screams where they could feel the pain, agony, and desperation in those screams. They didn't know what was underneath that portal, and what kind of things that caused such screams. However, when they saw ghost-like shadows flying out of the portal, they saw it, the ones that produced such screams. The shadows began to fly toward them, entering their bodies, possessing them and devouring their souls from within.

Such fear was enough to make the remaining soldiers run toward the flames, killing themselves rather than watching themselves being possessed by demons. However, the Demon snapped his finger, removing the flames so the soldiers couldn't kill themselves. The demon put on a wide grin with its razor-sharp teeth, finding it thrilling when it watched humans run for their lives, delaying the inevitability.

The soldiers screamed for help in desperation when they were in the middle of a vast field and the closest city or town was miles away. Their screams slowly faded away until there was no more scream coming out of their mouths. Thousands of soldiers had been possessed, turned into a demon army for Nemu to deploy.

Rullein walked to the edge of the cliff with her arms crossed as she stared at the demon in the far distance. The moment she shot a glare in that direction, all the possessed and the demon noticed her presence. The possessed bodies got chills all over their bodies, even the demon felt death breathing on its neck. They all looked toward where such a terrorizing feeling came from and saw Rasmus, Aris, and Rullein in the far distance, watching them from the edge of the cliff.

The Demon's eyes widened, filled with fear as it began to open a portal. It knew how dangerous those people were, especially when Nemu warned them about Rasmus and the people behind him. The demon and the possessed entered the portal, retreating like ants running away from danger.

"Pathetic," Rullein chuckled mischievously as she turned around and walked away from the edge. "If it's not for the treaty that you made with Nemu, I could devour all of them..." She sighed, sounded a bit annoyed and disappointed.

Rasmus could easily break the promise, but he knew that he needed Nemu to grow stronger. He needed the demon forces to be so significant that they didn't have to hide themselves anymore.

"Nemu has 200,000 forces? But it seems there's more of them now," Rasmus said as he watched the portal close and the vast field become peaceful again. "Let's assume that he's also doing that to the other thousands soldiers that are marching to take over the Refenus Kingdom. Slowly but surely, he's going to have an army that no factions can stop him, both in number and in strength," he said as he got up and brushed off the dirt from his trousers.

Erdinand, Joshua, and Ayla realized how terrifying the demons actually were. They began to think that Rasmus was a war hero in South Neva, and they thought about what kind of war he fought when a single demon could obliterate thousands of soldiers in an instant.

"Let's move. We don't have much time to spare," Rasmus looked at the Blackhands with a serious expression.

All of them nodded with understanding and followed Rasmus like his shadows.