The Kind of Evil

Rasmus stood in the middle of the woods, looking at his wristwatch where the time showed it was past midnight. He looked at the city in front of him as he raised his right hand and swung it down forward as a signal. Dozens of Blackhands moved around him without making any noise, not even the sound of the wind could be heard. They ran in the dark as they approached the city wall where the guards had just finished their half an hour's patrol on the top of the wall.

Joshua gave hand signals to the other members and immediately they all went their separate ways. The gatekeepers noticed the movements from the corner of their eyes, and when they saw dozens of people in all-black clothes, an arrow hit in between their eyes. The gatekeepers collapsed, but before their bodies hit the ground the Blackhands grabbed the bodies, pulling the arrows from the guards' foreheads and gently making them lean against the wall to make them look like they were sleeping on the watch.

Erdinand released wind magic under Joshua and Ayla's feet, making the two of them float and land on top of the wall. Erdinand could hear the sound of muffled gasps and groaned as he pushed himself up onto the wall. When he landed, he saw the guards had been taken care of by Joshua and Ayla. He signaled to the other members that were still hugging the wall to use the gate to enter.

The three of them eliminated the guards without using any weapon but their bare hands, snapping their heads without the guards noticing any presence. Ferdinand and Ayla jumped down, entering the city and took care of the remaining guards that were near the gate while Joshua kept an eye on the surroundings, pretending to be a guard on top of the wall by wearing the attire and armor of the guard.

Joshua clicked his tongue twice, signaling to Ayla that there were two guards approaching her. She hugged the wall, hiding in the shadows until the guards walked past her and knocked them both out with a kick on their napes. She then dragged the bodies into the dark alley, snapping their heads while they were unconscious.

Joshua clicked his tongues rapidly at Ferdinand, signaling that there were more than three guards ahead of him. Ferdinand decided to use a different route, keeping himself in the darkness as he kept moving.

Joshua watched as seven members of the Blackhands walked up the stairs, wearing the guards attire and armor. They all gave him a nod, and immediately Joshua jumped down the wall, pretending to be a guard on patrol. The remaining Blackhands began to enter the city through the gate and went into the dark alleys like shadows while Joshua began to whistle a random melody.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" A guard looked at Joshua who was aimlessly walking around like a lost child.

Joshua turned around and looked at the guard, his expression cold and unreadable as he watched a Blackhand member approach the guard, snapping the guard's neck from behind and dragging the body into the dark alley. Joshua continued to whistle and walk around the street like a lost child that attracted the guards.

The more guards that got attracted to his act, the more bodies to hide by the Blackhands. The night was still silent to the townspeople who were fast asleep, unaware that the whole city was being purged by the most elite unit in Central Neva.

The Blackhands that were pretending to be guards on top of the wall gave a signal to Rasmus. They signaled that the city was safe for him to enter, and that there wouldn't be any obstacles for him to worry about. Rasmus, Aris, Rullein, and Aider went into the city like nothing had happened when bodies were hidden on top of the walls and in the dark alleys around them.

"There's no sign of demonic energy here. That's surprising..." Rasmus muttered as he kept walking and looked at the sky with no sign of demonic energy.

"They might have left a while ago. I'm assuming that they believed they were going to be targeted by you," Aris said as she looked around, not seeing or feeling any demonic energy as well. "The Wraiths are quite smart it seems," she added.

"Either that or the Wraiths don't get any support from Nemu and the demons. We will know once we go to where they're hiding," Rasmus responded and watched the Blackhands move from one building to another.

"Poor people... they died because they were doing their job," Aider chuckled mischievously as he stared at the stack of dead bodies in a dark alley. "Lucky them who are sleeping right now and isn't their shift to do the night watch," he giggled and went to check if there was any face that was to his liking so he could skin them and use them later.

"You can stay here, Aider. You know where to find me once you're done," Rasmus said without bothering to look at Aider.

When Rasmus arrived at the city square, all the Blackhands were standing on top of the roofs of different buildings. They had surrounded the building that was guaranteed to be one of the bases of the Wraiths. He used his draconic eyes, and he could see heat through solid objects, and found so many people inside the building.

"Looks like you're wrong," Rullein chuckled at Aris.

"Yes, I'm wrong. Is that a problem?" Aris glanced at Rullein with a cold gaze.

Rasmus stared at the door in front of him and could see a man guarding the door. He walked toward the door and gave a unique knock combination on the door based on information that he received from the Blackhands. He waited for a second until he heard the sound of the lock being opened.

When the man saw a man with white hair and blue eyes, his eyes went wide, but his vision went blank immediately. The man collapsed with a hole in his face, Aris and the others saw what Rasmus had done to the man's face, but still couldn't believe it. Aider came back with a sack on his back, and then saw the hole in the man's face, confused by what had just happened.

Rasmus entered the building, then Aris, Rullein, and Aider followed him from behind. He could see a few people on the same floor as his, and he didn't have time to get noticed and create a ruckus, so he let Rullein handle them.

Rullein turned into a puff of black smoke, appearing and disappearing behind those people. Rasmus saw as the heat on their bodies turned cold in almost an instant, and that was how fast Rullein absorbed the life force of her prey.

"The target should be on the second floor, and it seems they're having a meeting..." Mykel said as he looked at the ceiling, seeing the heat of bodies right above him. "You can get rid everyone except those in that room," he pointed at the ceiling above him.

Rullein smiled before she turned into a puff of black smoke while Mykel, Aris, and Aider walked up the stairs so casually. They saw bodies scattered on the floor, completely drained, only bone and skin left underneath their clothes. Rullein was standing in front of the door before she moved away and pointed her hand at it with a smug face.

Rasmus opened the door and found five men sitting on the couch. They saw Rasmus and their eyes widened and were ready to run away, but suddenly they couldn't breathe and their bodies felt so heavy that they couldn't even stand up from the couch. Rasmus took away the oxygen around them and made gravity to be a lot heavier around them.

"Good evening gentlemen..." Rasmus said with a stoic expression, staring at each one of them. "Take their memories, Rullein. Don't do other thing to them," he looked over his shoulder at Rullein.

Rullein nodded, puffing into smoke and appeared behind those five men. She brushed her hand on the back of their heads, taking in all their memories while those men were suffocating. She then puffed out and appeared behind Rasmus after she finished seeing their memories. She pointed at the three people, those people were the important ones.

"Which from the three suits your appearance, Aider?" Rasmus asked.

Aider tilted his head almost ninety degrees when he looked at the three men on the ground, slowly dying from suffocating. He knew what Rasmus was trying to do, and it was for him to take their faces and pretended to be them in the future.

"That one, they have the same height and physique as me..." Aider pointed at the man with slick back black hair and a great mustache.

"You can kill the rest," Rasmus looked at Rullein. "You can skin that man's face and body if you need," he looked at Aider.

Rullein licked her lips while Aider giggled mischievously.