The Kind of Evil

Rasmus sat across from Aider, noticing the emptiness in Aider's eyes. If there was a moment when someone tried to bury their unwanted memories in the back of their mind, this was that moment. He could see Aider trying to use his madness to shred that memory of the offering ceremonial.

"What was that, Count?" Aider asked, his eyes filled with mental exhaustion. "What kind of world is this? I can no longer recognize it anymore," he said as he looked at Krus' face in his hands, wondering if he wanted to put it back on because that memory would immediately come back to haunt him.

"The more you know the less you'll understand, that's the law of nature. Knowledge is a curse rather than a blessing, it's always has been," Rasmus answered, sliding a glass of whiskey over to Aider. "Those who know choose to turn a blind eye, not out of fear but out of safety," he watched Aider take the glass and emptied it in a single gulp.

Aider slid the glass toward Rasmus, his gaze turning cold and no longer hollow. Rasmus grabbed the bottle of whiskey and refilled it full before he slid it back into Aider.

"Is that how you see the world, Count? Being hard cold, anti-humanist and anti-idealistic view?" Aider asked as he took a sip of the whiskey, letting his non-existent lips from the burn scar get wet. "A knowledge is a curse, and people turn a blind eye out of safety?" He added.

"It depends on the context. I can say someone is being naive to turn a blind eye on the truth, but something like this, I can say the other way around," Rasmus answered as he leaned back and read Aider's gaze. "It's not hypocrisy, it's the truth, it's reality, one truth doesn't make the other a lie," he explained.

"Hypocrisy..." Aider muttered as he scoffed and began to chuckle. "Do you think you're not being one? Not even once?" He asked with his hairless brows raised.

"What's hypocrisy? To believe something that contradicts what is said? Or for having multiple beliefs that contradicts one with another?" Rasmus asked with his brows raised, mirroring Aider. "But if I have to answer that for myself which I rarely do. I embody paradox without contradiction," he answered with a stoic expression.

"Paradox without contradiction? What is that supposed to mean, Count? It feels like you're not a man but riddles wearing flesh," Aider asked, sipping the whiskey less than before as his mind began to calm down from the trauma.

"People can't tolerate the fact that humans live with multiple truths at once, that's what hypocrisy is. They call it hypocrisy when you embody both sides of a paradox, but I call it reality. The lie isn't in holding onto contradictions, the lie is in pretending you don't," Rasmus answered, he could see the calmness in Aider's eyes and words.

Aider narrowed his eyes, trying to understand Rasmus's words.

"We can talk about this when we have free time to waste, but right now, since you came out alive, you wanted a reward, is that correct?" Rasmus asked as he sat straight. "What do you want, Aider? What kind of reward do you want from me?" He asked.

"I want my freedom, Count," Aider answered without hesitation.

"Your freedom? Have I ever taken your freedom? You chose to follow me because you had no more purpose in life, and so I gave you one. I never forced you to do all this, and you didn't say no either, so I assumed you did all this willingly. So, what you're asking me, is something that you already have, and unfortunately, you just wasted your reward," Rasmus said calmly. "Now, if you can't see that, doesn't that mean you still have no purpose in life? You already have your freedom, you just don't know how to use it," he pointed out.

Aider sat there, with the glass of whiskey hovering in front of his mouth, trying to argue but none appeared. He realized that he followed Rasmus's orders believing they were obligations, not choices. He never thought of that, never realized that his view of life had been narrowed to that point, proving Rasmus's words.

"Aren't we done?" Aider asked, finally snapping back to reality. "Because I'm done. Whatever down there, I don't want any part of it anymore," he said in a cold tone.

"Then we are done here. I can let Rullein take care of the rest from her," Rasmus nodded with understanding.

"Heartless but not unreasonable, huh? Now I understand what you mean," Aider said and then emptied the glass of whiskey. "What do we do now?" He asked.

"We made it like all the ringleaders chose to disappear after witnessing such cruelty, including, Krus," Rasmus pointed at Krus' face in AIder's hands. "We will disappear into thin air," he pointed out.

Aider nodded with understanding as he got up from the couch and walked toward the bed. He had forgotten when was the last time he felt this mentally exhausted. He didn't care about anything else but to use the moment of tranquility to rest, to be unconscious. On the other hand, Rasmus glanced at Rullein, giving her a nod, signaling her to eliminate every ringleader and trying to gather as much information as she could about this cult.

Rullein puffed into thin black smoke and followed Rasmus's orders without hesitation or any question. Rasmus took a deep breath and looked outside the window, the night had claimed another day.

Rullein appeared in Mira's room, and she slowly brushed her fingers on Mira's forearm. Her touch was like a breeze of air to Mira, giving Mira comfort, not realizing that she was being devoured in her sleep. Rullein gained Mira's memories and her existence at the same time, leaving no trace.

Rullein disappeared and reappeared in Normen's chamber, sleeping and reliving the moment during the offering ceremony. She smiled widely and manipulated his dream, making him repeat the worst moment where Orlean killed the babies over and over. Normen twitched in his sleep, his body was telling him to wake up, but his brain was being manipulated by Rullein. She then took his memories before she devoured him completely.

Rullein moved to Vergeus' room and found him indulging in alcohol, too drunk to even notice her presence. She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck, and Vergeus felt a sense of comfort until it made him snap back to reality, realizing someone was in his room. Before he could scream, Rullein's razor sharp nails ripped and cut his throat as she absorbed the blood that had leaked through his throat. She giggled mischievously, staring at the horror in his eyes when his eyes stared at the glowing draconic eyes of Rullein's.

"That's it... keep staring at me like that..." Rullein whispered as she watched Vergeus' body twitched and finally die in her arms.

Rullein smeared her face and neck with Vergeus' blood until her skin absorbed the blood. She then puffed into black smoke and appeared in Jurgen's room, and to her surprise, he was wide awake, staring at the window. Jurgen glanced over his shoulder, furrowing his brows with a confused look, not knowing who she was.

"Who are you," Jurgen asked as his hand slowly reached his sword that was leaned against the wall.

"Me? I'm just someone who's here to condemn you to death..." Rullein answered as she walked toward Jurgen slowly, her black dress and her glowing orange eyes making her look terrifyingly alluring.

"You're that monster... the woman in black, the one that walks beside Rasmus Blackheart..." Jurgen said as he tightened his grip on his sword.

When Jurgen was about to lift his sword, the sword wouldn't budge. He looked down and saw a ball of black smoke around his hand. He tried to move his hand, but he lost control of his hand and watched as his hand slowly became thin to the point there was no flesh in it. He was petrified by what he saw, and when he tried to scream, a sharp blade-like tail pierced through his throat and out of his scalp.

Rullein tilted her head, looking at Jurgen's tongue that was lolling out and his pupils moving in a different direction. She chuckled mischievously as she watched Jurgen's body become skinny in a matter of seconds until nothing was left, not even his skin or bones.

Rullein was about to visit Orlean's bedroom, but then she felt something in his room. She tilted her head, staring at the door in front of her before she decided to puff into smoke and went back to be with Rasmus.

"All done?" Rasmus asked when he saw Rullein appear behind him.

"A Prime Lord is here..." Rullein muttered.

"Hmm, that's unfortunate..." Rasmus said as he got up from the couch. "But that's fine, since we know who Orlean is. We can visit him anytime we want in the future. For now, it's time for us to leave, to disappear," he looked at Aider who was already awake, ready to leave.

Rullein snapped her fingers and opened a spatial space for the two of them to hide.

"That damn deal of yours, is ruining the fun," Rullein said as she sighed.

"You'll get your moment, I can assure you that," Rasmus said as he entered spatial space, and then Aider entered after him.