The Kind of Evil

‎Astrea shared her experience during the war against the demon force. She didn't try to hide or exaggerate how powerful the demon force was, especially the emissaries of evil, Kiel and Yaza. She also revealed how she ended up like that by offering her body to a divine being, an Angel.

‎Arandil listened to how powerless Uriel was, the 2nd Swordmaster of Neva. He knew that he was in a different league compared to Uriel, but he didn't expect that she couldn't even touch Kiel or Yaza, and the fact she was close to dying many times.

‎"My God, if everyone knew what happened, it wouldn't give them courage, it would be quite the opposite..." Julius said as he clasped his hands together in front of his mouth, his gaze distant and filled with thoughts. "If it wasn't because Count Blackheart's mind and strategy, and Lady Aristoria by his side, nobody would be alive by now," he continued as he closed his eyes and pressed his thumbs against his nose bridge.

‎"Not to mention that colossal being called Nephia. I didn't know something like that exist until Her Holiness revealed about it," Isador added as he looked at his father. "If they were capable of creating something like that, what would happen now if the other emissaries decided to make one as well?" He asked and looked at Arandil.

‎"We found out that it wouldn't be possible if we prevented the people from becoming their sacrificial lambs. Creating such being required dozens of thousands of humans," Astrea answered as she looked at Julius and Isadora to assure them it shouldn't be the biggest threat. "And yes, even with the two of them, if Saint Serena didn't come to help us, even they wouldn't survive back there," she added.

‎Aurelia kept holding Astrea's hand the whole time, wanting to comfort her mother. However, Astrea didn't show any sign of pain, fear, or regret in her words. She had accepted what had happened, and what mattered to her was to live the rest of her life by Aurelia's side.

‎"But I believe in them now. Count Blackheart, Lady Aris, Saint Serena, and his butler, Videl. Those four are in a different league than ours, not to mention Count Blackheart is currently awakening his bloodline as Orthias," Astrea revealed as she stared at Arandil.

‎Julius knew that relying on Rasmus wouldn't be a good thing. The people at the table and the Council of Neva, everyone was guilty for the death of the whole Blackheart family. The death and what Rasmus had witnessed, the suffering, and everything that happened to him, they were all because of them.

‎"I know what you're thinking, Your Imperial Highness. We killed his whole family, and he has all the right to seek revenge. However, we also need him because he has the whole arsenal and the knowledge to fight our enemy. What choice do we have?" Astrea looked at Julius with her brows raised.

‎Aurelia and Isador stayed quiet, staring at each other and felt uncomfortable with the topic. They knew Rasmus well since he was their former instructor, and they knew how he could manipulate people's minds to make them doubt themselves.

‎"We don't have a choice, but at least we need to know if he's truly willing to fight the demon forces with us," Julius answered as he crossed his arms on the table. "I want to meet him in person and have a talk with him," he said as he exhaled deeply.

‎"Are you sure about that, Your Imperial Highness? If he decided to get rid of you, nobody could stop him," Astrea warned with a serious expression. "It would be better if the Crown Prince went to talk to him instead. He will become the future emperor, so he should handle someone like Count Blackheart," she suggested as she smiled at Isador.

‎Julius found that suggestion wasn't a bad one at all, and Isador was Rasmus's former student as well. He had seen the growth in Isador's way of thinking and his understanding of human nature was exceptional ever since he enrolled in the academy.

‎"I can do it, father," Isador said with confidence. "He never showed hostility toward me, and he's not the type to be hostile toward someone that hasn't done anything to him," he continued.

‎Aurelia nodded in agreement, convincing Julius that Isador could do it.

‎"Well then, I believe you also have something to catch up with Count Blackheart, Isador," Julius nodded with understanding. "Then it's time to discuss the real issue here in Central Neva while you were away, Your Holiness. There are a lot of things to discuss, and it would be great if Great Sage is here with us as well," he said with a serious expression.

‎"Tell me the problems that we need to take care of immediately, Your Imperial Highness. I will convey the problems to Count Blackheart later," Astrea responded as she held Aurelia's hand gently.

‎Julius began to explain about the appearance of wyverns and they had destroyed villages and small towns on the northern Central Neva. Those wyverns acted and behaved oddly, and they came from North Neva.

‎Julius revealed that a third of North Neva had been conquered by the demon force left by Ermaine, the false prophet. The situation in North Neva was as bad as East Neva, and the Sancticus family was currently being targeted by powerful demons.

‎"And how's Saint Moriganne? Is she fine?" Astrea asked with a worried expression. She didn't want another Saint to fall in this situation because she was one of the pillars that kept humanity standing.

‎"Elder Lazarus Wyverncrest, he showed how strong a Black Star was. He single-handedly defeated everything that tried to harm Saint Moriganne. He and the other elders fought relentlessly, and there's a rumor that the Orthias are about to join the war," Julius answered.

‎"That's good to hear, but about the wyverns, what do you mean they behaved weirdly?" Astrea asked with her brows furrowed.

‎"Lord Arandil hunted one of the wyverns and we discovered that they might have become a demonic beast. They attacked villages and small towns, massacring and turning people into ashes," Julius answered. "And there have been more of them in the past month because of the increase in reports of their sighting," he continued.

‎"Might have?" Astrea tilted her head with a confused look.

‎"We aren't sure, but Her Holiness had checked the corpse of the wyvern, and she felt a lingering demonic energy on it," Julius answered as he looked at Aurelia.

‎Astrea looked at Aurelia with a surprised look because she didn't expect her daughter to have contributed to something important. She felt proud, and she couldn't help to show affection by caressing Aurelia's cheek with love.

‎"Perhaps Lady Aris might know about these wyverns since wyverns are still related to dragons. This information might be useful to Count Blackheart as well," Astrea responded as she nodded.

‎Astrea seemed to be fond of Rasmus, and it was noticeable even for Isador. Her cheerful, relaxed, and laid-back personality was so jarring compared to how she used to be. Aurelia also found it surprising, but she loved the changes in her mother's demeanor.

‎"What about Nemu the emissary? Has he made any suspicious movements?" Astrea asked.

‎"He's still helping the people and hasn't shown any suspicious movements even after the news about South Neva. It's as if he wasn't bothered by it at all," Aurelia answered as she looked at Astrea. "The number of his followers has increased significantly. People found and believed that his wisdom and understanding about divine beings surpassed us," she continued.

‎"His knowledge about this world, the universe, and how he opened people's eyes to do good deeds is amazing. People began to rely on him more, and it caused conflicts among the people. Some believed Nemu was one of the demonic cult leaders, but his followers said otherwise because there wasn't a single evidence that he was evil," Isador added.

‎Astrea hummed and found the issue to be exactly like what Rasmus had predicted. She and Rasmus had discussed this matter back in the ship, and he believed that Nemu's method was to bring kindness and knowledge that made people question the world and their existence, furthering themselves away from God.

‎Rasmus expected that soon Central Neva would be divided by two sides. One who still held their beliefs toward the Angelis family, and the other one who relied on Nemu's wisdom and kindness.

‎"Getting rid of him would bring chaos. We thought about it during the meeting with the leaders of each nation. The prosperity and the peace that Nemu brought to the people was a threat to us, and we don't want to kill the innocent who got deceived by him," Julius pointed out as he leaned back and crossed his arms.

‎"Because we don't have a single evidence of his connection with the demons," Astrea nodded with understanding. "Even a visible scratch on his body, his followers would point at us and accuse us of harming him," she continued as she closed her eyes, thinking of a solution to prevent Nemu from growing his influence.

‎"Those are the current problems that we are having. With you here with us again, your presence will unite all of us and prevent the people from getting deceived by Nemu," Julius nodded as he stared at Astrea.

Astrea slowly closed her eyes, realizing that even after she had lost everything, sacrificed everything, and had given away everything, people still demanded something more from her.

"I understand, Your Imperial Highness," Astrea nodded with a heavy heart.