The Kind of Evil-Chapter 544: Cleanse.
Aristoria landed in front of the colossal dead tree while the True Dragon began to release a blue fire breath that burned the roots and thorns from the sky. There was no sign of resistance because Rullein was there, leaning against tree bark that was as wide as a mountain. She was hugging herself, feeling ashamed and guilty for what she had done. Oddly enough, Arisotria’s present made Rullein change her appearance into a small child.
"Has you lost control over your power, Rullein?" Aristoria asked as she walked through the thorny roots and the sticky tar on the ground.
"No, not really..." Rullein answered, her face still facing downward. Her voice was quiet and filled with guilt and shame.
"What kind of answer is that? I don’t remember raising you like this," Aristoria tilted her head, her bright skin and white dress were like a contrast to the place she was standing, a dot of white in the field of darkness. "Tell me, why are you doing this?" She stood in front of Rullein.
Rullein wanted to tell Aristoria that there was a power within hers that was powerful enough that she couldn’t control. The corruption was too powerful than she had anticipated and Videl’s power was the one controlling it from behind. She realized that it all started when she began to consume Corruption from the Demonic Beasts and the Womb of the Mother. The power that had accumulated inside her that she didn’t realize had grown too powerful that it resisted her power.
"I lost control of my power the moment I took a root deep inside Rasmus’ body. Something else has taken half of the power I have released here, and I’m stuck here in this place. I don’t want to tell Rasmus that because I have done one mistake, and now I did another one," Rullein muttered, as she put her hands behind her back.
"I can tell, and that’s why I’m here. I’ll take your power away, at least most of it because you’re growing too fast, and this unknown power you took turned out to be above your capability to devour," Aristoria looked around at the corruption, something that more powerful than the Dark Energy that belonged to Rullein. "I have told you many times that you shouldn’t devour things so casually. Now you understand what I meant?" She reached for Rullein’s head and patted her with care.
"I’m sorry..." Rullein muttered, leaning in to Aristoria’s hand.
"You should, and you should apologize to Rasmus for lying to him," Aristoria smiled softly. "Now, tell me where’s your core? I’ll cleanse the corruption," she asked and glanced at the tree bark behind Rullein.
Rullein slowly lifted her head and saw the woman who had raised her, the one she had been learning from for hundreds of years. She felt safe, like back then when she learned the world from Aristoria, and nothing could make her feel otherwise. She glanced at the True Dragon, burning the roots and the thorns into ashes, the corruption that had accumulated began to float into the sky, but it was purified by Sanya’s power.
"Follow me..." Rullein turned around and dug the ground that was covered in tar. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
There was a hole, big enough for Aristoria to enter, but it was also filled with tar. However, Aristoria didn’t hesitate and began to dip her foot into the hole and began to descend, completely drowned in tar and corruption.
Aristoria slid deeper and deeper until she finally fell onto a hard surface. She used her energy to cleanse the tar all over her body, realizing how invasive it was. She then saw Rullein, standing next to a dark purple sphere where the top and bottom parts were wrapped in roots that looked like veins.
"Your core has grown bigger and stronger than I had expected," Aristoria muttered, walking toward Rullein’s core. "But it’s being corrupted slowly and it’s slowly being absorbed by external force. Your core has been contaminated," she reached out to the sphere and touched it gently.
"What will happen to me?" Rullein asked, and there was a hint of fear and anxiety in her voice.
"As I said, I’ll cleanse your core. That also means you’ll lose all the power you have devoured because it all has been contaminated," Aristoria turned to look at Rullein, knowing how scared Rullein was. "But it’s better than losing yourself, is it not?" She asked with her brows raised, her voice gentle and quiet.
Rullein nodded slowly, there were no words that could express her feelings.
"I’ll do it now," Aristoria said and turned her gaze toward Rullein’s core.
Aristoria released her energy, a blinding bright blue light that was enough to burn the roots into ashes until everything disintegrated. She then focused the light on her hands where she touched the core. The light illuminated the dark purple core, and the core began to react like it was boiling. The sphere began to tremble and that was when Rullein began to collapse.
Rullein was in extreme pain, but she didn’t want to scream, didn’t want to whine or complain. She knew what she did was wrong and she tried to accept her punishment. Aristoria knew that, but she couldn’t stop, not until she was sure that Rullein’s core was cleansed to its original state, purely Dark energy.
Sanya watched as the roots and the thorns dried up to the point they all thinned up like a thin branch. The True Dragon landed, trampling on the dried roots and thorns as it began to roar, releasing draconic energy that purified the land. However, Sanya noticed there was a foreign energy, a powerful one that resisted the draconic energy. She immediately flew toward it, trying to find out what it was before it got purified by the draconic energy.
When Sanya managed to isolate that foreign energy, she narrowed her eyes, observing it thoroughly. It was a different energy than the one that corrupted the True Dragon that Aristoria and Rasmus had fought before, but it was similar.
"What a dangerous energy this is..." Sanya muttered to herself before she released the energy, letting it be purified by the draconic energy. "Where was this energy come from?" She furrowed her brows and watched as the energy weakened and finally could no longer resist the draconic power.
A loud crackling sound was heard from the dead tree that reached the sky. Sanya saw the crack that grew bigger and longer until the whole tree suddenly snapped. The tree was so big that it could trample on the True Dragon and she could die if she got trampled by it.
She flew away, trying to avoid the toppling tree. It wasn’t just her, the True Dragon also flew away, knowing the danger of that colossal tree. When it hit the ground, it shook the ground to the point that the mountain wall was crumbling from the impact.
"You, we need to prevent the other energy from taking over the mountain and this area," Sanya stared at the True Dragon.
The True Dragon glared at Sanya for a moment, but then it flew toward the mountain, following her words. The two of them stood at the mountain’s peak, looking down at the blizzard that was slowly moving toward the mountain. The ice shards began to freeze the mountain’s foot rapidly when it knew the other side had lost its power to resist.
"You need to hurry..." Sanya glanced at the dead tree as she flew toward the left side of the mountain wall.
The True Dragon began to release fire breath that melted the ice shards underneath it all the way to the right side of the mountain’s wall. Sanya on the other hand, she used her blue flame, a flame that could spread wildly and made anything as its fuel. The two of them were busy preventing the Overlord’s power from taking over the other half of the land.
At the same time, Aristoria held Rullein’s core that had shrunk enough that it fit in her cupping hands. She made sure that Rullein’s core was clean from any other energies. Once she finished observing Rullein’s core, she looked down at Rullein’s unconscious and weak body. She bent her knee and gently put Rullein’s core in Rullein’s arms then created a barrier to protect Rullein.
Aristoria looked up and saw the bright sky above her, listening to the sound of the True Dragon’s roar and flame. She knew that the Overlord was trying to conquer the mountain and was trying to take over Rullein. She flew and went to the mountain to assist Sanya and the True Dragon.
"What are you doing here..." Sanya flew toward Aristoria. "Your job isn’t to deal with this," she pointed out, floating in front of Aristoria. "Your job is to deal with that thing..." She pointed at the glowing bright blue eyes in the sky, hidden beneath the dark gray snowstorm.
Aristoria glanced at the eyes in the sky for a moment. She didn’t want to admit that what she felt at that moment was fear. She never encountered the Overlord, not in that state where it was alive.
"Right..." Aristoria nodded slowly.
"Go, I’ll help you when you need me the most," Sanya held Aristoria’s hand, gripping it tightly. "I promised, didn’t I?" She stared into Aristoria’s eyes with a serious expression.
Aristoria took a deep breath and closed her eyes, slowly nodding her head once again. Once she had overcome the fear, she slowly opened her eyes and let go of Sanya’s hand before she flew toward the glowing bright blue eyes.
