The Kind of Evil
Chapter 333 - 333: Selfless.

Aris stabbed her swords to the ground, her face covered in scratches. It didn't take a few seconds before the wounds began to heal and her face became smooth again. She was out of breath and fell to one knee, using the swords to support her body. She was completely spent, and it had been a while since she felt that way, making the spar was quite satisfying.

"You're still standing..." Aris stared at Rullein, who was floating above the ground, staring down at her. "I have to admit, you're stronger than I thought..." She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before she forced herself to stand up.

Rullein didn't say a word until suddenly the spatial space crumbled and collapsed. She fell to the ground with the black smoke seeping through her back as if she was overheating like an engine. At the same time, they were back into the real world because Rullein couldn't maintain spatial space anymore.

"It's my lost..." Rullein said as her body began to crack, evaporating like ice until she completely turned into a ball of spirit.

Aris dragged her foot as she approached Rullein's ball of spirit, holding it in her hands. She then approached the dead tree, knowing it was the only place that could help Rullein recover. Once she placed Rullein in the dead tree, she felt what Rasmus felt, Aristoria's presence on the tree. She could feel Aristoria's presence as if she was beside her, sitting and leaning against the tree.

Aris decided to sit down, leaning her back against the tree beside Aristoria's presence. She then looked up at the sky, enjoying the silence and the peaceful night. She felt comforted by sitting there with Aristoria's presence beside her, and it reminded her encounter with Aristoria in the Void Realm.

"You raised a dangerous monster, Aristoria..." Aris muttered as she folded her knees, hugging them tightly. "If Rullein didn't spare her power to maintain the spatial world, I would have lost back there..." She glanced over her shoulder at the tree.

Aris made herself comfortable under the dead tree, and she found herself drifting off, falling into sleep. Her thought before she fell asleep was how weird it was for her to feel tired and sleepy.

"Rullein... Rullein? Are you hiding from me again?" Aristoria's voice could be heard from beside Aris.

Aris eyes fluttered open and slowly turned her head to the left. She saw Aristoria standing beside her, trying to peek at the cracks in the tree's bark. She slowly got up and noticed she was dreaming, or perhaps reliving the memory of the dead tree.

"Rullein, are you angry at me?" Aristoria asked, her voice was gentle with a hint of sadness in it. "I came all the way here, and you're not going to greet me?" She frowned as she kept looking into the cracks.

"I'm not..." Rullein's voice could be heard from inside the tree's bark.

"Rullein, please come out," Aristoria pleaded as she touched the tree's bark, whispering into the crack.

Aris watched the dead tree release black smoke and it made Aristoria take a few steps away with a huge smile on her face. In less than a second, Rullein showed herself in her human form, but rather than the one that she had seen earlier, Rullein was a small girl in an oversized black dress. Even in her small girl appearance, her eyes and gaze were intimidating.

"There you are..." Aristoria immediately picked up Rullein from behind and hugged her tightly. "I miss you..." She said as she sat down and leaned her back against the dead tree with Rullein sitting on her lap.

At that moment, Aris realized why she adored Yur so much. She found out that Aristoria was like that toward Rullein, adoring her like a plush toy. It made Aris smile without her realizing it.

Rullein furrowed her brows as she slowly looked up at Aristoria's face. She noticed the drastic change within Aristoria.

"What happened to you?" Rullein asked with her brows furrowed.

Aristoria grinned widely as she nuzzled Rullein's head, showing how happy she was. It shocked Rullein when she saw how happy Aristoria was because she had never seen Aristoria like that before.

"I gave birth to a child, my own child," Aristoria said with a happy chuckle as she hugged Rullein tightly.

"What?!" Rullein pushed Aristoria's arms away from her body and got up from Aristoria's lap. "What are you doing?! You sacrificed your life for a human?" She shouted, glaring at Aristoria in disbelief and a hint of anger in her eyes.

Aristoria sighed, closing her eyes as she nodded.

"Why! Why would you do that to yourself!" Rullein began to shout even louder, the sunny day becoming cloudy in a matter of seconds. She showed how angry she was when the storm began to brew in the sky. Every time she clenched her fists, thunders rumbled as if the thunders were her veins.

"That's why I'm here, Rullein. Will you calm down and let me explain?" Aristoria raised her brows, opening her arms, hoping that Rullein would go back into her embrace.

Rullein breathed heavily as she glared at Aristoria because she knew that the woman in front of her had become so weak that her life would be in danger. She knew that nothing good would happen to Aristoria, and she had a feeling that Aristoria might leave her in the future, leaving her lone in this world.

Rullein unclenched her fists and slowly walked toward Aristoria. She turned around and forced herself to sit on Aristoria's lap, enough to make Aristoria groan in pain.

"Rullein, you saw what happened in the Dragon's Maw, the place where you were born," Aristoria said in a gentle voice, slowly wrapping her arms around Rullein's body. "True Dragons died, powerless in the face of mysterious power that came down to this world at that time..." she muttered as she began to caress Rullein's long black hair.

"I might have gained something that my race has been searching for, but that alone isn't going to be enough to fight whatever being that wiped off the True Dragons from this world," Aristoria looked down at Rullein, holding Rullein's tiny arms. "The world where I have to fight that kind of threat alone, this world is fated to be annihilated," she revealed as she rested her chin on top of Rullein's head.

"But you're not alone! You have me! I'm going to grow stronger, strong enough to even kill a True Dragon!" Rullein said with such an impulse, clenching her hands on Aristoria's hands, enough to hurt Aristoria's hands.

"Rullein... there were hundreds or even a thousand True Dragons at that time, but they were powerless. Do you think the two of us could kill that many on our own?" Aristoria asked with her brows raised.

Rullein couldn't answer the question, knowing well that it would be delusional to believe that the two of them could win against hundreds of True Dragons. However, she still couldn't understand why Aristoria chose to sacrifice herself to give birth to a human, a hybrid that couldn't be compared to an Aristoria.

"Are you giving up? That's why you're giving more than half of your life to that child? Are you going to leave me behind?" Rullein asked, not wanting to look at Aristoria.

"No, it's quite the opposite, Rullein..." Aristoria shook her head wrapping her body around Rullein. "I believe this is the only way for us to face that threat in the future," she answered.

"Us?" Rullein slowly looked up at Aristoria with her brows furrowed.

"Not me, but my successor. The future Aristoria, You, and my child. The three of you are connected to me, a handful of powerful beings, an Aristoria, a Dark Spirit, and my child, that could surpass both of you," Aristoria answered with a gentle smile on her face.

"Just the three of us? That's only one body difference..." Rullein narrowed her eyes.

"Is it? I don't believe so," Aristoria smiled at Rullein, there was confidence in her voice that made Rullein confused. "You must be thinking how am I so confident right now, and I'll tell you the answer. The answer is when you meet my child in the future. I have seen him, the one from the future, and I have seen it in his eyes that he's ready to devour this world," she looked down at Rullein with a soft gaze.

Rullein didn't know what to say because it was baffling for her to see that Aristoria seemed happy and excited. She had been following Aristoria for more than two decades, and she had never seen Aristoria like that. However, she knew who Aristoria was, she knew that Aristoria was the type who moved forward when she knew she could do it even if she was at odds.

"Rullein... I have raised you and taught you a lot of things. I will teach more in the future too, so can I ask you for a favor?" Aristoria whispered, caressing Rullein's hair.

"What kind of favor?" Rullein asked.

"Can you be my child's guardian? Watch him for me when I'm gone. You don't have to follow him if you found him not to your liking, but at least protect him when he's on the brink of death," Aristoria said with her brows raised.

"That's all?" Rullein asked.

"That's all..." Aristoria nodded.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do..." Rullein looked away, still didn't like the fact that Aristoria would leave her behind.

"Now, let me give you half of my remaining life to you, Rullein. After all, you're my child as well..." Aristoria said as she closed her eyes, forcing her life essence to enter Rullein's body.

At that moment, Aris witnessed how Aristoria spent almost all her life giving to others, leaving only a little so she could give it to her successor which was Aris. Aris saw the selfless act of Aristoria, something that she had never heard of or seen among Orthias.

"What are you preparing for us, Aristoria?" Aris muttered under her breath as she narrowed her eyes.