Boaz knelt gently before the little girl, a kind smile on his lips.
"Hey, little one, how are you feeling?"
The girl stared at him, frightened. She raised her hands before her face, whispering in a trembling voice,
"Please… don't hurt me."
Boaz's smile vanished immediately. He understood that this child bore the marks of deep trauma, likely caused by the gang of youths who had attacked her.
"Hurt you? Me?" he asked softly, trying to reassure her.
But the girl kept trembling silently. Boaz slowly approached, gently placed his hand on her head, and said kindly,
"You have nothing to fear from me, little one. I only want to watch over you so you can sleep safely."
The girl slowly lowered her arms and looked into Boaz's eyes. She saw a sincere smile, full of gentleness and care. Swallowing hard, she asked,
"Really?"
Boaz nodded.
"Yes, I promise you."
The girl stopped trembling, somewhat comforted. Boaz thought she was quite naive, as nothing proved he was trustworthy. But after all, she was just a defenseless child.
"What's your name, little one?" he asked.
"Nehemi," she replied timidly.
"Nehemi… That's a very pretty name. Where are your parents?"
"They're dead… drowned," she answered, her gaze empty.
Boaz then understood that the girl was an orphan. That probably explained why no one had come to her aid when she was beaten.
But one question lingered in his mind: why had those boys targeted her?
"Why did those boys want to hurt you earlier?"
Nehemi lowered her head, on the verge of tears. Seeing her distress, Boaz gently lifted her chin to meet her gaze:
"Calm down, Nehemi… Don't cry, you can tell me everything. Nothing will happen to you, trust me."
Nehemi nodded and explained,
"Since I lost my parents two years ago, people have been chasing me, bothering me… They provoked and threatened me, so I threw stones and ran, but they found me and beat me… I want to be strong to…"
Boaz interrupted her, bringing her back to reality:
"Nehemi, be wise, okay? You must not respond with force; you have no chance against them. Even if you could defeat them, the trouble would only get worse. I still have much to do; I must go."
He stood, turned, and walked away under Nehemi's sad gaze. But as he walked, Gilead's voice echoed in his mind:
"She's following you."
Surprised, Boaz turned and saw it was true: Nehemi was following him.
"Uh… stop following me, will you? I have a long way to go; you won't keep up. Stay here!"
Nehemi lowered her head, eyes darkened, tears streaming down her cheeks. Boaz worried:
"Nehemi? Are you okay?"
The girl burst into sobs, falling to her knees, arms spread wide:
"Sir… I want to come with you, I'll do whatever you want, I won't bother you, I promise… I don't want to be alone anymore, I can't take it, please don't leave me here one second longer!"
Boaz remained silent, moved by her distress. Gilead, in his mind, intervened:
"You're not going to take this child with you, are you? She'll slow you down, don't even think about it!"
Boaz sighed.
"Lord Gilead, I'm sorry, but I'm going to disobey. After seeing this little one brush with death, I can't abandon her. If she begs me to take her and dies behind me, I'll never forgive myself. I intend to change her fate."
Gilead protested,
"That will slow you down, you understand?"
Boaz nodded, then addressed Nehemi:
"All right, Nehemi. From now on, you will live with me and I will watch over you, okay?"
Nehemi, overjoyed, stood and ran into his arms:
"Yes, sir!"
For the first time, Boaz felt an affection he had never known, having always been treated like an invisible spirit. He finally felt loved.
"Now, let's go. The road will be long and, since you live with me, you'll have to learn to keep up!"
"Understood, sir!" she replied enthusiastically.
"All right, then let's go."
The two companions set off on a journey around the world…
Erasa, arms crossed, watched the scene with growing impatience.
"I've had enough," she declared abruptly. "I don't want to watch Boaz's life anymore. It's time to move on. For me, he's already an ally."
Her mother, Lilith, raised an intrigued eyebrow.
"Yet, you're about to discover who your true friends and enemies are, my dear…"
"I already know who my friend is," Erasa retorted. "Neither Boaz nor Gilead is my enemy. I have humans who count on me. I must take care of them."
Lilith smiled, calculating.
"Very well. Let's speed up events so you see the essentials without wasting time."
With a gesture, she scrolled through Boaz's memories like pages of a book. Erasa glimpsed the growing bond between Boaz and Nehemi in fast-forward. Lilith stopped abruptly on a crucial scene: Boaz, kneeling before Gilead, pleading:
"Lord Gilead, I don't want to kill anymore! Can we end my mother's vow? It's lasted long enough!"
Gilead, seated on a throne surrounded by other deities, glared at him.
"It was your mother who demanded it. Humans will pay for her selfish desire. Period."
Boaz clenched his fists.
"I have massacred for 46,000 years! Thousands of lives lost… Is there no way to cancel this curse?"
"Unless you summon a more powerful deity, no. And even then, the consequences would be worse," Gilead retorted. With a breath, he cast Boaz out of his celestial palace.
Lilith interrupted the vision.
"So, Erasa, are you ready to face Gilead?"
Erasa paled.
"No… Well, yes, but I don't have enough power. He would annihilate me!"
Lilith chuckled.
"Yet, I sense you're not afraid. I will give you some of my power. Follow me."
A portal tore through space, transporting them to the World of Myths. Arlongue, an imposing dragon, played with Zemira, a laughing goblin, under GAaron's disgusted gaze, perched in a tree.
"Yuck! That's disgusting!" he grumbled before noticing Lilith. "Finally! You're here. Those two make me nauseous."
Lilith ignored his comment.
"Listen, everyone. Erasa must become a Superior Hyper Demon to defeat Gilead. For that, she must fuse with a being of comparable level."
Arlongue, suddenly serious, stepped forward.
"I propose a fusion with me. A demon-dragon would have unique power."
GAaron growled.
"Why not give her the power directly, mother?"
Lilith, her face flashing with anger, masked her irritation.
"Because that would be too easy. Erasa must earn this power. The fusion will give her the physiological attributes of her partner, in addition to her demonic abilities."
Erasa, determined, nodded.
"I'm ready."
Arlongue and she exchanged a knowing look. Lilith, satisfied, smiled slyly.
"Let's begin."