Kyo's death marked a decisive turning point.
In the still thick night, Sakolomé, Dan, and Wendy returned to the heart of the village. Their footsteps echoed in an almost unreal silence, as if the very air awaited confirmation that it was all over.Kujin and Yui, worried, immediately approached them.
Their tense faces betrayed the fear of hearing a cruel truth
.— Where is Kyo? Kujin asked, her voice slightly trembling.
Wendy, cheeks flushed but a liberating smile on her lips, answered without hesitation:
— That bastard is dead.The words fell like a guillotine.
Kujin and Yui widened their eyes, frozen for a moment, as if they dared not believe that this nightmare had truly ended.
— Really? Kujin whispered, almost incredulous.
Wendy gently nodded, her hair floating in the night breeze.
— Yes. We are finally free now…A silence ran through the group, but it was a different silence from fear: it was an aftermath silence, the one that follows the end of a long oppression.The night was long.
The flames of torches lit tired faces, but new smiles appeared on them. Winged messengers were sent to neighboring villages, carrying the news that would echo like thunder throughout the region: the customs had changed.
Men would keep the name Masutā, but for women, there would never again be Dorei. That cursed name, which had chained generations, was disappearing.
From now on, they would be called Aijin, recognized as full human beings, no longer mere objects destined for humiliation.
However, amidst this rebirth, Wendy made a counter-current decision. She refused to carry the name Aijin.
When asked why, she answered with a calm tinged with gravity:
— I will keep the name Dorei. Not as a chain... but as a memory. A scar etched into my identity.
A relic to remind that injustice has been defeated.Her words left the assembly speechless. Some lowered their eyes, others nodded with respect.
The name "Dorei," now borne by a single person, became a symbol.When dawn finally broke the horizon, a new breath swept through the village.
The air seemed purer, lighter, as if the night had carried the shadows away with it. Children were already playing in the streets, freed from a fear they only half understood. Women walked upright, proud, standing together as if savoring their first day of freedom.Sakolomé watched the scene in silence, then turned to Dan.
His gaze shone with a different light, more personal.
— Dan... he said calmly. How about going to find your sister? Dan froze, stunned.
— What? My sister... she's still alive?Sakolomé nodded with assurance, a slight smile on his lips.
— Yes. When I touched Kyo's head, I saw everything. In reality, the creature they call "mountain demon" never sought to harm her.
It is the one protecting her.Dan stepped back, eyes wide with shock.
— What?! How... how is that possible?
— I don't know exactly, Sakolomé replied, shrugging slightly. But that thing was frightening enough to keep Kyo from approaching your sister. Without it, he would have already captured her.
Dan clenched his fists, his inner flames barely calming.
— So... Kyo knew. He knew where my sister was... and where that monster was?
— Exactly, confirmed Sakolomé, slowly nodding his head. And I have the feeling this creature has a lot to teach us.
At that moment, Wendy came behind them, intrigued by their exchange.
— What are you two talking about?
Sakolomé looked at her seriously, then replied:
— We're going to find Dan's sister. Are you coming with us?Wendy's eyes widened, surprise flashing across her face.
— What?! You know where she is?Sakolomé then raised both hands, extending one toward Dan, the other toward Wendy.
His gaze became more intense, almost solemn.
— Yes. So take my hand. We'll go directly to the cave where she is.The morning wind rose, making the flames still burning on the ruins from the day before shiver.
The promise of a new quest had just been sealed.Sakolomé, Dan, and Wendy appeared with a crackling sound of air, directly in front of an ominous cave.
The place seemed to swallow daylight: blackened vines clung to walls covered in mold, and the stagnant humidity let driplets of greenish water.Barely arrived, Wendy and Dan brought their hands to their noses, grimacing.
— By all the gods... what is that smell?! Wendy exclaimed, voice muffled by her sleeve.
Dan nodded, half suffocating.
— It smells like death itself lives here...Sakolomé, unshaken, stood upright, gaze fixed on the cave's dark opening.
— It's the creature's scent. It doesn't even try to conceal it.
He stepped forward, then his voice echoed, firm and sharp like a blade:
— I know you are there. Your smell deceives no one... so show yourself!Silence was absolute at first, so heavy one could almost hear their heartbeats.
Then, slowly, two phosphorescent eyes emerged from the darkness. Slimy, dragging noises echoed as a misshapen silhouette crossed the boundary of light.
The creature appeared. Its greenish skin was swollen with pustules, its hunched back made it look broken by centuries of solitude. Its misshapen nose and split lips made its face grotesque, almost monstrous.
A swarm of flies constantly hovered around it, and every movement released a wave of pestilential odor.But it wasn't its appearance that chilled Dan and Wendy's blood. It was what it held. In its arms, with incongruous delicacy, rested a sleeping little girl.
— Nehan!!! Dan shouted, rushing forward a few steps.His voice trembled, half with rage, half with hope. But Nehan did not react: her eyelids closed, her breathing faint. Her red and burning skin betrayed a high fever.
Dan immediately recognized this sign: she was sick, weakened... perhaps for a long time.— What have you done to her, demon?! he roared, fists clenched, fire ready to burst from his body.
The creature slowly lowered its head. Then, in a gesture that stunned everyone, it knelt and gently placed Nehan on the ground with almost maternal care.
It then stepped back several paces, raising its misshapen hands as if to show it meant no harm.Wendy widened her eyes.
— Wait... it's giving her back to us?Sakolomé frowned, stepped forward, and took Nehan in his arms. The little girl's body was burning. He lifted a fold of her clothes: a broken, poorly set rib was carefully bandaged with leaves and medicinal herbs from the forest.
The bindings, although homemade, were done with care.He raised his gaze to the creature.
— It's you... who took care of her?Dan and Wendy immediately turned to Sakolomé, stunned.
— What?! But why would it do that?!The creature slowly lifted its head, its glowing eyes vibrating with a strange emotion. When it spoke, its hoarse voice sounded as if through a burning, choked throat, but charged with sincerity.
— Because she is the only one... who recognized me. The only one who saw me for what I am.
She... is the only one capable of saving me.A leaden silence fell. Even the flies seemed to be silent.
Dan, heart pounding, clenched his fists. — Save? What are you talking about? What do you mean by that?!
Sakolomé, more measured, squinted.
— You mean... Nehan saw you as something other than a monster? The creature averted its gaze, staring at the ground, as if burdened by an invisible fault.
Its hunched shoulders trembled slightly.
— Even if I tell you everything... you will not believe me.Sakolomé stepped toward it, holding Nehan a little tighter as if to protect her.
His tone, grave and sharp, cut short all doubt:
— Try anyway. You showed us a truth by protecting her. You may have much more to say than your appearance suggests. So speak.
The creature remained silent for a moment, but their heavy gazes
— Dan's burning with anger and love, Wendy's mixing fear and curiosity, and Sakolomé's, stern yet attentive — finally cracked its muteness.
It inhaled, as if every word it was about to pronounce would change their perception forever.The creature stayed motionless, its oozing pustules softly throbbing in the weak sunlight filtering through the trees. The flies swirled around it in a ceaseless buzzing, forming a dark and moving veil that emphasized its grotesque silhouette.
Dan clenched his fists, torn between the urge to immediately retrieve his sister and the desire to understand the strangeness of this encounter.Sakolomé kept his calm. His sharp eyes did not leave the misshapen being. He waited for it to speak.
Finally, the creature's voice rose, hoarse, laden with pain but strangely dignified:
— You want to know who I am? Then listen well... because I have nothing left to hide.Wendy wrinkled her nose, annoyed by the smell and the almost theatrical tone of the monster, but she stayed there, arms crossed.
Dan, meanwhile, stepped back slightly, looking at the sleeping Nehan, still burning with fever.— Once... I was a god. The world knew me by a name you have surely heard in your old stories: Ares, the god of war.Silence immediately fell.
The wind whistled between the branches as if to emphasize the weight of the revelation. Dan's eyes widened. Wendy opened her mouth but said nothing for the moment.
Sakolomé, for his part, slightly tilted his head, inviting the creature to continue.
— I was powerful... feared and dreaded. Wherever I walked, armies knelt and kings trembled.
But I was also arrogant. I defied what no one should ever defy: Mü Thanatos, mistress of endings and beginnings. I tore from her what she cherished most... and in my rage, I attracted the sentence of the heavens upon myself.
The creature lowered its eyes, its pustules quivering as if pulsing in rhythm with its memories.— Ñout, guardian of balances, and Zeus himself, decided my fate. I was stripped of my glory, my divine light, and condemned to this disgusting form you see.
A decaying carcass, a castoff whose very smell repels men.Dan clenched his jaw. He wanted to ask why a punished god was with his sister, but he let the story unfold.
— And that's not all... The flies you see swirling around me...The buzzing intensified, as if the insects understood they were being spoken of.
— They are not mere beasts. Each one of them is a former god. Accomplices, allies, traitors... who followed me in my revolt. Ñout cursed them beside me.
They can no longer speak, no longer act, reduced to a parasitic swarm, prisoners of my misery. Their voice is limited to this annoying buzzing you hear.Wendy frowned, but her eyes widened despite herself.
Dan felt a shiver run down his spine: a swarm of fallen gods transformed into hideous insects.
The image was too surreal to ignore.— Since then, I haunt these woods, aimless, condemned to be shunned by all.
But one day... a child saw me. She did not flee me. She did not insult or curse me. She placed her little hand on my hideous skin and said: "You suffer too."The creature's voice trembled slightly. Its shining gaze rested on Nehan, lying in Sakolomé's arms.
— This child... it's her... she... saw in me more than a monster. She recognized my pain. She became my only hope.
Perhaps... perhaps she is the key to my redemption.A heavy silence followed its words. Dan, tears in his eyes, stared at his sister. The idea that Nehan had such a connection with this abomination troubled him deeply.
But Wendy suddenly burst out laughing. A frank, nervous, mocking laugh that broke the heavy atmosphere.
— No but... wait! You want us to believe you are Ares, the god of war?! You?! This... pustule-ridden heap that stinks like carrion?!
She held her sides, laughing loudly, shaking her head.
— And the flies, they're gods too? What a joke! You think we're going to swallow that?
Honestly...The creature lowered its head, its hunched shoulders trembling slightly. Was it anger? Shame? No one knew.Dan remained frozen.
He dared not laugh, nor believe. Doubt consumed him, but he lacked the strength to decide.
Sakolomé, seeing tensions rise, raised a firm hand.
— Enough, Wendy.His voice snapped in the air, serious.— Whether you believe it or not does not matter.
What matters is that this creature protected Nehan at the risk of its own existence. Whether an ancient cursed god or simply a monster with a heart nobler than its appearance, the fact remains: it did not deliver Nehan to Kyo.
Wendy crossed her arms, still mocking, but her laughter gradually died under Sakolomé's sharp tone.
He approached the creature and locked his gaze in its luminous eyes.
— You told your story. Maybe true, maybe false. But what you say calls for a continuation. Because if it's the truth, your role is not finished. And if it's just a lie, then we will soon discover what you're hiding.The buzzing of the flies intensified, like a sound tide flooding the clearing.
The monster remained silent, its clawed hands pressed against its chest.Nehan, in Sakolomé's arms, whimpered softly in her sleep, as if the fever was worsening. This sound brought everyone back to the essential: no matter the creature's truth for now, the little girl needed urgent care.Dan knelt beside her, placing a trembling hand on his sister's burning forehead, then took her from Sakolomé's arms. His eyes shifted between Sakolomé, Wendy, and the creature, unable to know whom to believe.