The one who at present has a.s.sumed the appearance of a six-year-old girl approaches her pretty face to the Baron.

She pushes aside her thick red hair on top of her skull and of her sad look, she responds by caressing the remains of two small horns that have recently been cut.

"I am G.o.d, I am the devil. I come from a long lineage that served as models for your ancestors to represent their worst nightmares. I am the demon in your history books and yet my race is inherently peaceful.

I am the one you condemned in founding your religion, yet I am also the one without whom your G.o.ds would never have been created. I am your greatest fear and yet I am the one who encouraged your ancestors to make you what you are today.

Without my presence, your existence and teachings might be radically different, but without me, perhaps you would still be a primitive society lurking in thick stone caves. I am for you the embodiment of your worst sins. As far as I am concerned, I am the direct descendant of the Three Moons of Kur."

Upon seeing the two bony marks on the Royal Protector's skull, the word devil, suddenly takes on a more concrete meaning.

The long and somewhat strange tirade of the devil as a child sets the Baron on the path of truth.

However, it is only when she mentions the name of this cursed people against whom all the ancient tribes united, that he becomes fully aware of the evil that insidiously manages to slip under the sheets of their King.

For his G.o.d, for his Kingdom that he himself tried to relieve of his gold, for the safety of his family, but above all encouraged by the dogmas that made him the man he is, he wants to shout the truth to the soldiers of the Dark Brigade.

His mouth is wide open, but not a sound comes out of it. A pleasant liquid that warms his frozen body runs down his chest.

As if they were looking for something, the two little fingers that penetrated his neck to reach his throat wiggle inside his body.

No matter how cold that air is. What does he care if it place smells? His mouth, which can no longer close, searches for oxygen, but because of the little fingers blocking his upper airways, he is unable to find it.

The child whose eyes now merge with her long red hair is tilting her head to the side.

"I really intended to torture you by tearing you limb by limb, however, as a thanksgiving for allowing me to lighten my mind, I will set you free. However, I fear that if you witness what is to come, your troubled soul will not be able to rest. To remedy this and allow you to send my greetings to your G.o.ds, I will spare you the sight of what will be your last moments."

A small hand of unparalleled whiteness rises to the baron's eye level who spitting out a sip of blood. From the index finger of the free hand, a fingernail that can only belong to a demon moves slowly towards his right eye.

When this dagger created by nature enters his eye cavity, the pain that causes seizes every inch of his body.

In order to protect the n.o.ble who has only a low tolerance for pain, the spirit of man pushes him into a world of darkness.

Woken up by little slaps, the Baron, whose complexion is in no way comparable to what he was, wants to beg the child who smiles sadly to end this cruel game right now.

Yet, once again, his voice refuses to be heard.

The blood flowing abundantly from his throat and the one expelled by mouth makes him weaker every second. In this state or conscious that his life is slowly leaving him, too weak to defend himself, discouraged and witnessing his soul trying to escape from him, he thinks of his wife and children who will never see him again.

Without react, he observes the little finger approaching his only still valid eye, then when the pain grabs again of his body, the darkness welcomes him.

Prisoner of ties became obsolete, amorphous, he can now feels the sharp nail of the little devil opening his belly.

The two little fingers that have been wiggling in his throat for what seems to him to be hours are now withdrawn.

Lost in the darkness, the Baron, nevertheless sees a rainbow appearing which rapidly growing and allows him to discover the world from a new point of view.

Floating slightly above his body, for the first time at peace with himself, he serenely witnesses an act of savagery of which only pagans are capable.

…

Nina, who has just put the lungs on the knees of the man, now left, is back to her real form.

She directs her yellow eyes overhead the dead Baron, then nods her head before leaving the room in which a thick smell of fresh blood floats.

Back in this interminable corridor where facing the door the two soldiers of the Dark Brigade perfectly fulfil their role of dog by being faithfully posted, Nina feels the uneasiness that a.s.sails her as soon as her steps lead her in that place where only the vengeful ghosts of those who were executed must feel like they belong.

It is not the filth of this prison that disturbs her. The stench here is not of the most pleasant, however, sad as that may be, she is getting used to it. The cries, complaints, prayers and tears of the prisoners, she prefers to ignore.

No, to those little annoyances common to all such places, Nina is much more troubled by the actions she performs of her own free will.

With her beautiful face pointing down to the dirt floor, as she heads for the stairs, Nina can't help but wonder how she came to become this kind of monster.

What happened to the happy little girl who ate all the time? Where is the little Nina who laughed all day long? This kid, is she even still in that body that who forgot how to smile since so long?

Tolerance, kindness, love! What do her parents think now when they see her rejecting all their teachings?

In order to blend in with a people who out of fear, spent centuries slaughtering their own, every morning she carefully cutes the two little horns that testifies to her belonging to her people.

Constantly deceiving the eyes of others, she ended up lying to herself. As she navigates through this human world, drowns so often that she forgets who she really is. Fighting for those who, since their awakening, have been a scourge for her people, she acquired their worst defects.

Between doubts and perpetual questioning, Nina forgets to climb the stairs and ends up reaching the first slave quarter.

When she looks at this vast dormitory, which she had never been to before, she realizes that here is little better than the prison.

Like the jails, the dormitories are equipped with chains. Like the place where the prisoners will end their lives, this area smell so bad that Nina hesitates to cover her nose.

Behind the bars that act as walls, she sees two young girls lying on the floor.

The breathing of the girls, who must be Beastmen twins aged around thirteen, is so weak that despite her excellent hearing, Nina can barely hear them.

Like her people, other races have now become the scourge of human beings. Time is pa.s.sing, the human world is constantly progressing and yet In the name of difference, some races are still being hunted down.

"Open this gate for me."

The two jailers are very annoyed. Like all soldiers and guards, they know who the Royal Protector is, but also powerful can be Nina, they can't let anyone in or free a slave without special permission from the Minister of Justice.

"I'm sorry Royal Protector, but in order to do so, you must obtain the stamp of the Minister of Justice."

"Then you will tell him that if he wishes to complain, I invite him to come and find me."

Decided not to waste any more saliva, Nina places her arms on two bars. Teeth clenched, she contracts her forearms as much as she can.

The two frightened guards retreat when, under the strength of the young woman who is known to be ruthless, the solids bars who move away from each other, leave a pa.s.sage wide enough for her to enter the first slave quarters.