Erasa: "What? How's that?"
Boaz, in a calm tone, replied:
Boaz: "It's possible that Lord Gilead was outside our world thanks to those portals. And now that the passages allowing him to enter have been destroyed, he might not be able to come back."
Boaz's explanation seemed clear and logical. Everyone nodded.
Jérôme: "I understand your reasoning."
Erasa: "But… what if he finds another way? Like me, when I crossed from the world of myths to that of existence?"
Boaz: "That… I don't know. Lord Gilead remains very mysterious, even to me. I don't know what he's truly capable of. But I do know one thing: he has the power to kill me."
A silence settled. Everyone lost themselves in thought.
Madame Élodie: "I suggest we don't go directly to him. That could be our doom."
Nehemi was annoyed by Madame Élodie and Mr. Ben's attitude, whom she found useless in the current situation.
Nehemi: "Madam, he doesn't concern you at all! You don't care about him, you can sleep peacefully!"
Madame Élodie answered calmly but firmly:
Madame Élodie: "Don't be mistaken. The mere fact of being your allies puts us in the same boat. He won't kill the instigators and spare their accomplices. That wouldn't make sense."
Nehemi thought, then understood.
Nehemi: "Hmm… that's true. Sorry."
Madame Élodie: "It's nothing."
Boaz, tired of the tense exchanges, proposed:
Boaz: "I suggest a break. We'll resume later, if you agree."
Erasa: "Alright," she nodded.
They left Erasa's castle. The sun was setting.
Jérôme: "Hmm… I'm hungry!"
Erasa: "What do you want to eat? I can make it appear with my powers!"
But Madame Élodie gently grabbed her arm:
Madame Élodie: "No need, Lord Erasa. I'll take care of it."
Zémira suddenly appeared:
Zémira: "I want to cook too!"
Erasa (smiling): "Go ahead, both of you then."
While the two women prepared the meal, Erasa looked for Boaz. He was gone. She scanned the area and saw him alone on a mountain. Curious, she teleported there silently.
Boaz (smiling): "You're here… I wanted to show you something. Want to come?"
Erasa: "Of course."
He took her hand and led her to another place. They appeared in a beautiful field, carefully tended, adorned with bright flowers and plants.
Erasa, observing the place, felt a strange sense of déjà-vu.
Boaz: "This is Hastou, my mother's field."
Erasa: "I knew I'd seen it somewhere before…"
Boaz, surprised:
Boaz: "What? You've seen it before? That's impossible. This field is marked with my spiritual energy. No one can perceive it without my permission."
Erasa: "I saw it in your past, Boaz. Your mother wanted to give you a prince's life. She was ready to do anything for that."
Boaz, stunned:
Boaz: "My past? But that's impossible. I'm a unique being, I only exist in the present. Since I became a great mage, my past was erased!"
Erasa smiled softly:
Erasa: "With my mother, we found another way…"
Boaz looked at her, increasingly fascinated.
Boaz: "You saw my mother? She was caring? And tell me… can you see anyone's past?"
Erasa fixed him, a little annoyed:
Erasa: "One question at a time. I'll answer everything, but not all mixed like that."
Boaz remembered he had told her the same during their first fight. He burst out laughing, tears in his eyes.
Erasa (embarrassed): "What did I say that was funny?"
Boaz: "Nothing. Or maybe everything!"
Erasa, pretending to pout, sighed.
Erasa: "So… this field, you called it Hastou?"
Boaz: "Yes. You know, Erasa… I always wanted a normal life. I would have given anything to change my past. But Lord Gilead erased that part of my story. And even if I changed the past, it wouldn't change anything. I'm trapped. I regret all those families I destroyed… I never wanted any of this."
A heavy silence fell.
Erasa: "Your mother was actually dishonored. You became for her the symbol of her anger, the reflection of her injustice. What she wanted the world to feel… was her pain."
Boaz listened silently.
Erasa: "Don't blame her. What was done to her was terrible. Gilead hid it from you, and maybe that's better. Because if you really knew what pushed her to become like that… you wouldn't forgive the world anymore."
Boaz: "So… you won't tell me?"
Erasa: "No. Never."
Boaz laughed again. Erasa shot him a glare.
Erasa: "Pfff… you laugh like an idiot."
Boaz: "Not at all… Erasa, can I hug you?"
Erasa (blushing): "Huh? Uh… yes, of course, but why…"
Before she finished, Boaz embraced her. Erasa blushed deeply, very embarrassed.
Boaz (softly): "With you, I want to live forever. I feel like everything can change… thanks to you, and the others."
Erasa, touched, closed her eyes.
Erasa: "Then don't die, Boaz. Live. And I swear your life will change. It will become the one you always dreamed of."
Boaz: "I'll hold on to that… more than ever."
They stayed embraced for a long moment. Then Boaz pulled away and said:
Boaz: "I have nothing left to hide. The form you see isn't the real one. Look!"
His body cracked open, revealing a new Boaz, taller, with long black hair and red eyes.
Erasa: "Oh… I don't even know what to say."
Boaz (smiling): "I'm handsome, right?"
Erasa blushed, then burst out laughing:
Erasa: "Nonsense!"
Boaz watched her laugh. He smiled too.
Boaz: "She's unique, this Erasa…"
They laughed together. Then returned to the others, who were eating, drinking, and rejoicing.
Erasa, happy to see Boaz finally laugh, slipped away briefly to the world of myths. She sought inspiration, new creatures. She dreamed one day of creating her own world, nourished by these experiences.
Boaz's group celebrated, then rested. Except Boaz.
Boaz flew alone through space, fascinated by the stars, nature, and celestial harmony.
Boaz (watching the stars): "They are magnificent… Who would imagine they can also become threats by exploding?"
He landed on the moon, thoughtful. Maybe he had trapped Gilead… but such an easy victory felt strange.
Then Gilead's chilling voice echoed behind him.
Gilead: "Boaz… You've turned against me? Biting the hand that fed you?"
Startled, Boaz turned sharply, seeing Gilead standing tall and imposing on the lunar surface a few steps away, a smirk on his face.
Boaz: "Biting the hand that persecutes me-isn't that rather fitting?"
Frowning, Gilead retorted.
Gilead: "Persecute me? What are you talking about? I have only acted on your mother's desire. She summoned me, so she strikes you indirectly!"
Boaz shook his head, eyes full of contempt.
Boaz: "You call yourself a god? No, you behave like a monster. A true god can discern good from evil, but you just obey a human's orders. It's… pathetic. I met a demon who acts with more dignity than a so-called god like you."
Gilead was silent, anger flashing in his eyes as he slowly advanced toward Boaz. Boaz stepped back but stopped, firmly resolved not to yield.
Gilead: "A demon, you dare compare me to a demon? What an insult. You disappoint me, Boaz. But… maybe you're right on one point. I know good and evil, and what you do is certainly not in my interest. I'll have to get rid of you."
A few meters from Boaz, Gilead locked cold eyes with him, but Boaz laughed.
Boaz: "I won't fall that easily!"
Annoyed, Gilead hissed.
Gilead: "You really think you can do anything against me? You think having wings makes you stronger? Rest assured, that demon you obsess over will follow you into death, and I will be the witness."
Fear gripped Boaz at those words, and he tried to flee, but Gilead's oppressive presence paralyzed him. Slowly, Gilead placed his hand on Boaz's head, a cruel smile on his lips.
Gilead: "What are you doing? You won't get away that easily."
In a desperate last effort, Boaz broke a dimensional barrier, freeing himself from the fear that had frozen him. He hurried away from Gilead and launched spheres of destruction. The titanic explosions shook the space around them. Yet none touched Gilead, who seemed intangible. A shiver ran through Boaz as he realized his attacks might destroy the Moon itself.
Gilead: "So, you're starting to feel compassion for this lunar rock? You're not meant to get attached to a place. You must destroy everything that holds you back!"
Boaz moved further away, eyes fixed on his enemy.
Boaz: "No… I won't do such a thing."
Gilead let out a slight laugh, eyes full of derision.
Gilead: "This behavior is seriously starting to annoy me."
Then, with a brutal gesture, a shockwave hurled Boaz off the Moon, beyond all landmarks. He was so far that the Moon was just a tiny, invisible dot. The entire universe seemed to distort around him. He tried to stabilize, but before he could react, Gilead appeared behind him and struck violently, breaking his spine with a sharp blow.
Boaz spat blood, his body thrown into space. He collided with a star, causing the star's explosion. Yet, despite the damage, his body regenerated impressively fast, as if nothing could stop him.
Boaz charged at Gilead, wielding several spiritual chains he threw at him. To his great surprise, the chains passed through Gilead as if he were a mirage or void.
Boaz: "How is this possible? He's intangible? But I can normally touch the intangible… so what was that?"
Gilead, amused, replied coldly.
Gilead: "Spirit chains… I didn't know you mastered such chains, capable of paralyzing soul and mind, leading to conceptual destruction."
Boaz charged at Gilead with rage, launching multiple chains charged with mystical energy. To his astonishment, they passed through Gilead as if he were a mirage or void.
Boaz: "Impossible… He's intangible? But I can normally touch the intangible… so what was that?"
Gilead, intrigued, smiled:
Gilead: "Spirit chains… I didn't know you had such power. They can paralyze soul and mind, causing conceptual destruction… Interesting."
Hovering above his opponent, Boaz fired a beam of pure energy. It passed through Gilead again without effect. He then tried to wrap his haloed chains around him, but they met only emptiness.
Boaz, shaken, whispered:
Boaz: "How?…"
In a fit of frustration and fury, he transformed and launched a rain of simultaneous attacks. Beams, energy blades, distortions… space itself seemed to waver. The universe trembled under this unleashed assault; fundamental concepts warped, destabilizing cosmic stability.
Gilead, impassive, watched him struggle.
Gilead: "You keep striking in vain. Is it despair… or stupidity?"
Boaz, eyes wild, laughed:
Boaz: "Hehe… Maybe a bit of both, who knows?"
Gilead watched him long, torn between amusement and a strange melancholy. Then, without warning, he struck violently.
The impact split the very fabric of the universe. Boaz took the blow full force, thrown into stellar void. Before he could recover, Gilead grabbed his throat and suspended him in cosmic emptiness.
Gilead: "You know, Boaz… divine immortality doesn't mean invincibility. It only means you resist better. The powers I gave you come from spirits. But a spirit, no matter how powerful, cannot surpass a god. Do you get the nuance?"
Boaz, exhausted, hung from that divine arm, aware of his vulnerability.
Gilead continued:
Gilead: "I manipulate millions of dimensional spaces as shields. Your attacks don't reach me because they're automatically redirected, teleported into the void. That's why you fail every time."
His gaze hardened, voice deepened:
Gilead: "And now, Boaz… one last lesson before your end. Divine immortality is a beautiful illusion. I have surpassed it. I reach beyond body, soul, mind… even history. If I destroy your very 'being,' you won't regenerate, because at your level, you don't even understand what that is. You can't fix what you don't know."
Boaz, broken and dying, smiled nonetheless. He spat blood, but his voice still carried strange conviction:
Boaz: "Lord Gilead… I don't regret meeting that demon… You may destroy me… but he… he will hunt you too… haha… cough cough…"
Gilead closed his eyes briefly, as if feeling a pang. Then reopened them coldly.
Gilead: "I see. Farewell, Boaz… I will miss you."
Surprised, Boaz weakly raised his eyes:
Boaz: "What?…"
The blade had already passed.
His head was cleanly severed. His lifeless body drifted briefly, then the universe swallowed it. His being, struck at the deepest core of his essence, collapsed completely, beyond any regeneration.
Boaz was dead. Definitively.