[: 3rd :]
The moment the girl sensed their presence, she immediately reacted.
Her small body jerked violently as though startled awake from a nightmare.
"W Who are you…!?"
Her frightened voice echoed throughout the empty space.
"W Why have you come here…?!"
"Cough!"
A violent cough interrupted her words as dark corrupted blood spilled from her lips again.
The girl immediately shrank backward into the corner defensively while wrapping her trembling arms around herself as fear filled her eyes.
Her body was shaking badly.
Not from anger, but terror.
Because for who knew how long, every presence that approached her only brought pain.
The dark veins spreading throughout her body pulsed again.
She whimpered painfully while trying to suppress another cough.
"D Don't come closer…"
Her voice became smaller and fragile, almost pitiful.
"I I don't want it to hurt anymore…"
Mika's expression tightened painfully at those words.
Meanwhile, Daniel stood silently.
And the moment he properly saw her appearance, something inside him stung unexpectedly.
The girl looked utterly miserable.
Small, weak and broken.
Her pale skin was covered in crawling corrupted veins that spread like cracks through fragile glass.
Her breathing was uneven while her tiny shoulders trembled weakly with every painful inhale.
And yet, what hurt the most were her eyes.
They weren't hateful.
They weren't angry.
They were simply exhausted.
The eyes of someone who had suffered for far too long.
Daniel quietly stared at her.
Was it pity?
Perhaps.
He didn't know her.
He hadn't spent enough time with her to form some deep emotional attachment.
And yet, he still felt something tightening painfully in his chest.
A strange protective instinct.
Like seeing something that should never have been harmed.
Maybe it was because she was a child.
Or perhaps she reminded him of someone.
His gaze softened slightly.
A memory buried deeply within him surfaced quietly.
A little sister from long ago.
Someone small who once looked at him with trust.
Someone he once wanted to protect.
The resemblance wasn't physical.
It was the feeling.
That same helplessness.
That same fragile dependence.
And perhaps because of that, Daniel found it impossible to look away from her suffering calmly.
But even then, he couldn't immediately save her.
First, he needed her consent.
He needed the Will of this world to willingly accept them.
Only then could he proceed further.
Daniel slowly crouched slightly, lowering himself to appear less intimidating.
His voice became gentler.
"Who are we?"
The girl flinched instinctively when he spoke.
But unlike before, the pressure surrounding Daniel no longer crushed her.
He had already restrained his existence carefully enough for her to endure it.
"We're people from another planet," Daniel explained calmly.
"We came here after realizing this world was being corrupted by an organization."
The girl stared at him silently.
Fear still lingered in her trembling eyes.
Daniel continued softly.
"And as for why we came here…"
His golden eyes met hers directly.
"It's because you called for help."
The moment those words reached her, everything changed.
The girl froze completely.
Her trembling stopped briefly.
Her widened eyes stared at Daniel blankly as though she couldn't process what she had just heard.
"…Help…?"
Her lips trembled.
For so long, no one came.
No one answered.
No matter how much she cried.
No matter how desperately she begged.
The pain only continued.
The corruption only worsened.
The loneliness only deepened.
But now, someone had actually come.
Someone heard her, and perhaps because she was still just a child beneath all that suffering, she didn't question him.
She didn't doubt him.
She didn't suspect deception.
Instead, hope appeared in her eyes so suddenly it almost hurt to look at.
"Y You… came…?"
Her voice cracked emotionally.
Daniel nodded slowly.
"Yes."
The girl's lips quivered violently.
Then suddenly, without hesitation, she rushed toward him.
"Ah!"
Mika's eyes widened slightly.
The girl stumbled weakly as she ran and nearly fell midway because of how unstable her body was.
But she still forced herself forward desperately.
And moments later, she reached Daniel.
Because she was so small, her height only barely reached his leg.
Yet despite that, she immediately wrapped both arms around his leg tightly like someone afraid he would disappear if she let go.
"P Please…"
Her voice finally broke completely.
Tiny fingers clenched desperately onto his clothes.
"Please save me…"
Tears poured endlessly from her eyes now.
Not silent tears.
But painful sobs.
The kind a child releases after holding everything in for far too long.
"It hurts…"
She buried her face against him while trembling uncontrollably.
"It hurts so much…"
Daniel's body stiffened slightly.
The warmth of her tiny hands.
The desperation in her voice.
The way she clung onto him without hesitation.
It all struck him harder than expected.
The girl looked so fragile.
So desperate.
As though Daniel had become the very last thing she could hold onto before breaking completely.
"Please don't leave me…"
Her voice became smaller.
"I don't want to be alone anymore…"
Mika quietly covered her mouth.
Even she felt her chest ache hearing those words.
Because despite being the Will of an entire world, at this moment, she was nothing more than a suffering little girl begging someone to save her.
Daniel slowly lowered his gaze toward her.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then finally, his hand gently rested atop her head.
The girl flinched slightly from the contact.
But unlike the corruption consuming her, his touch felt warm and safe.
The trembling in her body slowly lessened slightly.
Daniel closed his eyes briefly.
Then quietly, he spoke.
"…I won't leave."
The girl's body froze.
Her grip around his leg tightened instantly.
And for the first time since they arrived, the fear inside her eyes weakened slightly.
Replaced by something fragile.
Something small and that was hope.
"R Really…?"
The girl slowly lifted her head as she stared at Daniel with widened eyes filled with disbelief.
"You're here to help me…?"
The tears still lingering around her eyes reflected faint light, making them sparkle like tiny stars filled with fragile hope.
Daniel looked at her quietly for a moment before letting out a faint breath.
"I mean…this is progressing pretty fast," he admitted honestly.
"But yeah, we're here to help you."
Even he himself did not expect things to move this quickly.
Originally, Daniel believed they would need to spend far more time gaining the trust of this world's Will.
He thought there would be fear, hesitation, suspicion and perhaps even rejection after everything she had suffered through.
But instead, the little girl had thrown herself toward him almost immediately.
And honestly, even Mika looked slightly surprised by how smooth everything was becoming.
"That's right,"
Mika said gently as she stepped forward.
"You're the one who called us here."
The little girl blinked in confusion.
"I did…?"
Her voice sounded soft and uncertain.
She genuinely did not remember.
Mika's expression softened further as she slowly crouched beside her.
"Yes, you did," Mika explained quietly.
"But it was probably out of desperation."
Her hand slowly reached out before gently caressing the girl's hair.
"You were suffering so much that your voice reached beyond your own world."
The girl remained silent while listening carefully.
"You likely called out instinctively to anyone capable of hearing you,"
Mika continued softly.
"And fortunately for you…we heard it."
The little girl's lips trembled slightly.
For so long, she believed nobody could hear her cries.
No matter how much pain she endured.
No matter how desperately she wished for someone to save her.
Yet now, standing before her were two people who truly answered.
Mika's fingers continued brushing gently through the girl's messy hair.
Without realizing it herself, Mika had already begun treating her carefully like a younger sibling.
Perhaps it was because they were both beings connected to worlds.
Or perhaps Mika simply could not ignore a child suffering like this.
Either way, the warmth in her gaze became increasingly obvious.
Daniel quietly observed the interaction before eventually kneeling down fully to the girl's level.
This way, she no longer needed to look upward toward him fearfully.
"So, little girl," Daniel began calmly.
"Do you want us to help you?"
The girl immediately looked at him attentively.
"And in return," Daniel continued, "you would join us."
The girl blinked softly.
Daniel's voice remained gentle and reassuring.
"And don't worry. There's no harm in it."
His eyes met hers directly.
"If you join us, then you would also become someone under my protection."
The moment those words left his mouth, the girl's body froze slightly.
'Protection'
Such a simple word.
Yet to her, it sounded unbelievably comforting.
Ever since she could remember, her world had constantly stood at the edge of destruction.
The skies were corrupted.
The oceans poisoned.
The lands infected.
Everything around her slowly decayed year after year because of the Black Meridians.
She had spent so long enduring fear and pain alone that hearing someone calmly promise to protect her almost made her cry again.
Especially when that promise came from Daniel.
For some reason, the aura surrounding him made her feel incredibly safe.
Like nothing bad could reach her while he was there.
And perhaps because she was exhausted from suffering alone for so long, the girl no longer hesitated.
"Yeah!" she answered immediately.
"I want to join!"
There was not even the slightest hesitation in her voice.
She liked the idea of being protected.
She liked the idea of no longer being alone.
And more than anything else, she wanted the pain to stop.
A faint smile appeared on Mika's face after hearing her response.
Daniel himself also looked slightly relieved.
But despite her cheerful answer, the little girl's expression slowly weakened afterward.
Her fingers lightly clutched her chest.
Because even though the Black Meridians were gone, the damage they left behind remained severe.
The contamination infecting the planet was not something that could disappear within a single day.
It had existed for centuries.
The corruption had already rooted itself deeply within the core of the world itself.
Even now, dark veins still spread slowly throughout her fragile body.
Every second hurt.
Every breath felt heavier than the last.
And the girl herself understood that better than anyone.
Her small gaze lowered quietly.
Truthfully…
She did not believe she could survive much longer.
She could already feel it.
Her life force was fading.
Little by little.
Like a candle nearing its end.
Even now, her body occasionally trembled from exhaustion while traces of corrupted blood still stained the corners of her lips.
Yet despite all that, she still smiled faintly.
Because for the first time in what felt like forever, someone actually wanted to help her.
Someone actually cared whether she lived or died.
That alone made her happy.
But at the same time…sadness quietly surfaced within her heart.
Because if her life force could have endured just a little longer…
Perhaps she could have truly lived.
Perhaps she could have experienced happiness properly instead of endless pain.
The girl slowly tightened her small grip around Daniel's clothes.
A weak smile appeared on her pale face.
"…I'm really happy…" she whispered softly.
Even though her body still hurt endlessly.
Even though death already felt close.
At the very least…she was no longer alone anymore.
