With those words, myriads of souls rose from the place where dead bodies previously burnt and rushed towards the angel.
The little girl had opened her fearful eyes when she heard what the angel said previously. Although she didn't know why, she felt like she could trust this angel. That is why she wanted to see what will happen next.
All the souls turned into evil, resentful creatures and rushed towards the angel with intent to tear her to shreds. After all, it was this angel who had judged them. It was now their turn to judge her. But just as the closest evil soul was about to come near the angel, the previously calm egg suddenly showed signs of activity.
Hundred illusory chains pierced out from the eggshell and coiled around the angel. This not only made the evil souls pause, it also made the angel feel surprise and even a slight amount of shock. Before the angel could think of anything, the chains began pulling her towards the egg.
As if angered by this, all resentful souls quickly combined into one, while the angel was still within their reach, and rushed into the position of the angel's heart as fast as they could. The pure white entity was tainted by a pitch-black heart. The whiteness suddenly started fading as endless darkness spread through the angel's entire body.
At the moment when the darkness was about to completely consume the angel, each of the hundred chains shone with strange illusory brilliance and forced a white seed of life within the angel's heart. After the seed stabilized thoroughly, the chains rapidly pulled the black angel inside the eggshell and everything returned to calmness.
Only a moment later, the eggshell cracked and turned into myriad rays of energy, quickly surging towards the creature lying on the ground.
All of this was reflected within the red eyes that forgot the previous fear. The thing that caused her past life to be miserable is before her. The creature that caused her despair and took away her previous life, but also the creature that gave her a new one—is at her hand's reach. That very creature rapidly grew as the energy from the eggshell infused into it, growing until it reached a similar size like her - of a six-year-old child.
The world once again turned silent when all that energy disappeared.
After a brief period of silence, a sound resounded. The sound of breathing. The sound of skin rubbing against the ground.
"Haaaaaaa..."
A long sigh also resounded.
"Finally awake."
A sound that seemed mystifying.
A sound that made her heart beat faster.
But that sound wasn't even catching the girl's attention—because her eyes were glued to the creature that came out of the egg.
The girl's eyes couldn't separate from the boy who came out. She felt that it was harder to breathe than before, but she didn't care.
The only thing her mind was full of were two colors.
White.
"Hm?", the boy made a surprised expression as he noticed this little observer by the side.
White and green.
The girl's mind was full of white and green. Long silky white hair hanging all the way to the ground and the green eyes that captivated her soul.
The green eyes hiding the abyss that tugged at her heartstrings. This little girl didn't know what feeling this was—it was the first time she had felt anything like this.
"Oh, hey there cutie! What's your name?", the boy asked.
"Nn?", she finally reacted.
As for the answer, he only got a faint sound that almost seemed like a sigh.
"Mm? What's wrong? Are you scared of me?"
The girl stared at him for a bit more and only then shook her head and pointed with her finger towards her neck. This confused the white-haired boy that just came out of the black egg.
"Hm?", the boy's long white eyelashes fluttered.
His white brows furrowed, trying to understand what she was trying to tell him. After a bit, his eyes turned sharp as he quickly glanced at the girl's curious red eyes.
"You ... can't speak?"
The girl flinched a little and then nodded.
"...", seeing her nod like that, the boy was left tongue-tied. Such a beautiful and cute little girl yet... she can't speak! That's so unfair!!
He clenched his fists and took a step toward her. They were rather close—after only a few steps, he was already crouching in front of the girl. He slowly parted his hands and leaned forward.
The little girl seemingly forgot to think and let him do as he pleased which resulted in another unfamiliar thing for her. She ended up being hugged. Only when she felt the pressure around her from his arms did she return to present.
"Mmh!!", the first reaction she had was to try and escape.
This was more than enough to let the boy understand that her life wasn't easy. Ever since he saw her absent-minded expression and her lifeless eyes that somehow still had curiosity in them, he knew.
He knew her life was harsh. Because he also heard what the angel previously said, after all—she said all those things to him.
However, he didn't let go. He hugged her tightly enough not to hurt her and not to let her wriggle out either.
"Mmph!"
"NNH!!!"
Regardless of how many protests the girl threw, he only leaned his head next to hers and let her do what she wanted. All the way until she finally calmed down. This resulted in a lot of scratches on his body, but he didn't really care.
When her protests died down and her heartbeat and breathing stabilized, he slowly released his left hand and used it to gently pat her head.
"It's fine. You don't have to be alone anymore. You have me now."
Just as he said that, in his mind—a sound appeared.
"Xia. Her name is Xia."
The angel's voice bid her final farewell from them with those words as hundred chains tied her down.
"Xia, huh?", as he faintly murmured near the girl's ear, she flinched while her eyes filled with shock.
"What a beautiful name. Oh—you can call me Asura. That seems to be my name now, hehe.", the boy slightly chuckled as he let go of the girl.
Taking another look at her, he could see her beauty in all its glory. Even at this age, she was so beautiful. She would definitely grow up to be a very gorgeous girl one day.
"Are you calm now?"
The girl looked at the green eyes full of kindness and love looking at her. She didn't know why there was love in them. Up until now, she had only seen hate and greed. Love was a novelty for her.
"A..hu... ah!"
"Eh? What?", the boy said as he obviously didn't understand what she meant.
The girl raised one finger and pointed toward him, "Ahuah!"
When he saw this... when he realized the meaning of this scene, his heart sharply twisted in pain.
"A-are you... calling my name?"
As he expected, he got a firm nod and a gentle smile in response. "Mmh! Ahuah!"
Although her voice was very faint and even bordering towards hoarse, she seemed genuinely happy that she could call his voice.
It was then that Asura felt a long-forgotten warmth on his cheeks. With a blink, he raised his finger and wiped a translucent tear off.
"Tears? Are these... tears? I... have... tears?", he murmured.
The girl stared at him with curiosity, not knowing what he meant.
"Eeah?"
The faint voice quickly dragged him back to reality from his rapid thoughts as he saw a pair of curious eyes close to his face. Xia leaned forward and wiped the other tear with her small finger, leaving a fading feeling of warmth on his face.
She looked at her finger with curiosity as she murmured once again, "Eeah!"
Asura's dumbstruck face quickly morphed into one full of happiness and kindness as he nodded.
"Mm! Tears. Those are tears."
He simply couldn't resist this sudden urge within him to gently caress her head which also led to a kiss on her forehead.
Seeing Xia's confused face, the boy smiled once again and said, "Don't worry, you have me from now on, alright?"
Xia looked at him again and cheerfully nodded, "Mm!"
And with that, their first meeting became carved in their hearts, for all eternity!