Chapter 657 - Such A Brave Girl!
Since it could never be known that Karizen was here right now, the Demon Lord continued to conceal his presence.
He had decided to remain invisible to this little girl but soon changed his mind.
He was using his precious vessel today and decided to make it known to the others.
Until now, he had concealed his presence which implied that even if someone were to look his way, they would not be able to see him.
This was the same principle that Neo had used to conceal his presence.
However, there was a difference in what the two immortal beings were doing.
Neo had to only concern himself about being visible to this child.
After all, Yether, his disciple, was making sure that his Master's presence was neither felt nor seen on a large scale.
Implying that no one, including Asmodeus, could sense neither his or his Master's aura anywhere near this world.
Neo had already lowered his powers to the bare minimum in order to enter this world unnoticed.
Therefore, this task, though energy-consuming, wasn't too difficult to achieve for the trusted disciple.
On the other hand, achieving the same was a piece of cake for Karizen.
While he had done an excellent job at hiding it, he was the most powerful being in the entire universe, even mightier than most gods.
This had been possible due to the worlds that he had created in the past and his children who were his most precious creatures.
The population of worshippers that his children had amassed for him for many generations now was much higher than anything that Neo or Asmodeus had done until now.
Therefore, making sure that Asmodeus did not notice his arrival even if he revealed his presence to this child was not a big deal for him.
With this assurance in mind, Karizen decided to follow Neo's steps and do the same.
Earlier, with the hand gesture that he had made, Neo had lifted his spell just a little, allowing the child before him to notice that there was someone before her.
Hilda raised her head when she heard someone call to her but was surprised as she had not noticed anyone approaching her.
Her eyes fell on the man in robes who was looking down at her.
However, she could not see a single feature of his face but by judging the voice from earlier, she had surmised this person to be a man.
Hilda's wary eyes which were fixed on this man shook when she saw someone else next to him.
'When did he come?' She pursed her lips in apprehension as she had not seen this person just earlier.
Initially, Karizen had intended to conceal his presence from this world and only appear to Neo.
But later, he had changed his mind and decided to let his appearance be known to the child as well.
This was the reason why at first, Hilda had only seen the man in robes, and only now had she noticed someone else there as well.
As she was ignorant about the powers these immortal beings possessed, she speculated that it was her swollen eyes brimming with tears that had caused her to notice this second man a little late.
Whatever her assumptions were, Neo and Karizen did not bother to correct them as that was not something they would even care to do.
However, now that Hilda had taken a better look at the man whom she did not know was the Great Demon Lord, she could not avert her eyes from his face.
Compared to the man whose entire body was concealed under the hooded robes, she found this man more pleasing to the eye.
Karizen was ecstatic to see the admiration and adoration evident in the little girl's reddened eyes which had been a result of her excessive crying.
The more someone looked up at him with worship and adoration in their heart, the higher the amount of power he gained from it.
Therefore, he was more than happy to see that she was gawking at him with her mouth wide open.
However, this was getting on Neo's nerves as he needed the child's attention to be on him.
Taking a step to the side, he succeeded in covering Karizen from Hilda's gaze which the child did not seem to appreciate.
But thinking that these two men were strangers who had appeared out of nowhere, she regained her senses and went back to being wary of them.
Karizen clicked his tongue but did not voice out his displeasure as he had promised to stay out of Neo's way just earlier.
His cooperation gave Neo the chance to accomplish what he had come here for.
"Are you alright, Child?" He inquired with the same gentle voice as before.
Hilda had not experienced kindness ever since she had left that town in the past so her eyes once again brimmed with tears when she heard the care in his voice.
Her head shook at first as a subconscious response but she soon nodded because she did not wish to let her circumstances be known to these strangers.
She was still reluctant to let them know about what had taken place to her as she could not trust them yet.
Neo had expected such a thing would take place as he had read the script that his friend had written as part of the wager with the other gods.
Therefore, he had a fair amount of information about this girl to decipher what her personality was like.
A naive child who wished to do the right thing for everyone around her.
This was the conclusion Neo had come up with.
'At least he did not make her a complete airhead.' He sighed as she still had the common sense of being suspicious of strangers.
However, right now, he did not have time to appreciate this quality of hers because time was running short.
Based on his understanding of his disciple's powers, he would not be able to hold on for much longer.
The task of concealing their presence from this entire world was a tough one and Neo did not wish to put too much burden on his disciple.
He treated Yether in a cruel manner but that was to help him learn properly as his stubborn disciple's nature demanded such harsh treatment towards him.
However, he would not want his entire energy to drain away to complete this task for him.
If that took place then Yether could fall into a slumber, one too long to even imagine.
Therefore, Neo was in a rush to finish his task here which Karizen had sensed as well.
"You don't trust us?" The Great Demon Lord questioned as he tilted his head, peeking from behind Neo's back where he had been hidden until now.
Hilda's guarded expression eased in the next second after seeing the handsome man's smiling face.
Neo scoffed under his hood but let him do as he pleased since his efforts to charm the child seemed to be working.
Karizen's face was like an enchantment and Hilda spilled the beans about the bullies and everything that had taken place until now.
Her parents who died in the plague and how she was on a mission to head back to her hometown in Lumex fief.
"Such a brave girl!" Karizen praised Hilda which made her blush endlessly.
Earlier, her face was red due to her suffocating wails of anguish while now they had turned darker due to her bashful expressions.
Karizen chuckled before handing back the stage to Neo as Hilda would now trust them to do anything they pleased.
His charming face and his hypnotic eyes were enough to bewitch her to obey their every command.
However, Neo did not want to control Hilda as that had never been his plan.
He had a different thought in mind so he waved his hand, snapping the unsuspecting child out of the hypnotic daze that Karizen had put her in with his charms.
The Great Demon Lord grumbled to himself but no longer interfered.
If Neo had a better plan in mind then he would be willing to see what it was that he had decided to do with this child.
Hilda had no clue that just by looking into Karizen's eyes for too long had put her in a daze.
However, even now she did not feel any danger coming from them so her vigilance was much lower than before.
"Are you hungry?" Neo questioned as he took another step closer to the child.
Placing his hand in his pocket, he pulled out a loaf of bread which made Hilda's eyes sparkle with desire and her stomach grumble in hunger.