“When I was a child, the boys would catch grasshoppers and pull their legs off. It was fun for them. I thought it was the cruelest thing in the world, and I still do. At the same time, it’s so much more fun than I expected. Perhaps I could get used to this.”
Dolly chucked Malebolge’s right arm away with an ice-cold smile. The other being breathed heavily, enduring the pain of having lost a limb.
“Reisen,” Dolly said, “I learned after the last time that you have the ability to nullify skills. But in a fight like this, you’re nothing.”
She still didn’t know Reisen’s real name.
“Sounds like they’ve finished downstairs too.”
Until just a moment ago, screams had pierced the air from underneath them, but they’d suddenly stopped. The pattering of running feet had also fallen away—Goat Dinner had taken care of the Netherworld Faith’s leadership.
“Well then,” Dolly said, “shall we go back to our little game?”
Malebolge should have been terrified, but she cracked a smile. There wasn’t a single bead of sweat on her calm, easy-going face. “What a merciless woman. Such a pity that you were born a human.”
“I’m quite nice, I’ll have you know. I’m just picky about who I’m nice to. And you’re not a person, right? You’re a monster,” said Dolly, her tone growing sharp. “The jig is up. I don’t know how you’re able to work in the Abyss, but I’m sure the autopsy will answer that question for us.”
“Ah, so you already knew,” said Malebolge. “In which case, I’m terribly…disappointed.”
“What?”
“If you knew I was a beast, you must have known I’d be willing to stoop as low as this!”
Malebolge thrust her remaining left hand into a void and pulled something from it. She threw the object straight at Dolly, but she didn’t have the strength for a fast pitch. Dolly should have been able to avoid it with ease.
And yet, the moment Dolly saw it, she froze. As her movements ground to a halt, her mind worked in fast forward.
It must have been ten years ago. Dolly was fifteen and pregnant with her fiancé’s child. But the day she gave birth, Dolly’s fiancé died in an accident. Dolly did not have the wealth or assistance to raise the child on her own, and though it broke her heart, she entrusted the child to an orphanage so she could work.
Dolly became a Seeker after that. Fortunately for her, she had a rare and prodigious talent for the job. It was not long before she was accomplishing great things and had become a clan master on the regalia.
However, her talents were also her misfortune. While she had the money and the status to start a family with her own child, she had accumulated such power that she refused to be tied down by motherhood. She left her child alone and instead sent them huge sums of money.
But this was not to say that Dolly was unloving. Her heart was one of guilt and regret. Missing out on the feelings of motherhood sent thorns into her soul. Once, and only once, Dolly had visited the orphanage where her child lived. They looked just like Dolly did when she was young, save for her fiancé’s black hair.
That visit had been but a few days ago, when Dolly’s tactical error resulted in severe injury to one of her own clan members. It was a moment of weakness, one that rendered Dolly helpless—she needed to see that her child was safe. The sight of the child had warmed Dolly’s heart, surprising even the Seeker herself. She wanted to see her child more often, even if it had to be from a distance.
Dolly’s memories stopped there. Her body returned to life, and she ran—not to avoid what Malebolge had thrown but to ensure its safety. She caught the object in her arms. It was warm, soft, and it smelled of milk. It was a baby. The child’s innocence lit up their face as they smiled.
“You’re safe now,” Dolly said.
The baby was safe from harm. She didn’t know whose baby they were, but she smiled back at them. She remembered what it was like to lose the warmth of a life. That was when she realized the truth.
“Damn it!”
Malebolge’s spiteful laugh scuttled coldly down Dolly’s spine like ice.
The Netherworld Faith had made people into living bombs. Dolly had realized it far too late. The baby began to glow in her arms, and Dolly accepted her fate, wrapping the infant in her arms instead of throwing it as far as she possibly could.