Part 8
Lilim went east.
East, as though pulled by some invisible force.
She ran through the dim forest. The winter night chilled her to the bone, and her hands and feet felt like they’d been frozen solid.
Then, right as dawn broke, she emerged from the woods.
“I know this…”
It was the first time she’d ever seen those sandy shores or that water that stretched onward to the horizon, but she knew exactly what she was looking at.
“…It’s the sea.”
She licked the surf, just to be sure.
“It’s salty.”
There could be no mistaking it.
“Father…there’s nothing here.”
Lilim let out a foggy breath. There was snow falling from above.
She sat down on the cold beach and hung her head.
“I went east…and there’s nothing here. Where’s my duty? Where’s Midgar? I want my mother…”
Her feet felt like bricks. She couldn’t move another step. The black bruises had spread all the way up her chest, and it throbbed with pain.
However, she was still holding her brother in her arms. She’d been entrusted with his tiny life, and she knew she had to protect him.
“Let’s go. Let’s cross the sea.”
She knew there was a country across the sea. She didn’t know if it was the Midgar Kingdom or not, but her father had said it was, so surely it must be.
Her mother was waiting for her there. Perhaps her father was, too.
If she continued along the beach, she would eventually find a fishing village. Somehow, she was going to have to persuade them to give her a ride on one of their boats.
Lilim set off again.
Right as she did, though…
“Ohhh, so this is where you went.”
…the priest arrived. Blood dripped from his rattling chains.
Lilim shuffled backward with trembling footsteps. “S-stay away from me…”
“Now, here’s the question. Where’s the possessed?” The priest smiled evilly and held up a severed head. “It wasn’t him.”
“F…Faaaaaaaaaaatherrrrrrrrrrr!!”
The head belonged to her father.
Seeing how bloodied it was, it wasn’t hard for her to imagine how valiant his death had been.
“Wasn’t her, either.” The priest held up another head.
“Motherrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!”
That one was her mother’s.
She had died with her eyes wide and her gaze fixed on something.
“Why…? Why?!”
“That just leaves two options.”
The priest tossed the heads aside and strode toward Lilim.
“Nooooooo… Father… Mother…”
“There are nearly no reports of males with the possession, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
Tears streamed down Lilim’s cheeks as she hugged the baby tight. “S-stay away… D-don’t you lay a finger on my brother…”
“Now, which one of you is the possessed?”
“I-it’s me. I’m the possessed, so please, let my brother go—”
“There’s a good girl. I appreciate your honesty.” The priest patted Lilim’s head with his bloodied hand.
“Eek…”
“You and I might end up spending quite a bit of time together, so perhaps I’d best introduce myself. My name is High Priest Petos, and you, young lady, are an extremely valuable test subject.”
“Wh…what about my brother…?”
“Don’t worry. I have no use for children without the possession.” Petos tapped her brother’s head with his chain. “I’ll be sure to give him a painless death.”
Blood splattered.
Lilim felt her brother’s head tumble from her arms.
“AaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
As Lilim screamed, Petos looked down at her and let out a manic laugh. “Heh-heh. Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee. Let’s celebrate, shall we?”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Why?! Why would you do that?!”
“What an auspicious day this has been. You’ve opened a path for me straight to the Rounds.”
Lilim scooped up the three heads lying on the ground—her father’s, her mother’s, and her brother’s.
“Ahhhhhhhhh… I’ll kill you… I’ll kill you dead!!”
Hatred burned in Lilim’s eyes as she screamed.
However, Petos ignored her cries and turned his back on her. “Did you finish?”
When he called over to the forest, a group clad in strange robes appeared from within it.
“With no survivors,” one member replied.
“Show me.”
A collection of heads rolled across the sandy beach. All of them belonged to Golden Leopards.
“We took out the entire Golden Leopard clan. Now we don’t have to worry about that information leaking.”
“Ah, isn’t that nice?” Petos directed his reply over at Lilim. “Look, your father’s killer is dead.”
With a laugh, he tossed one of the heads over to her. It belonged to the branch chief.
“AhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
Lilim took a running start across the beach and charged at Petos. However, he knocked her away with his chain.
“Koff… K-kill…you… Kill…”
She couldn’t summon any strength. Her consciousness began fading.
“Get her tied up and bring her to the Variola lab. I need to lay some groundwork with the faction…”
And then she passed out completely.
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