"The light fades from the eyes of a once pure soul… now tainted with the sin of her first kill"
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Raiser's headless body fell right on top of Sidra who was still leaned against the shattered thick wall behind her.
Sidra took a few moments to catch her breath before pushing the deceased body off to the side. Of course, Sidra still panted heavily from her earlier wound which still hadn't finished healing, but she used what little energy she had left to stand up with the support of the wall.
Her legs shook slightly while she gave a glance towards raiser's body and his severed head which rolled and stopped right at the timid officer Hinari's feet.
'Raiser… I'm sorry'
Though with everything happening all around Hell's desolate landscape, there was no time to catch their breaths. After stumbling over to Hinari, Sidra said in a pained voice:
"Hey, Hinari…"
Once she brought her purple eyes up to meet Hinari. She only then noticed the timid girl's once light filled eyes were now deathly black and bloodshot.
Hinari's body continued trembling while her shaken hands clutched onto the center of the weapon which she used to sever raiser's head clean off his body in order to save her friend.
The young girl's breaths came in and out hastily while sweat rained down from her nauseated face and fell down to the solid black ground.
"M-mister… raiser… mister, miller…"
'Hinari?…'
In the mind of the timid girl, she could clearly feel her own sanity rapidly slip away. It was only just two days ago that she witnessed the brutal slaughter of the black lotus division's senior miller at the hands of Malum.
What made that moment even worse was the indifference their supreme general Asami's indifference her apathetic eyes exhibited as she saw the lifeless body of her longtime companion.
And now just a mere two days later, Hinari's elder had lost his life at the hands of Hinari herself. Sure she had no choice because the man had been possessed by the malediction that befell Hell's grounds just a few hours prior, but that didn't make it any easier.
In her mind, Hinari was still desperately trying to search for reasoning behind having to kill her own ally. Had she done it to save her friend who raiser was a few seconds away from slaughtering, or had she done it to end raiser's suffering, she did not know.
All she knew in this moment, was that she was a murderer. Her hands stained with the blood of a man who swore to give his life to protect. And now, her eyes were lost from light.
Dropping her staff onto the ground, Hinari took her glasses off and quickly turned to face the wall behind her. And once she did, she clutched her stomach and vomited all in the corner of the dark hall.
Suddenly, a noise sounded from the outside of hell's halls. Sidra glanced outside and witnessed the priest and general Asami who were both accompanied by Aaliyah, Selene, and Sachiko as they made their way through the flower filled hell.
Slowly, she took a few steps toward the timid girl and said in a soft but firm tone:
"Hinari… I know what you're feeling right now, but we need to go join the others-"
Just then, the repulsed girl interrupted Sidra and said in a cracked voice:
"D-don't talk… please, just… leave me alone."
Gritting her teeth, Sidra squeezed her eyes closed for a moment and then refocused them toward Hinari.
"Hinari, I understand how you feel, but you need to-"
Suddenly, Hinari had pounded her bloodstained fist into the thick stone wall and shouted.
"I said leave me alone! Just shut up already!"
The girl's sudden but understandable outburst made sidra's eyes slightly widen for a few seconds. For the first time in her three years of knowing the timid girl, this was the first time she ever heard such fury laced in the girls voice.
There was no mistake that this was not the same timid girl from just a few moments ago. And frankly, Sidra couldn't tell just what kind of storm began to brew in the girl's shattered mind.
Sidra herself was not a stranger to the feeling of taking a life for the first time. But even she had not had a reaction like this when she claimed the life of her own father in order to save her younger brother.
Come to think of it, Hinari had always through her whole life been a sheltered girl. That is until her father had died from a drug overdose.
The death of her father had sent her mother into a deep state of severe depression which further worsened her alcoholic behavior, then shortly after the death of her father, Hinari's mother had met a new man which she focused her full attention on.
Soon after, Hinari had been neglected by her mother; and it was then that the young girl had meet senior miller and lieutenant raiser who had begun to treat the girl as their own daughter.
And now, both of the men. Only two days apart were now dead, and one by Hinari's own hands.
***
There had also been a storm raging in the heart of Sidra herself. One half could understand and wanted to comfort her friend, but the other half had grown frustrated.
In a heated moment, Sidra could not contain her frustration, and the two began bickering.
"Hinari, I understand how you feel, I truly get it! But you are not a goddamn child anymore, you're a soldier, in this world it's kill or be killed, so sooner or later you're going to have to grow the hell up!"
Saying those words aloud made sidra feel a sharp pain Pierce through her heart. But on the battlefield, there was no time or room for personal feelings.
Hinari then shouted at the girl:
"Fuck you sidra! You don't think I understand that already?!… you're the one acting like a child thinking you can protect Hiro for the rest of his life!, and you think I'm being naive?!"
Sidra's eyes turned bloodshot at the mention of her younger brother.
In a heated moment, sidra's hand struck across Hinari's blood stained cheek and left a red mark.
Immediately, sidra's eyes had softened. While Hinari simply held her hand over her cheek, and stared silently at the ground.
"Hinari… I- I'm s-"
"Shut up. Just leave without me… tell Asami I'll catch up with you heartless monsters in a bit."
Sidra's breath caught in her chest. Not failing to even notice how Hinari didn't even address Asami as general Asami, and the coldness behind her voice made it all the more unsettling.
And with a small nod, Sidra turned to leave the dark hall. But not before glancing over to raiser's headless body one more time.
***
Right next to the land of the damned, there was an underground dark room with six pullers surrounding the circular area.
The dungeon.
The seven sins had all descended down the stone stairs, and once they reached the room there was a lone woman who stood at the center.
It was Azura.
Aphira's lust inscription on her cleavage had begun to wane from its glowing light. She was the only one who hesitated before she entered the dungeon.
Just then, an alluring voice called out and echoed through the darkness.
"Aphira, my dear. I've missed you the most… come give your mother a hug."
Before she could move, tengu stopped aphira and entered the room before everyone else.
He stuck his chest out and held his head high in the presence of Hell's Queen.
Azura turned to face her eldest son and after giggling, she said:
"My first born son, Tengu. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss that defiant attitude of yours… would you at least give your mother a hug after a long thirty eight years?"
Azura held her arms out, though Tengu scoffed and indifferently looked at the woman who then simply just laughed.
Just then, Tengu had finally spoke.
"Mother… I've only come to make one thing clear to you…"
Intrigue filled the eyes of Azura. Having an idea of what he was going to say, she still asked:
"And what would that be, my dearest son?"
Tengu took his hands out of the pockets of his tattered tan robes and said:
"I am going to kill father… and soon after, I will kill you."
A few moments of silence filled the dark dungeon, then afterwards, an echoed laugh from Azura filled the room.
She wiped tears from her eyes and simply said:
"Delusions of grandeur, you never cease to make me laugh with the silly things you say, Tengu."
A sense of contempt and anger filled Tengu's entire being. But he managed to keep his composure and continued.
"As I'm sure you're aware mother, father has been sealed inside of a human vessel… a child boy."
"Yes boy, I'm well aware of that… but I do not care to fixate on your father's childish antics."
Confusion struck the faces of everyone in the room. After a few moments of silence, Hell's Queen spoke her aim aloud and said:
"Right now, my only aim is to kill Kahal, and Aaliyah."
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To be continued in chapter 103: delusions of grandeur
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