Volume Six: What She Lost · What I Gained - Sinful Ties

Her thin, red lips parted slightly, and she let out a moan. The voice was somewhat similar to Ye's, but with a more mature huskiness, making it even more alluring. It was a voice they both knew well—the voice of Blood Fiend.

"Uh-huh..."

Her fair body slowly sat up, her white dress swaying and outlining her alluring curves. She remained in a half-sitting, half-lying position for nearly a minute before slowly raising her head, opening her eyes, and revealing a pair of eyes as Black Crystal.

"Here it is...?"

She looked around in a daze, her eyes adjusting to the light for a few seconds. Her gaze swept over the coffin, the floor, the walls, and the two people standing there, dumbfounded—

At that moment, both of them held their breath.

Blood Fiend's gaze first fixed on Yu He, and the blankness and emptiness in his black pupils gradually disappeared, replaced by a glimmer of light.

"... Yu, He? What happened... I... I remember... I clearly..."

"!"

Yu He trembled. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. His tight throat needed to relax and he needed to calm down.

Blood Fiend's gaze shifted to another person. She stared at the Sick Spider, who seemed to be awaiting judgment, for several seconds before speaking in an uncertain voice—

"Lily... Lilia? Is that you? You seem... to have shrunk?"

Lilia.

Upon hearing this address, the Sick Spider could no longer contain herself. The torrent of emotions burst through the dam, turning into a torrent of tears. She practically lunged at Blood Fiend, disregarding the fact that her beloved had just woken up, and embraced her with all her might, refusing to let go even as she was squeezed to the point of suffocation by her overly full breasts.

It was a success.

It was a success.

In the entire organization—no, in the entire world—there is only one person who calls herself "Lilia," without a doubt!

"It really is you, Lilia... If you're so obsessed with my secondary sexual characteristics, we can talk about it somewhere else... But right now, can you help me sort things out?"

That's right! That familiar tone, and those strange words—it's totally her style! Kassel, Kassel, Kassel Kassel Kassel!!!

"And... Yu He? It's Yu He, isn't it...? I remember... I clearly... failed to take over that body... But... I'm sorry, my memory is a bit jumbled..."

"Uh... Ah! It's okay, I'll explain the details to you slowly. Right now, you need to recuperate and rest, and the necessary physical examinations should also be done--"

"Well, never mind... I can rest anytime, but the first thing I need to do now is--"

Blood Fiend revealed a faint smile, gently stroking the cheeks of the Sick Spider in his arms, and then...

"--What should be done with a bad child who betrays their mother?"

I love her.

I don't want to lose her.

I want to bring her back, even though she is already dead.

Therefore, I endured the pain, racked my brains, and invested countless hours, energy, and money.

Putting in effort doesn't guarantee a reward—I understand this principle better than anyone else.

Therefore, from the very beginning, I was prepared for all my efforts to be in vain and all my actions to be a complete waste of time.

Everyone must bear the possibility of success or failure equally; this is the only remaining fairness in this unfair world.

Fairness is cruel.

My plan is very likely to fail; after all, almost every step is a gamble, and failure at any time wouldn't be surprising.

Because I had taken such a great risk, when I heard her say "Yu He" and "Lilia," the overwhelming sense of satisfaction of finally succeeding instantly filled my heart.

However, the joy of success vanished the moment she uttered her next sentence.

All that remained was an indescribable bitterness, pumping throughout my body with each heartbeat.

"--What should be done with a bad child who betrays their mother?"

Oh dear, it failed.

"... Eh?"

The Sick Spider in my arms stupidly raised its head, its expression utterly dumbfounded.

"Give them a good scolding? Lock them in Black Ghost? Spank them?"

Her appearance was really funny, and I suddenly understood why many bosses in works like to give the protagonist a little something sweet before cutting off all hope—because it's really interesting.

Her expression shifted from blank to puzzled, then from puzzled to surprised, and finally settled on terror.

"Ye... Kasser... Ye?"

Her tender lips trembled uncontrollably, and I could almost see the gears turning in her little head. The pleasure of having someone's body and soul firmly in my grasp was truly wonderful. Right now, my superficial—note, only superficial—feelings were like those of a child who had successfully pulled off a prank.

"Impossible... You... You should already be... Could it be...?"

"What an amazing physique, even stronger than mine before. Although I was really on the verge of death... but in the end, it seems like I came out on top?"

She looked at Yu He, who seemed to have been put on pause, then at me, then at him.

"... Yu He, you... failed?"

"Haha, who knows? I'm a little confused myself, my mind is still a bit muddled, but if you asked me 'who are you' right now, I'd most likely say... I'm 'Ye', right?"

She looked at me for a few seconds, and then--

"Waaaaah!!!"

She immediately began to struggle to get away from me, but my hands gripped her shoulders like iron clamps. She then released silver threads to try and sever my arms, but I blocked them with my blood threads. With the slightest thought, I controlled the flow of blood throughout her body, rendering her completely immobile.

My adorable little traitor, even his last struggle is so cute.

"You... don't... I... I..."

Her large eyes were already brimming with tears. Although her mind was mature enough, she was still a young girl in body, so it was normal for her to be unable to hold back her tears at this moment. I moved closer to her face, stuck out my tongue— Blood Fiend's tongue was longer than I expected—and licked away the tears at the corner of her eye, the tip of my tongue gently tracing the whites of her eyes. I don't know why I did this, I just thought it would probably be quite interesting, and that Yu He probably hadn't completely failed either; my consciousness was indeed more deeply influenced by Blood Fiend.

But so what? I know I'm still me, and that's enough.

Okay, enough joking around.

The small, pleasurable feeling of successfully pulling off a prank has faded.

Covered by it, a raging fire, like lava, surged forth.

It was practically the eve of a volcanic eruption.

"Let's get back to the main topic, the Sick Spider... a traitor, what should we do with him?"

"Waaah..."

"Give them a good scolding? Lock them in Black Ghost? Spank them?"

"Don't want..."

"Beat them to the ground? Dismember them? Feed them to the Blood Beast as snacks?"

"No... no, no, no, don't touch me!!!!"

"Hey, hey, that's not your line, is it?"

"Don't... don't worry about me... don't act like you're so great! I want to see her... call it betrayal if you want... call it being bewitched if you want... I just want to see Kasser one more time!!!"

The Sick Spider howled in a choked voice, tears streaming down its face. Coupled with its youthful appearance, it was less laughable than pathetic... utterly pathetic.

"I want to see her... I want to tell her that I still really like her! I want to continue going on missions with her! To do all sorts of things with her! To tell her that it was wrong of me to always deliberately avoid her! I want... I still want to hear her voice... I still want to see her smile! Yes... that's all... that's all... that's all my wish! It's ridiculous, isn't it? But for this, for this, I'd even cooperate with the enemy! Even if Yu He is a damn rival in love, it doesn't matter! But... I failed... it's all gone... all for nothing... all for nothing!!! Why... why... if... if you could be more like Kasser, if you could be like the Kasser you used to be!! If you were even half as good as Kasser... I wouldn't... sob..."

"..."

Ah, I see.

I understand her a little better now.

Although it's willful, it's only human nature.

Perhaps the reason she chose to stay with me from the beginning wasn't as complicated as I thought.

She probably just wanted to find the shadow of Blood Fiend in me.

The Sick Spider is already a resurrected exile; neither the surface world nor any organization offers her a place to belong, which is truly tragic. She is like a child; the Blood Fiend may have more symbolic than practical meaning for her—a symbol of someone she once loved and who loved her in return. That's why she's so obsessed with the Blood Fiend.

She wasn't a good person, but she was definitely not a bad one either. She longed to love others and to be loved; that was her. By choosing to stay by my side, she must have hoped that I, like Blood Fiend, would love her while being loved by her, becoming her pillar and her support.

But... unfortunately, I clearly disappointed her, otherwise she wouldn't have chosen to cooperate with Yu He.

If I had treated her better, cared more about her, opened up to her more, and let down my guard to love her, she would surely have become my most steadfast companion.

I'm so sorry.

"I'm sorry, Sick Spider..."

"... well?"

She stopped crying and stared at me blankly.

"I haven't been aware of how you felt... or rather, although I was aware, I chose not to see it. I'm really terrible at that... If I had shown you more care and tried to understand you more, you probably wouldn't have made this terrible choice..."

"No, I... I care about anything... I... Okay, I... I really do... Waaah..."

She hurriedly looked away, a blush creeping onto her tear-streaked face. "Looks like I guessed right?"

"So, really, I'm sorry... I can't say I bear no responsibility for things developing this way; we're both at fault."

"Huh? Wait... could it be... Ye... even if it's someone like me... someone who betrayed you... you... would you forgive me, would you accept me?"

The Sick Spider showed such an expression for the first time. In the depths of despair, it suddenly saw a glimmer of light; in the heart of a desert, it suddenly saw an oasis. The poor child, who had always longed for love and to be loved, finally saw that someone was willing to love her again and accept her... The light of hope that illuminated despair was more dazzling than anything else in the world.

And I--

"Of course not, one thing at a time."

-- He reached out and grabbed her head tightly.

"I hate being betrayed, and I'm a superior animal who won't stumble over the same ditch twice."

"Ah..." Smash!

Feel sorry.

I don't intend to make room for you in the Blood Prison Space.

This is truly goodbye forever, Sick Spider.

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It's a pity, Blood Sister failed to change her fate... Or is this foreshadowing?