Speaking seemed to aggravate its wounds, and the monster's flesh began to collapse. Zoe staggered back in fright, then suddenly frowned. "She?"
In Tis, that word specifically referred to a woman, yet the person before them was clearly a man.
Zoe hesitated before asking, "Who is she? Is she your family? Is she here too?"
"No." A voice came from behind Zoe. "It was that head."
A hooded woman stepped forward and crouched on one knee. Blood soaked her coarse linen dress crimson.
"That was Tommy's mother. Three days ago, he came to me and asked me to attach her head to his body as well..."
"She was his last remaining family."
The woman took the boy's hand and gently closed his eyes. "Sleep, child. Go into the Mother Goddess's embrace. There will be no more hunger or sickness there."
Her movements were gentle, her tone loving. Only after the monster closed his eyes did she slowly rise.
The moment she began speaking, Granny started pulling Castel's people backward. The Harbor Guard also sensed that something was wrong, and the soldiers gradually gathered together. Yet the woman seemed unaware, merely praying softly for the monster.
By the time she turned around, countless gun barrels were already aimed at her. Zoe's eyes were red as she gritted her teeth and asked, "Why?"
She had felt a measure of sympathy for these cultists, thinking they were merely desperate people with nowhere else to go.
But then she had seen this.
Zoe demanded painfully, "Why did you turn him into this monstrosity?! What exactly are you trying to do?"
The woman's gaze fell upon Zoe, then slowly swept over the Faithguard Army and Harbor Guard holding their guns.
"Because they were about to starve to death. And this way... one person's share of