Those obsidian eyes slowly opened, gazing at Lynn as his expression grew increasingly grave.
"Miss Doll..."
Lynn's brows knitted tightly as he stared blankly at the petite figure before him.
Black String Moon.
It was her...
But the petite figure did not answer him. Her eyes remained fixed on him, yet her expression was utterly wooden, like a real doll's.
Lynn immediately seized her shoulders, looked into her eyes, and asked anxiously:
"What happened? Why are you here?"
He could clearly tell that something was strange about her condition. More importantly, why had she appeared among the ranks of the expedition?
"What's wrong with her?"
Lynn glanced sideways and asked in a low voice.
Dollhouse had already turned to look at Lynn and said:
"Don't be nervous, Lynn. She's my student. I wouldn't do anything to hurt her. It's just... she refuses to fall behind..."
Because, without anyone noticing, the girl who had once accompanied him through Hell had slowly begun to fall behind.
She could no longer keep pace with him.
That was only natural.
Not everyone possessed his absurd speed of advancement, crossing several ranks again and again in just a few short years to reach a rank their predecessors would never even have dared imagine.
And she could easily have done what everyone else did: stay quietly in Dark Night City and watch the person who had once stood beside her shine ever more brightly.
"But she didn't want that."
Dollhouse took a deep breath, looking at her student.
"She still wanted to stay by your side and fight alongside you, rather than simply... accept your protection. She wanted to do her part, too."
"So..."
Her lashes lowered slightly.
"She accepted my legacy."
She had shattered the flesh she had worked so hard to obtain.
She had