Vanessa and the others set off back to Rosin Alley.
Dusk hung like a heavy veil, wrapped in a lingering gloom.
They all walked with their heads lowered, unsure whether they had done right or wrong. If the sacrifices continued, Lily could indeed stay alive, but neither her body nor her will would belong to her, trapped in a distorted mass of flesh-did that really count as living?
"She was forced into this. As many Supernatural people progress, they sacrifice themselves until they're left incomplete, so they often try to recover their flesh, but-"
Dorothea shook her head bitterly.
"Paths related to flesh can indeed provide flesh, but often, you lose even more."
Vanessa's heart tightened as she recalled what Dorothea had said earlier-he had already died during his first sacrifice. All that remained was an empty shell pursuing power.
"Dorothea," Vanessa began carefully, "you seem to know a lot about the Genesis School."
Dorothea nodded, her gaze turning toward the hazy outlines of distant buildings. "Elsa-my younger sister-she... she was rescued from the Genesis School too."
Vanessa's eyes flew wide, her breath catching for a moment. "Then, doesn't that mean-"
"No, she was different from Lily. They treated her as meat. The scum from the Genesis School took her flesh, but they didn't merge with her, so... she only needs her flesh restored."
Dorothea lowered her head, unable to tell whether she felt relief or sorrow.
Others would only pity Lily and old Lachi, but to some extent, she could relate to them.
Only then did Vanessa breathe a sigh of relief.
Simply restoring her flesh shouldn't be that difficult, should it?
Leaving aside how all her fingers had been restored in an instant after this sacrifice, the restoration ability she had gained last time had already allowed her