“I think... I think Lust might be my mom.”

  ...

  I blink back at the small wolfgirl as she looks up at me with pleading eyes, arms outstretched at her sides in an attempt to stop me from moving forward. Behind her, an injured Lust stands a short distance away, watching our interaction curiously from beyond earshot. Blood continues to ooze from every wound across her burnt and torn flesh, and her body gently sways from side to side as if only in a half-conscious stupor.

  “... Fweh?”

  Lust is Biscuit’s mom? I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to do with this information.

  Me and Lust were just a few short seconds from colliding mid-arena and delivering our final finishing blows and everything. I was totally winding up to punch a hole straight through her gut right next to the one Mom left there.

  “O-oh,” I finally respond. “That’s cool...?”

  I was all high and hopped up on adrenaline and protein just a moment ago so I’m finding it difficult to properly process how I should be properly processing this new information right now.

  The tension in the air is thick, and all eyes in the arena are now fixed entirely on me and Biscuit, all of them silently waiting in anticipation and confusion for something to happen. No one dares to be the one to burst the heavy atmosphere by speaking or making a move. Except for—

  Some sudden commotion from behind pulls my attention back along the way I just came. Two voices locked in an argument, quickly making their way toward us.

  “Biscuit’s doing something stupid!” Mei-Mei complains, dragging along her unwilling tagalong by the hem of his shirt. “So hurry up and get her out of there, idiot!”

  “But why me though?!” Bran complains right back, begrudgingly following along behind her. “I mean, Biscuit’s more capable than I am! There’s no point in me going out there to get her!”

  “Because you’re the one she hangs around the most! You’re the one she’s most inclined to listen to!”

  “But Pepper’s already right there though! Why can’t she do it instead?!”

  “Because Pepper's fighting Lust, you moron!”

  “Which is exactly the reason why I shouldn’t be going out there in the first place!”

  Ah. It’s Bran and Mei-Mei. Looks like they got worried about Biscuit and came to get her when they saw her suddenly appear in the path of me and Lust.

  “Big sis Mei-Mei... Bran...” a sniffling Biscuit whimpers as the two make their approach.

  “Biscuit, this is really bad!” Bran complains, shakily grabbing her by the arm. “You can’t be standing here right now! These two gorillas are about to go bananas and we’ll be smooshed if we don’t split!”

  I still can’t tell if Bran says the things he does specifically to annoy me, or if that’s just the way he is.

  “About that...” I give the back of my head an awkward scratch and shoot an odd look towards Biscuit, causing the other two to do the same.

  “Lust...” she begins again, in a voice so soft only the three of us can hear. “Might be my m-mom... I think...”

  ...

  “... What?”

  “... Keh?”

  Bran and Mei-Mei blink back at her with a look of shocked puzzlement. Much the same as the one that must’ve been on my face too.

  “How sure are you?” Mei-Mei asks.

  “W-well, she mentioned my d-dad,” Biscuit replies. “And the timing makes sense. And it would explain why he refused to t-talk about her. Or why she was never around. And... And...”

  Ah, come to think of it they do look a little similar, I guess. With the darker skin and yellow eyes. Lust’s hair is blood red, so Biscuit probably got her white fluffiness from her dad’s side. I think that’s how that works. Like how me and my sisters all share Mom’s pretty black hair and red eyes, but also have a few odd traits taken from whoever our seed origin might’ve been.

  Mei-Mei breathes a deep sigh. “I don’t know what to do with this information.”

  Right? That’s how I feel!

  “This is Lust, you know!” Bran complains. “Does it matter if she’s the one that gave birth to you? I mean, she abandoned you after leaving you with your dad, didn’t she?”

  Biscuit shakes her head adamantly. “That wasn’t her fault! It was mine. Because of my Curse, she must’ve just... f-forgotten to come back...”

  “Okay, fine, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s a psychopathic mass murderer, does it?! She’s literally one of the worst people to exist throughout history! Second only to Gluttony! Ah, n-no offence to you and your mom, Pepper.”

  “Fweh? Offence? Sounded more like a compliment to me.”

  “It really shouldn’t have...”

  Despite Bran’s complaints, Biscuit refuses to budge. Still standing firm with her arms held out to her sides to prevent anyone from passing, despite the sulky look on her soft face.

  This time it’s Bran’s turn to sigh. “Alright, alright, I get it. Just stop looking at me like that... Does Lust know?”

  Biscuit shakes her head. “I don’t think—”

  A woman’s deep voice coos curiously from above. “Hoh? Do I know what?”

  It’s Lust. Wandering over to stand behind Biscuit, the woman herself has decided to join in on our little group discussion. Somehow too focused on Biscuit to notice the giant woman’s approach, Bran immediately reels back in fear, dropping low to the ground as he cowers behind Mei-Mei’s small body. Which, from the look on the dead dwarf’s face, she clearly finds a nuisance. Biscuit, on the other hand, visibly perks up as she spins to face her, her tail wagging furiously behind her.

  “Hoh! ‘Tis the little wolf pup from below the stadium! Have you also come to fight me to the death?”

  “N-no, I don’t want to—”

  “Gyahaha!” Lust laughs, not giving Biscuit a chance to respond. “Very well! I accept your challenge! Please come at me when you are ready!”

  Each hearty laugh sends flecks of blood out from Lust’s lips, splattering across the four of us gathered in front of her. I try to catch some on my tongue but it’s a little sour for some reason. Kinda bitter too. Bleh.

  Hm? Ah, it sounds like we’re about to have some more company...

  From behind, the clanking of armour and hefty metal footsteps swiftly approaches.

  “What is the meaning of this?!” the approaching voice calls. “My Lady will not be able to have lunch until Lust has well and truly fallen!”

  The large, armoured woman slams the butt of her golden weapon against the floor as she too comes to stand amongst the group. Following close behind the golden knight, a particularly regal dwarf plods her cute little boots carefully across the fractured terrain, before coming to a stop alongside her.

  “Oh? Lemon, you found your trident again.”

  “Yes, my Lady. It seems it was found by Sir Keytone’s evacuation team and promptly delivered back to me upon retrieval.”

  With the addition of Queen Kokoro and her armoured attendant, this little group gathering has started to become quite a bit less little. And also a lot more complicated. I was fine with sending Lust off with a bang just a moment ago, but knowing she’s Biscuit’s mom has made me feel not-so-fine about it any more. The problem is, both Lust and Greed want to see this through to the end, and somehow I don’t think telling them about this newfound revelation is going to change their minds like it did mine.

  Next to me, I can feel the glares of Biscuit, Mei-Mei, and Bran, digging into my side. Urging me to do something about this situation before it gets out of hand. I don’t know what they’re expecting me to do though. Well, I guess I can at least try...

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Uh...” I clear my throat, shifting the attention of the bloodthirsty Lemon and Lust towards me instead of each other. “I’m not really feeling it any more, you know? How about we just call this whole thing off and all go home for today...?”

  “I refuse!”

  “Absolutely not!”

  A defiant chuckle and a slam of a golden trident against the floor from the two tells me it’s not going to be as easy as that to end this tournament peacefully.

  Hm? The tournament? Wait, now that I think about it...

  “Hold on...” I point an accusing finger at Lust upon my sudden realization. “Isn’t it against the rules to wreck the stadium? Back when I nailed that Stampeding Three-Tails—or whatever the hell his name was—with a chunk of wall. I was told I’d be disqualified if I kept doing that!”

  “Idiot!” Mei-Mei hisses up at me. “Why do you keep bringing up this stupid tournament? It’s clearly cancelled! I told you this already! Nobody cares about the damn tournament any—!”

  “Hoh?” Lust interrupts. “‘Tis not a rule I was aware of.”

  “It was definitely a rule! Mash was complaining about it to me and everything! Right?” I look to Greed—who has been mostly silent so far—for an answer, and Lust does the same.

  “My Lady,” Lemon interjects. “Ignore the nonsensical ravings of these—”

  “Oh, yeah.” Queen Kokoro tilts her head to the side in thought. “I think the announcer did say it was against the rules, right? I remember hearing it over the loudspeaker.”

  “M-My Lady, is it truly necessary for you to humour the idiocy of these two barbarians?”

  “Hoh...?” Lust stands swaying in idle thought for a moment, before breaking out into more wet laughter. “Gyahaha! ‘Twould appear it is my loss then! I must apologise to Mistress Cinnamon for my disqualification!”

  Oh?! If Lust is disqualified, does that mean...?

  “Fwah! That means I win!” I raise my arms in the air in celebration.

  “Gyahaha! Congratulations!”

  “Fwahaha! Mash, we did it! Mash? You around somewhere? You’re not dead, are you? I hope not!”

  Despite my post-tournament celebrations, the awkward atmosphere across the stadium doesn’t look to be going away. Everybody still seems to be frozen in apprehensive silence, eyes glued to our little gathering in the centre of the arena. Even Mei-Mei and Bran are shooting me an annoyed look.

  Oh, right. There’s still the whole problem of Lust—one of the most dangerous killers in history—still being on the loose. Now that I’ve won and the tournament’s ended, I don’t suppose Lust plans on being super chill and dropping her little rampage, right...?

  “So, uh, what’re you gonna do now?” I ask her.

  “Well, if I have no reason to remain in the stadium, I suppose ‘tis time I lay waste to the city beyond! Gyahaha!”

  Right. Of course it is. This is Lust, after all.

  At her words, Lemon immediately grips her trident in both hands, thrusting the three-pronged weapon at Lust and striking her in the shoulder. With a satisfied grunt, Lust pushes through it, allowing herself to be further impaled so that she can get within grappling range of the armoured woman.

  Dammit, now they’re fighting again.

  Lemon is furiously trying to twist and thrust her spear even deeper into Lust’s upper body, while Lust is happily grappling with the suit of armour, attempting to crush its owner within.

  Well, now what? If Lust carries on like this, she’s going to die. And that would upset Biscuit, so we have to find a way to get her to stop. But the only way Lust is ever going to stop is if she’s killed. But we don’t want that. So...

  No. Wait. There is one way to see Lust through this alive. And that’s to help her.

  Twenty-four years ago, Mom—along with my elder sisters—tore this city apart and turned it into rubble. I was always jealous that I wasn’t able to join them on their rampage, but maybe this is my chance in a way? Sure, I’m a little late to the party, but what’s twenty-four years to a demon that lives forever, right?

  Ah, I kinda wanted to wander around and soak in all of this city’s sights first, but I guess it can’t be helped! Pepper Black is a woman who will tear this entire city to the ground alongside Lust of the Seven, just as my mom and sisters did before me! Fwahaha—!

  As I move to pull the large, armoured woman off of Lust, I’m stopped by the small voice of the wolfgirl by my side.

  “I-if you keep fighting,” she stammers, her soft squeaks directed at Lust. “You’re going to die...”

  “So be it!” Lust chuckles, still grappling with Lemon. “’Twould only be a result of my own weakness!”

  Yeah, the type of person to constantly challenge Mom to a fight is probably not the type of person to be overly concerned with their health. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? It’s a belief that Lust seems to have taken to the extreme. And it’s definitely worked out for her, considering how strong she is and how she might be the only person in this world to have fought Mom and lived. Well, it was working out for her. Up until today, that is...

  “B-But...” Biscuit continues, stepping forward with conviction. “Wouldn’t that be rude?”

  “... What?” Lust immediately stops her struggling, tightly gripping the trident impaled in her shoulder to bring a halt to Lemon’s actions as well. Her full attention is now focused towards the small wolfgirl pleading at her feet. “What would be rude?”

  “Well, you taught me i-it was rude to the other person if you didn’t fight with your f-full strength, right?”

  “Gyahaha! ‘Twould be rude, yes! Which is why I continue to fight, even in this state!”

  “But you were injured before the tournament even s-started...” Whatever point Biscuit has to prove, she continues to push it without letting up.

  “’Tis true. And I have continued to fight at my fullest in spite of it! ‘Twould be rude not to!”

  Biscuit shakes her head. “B-but you’re looking at it the wrong way.”

  “... Hoh?”

  “Just because you’re always giving one hundred percent, doesn’t mean you’re giving others one hundred percent of yourself! If you’re injured before the fight even begins, then you wouldn’t be fighting at full strength at all!”

  “...?!”

  “And if you let yourself die because you started a fight when you weren’t at your best, not only would it be rude to everyone you fought here, it’d also be rude to all the people you’ve fought before and didn’t die to! It would be rude to the Warden, and to big sis Pepper, and to big sis Pepper’s mo— and to Gluttony as well! It would be really rude!”

  At some point, Biscuit’s usually soft-spoken voice had become passionate shouting. I’ve never heard her get this loud before.

  “I-In my opinion... I think...” Suddenly aware of her uncharacteristic boldness after making her point, the embarrassed Biscuit’s voice once again returns to its usual, soft-spoken stutter.

  “...” Lust doesn’t answer. Instead, she slowly pulls the sharp blades from her shoulder with a wet plop and pushes it away from her, back into the confused clasp of the armoured Lemon.

  For the first time since I’ve met her—Lust isn’t smiling.

  Her brow is furrowed in deep thought, and on her face is a troubled frown.

  “I suppose...” she eventually begins, her usual jovial tone now a pained grunt. “I suppose ‘twould be rude of me, yes...”

  “A-and so...?”

  “...” Again, Lust doesn’t answer. Her burnt and battered body sways limply from side to side as her blood continues to spill out across the floor. Her eyes are closed and her expression is fixed into a frown.

  ...

  “Ah,” I comment, in sudden realization. “My back muscles have stopped twitching.”

  “Idiot!” Mei-Mei hisses up at me. “What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

  “It means,” I answer, nodding to the large, muscular woman in front of me. “She’s given up. Lust won’t be fighting any more.”

  At my words, the silence that had fallen across the arena erupts into cheers and applause. Every person across every level of the collapsed stadium—from slave to slaver, and knight to civilian—is celebrating the fall of the powerhouse known as Lust of the Seven. An impossible feat marking a historic event, to be sure.

  Amongst the celebrations, Biscuit tugs desperately at Mei-Mei’s coat. “She’s still bleeding... Can you m-make her better?”

  Hearing her pleas, Lemon scoffs loudly.

  “Do you really think my Lady would allow you to tend to the wounds of this savage? Her choice to surrender is simply a choice to bleed out across the arena instead of being cut down by me.”

  Yeah, I figured it wasn’t going to be that easy.

  “Hm...?” Lemon suddenly leers down at Biscuit, seemingly having noticed something about her. Despite the golden helmet covering her face, the heat of her glare within is unmistakable. “You look familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before?”

  Avoiding her glare, Biscuit nervously ducks behind me without saying a word.

  They’ve met before? Well, whatever the deal is, Biscuit obviously doesn’t want the issue being pushed. And if this golden knight has any complaints about that, then we’ll quickly find out how she likes being pushed instead.

  Speaking of complaints, why the hell is Bran still cowering behind Mei-Mei like that? Lust is out of action, so it’s not like she’s going to try punting him across the arena anytime soon. Which means he’s still scared of the Queen for some reason. Why? What’s his problem with the Queen? Why’s he constantly on guard like she’s going to attack him or something? Somebody as small, cute, and harmless as her. I mean, if anything, it looks like he’d be the one to attack her. But I doubt Bran would— Oh!

  “Fwah! I remember!”

  My sudden outburst steals the attention of those gathered around.

  I finally remember what it is that’s been on the tip of my brain this whole time. The reason why Bran’s been acting so weird lately.

  “That’s right! Bran was in prison for trying to assassinate the Queen! I remember now! So that’s why he’s been trying so hard to avoid her! It all makes sense!”

  Mei-Mei breathes a soft sigh and buries her face in her hand. “Pepper, you stupid... You weren’t supposed to...”

  From behind her, Bran looks simultaneously like he’s afraid of Greed, upset at me, and about to burst into tears at any moment.

  “What?!” Lemon immediately raises her weapon, intent on striking the man with it.

  Oh. Right. My bad.

  “I-i-i-it wasn’t me!” Bran babbles at her from the floor. “There’s been some kind of mistake! I don’t know anything about that! One minute I’m getting kicked out of my own house, and the very next I’m being shipped off to the Spire for something I didn’t even—!”

  “Lies!” Lemon snaps back. “I strictly remember the day somebody attempted to take Lady Kokoro’s life. When the knights were dispatched to search for the culprit, I was told they only found one suspect in the area. That must’ve been you.”

  Surprisingly, despite Lemon brandishing her weapon threateningly at the man, Mei-Mei still hasn’t tried to budge from in between them. Still with that same expression of annoyed indifference that she usually has on her face.

  “Keh!” Mei-Mei scoffs. “You’re saying this snivelling, idiot loser actually made an attempt at the Queen’s life? And it was serious enough that you had to throw him on the ninety-ninth floor of Surstrom Spire instead of laughing at him like the snivelling, idiot loser that he is? Look at him!”

  “Well, it may seem unbelievable, yes. But I was there! I witnessed the attack myself!”

  “You saw him do it? Him?”

  “W-well, I witnessed somebody make an attempt on Lady Kokoro’s life. For some reason, I find it difficult to recall the exact details of the assassin, but it must have been him! He was the only one they found on the premises!”

  “What?! What do you mean you witnessed the attack but you can’t remember...?” Mei-Mei’s voice trails off as she seems to come to some kind of realization. “... Oh.”

  ... Oh?

  Before anybody has a chance to press the issue, Biscuit slowly descends to her knees, and presses her forehead gently against the floor.

  “S-sorry...” she says, prostrating herself in apology towards the group gathered in front of her. “It was me. I was the one who tried to assassinate the Queen.”

  ...

  “... Fweh?”