Chapter 92: Questions

Zayn lay on the ground. Weakly, he pried open his eyes.

‘W-what…?’

The sky above was stained red.

He tried to raise his arm toward it, but a sudden pain shot through his body and pinned him still.

“Auh…”

His eyes slid shut again.

For a few moments, he thought he heard his sister’s voice.

‘My head…’

It was only then that he recognized his mind was drifting away from reality.

‘Where… ah, right.’

And with the painful reality came another reminder: the bliss of death wasn’t a luxury afforded to Zayn Gatlin.

He had things left to do.

Zayn forced his eyes open and listlessly swept his twitching arm over his eyes, trying to wipe away the blood.

‘My limbs… are intact.’

But moving was supremely difficult, as if he’d been tased. No, it felt more like the current was still coursing through him.

‘That explosion… was their trapped Aether.’

So much Aether erupting into the environment at once must have overloaded his core and left his body in this spasming state. The same probably went for everyone else. The few still alive, at least.

He vaguely remembered smacking his head against something, but that wasn’t why his limbs were disobeying.

Zayn slowly rolled onto his side, then forced himself onto his stomach. From there, he wrestled against his aching, spasming muscles and heaved himself upright, gradually finding his footing.

As his gaze climbed, he bore witness to carnage.

‘Ah…’

The graveyard… was gone.

All that remained was the statue at the center.

Bodies and blood carpeted the cracked ground around Zayn. Spilled organs and severed limbs filled his vision wherever he looked.

If any of the unmoving bodies were alive, none made any attempt to show it. Though at least one of them was — Cali. He hadn’t regained any new memories.

But…

‘Maybe it’s a little hasty… to conclude killing a Disaster… gives a Memory Fragment.’

He only had one instance to go off of.

Zayn began staggering toward the statue, pulled onward by an overwhelming concentration of Aether. With the overall Aether density thinned after the specters were destroyed, there was only one remaining area where it still pooled so densely.

‘As I thought…’

With his vision blurry and veiled by blood, it was hard to make out, but he saw it… At the base of the statue rested a thick stone tablet.

All of the vines that had been hiding it had been torn away in the bloody skirmish.

Dropping to his knees, Zayn slowly reached toward it.

[You have received Divine Relic: Larzac Tablet]

‘Divine…’

Zayn studied the crumbling stone in his hand and skimmed its description, which was barely worth noting. Then he read over its ability, which he already knew: it would reveal a truth.

He could ask it any question he wanted, and it would answer with the complete, unbiased truth.

There was one problem, however…

It had a limited number of uses.

And of the five total, only one remained.

He had far too many questions to choose from.

Zayn turned around and settled his back against the base of Adsagsona’s statue. Tilting his head up, his eyes found the sky, still blurry and partially red.

‘What… do I ask it?’

Zayn knew exactly what the smart answer was…

Nothing.

Save the question until he genuinely needed an answer that only the Larzac Tablet could provide. Spending its final charge on curiosity would be a waste.

Knowing that didn’t stop questions from crowding his thoughts or quiet his gnawing curiosity.

Should he ask it who the Disasters were?

‘But what would it give me… names?’

Probably… And names were useful, but only to a point. Not everyone went by their real name here. Some used nicknames, while others only gave their first names and never shared a surname.

Knowing the names would help narrow his search, but it wouldn’t tell him who those people actually were.

Worse…

It might be detrimental.

What if learning their names caused all the blanks on the Task to fill in?

Right now, the unidentified Disasters were blank. If Zayn identified one himself by touching them, he’d naturally be close enough to see their face. That gave him two ways to recognize them afterward: name and appearance.

But if the Tablet simply replaced the [???] with names…

He might lose that advantage.

The Task might not tell him he’d touched a Disaster if he already had their name, since they were technically already identified.

He could also inquire about Earth.

Ask what was happening there. Why they’d been summoned as ‘Earth’s Last Hope.’

That was likely the question most others would ask the Tablet.

However…

Zayn was destined to learn the answer eventually as long as he kept living. Using the Tablet on something time would reveal anyway would be nothing more than impatience.

There were many more questions that could be dismissed by the same logic. Questions that offered little value in the present.

Still…

The question Zayn wanted to ask most fell under this category.

‘What… is a Disaster?’

It was something he’d learn in time as he recovered his memories or discovered more about them. And in the grand scheme of things, knowing wasn’t necessary. Zayn needed only concern himself with killing the Disasters.

Not why he had to.

But…

Knowing…

Knowing the ‘why’ would give him purpose.

What would they become? Why did they have to die? Was their fate changeable?

Because if they were simply fated to turn evil in the future… Zayn would rather work to prevent that future than kill them before it happened.

However…

If there was a concrete reason for the Disaster title — something fundamental and unchangeable about them that would truly threaten humanity — killing them wouldn’t become easier…

But at least the reason driving him wouldn’t feel so flimsy.

He wouldn’t have to walk such a narrow line between morality and consequence.

Maybe he’d be able to take the first true step into villainy.

Not simply committing the villainous acts.

But, before he made such a hasty decision, he tried to think up other questions or possibly better uses for it.

After all…

This thing should be strong enough to tell the Truth of Origin. It could spill the secrets of the gods that not even time would tell.

While such lofty concerns seemed undeserving of him at the moment, he did want to get back at them in the future…

Understanding those cosmic entities would help him achieve that goal. Or, at least, assess if that revenge was achievable at all.

He could also ask more practical questions like the best god he would be able to Contract with.

He could also ask what Minor Trials he should take to grow strong as quickly as possible…

Questions begot questions in Zayn’s head as his view rolled left to right as he tried to clear his eyes.

‘Should I save it… after all?’

It seemed a little hasty to ask a question while delirious from the absolute mayhem that had just happened.

A sudden groan sounded from near the treeline off to his left.

Narrowing his eyes, he looked at the person who writhed around on the floor.

‘It’s her…’

Cali Bracknell, the Disaster he’d identified in the heat of battle.

Despite having no further interaction with her than that or when he’d been giving the whole group orders, she seemed kind.

Much like the other Disasters.

Amidst the current savage scenery, Zayn could go over and execute her, and no one would be the wiser. Even if someone witnessed it, he could claim it was a mercy execution.

In some ways, that was even the truth. Rather than letting her continue to suffer in this hell hole, destined to die in the future, he could relieve all her burdens in a mere blink.

As far as he knew, if any others lived and had awoken, they were likely in shock due to the Aether overload. The most they’d be able to do was roll their eyes around.

Even then, they were all in divots or miniature trenches.

The only real problem Zayn would have to face was his own uncoordinated body.

He’d barely staggered over to the statue; there was no way he’d make it to her any time soon.

‘I don’t even know… where my falx is.’

Though there were plenty of weapons surrounding him.

Still, Zayn’s mind circled back to his question as Cali continued to groan and moan.

Once again, he lacked the drive to go over and kill her, as somewhere in his heart, he saw the action as needless violence.

‘Screw it…’

No more hesitation.

Feeding the Larzac Tablet his Aether, Zayn whispered:

“In accordance… with my unique Task, what is… a Disaster?”