Chapter 93: Unprovoked Confession

Zayn whispered:

“What is… a Disaster?”

The tablet began to glow faintly. Then, words etched themselves across the stone.

One after another, unfamiliar words appeared, yet his mind understood them. It wasn’t [Fall of Babel] at work, but something else. Though little was written on the tablet, far more was conveyed directly to his mind.

Zayn gulped as he repeated the message in his head…

‘A Disaster is an entity whose soul harbors a demonic seed — the dormant essence of one of the sixteen Primordial Demons. The seed gradually takes root within its host, feeding upon their soul and corrupting their Aether as it matures. As its influence deepens, the host may begin to inherit fragments of the demon’s nature, abilities, instincts, and even memories.’

‘Given sufficient time and nourishment, the seed will fully germinate. At that point, the host’s soul and identity will be consumed, turning their existence into the vessel through which the Primordial Demon is reborn into the world.’

[Divine Relic, Lazarc Tablet, has been destroyed!]

The tablet crumbled into dust. Its remains scattered on the light wind.

‘So… A Disaster is not merely an individual destined to become a demon. They’re the incubation ground for one.’

And a ‘Primordial Demon’ didn’t sound like something humanity wanted to face. The title alone suggested that the Task’s threat wasn’t hollow — that even one surviving Disaster could doom humanity.

Killing… ‘Hunting’ the Disasters really was the correct option.

Zayn’s expression remained blank.

Then…

‘Status.’

??????

Zayn Gatlin

Age: 22 | Gender: Male

Contractor: [ – – – ]

[Aether Core]

[Rank: Nascent] – (Progression: 6.34%)

[Tasks]

[Defend the Town of Adsagsona From the Monster Invasion] – (Progression: 57%)

[Hunt Disasters] – {Failure: Human Extinction} — (Disasters identified – Cynthia Vespertine, Shin Hae-Ryung, Cali Bracknell ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???) – (Disasters Slain: 1/16)

[???]

[Skills]

[Fall of Babel]

[Second Chance]

[Relics]

[Twist of Fate]

[Adsagsona’s Diary]

[Afflictions]

[???] – (Progression: 0.01%)

[Memory Suppression] – (Memory fragments recovered: 1/12)

??????

Zayn bit his lip.

‘I see.’

His expression stayed frozen, his gaze dropping to the hands that had held the tablet only moments before.

He didn’t know how long he stared at the bloodied mud below, as if searching for some lie buried within the truth.

A light laugh slipped from Zayn’s mouth.

“Ha…”

Another followed.

“Haha….”

Then came several more, each shakier than the last, as tears forced their way from his eyes.

“Hahahahaha…”

His laughter abruptly stopped when warmth enveloped him. Two trembling arms wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him close.

As he was hugged tightly, Zayn’s thoughts drifted to his mother and his longing to feel her comforting embrace.

A shaky voice came from the owner of those warm hands.

“Z-zayn… it’s not your fault.”

Zayn’s eyes widened as Cali nearly collapsed beside him. He caught her before she could fall and eased her down at his side.

“Cali…”

For some reason, just saying her name seemed to affect her the same way her embrace had affected him. Her shaking didn’t stop, but it eased as she looked into his gray eyes.

Zayn quietly asked:

“Is… anyone else alive?”

The girl took a few shaky breaths before replying…

“Yeah…”

She nodded toward Zayn’s other side. There, he saw the man named Elijah sitting with his back against a tree, looking back at them. He smiled awkwardly and gave them a weak wave — the leather glove he wore on his left hand covered in blood. A nasty gash split his abdomen.

‘Ah…’

Zayn’s resolve was anything but iron… but the mold meant to shape it had already been cast. All he had to do was burn away the attachments holding him back. Then, perhaps, he could forge himself into the perfect vessel of carnage needed to complete the task.

But…

Zayn had barely been given a moment to process any of it.

“Cali… I have an odd question.”

Cali pulled away from the hug and took a breath as she adjusted where she sat.

“Ask anything… please do. Distract me.”

Zayn bit his lip, then whispered:

“If you had to kill someone to save the world, could you do it?”

Utterly confused, Cali stared at him. Her black hair was messy and clung to the blood on her face as her blue eyes searched for some reason behind the nonsensical question.

Finding none, she answered anyway.

“If I had to answer… then probably, yeah. I mean, if they were threatening the world, they’d have to be evil. Look around…”

Cali’s expression darkened as her eyes locked back onto Zayn, trying to ignore the sea of their comrades’ blood and innards strewn across the ground around them. She quietly added:

“If something could cause this… I’d rather stop it before it could.”

Zayn frowned.

“But… what if they weren’t evil? What if someone else would use their life to destroy the world? Would you still kill them?”

Cali’s eyes stayed fixed on Zayn’s.

“Zayn, why… Why are you speaking as if you’re experiencing this dilemma?”

“…Because I am.”

Zayn’s words escaped before he could stop himself — before he could reconsider.

Consequences didn’t matter to his bleeding heart.

He wanted… needed someone to listen.

Right here, right now.

Zayn added:

“When I was first summoned here, I had an additional task no one else had. The task told me to find sixteen Disasters and kill them.”

“At first, I had no idea what it meant. Then I found out the Disasters it was talking about were people. Humans. When I touched someone during my Trial, the system revealed them as a Disaster. That was it — their name and the fact that they were a Disaster. And I was supposed to kill them based on that alone? Only a psychopath would agree to something like that. Haha…”

Zayn forced a laugh, but Cali’s expression stayed vacant. There was nothing funny in his words.

Zayn didn’t care.

He kept going.

“I wanted to reject the quest and forget about it, but here’s the kicker: if I failed, it said humanity would go extinct. Sure, maybe the whole thing was fake. Maybe it was some cruel joke. But if I chose not to believe it and humanity really did die because of that choice… then that would be on me, would it not?”

His mind wouldn’t let him stop.

“Pft. Hold on, because it just kept getting better! One would think if a human was labeled a ‘Disaster’ and a ‘threat to humanity,’ they would be evil — but no, they were not evil in any way. Isn’t it so goddamned funny? I have to kill innocent people to save the world…”

Zayn craned his head back, blood still marring his vision.

“So, I had no choice but to do as I was told. I killed an innocent man in cold blood, but no, apparently that wasn’t enough for me. To selfishly hide my crime, I let others die to a monster. I even killed one myself… Just to kill one person, four others died with him. I even tricked someone into becoming my accomplice after killing his lover and blaming it on the man. And think — that was only one Disaster out of sixteen. I have to do it fifteen more times. Hahahaha.”

The moment the last laugh left his mouth, Zayn understood killers a little more.

He understood why they confessed their crimes to someone.

Killers…

They wanted to be caught.

Not because they wanted to go to prison, but simply because they needed another to know what they had done.

Zayn spoke through his teeth.

“I swear I haven’t told a lie! Hurry, run away! Report what I’ve told you!”

A few tears rolled down Cali’s face as she said:

“Are you telling me because I’m one of these Disasters and you’re about to kill me and everyone else here? If that’s the case, then… then I’ll do it myself. No one else here has to be harmed any more than they already have. As my duty to you and humanity, I’ll give up my life.”

‘W-what…?’

Zayn stammered:

“W-wait, n-no. Stop. It was a joke. A crude joke.”

“Then I die a fool.”

Cali spoke boldly as she drew the dagger strapped to her waist.

Zayn quickly lunged forward, clamping his hand over the hilt.

“Well, you’re mistaken. I’m not telling you because of that… I’m telling you because you seem kind. Because if someone as kind as you could sympathize with me, then maybe, somehow, I could believe I’m still worthy of forgiveness. But, of course, I have no intention of stopping and letting humanity go extinct.”

For some reason… Zayn asked:

“So, let me ask again. If you had to kill sixteen innocent people to save the world, could you do it?”

Cali continued to cry, her tears mixing with the blood streaking her face.

“No… no, I don’t think I could.”

She swallowed.

“But… but if it had to be done, I don’t think I’d be able to bring myself to protect the sixteen people either.”

“Ah…”

‘I knew it. You are a good person.’

Zayn gave her a pained smile.

“Would you consider joining Camelot? The guild I’m in?”

“Huh… Why would you want that? Are you not afraid I’ll tell your allies what you told me?”

Zayn shook his head.

“I need you. I need you to watch over me and make sure I don’t go crazy. If I ever go too far, I need someone who will stop me. I want you to be that person.”

Amaya and Maks… might egg him on. Or perhaps try to help him in other ways. If Zayn’s mind ever crossed the threshold of sanity, he didn’t count on either of them to drag him back. If anything, those two might only push him deeper into depravity.

Naturally… the ‘primary’ reason was to keep the Disasters in one place.