Chapter 286: Zalo’s Downfall Is Inevetable

Sarah opened her eyes slowly to the sound of a fireplace roasting next to her. She was resting inside a luxurious red chair, her clothes looked pristine and well-cleaned, there was a small table next to her that housed an assortment of all kinds of food and sweets. There was another chair sitting across from her next to the fire, completely empty.

"Where... am I?"

She looked around the room slowly. The room was massive with large windowpanes letting in the darkness of the sky, red curtains hanging on each side. It snowed lightly against the windows with no sound of wind pressing against the walls. Everything was strangely quiet, strangely peaceful. As she tried to stand up, she noticed there was a blanket resting over her lap. She folded it neatly before placing it over the arm of her chair.

"Hello?"

No response. She picked up one of the sweets from the tray sitting next to her and studied it.

"That one is a personal favorite of mine."

Sarah jumped and shot her head backwards in the direction of the sound. Sitting in the once-empty chair was a man with bandages covering every part of his body. His clothes looked extremely fancy. The style was unlike anything Sarah had ever encountered before. The man’s head appeared to be staring into the dancing flames while he talked.

"It’s called an eclair. They are chocolate dessert with white cream filling. I must say that they are always very popular whenever I make them."

"E-Eclair? Who are you? What is this place? Wasn’t I just in a jungle? What are you wearing? Are you from this new condiment?"

The man calmly put his fingers together, still looking into the fire.

"Ahh. You have never seen a suit before. And I believe the word you’re looking for is continent, Sarah."

Sarah’s heart dropped a little.

"How do you know my name?"

A small silence hung in the air before the bandaged man responded. He turned himself to look outside the windows at the snow falling peacefully.

"I’ve always loved this view. I never grow tired of it, really. Haven’t you ever wondered what it’s like to be a snowflake? Gently falling from the sky, letting the wind guide you freely, and in the end, you are used to create something greater than yourself with the help of everyone around you. Do you ever wonder what our world would look like if we acted like snowflakes? Surviving the troubles of a restless breeze our whole life, only to come together in the end?"

Sarah shook her head.

"Where are my friends?"

The bandaged man finally appeared to turn his head in her direction.

"Hmm. Please, sit down and have a discussion with me."

"I don’t want to talk with you. You’re creeping me out."

"Unfortunately, that wasn’t a request. That was a demand. Now please sit."

Suddenly, a wave of terror rushed over Sarah’s soul. Her knees began to shake seeing the man in front of her. He was anything but normal. She had never felt such a strong presence before, not even with the rebirth of Zalo. Too afraid to do anything else, Sarah sat back down in her chair. She stared blankly into the fire, refusing to look at the man anymore.

"Try an Eclair. It may soothe your nerves a bit."

Sarah refused to move a muscle. She squeaked out a small response.

"I-Is that a command?"

"No. I apologize for scaring you. I simply need you to listen."

The bandaged man sat up from his chair and walked over towards Sarah slowly. With each step, the sound of his dress shoes would echo off the hard floors. He stood right in front of her for a few moments, standing straight up. Sarah refused to look at him in his bandaged face.

Suddenly, he bent down and brought his face close to hers. Sarah’s eyes widened being so close to his bandages.

"Tell me..."

He tilted his head a bit.

"Do you think I’m a monster? Is that why you are scared? Do you think I want to hurt you?"

Sarah shook her head.

"Perhaps I am hard of hearing, but I did not hear you say anything."

"N-No."

He clapped his hands together loudly, causing Sarah to flinch and stifle a scream.

"Wonderful. You see, I have this problem, Sarah. Someone has appeared to have looked at something that they should have no business viewing."

He stood up slowly and walked back to his chair before sitting down and staring off into the distance.

"Now, I consider myself to be a very reasonable person. However, I don’t think allowing this person to live would be very beneficial for anyone and well, we both agreed that I’m not a monster just now, so that would make me more inclined to go through with it. What do you think, Sarah? Does this person deserve life?"

"I... don’t know."

"Are saying you are conflicted? Do you think breaking into someone’s house and taking something that isn’t theirs shouldn’t be punished?"

"T-They can be punished, just not killed."

"MARVELOUS!!"

The bandaged man threw his arms into the arm expressively before folding his hands together while staring at her.

"You should enjoy some sweets. Really, it’s the least I can do for you before I rid that thing from your head."

Sarah’s eyes widened.

"Thing in my head?"

"Hmm. That knowledge of that plaque you harbor in your mind. I can see it etched between every crevice in your brain. I will be taking it back from you."

Sarah’s mind warped back to what she saw on the plaque, each word brining her more anguish and hopelessness as she read.

"The truth..."

The bandaged man nodded his head.

"The truth. However, I have a small gripe with you, did you know that? Did my actions make it clear? If not, let me ask you the thing I am most curious of."

He leaned off his chair, his expressionless covered face staring through her soul.

"How is it possible you were the one who read the plaque and not Lidia?"

Sarah’s fear was slowly being replaced by confusion.

"I volunteered myself."

"You volunteered."

The bandaged man leaned in closer.

"That blonde girl you are always with. What’s her name?"

Something inside of Sarah was screaming at her to not say it, so she decided to grab an eclair from the tray next to her and chew it lightly.

"This is a really good dessert. I’ll be taking my punishment now."

"Interesting. You are smarter than I thought you were. Will you not tell me her name because you cannot remember it?"

He leaned back in his chair as a wave of inexplicable power emitted from his body and began suffocating Sarah.

"Or because you know I don’t know what it is?"

He stood up from his chair and grabbed Sarah’s hair before yanking it backward.

"Tell me."

Sarah screamed out in pain.

"Who is that woman?!"

Her hair felt like it was on fire. She could feel every follicle being ripped from her skull each passing moment. However, she refused to give in. She was willing to lay down her life if it meant protecting Sqaubee’s identity.

"... Squabee? What an odd name."

The man let go. Sarah looked at him distraught.

’W-What?! But how?! I never even imagined her name?! Where did he... how did he find out?! Who is this man?!’

"Before I let you go, there is a thing I must tell you. Firstly, I will be taking back all your memories you had of the truth. Secondly, I will be taking your eyesight as punishment for what you have done."

He slapped her across the face before walking away and staring down one last time inside the fire that was slowly dying.

"Lastly, hear me when I say this: Zalo’s downfall is inevitable. The Great Serpent’s downfall is inevitable. The Frost Monarch’s downfall is inevitable. Nothing, not even your mistake, will change that. Until next time, Sarah."

The bandaged man grabbed on to her eyes with both his wrapped hands. Sarah screamed out in pain. Her mind became numb, her voice became weak, and her body went limp.

Suddenly, she shot up in Lidia’s arms. Her world was black. She tried opening her eyes, she could feel her eyelids moving, but there was nothing for her to see. The last image burned into her brain was that of a bandaged man. She called out in front of her.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

Lidia woke up from her rest and stared at Sarah.

"Sarah! You’re finally awake! I’m so glad!"

She wrapped Sarah in a large bearhug. Sarah become smothered by her instantly.

"Lidia? Is that you? It’s so dark in here I can’t see a thing. Do you mind glowing a little bit for me?"

Lidia suddenly stopped celebrating. The air went cold around them.

"Sarah... I... can’t."

"You can’t? Did you lose your powers?"

"No, Sarah. When you read the plaque, something bad happened to you. You started freaking out and passed out. I carried you back to Maria and Jacob, but when they saw your powers..."

Lidia couldn’t bring herself to finish. Jacob’s familiar voice sounded in Sarah’s ear.

"I’m sorry, Sarah. You lost your vision for a price of reading whatever plaque was down there. But in return for that, you have been blessed with astonishing healing powers. The only issue is you can’t use your own hands to heal yourself. I’m truly sorry we couldn’t have been down there to prevent that from happening."

Sarah felt hopeless, but she was strangely expecting this kind of risk to occur when going for more power. She knew it was a risk, and yet she still went for it anyway. She had almost no right to complain. Besides, Sarah had never been one to back down from a massive change in her life. She went from being a chef to one of Paria’s strongest soldiers, two completely different lines of work. If she could manage that, she could manage her blindness somehow.

Despite the sorrow that still filled her heart, she managed to put on a smile.

"I want to try these new powers. Does anyone need to be healed?"

Jacob dropped his severed leg in Sarah’s hand. It was a good thing she didn’t see the state everyone was in, because she would have been horrified. Lidia was missing a hand, had only one eye, and her hair was beyond messy. Slimo was paralyzed from the waist down and needed Squabee to carry him while he laid unconscious with blood seeping from his head. Maria was missing her lower jaw and couldn’t even speak while her arms and legs had a myriad of deep gashes on them. Squabee was the only one in the group besides Sarah who wasn’t injured. Jacob chuckled weakly.

"A little bit of healing would be nice."