Chapter 46: Steel Your Heart

It was the morning of the day they’d raid the Goblin King’s castle.

Zayn sat against the base of a colossal Obsidian Tree.

Everyone else was devouring rations and preparing to face the azure castle filled to the brim with goblins.

Of course, Zayn’s mind was occupied with something else.

After Zayn’s last episode of neurosis, which had led to his disillusionment with himself, forcing him to see and accept his hypocrisy, he had met up with Amaya a few times. During those meetings, Zayn’s silence broke, and he spilled the beans about what he had discovered: Axel was the disaster he had first found, and Shin Hae-Ryung was another.

He was a little hesitant about telling Amaya, but he needed to for the sole reason of having someone to confide in and share the burden of knowledge.

Amaya just so happened to be the perfect candidate.

She was a weird one, sure. But she was perfectly weird for Zayn.

She didn’t seem to be keen on helping Zayn with his murder plots, but neither did she do anything to dissuade or stop him.

As for spilling the secret of the disasters’ identities...

It wasn’t like he had kept it hidden well either way.

Amaya had long since figured out that Axel was the disaster Zayn had found thanks to Zayn’s weird obsession with looking at him. She’d only been surprised by Shin Hae-Ryung.

Throughout their talks, Amaya usually didn’t do anything but listen or tease Zayn. But that was all Zayn wanted and needed out of her.

Zayn gazed up at the bright sky.

Amaya’s soft voice caressed his ears from the other side of the tree:

"Are you going to kill him now?"

Zayn replied quietly:

"You make it sound so dirty."

Well, it was dirty. A filthy, atrocious deed he was morally forced to do for humanity and the world he hated.

’Long live the hypocrite.’

Zayn waited, expecting one of her usual quips in response.

When Amaya remained silent, he continued:

"Hopefully, I can get the Goblin King to do it for me."

Amaya slowly responded, stating a fact that was hard to swallow:

"Axel’s too strong for that. If Axel is to die, everyone else will certainly perish first. You will most likely have to do it yourself. On the other hand... all of the witnesses..."

Zayn choked on his words a little, but he managed to spit them out:

"I-if I can do it undetected, I’ll take that path. However..."

Zayn’s mind trailed off and dipped into what he feared most.

The future was uncertain. None of them had any idea what would come after they slew the Goblin King. If he got Axel killed or even killed Axel himself, and there was even a single witness... he’d have to survive in this foreign world while constantly on the run and hunting down more disasters.

Or he’d have to do something drastic.

Amaya’s voice broke him out of his trance:

"What about the girl?"

Zayn asked:

"Hae-Ryung?"

"Who else would I be referring to?"

"What do you mean...? What about her?"

Amaya candidly replied:

"Don’t act ignorant."

’Ah, how harsh...’

If he was going to kill all the disasters, then that included the girl with doll-like porcelain skin and sleek black hair.

Was he going to kill her during the raid, too?

After Zayn’s short internal deliberation, he responded:

"She’s not the most pressing threat at hand, but if my cover is already blown—"

A shout made him stop mid-sentence.

Maks was screaming at them:

"Zayn, Amaya! We’re leaving soon!"

Amaya stood up first and walked around the tree, standing in front of Zayn, where she showed off her beautiful, tanned skin, wavy dark hair — although now it was a little matted — and the eyes of a huntress.

Zayn would have instantly fallen for her if it weren’t for the fact that it had been over three weeks since any of them had taken a shower...

That, and she was scary.

Amaya stared at Zayn and said:

"Well, you won’t have my assistance, but you’ll have my silence. And, word to the wise... whatever choice you make, just don’t regret it."

Zayn watched the beautiful woman whom he was using to trauma-dump and relieve some of his burden walk off.

He still wasn’t sure which side Amaya was ultimately on, but he had a feeling she’d continue to play the role of spectator for now.

After an extra minute of staring at the vast sky of radiant blue shielded by the canopy of black leaves, the hypocrite rose to his feet and marched toward death...

Wishing it were his own.