Two Conditions

In the room with only the dim light from the candles shining through, Zach began to regain his expression as he nodded slowly to the question of Jack Miller, the high priest.

Jack rubbed the symbol with his thumb slowly. Leaving no strange marks, it looked irreversible.

Zach, who almost lost himself because of his own doubts about his sanity, started to move and improve his position. He sat down and then stood up slowly.

"Your Highness, I swear I will never do the thing I am accused of!" Zach tried to convince.

But the expression that Jack Miller showed was doubtful. His black eyes showed a hint of shock and pity.

At this moment, Zach felt an abnormal heat on his back. His head was buzzing again along with the sound of exploding sounds like fireworks continuously screaming in his head.

And when he opened his eyes again, Jack Miller was not in the room. The room was sealed shut leaving only a chaotic place.

On the floor in front of Zach there is a bloodstain that points to the door of the room. The wall seemed to have a hole nearly one meter deep and ten centimeters wide.

The scratch marks on the walls, doors and floors and roofs were clearly visible in Zach's eyes. Only then did he realize in his mouth he was biting a human finger.

The finger wore a bronze ring with the name engraved on it. "Millers!"

Zach spat it out in obvious confusion.

"Fingers? Human fingers? Why are they in my mouth?" Panicked, Zach took a few steps back.

Then, the door opened again. A man with slightly gray hair entered slowly. Showing off his tall figure. It's Jack Miller.

"What are you doing to me?" Zach couldn't help asking. His expression was erratic, the bloodstain on the corner of his lips still clearly visible.

"You learned about the shadow creatures from your captain, Dellon." Jack leaned against the cracked wall as he closed the door.

"Is that why you said that it was the shadow creatures who slaughtered the people in the church? Mm, that's true. It was the shadow creatures who massacred the people in the church." Jack took a cigar and took a slow puff.

Zach could only watch Jack Miller slowly raise his left hand, One of his fingers was missing!

Jack took out a stack of paper filled with black and white drawings. It he threw at Zach just like that.

Zach glanced at the picture with a confused face. It was a fairly clear image even using monochrome colors.

It was the sight of a black creature with red eyes seemingly rampaging and ravaging the room just like that. The pictures are indeed separate, but looking at them one by one, Zach is able to put together and know the big picture of what is happening.

Then at the very bottom of the pile of images, there are some pretty gruesome images. It was the image of a black shadowy figure with red eyes slowly receding, the black shadow slowly fading and turning into human skin.

It actually turned into a human!

And what amazed Zach was that it was him!

"High priestess... is there any meaning behind this?"

Then at this time he started to get fragments of memories fused together. The moment where he pulled the trigger of the priest's revolver in the confessional and finished off the priest.

The moment when part of his body was swallowed up by a black shadow while shooting all the people in the church using the same revolver.

The moment where he brutally bit high priest Jack Miller's finger in this room with his body partially covered in black shadow.

It coalesced and made Zach puke on the spot.

Test! Test!

Drops of vomited water gradually came out of his mouth. At this time he began to shed tears because of disbelief of what happened.

Then he remembered what happened to Vilion when he changed to astral. He also acted like he didn't know what was going on, as if they couldn't remember what actually happened when the shadow devoured them.

In that short silence, Jack Miller puffed out a puff of smoke then said casually, "Under normal circumstances, you would be executed to minimize the threat of the shadow creatures."

Zach breathed fast as he looked at Jack Miller who was smoking his cigar casually.

"However if what I think is true then... looks like you still have hope of surviving".

Zach needed some time to sort his mind out. Digesting what Jack Miller said, "I astralized!?" Zach lifted his head and lowered the corners of his lips while wiping his mouth.

"Well, knowledge about astral or shadow creatures is now fading among the people. People who have been devoured by shadows cannot be healed and must be exterminated"

"At least this is what trusted by the top brass now. What's worse, ordinary people don't even have adequate knowledge about these shadow creatures."

Zach was silent for a moment listening to what Jack Miller said. "What will happen to me?" After a while with a trembling voice Zach asked.

"Under normal circumstances you will fully astralize." Jack Miller dropped the cigarette down and left the room.

Upon re-entering, He threw a wooden crate with a metal handle and the Clourfuss symbol on it.

"You activated the Clourfuss special symbol. Seeing your reaction, you have no idea about this, but I'm sure you have an idea about this"

"There is a way to get rid of the shadow creatures in your body. That is if you are indeed related to the "Clourfuss Blood". If you are willing I can help you on two certain conditions."

Seeing hope, Zach couldn't refuse. Haltingly he stared at the wooden crate in front of him and said, "Please help me! Whatever the conditions, I will do it."

"There are two conditions that you must fulfill. The first is to kill yourself." Jack Miller's words stopped there when he saw Zach's confused look.

"In other words, Kill Zach Alfred! And become a new individual"

"Second condition, if you are related to the "Clourfuss Blood" then follow your destiny. Protect the Stonefield Continent from the cruel Dark Ages."

"Of course on the premise that you really do have Clourfuss blood in your veins"

Zach thought for a moment, and stopped at the main point. "Killing Zach Alfred and becoming a new person? Does that mean I have to leave my current life?" Zach looked up.

"Yes" The short answer from Jack Miller was enough to make Zach speechless. There was nothing he could do about this. After his experience some time ago, Zach knows that there is a mysterious power that makes him go back in time every time he dies. That he can confirm after Jack Miller gave a brief explanation.

It's not an illusion or a hallucination. The only problem is that he turned into an astral. However, this does not make Zach unafraid of death.

If he becomes astral, then he is not considered death, on the contrary he will live on even if his mind is gone. That closed the possibility for him to return to the past.

But it's not an easy decision. If he leaves his current life, it means he will leave his family. Including his wife Emma. And regarding the second point, Zach doesn't really understand. The fate of a Clourfuss, he felt that he had read that part in a mysterious book but in the end he only remembered it vaguely.

"I'll give you time to think, if you agree to that condition. Knock on the door three times. Well, that's on the premise that you don't fully astral before then." Jack Miller exited the room, closed the door and left a lingering silence.