"Ah, I want to clarify something." Zain said, walking ahead of Evan.
"What?" Evan asked, still following Zain calmly.
"I didn't erase or even blur their memories."
"But those outside the village don't remember you? Even Rian, whom I took there, doesn't remember very clearly." Evan was a little confused by Zain's words.
Zain paused for a moment and turned toward Evan.
Evan also stopped, waiting for Zain's answer.
Zain smiled faintly.
"Those who want to remember will remember, and those who don't need to remember won't."
Evan was stunned for a moment.
"I still don't understand." Evan said with a confused expression.
Zain resumed walking, and Evan followed him again.
As they walked, Zain spoke.
"Hmm... if you were to compare it, it's like a friend and a brother."
"Even if it's a blood relative, if you don't like them or even think anything about them, you'll slowly forget them and they might even be forgotten."
"And even if it's a friend you just met or even if they come from a very far away place, even if you sometimes don't think anything about them, you might suddenly remember them."
Evan who was following behind Zain slightly furrowed his eyebrows contemplating what Zain said.
In the midst of his contemplation, Evan realized something was a little strange.
Along the dark road was lit by the light of fireflies, although not very bright at least they reduced the existing darkness.
Evan looked back.
The dark road, the terrain of the road was uphill and downhill, and the ground was very uneven. Normally, people would have fallen many times if they walked without sufficient lighting or maybe during the day.
But, along the way Evan did not experience any disturbance. He felt as if he was walking on a straight and smooth road.
After a while of walking they stopped.
Evan realized that they had walked quite far from the starting point, they had even left the cemetery area, but strangely he did not feel tired at all.
In the vast grassland, the crescent moon could be seen quite clearly. The wind blew cold enough to make Evan's breath appear white.
Amidst the silence, a sound was heard from afar. Evan looked around, searching for the direction of the sound.
From a distance, he saw something emerging from the ground. Because it was quite dark and a bit far away, Evan couldn't be sure what he was seeing.
The figure slowly approached, shuffling.
Evan saw it, a human figure.
Evan's eyes widened, shocked.
As time went by, the figure grew closer and clearer.
"Zain... what is that...?" Evan asked Zain in a low voice.
The figure walking toward them was a woman with long black hair flowing in disarray, her white wedding dress dirty and tattered.
The creature walked unsteadily. Its face and body were partially destroyed and covered in wounds. There were no eyeballs within its eyelids. Its torn mouth exposed some of its teeth, and it could only emit a terrifying growl.
"Isn't that a zombie...? But there's no black gate here?" Evan asked, confused.
It was the first time he had seen a strange creature other than the one from the gate.
He looked at Zain, who was still standing there.
After a few steps, the zombie ran toward Zain.
Before Evan could shout "watch out," the zombie stopped as if it had hit something.
Evan was shocked and took a few steps back.
As the zombie continued to try to break through the invisible wall, Zain spoke to Evan in a calm tone.
"Evan, do you still remember the abyss from the story I told you?"
"Y-yes, I remember it." Evan replied, stuttering slightly.
"It's a little similar to that." Zain pointed to the zombie.
"But it's also different."
"What do you mean?" Evan asked.
"You know? The abyss really exists even in this world, although it's not as wide open as a chasm."
"But what if I told you there's a door connected to it?"
An image flashed through Evan's mind.
"Are you referring to the black gate?" Evan asked.
"If that's the case, then the reason the black gate releases creatures with dark energy like the Undead and zombies is because of the influence of the abyss?"
"Yes, something like that."
"But Zain, this zombie isn't coming out of the gate." Evan pointed at the zombie in front of him.
The zombie was still growling, its face now looking pitiful.
"Didn't I say a little different earlier?"
In Zain's empty right hand, a long shovel appeared out of thin air. It was the shovel Zain usually carried to funerals.
As Zain was about to lift the shovel, a word was heard.
"Sor..ry... so..rry..."
A word that was indistinct, but audible.
Evan's eyes widened at the sound.
"There's someone who can talk again." Zain muttered.
Without any expression, Zain slashed the zombie woman's head with his long shovel.
The zombie's body and head slowly melted into ash.
Evan couldn't look away. He felt scared, shocked, and confused all at once.
The ashes from the zombie slowly drifted into the air, blending into the night sky.
But the thing that caught his eye the most was...
The figure of a man standing among the flickering fireflies, staring at the spot where the zombie had vanished.
"I really don't want to see that eyes."
With grieving eyes.
Seeing Zain standing there, Evan couldn't say anything.
Zain took a white lily from his shirt pocket.
"Desires, hopes, dreams, and love, everyone has them."
"But what if desire becomes greed, hope becomes despair, dreams become regret, and love becomes hate?"
"That's bound to happen to everyone."
"And if the chains that bind him continue to restrain him even after death..."
The white lily in Zain's hand slowly burned and turned to ash.
Zain threw the ash into the air, where it was swept away by the gusting wind.
"Then the chains will pull him back from the depths of the abyss."
"From the depths of the abyss...?" Evan's face still looked confused.
"Well, actually, not really from the abyss... hmm, how should I put it... ah, more or less, his soul is influenced by the energy of the abyss."
"Their souls are influenced?"
"Yes. Unjust deaths, unfulfilled desires, and so on. When bodies die and disintegrate, they melt into the ground. And indirectly, the natural energy in the world we live in also contains abyssal energy, although it's so small that it's unnoticeable and doesn't even directly affect anything."
"But what if the deceased's soul lingers and, for tens, hundreds, or even thousands of years, continuously mixes with that previously small amount of abyssal energy?" Zain looked at Evan.
Evan thought for a moment.
"Then the body of that soul will be contaminated by the abyss and become undead and zombies?"
Zain nodded in response.
"But Zain, how are they different from those who came from the gate? And it seemed like the zombie was talking." Evan asked Zain with a slightly fearful expression.
"It would be quite a long explanation, so to summarize, those inside the gate are those who have become residents and those who haven't yet become residents."
"Not yet? No, 'not'?"
"Yes, if left long enough, they will become residents."
"So the creatures that emerge from the black gate were once human?"
"More or less like that."
Zain walked closer to Evan.
"Revenge, regret, anger, desire. The Abyss is the embodiment of the darkness of the heart, mind, and the deepest chasms of the world."
"The greatest secret that will never be revealed."
Zain walked past Evan. When Evan turned to follow him, he saw a familiar bench in front of him, with a large tree behind it, swaying in the night breeze.
Putting down his long shovel, Zain sat back down. Evan sat down beside him.
"It's been a long time since I last felt that way." Evan said.
"I still remember that moment, even when you had a confused, ridiculous look on your face." Zain said.
"Please don't say that." Evan covered his face with his hands.
"Evan, do you want to hear a story?"
"What story?"
"A story about a scale."