Parallel Memory

-CLANG!

My hand trembled when clashing with the Devil. Since I have taken that Destruction Ball, my body has not been able to keep up with the Devil.

It was already hard for me to fight with Viscount Devil but now that I am injured, it does not look very favorable to me. Then also, I dragged my injured body and fought with the Devil.

-SLASH! -SLASH!

Xalvar attacked Zero aggressively. Right now, he was using most of his strength and pushing back Zero.

With Viscount Devil's power, Zero was not able to keep up with Xalvar. Xalvar increased the intensity of his attack as he began to injure Zero more and more.

-CLANK!

Xalvar solely focused on Zero. He even seemed to forget that he was there to help Ostrimor who was getting his ass beaten down by Professor Mia and Professor Theo.

[ "StarShatterer Style: Void Destruction" ]

[ "Imperial Spear Style: Imperial Strike" ]

The moment Zero was being bombarded by Xalvar's attack, two people jumped in and helped him. Well, he knew who those two were judging from their attacks.

-BANG!

Xalvar, who had been taken in surprise by the sudden appearance of Hiro and Zion, could not react in time and was knocked onto the wall.

"Zero!"

I turned my head to see who was calling my name. Unexpectedly, Sylvia and Lisa were also there. Well, I was thankful for their help though I didn't understand why they were there.

[ "Hygieia Blessing: Compassionate Light" ]

Lisa immediately rushed over and healed Zero. Zero was grateful for that as he was really injured. He took out the healing potion and mana potion and drank them. With Lisa's healing, Zero's condition improved a lot.

"I thought you had escaped by now?"

Zero asked.

Professors had already taken the students and I thought that they should have reached the safe area by now. He didn't understand why they were back.

"There was a problem with the route and we are trying to find another path."

Sylvia answered.

After running away from Lilith, they were met with another dead end. The path from the west was blocked by Lilith while the path from the south, Rank-As, and Rank-Bs Devil Contractors, was fighting with the professors.

After deliberating for a long time, the students decided to separate and try to find another path. There were three routes from which they could escape.

The first one was from the training ground, but there was a Devil there as well. Another route was where Professors were fighting and the last one was where Lilith was present. All the escape routes have been blocked by their enemies.

Therefore, the students returned back. While others were trying to check the situation with other professors, Hiro and his group were trying to see whether the training group was safe and had come to check.

However, as soon as they came near the area, they could hear the sound of battle. When they were close enough, they could see Zero fighting with a Devil.

They didn't understand why Zero was here. As they escaped, they did not see him with them when they escaped but because they knew about his strength, they didn't bother searching for him. They didn't expect him to be fighting a Viscount Devil.

Moreover, the state of Zero was not very good. His body was seriously injured.

Just judging from the state Zero was in, they believed that his opponent was very powerful. They know that Zero could easily handle Rank-B opponents, which meant that the enemy was stronger than Rank-B.

Then also, they immediately rushed to help.

[ "Athena Blessing: Reinforce strength" ]

Lisa immediately increased Hiro and Zion's strength before they went and knocked Xalvar down. Since they had attacked when the enemy was unaware of them, they managed to land a solid hit.

Sylvia finished explaining the problem that they faced.

"..."

Listening to Syliva's words, Zero fell into deep thoughts.

( Looks like the Devils are serious! )

Since all the routes are filled with Devils and Devil Contractors, Zero realized that the Devils have really launched a large-scale attack on Ace Academy.

( This is completely different from the novel that I know. )

In the novel, although there were attacks on the Ace Academy, the timing was not right. It was only when MC Hiro reached his third year that Devil slowly began attacking Ace Academy.

( Moreover, what is the objective of the Devils? )

Zero tried to think of the reason that Devil attacked Ace Academy.

While Devils had always been on sour terms with Ace Academy as it was a birthplace of many heroes, they were not someone who would mindlessly attack this place.

In the novel, they only attack Ace Academy with the main objective of killing Hiro who had been destroying their plans one after another. Thinking that Hiro would become a thorn in their path, they decide to kill him with the whole Ace Academy.

However, the objectives do not seem to be the same this time, or else, just like in the novel, many enemies would be engaging with Hiro. However, there were no enemies currently chasing him.

Which meant that their objective this time was not Hiro but someone else.

"Keke… Trying to sneak attack!"

However, Xalvar was not going to let Zero think for a long period. Xalvar had been smashed into the wall but he came out without a scratch. There was no sign of Hiro or Zion attacks either.

While Hiro and Zion's attacks were powerful but with Devil skin which is very tough, those attacks hardly did any damage. Xalvar just felt their attack like some strong wind.

If not for being unaware of the attack, Xalvar would not even have moved from his initial position.

-WHOOSH!

Xalvar suddenly disappeared from their vision. Hiro and Zion who were the closest to Xalvar were confused and looked around trying to figure out where Xalvar went.

"ABOVE!!!"

Zero shouted.

He was the only one capable of seeing Xalvar's movement. Xalvar speed was only interpreted as teleportation by others.

!!!

The two of them immediately looked up.

"Too late!"

-BANG!

However, just like Xalvar said, it was too late. Xalvar punched the two of them and let them bite the dirt. They were inflicted with injuries that exceeded their expectations when the Viscount Devil struck them.

They realized how fighting with Xalvar was different from fighting with Lilith. Lilith only had raw strength but it was not very difficult to see what she would do.

However, Xalvar was different. He made use of everything he had and took advantage of his speed to smash the two of them. Lilith would have never attacked them from a blind spot.

"Two of our objectives had gathered here. Looks like this is my lucky day. Hehe…"

Xalvar began laughing while looking at the two who were getting up.

"But what happened to Lilith? It was her job to catch him."

Xalvar said while putting his hand on his chin.

He was already relaxed and was not worried about any attacks from the people below. Zero was injured while others who had arrived could not hurt him.

"Lilith…"

Zero uttered the name.

It was a strangely familiar name, and Zero tried to remember the person. He could not remember but from what Xalvar said, he realized that the objective of the devils still seemed to be Hiro.

"Tch! She failed again just like 5 years ago."

Xalvar muttered.

"...What did you say?"

Hiro, who was near him, had clearly heard him.

5 years ago, Hiro was hiding in the hidden room when Xalvar attacked his parents and therefore, didn't know that it was Xalvar who led the attack. Hiro just believed that the state his parents were in is solely because of Lilith.

Therefore, when he heard Xalvar talk about Lilith's failure 5 years ago, he immediately knew what he was talking about.

"Oh, just some insignificant thing from the past."

Xalvar said casually.

For a Devil like him, life was not very important. For powerful people like them, weak people's lives were equivalent to insignificant.

That year he failed the mission because of Lilith but he discovered the target which was more than enough. They had been keeping their eyes on Hiro ever since and therefore Xalvar knew who Hiro was.

"So you were the one to attack my parents 5 years ago?"

"Yes! Those two ants refused to listen to me so I had to show them the result of their decision."

Xalvar casually admitted. He had no problem with making Hiro his enemy. To him, despite what the world says about Hiro's potential, he was still a weakling not worthy of his attention.

'How dare you?'

Hiro gritted his teeth in anger.

"HAAAAA..."

Hiro raised his sword as he attacked Xalvar. He was not mindlessly attacking like when he saw Lilith. However, Hiro was still angry to hear that Xalvar was the one leading the attack that night and also because he regards his precious parents as insignificant after what he did to them.

-WHOOSH!