Parallel Memory

"NOOOO!"

-SLASH!

"Haha …"

-SLASH!

"Please, STOP!"

-SLASH!

Before his eyes, his friends were being killed again and again and even Lilith who tried to help him was killed. This scene was repeated over and over again. Each time he could not do anything but watch.

Even if he wanted to scream, he could not.

"This is all your fault!"

The head of Wendy turned towards Zero and spoke. Her expression was filled with despair and pain. Zero wanted to respond and help her but he could not do anything.

"This is all your fault!"

"This is all your fault!"

"This is all your fault!"

Suddenly, the heads of his friends began chanting those words again and again. They slowly approached Zero with Sixtus leading them, cornering him.

"This is all …

"Hah!"

Zero heavily panted. He was drenched in sweat and there were even tears in his eyes.

Zero opened his eyes to see that all of that was just a nightmare. He realized that he was no longer in the Dark Forest.

It certainly wasn't the nightmare Dark Forest, but what was waiting for him was worse than that. What was waiting for him was another nightmare called reality.

His friends were all dead. And even the status of Lilith was not known. He looked around but there was no one. He wanted to know how he ended up in this situation and moreover, he wanted to ask about the situation in the dungeon.

Zero could recall asking a girl from Ace Academy for help. He doesn't know whether the girl helped him or not. If not, he had to ask someone to go and help Lilith. He had no idea that a day had already passed since the incident.

After some time, nurses came and informed the doctors. They checked his condition and confirmed that there was no problem.

However, he was still not allowed to go home. What was waiting for him after the checkup was several interrogations by The Authority agents.

Zero was asked all kinds of questions and throughout the session, Zero surprisingly remained calm as he answered the questions one by one.

Many questions were asked, including who the attacker was and why they went there, and many more. They also asked what was their motivation for entering the dungeon and if he knew what Sixtus's objectives were.

In addition, they wanted to know how he escaped and who was the person that helped him.

The Authority agents learned new information, such as the Devil transforming into a human. This information was vital for the security of human cities.

After answering, they thanked him and went away. They began analyzing Zero's words and also tried to find information from other places.

"Looks like the target was actually that girl called Lilith."

One of the investigators said to others.

Zero reiterated everything that happened and also said that Sixtus said the target was him but the investigator just thought that the murderer was just playing with Zero and making him despair by blaming him.

As for the power that Zero felt, they concluded that as the body raising its limit corresponds to danger. There was no increase in rank and Zero's strength had returned to normal. Therefore, they didn't think there was anything abnormal about that situation.

Not only that, they tried to make a connection between Sixtus and Zero and found that Zero has nothing that a Devil might want. Zero's background was average and his talent might be superior in his neighborhood but was nothing compared to the real geniuses such as Zion of Imperial Gate and Lisa from Divine God guild.

Therefore, Zero as a possible target was eliminated.

They concluded that it was Lilith after a thorough investigation. First of all, no matter how much they investigated, there was no girl named Lilith in that neighborhood or even that city. The name Lilith itself was very rarely used by humans and no human bore that name currently.

The only proof that the girl existed was Eleonore and Misha's statements that they collected later. They, therefore, concluded that she is a human, who might have run away from the Devil's camp or was being chased by the Devil.

They were more inclined to believe the first scenario due to how Lilith was acting. She was spending time with Zero, probably thinking that she had escaped successfully.

They also started investigating the person named Sixtus which the Devil impersonated. And it turns out that he used the identity of the boy who had already died one year ago. They thought that Sixtus stayed in that city knowing that Lilith was there.

Secondly, the timing of Lilith's appearance to save Zero. The fact that she was in that place meant that she already knew about it. The place was a dungeon hidden by illusion and people who don't know that might never be able to enter that dungeon.

Lastly, the murderer didn't chase Zero, which is probably because he got the target. If the objective was Zero, they believe that the Devil would have chased him. As for whether Lilith could stop him, from what they heard from Zero they could tell that she was weaker than Sixtus and would be easily defeated by the Devil.

That is how they come to a conclusion but this was all from the data that Zero gave and what they have collected from their investigation.

Seeing that they also concluded that Lilith should be dead. There was no reason to believe that a girl captured by the Devil is alive. Either she had become the Devil Contractor or she was to be sacrificed in some ritual.

*****

"..."

Zero was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

He was once again reminded that everything that happened was real. All his friends were dead, moreover, they also informed that Lilith was either dead or taken by the Devil.

The hospital also informed his parents to come to the hospital immediately after Zero woke up. He was waiting for his parents to come and take him home.

Zero was also visited by Mia though he barely remembered what she said to him. He also forgot that she was the one he asked for help. Anyway, he was not in a state to think clearly.

"Zero!"

Zero's mother immediately ran towards Zero and checked whether he was injured or not. Though she would not find any wound as he was perfectly healed by the Doctors and healer.

It had been two days since Zero went with his friends to the dungeon. Zero's parents and other friends' parents had been searching for them since they went missing that night.

They had frantically searched for them the whole night but there were no results.

Only the next day did they receive information about Zero being hospitalized. As for the other parents, they had to hear the bitter truth about their child being dead.

They were not told the whole story but they heard that a Devil was responsible for the incident. Therefore, on the way to the hospital, Zero's parents were extremely worried. Devil and Human were in an extremely bad relationship. If humans encounter a devil, they will not spare them. The same was the case for the Devil.

Only after seeing that Zero was fine did they feel relieved.

"..."

Zero stared at his mother expressionless.

???

Zero's parents felt something was odd. They had never seen him look so emotionless before. As a child, Zero was a bright child who managed to find joy in everything he did. He was an optimistic kid who didn't do anything bad or hate anyone.

Every time they were together, Zero would be happy and smiling. Zero should be happy to see his parents, especially after that scary incident but what they got was an emotionless face.

Zero's parents looked at each other in worry. They didn't know what to say to Zero as they had no idea what had really happened.

But they chose not to pursue that for now. They were happy that Zero was fine and thought that they could help Zero recover slowly. They thought that there was no rush.

Zero's mother stayed with Zero, comforting him but it was unknown whether Zero was listening to her or not as he was not responding.

Zero's father went to talk to the doctor about Zero's situation. The doctor reassured him that there was nothing wrong with Zero's body but said that he might have suffered a great shock because of going through a dreadful experience.

They recommended that they spend some time with Zero and try to make him forget about that incident. They also recommended a good psychologist.

Zero's father wanted to know what actually happened to Zero but even doctors had no idea. They just told him that The Authority was strongly investigating the incident.

Zero's father thought that Zero had been caught in something really serious and thought of introducing a good psychologist for him.

After that, they were about to leave the hospital but were stopped by some people.