Parallel Memory

"Stop it! You are disgusting me."

( What a cruel word. I was just trying to lighten your mood. )

If it was not life-threatening, I would have never tried to act that way. Whether it was Eleonore's decision or my way of asking, Eleonore did help me when I was in a pinch.

Never ever thought my worst nightmare will one day end up saving my life. Life sure is strange.

However, it was not time to think about such things. The battle is not over until Solomon, the strongest Devil Contractor among them is not dead.

Rank-E+ like me would not be able to help much but you never know when dad and Uncle Diego might need our help.

I took out a health potion and mana potion and gave them to Eleonore. Eleonore was hesitant but took the potion.

Her lack of trust deeply hurts me. How can she look at me with such distrust and disgust just because of a one-time accident.

I kept those thoughts aside and drank a mana potion. I didn't use that much mana but whenever you get an opportunity to drink potions, you should do it.

Eleonore and I waited for our dads to finish their fight with Solomon.

Meanwhile Warren, Diego, and Solomon. They had continuously fought with each other using their best skills.

-CLANK! -CLANK! -BOOM! 

Warren and Diego were getting the advantage and they kept on fiercely attacking Solomon. Solomon kept on getting weaker and weaker.

-CLANK! -CLANK! -BAM!

Solomon was thrown to the ground and he was pretty bruised up. He stood up quickly and groaned.

" AAAARRRRGGGG " 

Solomon could not take it anymore. The longer this fight drags on, the more he is likely to lose.

The advantage of having prepared a large ambush had disappeared and most of the Devil Contractors were all taken out.

It didn't seem like other Rank-B Devil Contractors would also survive. They are being teamed up by other people with Shadow Genesis executives. 

Not only that, but in a moment The Authority could also come as some people have escaped from their area.

They managed to run away from the area that is covered by their isolation device. They must have informed The Authority and their Rank-A's would be on their way to capture them.

Solomon was now thinking of escaping. The mission will surely fail. But he could not. Anyone could escape but not him.

He will surely be killed by the Lord if he returns empty-handed. This was the reason why the Lord granted so many Devil Contractors to him.

After so many casualties and not bringing back the item that he wants. How could the Lord still keep him alive?

He was of no use after failing his mission. He might even be tortured before killing to atone for his sin of failing such an important mission.

It was better to be dead here than to go back to their hideout. 

( Where did it go wrong? My plan to rise through rank by showing my usefulness to the Lord. The plan that took me years to execute had all gone down the drain. )

Warren and Diego didn't carelessly jump on Solomon. Even if Solomon was seriously injured, his one attack was more than enough to injure them.

Solomon then saw Zero who was standing on the stage and became furious. The appearance of this boy was what made him lose today. 

( If only this little bastard was not there. I would not have lost my cool and commanded others to kill him. )

The main reason they lost their advantage in numbers was due to Zero. Zero took out most of Rank-D and Rank-E Devil Contractors.

It was definitely his own fault for commanding others to go after Zero. He has never thought Zero would be so strong.

Zero even managed to kill Rank-C Devil Contractors. A Rank-E+ kid killing Devil Contractors? Can you imagine it? 

He was more threatening than Hiro who is said to have the highest talent. Hiro is one of the highest priorities on their kill list but Solomon thought Zero would definitely take that place if others were also aware of his power.

The reason why even Rank-C lost to Zero was because they were tired after fighting other people and also because they rushed to kill Zero without being cautious.

Who would have thought Zero could kill all of them in one fell swoop. Underestimating Zero was his biggest mistake.

He thought others would be able to handle this little kid but he turned the table and eliminated all those attackers making him lose his number advantage.

Not only was his son killed by him, but even this whole operation was also going to fail due to him. He could not forgive Zero.

" I may go down but I will take you with me. "

Solomon proclaimed as he immediately jumped and came flying towards Zero. 

-WHOOSH!

Solomon wanted to at least take out the man who had ruined his plan. He might not be able to escape but at least he could have his revenge for his son as well as himself.

" Son! "

" Zero! "

Warren and Diego were caught off guard by Solomon's sudden change. They could not catch him.

They quickly tried to follow and stop him but Solomon's speed was faster than theirs. 

" What? "

Eleonore commented. She was alerted by her dad's voice. She didn't expect that Solomon in his last moment would target Zero.

Eleonore immediately took her battle position. She could feel the pressure of air just with Solomon's approaching them closer. 

" Zero, hide behind me. Quick! "

Eleonore cautioned Zero.

There was no way a Rank-E + could survive the attack of Rank-A+.  Though Solomon was injured and exhausted most of his strength, even then just the mere presence of them would be enough to make Rank-C tremble in fear, not to mention Rank-E students like Zero. 

Eleonore deployed her mana barrier and concentrated mana on the front part of the mana barrier.

" Back Off! " 

Zero said as he hurriedly threw Eleonore to the side of the arena ring. Solomon's target was him and he would not go after Eleonore.

( Looks like I screwed up big time! )

There was no way I could survive a Rank-A+ attack. Luckily he was injured and exhausted by my dad and Uncle Diego. Or else his one attack from the distance would have been enough to squash me to death.

[ "Dual Art: Dark Ice Embodiment" ]

[ "Dual Art: Icy Shadow Wall" ]

I poured in almost all of my mana in Icy Shadow Wall. Some mana was kept for maintaining my Dark Ice Embodiment skill. The skill not only increases my skill power but also increases my defense which I desperately need right now.

Dark Ice of the wall kept on popping from the ground. There was multiple Dark Ice wall in front of me to block Solomon. 

-BANG! -SMASH! -BANG! -SMASH!

Solomon effortlessly broke the Icy Shadow Wall one after the other. Though his speed and momentum have been slowed down by the barrier.

-CRRR! -CRACK!

The last wall of Shadow Ice wall also broke and Solomon quickly appeared in front of me. I prepared myself for the pain that was about to come. 

"This is what you get when you mess with me, little bastard."

-POWWWW!

Solomon punched Zero in his guts and send him flying to the wall. The sound of his bone-cracking was heard in the whole stadium.

-BANG!

Zero stayed unmoving for a while.

"SON! Solomon, you will not escape from me."

Warren thought that his son had been killed. He furiously made his way toward Solomon who got exhausted after using too much mana.

" Hahahaha. Even if I die, I had already taken my revenge. You can't…"

"Khoff khak khak! ARG!"

Solomon's happiness was short-lived. Before he could even finish his sentence, Zero coughed loudly.

Zero was at least able to survive after taking one of  Solomon's attacks. The Dark Ice Embodiment managed to reduce the impact of Solomon's punch and also the impact of crashing onto the wall.

Though Zero ended up coughing up blood and breaking some bones, he was very much alive. Though he felt his stomach bursting and he could not move his body.

Eleonore, Warren, Diego and Solomon were all surprised that Zero managed to survive Solomon's attack.

Warren and Diego quickly made their way to Solomon. They felt relieved to see that Zero was alive.

They would not be able to forgive themselves if Zero died due to their mistake.

Solomon quickly recovered from his initial state of surprise and made his way towards Zero to finish him off.

While rushing he yelled at Zero.

"Little Bastard, I didn't expect you to be so tough. No wonder my son lost to you. But this is it for you. "

Solomon was slow to approach Zero this time as he had exhausted most of his mana trying to outrun Warren and Diego.

Zero could not move and could only watch Solomon run towards him. His Dark Ice Embodiment was also broken earlier by Solomon's attack. There was no way that he could survive this time.

-SHHUUSSSHHHH!