Parallel Memory

-SHATTER!

Lord Aamon, a Rank-SS devil, was livid with rage.

"TRASHES!"

Lord Aamon yelled as he threw the cup on the ground. Right now, the team of Devil Contractors that he had sent was back and he was feeling very happy and excited.

He thought that they had completed their mission and killed the Saintess. For existence like Aamon who is Rank-SS Devil, there was no fear except the Saintess.

It is not like Saintess would be able to kill him but with Saintess' help, he would be very weak and if Saintess had help from a Rank-SS human, he would be killed. That was the reason that they were willing to sacrifice their large army of Devils, to lure the Saintess out.

However, when the Devil Contractor gave their report, what he heard was that they had failed and ran away in fear.

"You all only had one job! Only one job! And that also you failed! Tell me why I should keep you alive."

Aamon roared.

Just as he said, the reason why he was willing to give resources and assemble Devil Contractors under him was ultimately for them to kill Saintess.

*TREMBLE!

All the Devil Contractors were kneeling down and trembling in fear. Lord Aamon was fully displaying his ferocious aura. It is such that even Kurtis, a Rank-S can't withstand it.

They all felt the crisis and felt that they would be killed.

"L-Lord A-Aamon!"

"We were winning but then -"

"SILENCE! I don't want to hear your excuse."

-CRUSH!

Lord Aamon grabs hold of the souls of those Devil Contractors.

*INHALE!

"ARGHHHH!"

"AHHHH!" …

The Devil Contractors screamed in pain and some had even passed out. Lord Aamon tightened their soul which is equivalent to their whole body being crushed by heavy pressure.

After having calmed down his anger for a bit, he let go of their souls. Many of them had already been passed out and only two or three were still conscious.

"Who has interfered with the plan?"

Lord Aamon said. His voice is still threatening.

"Argh!"

The strongest of them who was still conscious used all his willpower and energy to stand up. He knew that if Lord Aamon was unsatisfied, he would suffer again.

Therefore, even though his whole body was screaming in pain, he held on and stood up.

"Lord Aamon! Under the leadership of Kurtis, we were overwhelming them. We had also isolated them from others and there was no way for them to receive reinforcement."

He said. They had ambushed a Saintess group where humans don't usually travel.

"Leader Kurtis was on his way to kill the Saintess and had even managed to neutralize all her guards. However, before he could finish the job. A group of humans came to rescue them." …

He continued narrating the whole story. He was scared as to when Lord Aamon might attack him. When he finished telling the story, he slowly looked up as Lord Aamon was saying nothing.

Lord Aamon at the moment was in deep thought. Despite his over usage of violence, many of the Devil and Devil Contractors forget that even though he likes to use force, he is one of the most intelligent Devil in the whole world.

He was thinking about the person that his slave talked about. While he didn't consider any one of them to be useful, he still knew Kurtis' strength. He was the strongest Devil Contractor that he had and also something akin to a trump card against Saintess.

He was thinking about the possible identity of the one who came to rescue the Saintess. After having heard the story, he knew that there were only a small number of people who could achieve the result of the Jester/human that his slave described.

"Ice and Shadow!"

Lord Aamon thought about a possible person with the Art that he was using. There were only a couple of people who wield Ice Art among whom he knew Mia Frostine was the most famous one.

He knew that she wasn't the one as it was a man and if it was her, his slaves would have recognized them. Moreover, his slave had told him that the man was only at Rank-A.

TAP! TAP! *TAP!

He began to go through his memories of a mid-30s man who uses Ice and Shadow and is talented. However, no matter how much he thought, he didn't know the person.

He stopped tapping on his throne and looked at the person who answered him.

"You have failed me," he said, his voice low and dangerous.

"But I will give you one more chance. Find out everything you can about this person who interfered with my plan. I want to know who they are, where they came from, and why they chose to stand in my way."

The Devil Contractors nodded nervously, understanding the severity of their failure. Lord Aamon was not known for his leniency, and they knew that their lives were on the line.

As they left the room, Lord Aamon sank back onto his throne, his mind racing. He couldn't shake the feeling that this person who had interfered with his plan was dangerous, and he needed to eliminate them as soon as possible.

Lord Aamon was Rank-SS and very strong. Despite that, he felt that the guy who interfered with his plan of killing Saintess was dangerous for his plan. He didn't know why but he felt that he needed to take out that person as soon as possible.

Although he had planned to kill the Devil Contractors for running away, he still needed them. Therefore, he decided to spare them for the time being.

"I want to know everything about him, his strengths, weaknesses, and anything else that you can find. And also, inform Drold that I wish to speak to him."

The Devil Contractors nodded their heads, knowing that their lives were on the line if they failed again. They quickly left to carry out their orders.

Lord Aamon sat back on his throne, deep in thought. He knew that he needed to be cautious now. Despite being one of the strongest in existence, he never forgets to be cautious and take things safely.

He called upon his most trusted advisors, hoping to gather more information about this mysterious figure. As they discussed the situation, Lord Aamon couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. He had always been one step ahead of his enemies, but this time, he felt like he was in the dark.

"I want you to put together a team to track down this person."

He said, his voice firm. He was going to use Devil Contractors as bait but had another team who would spy on that person. He had already given up on the Devil Contractors to do a good job.

"I don't care how much it costs or how long it takes. I want this person found and eliminated."

His advisors nodded, knowing better than to question Lord Aamon's orders. They understood the gravity of the situation and knew that failure was not an option.

As the team set out to gather information, Lord Aamon couldn't help but feel a sense of impatience. He wanted this person found and eliminated as soon as possible. He couldn't afford to have anyone standing in his way, especially not someone who had already interfered with his plans.

Moreover, he also called devil Drold who had been keeping his eyes on the information on the Devil that had invaded the human domain, especially the group that was used to lure the Saintess.

He wanted to know what the status of that army was. He had essentially sacrificed this army of Devils, just to lure Saintess. Now that the plan had failed, he knew that he had called back the Devils and also that he was going to be scolded by the Demon King.

******

On the other hand, the Saintess and the Holy Knights were in a good mood as the City soon came into their view.

These past two days, they were wary and alert. They didn't want to be ambushed for the second time. They only felt relieved because Zero accompanied them.

Having witnessed his strength and knowing that he was the Saintess' acquaintance, they were not wary of him anymore. They knew that the Saintess would be okay as long as this man was there.

Many Holy Knights respected and showed a good attitude to Zero who was disguised as a Jester. There was also a time when they all offered food to him when it was dinner. Though he declined as he couldn't eat that much.

Zero didn't know how to handle their enthusiasm and just went along with them. They treated him as an older and more powerful guy but the reality was that he was younger than their youngest Holy Knights.

He felt uncomfortable but endured anyway. It was not like they were doing it intentionally and only out of goodwill.

Adeline had also woken up and thanked him. She was obviously cautious at first but seeing that Saintess' attitude, she let down her guard.

Anyway, after having walked for two days, they finally reached the city!