Parallel Memory

"Because it's fun!"

Sixtus said as he smiled ecstatically.

Zero and the other children shuddered when they saw his smile and glare. He looked at them as if they were his toys which were kind of true in this situation. Sixtus can easily end any one of their lives at any time.

"Haha… This is why I do this!"

Sixtus as he looked at the kids excitedly.

Whether it was true or false didn't matter because all Zero could think of was how to escape this place with his friends. He could only see Sixtus as a psychopath.

"P-Please, Let me go home!"

Wendy begged.

She didn't know what was going on anymore and was very scared. She regretted agreeing to go with Sixtus.

"Oh, ~little Wendy wants to go home?"

Sixtus mocked while getting closer to her.

Zero can see that Sixtus was very much enjoying this situation. However, he could only watch him do so because he was being suppressed by the mana aura and had no power to retaliate.

"Hehe…"

Sixtus laughed in Wendy's face. Zero knows that Sixtus has no intention of letting them go, otherwise he would not have done this. However, what Sixtus did next was something that he never expected.

*SLASH!

'Hahaha… "

Without hesitation or warning, Sixtus plunged his hand right into Wendy's stomach. There was no struggle of any kind and Wendy passed away immediately at that moment.

"KYAAAAA!"

"WAAAHHHH!"

"MOM! DAD!"

"Someone help me!"

Kids started to scream while calling for help. Some broke down in tears as they just saw something horrifying. They could imagine all kinds of suffering that they had to put themselves through but never did they think that Sixtus would just kill them.

As kids, this was the first time that they had faced this kind of cruelty.

One of their friends just got killed, however, no one there had time to grieve, instead, they had to stay in fear thinking that they were going to be next.

Sixtus, as he said, does not appear to be seeking any particular objective and appears to just wish to torment them. While the truth was not known, it was certain that he liked to torment others for his pleasure.

"No… no… no"

Zero muttered while staring at the lifeless body.

Zero was still in disbelief. The friend that he had been spending time with was just killed. It only took one second for the Devil to take away the life of Wendy.

"Hah…Hah…"

Zero was panting heavily as he looked at Wendy's body. A lot of thoughts were running through his head. He didn't know what kind of feeling he was experiencing but he was angry.

It is said that when people don't know how to express their emotions, they will turn into anger which is the easiest to show. Zero also turned his regret, grief, and sadness into anger. For the first-ever, Zero was feeling extremely angry at someone.

"YOU! I will never forgive you!"

Zero shouted.

It seemed that in a place filled with Sixtus's laughter and kids wailing, a new kind of voice was heard. A voice filled with anger and sadness. Zero immediately managed to get the attention of both Sixtus and those crying kids.

He immediately pulled out his short knife and ran towards Sixtus. The fear towards Sixtus disappeared and what was left was anger.

That anger was enough to make him forget the fear and everything else he was feeling, including the sadness he was experiencing. Right now, all he wanted was revenge for killing his friend.

Wendy, despite not being the closest friend, was someone very important to Zero. He had known her for 2 years and thought that they would be friends forever but who knew that her life would be cut short by The Devil.

Despite still being pressurized by Sixtus' mana aura, Zero managed to move without trouble. It seems that moment was when his body decided to let go of the limit of the body.

"HO-OH!"

Sixtus exclaimed in surprise.

He was both impressed and found it funny. It was impressive that Zero despite being in just Rank-F - could move in his mana aura which is Rank-D. Though obviously, he didn't use his full power, despite that it was impressive for Zero to stand in his presence.

On the other hand, Zero's movement was sluggish and very slow. He found it funny that Zero was trying to attack him despite being so weak. He was amused by the idea of Zero attacking him.

"Haaaaaa!"

Zero, who was controlled by his anger, didn't care about the difference in power or anything. He lost the ability to calmly assess the situation and continued to make his way toward Sixtus.

Zero raised his knife and plunged it into Sixtus' stomach. It was a clean hit. Zero believed he had done it, and even other kids found hope in him. As long as the calamity known as Sixtus was killed, they believed that they could go back home.

"Haha… You seriously think that a knife could kill me? Haha…"

However, Sixtus was just laughing at Zero's stupidity.

The Devil's bodies were very tough and it was impossible for an ordinary knife to do any damage to them. That's why, Sixtus was standing, doing nothing when Zero attacked him. Because he knows that he will be fine.

Zero's anger immediately vanished and what was left was fear. However, despite being afraid, he continued to stare at Sixtus in anger. He still could not forget what Sixtus did to Wendy and let him get away with that.

He still knew that the only escape was after he had defeated Sixtus. He instantly let go of his knife and turned around to kick Sixtus.

-BANG!

He tried to kick Sixtus but as expected there was not much effect. The Sixtus, who thought Zero would be in despair when he got his hope dash, became upset when he saw Zero was still fighting and had hope in his eyes. He liked to see others suffering and seeing Zero not lose hope was making him very upset. He began thinking of ways to make him despair.

-BAM!

Firstly, Sixtus sends Zero flying.

"ARGH!"

Zero screamed in pain. However, unexpectedly, Zero was not killed which really confused him. It was the same case earlier where he was just punched. He thought that Sixtus wanted something from them until he killed Wendy.

From there, Zero thought that Sixtus just wanted to kill them. But he was spared again.

"Since you have made me happy, let me tell you the real reason why you all are stuck here."

Sixtus said.

Zero, who was lying on the ground, listened to Sixtus as he didn't have anything else to do.

"It is because of you!"

Sixtus pointed his finger at Zero.

!!!

Zero as well as his friend were shocked when Sixtus blamed Zero.

"It is because you possess something that our boss wants. It is because of that that your friends are going to be killed. It is all your fault."

Sixtus continued.

!!!

( My fault? )

Zero thought.

Zero, who was just 8 years old, was naive and didn't understand Sixtus' tactic to drive Zero into despair. It was Sixtus' intention to make Zero even more miserable, whose will was already broken.

Some of Zero's friends were also blaming Zero for the state they were in. They instantly believed Sixtus' words and thought that the situation they were in was something that Zero caused.

While some didn't fully believe Sixtus, there were doubts nonetheless.

He tried to throw all the blame on Zero. Despite, being all his fault, Sixtus successfully threw the blame at Zero.

Humans are creatures who would try to blame someone weaker than someone who is strong. Humans always attempt to blame someone weaker, since they can't do anything to the strong, while they could to the weak.

"I only wanted you but since your friends followed you, they will face the same consequences."

Sixtus said.

Zero at the time was thinking a lot. While he didn't want to believe him, seeing that he was still alive while Wendy was killed, he thought that Sixtus might be right.

He thought that he was still alive because there was something Sixtus wanted from him while his friends who got caught up in this were killed.

*SLASH!

Another one of them was killed without any reason. Sixtus again instilled fear in them by killing one of them.

"NOOooo! Please, Stop!"

Zero begged. He could not take it anymore.

Because of Sixtus, Zero thinks that it is some kind of his mistake. He started to think that it was because of him that his friends were suffering.

*SLASH!

However, like talking to the air, Sixtus didn't listen to anyone and started slaughtering them one by one.

"P-Please STOP!"

Zero still begged.

"Hehe…"

Sixtus liked the expression of Zero which was filled with despair. This was the face that he was trying to find. The more Zero suffered, the better it was for him.

"I will do anything. Just Stop!"