Parallel Memory

-THUD! -THUD!

“-Wait!”

Lisa said looking extremely worried.

“What happened?”

Sylvia asked.

They were currently getting away from the potential explosion that was going to happen. With an ArchDevil self-destructing, they knew that the explosion would be nothing to scoff at. So they kept running until Lisa stopped them.

“D-Did you see Zero pass by?”

Lisa asked.

She stopped them because even after checking multiple times, she still could not see Zero. According to Zero’s speed, she knew that he would sooner or later catch up to them. She had also seen him run in the same direction as them.

But after some time instead of seeing him, she lost sight of him. She thought that maybe he had already run past them and she had failed to see him.

“Zero?”

They looked at each other and shook their heads. It was not that they didn’t care about Zero but considering the strength he had shown, they knew that he would be able to easily run away.

“Maybe he ran away in another direction?”

Sylvia said.

“That’s possible,”

Lisa agreed.

“But I can’t shake the feeling that something has happened to him.”

She said while pondering. There was no reason for Zero to change his direction and he should have already encountered her.

“We can’t worry about that right now,”

Sylvia said, grabbing Lisa’s arm and pulling her away from the direction of Lilith.

“We need to get as far away as possible before that thing goes off.”

“But what if Zero-“

“We’ll deal with that later.”

Sylvia said,

“Right now, our priority is to get to safety. Zero should probably be in the safe zone. With his power, it should be easy for him to escape.”

Lisa hesitated for a moment before nodding. She knew Sylvia was right. They needed to focus on their own safety first. But as they ran, she couldn’t shake the feeling of concern for Zero.

-THUD! -THUD!

They ran and soon enough they found that there was no explosion. However, they didn’t think much of it and just thought of it as a blessing.

They didn’t stop running. Even though they were safe from the explosion, they still needed to be wary of the Devils. While the Devils seemed to be retreating, they never knew if they might attack them.

They proceeded to run towards the safe area.

*****

“Check which students are missing.”

Professor Mia commanded.

The danger was clear at this point, and the Devils and Devil Contractors had all fled or died. With the reinforcement of The Authority and some guilds, they had turned the tables on the Devils.

However, there was no time to rejoice. The casualties due to this incident were considerably higher than the Wolf Forest incident.

Even two S-Rank teachers of Ace Academy were killed in battle while many teachers sustained injuries beyond healing. As for the students, the number of students killed was in the hundreds and even some of the geniuses from the big guilds were killed.

All of the responsibility for this would fall on the shoulders of Ace Academy. There was no way that they would be spared after so many students were killed right under their noses.

The professors quickly took attendance and then compared it to the class roster. They also took down the name of the deceased. While those students for which they didn’t have any information were kept missing for the moment.

“Professor Mia, what about this student?”

One of the professors asked while showing the photo of Zero. The professor approached Professor Mia because other students had not seen him and the last place he was seen (by Hiro’s group) was where Professor Mia was fighting.

The professor came thinking Professor Mia would have an idea.

“He … Just keep him as a present.”

“Noted!”

After updating the status of Zero, he quietly left.

Professor Mia sighed as she sat down, trying to clear her mind. She knew that the academy would face harsh consequences for the loss of so many students. But right now, her main concern was Zero and his safety.

She picked up her phone again and tried to call him, but there was still no answer. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread wash over her.

“Zero, where are you?”

She muttered to herself.

Zero had already reported dropping out of school as he had to go somewhere. Professor Mia asked where he was going but the message never came.

Professor Mia knew that Zero was strong and capable, but the fact that he had dropped out of the academy and disappeared without a trace was worrying. Moreover, it was after such a devastating incident.

While it was reassuring to know that he was alright, it didn’t mean that she wasn’t worried. She decided to wait a little longer before taking any further action.

Meanwhile, other professors were frantically trying to assess the situation and come up with a plan to deal with the aftermath of the attack. There were many injured students who needed urgent medical attention, and the families of the deceased needed to be notified as soon as possible.

But despite the chaos and confusion, Professor Mia couldn’t shake the feeling of worry for Zero. She just hoped that wherever he was, he was safe and sound

“Humph, looks like you are in need of punishment.”

The next few days were chaotic and hectic as the academy dealt with the aftermath of the attack. There were numerous meetings and discussions among the professors, and a lot of decisions had to be made.

There were also a number of news reporters who covered this incident. Many of them were criticizing Ace Academy for having many talented students killed by the Devils.

There were also many guilds who criticized them, especially those kids whose parents were the guildmasters of those guilds.

However, there were also others who were supportive of Ace Academy especially when two S-Rank teachers were killed. It proved that Ace Academy had not been lenient, but that the Devils attacked them without any mercy.

If the sacrifice of two S-Rank teachers was thought of as not doing enough then there was no organization that could do more than them. They can just blame the Devils who attacked them.

Considering the scale of the attack, the number of survivors was on a higher side and people should have praised Ace Academy for saving so many students. Looking at the strength of the enemies, it would not be weird for there to be any survivors.

But ultimately, the loss of any life, especially young and talented students, is a tragic and devastating event. People also have the habit of looking at the bad side of things rather than the positive side.

Many people called for The Authority to step in and shut down Ace Academy. However, there was no action from The Authority. The Authority called this incident a failure of humanity, not Ace Academy.

The Devils targeted Ace Academy but even if they attacked other places, they would have caused multiple casualties which could have been higher than Ace Academy. Not every place has as many Rank-S as Ace Academy and the consequences would have been severe if the Devils had decided to attack other places.

The Authority called for a thorough investigation into the incident, to determine how the Devils were able to infiltrate the academy and what measures could be put in place to prevent future attacks.

There was also a push for stronger security and defense measures at all academies, as well as increased support for the students and families affected by the tragedy.

Overall, the incident at Ace Academy has started a new conflict between humans and Devils. Many believe that war will soon be fought.