Parallel Memory

Chapter 704: The Instinct That Burns

The ruined throne hall was quiet—too quiet for a battlefield that had shaken the continent just hours earlier. Moonlight filtered through the shattered ceiling, falling over broken pillars, collapsed murals, and long streaks of dried ash where devils and humans had clashed. Dust still drifted in the air like pale snow.

Mia and Amelia stepped inside cautiously, each step echoing through the empty palace. Both women were injured, exhausted, and mentally frayed from the battles outside—but the moment they saw the curled silhouette at the center of the hall, exhaustion disappeared.

Because there, leaning against a fallen throne, was Zero.

And curled protectively around him—arms wrapped tightly, wings half-spread, silver hair dimly glowing—

was the devil girl they had seen earlier.

Lilith.

Zero's head rested on her lap, his breathing uneven, his mana leaking out in unstable waves.

Mia froze.

Amelia's throat tightened.

There were a hundred things they might have said—questions, accusations, heartbreak—but nothing came out. All they could do was stare at the sight that pierced them deeper than any devil blade.

For years they had tried—quietly, subtly, sometimes awkwardly—to get close to Zero.

Mia through loyalty and proximity.

Amelia through warmth and gentle persistence.

Zero had always seemed… detached. Focused. A little oblivious, yet never unkind.

Neither of them had ever imagined that behind that distance—there might have been someone else.

Someone like her.

Lilith noticed them immediately. Her violet eyes sharpened, tail curling around Zero as her wings shifted closer, shielding him.

"Stop," she said quietly, her voice low with warning. "Don't come closer."

It wasn't a threat—not yet. But it was territorial. Instinctive.

Mia's fingers twitched toward her sword.

Amelia inhaled slowly, trying to steady the jagged feeling in her chest.

Mia spoke first, her voice ice-cold.

"Move away from him."

Lilith's grip tightened around Zero, and the temperature of the air changed—thickening, charged with devil mana.

"I won't," Lilith replied. "Not while he's like this."

Amelia stepped forward.

"We're not here to fight you. We just want to bring Zero back. He needs treatment—"

"You can't touch him," Lilith snapped, eyes narrowing. "His mana is unstable. If you get any closer, he'll—"

But Lilith didn't finish.

Because Zero's body suddenly jerked in her arms.

All three women stiffened.

Dark mana surged from Zero's chest—pure, volatile, burning through the air like black fire. The stone beneath him cracked, crawling with spreading lines of darkness as if the palace floor itself feared him.

Amelia whispered, "H-He's getting worse…"

He was.

Every breath Zero took unleashed another unstable pulse.

He was burning from the inside out.

And Lilith… was shaking.

Not from fear.

But from instinct.

That primal, devil-born instinct that surged strongest in times of threat or stress.

Mia saw it too late—the way Lilith's nails sharpened, the faint glow forming around her pupils, the tension rippling down her spine.

"Wait—Amelia, step back—!"

Lilith moved.

Fast.

Too fast.

She swiped her arm out in a defensive arc—not to kill, but to push them back, to protect Zero from any perceived threat while her instincts screamed at her to guard the wounded mate-like presence in her arms.

A shockwave of compressed devil mana burst outward.

Mia barely had time to channel frost into her arm before bracing.

Boom—!

Mia was thrown backward, skidding across the ground, her gloves freezing over as she absorbed the impact.

Amelia reacted differently—her wind magic flickered around her, cushioning her before she slammed into a broken pillar.

Lilith's breath trembled, her wings puffing up, tail lashing.

"Stay back… I warned you…" she growled softly, but her voice shook, as if she herself was battling the instinct.

Mia rose slowly, wiping blood from her lip, eyes burning with cold fury.

"That wasn't a warning," Mia said quietly. "That was an attack."

"It was instinct," Lilith hissed back. "You frightened him."

"He's unconscious!" Amelia shouted, frustration finally erupting.

Lilith flinched.

But the instinct refused to retreat—her body still coiled protectively around Zero, eyes flicking between them, weighing threat levels, adrenaline spiraling.

Mia's aura flared, frost swirling around her fingertips.

"Move," Mia growled, stepping forward. "That's the last time I'll ask."

Lilith's wings shot open.

"Don't force me—"

She didn't finish the sentence.

Because the moment Mia's foot touched the ground—

Zero convulsed again.

A violent surge of mana erupted—this time larger, unstable, rippling outward in a radius that cracked stone and shattered the remnants of the throne.

Dark, shadow-like flames burst from Zero's skin, wrapping around his arms like liquid night.

"Zero!" Amelia cried.

Amelia rushed to drop a barrier, forming a dome of wind to suppress the overflowing mana—but the moment the barrier touched Zero—

It burned away. Instantly.

"No—no, no—" Amelia whispered, horrified. "His mana… it's devouring mine…?"

And then—

Mia made the mistake of reaching out.

Her hand was only inches from Zero's arm when a pulse of dark mana erupted—

And burned into her skin like acid.

"Mia!" Amelia screamed.

Mia yanked her hand back, frost forming automatically around the scorched flesh—but even frost struggled to suppress the agony.

Lilith's expression shattered into panic.

"No—don't touch him! His soul is unstable, his body can't contain the overflow—if you touch him, the mana will—"

Her voice cracked.

Amelia bit her lip, staring at Zero's trembling body.

His breathing was ragged.

His veins glowed faintly with shadow and frost—the two forces spiraling, clashing, trying to stabilize and failing.

Lilith clutched him tighter, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"He'll hurt anyone who touches him but me," she whispered shakily. "Our energies… resonate."

Mia glared, but the pain in her hand made it hard to argue.

Amelia swallowed hard.

"So what do we do…? Let him die? Let you keep him like this?"

Lilith's voice was barely a whisper.

"I won't let him die."

Her instincts surged again—protective, fierce, absolute.

Mia stepped forward to grab Zero's leg, ignoring pain, ignoring logic—

But Lilith reacted in under a second.

Her tail shot out—not as a weapon, but as a push, slamming Mia back before she could touch Zero.

Mia crashed into a broken pillar, the impact echoing through the ruined hall.

"Mia!" Amelia sprinted toward her.

Lilith trembled, shocked at herself.

"I—I didn't mean to— I just… he's hurting, I can't let—"

They all froze.

Because Zero's mana flared again—this time violently.

The floor cracked.

Stone dissolved into ash.

Air distorted with a sound like tearing fabric.

Zero's unconscious face twisted in pain.

The dark mana spread across his torso, his arms, even the air around them—

devouring, burning, lashing out with raw instability.

His dual affinity—ice and shadow—were colliding, spiraling out of control without his consciousness to keep them balanced.

Amelia's voice broke.

"He's going to destroy himself…"

Lilith's eyes widened in terror.

"No. I won't let that happen."

Then—

for the first time—

Lilith's aura fully ignited.

Black and silver flames swept around her, forming a protective cocoon around Zero. Her wings folded tightly, her mana reaching outward to stabilize his. It wasn't enough. But she kept trying, even though her arms shook violently and her expression twisted with effort.

Mia forced herself up, eyes locked on the glowing circle of unstable energy.

"Explain," Mia demanded hoarsely. "Why does he react to your mana? Why only yours?"

Lilith looked at them with a heartbreaking mix of fear and certainty.

"…Because he saved me," she whispered.

The hall went silent.

"His mana touched mine long before today. Our energies… linked. And now…"

Her gaze dropped to Zero's face.

"…he's slipping because he protected me from something worse."

Mia and Amelia exchanged a look—pain, confusion, helplessness swirling together.