Zero opened his eyes again while the warm blood dripped down from his nostril. He watched as Damian and others fought Mars.
It was a bloody fight.
‘That memory was only half of the story…’ Zero touched his forehead and thought about the memory he just saw. ‘Some of my memories are locked behind a wall.
‘It’s like my own mind locked them away because of the intense trauma.
‘I am truly grateful for Mars and others for taking me out of there, but I also desire the life of freedom. This is just another prison.’
Poof—a strange cloud of smoke appeared in front of his eyes, and from that, a small figure of himself appeared. It was transparent, and its expression was strangely malicious.
“My soul?” Zero frowned. “How did you appear here?”
‘Remember the memory?’ The soul asked with a strangely evil tone. ‘Remember the withered scientists? The blank look, the dried-up flesh, and bloody nails?’
“Yes, and so what?” Zero frowned.
‘Remember what happened to them?’ The soul asked while grinning.
Zero shook his head. “I assumed Mars and others to have done that, so what? Those bastards deserved it.”
‘So, you truly don’t remember?’ His soul chuckled maliciously and moved behind Zero as if it were his shoulder devil. ‘You did that.’
“I did that?” Zero frowned and shook his head. “I don’t have the capability of doing that. I hate to admit it, but the scientists were just not some weaklings. They were strong, battle-hardened warriors, and that’s why I was never able to escape.”
‘The scientists wanted to create a monster—they succeeded.’ The soul whispered in his ear as if he were trying to tempt him into doing something.
‘Ever wondered where you came from, Zero?’
“…” Zero lowered his head and looked conflicted. “I only remembered the white room. I expected to have been born there.”
‘You were born as a baby in a small town on the Dark Continent. The town was one of the last human settlements there.
‘The threat of attacks from demons, demon creatures, and other monsters was constant in your town. However, the people living in that town had a special skill.
‘Everyone born there had the ability to seek their inner devil and make a deal with them to gain power to fend off the monsters that threatened their lives.’
“…” Zero listened silently before asking. “So, I suppose the ‘soul’ is our inner devil? Which means you are my inner devil.”
‘Ding, ding!’
“What happened to my parents?” Zero asked quickly. “I must’ve had one, right? Also, how did I end up in the laboratory?”
‘You’ll get your answers under one condition.’ The inner devil grinned with clear malicious intent.
“What is it?” Zero asked with a frown.
‘This is actually the best deal you could get. Sign a deal with me, and you’ll get the power to kill Mars; you will also get all the answers you wish for!’
“Sounds far too good to be true. What do you gain?” Zero narrowed his eyes.
‘Survival. You’ll die in here without my help. Believe me or not, but your survival is the most necessary thing because if you die, I die.’
“There must be something else.” Zero said. “Because, why make a deal? You could just give me the power and answers.”
‘There is always a but.’ His inner devil said: ‘Inner devils have to make a deal that gives them profit and not the other way around. So, the deal, where I get more out of it, is necessary for the devil to give power.’
“This is already a very good deal for me, so whatever you get is even better.” Zero frowned. “Mind telling me what that is?”
‘I cannot do that. The deal is always a secret. You don’t even remember we had this conversation.’
“Do you get control of my body or something?” Zero asked with a hesitant look.
‘No. That deal is impossible. The inner devil cannot consume the mind or body of a person.
‘Well, if you are feeling hesitant, we have done a deal once before.’
“We have?” Zero asked in shock, but then remembered the sentence, which the inner devil started to use in the conversation.
“You mean…”
‘Exactly. You wanted power to kill the scientists. I gave you that power, but of course, you don’t remember anything.’
“…” Zero looked to the distance, where Mars was fending off the attacks.
‘Well, what will it be?’ The inner devil asked.
“Fine. I’ll sign the deal!” Zero shouted.
At the same moment, a piece of parchment paper and a quill with black ink appeared in the air in front of him.
There was a spot to write his name down, but he hesitated as he didn’t know his real name.
‘If you are curious, your name is Rain Rhoades.’
“Rain Rhoades…” Zero whispered and wrote his name down with a shaky hand.
Once he was done, the parchment paper lit up on fire and vanished into ashes.
At the same moment, Zero felt a burning sensation inside his body and realized that something was going to activate deep within his body.
‘You are in luck.’ The inner devil whispered. ‘The final enchantment you received from the scientists gave you power beyond humans’ limits. I am simply activating the enchantment now.
‘This should make you even more powerful than year ago when you killed those scientists.’
“Aaaaaaargh!” Zero suddenly let out a scream straight from the depths of his soul. His skin started smoking as if he were steaming, and his sclera turned ink black as his eyes glowed with an intense rage.
‘There you’ll go…’ The inner devil chuckled. ‘You are the son of Storm and Water Rhoades—the town was in the brink of destruction and they had to make a deal with their inner devils to save the town.
‘Because of the inevitable destruction, the deal’s price was heavy. They had to sell you away to slave traders. Of course, they didn’t know that when they signed the deal, and they probably still don’t know where you are.
‘If they are still alive.
‘That is your past.’
“Aaaargh!” Zero screamed loudly, and without listening to the inner devil’s words, he rushed forth and ran towards Mars like a possessed demon.
‘Hehe, will he even remember what I told him?’ The inner devil chuckled inside him. ‘Well, try to survive now. You’ll still have to pay me…’
Mars’ hair stood up at the back of his neck, and as he turned around, he came across a fist.
Smack—the fist punched him in the face, sending him flying several meters before he flipped over and landed back on the ground.
“Ptui!” Mars spat out blood from his mouth and looked at the white-haired young man, who was steaming like a steaming machine.
“Z-Zero?” Others looked at him in shock, as he looked vastly different from before.
While Zero Karate was mainly focused on defense, as Zero believed that to be his greatest strength—the final enchantment fully focuses on attack and brings out Zero’s hidden potential.
“I see, so you have been hiding some power, aye?” Mars laughed and lunged at Zero with his arm reeled in backwards.
A small forcefield appeared around Mars’ fist as he prepared for a strike.
“Uranus Strike!”
Zero completely ignored the defense and prepared to tank the attack.
“Dodge!” Apollo screamed, as no one would be able to survive the all-out attack from Mars.
“High Pain!”
At that moment, a black-bladed sword descended from the sky and slashed through Mars’ shoulder, creating a deep gash that bled plenty.
“Argh!” Mars let out an agonizing scream. “Ambroseeeeeeeee!”
“Whoo…” Ambrose landed on the ground and glanced at Zero before turning to the others. “Sorry for taking so long. Let’s kill him quick.”
“Heh.” Damian cracked his knuckles. “Took long enough. Time to end this.”
“…” Zero looked around with his black-sclera eyes and couldn’t recognize any of them. However, his target was Mars and only him.
“Hahahah!” Mars laughed through pain and stared at Ambrose with a fiery rage. “You are truly the bane of my existence, Ambrose!
“Ever since you joined my crew, bad luck has only been following me around.
“Today, it ends!”