“L-Lilith?”
One thing that is embedded in my mind about Lilith that is still clear is her cheerful smile. There was no way that I was mistaken about that. The smile that she showed for a split second was very much like Lilith that I knew.
“Sh*t!”
( I have to save her! )
Zero instantly turned around and dashed toward Lilith.
Before seeing the smile, he was still hesitant about saving her life, but after seeing it, he made his way to her involuntarily. He had no idea how to save her or whether he would survive this but he wanted to save Lilith.
If the devil was indeed Lilith, abandoning her would haunt him forever. If not for Lilith saving him, he would not be standing here.
If Xalvar did something and made her behave in this way, then it was also his fault. Lilith would not have been trapped in the dungeon if she had not held off Xalvar to save him.
“Damn him!”
Zero could only curse Xalvar as Xalvar had already escaped. It wasn’t enough that Xalvar brainwashed Lilith, he even made her die there.
-SHUSH!
Even when he stood in front of her, unlike before, she didn’t attack or show any indication of hostility.
( Indeed Xalvar did something to her! )
Zero previously believed that Lilith was a loyal Devil who obeyed Xalvar’s orders to the letter. However, now that he thinks again, he realized that the reason for her behavior was not loyalty or fear, but because she had been brainwashed into obeying him.
However, Zero had no idea what he did to her even with the knowledge from the novel. There was no mention of this type of Art or artifact that could control others’ will.
Anyway before thinking about that Zero had to solve Lilith overloading her Dark Energy. Right now saving the lives of him and Lilith was his priority then he could think about what Xalvar did to Lilith.
( Should I knock her out? )
It will prevent further expansion of mana within her body, however, and even if he knocks her out, the explosion will still occur, although it may be on a smaller scale than if she is kept conscious.
“Hey, wake up!”
Zero grabbed Lilith’s arms and started shaking her in the hope that she might regain her sanity. If she wakes up then all these problems will be solved.
However, the reality was not as easy as he hoped. There was no way that she would regain her mind with a small shake when she was not able to do that even when she was fighting fiercely previously.
“As expected, this is not going to be easy … Huh-?”
As he was thinking that this was not going to work, he noticed something unexpected. Once again, he held Lilith’s arms.
“Looks like I sensed it correctly. My body was absorbing her Dark Energy.”
Zero had noticed that his Dark Energy had increased when he was shaking Lilith earlier. He didn’t know whether it was because his mana regeneration had increased or because he had absorbed mana from Lilith.
But after holding Lilith’s arm again, he noticed that his Dark Energy was quickly replenishing. And on Lilith’s side, her mana had decreased a bit.
” Haha, looks like luck is on my side today.”
Zero was delighted. He could finally see hope in this impossible situation. He didn’t really have any solution to save Lilith aside from trying to wake her up. The solution has now fallen right in front of Zero, and he couldn’t be more grateful.
He didn’t know why but he could easily absorb Dark Energy from Lilith’s body. Without wasting time he continued to absorb the Dark Energy and the self-destruction of Lilith started to slow down but it was too dangerous for Zero.
Absorbing Dark Energy from Lilith had made his Dark Energy go over his body limit and he was in a similar state as Lilith, that is he was on the verge of exploding.
However, unlike Lilith who had no way of stopping herself from overloading, Zero had many ways. While stopping others from overloading mana was almost impossible, it was a different story if one wanted to do so themselves.
[ “Demonic Emperor Sword: Extermination Blast” ]
[ “Demonic Emperor Sword: Extermination Blast” ]
[ “Demonic Emperor Sword: Extermination Blast” ] …
Stopping the overload was easy for him. The only reason why Lilith could not is because she had no intention of doing so. It only takes a few continuous uses of mana for your mana level in your body to drop back to normal.
Zero shot out his skill continuously and moreover, he would intentionally fire it at the Devil who was seemingly running away. Anyway, he could not shoot on the ground where other students were, so he could only aim at the sky where multiple Devils were flying.
“KAAAY!”
“Who dares!”
The majority managed to dodge his attack since most of them were ridiculously strong, but occasionally one of two unlucky devils would be struck by his attack. However, no matter how angry they were, they had to run away or else risk dying from the high-ranking human that came as reinforcement.
“Hah… Hah…”
Zero was panting heavily as he could feel pain all over his body.
Although the problem of overloading was over, the fact that he used such a ridiculous attack, again and again, made him tired and his body was already past its limit. It would have been a different story if he had a strong body but right now his body is not yet strong enough to nonchalantly use Dark Energy like the devils.
Using so many Extermination Blasts had placed a heavy burden on his body but he had to use it to stop his Dark Energy from overloading.
“Hah…Hah…”
He then looked at the Devil who he saved believing that she is Lilith and that he knows but she had turned back into the emotionless devil that she was. She didn’t attack, which could be because Xalvar who was ordering her is not present there.
“What should I do now?”
Zero said as he looked up at the sky.
He could go back and meet with Hiro and his group. Although he used Dark Energy, based on what he knew about them from the novel, he believed that as long as he explained they would believe him that he is not a Devil Contractor and would not spread the information.
They also owed him for saving them, so it was unlikely for Hiro and others to reveal his secret. But this was the perfect situation for running away from the Ace Academy and going to the Obelisk Tower. He glanced at Lilith.
And there was no way that The Authority would let Lilith stay alive knowing she is a Devil. He didn’t have the ability to hide her and if they found her then both Zero and Lilith would be in danger.
He looked at Lilith again and made his resolve.
Considering all the factors, Zero believes that going away would be the best choice. If Lilith is captured, then all of his previous hard work would be for naught. He couldn’t have Lilith be caught by other humans nor was there an option for him to abandon her.
He looked into the distance where Hiro, Sylvia, and Lisa had probably gone. He would love to see where the main characters would go on from here onwards but he still had his own task to complete.
“Goodbye! Let’s meet again in two years.”
After saying that he turned around and took Lilith in his arms and vanished.