A few weeks ago!
Zero continued to climb the Tower Of Obelisk as he tested his limits. In a place that lacked no monsters, Zero had killed hundreds of thousands of them by now.
He had reached his limit on Floor 31 where Rank-S monsters roam such as Ice Griffin, Wolfram Tortoise, Kraken, and many more. Strangely, those monsters who are usually the strongest in dungeons were not even the strongest on Floor-31.
The Boss monster of Floor-31 that Zero encountered was Chaos Dragon. Zero tried to defeat the monster but was unsuccessful a couple of times. Knowing that this was his limit, he retreated from the Tower Of Obelisk.
“Fresh air!”
Zero said as he took a deep breath. He was also stretching his body.
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Zero turned his head and asked Lilith.
“Yes! I should probably take care of the problem before it gets any bigger.”
Lilith replied.
“Mmm … “
“Don’t worry about me! I won’t do anything dangerous.”
Lilith said.
Even though she said that Zero didn’t really believe her words. In a world where wars are being waged, how can it not be dangerous, especially in the domain of the Devil. However, it was not like the human domain was any safer.
“I will be back before you know it! That time, make sure you take me to interesting places like last time.”
Lilith said with a bright smile. She was not like Lilith who was emotionless or a killing machine.
“… If you need help or are in any kind of danger, message or call me. I will definitely rush to your place.”
Zero said.
“Haha… Sure!”
Lilith laughed. When Zero was little, it seemed like she was the one doing the work of protecting him but with the situation changing, she couldn’t help but laugh.
Of course, she was not making fun of him or anything. She was grateful to him and even more so because he cared so much about her. However, she also had her own set of responsibilities to bear.
“I guess this is where we go our separate ways.”
Lilith said.
“Don’t do anything dangerous!”
Zero had warned her again.
“Did I ever?”
“When did you not?”
“Haha… I guess so. Zero, you should also be careful.”
“Sure, though I don’t think that I get into trouble like someone.”
Zero replied.
They were making small talk as their destination was going to be different and they had to separate from each other. It is also unknown what type of danger they would encounter.
“Goodbye!”
Lilith waved goodbye as she disappeared into the distance. Zero stood there for a moment, watching her go before turning and walking away himself.
Zero felt kind of sad because Lilith had been by his side for 2 years and not having her by his side was kind of awkward.
Anyway, he needed to go and check the situation back home. Even though he’d done everything to keep his parents safe, he wasn’t sure whether they were okay after 2 years.
Furthermore, according to his memory, many kinds of problems would have already arisen in the human domain during the war between Devil and Humans. It might have also gotten his family involved which was one of his biggest worries.
One problem was due to the Dark Guild and the other one is the Gate which has been increasing in recent years. There is also an increase in the number of monsters with Gates.
With all kinds of problems together, The Authority lacked the human resources to solve them all. That’s why Zero was worried that something might happen to his parents even with the preparations that he had made.
There was no use getting worried as he would know the situation after getting back to the human domain.
-WHOOSH!
As he ran, Zero noticed a group of adventurers walking in front of him. There were 10 people with the strongest beings at Rank-B.
They looked like they had just come back from a fight, covered in dirt and sweat. Well, he was not better, maybe even worse since he was in the Tower Of Obelisk for almost 2 years.
“Hey, boy where have you been? It’s pretty dangerous around here.”
One of them noticed Zero and called him. It was unusual to see a boy of Zero’s age in this part of the area as it was near the border of Devil’s Domain. It was especially dangerous since there was a war between humans and Devils.
Zero slowed down.
“I was just exploring the area when I got lost.”
Zero gave some fake explanation. Anyway, it was better than saying that he was in the Tower Of Obelisk. And they would not even believe him because nobody dares enter there alone.
“Boy, you are really brave to be exploring in the current situation. It would be best to keep your adventurous spirit hidden before the war comes to an end.”
One of the adventures suggested. The current world was very dangerous and The Authority had no time to focus on monsters or other problems as they had to deal with Devils.
“Would you like to join us? It’s safer with us, especially in the current situation. It would be bad if you encountered a strong monster.”
The second adventurer suggested. He seemed pretty friendly even though he was carrying a big ax.
“Sure, that would be great. Thank you.”
Zero said, grateful for the offer. It was not really dangerous for him as he was stronger than their whole group. However, he was definitely interested in gaining some kind of information from them.
“I am Marcus Ironheart, the leader of the Ironheart Guild. What is your name?”
The leader asked. He was a slender guy with two knives. He was possibly an assassin. He was the strongest in that group.
“Zero Elea”
Zero replied honestly. He was not like some criminal or some kind of famous person who would need to hide their name.
They continued to walk together, sharing stories and experiences. Zero found out that they were a group of experienced adventurers who are stationed around here to look out for any possible invasion from the Devil.
Of course, they are not the only ones as there are at least 20 groups who have been sent to OutCast town to keep an eye out for Devils. Additionally, they were to hunt the monsters surrounding them.
“Damn the devil! I don’t understand why they would wage war even though they always ended up defeated.”
One of the adventurers said in annoyance.
“Devils have always been like this. I am angrier at the Dark Guild who is causing chaos and destruction at such a time.”
Angrily closing his fist, he said.
Zero began analyzing the information that he had received. As per what he heard from the adventures, he could say that the world is moving in a similar direction as in the novel. There was some difference but not that many.
From that, what caught his ears was about the Dark Guild.
( According to the novel, this is the time that they would start to make a mess out of human society because powerful people have all been called by The Authority. )
It was similar to what the adventures were talking about. He was aware that the Dark Guild would be making problems for humans to the point that The Authority would shift their focus to them from the war.
“They seemed to also be targeting Tech Genesis! They might be targeting their technologies.”
The adventures continued talking.
!!!
This immediately caught Zero’s attention. He didn’t think that the Dark Guild would also start attacking Tech Genesis. In the original novel, there was no Tech Genesis, and he had forgotten that Tech Genesis might be targeted by the Dark Guild.
“Did something happen to Tech Genesis?”
Zero immediately asked them. He was quite anxious as he knew that if what the Dark Guild had planned were successful, most of the people working for Tech Genesis would die.
The Adventurer was surprised by Zero’s reaction. The things that they were talking about were nothing new. Even so, they began telling Zero what they knew.
“Nothing really happened!” Their branch was captured once but it was taken care of by the NightShade Guild. Even so, it happens twice or thrice. Fortunately, Nightshade Guild members were prepared for it. However, from that, we could see that Dark Guild is targeting the company. I have also heard that ….
The adventure began sharing everything he knew. He was a guy who really liked talking.
Zero pondered for a minute. He was relieved that nothing much had happened to the employers. However, he also knew that these attacks were just to test the water and they must be planning something big.
According to what he knew, he was aware of some of their plans though some small details must have changed. He wanted to rush back to the city and check the situation himself.
However, before that, he needed to obtain more information and plan carefully as to what he would need to do.
“Dual Art was really powerful. I hope that we get the chance to practice this.”
“Aie ya, we are already old. Where in the world would we get the energy to practice two more Arts? Better focus on what we already know. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
Zero also came to know that Dual Art was being taught just as in the novel. He was sure that Hiro and the other main characters were learning this Art at this moment.
At the thought of that, he also began to wonder how strong they must be currently.