Parallel Memory

Chapter 689: THE DEVIL LEARNS TO TREMBLE

Aaron’s roar thundered across the plains, shaking the cracked earth beneath their feet. His massive frame heaved with every breath, each exhale a gust of abyssal heat that warped the air. The miracle’s holy residue—still faintly shimmering across the battlefield—clung to his skin like poison.

For the first time since the siege began, the devil was visibly struggling.

And the entire battlefield felt it.

The soldiers behind Hiro and Mia stirred, hope flickering in their eyes like candles in a storm. Some rose shakily from where they had collapsed earlier. Others tightened their grips on broken spears or cracked shields, their wounds no longer screaming in pain thanks to the lingering sanctity of the Saintess’s relic.

It wasn’t a victory.

But it was no longer a funeral march either.

Hiro exhaled shakily, wiping the blood at his jaw. His arms still burned from the recoil of Crimson Frost Requiem. His muscles screamed with every twitch, threatening to seize up at any moment. Even strengthened by holy mana, his human body could only take so much.

But right now?

He felt like he could keep going.

Beside him, Mia planted her blade into the ground for a moment, grounding herself. Frost bloomed from the impact point in quiet spirals, like delicate flowers of ice unfurling under starlight. Her pale eyes watched Aaron’s movement without blinking.

"He’s resisting," she murmured. "He’s forcing his body to adapt."

Hiro grimaced. "Guess monsters don’t stay weakened for long."

"No." Mia’s fingers tightened around her hilt. "So we strike before he recovers."

Aaron’s head snapped up at that, glaring at them with raw hatred.

"You insects..." His voice crackled like a dying furnace. "You think yourselves equal? You think a borrowed miracle changes the truth?"

He slammed his foot down, creating a crater.

"You are NOTHING!"

The shockwave blasted outward in a circular wave.

Hiro braced himself—but then a wall of solid earth erupted in front of him, absorbing the hit.

Zion, drenched in sweat and dust, grunted from the exertion.

"Just... buy you a few seconds," he croaked. "Don’t expect miracles from me."

Hiro gave him a small smile. "You already gave one."

Sylvia appeared a heartbeat later, wind twisting around her legs as she skidded into position. Her hair whipped behind her like a silver banner.

"His mana flow is unstable," she reported quickly. "He’s pushing himself past safe limits."

Misha jumped down from a broken boulder, wiping blood from her knuckles with a stubborn grin.

"Good," she said. "Let him. Maybe he’ll break faster."

Lisa shot her an incredulous look. "Misha, he’s a devil general. They don’t ’break.’ We’re just lucky he’s reacting to the miracle at all."

"Lucky?" Misha scoffed. "Nah. He’s just scared of us now."

Aaron’s eyes snapped toward her.

Misha froze.

Then forced a smirk.

"See? He reacts every time someone says ’scared.’ He’s practically sensitive."

Aaron lifted his hand.

Dark mana flooded his palm.

Hiro didn’t hesitate—he sprang forward, dragging Misha with him just as a beam of compressed abyss tore through the ground where she had been standing.

The explosion flung soil, stone, and smoke into the air.

Misha stared at the obliterated area with sweat dripping down her chin. "Okay. Sensitive and still very, very angry."

Lisa’s voice piped up nervously. "Let’s... let’s avoid provoking him further."

Sylvia exhaled sharply. "Too late."

Aaron stood, smoke and fury radiating from his frame, and pointed at them with a trembling claw.

"I will tear your souls apart for this humiliation!"

Hiro braced himself once more, adjusting his grip on his sword.

"Humiliation?" he said, breathing heavily. "You’re the one bleeding."

A tiny bead of black blood trickled from Aaron’s chest—barely visible, barely meaningful, yet monumental.

To a devil of his rank—

It was a disgrace.

Aaron charged.

Not lumbering, not staggering—

Charging.

The sheer speed forced Hiro to block with both hands, the impact sending a shock down his spine. He slid several meters back, boots dragging lines across the ground.

"Mia!" he shouted.

Already moving.

Her frost surged, lifting from her sword in swirling waves that slammed into Aaron’s flank. The devil staggered, snarling as the cold burned into his weakened flesh. Frost clung to his skin in shimmering veins, spreading faster than it would have minutes ago.

Hiro capitalized, sweeping in from the opposite side. Flames surged around his blade, licking upward like a crimson serpent. He aimed for Aaron’s knee—the same joint Mia had weakened earlier.

Aaron tried to dodge.

He failed.

Hiro’s blade sank in by an inch.

Only an inch.

But even that made the devil’s eyes widen.

"Impossible..."

Misha appeared behind Aaron, grabbing the devil’s arm again with renewed force. Her teeth were clenched, her muscles trembling, but she held him long enough for Zion’s stone spikes to jut from the ground and pin Aaron’s other leg.

Sylvia’s wind blades sliced down next, cutting across Aaron’s back, making him bellow in rage.

The battlefield seemed to pulse.

Humans—mere humans—were overwhelming a devil general for a moment in time.

Not by strength.

Not by rank.

But by unity, opportunity, and the Saintess’s blessing burning in their veins.

Lisa, calm under the pressure, aimed a final arrow at Aaron’s exposed shoulder.

Her shot glowed with holy light.

She released.

The arrow struck true, embedding itself deep into Aaron’s flesh—

—and something finally snapped inside him.

"ENOUGH!"

Mana exploded outward.

But unlike before—

It was unstable.

Frantic.

Desperate.

Hiro skidded back, shielding his face as dust blasted everywhere. Even weakened, Aaron’s rage carried enough power to rip the earth open.

But as the dust settled, the devil wasn’t standing tall.

He was kneeling.

One knee in the dirt.

Breathing ragged.

Eyes bloodshot.

Mia approached slowly, aura blazing around her in frost and holy brilliance. Her presence alone made the air vibrate.

"Hiro," she said softly. "Prepare another Dual Art."

Hiro nodded, forcing his trembling arms into position.

Behind them, their friends shifted, moving to cover them, forming a protective ring—wounded, exhausted, shaking, but resolute.

Aaron lifted his head, baring teeth stained with black blood.

"You think this is enough?" he hissed. "Humans... always underestimate what a devil can endure..."

Mia raised her blade, its tip glowing with condensed frost and light.

"No," she answered. "We just finally stopped underestimating ourselves."

The words struck something in Hiro.

In all of them.

Aaron roared, mana surging—

But the humans stood firm.

Ready to unleash another symphony of fire and frost.

Because hope, once ignited, doesn’t flicker out.