Parallel Memory

The following morning, the capital woke to another rumor.

Not another attack.

Another rumor.

For the first time since the attacks began, that difference mattered.

The rumor claimed that a group of devils had been seen moving near the northern military road.

By sunrise, the story had already changed three times.

Some said there were hundreds.

Others claimed they had seen only a handful.

By the time it reached the Authority, the report had become an invading army.

The soldiers were mobilized.

The Church demanded that the gates be sealed.

The War Council ordered scouts into the northern region.

And the entire capital began preparing for a battle that might not even exist.

I watched the soldiers leave through the eastern gate.

Something felt wrong.

Not because of the report.

Because of how quickly everyone had reacted.

I had seen this before.

Not the attack itself.

The response.

The same thing had happened repeatedly.

A rumor appeared.

Someone confirmed part of it.

The Authority moved.

The Church shouted.

The public panicked.

Then, before anyone could determine what had actually happened, another crisis appeared somewhere else.

It wasn’t chaos.

It was controlled chaos.

And whoever was creating it understood something very simple.

People were predictable when they were afraid.

****************************************

By midday, the northern scouts returned.

There had been no army.

No devil force.

No attack.

Only several footprints along an abandoned road.

The Church immediately demanded an investigation.

The Authority demanded proof.

The War Council demanded everyone stop wasting soldiers on rumors.

And while they argued, another report arrived.

A supply convoy in the western region had been attacked.

I stared at the messenger.

"How many?"

"Thirty-two soldiers."

"Devils?"

"Unknown."

"Survivors?"

"Three."

"Send them here."

The messenger hesitated.

"They’re already being questioned."

"By whom?"

"The Church."

I frowned.

"Bring them anyway."

He left.

Mia stood beside me.

"This is getting ridiculous."

"It’s getting worse."

She looked at me.

"You think the attacks are being coordinated?"

"Yes."

"By the devil rebels?"

"I don’t know."

That answer bothered me.

I was beginning to suspect something more complicated.

The attacks didn’t seem designed to help the devils.

They didn’t capture territory.

They didn’t destroy important military positions consistently.

They didn’t attempt to assassinate leaders.

Instead, they created fear.

And fear created political pressure.

The Church wanted Lilith detained.

The Authority wanted evidence.

The public wanted someone to blame.

The War Council wanted everyone to remain calm.

Nobody was looking in the same direction anymore.

That was the real victory.

Whoever was behind this didn’t need to defeat humanity.

They only needed humanity to defeat itself.

*********************************************

The three surviving soldiers were brought into the room that afternoon.

They looked exhausted.

One had his arm wrapped in cloth.

Another had a deep cut across his forehead.

The third simply stared at the floor.

Mia approached them.

"Tell us what happened."

The first soldier swallowed.

"We were transporting supplies."

"When were you attacked?"

"Near sunset."

"How many enemies?"

He hesitated.

"Three."

I looked at him.

"Only three?"

"I think so."

"You think?"

"It was dark."

"What did they look like?"

"Devils."

"All three?"

"Yes."

"What kind?"

"I don’t know."

I stepped closer.

"Did they speak?"

The soldier shook his head.

"Not a word."

"Did they use weapons?"

"One had a sword."

"Two?"

"I couldn’t tell."

"What happened after the attack?"

"They disappeared."

"How?"

The soldier looked confused.

"I don’t know."

I stared at him.

"You don’t know?"

"They were there."

He swallowed.

"Then they weren’t."

Mia looked at me.

I said nothing.

That description matched everything.

No clear entrance.

No clear escape.

No bodies.

No trail.

Just dark mana.

"What happened immediately before they disappeared?"

The soldier thought.

Then his eyes widened slightly.

"There was..."

"What?"

"A sound."

"What kind?"

"Like..."

He struggled.

"Like something tearing."

I exchanged a glance with Mia.

"Did you see anything?"

"No."

"Feel anything?"

The soldier nodded.

"The air became cold."

I froze.

Cold.

Dark energy.

A sudden disappearance.

The same combination.

But there was something else.

The soldier continued.

"For a moment, I thought someone else was there."

"Someone else?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"I don’t know."

"What did you sense?"

The soldier looked toward me.

"Something strange."

His expression changed.

"Like..."

He hesitated.

"Like someone was watching the fight."

My eyes narrowed.

"From where?"

He pointed toward the hills.

"Somewhere up there."

I thanked him and stepped away.

Mia followed.

"Do you believe him?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because the attackers weren’t the only ones there."

She looked toward the window.

"You think the mastermind was watching?"

"Possibly."

"Then why?"

I looked back at the soldier.

"To see what happened."

Mia frowned.

"That’s it?"

"Maybe."

I didn’t tell her the thought that had already entered my mind.

Perhaps the person wasn’t simply watching the attacks.

Perhaps they were watching me.

*******************************************

That evening, I went to the hills.

Alone.

The sun was setting.

The valley below was almost completely silent.

I followed the route the soldier had described.

There was nothing.

No footprints.

No discarded equipment.

No traces of dark mana.

Again.

Too clean.

I walked further.

Then I noticed something.

A small stone had been moved.

I crouched.

Underneath it was a tiny piece of blackened metal.

I picked it up.

There was no mana.

No magical inscription.

Just a small piece of metal.

But its shape was familiar.

I turned it over.

A narrow line crossed its surface.

The same pattern.

The same simple mark I had seen before.

I stared at it.

My fingers tightened.

Someone had left another clue.

But this time, I wasn’t going to follow it.

I threw the metal aside.

Then I waited.

Nothing happened.

Five minutes.

Ten.

Twenty.

The sun disappeared completely.

Still nothing.

I smiled faintly.

"If you’re watching..."

Silence.

"Then you already know I found it."

Nothing.

I turned away.

And that was when I felt the pulse.

Dark mana.

Behind me.

I spun around.

A figure stood at the edge of the hill.

Only for a moment.

A human silhouette.

Then it disappeared.

I rushed forward.

Nothing.

The ground was empty.

But the air still carried the faintest trace of mana.

I closed my eyes.

There.

A direction.

I followed it.

Not quickly.

Carefully.

The trace led down the hill.

Then vanished.

I stopped.

The person had escaped.

But something had changed.

They had allowed me to sense them.

They wanted me to know they could have remained hidden.

That was the message.

I can reach you whenever I want.

I looked into the darkness.

"Fine."

My voice was quiet.

"If this is a game..."

I turned back toward the capital.

"...then I’ll stop playing by your rules."

The following morning, the attacks stopped.

For an entire day.

Nothing happened.

No villages.

No military bases.

No supply routes.

Nothing.

The sudden silence made everyone more nervous than the attacks.

The Church suspected a trap.

The Authority suspected another attack was coming.

The War Council increased patrols.

Lilith remained under heavy protection.

And I waited.

Then, just before midnight, a message arrived.

A small border settlement had discovered a dead soldier.

Only one.

No battle.

No destruction.

Just a single body lying outside the settlement.

The soldier belonged to the Authority.

There was no evidence of who killed him.

But beside the body was something.

A piece of black metal.

I went there immediately.

When I arrived, I already knew what I would find.

The mark.

It was there.

The same one.

But this time, there was something different.

The mark had been carved into the soldier’s armor.

I stared at it.

The soldier hadn’t been killed because of his military importance.

He had been killed because someone wanted the mark to be found.

And someone wanted me to find it.

I reached toward the armor.

Then stopped.

A thought crossed my mind.

What if the entire investigation was wrong?

What if the attacks weren’t intended to make me chase the mastermind?

What if they were intended to make me believe that I was chasing him?

I stepped back.

The pieces suddenly shifted.

The attacks.

The clues.

The rumors.

The marks.

The strange appearances.

The deliberate disappearance.

Everything might have been one enormous misdirection.

I looked toward the distant capital.

The answer wasn’t out here.

It was somewhere closer.

Inside.

*******************************************************

When I returned, Mia was waiting.

"You found something."

"Yes."

She waited.

I handed her the piece of black metal.

She examined it.

"The same mark."

"Yes."

"Did you learn anything?"

I shook my head.

"Only that we’re being led."

Mia looked at me.

"Led where?"

"I don’t know yet."

She sighed.

"That’s not very reassuring."

"No."

I looked toward the meeting hall.

"Something else bothers me."

"What?"

"The attacks have been happening everywhere."

"Yes."

"But the mastermind hasn’t attacked the people who matter most."

Mia frowned.

"The leaders?"

"Exactly."

"The Church?"

"Untouched."

"The Authority?"

"Mostly untouched."

"The War Council?"

"Almost completely untouched."

Mia slowly understood.

"They’re not targeting the people making decisions."

"No."

"Then who are they targeting?"

"Everyone beneath them."

Mia’s expression hardened.

"The people."

I nodded.

"The people are putting pressure on their leaders."

She looked toward the city.

"And the leaders are responding to the people."

"Exactly."

Mia was silent.

Then she whispered:

"That’s clever."

"Too clever."

She looked at me.

"What do you mean?"

I stared at the black mark.

"I think we’ve been looking at the attacks from the wrong side."

"What side should we be looking from?"

I finally looked at her.

"The person who benefits from every decision we make."

Mia’s eyes narrowed.

"And who benefits?"

I didn’t answer.

Because I already knew.

The Church benefited from fear.

The Authority benefited from instability.

The military benefited from increased funding.

Devil rebels benefited from hatred.

But none of them benefited from all of it.

Except someone who wanted the treaty destroyed.

Someone who wanted humans and devils fighting again.

Someone who wanted history to move backward.

I looked toward the meeting hall.

"Someone wants the old war back."

**************************************************************

Far away from the capital, inside a dark room, a man sat alone.

A map lay before him.

The same map.

The same red markings.

But unlike the people in the capital, he wasn’t worried.

He had expected Zero to reach this conclusion.

He had expected him to realize that the attacks were political rather than military.

He had expected him to suspect the treaty was the real target.

The man moved one piece on the map.

Then another.

He smiled.

"Good."

His voice was quiet.

"You’re finally looking in the right direction."

He leaned back.

For a moment, his expression became almost nostalgic.

"Still..."

He paused.

"You always were stubborn."

His fingers rested against the table.

He knew Zero would continue.

He knew exactly how Zero would investigate.

He knew which paths Zero would avoid.

Which traps he would recognize.

Which ones he would ignore.

He knew because...

he had once thought the same way.

The man closed his eyes.

For a brief moment, another memory surfaced.

A different world.

A different sky.

A story written in pages.

Then the memory vanished.

He opened his eyes.

"The story has already changed too much."

He looked toward the capital.

"And you are the reason."

His expression hardened.

"I won’t let you destroy everything."

**************************************************

Back in the capital, I stood alone on the roof.

The wind moved through my hair.

The city below looked peaceful.

But I knew better.

The attacks had stopped.

For now.

That meant something was coming.

I looked toward the horizon.

The strange familiarity returned.

That same uncomfortable feeling.

Not fear.

Not exactly.

Recognition.

I had spent my entire life trusting my own instincts.

Now, for the first time, I was beginning to wonder whether my instincts were recognizing something my mind couldn’t yet understand.

Someone was out there.

Someone who thought like me.

Someone who knew how I would react.

Someone who seemed to understand the world from the same perspective I did.

I closed my eyes.

A single thought surfaced.

Whoever you are...

Why do you know me?

And somewhere beyond the capital, the man who had been watching quietly smiled.

The next move had already been made.

Zero simply hadn’t seen it yet.

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