Parallel Memory

Chapter 537: Beyond the gates

The morning sun cast pale gold streaks across the broken walls of the Omega Outpost. The wind carried the scent of iron, ash, and pine—an odd mixture that marked the edge of two realms: human domain and devil territory.

I stood quietly near the collapsed archway that once guarded the southern watchpoint, my cloak wrapped tightly around me, my face masked with a black hood made of mana-concealing fabric. The hum of dark energy in the air was unmistakable.

A few steps behind me, Lilith tightened the strap of her own travel pack. Her face was calm, but her violet eyes held a deep tension—a mix of fear and determination. She was going home... but not in the way anyone should return to their birthplace. She was heading toward a fractured kingdom, a throne usurped, and a father imprisoned.

Just as we were preparing to leave, a soldier called out from behind the inner perimeter.

"Commander Eleanore! Special delivery from Tech Genesis!"

I turned instinctively, my eyes narrowing.

A squad wheeled in a sealed military crate marked with the Tech Genesis logo—sleek, reinforced, unmarked aside from a discreet serial code etched on the surface. Eleanore stood by, arms crossed as she signed off on the document.

The shipment had been designated under her name for formality’s sake, part of the supplies intended to "support the outpost forces." But we both knew what it really was.

She opened the crate discreetly while keeping her body between it and the rest of the soldiers. Inside, nestled in foam was a simple black SS-grade storage ring, pulsing faintly with divine runes—silent, invisible to the naked eye, yet humming with suppressed power. Inside that ring was everything Aidan had collected for me. God-blessed weapons. Tools. Emergency artifacts. Mobility charms. Stealth cloaks. One-use divine barriers. Enough firepower to threaten a devil battalion.

Eleanore met my eyes and walked over, slipping the ring into my gloved hand without a word. I caught a flicker of hesitation in her eyes.

"You sure about this?" she asked quietly, almost under her breath.

"Not even a little," I replied, giving her the faintest smirk beneath my mask.

She looked down, biting her lip. Her voice dropped lower. "You know... if I wasn’t wearing this uniform, I’d go with you. Orders be damned."

I looked at her, silent for a long moment. Then: "I know."

Eleanore looked over at Lilith, who stood by the gate with her head slightly bowed. Even now, fully aware of who and what Lilith was, Eleanore didn’t reach for her sword. Instead, her voice grew soft. "I hated you when I first found out... hated everything you stood for. My brother died in the Devil War. So did half the kids I grew up with."

Lilith didn’t flinch. "I understand."

"But," Eleanore continued, "if I hadn’t joined the military, someone else would’ve found you that night. And they would’ve killed you on the spot, no questions asked."

Lilith looked up, and their eyes met.

"I don’t know what your father was really trying to do back then... but I believe you’re not the enemy. And Zero—" She turned to me, her jaw tightening, "—bring her back safe. No matter what it takes."

"I will," I said simply.

With that, we turned and left.

There was no grand farewell, no waving banners or lines of soldiers to send us off. Just the creak of the ruined gate swinging open behind us and the sound of our footsteps as we vanished into the jungle.

The jungle south of Omega was thick with vines and ancient trees, but oddly silent. No chirping birds, no rustling beasts, not even the wind whispering through the leaves.

This wasn’t natural silence. It was fear.

The trees, the land itself, had learned to stay quiet.

Dark energy bled subtly into the forest here, even before the true boundary of the Devil’s Domain. It was faint—almost like a scent on the air—but enough to drive away most mana beasts. Only the mad or the cursed lingered here.

"There," I muttered, pointing ahead.

A narrow trail opened into a wide line—a border that stretched from horizon to horizon. On one side: the lush greens of the forest. On the other: red sand, jagged black stones, and a sky that looked a little too dark for mid-afternoon. This was no natural border.

It was a scar.

Magic old and wicked had divided the realms centuries ago, and even now, the line remained etched into the land. No sign, no post—just a stark change in color and pressure that made your skin crawl.

Lilith stepped beside me. Her eyes lingered on the horizon. "This was once called the Veil Line. In old times, it used to be patrolled from both sides. A place of trade... diplomacy."

"And now?"

"Now, it’s a warning."

I reached into the storage ring, drawing out a talisman that Aidan had labeled "Divine Presence Suppressor." It wouldn’t hide me entirely if a devil lord was searching, but it would make me invisible to scouts or sensor magic.

"Once we cross, stay low. No flying. No high mana use unless it’s life or death," I instructed.

Lilith nodded.

We walked.

Hours passed.

The forest canopy gave way to rocky outcroppings and dried-up riverbeds. The sand crunched beneath our boots, and the sun above seemed weaker, as if struggling to shine through the taint of the land.

We stopped by a crumbling stone monument at dusk. It had once borne an inscription, but the words had been scratched out, replaced with a single bloodstained mark: Aamon’s sigil.

Lilith stared at it quietly. I could feel her trembling—not from fear, but fury.

"They erased everything," she said bitterly. "All the laws. All the names. My father’s symbols... defaced. His words... banned."

"But not his blood," I replied. "That still runs through you."

She looked at me with wide eyes, then gave a faint smile.

That night, we made camp behind a stone bluff. I activated a cloaking ward from the storage ring and reinforced the barrier with one of Lilith’s old defensive spells—an art only royal-blooded devils could perform.

We didn’t speak much that night.

But as we sat under the eerie, flickering stars of the Devil’s Domain, I couldn’t help but glance at her again. For someone carrying so much pain, she sat so still.

Unbroken.

I pulled out a small packet of emergency rations and passed it to her. "Not your usual cuisine, princess."

She snorted softly. "Better than the things I had to eat while hiding."

"You know... Eleanore didn’t want us to leave."

"She cares," Lilith said simply. "But she’s needed here. If she had come, she would’ve blamed herself for everything that happened in her absence."

I looked at the dull sky.

"She saved you."

"She gave me a chance to save myself," Lilith corrected.

Silence returned, comfortable now.

Tomorrow, we’ll get closer to the settlements. The land would grow darker. The threats would be sharper.

But tonight?

We were just two shadows beneath a broken sky, walking toward a fire that refused to die out.

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