Chapter 134 My Fault!
"Pro…fessor..M i a"
Zero's words were shuttering. He didn't believe that Professor Mia would die. She could not die.
( It is my fault. My fault…)
As someone who knows what will be happening in the future, I know that Professor Mia was not someone who was going to perish here.
It was because of my interference that her fate was altered for the worse. If I didn't change the course of the original novel, Professor Mia would not have died.
As I watched the lifeless body of Professor Mia, my mind went completely black for a second.
My chest was stuffy from the suffocating emotions. They were emotions that couldn't be described in words.
The shock was too overwhelming and he couldn't think properly.
"AAAAAAHHH!"
Zero howled in the sky and startled the Ice Griffin who was standing in front of Professor Mia.
"Th.i.s DAMN WORLD! Once again… once again it had taken what is precious to me."
Tears slowly filled Zero's eyes with the outburst of his anger.
He felt that he had a similar experience before.
Zero has lost something precious and he could not forgive the existence who had done this.
A dangerous aura leaked from Zero's body. Killing intent filled Zero's eyes as he glared at the Ice Griffin.
Zero mind was filled with the thought of destruction. There was an aimless sense of destruction that wanted to extinguish every life on earth. He felt an immeasurable hatred toward the world.
Ice Griffin didn't know whether it came from him or the Emperor of Destruction, but one thing was certain: both of them wanted Ice Griffin dead.
Ice Griffin also felt someone was targeting his life. He was surprised to find that an ant weaker than the creature he killed just now was emitting such strong hostility against a noble creature such as him.
He spread his wings and released his killing intent. He wanted to show that he was not someone that should be provoked by weak creatures.
Zero didn't back down, instead, his killing intent rose, even surpassing that of Ice Griffin.
"I will pluck off your wings and make them into chicken wings."
Zero smiled like he was a devil. He has already lost much of his reasoning and didn't even care that the monster in front of him was a Rank-S Ice Griffin.
The black aura flowing from Zero's body thickened as he felt an increase a drastic increase in strength.
-SCREECH!
The Ice Griffin roared furiously. He could not fully understand Zero's words but he could at least feel that the creature in front of him was provoking and insulting him.
Ice Griffin could not have an inferior species insult him so much. He instantly launched his attack on the creature who had been acting too insolent in front of his presence.
He thought that he could overwhelm Zero with his killing intent but to his surprise, Zero was able to contend with his killing intent. Now, he had to resort to using his attacks.
The skill that Ice Griffin used was Ice Breathe, an attack that instantly freezes its target. It also covered a large area, however, it severely lacked destructive power compared to Icy Wind Storm.
Zero dashed towards Ice Griffin amid an attack coming straight at him. Ice Breathing used intense Ice energy to freeze, but other than that it acted like a wind carrying that energy.
Since Zero had high resistance to Ice energy, the Ice breath would not have much effect on him. He rushed to Ice Griffin who had been underestimating him. He dashed straight through the Ice Breath, which is normally strong enough to freeze multiple Rank-B Explorers.
The Ice Griffin was surprised to discover that Zero was still alive after taking a direct hit from his Ice breath. He could already tell that the creature in front of him was mere at Rank-D which was the lowest rank inside this Gate.
He didn't give Zero a chance to close any more distance. He shot out a slash which turned into Ice and headed towards Zero at incredible speed.
Ice Griffin had realized that Zero was similar to the creature that he had just killed, though he sensed that the creature he was currently facing was far weaker than the one he had killed.
He used Ice Slash to kill Zero, who was invulnerable to Ice energy.
Even with Ice Slash heading toward him, Zero didn't flinch or show any intention of dodging.
He clenched his fist as a black aura thickened around his fist.
The moment Zero saw the Ice Slash, he threw a punch.
-BANG! -CRACK!
The Ice Slash cracked under the tremendous force of Zero's attack. Zero's hand was not completely unharmed either. Blood dripped from Zero's fist but he didn't stop and retrieve the sword from his spatial ring.
Low-level creatures like that survived his attack. Ice Griffin was truly astonished. The events that happened right now were hardly even conceivable, so he could not even be mad.
Zero didn't waste his time and started attacking Ice Griffin as soon as it was within his skill range.
[ "Demonic Emperor Sword: Extermination Blast" ]
He used the skill of Emperor of Destruction. A Dark energy slash that contained destructive property shot out from Zero's sword.
Whether he used it consciously or subconsciously was not known, but Zero at least had some idea of how to use the skill.
The state of Zero was similar to when his body was absorbing the memories of the Emperor Of Destruction.
The Ice Griffin regained his mind after sensing the attack from Zero. He extended his claw to intercept the attack.
Even though the current Ice Griffin was exhausted and far from being at his peak state, he didn't find the attack to be anything that could threaten his life.
-CLANG!
An attack that had preciously had Professor Mia sweating was nothing more than a weak skill for Rank-S - Ice Griffin. Ice Griffin instantly managed to block Zero's Demonic Emperor Sword: Extermination Blast.
However, his claws started to crack from Zero's attack. He has underestimated the damage that Professor Mia has inflicted on him. In addition to the fact that he lost all his Ice feathers, he was nowhere as powerful as he used to be.
Ice Griffin was pleasantly surprised to find damage on his claw. But more than that he was astonished to find that there was someone who could produce power unfitting for their rank.
"BLARGH…"
Right after Zero attacked, he fell down and started vomiting blood. His body was in no position to exert any of his normal power, not to mention something like Demonic Emperor Sword, which had already turned his perfectly fine body into a dying one.
Now that injured body was once again trying to utilize that power. It was inevitable that his body could no longer withstand those powers.
Blood didn't stop flowing. Zero used his Ice energy to freeze many blood vessels in order to stop the blood.
It was just a temporary solution in order to delay his death from blood loss. Eventually, he was going to die.
Not to mention, even if his body was not in that condition, there was no way the monster in front of him would spare him.
The Ice Griffin approached Zero and carefully looked at the strange creature. To monsters in the Gates, humans were strange species.
Originally they did not exist there. So, for the Ice Griffin, it was his first time encountering humans.
"...Not like… this"
Zero refuses to accept that kind of fate. He stood up even though his limbs didn't have any more strength.
He kept staggering but he refused to stand down, even when Ice Griffin was no more than one meter away from him.
Zero kept glaring at the Ice Griffin even in his current state. While his body was already on the verge of breaking, his killing intent was at an all-time high.
How could he cower and die from the monster that has taken Professor Mia away from him? Even with his existence at stake, he didn't mind sacrificing everything in order to avenge Professor Mia, just like how Professor Mia did for him.
He knows that his parallel self was much more powerful than this Ice Griffin. He still has an unparalleled move that he used to fight the archangel in another world. He only needed to execute that powerful move once and it was going to be all over.
"Huuu…"
Zero prepared his sword as a vast amount of dark energy started to accumulate in the sword.
Of course, he could not channel this much energy in his current condition without any backlash. Blood started to flow out like the wall that had been holding them back broke.
Even with that Zero didn't give in, he embedded the sword with even more Dark Energy.
His appearance was similar to a Demon right now. Body covered in blood while emitting a black aura with intense killing intent.
[ "Demonic Emperor Sword: Cataclysmic Destruction" ]