She was just a cowardly woman who smiled at him when he killed his father to protect her. After that moment, she promised she would protect him as well, but instead she handed him over to the reformatory and fled with the money from his father's death. That was when he discovered that his mother had betrayed his father and manipulated everything so that his death would fall into his hands. At least, that was what he suspected, which was why he wanted an answer.
"Tell me, mother, why did you run away? You were the one who betrayed dad so he would try to kill you, right? So how could I try to protect you—"
Saul suddenly felt a push hit his stomach. Cassiel had used his Expulsion magic again to pull him off. Grabbing his own throat, he took a deep breath and stood up. It seemed he had been mistaken—the person who had taken that appearance was someone Saul hated just as much as his father.
"But what was that? I felt a push."
Saul, inside the building, looked surprised by what had happened. For a moment, Cassiel was confused by the boy's attitude in front of him; it was as if he didn't know magic at all. Carefully, he looked around again, seeing that strange city.
'I think I understand.'
It seemed that boy wasn't exactly the original; he was someone who had entered the body, but he also wasn't a demon. Besides that, he didn't know magic. With a smile on his face, his thoughts were that now this fight would be easier than before.
'I'll ask more after I defeat him—'
"What do you mean? The person in front of me isn't my mother? Is this a dream by any chance?"
The boy looked quite innocent, asking questions to nothing. It was strange, and maybe he really was crazy, or something divine. Well, if that was the case, it was better to finish him before more information was revealed.
"Magic? Okay, now I'm sure I'm dreaming."
As Saul scratched his head, a shadow covered his body. Those shadows were called memory siphoning, capable of draining both the opponent's mana and the memories he had regressed.
"Besides being forgetful, he won't have much mana now."
The shadow covering Saul's body condensed like a heavy cloud before being torn apart from the inside by flames. The fire exploded in a ring shape, vaporizing the asphalt around and hurling cars away like toys. The confused boy disappeared, and the gaze that appeared in his place was Saul's once more—cold, focused, loaded with ancient hatred.
"I felt that… it seems you really are a fraud."
"Looks like the child got upset."
"Yes, I'm quite upset."
He replied calmly with a neutral face for a few seconds before disappearing. From above, a fist covered in fire almost hit Cassiel before slamming into the building with an explosion.
Cassiel was forced to retreat through the air, using the illusory city itself as support, stepping on building facades that warped under his feet. The memory magic trembled, as if the fight was getting too close to the limit he could sustain. Even so, he smiled.
"It's quite hard to irritate you, but tell me, how can you use mana if you don't even seem to recognize it?"
"I don't know, I'm just following what that screen in front of me says."
"Screen?"
Saul advanced without warning. Wings of fire burst open with a violent beat, shattering windows in dozens of surrounding buildings. This Saul didn't seem to care about using less mana to conserve himself. He crossed the distance in an instant, the crimson shell now covering almost his entire right arm and part of his torso, pulsing like living magma. The punch came straight on, smashing through three walls before even reaching Cassiel.
'Does this kid not care about anything? Not even whether he'll last to the end like this?'
Cassiel raised an arm, and a wall made of solidified fragments of memories appeared. The impact destroyed the barrier and sent him flying through an entire commercial building. The structure gave way, collapsing in slow motion as Saul burst through the rubble after him. A surprised, amused smile appeared on Saul's face when he saw that he had managed to do that.
"How cool, I really can destroy a city if I want."
[Dammit, you're crazier than your older self.]
"The way you talk about him, he sounds boring."
In midair, Cassiel spread his hands and the city responded. Poles, cars, signs, entire chunks of streets shattered into memory fragments and were hurled like a swarm.
"Let's try to create a fire vortex."
[Kid, do you even know how to do something like that?]
"You just have to explain it to me like you were doing before."
[You're lucky to be my breadwinner.]
Immediately, an explanation appeared on the screen, and he quickly grasped how to do it. The system was interfering a lot, but it had to keep this memoryless idiot alive.
"Scalding fire vortex explosion."
[That's a long name.]
Saul spun his body, creating a whirlwind of fire that vaporized everything that came close, but some impacts still struck him, opening deep cuts in his shoulders and back. His blood dripped but evaporated before touching the ground.
Cassiel tried to take advantage of the moment of injury and created a new spell. A seal formed beneath his feet, and the pressure of memory magic descended like a crushing weight. Nearby buildings bent inward, as if gravity itself had gone mad. Saul felt his bones creak and his fire waver.
"Gahh!"
[Shit, use your water magic, there's no one here anyway.]
"That's… really cool."
His eyes shone as he saw the magic being described on the screen. The heat lessened for a moment, and a bluish layer spread across Saul's body. Water flowed internally, circulating through his wounds, sealing torn muscles, reinforcing joints. Cassiel's eyes widened for a fraction of a second.
'Water magic? I should have seen memories of his powers too—damn it, my fascination with these strange buildings got me.'
"I don't know who you are, but I have to thank you."
Saul appeared above him with his fists raised over his head. With a downward blow, he slammed Cassiel toward the ground, his smile growing a little darker.
"I have to thank you for giving me the chance to kill someone with the same appearance as that coward."