Ball of Nothing

In a hurry, Truen and Merlin left the library. The books were quickly forgotten and Freya took the liberty of calling for Hades and Buddha to follow after them. Normally, the Gods didn't deal with the rulers of Hell directly. However, after learning that Zero befriended one they became more acquainted with them. It was also Buddha who pointed out that there were four divine entity fragments among the rulers. The Sage God of Enlightenment warned them of such possibilities but Truen didn't think it would be this soon. It hadn't even been five minutes!

Freya cursed the existence of Isis's domain. Couldn't time be consistent in every dimension? Thankfully, it wasn't her who had to make the trip again. Merlin and Hades who'd only returned from the meeting groaned at the thought of returning so soon. Then again, nobody complained.

Truen was both frightened and anxious after hearing from Baal. The Demon Lord was so vague that the wood elf began to think of the worst. What if Zero had completely lost his mind? What if Zero's heart is so scarred that he'd walk down the path of no return? What if Zero became a bloodthirsty person who wanted nothing more than to claim the lives of every soul he once created?

Sensing his student's thoughts running amok, Merlin placed a hand on the wood elf's shoulder. "He'll be alright."

Truen didn't dare think about the other less desirable possibilities. Zero will be alright, he had to be.

***

Baal didn't know what to do. Lilith who was known to be the best at charming people and influencing feelings had exhausted every trick in her book. Yet, Zero was all over the place with his personality suffering the backlash from inheriting four sets of memories. Baal regretted it. Perhaps, it would have been better to let Zero inherit them one at a time. Then again, the Demon Lord wasn't confident enough to let Zero do so. If Zero became tainted by one set of memory, he would gradually lose the kindness that Baal liked. Inheriting the other three after that would only erase all traces of Zero's initial personality.

"Do you think he should see a doctor?" Amon whispered to Shittomi who blinked at the sight before her. She knew her fair share of lunatics. It came with the job title. She dealt with deranged people who lost their rationality on a daily basis and fed on their emotions that contributed to her empire's strength. However, this was a completely different kind of crazy and Shittomi didn't know if it was safe enough to approach Zero. So far, he didn't show any signs of becoming violent. Shittomi wasn't a fool. She knew what Zero was capable of.

Mammon decided that the wisest thing to do was to fuse to the wall furthest from Zero. The brunet was scaring him very badly. As an all-powerful Demon Lord, there were very few things that could make him feel fear. It wasn't meant to be in their dictionaries. His eyes darted to Lilith from underneath the hood and to Baal. Both his friends were wary of Zero and Mammon felt his stomach churn. Of the six existing Demon Lords, excluding the new Lord of Gluttony, Mammon was considered the weakest. Although he had the largest territory, Mammon was known for winning his battles with his wits more than his fists.

"Zero," Baal tried again. "Would you like to eat something or sit down? We can read books of your choice. I could tell you stories too."

If he didn't have Zero under control before Truen's company came, he didn't want to think of the consequences. Baal thought back and shook his head. No, it would be fine. After all, it was Buddha who suggested doing the ritual all at once to minimise the damage. They only executed the plan. yes, Buddha was going to be responsible.

"Stories? I love stories! Did you know, I have so many interesting things to tell. I saw this beautiful large cat with dark blue fur and yellow eyes... he was so sad! Also also... there was a very small man with red skin! He had the strangest face with slanted eyes that went like this..." Zero pulled at the side of his eyes making them slant upwards in a thin line.

"His eyes were red too! He had black hair like yours and a terrible habit of taking other people's things for himself. How weird!"

Baal nodded numbly as Zero rambled, alternating between his hyperactive babbles and the depressed self-loathing monologues.

Thankfully, none of the Demon Lords had to deal with Zero's craziness for any longer. A warp gate opened and three powerful individuals stepped in.

A wood elf with bronze skin scanned the room briefly. His forest green eyes landed on the batshit insane brunet and softened with affection. It had been far too long since he last saw Zero. Thanks to his strict style of training, it felt as if this was the first time he was seeing his friend and master in years. It didn't escape the elf's sharp eyes how Zero had grown. Physically, he was taller and there was no doubt that it had something to do with Zero's mental growth. This phenomenon wasn't something that Gaia could explain. The Great Gods were not responsible for Zero's physical change. In fact, now that Truen had the ability, he was able to see many different kinds of magical particles gathering around Zero. They clashed against each other rapidly and created a huge repelling force. Being the weakest person in the room, Truen felt the pressure crushing him. He didn't know if the Demon Lords were able to sense it but there was no doubt that this was what was causing Zero to be 'weird'.

"Magic discrepancy? How peculiar..." Merlin mused.

"What's that?" Lilith asked. The succubus wasn't expecting to meet Hades and Merlin so soon but it was a good thing that Merlin was here.

"Magic discrepancy is a condition when the gathered mana creates discord in the magician's chakra. Most cases of magic discrepancy occur when performing a taboo magic ritual. Chaos magic is raw mana from the void. Generally, mana from the void isn't something most magicians can use. Even as the Sage God of Magic, mana from the void is the one thing that's still a whole sea of unknown to me. The person who knows the most about chaos energy is Buddha. His domain of enlightenment allows him to conquer the complex mana and purify it for his own use. Even so, he can only process a tiny bit of whatever raw mana there is in the void. Gods have fallen after trying to gain more power by tapping into the void's power. The same thing is happening to Zero right now."

Baal paled. If Zero wasn't a being from the void, would he have lost his best friend? The realisation that he could have killed Zero made Baal feel sick. Excusing himself, the Demon Lord rushed to the bathroom before he emptied the contents of his stomach onto the floor.

Lilith felt her mouth go dry. She knew what chaos energy was. In the abyss hanging just above the void, sometimes random gates will open. Demons who get too close to it will turn berserk and kill anything it finds until it finally explodes from not being able to handle all the excess mana in its body. It becomes the Demon Lord's job to close off the area to prevent more casualties. Demon Lords can only resist chaos mana for a short amount of time. If anything had gone wrong during the ritual, Lilith wouldn't have only lost the brunet her child had sworn allegiance to but two of her friends as well.

Merlin noticed the horrified expressions on the Demon Lords left in the room and sighed. He then turned to Hades who nodded. The God of Death walked over to Zero and tapped the boy lightly on his head before Zero's eyes slowly closed.

Nobody moved a muscle when Hades extracted something from Zero's body. There was no mistaking that dark mass of power. Truen felt the orb call to him and walked over in a trance until he was restrained by Merlin's magic. Similarly, Amon, Mammon and Shittomi who were left in the room had to hold onto their rationality at the sight of that orb. They resisted the impulse to jump towards it, well aware of what would happen if they did that.

"I'll be taking care of him for a while. I'm leaving his body to you, Merlin."

The wizard bowed as Hades took his leave. The moment Hades left, the Demon Lords allowed themselves to relax and Truen was freed from Merlin's magic. The wood elf took a while to regain his senses and when he did, he gave his teacher a panicked look.

"Don't worry. Unlike us, the Great Gods can resist the pull of Zero's soul. Right now, his soul is unstable. In order to counter the imbalance in him, Zero is looking to devour those he holds close."

Truen shivered after hearing that. The Demon Lords looked ill with unease at that revelation.

"What would have happened if we gave in to the impulse?" Shittomi asked.

Merlin didn't answer immediately. His eyes were hard.

"You would have returned to the void and become a part of Zero."

Nobody spoke, too horrified by the truth. Merlin had Truen carry Zero's body and decided that he would be staying in Hell for a while. Taking some time off Truen's studies might be good for both of them too.

***

Buddha wasn't too surprised when Hades showed up in his domain flaunting his superior aura. The God of Death must be livid if he didn't bother suppressing his aura like usual. Many of Buddha's weaker disciples fainted when Hades got close, overwhelmed by the power difference and the crushing magical pressure.

"Hades," he greeted calmly. The God of Death didn't speak. Buddha knew what he wanted.

"Follow me," he told Hades who followed after silently. Truth be told, Buddha was slightly afraid of Hades who had become so silent. Although the God of Death was a generally good-natured fellow, Buddha knew that the Great God had a ruthless side to him. The title he held wasn't a coincidence. Buddha wasn't fooled into thinking that Hades couldn't reap his soul if he really wanted to. The Sage God was walking on thin ice at the moment.

He led them through the maze of beautifully built temples. Nirvana was a mysterious place for many. It was said that if one could be lost in it forever if they weren't enlightened enough. While it was a peaceful place, it could also be one full of suffering worse than the abyss. Nirvana is one place that practices living without emotions. Buddha was the first to chance upon the void and decided to research more into what lies within the mysterious space. The power of enlightenment allowed him to know some of the greatest secrets of their multiverse. After becoming a Sage God, Buddha never stopped trying to find answers. However, the mystery of the void was neverending. He didn't know how the void worked but he knew how to enter and leave the first few levels of the void. That alone is enough reason for Hades to seek the sly Sage God out.

Buddha led them through a misty bamboo grove to a lotus pond in a clearing. It was bright but there was no sun. In fact, time didn't seem to exist in this place. No matter how many times Hades visited Nirvana, he was always confused by how things worked here.

At the end of a very long stone walk path, there was a beautiful white pavilion. The surface of the water was still. The weather was cooling even though there was no breeze. It didn't make one shiver in cold but it wasn't comforting either. Hades sat down on the hard stone bench, motioning for Hades to do the same. The pavilion was constructed in an octagon shape like all of Buddha's other Pagodas.

"Can you hold onto Zero's soul while I balance out the disruptive flow of energy?"

The God of Death allowed Zero's soul to float to the middle of the pavilion before holding it there with his magic. Buddha wasted no time and got to work immediately. The dark mass of energy spiralled when Buddha tried to reach out to it with his mind and struck back at the Sage God.

Buddha threw up a scripture shield just in time and the attack disintegrated it. After catching a glimpse of his hardship ahead, Buddha felt cold sweat forming at the back of his neck. It has been many centuries since he last did something so dangerous. The last time he attempted to break-through to the middle-levels of the void, he suffered a terrible injury that he spent half a century recovering from. He wasn't confident that he would be able to stabilise the state of Zero's soul but the look in Hades' hollow eyes told him that he didn't have a choice.

Gritting his teeth, Buddha tried again.