Ball of Nothing

The Sage God of Medicine arrived as quickly as he could. Clearly, the man had seen better days but so has the Demon Lord.

"My Lord!" Hua Tuo exclaimed once he laid eyes on the uncharacteristically frail Demon Lord. The Queen of Lust was nursing the sickly Demon Lord to the best of her abilities although it was an almost futile attempt. Baal was translucent and Hua Tuo could see some of the rocks behind him appear through his body.

Things were more serious than he thought.

"Is he still keeping the gate open?" he asked the Demon Queen, foregoing his usual formalities.

Lilith didn't seem to notice the lack of politeness in the physician's question. She was glad that help had arrived. According to Mammon, the physician would only arrive in the evening but with Baal getting more transparent with every passing minute, she was losing hope. She contacted her descendant to inform Zero about the situation.

Zero didn't disappoint her. He sent his teacher over at once despite the hectic situation over the other end.

"How is he?" she asked.

The physician examined Baal's pale complexion and activated his Medicine God's Eye. Zero was right to send him over to check on the Demon Lord. If he had been any later, things might have gotten dire.

"It's still curable. However, he cannot open any gates for the next few days until he recovers. We might have to find another way to send the redeemed demons over. We should let Zero and King Yama know about this..."

"No!" Baal yelled and grabbed onto Hua Tuo's loose robe end, drenching it in the process. "Zero entrusted this to me, I won't let anyone else do it."

That statement triggered Lilith. "Nobody is asking you to play the hero! Stop being so stubborn and rest already! Zero wouldn't be happy to know that you're killing yourself to do this for him. We can find another way to do this but it won't work if you die before anything is accomplished."

Her words stung but Baal knew that she was right. After being friends with the Succubus Queen for such a long time, he could understand her cause of concern and the fear in her voice.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to leave anyone behind. I might fall asleep for a long time after this and won't know when I'll wake up again. Maybe by then, you'd find a nice person who you can call your second soulmate. Just remember to introduce them to me..." he chuckled weakly.

Lilith wanted to scream at her stubborn friend. It was true that Demon Lords do not die. They simply go into a comatose state if the body is not destroyed to regain their strength again. Their domain would fall into ruins but their soul would continue to anchor the plane. If their bodies were destroyed, their souls will immediately reincarnate into another demon, waiting to be found just like Beelzebub although the Lord of Gluttony was a special case. Even though it wasn't a permanent loss, the Succubus Queen couldn't bear the pain of parting and losing her loved ones. She knew better than anyone else how lonely it could get for Demon Lords. There was hardly anyone they could trust or depend on. Their descendants and aristocratic nobles under their rulership were almost always power hungry. Nobody truly cared for them and even if they did, the lives of those much weaker were very short.

"Ahem... testing! Can everyone hear me?" a familiar voice shook all three people at the spring out of their thoughts.

"Zero?" Baal was the first to answer. Knowing his friend, the apprentice was surely up to something again. "How's everything going?"

"No time for that," Zero cut his friend off. Even without Coux's report, he had a feeling that Baal was overdoing it. He wasn't wrong to send his teacher over earlier than agreed. In fact, he would be surprised if Hua Tuo came back telling him Baal was capable of holding the gates for the rest of the event by himself.

"I got the approval from Lucifer and Mammon to borrow Beelzebub for a while. Ruth and Beelzebub will be escorted outside of the domains. They're heading to Amon's outskirts with Sekkin for a special mission. Baal, we're going to continue with the plan with some tweaks. Are you still up for it?"

Baal laughed. Initially, he thought that Zero might forbid him to do anything after finding out about his current state. The young child he found had truly grown.

"You know I'm always ready for you. Now stop stalling and let us know what you have in mind."

Lilith wasn't too happy about Zero's decision to continue including Baal in his plans. Why can't he see how suicidal Baal was? Baal was the kind who wasn't afraid of death. For the ones close to him, the Demon Lord would gamble with his life for even the slimmest chance of success. Baal wasn't afraid of disappointing the world, he was only afraid of letting down the ones he loved. Zero was the Demon Lord's one and only biggest weakness, how could the young doctor not know that? Baal would never deny Zero anything... even if it was his soul that the brunet wanted. Baal would deliver it to his hands without hesitation or questions.

"We will be slightly shorthanded here so I called for some support, I hope you don't mind. Here's the plan. Sekkin, Ruth and Beelzebub will head over to Amon's territory and eat miasma to convert them into mana. I will coordinate the sin absorption and mana transfer from them to you. In that way, we're merely using your ability to keep the gates open. You won't need to exert any mana for it. Focus on recovering for now. Mammon will be fully in charge of the magic contracts and Lucifer shall oversee the teleportation of people and goods. Buddha will guide the demons to the gates in Hua Tuo's place and the idle angels will come over to help with dessert distribution. Coux, Amaraline and Qin Yun will work the kitchen hard. This is the current arrangement. If you do not agree to it, we shall cancel all redemption activities. Those were Lucifer's words."

Baal froze. He was alright with the plan except for one small detail. "Who are the idle angels you were talking about?"

Zero didn't know if he should let his friend know the truth. Raphael was the one who insisted that Zero included them into his plans. He'd spotted Baal in the Spring of Vitality by coincidence. The archangel was worried about his nephew and dragged the idle Uriel and Gabriel along for some community service.

"Will you be mad at them?" Zero asked in a small voice. Baal couldn't stay mad at Zero so he sighed.

"No, I won't. Now tell me who they are. Also, why does Lucifer have a say in this?"

Lilith didn't quite understand what was going on but she had a few guesses. "Lucifer says it's an investment and the angels are your uncles. An uncle and two friends, he said."

Baal baulked. Things were usually never straightforward when dealing with Raphael. Although he knows that Raphael would never mean ill, there was always a catch. Furthermore, he had a very good idea about the friends Zero was referring to. There were only a few angels that Lucifer was tolerant about. The first was Uriel who hardly participated in the war. The second was Gabriel who was a regular in the Abyss. His uncle was a special exception, the Academy headmaster and Raphael shared a complicated history but it was nothing as bad as the one Lucifer had with Michael.

"I have a question," Lilith interrupted. "How can you be so sure that Baal wouldn't be using any mana to maintain the gates with this plan? I'm aware of Beelzebub's abilities. However, nobody has tried eating miasma. How do you know it can be converted into mana? Also, our power is directly related to our sins. Baal has been working too much lately, he hasn't been able to store up sins which is part of the reason for his rapidly depleting mana reserves. He usually builds his reserves through his several centuries long naps."

"Oh, that's easy," Zero replied airily. "I had Ruth try eating some miasma contaminated food. It worked out alright. The skill Strong Stomach counters all negative effects of the miasma. From what I've heard about Beelzebub, he had been eating miasma contaminated food even before anyone knew about his existence. It will be alright."

Hua Tuo placed a reassuring hand on Baal's shoulder. "You should accept it," he told the Demon Lord honestly.

Baal was grumpy but accepted Zero's terms. The physician had the gall to promise Zero that he will be monitoring Baal's health status with his Medicine Eye. Lilith was mightily pleased to know that there will be no risk of Baal overexerting himself and worsening his condition. Everybody but the Demon Lord of Idleness was happy with the plan. That made Baal's mood for the day darken.

"The things I would do for Zero, I swear..." Baal grumbled to nobody but himself. He hated being friends with Zero at this moment but hated himself more for not being able to reject their weird friendship.

The sudden call ended and Lilith decided to leave and prepare some food for the two remaining people in the spring. With some privacy, Baal decided to broach the topic that had been on Hua Tuo's mind for a while now.

"I'm sure you know about Lucifer's scheme. Are you really alright with letting your student fall in that old demon's trap?"

Hua Tuo shook his head with an amused smile. "One has to learn from experience. Not everything can be understood by merely reading. Knowledge acquired can only do so much. I'm not going to let Zero grow up into an empty-headed academic. The path of a doctor is very trying, if Zero doesn't overcome this himself then he should not pursue this profession any further."

Baal noted how that was a low-key probe at a certain Wizard God. "An empty-headed academic huh... you've thought about his future a lot."

"Of course. Zero is my one and only disciple. It is the duty of the master to become a wall that their students can climb over. Nothing would make me happier than seeing my student surpass me. In terms of saving lives, Zero has already reached a level that I cannot attain. However, he is still lacking in many other areas. My time with him is only so much, it might be a blessing in disguise for him to make a trip to the Abyss. I'm also happy that he's made such a wonderful friend here although I'm rather disappointed at the recklessness of said friend. They say stupidity is contagious and I'm starting to think the same might be true for insanity."

Baal rolled his eyes. "Whatever... I'm not concerned about my image. I'm more interested to know what Zero would think when he finds out that Lucifer only 'assisted' him just to enrol him in the Academy."

Hua Tuo didn't reply immediately. He settled down behind Baal who was dipped in the spring and crossed his legs before placing his hands on the Demon Lord's thin shoulders. The Sage God focused on gathering as much energy he could in his dantian. The Spring of Vitality was not only a place rich in mana. It was a great place for cultivation not that many cultivators could access the location. Although the physician wasn't proficient with magic, he had other aces up his sleeves. Pouring some qi energy into the Demon Lord's body, the difference could be seen immediately.

Baal was shocked and surprised when an unknown source of energy entered his body. It felt warm and his senses were sharper. For the very first time in many years, Baal felt alive. Whatever Hua Tuo was doing to him made him feel better. Although he was still low on sins and mana, the foreign energy stabilised his soul. Baal could feel it resonate with the Spring and the Demon Lord relaxed.

Seeing that the Demon Lord was feeling better, Hua Tuo decided to pick up the conversation they left off earlier. "Why does Lucifer want to enrol Zero so badly?"

Baal closed his eyes and hummed pleasantly. "There's a bunch of snot-faced punks in there who think that they can rewrite history if they enslaved humans under their forces. The war between Heaven and Hell has concluded a long time ago. Although there is bad blood, everything is now water under the bridge. They're not powerful enough to cause any real damage but it's always better to pull the weeds out at first sight."

"Why humans?"

Baal opened one eye lazily. "Is that a real question? It should be obvious right? You were once human too."

Hua Tuo remained silent. The humans from the first Earth were different from the humans on the second Earth. On the first Earth, humans were supreme. It was arrogance that corrupted them. Humans developed weapons and took down Gods after creating one of their own. However, as a result of the rebellion, they were wiped out. The humans on the second Earth were not supreme. Almost every other race were stronger than them. However, the same spirit remained. Humans were proud creatures, always dissatisfied with their status quo. Wars between humans and other races weren't uncommon and Hua Tuo stayed out of their fights. While humans on the second Earth were getting constantly getting stronger by polishing their wits and weapons, they were a far cry from how humans used to be on the first Earth.

"They will never succeed," he told Baal.

The Demon Lord didn't say anything. It was obvious after all. None of these cheap imitations called humans could hold a candle to the ones from the first world. They wouldn't be able to touch a demigod, much less a Great God. Unlike humans of the first world who'd almost taken down four of the six Great Gods, the humans of this world lacked ambition.

Still, it was impossible to ignore the thorn embedded in your flesh. Regardless of the plan's rate of success, rebels of the Abyss must be punished. This time, they wouldn't be having Zero's mercy. Lucifer would ensure of that. Baal also highly doubted that his friend would forgive genocide in exchange for personal gains such as power and status.

Knowing the young doctor's personality, Baal would bet his life on it. Zero was kind but he wasn't a pushover.