Ball of Nothing

Professor Rhinestone was a rather popular professor, especially among females. It was no surprise that he would be approached by so many students everywhere he went. With his ash skin tone and midnight blue hair, the man was a walking sin. Nobody knew what kind of demon he really was but many suspected that he had incubus blood.

At this very moment, Beelzebub didn't see the charming professor who could easily sweep anyone off their feet with some honeyed words. Charming and suave demons wouldn't have such a grotesque form for starters.

He assessed the damage done to him and cursed. He should've stocked up on more food before he trailed them. The last thing he ate was that miserable but heavenly morsel of carrot cake. It isn't enough to help him regenerate severed limbs over and over again. Healing is a very tedious process and without food, Beelzebub could only limit the damage by closing the wounds instead of regrowing his limbs.

To make matters worse, he was rendered unable to move. Rhinestone didn't feel like killing him just yet and Beelzebub didn't know if he should be happy about it or afraid. Jeremiah seemed gleeful at his helpless state and often showed his appreciation by inflicting minor cuts on his exposed face whenever he spoke a little too disrespectfully to the half-spider professor.

"To think that Arachne's child would be the mastermind behind this... what irony."

Rhinestone didn't take too kindly to Beelzebub's smart mouth and swiftly spat out some web to seal that talkative mouth. Beelzebub wasn't pleased but there was hardly anything he could do in his current state. Deprived of food and severely weakened without his arms and legs, the Demon Lord was only as powerful as a newborn child.

Professor Rhinestone didn't look pleased. In fact, his mind was working overtime to think of the accomplices Beelzebub had. One wrong move and his carefully planned revolt would go to ruins. It was hard enough to keep out of Lucifer's radar. Jeremiah was a huge risk in his plans but the canary was important to act as his scapegoat. It was the only reason why Rhinestone would allow such an idiot to participate in his plans.

He glanced over to the canary demon gloating at the crippled Demon Lord and shook his head. For such a refined and proud demon, Jeremiah was truly the black sheep. Really, how such a pitiful demon could exist in the house of nobles still puzzled him.

"Oh, should I stab these disrespectful eyes of yours? I wonder if poking or scrapping them would be more painful... what do you think? Oh, I forgot. That's right, you can't speak!"

Having enough of Jeremiah's childishness, Rhinestone grabbed the student by the scruff of his shirt and threw him across to the other side of the room.

"That's enough. You should be on the lookout for his accomplices instead of wasting time and toying with him here. I'll take care of the ritual. Report me if anything out of the norm arises."

Jeremiah dusted himself and stood up before saluting and dashing away. Beelzebub watched that happen from his thread prison. Who knew that Rhinestone would turn out to be a cursed spider demon instead of an incubus? Looks were truly deceiving especially in the abyss. Then again, it made sense. His grotesque form was probably what made him behave the way he did. What a sad excuse of a demon. Beelzebub didn't care what sort of inferiority complexes other people had. It just annoyed him that such a narrow-minded demon was capable of forming such a threatening coup d'etat.

"Dammit," he cursed mentally. "If only there was a way to contact anyone..." the Demon Lord fumed. He tested the strength of Rhinestone's web and found that it constricted with his struggling. He didn't know what material these threads were made from but they cut into his skin like steel the more he struggled.

"It will only make your situation worse. If you struggle too much, not even I can vouch for your safety. As one of the Demon Lords, you still play a crucial part in my plan. I don't really want you dying so soon but I can't do anything about it if you choose to do so. Those webs are meant to trap and kill stubborn prey so I suggest you keep as still as possible."

Beelzebub flinched as the thread cut into his flesh, touching bone. Rhinestone wasn't joking. The Demon Lord's hands were tied both literally and figuratively. If only there was some way he could eat and regenerate. Now that his mouth was sealed, he couldn't even sneakily eat away at his threaded trap when Rhinestone was gone.

The professor fumbled around for a little and prepared to leave the hidden lair. Just as he was about to leave, the Arachne descendant turned around and gave Beelzebub the sickest grin.

"Just to give you a thought to entertain you for the next few hours, I know about your unique ability to eat just about anything. Doesn't that make you glad I sealed your mouth?"

Beelzebub saw red and struggled more, overtaken by rage. He ignored how the threads were pressing hard against his bone by now and growled in anger as the sick professor left laughing. For the first time since knowing that troublesome young doctor, Beelzebub was glad that Zero wasn't going according to plans. It would be terrible if their positions were reversed. Who knew what would happen to Zero if their positions were reversed.

Beelzebub gave up after a while when the rage and adrenaline faded. He was losing blood very quickly with most of the threaded prison staining red and dripping onto the ground. The Demon Lord hoped that someone would discover of his unusual disappearance and report it to Lord Lucifer. Knowing Zero's nosy nature, it wouldn't be long before help arrived.

For now, Beelzebub fought against sleep. Maybe, just maybe... he could take a short nap. They would wake him up when help arrived. Right?

***

"Something's not right," Rayneld frowned.

Zero noticed it too. The usually calm and lazy bloody willow was working up a frenzy as they spoke. It wasn't like this a few hours earlier.

"What's going on?" he asked.

The manta ray demon stood up and grabbed Zero just in time to dodge and root coming their way. Zero was startled by Veronica's hostility. Why would she suddenly attack Rayneld? Didn't he say that she was comfortable around him? He did feed her enough to get her familiarised with his scent to not treat him like an enemy before. Why now?

"I don't know," Rayneld replied. "Something must have triggered her protectiveness. There is a threat within the Academy grounds. Veronica is usually very relaxed. Even when the outsiders are attacking the enemy, she holds her ground well in a calm and orderly fashion. The only reason for her tantrum now would be that a threat has appeared on the Academy grounds. The situation must be drastic. I should report this to the headmaster immediately!"

Zero agreed. He glanced over to his map quickly to check on the target's movement. Nobody else on the suspect list seemed to be moving suspiciously. Even Jeremiah was roaming on the school grounds. Nobody was doing anything suspic-

"Beel... he's in trouble!" Zero gasped in horror.

The only green marker on his map was showing up in an undiscovered location on Mii's maps.

"Beel?" Rayneld was confused. The closest person with that name he could think of was the new Demon Lord. Then again, Zero was roommates with him so it shouldn't be odd.

"Hold on a second... how do you know he's in trouble? Are you stalking him?"

Zero didn't answer the model student's question. Instead, he opened up a portal gate and shoved the confused manta ray demon in before jumping in behind just before one of Veronica's spiked roots hit them.

Rayneld didn't land in the most flattering manner. His face was buried into the ground and to make matters worse, Zero used his back as a landing pad. The manta ray demon groaned. Zero was by no means light at all.

"Beel!" his worried cries made the curious student look up.

True enough, the person with that nickname was none other than the new Demon Lord. What shocked Rayneld more wasn't how close they seemed to be. He could now understand why Veronica went mad. That pool of ruby liquid on the floor didn't look good.

"@%&&^!!!" he cursed. "Hey, hang in there! Where the heck are we? He needs medical attention at once!"

Zero didn't waste time and worked on closing the wounds while replenishing the lost blood. Beelzebub looked too pale to be healthy and Zero wanted to cry. Who was it who did such a cruel thing to his friend?

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the best thing to do now while Zero was preoccupied with preserving the Demon lord's life was to get rid of the threaded prison.

He dug his fingers into the thread and cursed when his fingers started bleeding. Despite looking like soft silk, these threads were tough and sharp like steel. They wouldn't budge and Rayneld wondered if there was anything he could do.

"Is there no way to get rid of the thread?" Rayneld hissed in pain at his second attempt.

Zero decided to try something crazy. Scrolling through his inventory with Mii's help, he found what he was looking for.

"Mii, could we try to make that acid absorbed from the bird's stomach into something deadlier? I want to try and melt away enough thread to loosen it."

The strawcherry assistant complied and started measuring the number of things that could be converted in Zero's void space. Thanks to the mana conversion skill, Zero was able to easily recreate anything that he wanted to as long as he had something that could be converted to energy.

"That's going to take about ten gallons of seawater to create the amount you need," she reported.

Zero nodded. "Let's do this," he told her and Rayneld looked at Zero as if his friend had gone insane. Why was Zero talking to himself?

His questions were soon answered when Zero paused his healing. A water ball of something foul smelling was conjured and Rayneld had to hold his breath while Zero splashed it on several parts of that threaded prison.

The web sizzled and melted away effectively. As the threads came loose, Rayneld was there to catch the unconscious Demon Lord. He grimaced at the cruelty done unto the young Lord.

Zero saw red when he saw Beel's condition. Whoever it was, Zero wouldn't show them mercy. How could anyone be so cruel! It didn't matter what kind of reason they had. This was no way to treat anyone. Even if Beelzebub was a capable Demon lord who would recover from this, Zero didn't think such an act was forgivable.

"Could you hold him up? I'm going to regrow his missing limbs and heal him as much as I can. Whoever did this to him is going to pay... Nobody hurts my friends and get away with it."

Rayneld shivered at the tremendous amount of mana and aura emitting from Zero. Even as the child of the great monster Charybdis, his strength could never compare to Zero's. If anything, Rayneld was almost afraid to believe that Zero's strength far surpassed the strength of Lord Lucifer.

The entire Academy felt it. Lucifer shot up from his desk and grew serious. Baal who was still hunting for Beelzebub in one of the secret passageways paused and made a U-turn. There was no mistaking it, that was Zero's aura and he was downright pissed about something. Knowing the kind-hearted young doctor, very few things would trigger him. If Zero was emitting such bloodlust, it could only mean one thing.

Someone was in danger.

Thanks to that shining beacon, Baal knew exactly where to go while Lucifer set his plan into motion. The entire Academy went into lockdown and the headmaster decided to start weeding out the traitor. For them to make a move this quickly, Zero and Beel must have been doing a great job.

Now, it was time for the adults to take over. Nobody who threatens the existence of the Abyss will succeed. Lucifer didn't sign an agreement with Heaven just to have someone destroy this hard-earned peace. He wouldn't let those brats' efforts go to waste. With Baal's matching report, the dean knew exactly who he should pay a visit to.

With a swish, he turned into a colony of bats and disappeared into the shadows.