Ball of Nothing

Zero arrived in no time and sidestepped some of the rubble covering the library flooring. Olaf transformed back to his humanoid form and followed after the transfer student. There was something weird about the way Zero smelled. He couldn't tell in his human form but there was a strange smell clinging onto the teenager. It was very faint but Olaf didn't like it. It smelled poisonous and could only be picked up when he was in his dragon form. His memory was hazy but Olaf knew he recognised that evil scent from somewhere in his long history. Maybe he would ask Bob about it when he saw his friend again. For now, there was an annoying pest to take care of.

The air was humid and rancid. Zero had to disable his ability to discern smell in order to proceed. Olaf suffered tremendously and was raring to smash the spider demon. The only problem was the lack of physical body and that irked the dragon demon.

Zero blinked at the gate. It was larger than he remembered and according to Lily, there were still many souls who were siphoning mana from the surroundings. The library was full of mana and with Olaf as its powerful keeper, Zero didn't think it was wise to allow the gate to do as it pleased. He could see how the mounds of rotting flesh were continuously seeking out a powerful soul to ensnare in its mirror.

Olaf did his best to isolate the gate and chose to observe the young lad. Zero found it strange that the gate wasn't as aggressive as it was. In fact, the mounds of flesh looked as if it was searching for something in an almost sluggish manner. Zero glared at it in disgust. They completely bypassed Zero as if he was just a piece of furniture in the room. Olaf had to swat away some of the more annoying souls but they didn't directly attack the dragon demon. It was not the soul they were looking for.

Zero looked at the mirror. It had no reflection. The teenager remembered breaking it with a good punch and walked up to it calmly. He readied his fist and encased it with a magic barrier before swing it directly. This time, the mirror did not shatter. The force threw Zero backwards and the young doctor barely caught himself in time.

An image slowly materialised in the mirror and Zero's eyes widened in surprise at the familiar face. Professor Rhinestone looked slightly different from his glamorous self. However, there was no mistaking it. Zero narrowed his eyes. Jeremiah was very close to the professor. Zero didn't think that the charming teacher would be the cruel mastermind.

"Hello, Zero. I'm sad to say that we've never had the pleasure to meet previously. What are you doing skipping class?"

Even as a trapped soul, Rhinestone still retained his intelligence. The ritual fused his soul to the portal and with the lack of power source, the Arachne descendant's options were limited. As he fed on Olaf's mana from the library, he was waiting for Lucifer to make his appearance. After all, the fight wasn't over.

Zero didn't take kindly to the false pleasantries. "Were you the one who did that to Beel and Bell?"

Rhinestone feigned ignorance. "My dear, what are you referring to?"

Summoning a stronger magic barrier to encase his fist, Zero raised it menacingly once more. He was undeterred about the failure earlier. All the teenager wanted was to pummel that traitor into oblivion. Zero had never felt so much anger at someone's existence before and the new emotions were overwhelming. The young doctor could finally understand some of the villagers' hatred for Douglas when he betrayed them. He felt terrible for interfering. Even if Rhinestone wasn't wrong with his intention or had his reasons that forced him to resort to what he did, Zero could not bring himself to forgive the professor. He didn't want to ask for a reason or understand the reasons for Rhinestone's actions. the fact that both his friends were harmed maliciously was enough reason to drive Zero down the path of violence. He wanted payback for the things Rhinestone did, he wanted Rhinestone dead and erased forever.

"Don't waste your time, young Zero. Spiders like him are good at mind games. They often play with their victims and trick them into their traps before eating them. If it were up to me, I would cut away all his escape routes and squash him like the filth he is..."

Zero didn't show any indication that he was listening to Olaf. The dragon demon frowned. That's very unlike the young doctor. According to Bob, Zero was a kind soul who campaigned for the co-existence of everything living as a doctor with the noble dream of saving every life. Why did the teenager look like reaper now? Yes, the Arachne descendant was annoying but there should be no bad blood between the sweet brunet and the pest.

"You tortured Beel and kidnapped Bell. Why are you doing this? What is your purpose for wanting to destroy the abyss?"

Rhinestone grinned. "Isn't it obvious? We are demons, a race superior to those on Earth. The strong will always rule over the weak. I'm just taking what should be rightfully ours and paving the way for the glory of our race. We've been too complacent of late with all the talks about peace with the goody-two-shoes angels. Who's going to believe that those two-faced b**tards will keep their word? If it weren't for the rest of the archangels ganging up to backstab Lord Lucifer, would we have lost?"

Zero wasn't interested. "So what? Has anyone else complained about the injustice? The Redemption of Sins happened not too long ago, anybody who wanted a chance at a better life could participate. You could have redeemed your soul for a better chance at life. There was no need to destroy the home that other demons have created here in the abyss! There is also no need to destroy the homes that others have spent their whole lives building on Earth! You have no right to decide the fate of others and force your ideas on them just because you were stronger."

Rhinestone's expression turned nasty. "You're in the position to lecture me because...? You're just a brat who hasn't seen the world. Just because you've rubbed shoulders with some Demon Lords and a few Gods doesn't make you anything special. If it weren't for them, would you be where you are today? Save that lecture for someone else. Ultimately, aren't you the same as me? Selfishly pushing your idealisms onto others because you have powerful people backing you."

Zero couldn't retort. For some reason, that twisted logic made him question himself. It was true that without Sedna finding him in the middle of the ocean after he fell from that cliff, he wouldn't be able to make it. If it weren't for Truen teaching him the ways of the world before his apprenticeship, he wouldn't be able to make it safely to learn medicine. If it weren't for Hua Tuo who taught him all he needed to know, Zero would be unable to pursue his dreams of travelling the world and saving lives with the power he had. If it weren't for Baal and the rest of the Demon Lord in the abyss, Zero would have never recovered his missing memories and he would not be given so much privilege. He saw how difficult life could be back in the abandoned city. That could have been him if it weren't for the support and connections he had.

Olaf knew why Lucifer had sent him away with the child. In fact, he would have tagged along regardless of the dean's instructions. Bob did mention that the child was a unique person who had the ability to make or break the world. From what Olaf smelled, Zero had a kind heart and a very naive mentality from the rumours over the past few days. For such a powerful child, it would be dangerous for those with ill intentions to get to him first. What Rhinestone was doing was twisting the facts. The Great Gods and Demon Lords got close to Zero not completely from the goodness of their hearts. Zero wasn't a burden, he was a powerful weapon that had to be protected and kept away from the wrong hands.

"Zero..."

The teenager wasn't listening. Angry tears were already collecting at the rim of his eyes. There was no way he could deny the facts. Zero had always felt like a burden who was constantly causing trouble for others and taking advantage of their good nature. However, he always silenced that thought and pretended not to know it. He lived each and every day wearing his brightest smile and giving his best because that was the only way Zero knew how to make them smile.

"You're right... you're absolutely right. I'm nothing more than an ignorant child who asks for the impossible without knowing the consequences of it. I'm a terribly ugly and selfish person who pushes my demands on others and constantly cause them inconveniences... however, I know that you and I aren't the same! I would never hurt innocent people and destroy their homes because of personal desires!"

The magic encased fist came down again aiming straight for Rhinestone's face with twice the amount of power behind the previous strike. Olaf had to give it to Zero for being so stubborn. He might be a wee child still wet behind the ears but at least he got the basics in life right. The dragon demon decided to give Zero a hand and boosted that punch with some strengthening magic only to have his assistance backfire when Zero's arm went right through the mirror, sucked into a weird looking portal.

Rhinestone's distorted expression cackled maniacally. "You fool! Did you think the same thing would work twice? You may not be the right soul to open the portal but you'll be a tasty appetiser!"

Olaf cursed at his miscalculations. With amazing speed, he propelled himself forward to participate in a tug of war with the stupid portal infused soul. Zero cried out in pain with two opposing forces pulled on his arms in opposite directions.

In his mindscape, Bob wanted to slap his stupid friend. How was tugging at Zero going to make things better? He was a dragon demon for crying out loud! Why couldn't he blast the spider demon with magic and break the mirror?

Zero struggled and felt one of his shoulders pop from its socket. The pain rippled from the shoulder and sent Zero's body into shock. With Mind's Eye's protection measures in place, Olaf was repelled by a powerful shockwave. Mii rejoiced at when the system's hold on her loosened. That gave the strawcherry assistant enough time to activate another blessing.

Zero was startled by the professor's screams. One moment he was in agony, the next moment Olaf was sent flying. After that everything was a blur. There was some sort of explosion in the background with his mind hazy from the pain. he didn't know what happened back there but Mii must have done something because his dislocated shoulder was no longer hurting. Everything seemed to be in place as if that didn't just happen. Zero thanked Hua Tuo for teaching him healing magic and Mii for reacting in a timely fashion.

He then looked at the broken shards of mirror and melting lumps of flesh from the portal frame. From the broken shards of mirror, Zero saw how Rhinestone's expression transformed into one of unadulterated rage as he let out a shrill howl.

Mii seemed proud of herself. Zeus' blessing One-Hit Kill might have overdone it managed to produce the desired effect of breaking the demon mirror. She checked the mana Zero had and found that it had taken up two-thirds of whatever mana they converted earlier. Her actions made Mind's Eye system call off the double and the system faded into the background again much to Mii's relief. For now, the strawcherry fairy was back in action.

"What was that?" Bob asked.

Mii smiled. "An ace in the hole. It's something that only works once and consumes a ridiculous amount of mana. We are not using it again. The artificial dimension should be falling apart now. Firing it again will only annihilate the abyss."

Bob blinked. Lily had already fainted from shock. "Is it really alright to be shattering a dimension?"

Mii shrugged. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Zero was in pain and she had to do something to stop it. Besides, she was in a pinch earlier too. There wasn't much time to consider the consequences.

Olaf was regaining control of his bearings when a chill in the air made him stiffen in apprehension. Zero took a few steps back when the molten flesh sizzled and started melting through the library floor. The broken shards of mirror became fine sand and started reassembling. The place that should have been the mirror was now replaced by a vortex that contained a powerful energy source that sucked in everything it could.

Zero quickly teleported out of the way and grabbed Olaf while he was at it. The secret library office was demolished as walls, furniture and books were sucked into the powerful portal.

Uriel snapped out of his trance at that very moment. Gabriel had returned with Raphael only to see the level of destruction while Michael dished out orders for the Pegasus riders to encircle the library. Lucifer had never been so glad to see Merlin and was slightly surprised that neither Isis nor Freya was present.

"That's a tricky curse you have," Merlin shook his head when he saw the characters engraved into the ex-archangel's skin. He ignored the heavy feeling coming from the library for now. Treating the Prince of hell was more important than the chaos occurring.

"How long would it take you to get rid of the curse?" Lucifer asked with great urgency in his voice. The barrier was breached at the library. That meant Olaf had lost control. If he didn't resolve this quick enough, not even Michael and the Pegasus knights would be able to stop Rhinestone's plan from coming true.

"Athena's curse is not difficult to break but it requires very specific ingredients that can be difficult to get," Merlin sighed. He had read up on this particular curse a long time ago. Zeus and Hades may know where to get the two items but the last one is no longer in existence.

"What are the items needed?"

Merlin looked grim. "The blood of the Serpent residing in the Garden of Eden, a lock of Medusa's hair and Arachne's tapestry."

Lucifer cursed. Arachne's tapestry had been burnt and the cursed weaver was long dead. None of her weavings remained after Athena burnt them all before her murder.

"Is there no other way to break the curse?" Lucifer wanted to bring Rhinestone back just so he could personally flay his ex-employee.

Merlin pursed his lips. "The only other way would be to forcefully rip it out of your soul or kill the one who cursed you."

"He is dead. Or at least his body is. He exchanged his lifespan for powers. What are the consequences of ripping it out by force?"

Merlin gave Lucifer a serious look. Ripping it out from one's soul was the same as breaking a piece of the soul away. For a Demon Lord like Lucifer, that would mean losing part of his memories and personality.

"Don't do it!" Uriel's panicked voice cut through the silence. Lucifer took a look at his weakest soul brother and placed his hand over Uriel's.

"I'm sorry. This place has become a home to me over the years, there are people that I care for on this side as well." Lucifer gave Uriel a smile that made the archangel panic. Merlin didn't let the angel of prophecy delay them any longer. Time was running out. Both Isis and Freya will have his head on a platter if he didn't sort the mess out quickly. The Great Goddesses were watching them from some corner of the world, unable to help out due to some more important worldly matters. In fact, None of the Great Gods seemed to have any time to spare. They sounded frantic about something when Buddha called them so they were on their own.

Zero watched as the professor-portal devoured the entire library. There was now a small crater around the portal that was growing larger and larger the more it absorbed. Veronica was still desperately fighting against the pull but was slowly losing the battle. He could see Rayneld's worried expression from the cafeteria.

"This is an announcement from your school dean. All students and teacher below Rank Gold please evacuate the campus. I repeat, evacuate the campus at once."

Zero heard that announcement and looked at Olaf who was now hovering in the air while carrying Zero under one arm.

"You heard the man, we need to evacuate the campus. This isn't something kids like you should be sticking your nose into."

Michael who was in the vicinity spotted the brunet of Uriel's prophecy. "Hey you! What are you doing here? This place is out of bounds."

Zero was startled. he looked at the growing portal that was going berserk and back to where he knew Lucifer and Baal was. "What about Beel and Baal? I can't just leave them here!"

Michael clicked his tongue. "They are above Rank Black, you are not. Frost dragon, get him out of here. The kid is important so I would not let anything happen to him if I were you."

Olaf rolled his eyes in annoyance. He didn't need a high and mighty angel to tell him what to do. Just because Lucifer had requested the help of Heaven doesn't mean that they ran the show here.

"Mind your own business, fluffy. I wouldn't underestimate that spider if I were you. The kid just shot some ridiculous Rank Gold magic at it back there," Olaf sneered before taking his leave with Zero still struggling in his hold.

Michael blinked. Rank Gold magic? Then he snorted. Clearly, the Frost Dragon must be going delusional with age. Zero might be a talented kid with a unique talent but Rank Gold magic? Not even Demon Lords were capable of using Rank Gold magic.