Ball of Nothing

When Sekkin reached Lust domain, he was immediately ambushed by many promiscuous women and men. They were scantily clad or wore nothing at all, calling out to him with their alluring gazes and smiles. The spider demon felt his blood running south and promptly ripped himself away from the tangle of limbs trying to pull him indoors. It had to be magic, there was no way he would be unfaithful to Mitchnew after all they've been through! Sekkin slapped himself hard to snap out of the spell.

Once back to reality, the spider demon was able to see just how filthy and ugly the true natures of these demons were. They snarled angrily at losing their prey, their previously meek and friendly personalities gone. Many left in search for their next victim while some tried to hypnotise Sekkin again.

Familiar with hypnosis, Sekkin didn't let his guard down this time. He swiftly avoided the demons and ran towards the castle that Lilith was in. This time, he took the roof and stuck close to the shadows. Nobody approached him while Sekkin proceeded with stealth this time. He thought that the tough part of escorting Zero would be to keep the kid away from the demons. After what he experienced, Sekkin was beginning to understand why Amon sent him instead of his other subordinates. It didn't matter what species of demons they were, all single males will definitely fall prey for the honeypot trap. The warriors back in Amon's domain were also only interested in two things namely power and getting some.

"A task only I can do... he really meant it," the spider demon grimaced. It was tough on him too with all the pheromones in the air. If it weren't for his undying love for Mitchnew, he would have succumbed like any other lesser men.

After about two hours of dodging and evading the temptations along the way, Sekkin made it to Lilith's castle at the break of dawn. There wasn't anyone waiting outside to greet him and unlike the atmosphere of desire clinging onto the city, the castle had a slightly more refined air even though the sweet cloy of pheromones were stronger on the castle grounds. The spider demon had to spin himself a face mask when the smell got too overwhelming. No wonder nobody willingly entered the castle. Lilith may seem like a weak Demon Queen but just her presence over the castle was enough to make anyone who underestimated her turn back. In her palace, Lilith's power is insurmountable. It was rumoured that even the abstinent Lucifer would have difficulty thinking rationally over prolonged stay in Lilith's castle.

Sekkin thought of taking a break when he arrived but with how the powerful illusion magic in Lilith's turf threatened to pull him under her hypnosis, the spider demon decided to walk around instead. At first, he thought that the castle's design and structure were merely a happy coincidence. However, after ten minutes of walking through the stone garden, the spider demon knew that it was no coincidence. This was definitely a zen garden design created by the people back in his motherland before it got invaded by the northern barbarians.

"You arrived earlier than I expected," a sultry and husky voice purred not too far from where Sekkin was.

Startled almost to the point of jumping out of his skin, the warrior-assassin drew out his knife and got into a battle stance.

"Relax! Jeez... all you muscled guys just don't know how to kick back and have some fun. I remember telling Amon to send a decent escort of some kind, I don't remember requesting for anyone so paranoid. How is Zero suppose to relax if you keep jumping at everything?"

The lady with the sensual voice turned out to be no one other than the Demon Queen. Realising his mistake of pointing a weapon at a Demon Lord, the spider demon sheathed his weapon quickly and dropped to his knees to beg for pardon.

Lilith rolled her eyes. Warriors and their stiff code of conduct were no fun to deal with. "Whatever, I'm not concerned. Zero and Baal will be up soon enough. Just act normal and don't let Zero realise anything going on in the town. I'm sure you have a few stories about Amon's domain to share, don't you?"

Taking a hint, Sekkin smiled and reassured the Demon Queen that Zero will be well taken care of. "Can I ask what time we will be setting off?"

Lilith yawned. She had a busy night hunting and sorting out some housekeeping matters. Who knew that the new maids she hired couldn't resist the pheromones in the castle? It must be bad if aristocrats found it difficult to resist her charm. She really needed to find a new mate ever since the last one ran away from her a few hundred years ago. Most drones don't last very long even if they were granted longevity if they signed a pact with her. Lilith sighed wistfully. Good men were hard to find and even at her age, the little girl in her still foolishly longed for the promise of true love.

"You should join them for breakfast. My servants will guide you. Also, please rest for a little while in a guest room prepared. They will wake you in time for breakfast. You've travelled far."

Knowing that there was no further room for negotiation, Sekkin bowed and took his leave. he didn't notice them earlier but there were two maids waiting for him with icy expressions by the veranda. It was no coincidence, Sekkin was convinced Lilith planned it all out. He didn't know what Lilith was planning but he knew it definitely involved Zero. Still, in his occupation as an assassin, Sekkin knew that he was a better judge of character than most people. His instincts weren't screaming at him so that gave him a peace of mind that the Demon Queen wasn't plotting to harm the young doctor.

With that, the spider demon followed the maids away, leaving Lilith some time to herself.

In the beautiful garden without anyone else around, the Demon Queen allowed herself to sigh. While teaching Zero hypnosis was something that simply happened along the way, Lilith had planned to gift Zero something without his knowledge that involved the same art. It wasn't easy gathering the resources that she needed. In fact, Lilith was half considering milking Amon of what he was worth if she didn't manage to find enough prey on time. Fortunately for Sekkin, Lilith was able to get what she needed before his timely arrival.

The Succubus Queen flapped her powerful wings twice and landed gracefully on a branch of a pink willow. The cool wind passed through the stone garden and toyed with her silky scarlet hair, creating a picturesque illusion of a Hell's angel. Lilith closed her eyes and gathered the dense mana in the garden, fusing it with some of her own to supplement the lack of refined control. The curse she wove was an ancient one but Lilith knew just how to tweak it so that it would become a blessing instead.

"Rise from the darkness, born from the void. Heed my command and gather at my summon. My name is Lilith - the almighty Queen of Lust. Upon the souls of my fallen brethren, I beseech thee once more for favours above powers of my own. For the price of a cursed soul, I shall offer a story once dear but soon to be forgotten. Bring clear mind and judgement in turbulent times, bring blessings to them in curses disguised. Bring good faith and strength in their loneliest times, bring humbleness and luck for their destined desire. Their name is Zero and Solo the same, two sides of the same coin like darkness and light. Great Spirits and Empaths who guard my bloodline, heed this Queen's selfish request without decline!"

The wind gathered around Lilith and the pressure made the stone tremble in her garden. Lilith embraced the powerful magic and had another mark appear on her skin. The new vow only contributed to her massive tattoo-like marks on her skin with the most recent one resembling a waxing moon lying on its side on her forehead. The mark glowed red painfully before fading into a dull throbbing midnight blue on her pale skin.

Once the spell was done, ghostly figures in the forms of shapely mist appeared before Lilith. They had amethyst eyes and spoke in whispers to Lilith who thanked them and offered up a part of her memories as promised. Memories of her previous lover flashed before her eyes one last time before the Empaths collected them and disappeared. Almost at once, Lilith felt a great sense of loss and grief but the proud Queen didn't give in to the sorrow. It wasn't the first time she had to sacrifice someone dear to her for someone else who had become dear to her. In her extremely long life, the Great Queen had fallen for many mortal lovers who eventually had to leave her. This time, she was sacrificing the precious memories of her latest lover in exchange for Empaths to tamper with Zero's mind in times of need when she couldn't be there. As part of Zero's secret Army, Lilith didn't want to lose to Baal's faction. After all, her enamoration for the promising medical prodigy didn't simply end with a kiss. Zero was her everything.

***

Zero woke up that morning to the feeling of someone whispering in his ear. The feeling was ticklish and after a good ten minutes or so trying to ignore it, he woke up. For some reason, he felt like he had company today despite being alone in the room. There was nobody in sight so Zero shrugged it off as something from his imagination.

Deciding to check the map for any invisible visitors in his room, Zero was startled to find that a friendly person had appeared on his map. Excited and curious to know who it was, Zero got out of bed, ignoring the fact that there were no markers in his room indicating the strange presences he felt earlier. As the sky got brighter, the lingering presence grew weaker. Zero brushed his teeth in haste and made a beeline for the room the new friend was residing in. Could it be Coux who was visiting?

"Good morning!" he burst into the room without reservations.

Imagine his surprise when he found a man instead of a woman in bed. Sekkin looked rather tired with dark circles beneath his eyes but Zero detected nothing out of the ordinary. He was slightly dejected when he realised he wasn't going to be able to eat any of Coux's special breakfast deluxe but then soon brushed that feeling aside. He was happy to see the spider demon after so long.

"Sekkin!" he ran and jumped onto the assassin who caught Zero out of reflex, welcoming the short teenager into his arms as they wrestled in bed for a little. Zero's scream of surprise woke the sleeping Lord of Laziness upstairs when the warrior tickled his sides.

"No no! Stop cheati- AHAHAHA! Let go! Let go!" Zero squealed and squirmed when Sekkin mercilessly attacked his sides. The teenager laughed so hard that tears were rolling down his cheeks and his stomach hurt from too much laughter. Sekkin didn't hold back and spun webs to restrain the young doctor's arms so that he couldn't defend is vulnerable spots.

The cheerful scene startled Baal who thought his friend was under attack. Zero saw his lifeline arrive and begged Baal to help him in between laughter and wheezes while trying to kick Sekkin. Naturally, the spider demon caught his legs and started tickling the sole of Zero's foot, triggering another round of high pitched laughter.

Baal contemplated for five seconds before walking over calmly. Zero screamed traitor and choked on his own spit within five seconds of the double attack.

Lilith wasn't prepared to walk in on the scene with three guys rolling around in bed having a ball. She carefully backed away before any of them could notice her and hid her heavy blush. Now that was certainly one memory she wouldn't ever be sacrificing.