Ball of Nothing

Rayneld didn't know how to react. Zero worked quickly with cold efficiency. Despite his rage, the young doctor remained calm and steady while working on the hideous injuries. Beelzebub was looking better as the seconds flew by. He no longer looked like a chewed up demon rag doll with his regrown limbs. All the blood that was lost was now replenished and there was not a trace of the terrible cuts on his body.

The Manta Ray demon wasn't expecting for the doctor to throw the unconscious Demon Lord to him after he was done. Rayneld blinked as Zero stood up with the most serious look anyone has ever seen. His eyes were hard and his magic aura betrayed his emotions.

"Take care of Beel, I have something to take care of and a mission to complete. Bring him to the cafeteria. He will need to eat when he wakes up. Tell him not to worry about the mission."

Rayneld couldn't say anything as Zero vanished in thin air. The ground shook again and Rayneld wasted no time. He had to get out of the dungeon before it collapses. Veronica has stopped going crazy but the Bloody Willow was screaming and on high alert for threats within the Academy. Rayneld shifted the unconscious Demon Lord onto his back and stood up with little difficulty.

The threat wasn't over yet. He had to report it to Lord Lucifer quickly.

***

Zero was seething. Mii informed him only a minute ago that Baal was heading over. The young doctor rejoiced at meeting his friend. Much had transpired and he had a lot of reporting to do. He hoped that whoever Baal's target was, they had been taken care of. Right now, another traitor runs in the Academy and Zero didn't like the sound of someone so dangerous running about freely. Beelzebub was not weak. The culprit who did this damage had to be very dangerous and Zero feared that it might be too late if they didn't get him. For some reason, Zero highly doubted that Jeremiah was responsible. He simply wasn't capable enough.

"He has disappeared!" Mii's panicked voice almost broke Zero's concentration. At the moment, he was patching back Beelzebub's severed tendons. Thankfully, the doctor caught himself on time before he could do any real damage.

Zero took the time to briefly look at the map. True enough, Baal's marker had completely disappeared. He knew that Baal was making his way over earlier. What happened?

"Where was he last seen? Can you mark that area out? Do we have a map?"

Mii tried her best and placed a temporary indicator on the map where Baal's marker was last seen. She was confused. There was nothing in that area. They were close enough to it so the map would have picked up something if there was a room.

"Mii?" Zero asked worriedly. Beelzebub was almost all healed up. Zero's worry for his friend spiked and he glanced at the stupefied Rayneld. Although the Manta Ray Demon was slightly odd, Zero trusted him to bring Beelzebub to safety.

"The place he disappeared at doesn't exist on the map. It's odd because we are close enough to detect something..."

Hearing that made Zero's heart fall. Fuelled by worry and rage at the plotter who did this to both his friends, Zero wanted vengeance. This must be how Venn felt when his family was harmed and killed mercilessly during the war.

Destroy. All Zero wanted to do now was destroy the abyss and make the person who harmed his friends pay dearly with not only his life and soul but his entire existence. Erasing it wouldn't even appease a tenth of Zero's current fury. He wanted to raze everything to the void, bring it back again only to crush it in a different way over and over again.

"Zero!" Mii's worried voice could be heard and the young doctor shut their mental connection. Whatever Mii was going to say would only waver his determination. Zero had decided. He looked at Rayneld and left Beelzebub with him after a brief exchange of words.

With only one thought in his mind, Zero teleported.

The young doctor appeared in a room that did and did not exist. Zero could feel the strange tug to his mind from various directions. This strange phenomenon dampened his anger by a little as curiosity strengthened.

Zero was looking at the same space but seeing at least four different things at the same time.

"What the-"

Bob chose that time to return. "Young master! Finally, I've been trying to contact you for so long but something was blocking my connection with you on the Academy. It's terrible, the entire school is on lockdown!"

Zero didn't pay much attention to his dragon. He was still trying to process the strange flow of information in his head. His eyes were seeing but not seeing. His head was understanding without understanding. It was obvious from Bob's voice that he couldn't see what Zero was looking at.

"Could you be quiet for a moment? I'm trying to think," the young doctor told Bob without any tact. The dragon was slightly hurt by his master's harshness but soon came to realise that something odd was going on.

"Where's Mii?"

"If you're not silent, I will cut out the connection we currently have as well."

That threat silenced Bobbinskrier effectively. The Eternal Dragon remained silent and started to take in his surroundings. At first glance, they were in the middle of nowhere somewhere in the ground beneath the Academy. It was amazing how Zero could stand there motionlessly and still breathe.

Wait, that wasn't right. There was no way Zero would be able to do that. What's going on?

Zero saw the ocean. He saw bubbles coming from an underground pocket of air and felt the strong tug of underwater current. Occasionally, there would be shadows moving, Zero assumed they were some sort of marine life. However, at the same time in that same space Zero also saw a trench filled with bodies. It was dark, cramped and smelled bad.

One moment Zero felt cold, the next moment he felt like vomiting his insides out from the horrible sight. After that he would be alright again and happy to finally see the gentle rays of the sun. Sometimes he saw odd creatures that were even weirder than the monsters in Sleepy Cave. The most amazing part was how he saw all of that within the span of a few seconds.

The young doctor couldn't understand why he was able to experience all of this. It was fascinating but it also felt as if he was losing his sense of self and his mind. Was this why Baal disappeared? Did something pull him away from the abyss? If so, where was he?

Zero watched and waited. There were countless things that happened within this space and one of them might give him a hint about his friend. He tried taking a step forward and found that the images he saw became lesser and clearer. They didn't change as often too.

Curious and feeling as if he might be closer to the answer of Baal's mystery, Zero paced around in that area, making mental notes about where the illusions ended and where the illusions were the most unstable. After about a minute, Zero marked out the size of a very small room. The spot that Baal disappeared was the most unstable and Zero decided to 'unmute' Mii.

"I think I found something," he said calmly.

Mii was still furious and hurt that Zero decided to cut connections with her. Sadly, she was a part of the system Great One left behind so she put that aside. Her mission was to keep Zero safe and aid him in times of need.

"What is it?" she asked neutrally. Bob looked at the strawcherry fairy with sympathy in his eyes. The Eternal Dragon felt as if it wasn't the right time to broach the subject about how rude Zero has been just yet. There were far more important matters after all.

"I'm looking at many different worlds at the spot that Baal's marker disappeared. What do you see?"

Mii blinked. Many Worlds? What was Zero talking about? All she saw was darkness before her.

"I don't understand..." she told Zero.

"Zero, what do you see? Can you tell us?" Bob decided to try. Zero was much calmer now and more rationale.

Zero described some of the things he saw as fast as he could. Some images were so brief that Zero couldn't keep up with explaining to them what was happening.

"I can't... it's just too many. I've seen some of the same things over and over but they always seem to feel like a different space... I can't find Bell in any of them."

Mii was puzzled. There was no such information in her memory left behind by the Great One. She looked at Bob who was deep in thought.

The Eternal Dragon had a suspicion after hearing what Zero said. For one, he knew what Zero was looking at. It was at the cross point of many dimensions. Theoretically speaking, it is possible to see many versions of the same space across time and dimension. It's like placing many glasses of different coloured water in a row and looking at them all from the side. The only problem was how the eyes would perceive this information. Often, it only looks like one muddled colour in the end. It wasn't possible to discern all the colours of each glass of water individually and this might be what was happening to Zero. On the other hand, Bob could not understand why Baal would disappear at this spot. Where has he been taken to? How would Zero travel to each dimension to search for Baal, assuming that it was possible?

"Bob?" Zero asked when he only heard silence from the dragon. It was rather unusual for Bob to be so silent. He would usually have something to add as the wise and experienced dragon senior of life.

"I can't say for sure but I think we are in the space that allows us to see many dimensions. It's like a crack in time and space. Baal might have fallen here and gotten transported to one of those dimensions. I don't think he is in the abyss right now... that's my suspicion."

Zero froze. His heart burned with both hatred at the person responsible for this mess and regret for not coming to Baal earlier. The mission was dangerous and Baal made him promise to not get into too much trouble. Zero did his best to keep it but now, he thinks that breaking it might be better if it could mean keeping his friend safe.

"I don't want to lose Bell..."

"You won't," the Eternal Dragon affirmed. "We can think of a way to save him. He's only lost, he's not dead."

Zero wanted to ask how the dragon would know but kept his mouth shut. He was simply too afraid to find out the truth. Baal was strong, he would be alright.

"How do we find him?" Zero asked quietly. Bob didn't have an immediate answer. He wanted very much to encourage his master but this was something beyond his knowledge.

At this point, Mii felt something glowing in the mindscape library. It was the Great One's system calling out to her. Mii left quietly to retrieve the book.

[Beacon Blessing]

Those two words written on the empty page with Great One's knowledge gave Mii a spark of hope. That's right, Zero still had the blessing of Great Gods! One of them was a blessing given by Isis called the Beacon that would help Zero in troubled times and bring him to an old friend. While nobody understood what that meant, it was something that could give Zero the hints he required to find Baal.

"Zero! I have a suggestion but it is one that comes with high risks..."

Zero perked up. "Let me hear it."

Mii then explained her idea and Bob listened closely. By the end of it all, the Eternal Dragon had to admit, it was better than what he could think of at the moment.

"I say we should give it a try," Bob admitted. While it was a very uncertain plan, they would at least have a lead. It does have a very steep price to pay and that was Bob's only concern.

Zero took a look at his inventory. "I think I have enough sins to use the blessing without falling into a coma."

Bob looked unsure and Mii was worried. "What if Isis' blessing uses more mana than Enma's blessing? You are aware that Enma is a demigod and Isis is a Great God, right? There is a huge power level difference..."

Zero shrugged. "Adaption, Charmer and Wisdom do not consume mana so I don't think all blessings work the same way. Besides, I can always use Gaia's blessing and convert all that seawater into mana. That surely would be enough right?"

Mii did some quick math. "I think we should convert a tenth of that seawater right now into mana first. Just in case something happens..."

Bob was curious. "How much mana would that be?"

Mii smiled. "About enough for Zero to use Judgement ten times. Surely a Great God's blessing wouldn't require so much mana but just to be sure... you'll never know."

Zero thought that it was a brilliant suggestion and Mii got to work immediately. As soon as the seawater was converted into mana, Zero felt like throwing up. That was certainly too much mana and his body couldn't handle its pressure.

"I'm going to hurl if I don't use some of it quickly. Are you guys ready? I'm going to use the blessing."

Bob and Mii gave their green light and Zero activated Beacon once. There was a ridiculous flash of light and the three of them held their breaths, not knowing what would happen next.