Ball of Nothing

Lucifer howled in fury when he saw the three children get sucked into the vortex. His rage triggered a sudden surge in mana causing Merlin's seal to break. The curse fed on Lucifer's mana and nourished the exhausted Rhinestone. Now that he managed to get the power sources he required to open the gate, he no longer needed to fight.

Conserving his power, the Arachne descendant went into a total defence mode. It didn't matter what kind of formation or attacks Michael and the Pegasus knights launched, Rhinestone remained safe inside the mirror.

Lucifer wasn't the only person who lost their rationality. Merlin and a certain son of the Charybdis followed suit and attacked the artificial gate without holding back. The Academy shook and trembled under the immense pressure. The only person who didn't look worried or angry was Uriel. The archangel seemed somewhat relieved at the turn of events. Still, there was something strange about how smoothly everything progressed for Rhinestone. Uriel couldn't shake off the foreboding feeling that something terrible was going to happen following Zero's disappearance.

The curse backfired badly and Lucifer was quickly put out of commission with the ex-archangel looking paler than Hades. Raphael was immediately by his side, keeping Lucifer away from the heat of the action.

Rayneld hasn't bothered to keep his true form or capabilities under wraps. His face contorted with rage at Rhinestone's manipulation of his lover to betray him. With Lucifer's weakening magic, the barrier around the Academy was lifted. If not for Olaf's barrier around the library, the damage would've been extensive. Still, that didn't mean the dragon demon wasn't unaffected from the mass explosions caused by violent spells form the duo. He struggled and swallowed a mouthful of blood as the Wizard God hurled another Godly-Tier fusion spell at the portal using his grimoire.

Merlin was livid and scared for Zero who'd been transported to a different dimension. Although powerful, the Sage God of Magic isn't infallible. He knew that nobody would be there to save him from the rage of the Great Gods should anything happen to Zero. Worse still, Merlin couldn't commit suicide even if he wanted to. That was the price of immortality and being a God over such a strong domain too. If he wanted to live a little longer, the magician would have to exhaust every trick in his book - literally.

Olaf didn't know how much longer he could hold on for. However, after glancing over to Raphael tending to the fallen headmaster, he knew that he would have to hold out until it eventually killed him. The strongest have fallen and now the abyss is without its protectors. Unlike Bob, Olaf's home was in the Academy. All his treasures were in this very library and Academy. He couldn't watch it all get destroyed with the plane without at least putting up a fight.

Raphael was at a loss. He could heal wounds and illnesses but not mana depletion or break curses. The only one capable of doing it was going all out on the unshaken portal with the child of Charybdis. Michael was forced to back away with the Pegasus riders. Although the two were powerful, the lack of coordination meant that some attacks were negated by each other's magic. Gabriel looked at the mess in front of them and at Uriel who seemed to be hopeful about something and felt anger take over him. How could they be so disorganised in times of crisis? It was unbecoming of them. No wonder the enemy had the upper hand!

With a flash of brilliant light that blinded both friend and foe, Gabriel successfully got everyone's attention in the messy brawl.

"Stand your ground! Throwing a bunch of powerful spells wouldn't work, look for blind spots! Heal the wounded and enclose of this area, why are we working against each other instead of together before the enemy?"

Uriel looked at Gabriel and was reminded of why he was chosen to be the voice of angels. While Michael was more famous as the leader after Lucifer's fall, nobody could replace Gabriel as the heart of the angels. With his soul brother giving him strength, the fragile angel picked himself off the ground and took a good look at the battle scene.

He looked at Michael once and decided that it might be time to bring that sword out again. The one sword that caused Lucifer's defeat will now bring about a change once more by cutting down the Arachne's spawn before them.

"Michael!"

The warrior caught it in both hands by reflex and blinked. In his entire life, he had only wielded this weapon once. The flaming sword brought back memories that were both pleasant and unpleasant. Looking at the enemy before them, Michael held the hilt firmly and the holy sword blazed in response to his determination.

"For Luci," he whispered and closed his eyes for a short prayer.

When the proud archangel reopened his eyes, the entire library was shrouded in his blessing. The Pegasus riders were filled with courage and let out cries of indignation on behalf of the residents in the abyss. Raphael used Michael's blessing to boost his ability to suppress the curse. Merlin returned from the frontlines in shame and settled by the fallen Demon Lord's side. Rayneld was still furious but with Raphael's are healing blessing in effect, it allowed him to regain some of his rationality.

Rhinestone cursed. He still needed a little more time to fully seal the Demon Lords inside of him and use their powers to activate the gate. It wasn't easy with a certain doctor running rampant in his alternate dimension. Zero proved to be not completely useless in a magic-null area. With nothing physical in that space, mana cannot gather. Sadly, that didn't apply to the teenager who had the abilities to control the space within his dimension. It was tiring to have to continuously close the portals Zero opened. It was more tiring to keep Zero away from the two Demon Lords. If Zero got hold of them, Rhinestone knew that the sneaky young one would make his hasty escape to a different plane out of his current reach.

"Don't do it! We're still in Rhinestone's artificial dimension... it is very fragile and if you break it all of us will be lost in the void!" Lily warned Zero who was ready to blast their escape route open with Zeus' blessing.

Mii mentally thanked the flower fairy. Bob was still trying to make contact with his dragon friend out there. The dragon said he smelled blood just before they were swallowed by the mirror. Zero asked if Mii was able to contact Hua Tuo but there was some kind of magic interference in the dimension. It was something the strawcherry fairy had never come across and that information made Zero feel sick. Not only was he having trouble getting to Baal and Beelzebub, he was also in danger of losing them at any moment.

In the dimension that Rhinestone played God, Zero understood why the Arachne descendant hated Gods so much. From Mii's short history lesson, Arachne was a talented weaver who challenged a Goddess called Athena who was Zeus' ex-colleague and won against that Goddess. However, Athena wasn't happy with the results and cursed that mortal weaver and her offsprings to become spider-like monsters who could never stop weaving. Along the way, the curse's power diminished when Athena was killed and Arachne finally was able to die in peace to be reincarnated. The same couldn't be said of her descendants. Most of them became demons or monsters and Rhinestone was one of them.

"While I can understand his hatred for the Gods, I cannot condone him harming innocent beings for his selfishness. This has to stop," Zero growled lowly.

Bob agreed and Mii didn't disagree. Lily looked worried, unsure about how she should respond. The strawcherry fairy couldn't say anything because she didn't want the system to deem her as interfering with Zero's choices unnecessarily again.

"What will you do?" Bob asked carefully and observed Mii's expression. She was too quiet and the Eternal Dragon worried for her. Something was off about the whole matter. If there was one thing Bob knew to be true, it was how much Mii cared about Zero. She was like the parent Zero never had in a way. The strawcherry fairy was more than a mere assistant.

Zero stopped everything he was doing and observed the empty space for a little. Baal and Beelzebub were still suspended in the middle of space here. Rhinestone could have done something to them earlier while Zero was preoccupied with the irritating magic cancellation spells. However, he hasn't started anything funny. That gave Zero some hope. Perhaps, Rhinestone wasn't almighty even if he was the "God" of this dimension. That meant that Zero had some time to formulate a plan to rescue his friends.

He crossed his legs and closed his eyes to enter a meditative state. With a clean state of mind, Zero thought through his options carefully. Killing was still against his principle as he was a doctor. However, he couldn't let Rhinestone get away and succeed. Many innocents would die. Zero also remembered the promise he made with Baal and Lucifer. He was not to interfere with any of the abyss' affairs. Technically speaking, he would be interfering with the abyss' affairs by destroying the false dimension and gate. He was doing it wrong.

Buddha always mentioned that the best way to do things was to go with the flow. Hua Tuo always said that the way of life was living true to one's nature and not going against it. Whenever there was resistance, Zero should move like water to overcome it in a gentle way without hurting anyone. There was always a way to reach a conclusion without harming anyone. Although Zero may have many restrictions, he believed that with the teachings of his teachers there will be a solution.

Still, the possibility of finding one in such a short frame of time dampened his optimism. Was there really such a solution? Breaking out of the dimension with force would work. Zero could save both his friends but he would also inadvertently hurt Rhinestone in a way that might kill him. Rhinestone's existence was tied to this very dimension. Enma wouldn't be happy if he destroyed a soul permanently. It would throw the world out of balance.

Subduing Rhinestone with his magic would be interfering with the abyss' affairs. Baal and Lucifer would chew him out when they found out. There was also no hiding the matter, Zero just know that they will find out one way or another. Worse, if the news got out that he tried to do something reckless again there will be others who will give him a good earful. Truen was one of them. The Great Goddesses were people Zero didn't want to disappoint either. Zero scratched that option out.

If Zero healed Baal and Beelzebub here, they might be able to break out of the dimension without Zero doing anything more but that would mean he would have to watch them fight and get hurt in the process. Zero didn't like the idea of patching someone up only to have them break it again. His heart couldn't endure that kind of pain even if he understood the reason in his head.

If only there was a way to make Rhinestone surrender... Zero felt the tumultuous emotions in his mental state swirl in apprehension. They twisted, turned and churned loudly and put a frown on the young doctor's face. Rhinestone noticed the sudden change in his inner dimension and frowned. Zero was being too docile and that made him worry. He could fend off the continuous wave of attacks from the coordinated Pegasus riders with little problems. He couldn't fend off attacks from the inside as easily and knew how vulnerable that inner dimension truly was. Ideally, his prey would be unconscious and near death. It was good that he had two power sources unable to retaliate. Zero's presence was an uncalculated accident and Rhinestone was afraid of the things that powerful teenager could accomplish. If he wakes the two Demon Lords, Rhinestone would be destroyed from within without doubts.

"To make him surrender...." Zero mumbled to himself and Bob blinked. The dragon looked at the two fairies who were keeping a lookout for the two Demon Lords' safety. The Eternal Dragon didn't know what changed Zero's line of thoughts but to make Rhinestone surrender would be incredibly hard seeing the professor didn't have anything of value to use as a threat, bribe or blackmail. Rhinestone was also unafraid to die, his life meant nothing for the greater cause.

A random memory came to Zero. He remembered how he was absorbed into the stomach of a particular bird. In there he met his very first comrade - Namekuji. The slug was very resilient and used a delay technique to fool the enemy before buying its freedom. Namekuji brought down an enemy bigger than itself from the inside out. It attacked vital points and eventually killed the bird.

Now, Zero didn't want to kill. However, he wanted to make Rhinestone as uncomfortable as possible on the inside to make him spit them out. The young doctor opened his eyes with a newfound determination.

He was going to make Rhinestone vomit them out from this inner dimension to break this battle stalemate. He was going to give the arrogant spider demon the worst stomachache he has ever known.