Ball of Nothing

Zero didn't know why everyone was in a rush. Shittomi didn't explain why he had to go on an errand but complied anyway. He didn't remember much of what happened in the tea room but swore that he would never again consume any alcoholic drinks.

Baal took a short nap in the carriage while Zero was left to wonder what was going to happen. According to the snow queen, Zero was going to represent her to address some of the problems a village on the outskirts of her domain faced. He wasn't given any details but Shittomi did caution him about making promises. They were still demons and words held power.

Zero marvelled at the breathtaking white scenery. It was a very rare sight but not unwelcomed. Zero embraced the distraction and change of pace. He was sorely in need of some solitude to sort his thoughts out. It was subtle but he knew Baal as up to something. It wasn't like the Demon Lord to be so meticulous about planning trips and accompanying him on his travels. Something was definitely up but Zero couldn't figure out what Baal was planning.

It was obvious to him that all the Demon Lords were bidding farewell to him in their own ways. Some of them were very hospitable and made Zero feel at home. Some were very professional and kicked him out as soon as they were done with what they had to do, not that Zero minded in the least. Strangely, he didn't feel very lonely having to part with the Demon Lords he'd met so far with the small exception of Beelzebub. At some point of their tour, the young doctor knew that he would also have to say goodbye to Baal. He didn't know what Baal was planning but knowing his friend, Baal wouldn't go as over the top as some of the other Demon Lords had.

Still, to run an errand as a parting gift? It sounded a little strange to even Zero. Also, the name Qian Qiu sounded strangely familiar. The young doctor just couldn't put a finger to where he'd come across it. The bigger problem was understanding that strange book Amon gifted him. Zero wondered if Ruth would be able to comprehend the translated riddles. Speaking of that vampire... Zero didn't know how to feel about having to train in combat. He understood the importance of being able to defend himself if the need arose but shouldn't magic and the unique clothes the Great Gods gifted him be enough?

"What's on your mind?" Baal yawned. It was difficult to rest when he could practically hear the loud turning of gears in Zero's mind.

Zero hesitated for about a minute. Baal didn't rush him. Ever since Zero matured into a teenager, he noticed the little changes in his friend. Zero had become more observant and picked up on the things he usually would have glanced over as a child. His sixth sense was becoming more powerful as if there was something guiding his intuition. Baal also noticed how Zero would analyze with his mind more than following his emotions. It wasn't a bad change but sometimes Baal missed the naive kid he could bully for his amusement.

"Bell... you do plan on saying goodbye to me properly, right? You won't just disappear on me silently in the middle of my sleep or something... right?"

Baal blinked. "Was this worrying you the whole time?"

Zero didn't answer and Baal had to hold his laughter back. He took that back... Zero was still plenty of adorable even after becoming a teenager.

"Don't be silly, what good would that do for me to disappear on you? I still haven't given you my gift, have I?"

Zero looked suspicious at once. "I didn't think you'd put in the effort to prepare anything as grand. For all I know, you accompanying me on the grand tour of the abyss could be my gift."

Baal looked offended but there was no bite in his tone. "The nerve of you! Brat, do you know how much you owe me? I have to clean up after your mess and you can't even be satisfied with my glorified presence? Just so you know, there isn't a better tour guide in the abyss than me so you shouldn't complain!"

Zero snorted and Baal leapt from his seat, tickling Zero into apologising.

Once the laughter died down and the two friends were huddled underneath a blanket, Baal cuddled up to Zero's side and yawned. "No, I won't disappear on you in your sleep so stop worrying about the non-existent things already. We have an errand to run. I'll give it about half an hour before we need to work again so if you want to catch up on some rest, now's a good time for some shut-eye."

Zero nodded and closed his eyes.

Not two minutes into the silence, Baal felt a heavy weight on top of his head and growled lightly. The Demon Lord shoved his friend off and scowled as Zero's head flopped from side to side with the twists and turns the carriage made. So much for getting some shut-eye now...

***

Zero was woken up by a grumpy Demon Lord and quickly wiped the drool at the side of his mouth. They'd arrived at the village that looked a lot more like a luxurious spa resort. Zero was intrigued by the stone garden and long flight of stone stairs that didn't seem to lead anywhere.

"Is this the entrance of the village?"

Baal nodded. He didn't seem to be too impressed with this level of illusion. Seeing Zero's troubled expression at the long flight of stairs, Baal didn't think Zero had figured it out yet. Whatever Shiro wanted to do, Baal promised Shittomi that he wouldn't interfere with the foxes' tests unless it put Zero in danger.

"Greetings," a fox demon greeted. She wore a white cloth veil over her head that covered her face so Zero couldn't make out her features. Only the bushy reddish-orange tail gave him a clue of what kind of demon she was.

"Hello! I'm Zero. Queen Shittomi sent me on an errand to this village. May I know whom I should be speaking to?"

The fox demon bowed and told the guests to follow her lead. Zero didn't ask why they weren't climbing up that flight of stone stairs and followed behind as closely as he could. hey entered a snow-covered bamboo forest that their guide wove through with no difficulty. As the got deeper into the grove, the snow got heavier and it was becoming more difficult to see. Thankfully, Baal and Zero had no problems dealing with the harsh climate. The doctor silently worried about the fox demon who wasn't as warmly dressed. He tried calling out to her but the wind was very loud and his voice simply got drowned out.

Despite the accumulating snow on the ground, the fox demon didn't slow down. Zero was having some keeping up with his feet sinking six inches into the slush. Baal had given up on walking altogether and levitated behind Zero. The brunet envied the flight ability so much and wondered if he could request for Baal to teach him how to fly as a parting gift.

It was an outright blizzard by now and Zero realised in horror that he'd lost sight of their guide. Thankfully, he still had Baal with him.

"Bell, did you see which direction she went in?"

The Demon Lord didn't answer so Zero turned around to check. He felt his heart drop when he couldn't find his friend.

"Bell?"

There was no response.

"Bell, don't do this to me... I know you're here somewhere."

Still no answer. Zero tried to think through it rationally and pulled out his map. Even if he lost track of Baal, surely he could find him on the mini-map.

If he could find him on the map...

"What's going ?" he asked but there was no response from either of his assistants. Zero tried peering into his mindscape but to his horror, he found it empty. Mii and Bob had left it completely and Zero couldn't detect their presence. While Zero could account for Bob's absence, he couldn't understand why Mii who was part of the system would also vanish without a trace.

Panic gripped the teen when he received no response. He quickly checked his contact list and reached for the intergalactic communicator. There was no signal for some reason and despite pouring in more than the required mana for operation, Zero couldn't get the device to work.

Defeated, Zero allowed his composure to crumble and sank into the piling snow in the middle of the blizzard. His mind was in a state of chaos similar to the weather. It didn't matter if the snow was piling up rapidly or if his lower half was already buried in the thick layer of white. He didn't have contact with anyone, he didn't know where he was. Zero was stranded just like the first time he was launched onto Sedna's seed planet. The same feeling of helplessness bubbled and Zero dry heaved, feeling ill.

Somewhere from outside that illusionary maze, Baal observed with tightly clenched fists as Zero suffered a panic attack. Shiro had a smug smirk on her face and a cold look in her eyes. For someone so infinitely powerful, he was unbelievably fragile. An unworthy master to serve under. She couldn't understand how their proud leader of the foxes could submit to such a weak and pathetic creature.

The fox demon observed as Zero clutched at his chest and hyperventilated in the blizzard. That puny human clearly didn't amount to much without the support of his more powerful friends. Queen Shittomi had given her word that she could test Zero to her heart's content as long as no harm would befall him. Lord Baal would not interfere unless Zero's life was in peril. Currently, all of these were happening in Zero's mind. None of it was real so Baal could only observe from the side as Zero struggled to pull himself together in the middle of the stone garden.

To Shiro's surprise, Zero closed his eyes and evened out his irregular breathing. She wasn't prepared to feel such a strong surge of mana and lost control of the illusion over the teen. Noticing Shiro's shock, Baal felt himself feeling proud of his friend. The previous Zero would've cried out for his help to sneeze an illusion away or called upon anyone to get him out of the sticky situation. He would probably have resorted to using the aces the Great Gods have given him too instead of resolving it on his own. The use of Judgement that started it all was a perfect example.

Once Shiro lost control of the illusion, Zero found himself in a very different place. The harsh blizzard was gone and he found himself sitting in the middle of a stone garden formation instead of the snowy bamboo grove. Baal and the mysterious fox demon guide were standing there less than twenty meters from him and Zero's face lit up.

"There you are! I was looking for you," Zero bounced over to his friend who had an amused look on his face.

"Is that enough evidence of his strength or would you like to continue the tests?" he asked Shiro who had an ugly expression.

Zero didn't remember doing anything to warrant such intense hate from the guide. The problem must be very deeply rooted if she was being so hostile. Remembering his mission from Queen Shittomi, Zero remembered his manners. he bowed and apologised to Shiro who didn't know how to react.

"My apologies, I must be inadequate and lost my way back there. Thank you for waiting for me and forgive my tardiness."

Shiro couldn't be mad at Zero's sincere apology. The teen did appear truly apologetic for something that wasn't his fault. Although she still hated the young doctor for robbing the village of foxes their leader, she was beginning to understand what Qin Yun saw in this promising youth. She heard a little about what Zero had done for the abyss. The terraforming project was going to benefit her village a lot and Zero's legendary healing skills who helped Lord Beelzebub against the crazy professor was enough to make Shiro put her personal dislike for the teen aside.

"Do not apologise, it wasn't your fault. Since you've passed the test I would like to ask for a favour from you on behalf of the fox village."

Zero blinked. He didn't think that the fox lady would let it go that easily. If she was given the choice, Zero was sure she would've grilled him alive.

"I'll be honoured to be of assistance," he replied simply and Shiro pulled out a letter from her sleeve pocket.

"Please pass this letter along to our leader in Half Moon village, she goes by the name of Qin Yun now. Due to circumstances, we aren't able to contact her directly..."

Zero accepted the letter with both hands and put it away in his void storage so that he wouldn't lose it. Now everything made sense! He didn't think that Qian Qiu and Qin Yun would be the same person because Zero thought the village might have been related to Coux instead. Come to think about it, he should've made the connection earlier with the fox traits.

"I understand, I will pass it to her personally. Is there anything else you would like me to relay to her? I won't be able to stay at Half Moon village for long but I can definitely pass on messages from time to time..."

Shiro blinked. "How? The connection between Hell and Earth is very limited as of now...The leader is no longer a demon and cannot return to the abyss. We cannot leave the abyss unless someone summons for us and forms a contract..."

Zero grinned and sent the startled fox demoness a friend invite. "It's called a party call. You know how to use telepathy magic right? It works in a similar way with the exception of distance not being a factor. With this, you can reach out to me at any time. I might not respond right away but I will know. Unfortunately, I do not know of a way to set up a direct line of long-range communication between planes for you and Qin Yun directly. It's something that's unique only to me at this point... sorry about it."

Shiro shook her head. "No, thank you very much. Does this mean that we can pass on messages to the leader through you from now on? How frequent can we do it?"

Zero thought about it for a while. "It could be daily if you wanted to. I do have to warn you that I don't have the ability to pass on messages without knowing them first so it would be difficult for you to pass on a message without me being privy to its contents..."

Shiro immediately told the other fox demons about the great news and before Zero knew it, he was swarmed by overly eager fox demons who wanted the same special ability.

Baal slunk away, not wanting to be part of the mess Zero created. Maybe Zero still hasn't matured. He might be able to save himself from a pinch but his common sense was still severely lacking.

Zero spluttered and tried to run away from the sea of boobs but failed as the ladies grabbed him and tried to charm their way into having Zero add them as friends.

"B-Bell? I need some help her- Mmph!"

Baal only watched his suffering friend from a roof nearby. The Demon Lord stretched and yawned. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, Baal decided that Zero wasn't going to die from it so he decided to do the second-best thing in the world and made himself comfortable.

There was no better lullaby than his best friend's desperate cries for help.