Ball of Nothing

Chapter 161 Betting Against Lucifer

"Zero," Baal looked worse for wear. "Do not, and I repeat... do NOT antagonise Lucifer. he’s the most ancient and powerful demon in Hell and I do not want anything to happen to you. I can’t save you if Lucifer gets serious about something. Trust me, that old man will get the things he wants, one way or another."

Zero blinked. "Are you worrying for me?"

Baal glared at his friend. "That’s what friends do, no?"

Zero pulled a chair over and sat across the desk piled with signed documents. "I’m strong, you know. Besides, I’m not a child anymore. What’s the worst that could happen? I’ll just get sent to school for a while..."

Baal wanted to hold his friend in a headlock and give him a good noogie. Seriously, why was Zero’s skull always this thick?

"It’s not going to school that I fear. He wouldn’t do anything without a good reason. It’s TROUBLE getting involved with his business. He must want something from you to go as far as to accept the bet. If you think Mammon is cunning, you have not met Lucifer."

Zero rolled his eyes. "Oh come on! Bell, don’t you trust me? I’ll be fine. I can cure his eyes. Besides, I look more normal than everyone in this castle. Nobody can win me in this category of looking harmless, it’s a hands-down win for me."

Baal took a good look at his friend. "Actually, I think you’re right. Just remember to get rid of those horns and stiff coat, you’ll be fine. Also, please do not wear the lab coat... I would fail you if that was the first thing I saw after getting my eyesight."

Zero took offence to that. "The lab coat is cool! It makes me look smart."

Baal snorted. "Oh, sure it does."

Zero glared at his friend who was now in a playful mood. In retaliation, Zero ran to the other side of the desk and attempted to tickle the Demon Lord. Baal saw that coming a mile away and stuck a foot out, trying to put a distance in between them but failed when Zero’s much longer limbs touched his side.

From the hallway, Coux could hear the shrill cries and laughter of the two friends. The secretary had half the mind to scold Baal for slacking off but turned her back and walked away. The Demon Lord worked in earnest so she decided to let him off for today. Besides, it wouldn’t be long before the two friends had to go separate ways for a long time. Zero would return for his training and Baal to oversee his domain, it didn’t hurt to let them enjoy this moment together.

***

Zero took Baal’s advice and ditched his lab coat. He was now dressed in the sky blue shirt and jeans that Mii recommended. His hair was combed and parted sideways instead of the usual tousled messy style that it was. To make a good impression, Zero brushed his teeth too. Amaraline didn’t have the heart to tell him that brushing teeth before a meal was counterproductive.

Time rolled by and Lucifer arrived on the dot. Coux straightened everything out to the last detail just in time and Baal told Zero to relax. Sekkin was keeping an eye on their new guest upstairs who was still sedated. With far more important things to worry about, Zero pushed his worry about the vampire child out of his mind.

"Good evening, Lord Baal and young Zero." Lucifer greeted.

Baal bowed and offered Lucifer a seat with the stiff manners of the aristocratic class. Zero couldn’t get used to seeing Baal as an adult or professional conduct. The Baal he knew was always sloppy and lazy. The drastic change in personality made Zero a little uncomfortable and nervous.

"I heard that you made quite the purchase at the auction house earlier," the Lord of Pride commented lightly.

Zero swallowed and tried to find his voice. "It was ok. Coux borrowed money from Mammon for me."

Lucifer’s bark of laughter startled everyone including Baal. "You got that penny-pinching kid to give you a loan? This has to go down in the history books!"

Seeing that Lucifer was reacting honestly, Zero relaxed a little more and started sharing about his day.

"Someone bought unhealthy looking Spore Flowers today at a price I didn’t think was good..."

"Oh? How so?" Lucifer asked with genuine interest. It had been so long since he had such an interesting conversation and Zero was proving to be very fascinating despite his claims to be the most normal looking. Without his eyes, Lucifer was able to judge a person by sensing their mana. Zero’s mana capacity was mostly suppressed but Lucifer was experienced enough to tell that it rivalled his own if not more.

The conversation never ran dry even as they ate. Baal was relieved that his friend and teacher were off to a great start. It was very hard for Lucifer to take interest in anything due to his age. Life tended to become more predictable with age and experience. Nothing amuses or surprises the ancient Demon Lord anymore so he was worried that his teacher might not like Zero. Looking at them exchange opinions freely put his mind at ease.

"I see that you’ve taken to the child of Roth very quickly," Lucifer commented.

Zero’s mood plummeted quickly. He eyed the blind demon suspiciously. Instead of outwardly expressing his discontent, Zero opted for a more subtle approach. "Yes, I have."

Lucifer nodded and continued eating but Zero had lost his appetite. At the back of his mind, the brunet wondered if Lucifer was going to take the vampire away from him.

"The Roth vampires are known to be one of the best warriors in the abyss. Gifted with bloodline, race superiority, magic and combat skills, I think it would be good if you can bind that child to you. He might be young but he is one of the best teachers you can find. I heard that you’re gifted in magic too?"

Hearing Lucifer’s approval made Zero relax a little. "I just happen to have affinities with every magic element. Merlin is my magic teacher but he is currently tutoring my friend and guardian. We agreed to train under each teacher for a year and swap before we start travelling."

"Mmm... I’ve heard much about him from various sources. Is he the wood elf called Truen?"

Zero smiled. "Yes. Have you met him?"

Lucifer sighed. "Unfortunately, work has kept me busy. I would love to have the pleasure of meeting him someday. Won’t you introduce him to me?"

"Of course. I’m sure he would be thrilled to meet you too. It’s a real relief that you do not see the child of Roth as a threat. Coux and Baal have been trying to dissuade me from treating him too friendly. They wanted to chain him up initially too..."

Lucifer barked a laugh. "It’s always better to be safe than sorry... I think they were worried about you. A stray animal that has been abused all its life will not take too kindly to strangers even if they approached without ill intentions."

Zero pouted. "It’s alright. I’m ready to do whatever it takes to save him. I made a decision, I shall bear the consequences of it. My master always said that as a doctor, my patients should always come first. Doctors must sometimes sacrifice their lives to save their patients."

Lucifer didn’t say anything and wiped his mouth with a napkin. Baal watched as his teacher silently considered Zero’s words. Then, he asked something that took the Lord of Laziness by surprise.

"Would you lay your life down to save mine?"

Zero looked straight at the ancient demon. "I will. You are my patient now, it is my responsibility to nurse you back to health. It doesn’t matter if it is a physical condition or an emotional one, I will treat everything."

"What if the illness plaguing me isn’t in my heart or body but my mind?" Lucifer smiled and Zero blinked.

The elderly demon waited patiently. Baal worried for his naive friend. It was clear as day that Lucifer was trying to make use of Zero’s pure feelings for his whims.

"Zero," the Demon Lord tried to warn his friend but the resolution seen in those hazel eyes killed the voice in his throat.

"If it is within my abilities, I shall do my best to help. However, I am a doctor and not a saint. I must accept some form of payment for the additional requests."

The ancient Demon Lord was amused. "I thought you were going to treat me for free. You were so adamant about it too..."

Zero huffed and puffed his cheeks. "The troubles plaguing your mind isn’t an illness that a doctor should be curing. Some illnesses plaguing a patient’s heart can sometimes fall outside the jurisdiction of a doctor’s job scope. There are two things a doctor cannot cure. The first is stupidity and the second is lovesickness."

Lucifer roared in laughter and Baal facepalmed.

"Well said," the old demon grinned. "I shall leave my eyes in your hands, young Zero. As for the matters ailing my mind, how about we leave that for after the treatment? After all, the bet is still ongoing."

Zero gulped as Baal’s familiars cleared the dirty dishes. Coux then ushered Lucifer and Zero to a guest room. Deciding that it was better to quickly treat his patient and get over the nervousness, Zero got to work immediately by pouring mana into Lucifer’s chakra network after the old demon got comfortable.

"That’s a terrible looking injury... what happened?"

"Hm? Oh, it happened many years ago during the war between Heaven and Hell. Michael and I crossed swords. At that time, he had yet to borrow Uriel’s flaming sword. I overpowered him and his sword shattered. Unable to accept defeat, Michael grabbed the broken sword shards full of imbued holy magic and threw them into my eyes. Without the ability to read my enemies’ minds with the loss of my eyes, we lost the war."

Zero made a face. "You can read minds?"

Lucifer grinned wolfishly. "Every archangel has a special ability. Michael has the ability to boost the morale of anyone who believes in him. Uriel can see the future. Raphael can cure all who eats or drinks the food he blesses. Cupid and Seraph were born after the war so I’m not too sure about what they can do. From the rumours, Seraph can discern if someone is telling lies and Cupid can manipulate emotions but I wouldn’t trust them too readily."

"I don’t know if I want you reading my mind after you regain your sight..."

"Why not? Is there something you are thinking about that I shouldn’t know about?"

"It’s just embarrassing... I don’t want you to know what I’m thinking about. You’d probably laugh."

Lucifer chuckled. The teen was simply too adorable. Normal people would be outraged at the invasion of privacy. However, Zero was merely ’embarrassed’ about it.

"What kind of thoughts don’t you want me reading? Are you planning to do bad things? Then again, it shouldn’t really matter in Hell. Everybody does bad and shameless things all the time. It’s one of the reasons why I’m not very interested in getting my eyes back. The world can be a very ugly place."

"But... it can also be beautiful! How about this. Let’s make a deal. After I heal your eyes, you cannot read my mind unless I allow it. I’ll show you all the beautiful things I’ve seen."

Lucifer thought about it. "Alright. If you can cure my eyes, I will close them around you unless you say otherwise."

Satisfied with the verbal agreement, Zero got to work immediately. He focussed on the damaged chakra network. Lucifer’s eyes were damaged but with Zero’s healing magic, it was possible to replicate them again. The tricky part came after healing the external damage to the nerves and cells. For a demon whose magic flowed like blood, the eyes wouldn’t function unless the chakra network was repaired. The doctor-in-training had no clue how he should fix the damage so he focussed on healing the physical aspect of the damage while consulting Merlin.

The Sage God of Magic was busy preparing the perimeters of Kerberos’ cage near Sleepy Cave when he received Zero’s voice call.

"Chakra network damage? That would require intense control over your mana to soothe the obstruction. For ruptured channels, you have to use healing magic to reconstruct them."

"What? It’s not stopping? You have to seal the flow of magic to reconstruct them. Wait, who are you treating? Why do they have two sets of chakra network? Are you sure you aren’t confusing it the qi network?"

Merlin paled. "Goodness gracious! Are you sure you should be treating a Demon Lord?"

Zero replied briefly and Merlin swallowed. His face was white as snow and his palms sweaty. There were so many questions he wanted to ask. Why would Zero be treating Lucifer? Everybody knew about the ancient demon’s blindness. What use was it to poke a sleeping beast just to check if it was alive? Merlin wanted to scream at Zero to let the dangerous beast continue sleeping. It was better than having it roam free. There was no doubt about it, many people will start hiding under their rocks once Lucifer recovers.

"Thanks, sir! I think I know how to fix this now," Zero smiled. The concept was very simple. It was like piping the water from the waterwheel to the shower area. When Hua Tuo needed hot water, he would often do that and redirect the water with a network of wooden pipes. Once they had enough water, the pipes would be redirected elsewhere like into the well or back to the river until they needed it again.

Carefully, Zero sent two more threads of mana into Lucifer’s chakra channel to absorb the mana flow into his body while magically stitching the ruptured channels. The ancient demon flinched a little when Zero inserted more mana into his body. It felt foreign and cold to the soul but he gritted his teeth and bared with it. It became weirder to feel his mana and Zero’s mixing together when it flowed into the young doctor’s body. He felt the strange pressure within Zero’s body through their temporary connection and realised how wrong his earlier assessment was. Zero’s mana capacity far exceeds his.

From the other guest room, a certain white-haired vampire woke up with a start. The incredible magical pressure made him very alert. There was no doubt about it, the magic was coming from the same crazy person who bought him and everything else in the auction house for 10 Blood Notes. Normally, he would’ve fled or fought. However, he knew better than to attempt anything in this luxurious room. Apart from that ridiculously rich young master, there were two other extremely powerful people in the vicinity. A starving vampire was in no condition to go against not one but three overpowered opponents. Curling into the blanket, the child of Roth cursed his bitter fate.