Ball of Nothing

Chapter 208 Third Stop - Lust 1

"Zero, my boy~! Lily’s come to pick you up!" a song-like voice sang and Zero felt all the hair on his arms stand.

Baal shuddered visibly for a moment and glared at the lady with the sickly sweet voice. "Lilith..." he growled.

"Oh don’t be such a sour puss! I heard that Zero is going around, it’s my turn now!" The Succubus Queen pouted.

The teenager didn’t have much time to ask questions because Lilith decided to take matters into her own hands...literally. She grabbed the small teen under one arm with her bust squashing the young doctor’s face and jumped out of the window. Her gigantic wings caused a huge gust of wind after she took off and blew the neat stack of paper all over the office. Baal cussed at the mess and deliberated cleaning it up or giving chase. In the end, the Demon Lord sighed and bent down to pick up the fallen documents. He would smack Lilith for the stunt and trouble later. For now, he didn’t want Mammon adding any more to his existing debt.

Somewhere in the air space, Zero finally freed himself from the bouncy death traps and inhaled deeply with flushed cheeks. He made the mistake of looking down and turned green. Lilith took no notice of Zero’s growing discomfort and continued to zip through the air, doing occasional loops with her unfortunate travelling companion.

"Lilith... I’m sorry..." Zero’s muffled groan was the last thing the Succubus Queen heard before the young doctor vanished.

Almost at once the Succubus Queen stopped and looked around. Zero’s sudden disappearance made her blood run cold.

"Zero? Zero can you hear me? Answer me please!"

Not knowing what to do, Lilith circled the area and searched high and low for traces of Zero’s mana. It was faint but knowing that Zero was somewhere in the wilderness set her heart at ease. Baal would have her head if he knew she lost Zero after kidnapping him. Still, she had to find him quickly or the teenager might find himself in trouble. Unlike in domains, there were many wild and ferocious creatures lying in wait for an easy meal.

***

Baal was startled when the coachman pulled the carriage to a sudden halt. He almost fell out of his seat when that happened and frowned. The rat demon coachman reported the emergency in Demon Tongue and Baal raised a brow. A human with brown hair? That sounded awfully familiar. It had better not be who he thought it was or that dumb succubus will pay dearly for not only giving him extra work to do but also losing Zero.

The Demon Lord got off the carriage and approached the teenager who gave off similar vibes to his best friend.

"Zero?" he called out.

The stranger turned around and Baal knew that familiar face. Lilith was going to get smacked later. For now, he was more concerned about how pale his friend had gotten.

"What’s wrong?" he asked and tried to get closer but Zero raised a hand to stop him from getting any closer.

The young doctor turned to the side and proceeded to empty out the contents in his stomach. Baal wrinkled his nose and chose to stay a little further back. He didn’t know how to help Zero seeing that the brunet was supposed to be the doctor and not him. Also, as much as he cared for his friend, Baal wasn’t very fond of getting himself dirtied because cleaning up was going to be troublesome.

Ten minutes later, Zero was lying down on Baal’s lap in the stationary carriage. The Demon Lord decided to send a signal to the Demon Queen in the area who was still searching for her missing charge. Baal waited with the patience of a saint while counting down the minutes that Lilith would be on the receiving end of his wrath.

"Baal! Is Zero o-"

Lilith couldn’t even finish her sentence because Baal’s infamous slap resounded in the carriage. The vehicle shook a little but that was all. The skin that Baal made contact with turned red and the succubus’ eyes widened in shock as she cradled the throbbing cheek with one hand. That shock melted away quickly and was replaced by rage.

"How dare you hit a lady’s face!"

"What lady?" Baal asked coldly. "I only see a dumb hag here who couldn’t even take care of a teenager."

At that biting remark, Lilith remained silent. Baal was seething, there was no mistaking it. Still, her pride as one of the Demon Lords didn’t allow her to apologise immediately. She looked away, unable to refute or retort. Baal wasn’t expecting an apology from the high and mighty queen either. He was just annoyed that Zero ended up in such a condition.

There was a soft groan and both Demon Lords turned their attention to the teenager.

"How are you feeling?" Baal asked.

"Horrible but better now. My head is still woozy but I don’t feel like throwing up."

Lilith felt bad seeing how she was the reason Zero ended up in such a state. Before she could berate herself, she heard Zero’s soft whisper and brightened up.

"I wonder if there was a way to not be motion sick when up in the air... it’s going to be terrible if I get sick after I learn how to fly..."

"That’s it!" Lilith smiled. "I can teach you hypnosis. It’s a useful skill to help you overcome your fears or weaknesses although you can also do the same to others."

Baal looked sceptical. Hypnosis only worked on the weak-minded or the simple-minded. He didn’t want to think that Zero was weak or simple-minded enough for such a trick to work but he couldn’t deny Zero when he looked so full of hope.

The Demon Lord remained silent and allowed Zero to learn the skill from Lilith. He chose to observe silently on the other side of the carriage and wondered if Zero was capable of learning just about any skill by observing. From Ruth’s report, Zero learnt the skill of Observation from him. That unique skill allowed Zero to imitate anything that he sees to a certain extent. For an ordinary creature, they would have many limitations such as physical abilities, mana compatibility or mana capacity. In Zero’s possession, that skill opens up the door to endless possibilities.

"Watch closely, the trick to Hypnosis is the fluid movement. You guide your mana into your target’s chakra channels and take over control to alter their brain waves according to your intentions. Self-hypnosis is even easier. As long as the mana flow isn’t blocked, you can override it and suppress the natural instincts with it. Of course, the bonus part about self-hypnosis is the ability to remove it at any point. All you need to do is release your control over that mana control and the effects will disappear."

Zero nodded enthusiastically and paid close attention as Lilith demonstrated it on herself. The young doctor watched as Lilith concentrated a very thin but steady flow of mana that eased into her natural chakra channels. It was not very noticeable but that foreign mana disguised itself and flowed all the way to the brain where it parted from the natural flow and settled in the subconsciousness. It formed something like a clot there, preventing the natural flow of mana to circulate in that area and nourishing it with that unnatural mana inserted to trick the brain.

Zero began taking mental notes at once, finding this mana manipulation skill extremely fascinating. hypnosis was going to be very useful for situations like emergency operations where painkillers are not available. After a while, Lilith dispelled that mana and Zero noticed how she did it.

"Sudden surges of mana will disrupt that balance. Does this mean an emotionally shocking thing can undo hypnosis? That’s not going to be very useful then..."

Lilith heard Zero’s mutterings and smiled. "It wouldn’t work on anyone with mana but it could definitely work on beasts and life forms without mana. Humans are easily affected by hypnosis because not many of them have chakra channels and those who do usually don’t have good control over them."

Zero nodded. "I understand. It is indeed a very useful skill. However, I think I would like to continue the rest of the journey to your castle by carriage..."

Lilith deflated slightly but agreed. Baal felt somewhat satisfied that Zero didn’t want to travel alone with Lilith and chose to ride the carriage he provided instead. Lilith picked up on that smugness and shot him an annoyed look. Still, she didn’t hold onto that feeling for long. She was more than happy to tell Zero stories about her family when Zero asked about it. She only faltered when Zero asked about the birds and the bees, looking at Baal for help. The Demon Lord feigned sleep and offered no assistance.

Helpless and unable to deal with the innocent eyes full of expectations, Lilith apologised and jumped out of the carriage, opting to travel the rest of the way by flying. Zero was disappointed at the lack of answers but decided that it wasn’t important. He would find out when he reached Lilith’s castle.

***

"Clean up everything!" Lilith snapped at her maids and butlers. There would be no tour at her castle or within her domain. While she was proud to be the Demon Queen of the Lust domain, it wasn’t in her nature to corrupt children. Although Zero was of physical age to know about such things, Lilith couldn’t accept it. Zero’s mental maturity was still lacking and she didn’t want to be the one to taint his mind. Lust is something that encourages infidelity not just among humans but for any living creature who need to reproduce to keep their species going. Lilith was a master at siphoning energy from these victims who drowned in the pleasures of the flesh. It wasn’t something she wanted to teach Zero about. Unlike hypnosis, there was no beautiful way of packaging this filthy act. Of course, there was a beautiful way of doing it full of care and concern under the influence of a fickle emotion called love but Lilith didn’t think Zero was ready to know that either.

"Keep everything away, I want to childproof this castle. Do not, and I repeat... Do not let our guest out of sight. Our guest is a human teenager who knows nothing about our world. Treat him with professionalism and reduce contact as much as possible. Inform me and Lord Baal about his demands, do not make arrangements for his requests on your own discretion."

"Yes, Milady!" came the strong chorus of maids and butlers before they busied away.

Lilith oversaw the cleanup process and sent a short message to Baal. They had to delay Zero’s arrival for the next hour before everything was decent. While the domain of Lust was more commonly known as the paradise in Hell, reality can be a harsh thing. Lilith was proud of the gardens and landscape in her domain. However, she wasn’t proud of her towns and streets. There were many horrors that happened behind closed doors here with demons fuelling each other’s hunger. That was something Lilith wanted to keep Zero away from.

"That’s right," she nodded to herself. "I’ll get Amon to send someone for him... the less time Zero spends here, the less he knows about the ugly reality."

***

Amon was sparring with some of his top warriors when Lilith’s message arrived. The Lord of Wrath grinned and yelled for his disciple to come.

"I have a task for you. Go to that sleazy Queen’s domain and fetch the human boy. We’re going to throw a party when he arrives!"

Sekkin was mildly surprised. A party? Lord Amon was a battle crazy person who doesn’t give two hoots about social etiquette. To throw a party for Zero’s arrival was something the spider demon wasn’t expecting. Still, orders were orders. He received the letter, bowed and excused himself.

Amon grinned. He could already feel the excitement running through his veins in anticipation. The Demon Lord couldn’t wait to throw a party for the rumoured genius. Gifted in magic and medicine, Amon wanted to pit his combat skills against such a prodigy. Surely he would prove a better opponent from that wussy Wizard God, right?