Chapter 201 - Overeating (1/2)

”Mii, I want you to prepare as much water as you can. We're going to flood this place!”

The strawcherry fairy was once against surprised by Zero's request. Water? Flood? Did Zero understand the magnitude of his request? The teenager might not feel it but there is a lot of seawater stored in his limitless inventory. That amount of water is enough to destroy the balance of a small planet and send it spiralling towards self-destruction. Also, wouldn't that endanger the two Demon Lords? Zero might not need to breathe but the same couldn't be said for everyone else. Bob and Mii could hide in Zero's mindscape. Lily could return to Gaia. However, who was going to help Baal and Beelzebub?

Sensing Mii's worries, the brunet smiled. ”Don't worry, I have a plan. Bell and Beel will be alright. Hua Tuo didn't teach me healing magic without telling me the limitations. Just trust me on this...”

Bob blinked. He knew exactly what the kid was planning to do and honestly, it scared him a little. While Zero's plan was logical in all ways with the highest chance of success given their circumstances, he couldn't believe the boy who was so against taking lives was about to temporarily take the lives of his friends to save them and the enemy.

”Zero, don't tell me...” Bob swallowed when Zero gave him the most innocent and reassuring smile. If the Eternal Dragon didn't know his master's insanity so well he would've been disarmed by that smile. However, after confirming Zero's intentions only made the dragon's blood turn to frost.

Mii readied the logistics and told Zero that he had to open the portal for at least two minutes to empty out whatever water he had left in his inventory. Zero didn't know how quickly his portal would be stopped by Rhinestone this time and told Mii to ready herself. His plan to counter the anti-magic? Zero was going to open several thousand portals at once in this small area continuously with no pattern. No matter how vigilant Rhinestone was, he couldn't possibly shut more than a few hundred portals at once, could he? Even Enma, who was the most proficient with multitasking as a God, couldn't keep up with Zero's pace.

”Ready? On the count of three... two... now!”

Rhinestone nearly jumped out of the mirror in shock at the sudden attack. His momentary lapse in defence gave Michael the opening he needed. The archangel slashed the flaming word down onto the guarded portal and was able to cut away one of the frames that aided with Rhinestone's ability to regenerate.

Furious and desperate, the spider demon launched attacks of his own while turning an interesting shade of turquoise. Lucifer didn't know what was going on. Rhinestone looked physically ill even with the lack of his physical body from the mirror's reflection. Could it be that Baal and Beelzebub were awake? Or was this all the doing of Zero again?

Olaf who saw how the tides have changed felt like his limits were almost up. Raphael caught the severely injured dragon demon just as he fell from the sky. The archangel used a powerful healing spell on the librarian who looked at the beautiful angel with curiosity. Unlike most angels he knew, Raphael gave off a pleasant vibe. He was intrigued by that gentle nature and wished that more angels were like him.

”Thanks,” he told the angel of healing who was startled by the very intense stare. Raphael backed away quickly and nodded shyly before going to assist the injured Pegasus riders. Olaf's eyes followed after him throughout the battle much to Bob's amusement later.

In the inner dimension, Zero shuddered in exhaustion. His physical body was reaching its limit. Although powerful, the current vessel was unable to control so much mana with deadly precision. New portals were opened and old portals closed. Seawater continuously poured into the room causing catastrophic waves and whirlpools. Right now, Baal and Beel were dead. Zero couldn't feel their heartbeat as Rhinestone sank them to the very bottom of this place. Zero still ran around evading the mental attacks while filling the dimension with water. The young doctor tried to calm down. He could still feel the soul of his friends strongly in place even if they'd both perished in the first minute.

Mii worked harder with the time pushing closer. By now, Rhinestone should be past his limits. The inner dimension trembled more frequently and cracks could be seen forming on some of the surfaces. Zero didn't relent and pushed forth.

There was another particularly large crack forming on the side of the dimension, giving Zero a rough idea of how big it actually was. If math worked correctly, the mass that was in this dimensional space didn't match with the capacity it could carry. Rhinestone was clearly holding on with pure willpower to force it to be contained. Zero wasn't one to give up easily either. There was more of where that water came from, he emptied only a third of what he absorbed from Amarania.

Before Zero could force another few hundred portals to open, the crack widened with a loud shattering sound. The young doctor quickly teleported to his friends and escaped the dimension.

Lucifer felt his heart race when he saw a random portal open in front of the mirror with a familiar tuft of brown hair. However, what followed the appearance of his students shocked everyone represents. Olaf felt despair when water burst from that portal, flooding his sacred ground destroying all his precious books.

”My babies!” he cried but nobody paid him any attention.

Michael cursed. With this much water, the flaming sword would be ineffective. The Pegasus rider evacuated the scene and tried to calm the frightened horses. Nobody stayed close to the portal and watched as Rhinestone continued barfing water from his inner dimension.

Zero wasted no time. He placed a hand over each Demon Lord's head and chanted fervently with his eyes closed. At first, nothing happened and Lily worried for them. However, in the next ten seconds, things changed. Baal started coughing out water and Beelzebub wheezed for air. Both Demon Lords opened their eyes at the same moment and Zero continued to pour golden mana into them, unaware that they've come to.

Baal had to grab his friend by the arms before Zero realised that he succeeded. ”I have to scold you but I'll leave it for later. We have a spider to take down, your mission is complete. I'll take it from here. Beelzebub, please take Zero away and report back to the dean.”

The Lord of Gluttony complied with a nod. He was slightly surprised by his regrown limbs but didn't question it. It had to be the work of Zero here and Beelzebub felt touched that Zero was willing to go so far for him.

”Lord Lucifer?” Beelzebub was unsure. The man before him emitted the same scent and aura but he looked nothing like he did before.

”You did well,” the fallen angel replied, confirming Beelzebub's suspicions. Zero had his head hung low when Lucifer scrutinised the teenager.

”You did well too, Zero.”

That surprised him. Zero's head shot up with wide eyes. Baal said that he would be scolded later, he must have done something wrong there. Why was Lucifer praising him? That was scary!

”Zero, I remember Buddha gave you the blessing of wisdom...” Merlin coughed sheepishly. ”Could you translate what this says?”

Zero looked down at the ring of words on Lucifer's wrist. The fallen angel gave the Wizard God the stink eye. Didn't the wizard say that there was no other way to break the curse? Was he lying?

Zero took a quick glance and read it aloud. ”For the dishonest one who cannot be true to their feelings, unless they recognise their fears and desires they shall forever be forced to lie.”

Merlin didn't dare meet Lucifer's glare. The moment Lucifer made peace with himself on the inside, his halo returned and the ring of ancient words vanished.

”Arachne's tapestry or a piece of my soul, huh? Wizard, you will pay for lying to me later. For now, I have a traitor to take care of.”

Merlin shivered and took the chance to run when Lucifer's attention was turned onto the battlefield. Zero didn't understand what they were talking about but didn't question why his magic tutor was fleeing in such an undignified manner. In any case, he was actually glad to see that everyone was well and alive. Bob sniffed the air and raised a brow. He was very certain he smelled blood earlier. The Eternal Dragon looked over to Olaf and frowned at the odd expression. Why did his friend look like it was the end of the world? What exactly happened while they were isolated for a while?

Rhinestone was still feeling shaky even after throwing out everything in his inner dimension. The kid really did some heavy damages that will not only take some time to repair but also recover from mentally. He was still bitter at the loss of two very powerful chess pieces to his plan. He froze when he felt a chill down to his very soul.

In all his glory was the former leader of the angels - Lucifer, smiling at him. Michael stood back now that the true leader of Hell and the Angels was back in action. Uriel didn't look happy about it and kept glancing at Zero's way. The library was thoroughly soaked and Olaf despaired.

”My books...” his voice sounded weak but it was lost to everyone who was too focused on the main battle that was about to happen.

Greatly weakened, Rhinestone knew he had no chance against Lucifer who had regained his powers. Still, that didn't mean the ex-professor was going down without a fight.

The portal fused spider demon tried to swallow Lucifer into his inner dimension but failed when Lucifer swatted the probing tendrils away like a fly. The force of Lucifer's swat broke half the portal frame and Rhinestone felt the mirror crack a little under Lucifer's battle aura.

”Rhinestone, it's disappointing. I had high expectations of you when I first welcomed you as a teacher of my prestigious Academy. First and foremost... you're fired.”