Chapter 218 - Garden of Roth (1/2)
Not travelling by carriage made things a lot less interesting according to Zero. He couldn't take the time to enjoy the scenery and a small part of him was nagging in suspicions. Perhaps there were some things Baal didn't want him to see in the outskirts of Shittomi's territory. The stench of death in the air was strong after all.
The Demon Lord held onto Zero's hand as they teleported. If he had a choice, he would have conserved his energy and taken the carriage instead. Unfortunately, there was no way around this. The miasma around Shittomi's territory was one of the worst as the Snow Queen was the closest to the void. Although Lucifer's territory once belonged to the archangels in Heaven, Shittomi's domain was located right on the edge of the plane that was broken from Heaven. If not for the ancient Queen's power, this part of Hell would have crumbled away like melting ice to the strong pull of the void.
This was the part of the abyss that crossed borders with the Energy Plane, the Purgatory and the void. Unlike the Spring of Regeneration that was rich in mana, Shittomi's domain was full of negative energy that often drove the weak-willed insane. Spirits were corrupted, souls were lost in the void and the hostile environment claimed many lives. Knowing Zero's doctor mentality, Baal decided that the lesser Zero saw, the easier it would be for them.
Zero looked at Baal with concern when they ended up on a rocky plateau after the first teleport jump. According to Mii's map, they were a good three thousand kilometres away from Shittomi's castle and outside of her domain. The weather was still freezing but there was no snow to be seen. The scenery was grey and dead. Zero didn't see anything appearing on his map either which meant that the place was deserted. The miasma was dense and thicker than Zero remembered it to be which gave the young doctor an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Baal retrieved something from his personal storage space and drank a vial of blue potion. Zero blinked, not knowing what it was. Baal shattered the vial once he'd drained the contents and Zero dabbed the perspiration away from Baal's forehead.
”Are you alright? Don't force yourself...”
Baal was too exhausted to talk to Zero. He had Wiser work on this secretly. Although it was still a mere prototype with terrible side effects, Baal could already feel his depleted mana starting to replenish itself faster than his body could cope with. He sat down dizzily with Zero at his side, supporting his weight.
Zero was alarmed at Baal's fluctuating temperature. One moment he was as hot as coals, the next moment he was as cold as ice. The lack of strength and semi-delirious state that Baal was in made Zero worry. The Demon Lord's eyes sometimes glazed over and became unfocused. The fluctuating mana levels told Zero that the Demon Lord was fighting something internally but he couldn't identify the issue. It was something beyond medicine and Zero regretted not being able to help with mana related illnesses. He held onto Baal's hand tightly and channelled a small portion of his qi like how Hua Tuo had taught him, hoping that it would help somehow.
Baal felt as if he was getting dipped alternatingly into lava and melted ice. The potion forced his body to go into a hibernation state, allowing for miasma to attack it and shutting it off to fight the miasma collected in his body to convert it into mana before repeating the process over and over again to replenish its depleted mana supply. The miasma attached his body like parasites to a healthy host and sucking all the energy he had dry. As a defence mechanism, Baal burned in fever trying to remove the foreign impurities. At a critical level, his regeneration would kick in on hyperdrive and subdue that wild energy before converting it to his original supply. But that would mean Baal was forced into a temporary state of hibernation while he recovered. Ordinarily, he would have never resorted to such a dumb trick. Baal was completely vulnerable during his hibernation especially when he isn't in the safety of his domain and castle. Thankfully, he had faith in Zero's abilities to watch his back while he recuperated.
Zero sat there for a solid twenty minutes, not knowing what was happening to Baal. Whatever was in that potion had to be the reason for Baal's suffering now. Slowly but surely, the colour came back to Baal's face and the mysterious symptoms began to subside. Zero recognised that as Baal's regeneration ability normalising the sudden bout of illness. Whatever poison that was, Baal must have been able to neutralise it.
”How do you feel?”
Baal smiled. ”Don't worry. It's just a terrible side effect to the potion I had Wiser made. It's a mana recovery potion. Just give me about half an hour and we'll be ready for the next big jump.”
Zero didn't buy that reason. What kind of mana recovery potion would render the consumer unconscious? Baal was keeping secrets again. Although Zero wasn't too happy with that response, he didn't push for answers. Baal must have his reasons for not telling Zero everything. The Demon Lord was keeping more and more secrets from him but Zero tried to not let it bother him. He had faith in his friend and believed that Baal must have some very good reasons for doing what he did. After all, Baal had proven time and again that he would do just about anything for Zero to keep him safe.
They rested for twenty minutes until Baal felt steady enough to attempt the next big jump. Zero didn't like the idea of Baal pushing himself so much but he couldn't stop him. Instead, he made Baal promise him not to drink that potion for recovery the next time.
”I can convert miasma into mana even if it isn't very effective. There are traces of chaos energy in it that I can use so please don't do that again. Until Wiser has perfected that formula to be consumed without side effects, promise me that you won't do it again.”
Baal grinned. ”If you say so.”
”If you don't agree then I won't let you teleport us!”
Baal raised an amused brow. ”Really? Then how will we get to the village?”
Zero blinked. ”I'll teleport us.”
”You and what sense of direction?”
There was a brief stalemate before Zero made a frustrated noise and backed off. Baal only laughed at the teenager's grumpiness.
The rest of the journey wasn't as eventful and they reached the outskirts of the Roth village ruins within an hour. Zero was finally able to see some form of life on his map and smiled. He knew that Ruth was somewhere in the area and urged Baal to hurry up. The Demon Lord rolled his eyes at the teen's childishness. Some things just never changed.
When Zero got to the village, he gasped at the sight of the neat gravestones in the centre of everything. The houses were very shabby and there were very little tools. It didn't look like too big of a village and Zero didn't think the villagers had an easy life with the lack of tools. Apart from the huge hut in the centre of the village behind the neat rows of graves, there was nothing about the village that stood out.
”You're finally here,” Ruth spoke up, startling Zero a little. The vampire didn't make any noise and without the map, it was difficult to feel his presence.
Zero took a look at the vampire and saw that his eyes were sunken in more than before. His concern was obvious and Ruth felt slightly embarrassed for being seen as a weak person. The last few days hadn't been easy for him. Seeing his clan members turn into monsters slowly with the effects of the miasma had been difficult. Having to eat the ones who didn't turn into monsters was tougher. With the Strong Stomach skill, anything Ruth ate would only make him stronger. He was more like a ghoul than a vampire at this point but for the sake of continuing his clan's legacy, Ruth did as he had to. The gravestones were carved in memory of the thirty-three Roth vampires who perished.
Zero knelt by the front of the graves and closed his eyes, casting a gentle spell of tranquillity. The miasma eased up with Zero's consistent spell. Baal's eyes widened in amazement as the sky cleared up and the miasma disappeared with Zero's spell. he wasn't sure if Zero knew what he just did. The teen had just cast a minor blessing on the area. It was as good as Shittomi's sanctuary for lost souls, sending them back into the cycle of rebirth and saving them from the void.
Ruth felt blood well up in his eyes as a familiar song resonated in his head. The spirits of his ancestors were humming their warrior hymn. It was a song of farewell for when a warrior is going out with a bang. They usually sang this song for warriors who would no longer come home after their mission. Ruth hadn't had the chance to hear this before everyone else was wiped out.
Zero felt a strange surge of strength fill his veins at the strange song after the sky was clear of dark clouds and the air free from miasma. he didn't know who was singing it but he felt a strange prickling coming from Ruth who was crying blood and singing along with the song. Baal wasn't affected by the strange song. he looked over to Zero who was still trying to understand the strange phenomenon.
For some reason, Mii was unable to control the forced telepathy and Zero was able to view all of Ruth's memories about his village at that moment when the song reached its climax. The flashbacks were so fierce that Zero crumbled to his knees, clutching his head in agony at the information overload.