Ball of Nothing - Chapter 157
Chapter 157
Standing outside Belles and Begonia, Zero could already smell the heavenly pancakes . However, he couldn't see them with all the customers crowding outside the small shop . While he knew that the shop was popular among demons, Zero never expected the success to be so overwhelming . The clattering of dishes inside made Zero curious . Why would anyone make such a ruckus while eating? Freya said that it was bad manners and Zero didn't have a very good opinion about someone who didn't eat with good manners .
"What's wrong?" Mii asked Coux who was frowning .
"There seems to be a little trouble at hand . Allow me to take care of it . Could you lead Zero in from the back entrance?"
The strawcherry fairy nodded and ushered Zero away from the crowd . Although Zero had grown in height, he was still not tall enough to peer over the heads of most people crowding the shop's entrance .
Reluctantly, he followed Mii out of the rowdy crowd while Coux pushed through the mass of bodies .
In the shop, there was only one customer . Coux recognised him at once, it was their regular diner that they couldn't refuse .
"Good day, Lord Beelzebub . How is the food today?" Coux plastered on a false smile . There were stacks of dirty plates on the Demon Lord's left and right sides . Amaraline looked helplessly at the half-succubus while Qin Yun had to wrestle back a plate of pancakes that the Lord of Gluttony tried to steal .
Coux sighed inwardly . This has become a common occurrence ever since Lord Beelzebub has gotten his personal domain and territory . With Mammon taking care of Beelzebub's businesses and finances, the Demon Lord would come over to Belles and Begonia the moment school has ended . Lucifer was more than happy to see Beelzebub go as the Lord of Gluttony was eating everything the cafeteria had to offer . The half-succubus had a deal with Lucifer and Mammon to satisfy Beelzebub's food cravings in return for money and connections . Still, dealing with someone whose appetite rivalled Zero's wasn't easy .
"As usual, the desserts are too sweet for my liking . However, I must admit that sheep pies are delicious! I need twenty more of that sheep pie to take away . As for the new beverage . . . what's it called again?"
"Kumquat Squash?"
"Yes, that . It needs more honey . The sourness makes me hungrier . "
Coux felt her smile quake . For someone who'd eaten nearly fourteen plates of desserts, not counting the ones he'd successfully stolen from other customers, Coux didn't think it deserved such a harsh rating .
"My Lord, we can send over your order for twenty sheep pies and five complimentary stacks of pancakes to your dormitory later . Would that suffice for today?"
Beelzebub stopped stuffing his face for a while to consider . "Can I also have two lamb legs to go?"
Coux felt her eyebrow twitch . That brat dared to bargain for more when she is handing out free food?
"My apologies, all the lamb we had were used to make sheep pies . "
"How about a pitch of Kumquat Squash?"
"My apologies, we do not have enough honey to cater that for your tastes . Honey is an expensive ingredient that can only be harvested once an Earth year . "
" . . . What about some Lemon Meringue Tarts?"
Coux was ready to throw something at the young Demon Lord when Zero came into her vision .
"It's no good to eat so much, you'll become obese . "
That statement made everyone grow silent . It was common knowledge that demons would never grow fat . Food simply converted into mana for them and many demons have different sources of food . For the Lord of Gluttony, getting fat was the least of his concerns .
"What's obese?"
Zero smiled and launched into a detailed explanation about the body's process of storing food into unhealthy fats .
"Also, it doesn't stop there . Overeating a certain kind of food can cause other health issues . Too much salt could cause hypertension, too many desserts can cause high cholesterol and even diabetes . Insufficient fibre will lead to constipation etcetera . . . "
Coux didn't know if such a lecture would have any impact on the Lord of Gluttony . However, Zero was determined to help someone walking the wrong path of dietary nutrition . Qin Yun was amused when she heard Zero's serious doctor advice . He would make a splendid, if not naggy, doctor in future .
Beelzebub let the spoon in his hand fall with a clatter and his eyes widened as round as saucers .
"Am I going to die? I've eaten too many things, I must have a lot of diseases by now . . . You have to save me!"
The turn of events didn't seem to surprise Mii . With Zero's blessing at work, no wonder the Lord of Gluttony was so wrapped around Zero's finger . Sadly, Zero didn't seem to realise this and was happy to teach Beelzebub more about nutrition .
Seeing that their most troublesome customer was being attended to, Coux took the opportunity to bring them to a VIP room so that Amaraline and Qin Yun could attend to the rest of the customers who were still waiting outside .
In the VIP room, Beelzebub wondered how he got himself into a private consultation session . Zero asked him questions that were completely irrelevant to his eating habits . All the Demon Lord wanted to do was go back to the dormitory and wait for his food to be delivered .
"Did you have a time in your life when you were starving?"
Beelzebub sighed . "I starve everyday . My family was too poor to afford food to keep up with my appetite so I learned how to eat anything and everything . "
Zero took notes seriously and Mii watched from the sidelines while keeping an eye on the situation downstairs . Coux finally managed to stabilise the situation and Qin Yun could take a short break while Amaraline served the other customers .
"What kind of things have you taken to eating during that period of time?" Zero asked .
"I remember eating dead trees, rocks, dirt . . . basically anything I could find in that barren land was edible . At first, I fell sick eating them but as I grew used to them, I found that I could eat almost anything . "
Zero blinked . "Does your stomach not hurt?"
Beelzebub shook his head . "No . That's the funny thing . I never seem to be full either . It's just a constant emptiness inside that I need to fill . "
Zero hummed . This was a highly unusual case that Hua Tuo hasn't told him about . Perhaps it was a condition special for only the Lord of Gluttony . Like the Sage God of Medicine once told him, there would be many unknown diseases and illnesses in this world and beyond that couldn't be cured . Zero decided to become a doctor for the purpose of finding cures for the unknown . Right now, there was a perfect patient with an unusual condition . How could Zero not be thrilled?
"Don't worry," he told Beelzebub who raised an eyebrow . "I will find a cure for you without fail . "
Beelzebub snorted . "Don't worry about it . I enjoy eating now that there is delicious food in the abyss . I just need to know what not to eat too much to prevent all the other diseases that you mentioned earlier . Hypertension and Diabetes sounded really scary . I don't want to be unable to eat anything that I like in the future . "
Zero decided that it might be a good time to inspect the Demon Lord with Mii's abilities . The strawcherry got to work right away and Zero was slightly stunned to see how much the status window has changed .
Name: Beelzebub
Title:
– Lord of Gluttony
Ruler of the Gluttony Domain in Hell
Race: Archdemon
Age: 16 Earth Years (160 Hell years)
Skills:
– Godly Metabolism
Allows food to be digested immediately and converted to energy
– Iron Stomach
Allows anything eaten to be digested
– Poison Resistance (Lvl 89/100)
Poison immunity to most poisons
– Curse of Gluttony
Allows food to be converted to mana
Sins:
– Anger
0/100
– Jealousy
0/100
– Laziness
0/100
– Greed
0/100
– Lust
0/100
– Pride
0/100
– Gluttony
Infinite/100
Zero blinked . Infinite Gluttony sin points? Zero wondered if this was the case for all other Demon Lords too . Still, the brunet had an idea .
"Beelzebub, can I try something?"
The Demon Lord blinked . "Sure?"
Before he could take his words back, Zero placed a hand on his shoulder . The strangest thing happened and Beelzebub jumped backwards as if struck by electricity .
"What did you do?" he snarled . The moment Zero touched him, Beelzebub felt power being drained from him . It wasn't mana that Zero was draining either, Beelzebub felt it being drawn from his very soul .
Zero blinked . Beelzebub's complete change in attitude made him confuse . After re-inspection, Zero noted that the number of sins hasn't changed . However, Zero felt that he managed to absorb a small bit of pure energy from that brief contact .
They stared at each other for a long time before Zero explained what he did . Beelzebub glared at Zero .
"Were you trying to kill me? You know what? I don't care for your treatment at all now . If I have to abandon my sins to get better, you can forget about it . A Demon without sins will cease to be a demon . "
Zero was left to ponder over those words as Beelzebub stormed out of the shop, leaving many customers puzzled .
"A demon without sins will cease to be a demon . . . what does that mean? Will they become something else?" he asked Mii .
The strawcherry assistant looked confused . "I'm not a demon expert . Perhaps asking Qin Yun might be a better option . "
With that, Zero went to find the fox demoness who was taking a break in the break room .
***
After hearing Zero's explanation, the fox demoness blinked . "Can you really eat sins?"
Zero nodded . "I gained an ability to do so after inheriting the memories of four other divine entities . "
"Could you try that one me?" she asked . Zero looked worried .
"But a demon without sins will no longer be a demon . . . I don't want to put you in any danger . . . "
Qin Yun smiled . "You won't . I know what I'm doing . "
Zero looked unsure . "Alright," he conceded . "But I won't absorb all the sins, only a little to test . "
Qin Yun smiled . "Sure!"
Zero then inspected the fox demoness .
Name: Hu Shuang (狐霜) [AN: Literally Fox Frost]
Title:
– Mother of Foxes
Founder of the Snow Fox Demon Clan
Race: Snow Fox Demon
Age: Unknown (Calculation failure due to the destruction of the first Earth)
Skills:
– Shape-shifting
Allows user to transform into desired physical form
– Fox Magic (Lvl 91/10)
Allows user to use fox magic like illusions, elemental magic, charms etc
– Cold Resistance (Lvl 100/100)
Allows User to be immune to cold
– Cold Mastery (Lvl 1/1)
Allows user to be more powerful in the cold with the ability to move normally
– Soul Cultivation (Lvl 55/100)
Allows user to negate their born traits and qualify for a rebirth of their choice after successful cultivation
Sins:
– Anger
20/100
– Jealousy
62/100
– Laziness
5/100
– Greed
3/100
– Lust
11/100
– Pride
41/100
– Gluttony
3/100
Zero blinked . For someone like Qin Yun who'd lived several lifetimes and originated from the first Earth, that was very little sins .
"The system only accounts for sins in one lifetime . Sin points accumulated expires after a hundred years or until death . Remaining sin points are judged in the Purgatory and the soul spends the remaining time after judgement to work the sins off," Mii explained .
"What if they accumulate more than a hundred?" Zero whispered back .
"Then it gets carried on to the next lifetime in karma points . It all depends on King Yama to decide . "
Zero nodded . "Qin Yun, Your sins are scattered at this moment with Lust and Jealousy making the bulk of it . Is it alright for me to test my ability by absorbing the sins with the least points?"
"What sin is that?"
Zero took a closer look . "Uh . . . it's Greed and Gluttony at 3 points each . "
The fox demoness laughed . "Sure . If it is successful, would you help to absorb the rest of my sins? It must look really terrible, right? I was a horrible person a long time ago . "
Zero shook his head . "It's measurable so I wouldn't say that . Besides, you're doing something to reduce them . I see something called Soul Cultivation? I wouldn't say that you're a horrible person . You might have done bad things but by trying to right the wrongs, it's admirable in my opinion . "
Qin Yun didn't say much as Zero activated his new ability . The process was quick but Qin Yun felt the difference immediately .
"What happened?" she asked the teen who frowned . He wasn't too sure about what happened but he knew the sins were converted into pure energy .
"Mii, how many units of energy does on point of sin convert into?"
"At the moment, it converts 1 sin point to 10 energy units . Also, 1 unit of energy converts to 10 mana points . "
Zero looked confused . The concept of math was still foreign to him . "I don't understand . "
"One wisp of light magic for a minute will consume 1 mana point . With 1 sin point, you can hold a light for hundred minutes straight assuming you do not recover any mana . "
Zero nodded . "How about healing magic?"
"The basic healing magic for small cuts cost 20 mana points . "
Zero grimaced . That was a lot of mana .
Qin Yun meditated while Zero and Mii discussed the calculations that she didn't understand . Whatever Zero did, helped tremendously . Her soul became lighter and the shackling weight of sins making her cultivation harder was loosened .
"Did it work?" Zero asked cautiously .
Qin Yun smiled . "It worked perfectly . If I didn't have so many sins, I could make faster progress with my cultivation to become a human . "
"What will happen once you clear all your sins but have not cultivated completely? Would you still be a demon?"
Qin Yun shook her head . "I wasn't born a demon . I was turned into a demon because of my sins . I was originally a snow fox who lived past a hundred years and transformed into a snow fox spirit . Humans razed my forest and killed my family so I massacred a village of innocents near the mountain . Nezha who was travelling on Earth for fun chanced upon my killing and sealed me up . In order to make up for the lives I took, he told me that I should cultivate my soul before I can be given a second chance at life . King Yama sentenced me to the freezing Hell for a thousand years because I'd lost all rationality from my rage and pain . That was how I gradually became a demon after spending a thousand years absorbing the Hell miasma . "
Zero nodded . He didn't know who Nezha was but the fact that King Yama was partially responsible for who Qin Yun because made Zero feel conflicted .
"Do you hate En for turning you into a demon indirectly?"
Qin Yun shook her head . "I don't . If he didn't do that, I wouldn't have the opportunity to visit the second Earth . I might have stayed in the abyss for a longer time than I thought because back then, there was always wars ongoing . The Earth I visited after my punishment was peaceful . At least it was more peaceful than the life I had before . Half Moon village had its fair share of enemies after all . "
Zero basked in the silence for a while . "I don't know what will happen if I absorb the remaining of your sins . You might not return to being a snow fox spirit . . . "
Qin Yun shook her head . "It's alright . I have to clear my sins, it doesn't matter . I must apologise to King Yama for cheating a little with the sin repayment process . "
Zero rolled his eyes . "Don't worry about that, I'll explain to En that you were assisting me in my experiment . He should be understanding . Besides, I don't want to resort to kidnapping random demons to test what would happen to them if I absorbed all their sins . "
Qin Yun chuckled . That was true . Ordinary demons who cease to become demons will perish in Hell from the miasma, especially in a Demon Lord's domain . For Qin Yun who had Baal's mark of protection as a faction member, it wouldn't matter .
"Alright, let's begin . "
Zero nodded . "Please tell me if it is uncomfortable," he told her professionally and Mii peeled her eyes open, watching over both of them carefully .
"They are beginning now, Isis please standby," Mii communicated silently as Zero got into position .
"Roger," the Egyptian Goddess responded and watched closely at the image from the crystal ball with Freya and Gaia huddled around the small object .