Ball of Nothing

Chapter 128 Banished

Back at the bridge, Amaraline was waiting for Zenobia’s orders. The adventurers were still sleeping and Carrabas has been subdued. She heard the commotion about Zero’s collapse and the party call was cut off momentarily. Beside her, the half-Selkie observed her as she tried to contact them without success.

It was during that time when Amaraline felt a chill down her neck and barely dodged the knife aimed to stab at her nape.

The cockatrice descendant spun around only to be met with a grinning half-Selkie. To her horror, the adventurers who were supposed to be asleep were starting to awaken. They were still sluggish and couldn’t stand just yet but they would be ready to fight in a matter of a few more minutes. How they broke Lovina’s spell, she wasn’t too sure until she eyes a small brown cloth bag tossed onto the ground not too far from Douglas.

The water! Douglas must have used a drug to cancel the spell’s effects by manipulating the water...

"Traitor!" she yelled in fury. Of all the things that could happen, she never thought that one of their own would be selling them out.

The handsome half Selkie grinned and spun the knife in his hand.

"What a pity. It would have been so much better for me if you didn’t find out. I obviously couldn’t win that gift of yours."

Amaraline bristled. The party call was still not back, something terrible must have happened to Zero and it is all Douglas’ fault. The fortune-teller was nowhere near her brother and uncle’s level of fighting but she wouldn’t let Douglas get away with it.

"You will die today," she snarled. Nobody threatens her home, nobody endangers her family and nobody hurts her friends.

The half-Selkie easily dodged Amaraline’s jab. The fortune-teller saw the kick coming but wasn’t fast enough to evade entirely.

"So much for the fortune-telling gift. What use is it if you could foresee the future but not change it? Admit it, you’re weak. I’ll be getting my ticket out of here soon enough so I’ll be generous. Leave the village with me. You don’t have to die."

Amaraline saw red. "You’re not leaving this village. Not alive after all the trouble you’ve caused. We’ve shown you nothing but kindness and this is how you betray us?"

"Betray?" Douglas sounded genuinely confused. "What are you talking about? I was never a part of this village. It was merely a stepping stone for me. Did you think that we could be friends just because you sheltered me from the slave traders? Let me tell you this. I’m not stupid. Things like friendship and family do not exist. The only real thing in this world is money and power."

Amaraline could not believe what she was hearing. For two years, the half-Selkie had lived as one of them. They knew a little about his background story. Douglas was a runaway slave who stumbled upon the village. Zenobia was kind and asked no questions about his background, allowing him to live as one of them. What went wrong? Why would Douglas betray them to Count Carrabas?

"You’re wrong, we think of you as our family. Jacqueline looks up to you as her older brother seeing how you’re distant cousins of sorts. Why would you betray the village like this, to a man like Count Carrabas no less? Why would you sell us out to the humans? We haven’t done you wrong!"

Douglas agreed. "Indeed. You’ve not done me wrong. However, you will understand it once you’ve seen the world outside. The world isn’t as kind. If you are a monster, you will be hunted. The only way out of this is to reunite with your kin in the country of monsters or gain a permit as a second class citizen of a human country. My kin isn’t here and I need a permit to travel safely to find them. If only you’d just abandon this village instead of putting up with a fight, nobody would have gotten hurt. Blame it on yourselves."

Amaraline was truly rendered speechless. As a descendant of a feared monster from legends, she knew how it was. Humans feared her and even monsters do not trust her. However, the fortune-teller would never throw away her pride to sell her identity. She was a proud descendant of the Cockatrice, she swore to live and die as one. Becoming a second class citizen of a human nation was the same as throwing away your heritage. Humans have no respect for second class citizens and although they wouldn’t be killed or captured on sight, the treatment was no worse than a stray animal on their streets. Second class citizens get beaten, were thrown to poor accommodations and sold scraps at ridiculously high prices.

"I will stop you," she gritted her teeth. She’d thought of Douglas as one of them. They’d shared many moments together and he’d helped her when she was blind. Now, she had to bury all these feelings away. The man before her was no brother. He was an enemy and all threats to the village must be erased.

Douglas let his smile drop. There was a little regret in his eyes but it was soon overwritten by determination. "It’s going to be you or me today. I’m so sorry that you can’t come to see it my way. Just don’t blame me when you die because I’m not going to give my chance for freedom up."

Amaraline was ready. She was probably not going to survive this fight but she wasn’t afraid of dying. She only wished the party call could work so that she could send a message back.

As if someone was listening to her prayers, the party call was active again and she heard Zero’s desperate voice, warning her to run away from Douglas. Unfortunately, there was no way out. The adventurers were awake and sided with Douglas. If she ran now, the village would be in trouble.

"Sorry, Zero. I can’t run. The adventurers have woken up, I’ll hold them back for as long as I can before reinforcements arrive."

Zero made a frustrated sound and told himself he would chew her out for being stubborn later on.

"Can’t we go any faster?" he asked Crudgel who dug his hooves into the ground harder.

"I’m sorry, Zero. This is the fastest I can go," the centaur apologised.

Zero clicked his tongue. "I’m going to teleport there," he said and Hua Tuo stopped him.

"You’re going to get caught in the fight if you teleport now. We’re almost there so just wait for a little. Mitchnew and Lowis are almost there, they’ll be able to assist. Conserve your strength to aid the injured later."

Unable to defy his teacher, Zero held on tight. Worry was reflected in his eyes. The intuition wasn’t going away and Zero felt sick to his stomach. He hoped that it wouldn’t be too late by the time they reached.

"Don’t worry," Mitchnew assured. "We can hear them fighting now. I’m going in to assist."

Zero nodded and checked the map. From the looks of it, the adventurers are moving which meant that Lovina’s spell had worn off. Amaraline was fighting three people at once but Zero couldn’t tell who it was.

Lowis was the first to reach the clearing and spotted his niece who had bloodied feathers and some of her long hair slashed off. He was confused as to why Douglas was fighting alongside the adventurers but he didn’t think too much about it. Between his niece and the half-Selkie, he would always stand by his niece.

The two warriors fell and Douglas looked around in surprise. He hadn’t expected reinforcements to come so quickly and took the small window of opportunity to plunge his blade into the annoying fortune-teller. If there was someone in the village he had to get rid of in order for his plan to succeed, it was this girl with the ability to ruin his plans with her gift. He’d deal with the warriors later but for now, she had to die.

Amaraline saw the dagger a moment too late. It was less than two palm lengths away from her heart and she couldn’t react in time. As she watched the metal come closer to her, the fortune-teller silently apologised to the family she would be leaving behind. She didn’t notice how Lowis yelled out her name or how Mitchnew took out the remaining adventurers with deadly precision, knocking them unconscious using brute force.

Everything happened too quickly and by the time Zero arrived at the scene, Lowis was bleeding out and Douglas was dead. Mitchnew had embedded a dagger in between Douglas’ back, severing his spine cleanly. The adventurers were all out cold and Amaraline was crying. The dagger handle stuck out from Lowis’ back and Zero quickly accessed the damage. It was a fatal pierce to his heart.

"Tell Clowis that he is finally the new head warrior. Don’t cry... you did well."

Amaraline was too shocked to speak as Lowis grew colder and colder in her arms. The light in his eyes faded and Zero walked over calmly. He couldn’t see Lowis’ soul but he knew that the warrior hasn’t left them yet. Without wasting any time, Zero got to work.

Hua Tuo watched as his apprentice walk closer to the dying warrior and observed emotionlessly. He wanted to know what Zero would do. Revival magic was something Hua Tuo told Zero not to use carelessly. When people saw a miracle of seeing a dead loved one coming back to life, many will jump at the opportunity to bring back the ones they lost many years ago. As explained, revival magic can only be used if the soul was still on Earth. The physician didn’t want Zero to be stoned to death for not being able to bring dead people back by humans who cannot understand the limitations of revival magic.

Zero calmly removed the blade and placed both his hands on Lowis. Amaraline didn’t notice this until there was a glow coming from Zero’s hands.

Hua Tuo observed how his apprentice stitched back muscles, closed the wound, restarted the heart and got the blood running all in a matter of a few minutes. He did it so quickly without flaws and Hua Tuo had to admit that Zero has finally surpassed him in terms of healing magic. There was no denying Zero’s talent. He would become a great doctor.

Lowis coughed at the awkward position he was in and Zero moved on to Douglas’ lifeless body. Mitchnew wanted to stop the brunet and explain that the Selkie was a traitor but Hua Tuo stopped her.

"Let him decide, I want to see the path he takes as a doctor but be ready in case Douglas tries anything funny."

The dark-elf slunk away reluctantly and trained her eyes on Douglas as Zero brought him back to life.

Douglas blinked in confusion as he stared at the familiar forest ground. Then, he saw the brunet and scowled, trying to swipe at him. Mitchnew didn’t miss a beat and quickly restrained him with her shadow magic.

The half-Selkie didn’t struggle after he was restrained. In fact, he laughed so hard till he cried and Zero watched on calmly. Nobody knew what the brunet was going to next but Hua Tuo saw the look in Zero’s eyes and felt reassured. Zero was a kind person but he was also a righteous person. That look in his eyes spoke of mercy but not without consequences.

"Douglas," Zero’s young voice sounded oddly old and tired. The half-Selkie met those brown eyes and shuddered a little. Zero was calm but the look in those eyes held Douglas in place, sucking him into a never-ending pool of fear.

"Receive your judgement," Zero said and Hua Tuo stiffened at the activation of powerful magic. Was that En’s blessing?

Douglas couldn’t speak. He felt the spell Zero used clamp his mouth shut and could only watch on in fear. Mitchnew froze involuntarily at the looming threat. In fact, everyone in Half Moon village felt it. Animals and beasts ran away, some of the weaker-willed villagers knelt under the overwhelming might of the divine magic.

"For betraying the villagers who’d shown you nothing but kindness, you will be banished from this village. For selling your identity as a Selkie, you shall no longer retain that bloodline. From today onwards, you will become an ordinary human and may no longer call yourself a descendant of Sedna. This is my judgement."

When the magic ended, Hua Tuo’s eyes went wide. He knew how King Yama’s gift worked. He would weigh the sins of a person against the good they did and compose a suitable punishment for them to work towards redeeming their souls. Once they have completed their punishment, their sins would be written off and their souls could be reborn in a new body. For Zero to use this on Douglas, Hua Tuo didn’t know if it was justifiable. The banishment was too light a punishment for betrayal. Douglas endangered everyone in the village, they could have been massacred. As for the stripping of Douglas’ identity, Hua Tuo didn’t know if that was Zero’s way of encouraging Douglas to start anew by taking away the half-Selkie blood in him. Zero was kind, too kind and Hua Tuo didn’t know if this was the right thing to do.

Douglas blinked and fell to the ground once the magic was completed. The first thing he noticed was how he no longer had webbed fingers. Zero wasn’t lying when he said that the Selkie blood in him was removed. He could feel his senses dull a little, proving that he was now completely human.

"Zero... why?"

The brunet shook his head. "This is your punishment. You must now leave the village. It’s a true pity that you decided to abandon the blood of Sedna in you but I hope that you can put your sufferings behind and live happily as a human. Everybody deserves a second chance, including you. Whether the village decides to forgive you for your betrayal or not is not up to me. I hope that someday you will be able to see past the lines drawn between species but for now, this is goodbye."

Mitchnew who heard Zero words backed down. She was touched by the young doctor’s small speech. If it wasn’t for Zenobia giving Sekkin and her a chance to start their lives anew, they would probably still be running from their pursuers and living a blood-stained life.

Douglas was a douche. There was no changing it. However, just this once, Mitchnew would let it go. Nobody has died permanently so everything is well. By now, most of the villagers have gathered to see what the powerful magic was all about. It didn’t take long for word about Douglas’ banishment to get around.

The former Selkie knelt on the ground with tears in his eyes. He put his head to the ground and bowed formally.

"Thank you, Half Moon village. I’m sorry for what I did. I wouldn’t forgive myself for what I did, it was inexcusable but I promise to never interfere with your lives again. Jacqueline! I’m sorry for being a crappy older brother. Please grow up well into a splendid merfolk and forget about me."

Nobody spoke as Douglas stood up. He didn’t say goodbye and nobody said goodbye either. It was a very cold parting befitting of a traitor.

After Douglas was truly out of sight, Zenobia spoke up to get everyone’s attention. They still had Count Carrabas to take care of.

"Do we still have mana potions? Lovina, rest a little and then we’ll place the curse on him."

"Curse?" Zero was surprised. "Are you not going to kill him?"

The chieftess raised her brow. "Do you want us to kill him? If you could let Douglas a traitor go, it would be shameful for us to kill Carrabas. We’ll just put a curse on Carrabas so that he can no longer step foot in this forest and erase the memories of his army and the adventurers he hired."

Zero was quite happy with this arrangement. He didn’t like seeing people die even if they deserved it. Behind, he saw how Clowis threw a splendid right hook at the revived Lowis who apologised.

"Keep your stupid head warrior title! I don’t need charity, I’ll take it myself when I’m stronger!"

Lowis had to apologise over and over again while Amaraline simply cried in relief. It was good that the family would still be together for a little while. Zero felt slightly weak from healing two people in one go and using a divine spell. Hua Tuo noticed how Zero looked pale and decided that everything else could wait for tomorrow. The village wasn’t in immediate danger so he took his apprentice and left for the cave. Since the trees were burned, they couldn’t return to their apartment.

Zenobia didn’t stop them and Hua Tuo carried Zero on his back, telling his exhausted apprentice to sleep. Zero didn’t refuse. The divine magic was something he didn’t think he would be able to use often if it wore him out this badly.

The sun began to rise, marking that the battle was truly over. Zero slept through all of it soundly, just glad that the war was over with minimal casualties.