Ball of Nothing

Chapter 512 - Taking Back Xvyal and Yxaan

With Jynx’s help, Zero and Truen easily secured an appointment with the elusive Great Sylph. As it turned out, all letters that were written to Sylvia never did reach her. In fact, the assigned proxy for Sylvia’s letters was Jynx. No wonder the banshee was so well-informed!

For the meeting, Jynx arranged it to take place in the magician’s tower that Sylvia normally locked herself in. It was also the magician school’s head office. The school was highly sought after by magicians from all over and probably the only redeeming thing about U.N.U. from an outsider’s perspective. Nobody could deny that the undead race had better magical capabilities.

In order to make a good first impression on the difficult lady, Zero decided to dress to impress. When dealing with magicians, the only right answer was to wear the magician’s outfit. Truen didn’t know if all magicians wore such strange outfits but he dared not doubt the Great Goddess’ sense of fashion.

They waited for approximately twenty minutes before Sylvia showed herself.

As expected of the Great Sylph’s heritage, the lady had an elvish appearance and a wispy silhouette. Her wings reminded Zero of an insect but it was very obvious that Sylvia was called the Silver Witch because she didn’t have any other in her pigmentation apart from a translucent shade of silver that was very close to white and grey.

"Be quick," the Great Sylph snapped. "I don’t have time for idle talks."

The brusque attitude took Zero by surprise and he forgot all his etiquette befitting a royal envoy. Sylvia watched as Zero fumbled for words, failing eloquently before giving up and falling silent with his head bowed in defeat. The elf beside him decided to salvage the situation and got straight to the point, just the way Sylvia preferred.

"We’re here to discuss a few things. Firstly, we want two of our villagers back, Xvyal and Yxaan. Secondly, please hand the Condensed Sphinx Breath Key over to Zero. He needs that to activate the portal to Whiskeria. Lastly, allow us to help you find or create the perfect vessel for your child. If we succeed, you’ll have to keep your word and hand the position as the leader of U.N.U. to Jynx."

Zero gaped when Truen ended. Nervously, the doctor turned to Sylvia to observe her reaction. For the first few seconds, her expression didn’t change and Zero started to worry. Did she take offence? Of course, she wouldn’t like it. That was simply too rude! No matter how rude or unreasonable she was, Sylvia was still an esteemed ruler of a country.

Then, Sylvia snorted and started laughing loudly, throwing her head back as she did so. Zero didn’t know what to do and turned to Truen who shrugged. They weren’t expecting Sylvia to burst into laughter but they weren’t sure if that was a good thing.

When the Silver Witch finally calmed down, she had a serious look in her eyes.

"Xvyal and Yxaan are my property. Why should I give them back? They belong to me no matter where they go. Secondly, why should I give you the key even if you’re the chosen one that Vivian has informed us about? You haven’t earned that right. Thirdly, my word with Jynx is our business. So what if you succeed in making a vessel for my child? I refuse to accept the help of outsiders. This is my child, I will give them a body I made. If you have no other business, please leave. I’m a very busy person."

Sylvia was about to throw them out when Zero became angry. "Hold it!" he glared at her. "What do you mean by your property? Xvyal and Yxaan might have been created by you but they are also my villagers. They should have the right to decide where they want to be and how they want to live."

Sylvia wanted to retort but Zero wasn’t going to give her that chance. Instead, he withdrew the Red Phoenix’s Pearl. "The key that you are holding onto was created by Nel for me. Regardless of what you think, I will take it from you. You can do that willingly or unwillingly, the results will be the same. Nothing will stop me from going to Whiskeria. Gnaway was destroyed when I took this key. I have no hesitation about doing the same to your precious magician tower."

Sylvia’s eyes hardened at Zero’s threat, neither wanting to back down.

"Third," Zero hissed. "Your selfish actions have caused a lot of trouble for others. Slavery, part trading, civil wars... how dare you tell me that your deal with Jynx is none of my business. If it wasn’t for you, would the Grey Legion have to resort to slave trafficking? Would U.N.U. have fallen into depravity from constant civil wars? Would a banshee, the guide for souls to move on peacefully in the afterlife, resort to enslaving souls by studying necromancy? How dare you!"

The tower shook and Truen panicked. Sylvia also felt a smidgen of fear at the display of power when Zero failed to reign his emotions in. The mana fluctuation caused by his anger was an irrefutable proof that he was the chosen one.

"Zero, calm your mind! Control it!" Truen held onto Zero tightly, casting calming spells over and over again, hoping that they would do something. Didn’t Zero have Law’s Acceptance blessing? Why wasn’t it working?

Unknown to Truen and Sylvia, Zero was very calm. Mii and Wii were monitoring his mental and emotional status from the mindscape and deemed that everything was working as per normal. Zeo didn’t really lose his temper, the passive skill was still working in the background according to Mind’s Eye system and Lily confirmed that everything was normal. The girls simply noted how much Zero’s acting skills had improved and wondered if they should let Truen know.

"Better not," Mii told Lily. "To fool the enemy, you must first fool your allies."

The three fairies looked at the system’s report as Zero continued to increase the power of his ’leaking’ aura. They could see that Sylvia was terrified and ready to give in. Zero could tell as well and started to hyperventilate so that his eyes would redden a little, giving him a scarier look. This emotional negotiation technique that he learned from Dna was actually very handy even if it wasn’t too envoy-like.

"S-stop!" Sylvia begged, her heart fearing for the safety of her child’s soul in the lab upstairs. "I’ll agree! I’ll agree to anything you want, please don’t destroy this tower!"

With negotiations completed successfully, Zero simply forced Sylvia to sign a pre-written magic contract so that she couldn’t take her word back. Truen was still confused but Zero told him to quickly find the twin magicians. They were going to send Misana and the twins back to safety while they remained in U.N.U. to work on what they promised to do.