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Julia suddenly recalled her old memories. The Land of the Dead where luminous flowers bloomed as well as the Cave of Death that Agares had paid a visit to recently. All of them were referred to with the word, ‘Death’.
‘I heard that the place where the Demon King had woken up was also called the Lake of Death. Does it have a special meaning then?’
Julia asked about the Mountain of Death in further detail. Then, Paimon’s eyes lit up as if he had assumed that she was really interested in the western lands.
“The name, death, is only given to a very special place in the underworld where some unusual phenomena occur! There are only two places in the west; one is the Mountain of Death and the other is the Tree of Death.”
“Unusual phenomena? What kind of a phenomenon is that?”
“Where the demons get eaten.”
“Eat… en?”
“Yes, it eats up all the magical powers that approach nearby. It’s very, very strong. Isn’t that just amazing? Oh, of course, Paimon is much stronger. That’s why it won’t even matter if Paimon were to go into the Mountain of Death itself! That’s why Paimon is so much more amazing!”
The boy hurriedly added as if he was afraid of losing Julia’s attention. However, Julia couldn’t answer that quickly. It was because of a system window that unexpectedly appeared right in front of her eyes.
[▷SYSTEM
Story progress 35%.]
[▷SYSTEM
4th Episode. The Whereabouts of Magical Power.]
As she blinked her eyes, the screen instantly shifted to the next one.
[▷SYSTEM
To enter this episode, players must proceed to the base, ‘Mountain of Death’.]
Julia, who had been lost in thought, returned to reality all of a sudden. Tears were already welling up in Paimon’s eyes as he looked up at her.
“You don’t need Paimon anymore? Because Paimon is not strong enough?”
“No, absolutely not.”
“But……”
“Even if I consider that mountain as special, it is only because that has been the hometown where Paimon was born. For humans, hometowns are a very meaningful place.”
“Like Vestra?”
When the child had innocently asked, Julia could just laugh back. Only then did the hand, which had been pressing onto Julia’s waist, loosen a little bit. Nevertheless, peace did not last for long.
“Then, let’s go to the western land with Paimon!”
“Wh, what?”
“There’s a hot spring right near the Mountain of Death! Paimon had previously heard that humans go to hot springs for recuperation whenever they feel unwell? Julia is also weak, so come over with Paimon. You will surely like it there!”
Bael’s arms began to tighten once again. She secretly slipped her own hand under the sheet, just in case he were to grab something else instead. While she did her best to impede Bael’s movements, the ignorant Paimon simply smiled as he poured even more oil upon Bael’s temper.
“And you might see something interesting too. There’s a Tree of Death that was just along the way to the Master’s castle from the west and I saw that a human Sword Master was fighting against the tree over there!”
“Wh, who?”
“He’s just a human, but even Paimon was surprised that he came all over to the western land. But he’ll be dead soon anyway, so if you go quickly, you’ll get to see a dead Sword Master then!”
“Why would Legion… uht!”
As Julia halted in surprise, Bael’s large palm began to stroke her chest up and down.
The escalated heat from the tip that was rubbing all over had posed a problem as well, but the white sheet that gradually rose in a strange shape had been even more problematic. Anyone could actually see that he was currently massaging her chest from the inside.
Bael’s strong abs were brushed against her as she hurriedly reached her hand behind her back. But the more she pushed him away, the rougher his breath on the nape of her neck had become. Even if she tried to turn around and look at Bael, his strength wouldn’t just allow it. Then, Julia started to  whisper—almost like she was crying instead.
“Demon King, why all of a sudden…”
“Are you going there?”
“If you were, to give, permission…”
She really had to go to the western lands. While she actually needed to go in order to progress with the episode, Legion seemed to be in danger as well.
She didn’t know if her own magic resistance would work over there, but it was something that she couldn’t have known unless she gave it a try. Above all else, she hadn’t even used the skill points which she had received from completing the previous episode yet.
Nevertheless, her thoughts didn’t last long at all. For some reason, Bael’s strength that was bounding her grew even stronger.
“Do you think that I’ll just allow it?”
“Why not?”
At that time, Paimon, who was simply standing on the bed, jumped over Julia and stood right in front of the King.
She was working so hard to restrain Bael’s fingers that she didn’t realize Paimon had moved. Behind her, Paimon slowly narrowed his pupils—just like the time he had first reached the Demon’s Castle. He then proceeded to whisper ever so softly.
“This won’t be a very harmful proposal to the Master either. If the human Sword Master were to die there, there will soon be even fewer people to share Julia with. Wouldn’t it be nice to turn all those arrows of resentment towards the Tree of Death, then?”
“…”
“Since ancient times, demons have always been the incarnation of possessive desire. No matter how powerful they are, can they truly escape from their own true nature?”
Bael’s cool gaze eventually turned towards Paimon. Unbeknownst to the real person in concern, a silent contract between the two demons had been concluded at once.
* * *
06. Whereabouts of the Lost Magical Power.
The sky in the western parts of the Demon Realm was very clear and pleasant in the morning. It was a bit warmer than the center of Bael’s own nest, but it hadn’t been in a complete ruin like she had originally imagined. Only a huge mountain burning in red stood tall in the center of her vision.
‘That’s the Mountain of Death.’
While Julia was standing on the balcony of the golden mansion while observing things around, Lerazier and Paimon had slumped on the sofa with a very dissatisfied look instead.
“Why is it so different from what you just said before? You said that you would show a spectacle of a dying human Sword Master, but it’s only the Tree of Death that had disappeared without a trace though?”
“So what, you actually dare to argue with this body?”
“If you were me, would you have gotten mad or not? Thanks to you, I couldn’t even play around and ended up working instead! Why did you even lose a very fine tree, damn it!”
The two vultures, which had been Barbatos’s familiars, continued circling around Lerazier’s head. It was an obvious sign of urging him to investigate the site and report them quickly. Lerazier, who was just lying on the sofa as he hopped around wildly, got up once again and put on his coat.
“Alright, I’m going. Ah—I’m really going! No, I’m not annoyed…”
The weak voice quickly receded right across the hallway. After sending out one of the competitors, Paimon’s gaze then immediately turned to Kimaris, who was standing just behind Julia herself.