"So, you are heading back up now? Where do you plan on opening the portal?" Bellazibub asked once Lexi and I were back in her house.
"The end of this layer. I will open the gates back up, so it doesn't draw more attention than it already is going to," I said, and the bee demon nodded.
"Good, and I will assume that you have this on and others to watch over it?" She asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, don't worry. I know that you can't get involved, so just sit tight and wait for me to get back," I laughed, and she nodded, then looked at Lexi.
"I have seen you training with the others, and I think that you will be fine for the most part, but there is a chance that some of the big shots from the first layer might be attracted. Especially if there is a chance for demons to escape into the Upworld. If they come, you are going to have trouble dealing with them because they will just be trying to kill you and then close the portals, not go through them," Bellazibub explained, and Lexi looked at me.
"You should be fine, and if not, I will mark you so you can call me if you need help, and I will set them straight," I laughed and then created a small portal to draw in a bit of astral energy as I reach over and place a hand on the top of her left breast, leaving my mark.
"Oh? This is what the other goddesses have, right?" Lexi said with reverence, making Bella grab my arm before I could close the portal.
"What about me?! Aren't you worried something might happen to me?" She asked, pulling at me, and I smirked.
"You just want to be groped," I laughed and then gave her a mark as well before letting the portal close.
"No, I am worried about what will happen if all these demons get drawn up to this level. Some of the lower-level demons might be tired of working under someone else and think that this would be a good time to strike at me in the confusion. Since this would only be possible because of you, I think that you should be willing to protect me, right?" Bella asked, and I nodded.
"Yes. If anyone tries to kill you, put your hand to your chest, and call my name, but you will have to get to the girls after that. I won't be able to instantly come to you like I would be able to in the up world. Be vigilant, and don't wait till the last second to call for help, or that will be too late," I explained, and Bella nodded.
"I will be watching, but I am going to have to keep the arenas going while you are gone. That is where they will come for me, and then I am sure they will surround me if they do," Bella said, sounding worried, but Lexi spoke up.
"Then why don't you come with us? If you know that they are going to try something, then you might as well come and help protect the portal with Martha, Toto, and me, right?" Lexi asked, but both Bellazibub and I shook our heads.
"Being in this position allows me certain privileges, including this house that can be accessed from all layers if you are linked with the general that owns it. This will give you a place to run back to if you get into trouble on the lower layers," Bella explained.
"Exactly. We need Bellazibub to stay in this position until we deal with the problems in the lower layers, or we could get trapped with nowhere to go," I said, and Lexi sighed.
"Nothing can ever be simple if you are involved, can it?" Lexi asked me, and I shrugged.
"What can I say? I have simple goals that produce complicated paths to reach them," I said, and then Lexi just sighed.
"Well, at least I know that you are looking out for us," She said, and I smiled before walking to the door with the girls following behind me.
"Escape while you can, Galio. I will be keeping an eye on things here," Bella called as we left through the front door.
"Good luck, and goodbye," I called back, never looking away from the path in front of me until we were out of sight.
We walked in silence until we reached the forest that we had set the Demon Cat in and started to make our way into it. The trees were all black and gray, and the reflection from the lava lakes nearby gave the trees an eerie red glow as we walked.
"This place is slightly creepier than most of the other places that we have visited so far in the Underworld," Lexi said as we walked.
"It was just called the Charred Forest before, but I never had a good reason to come to it in my past lives. I don't really know much about it or what lives in it. I am sure there is a host of horrible-looking demons, but I can see any of them being stronger than us," I said, but Lexi slithered closer to me as we continued on.
"That doesn't make me feel any better about things jumping out at me in the dark! I can see around, but everything is warm, so I can't really tell what is what," She complained as a set of transparent purple eyelids closed over Lexi's eyes vertically instead of horizontally, something I hadn't seen her do but knew was possible. Even knowing she could do it didn't take away from how alien it made her look compared to normal.
"I will stop anything that," I started to say, but then stopped us both as I felt something big and long getting closer to us. I had thought it was Martha, but this was too skinny, and it was moving above ground. "There is a snake or something coming, so just wait so we can see what it is going to do," I said, putting my arm out for her to stay back, but Lexi pushed it down.
"If it is a snake, then I can talk to it, right?!" Lexi said, almost excitedly, but I shook my head as it got closer.
"Remember where we are! This is the Underworld, and this will not be a normal snake!" I warned, but Lexi didn't seem to understand.
"Snake, or demon snake, it is still a snake!" Lexi declared, but then back up as a large green and purple Anaconda-sized snake slithered out, and I sighed. This was a Blooming Demon Snake; incredibly poisonous to demons and not to humans, but it could still eat you, but it wasn't that strong. What it was, was disgusting.
"See? It is just a big snake!" Lexi said, getting some of her courage back and pushing past me. Since I knew what it was, I let her go, crossing my arms.
She moved towards it and started hissing to ask its name. I could also speak snake, but just because you can talk to something doesn't mean that you will have an intelligent conversation.
"Hisss his hissss?" Lexi asked, which meant, "What is your name?" The last two words kind of mixed, and the whole thing didn't translate right to demon snake, which used a z sound rather than an s. This meant what she actually said was, "What am I?"
In response, the Blooming Demon Snake rose up and hissed back. "HIZZZ!" Which was clear as day translation for "Food!" but in normal snake, it was "FRIEND!" for some strange reason. I had never really compared the two languages before this.
"See? It thinks that I am its friend!" Lexi declared, looking back at me and not seeing the horrific sight of the snake's head splitting impossibly into eight sections and peeling back to reveal its disgusting maw that made me wince.
"See?" I said and then pointed at the disgusting creature.
Lexi turned back, but before the horrified look could settle on her face, the snake bleached out gouts of disgusting snot-green ooze that smelled like rotten flesh mixed with puke. Lexi put her hands up and tried to use magic, but it was already too late as she was blasted back as the snake continued.
"Lexi!" I shouted and then formed a wall of water that stopped the snake's vomit, but Lexi was already on her back and not moving.
I quickly cut the snake into about thirty pieces and then walked over to where Lexi was still lying, covered in snake vomit. She had the same horrified look frozen on her face with her hands up, but she was still breathing.
"Just for future reference, the snake said you were food, not a friend. Just because it talks does not mean it is reasonable. Nothing is down here. The best thing to do is to kill beasts first, and don't bother asking questions later," I said, and then summon Primal Magic for a Cat Spa 4.0, Underworld Edition!
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