Once I was finished and Lexi was clean, the two of us continued on our way, but this time with more caution. We had made it to the end of the Charred Forest, and we reached an open cliff area. I had known there was a massive ravine back here that had a lava river.
"So, what now? Are you just going to jump through it?" Lexi asked as she looked around nervously.
"Not quite. I am going to wait for the other girls to get here and make sure that you have a defensible area to hold before I leave. There are going to be a lot of demons coming this way once I open the portal. There will only be a few at first, but that few will grow to many in no time flat," I explained as I started to pull Primal Magic in.
The area had about 100 feet between the cliff's edge and blackened tree line, and then there was a place that jutted out over the canyon another 50 feet. While this wasn't a ton of room, it gave me a way to create a funnel to keep the number of demons that could attack at once lower. Wall started to rise around us from up the side of the cliffs to tower up fifty feet in the air and then curled over top of us to prevent demons from trying to come from the back.
I could close the whole place off, but then that would just direct everyone to Bellazibub, creating other problems. This meant that I needed monsters to stay focused on Lexi and the girls, so I had to give the demons a chance to attack them. Once the walls were all done, I sealed off the section at the end of the cliff with a big heavy door to provide a bit of protection.
"Wow! This is a lot more expansive than I assumed you would make! I think that I could almost hold all the demons off by myself here!" Lexi laughed as she leaned into me with a smile, but I looked down at her with a concerned look.
"You are going to need all the help that you can get. This fortress will be fine for the first bit, but once demons from the lower layers start coming up, these walls will be as good as sand to them. The walls are to prevent you from getting swarmed off the hope with all the weaker demons that will try to come first. After them, the bigger demons will try once they decide that it is worth it. Once they are pushed back, then that is when you will start to worry," I explained, and then added, "If things get too tough, then you can call me, and I will come as fast as I can, depending on what I am doing. I will come to check on you girls from time to time to make sure things are going well, but it will be up to you to decide when you need my help."
"Got it! We will try our best to keep things as safe as possible, and if we get in a pinch, then we will call you," Lexi said, nodding her head, and I smiled before walking to the center of the cliff.
"Yeah, but I think that you girls will do fine. I watched you all training, and you have grown quite a bit in this short time," I said with a smile as I started to layer the room with barriers.
"Well, the demons are only going to get stronger as we descend, and I don't want to be a burden for you. And since the other girls are going to be hanging around us until we leave, I thought that I should train with them so we all could get stronger. The last thing that you need is us getting caught and used against you," Lexi said, and I turned back to her with a smile after everything was done.
"You are right. The more powerful you girls are, the more I won't have to worry about you getting worn down. You can start training with the other girls here once they show up," I said, pulling a bit of Umbrakinetic energy out and spiking it into the barrier around us.
"What is that?" Lexi asked as the energy filled the area and the walls lit up with bright red light.
"This is a ward that will shield you from anything incorporeal and hostile trying to enter through the walls. It should keep any potential ghost invaders from being able to use malicious magic against you girls or track what you are doing in real-time," I explained before turning back.
"So, since we have to wait for the girls, wherever they are, what are your plans when you go back to the Mortal Realm?" Lexi asked, and I shrugged.
"Not really sure. I mean, I have my daughter's birth, and I will want to spend at least a day with Breya and her. After that, Tallia will require a day of my time at the minimum, but I will probably come back here right after. To be perfectly honest, I wish that I could spend more time with Breya and our child, so I would like to get everything wrapped up down here as soon as possible. I am sure that just seeing my daughter will light a fire under my ass when I come back," I chuckle, but I wasn't kidding.
This was my first child ever, and considering just how many lives I had lived, this was kind of a big thing to me. I really hated that it had to come when I was in the middle of this, but time waited for no one.
"You really have never had a child before?" Lexi asked, and I shook my head.
"I wasn't able to before this, and not for lack of trying, that is for sure. The reason is because of the True Magic that is inside of me. The being that gave it to me prevented me from creating children because he was worried about what they could do to the current universe. Now we are outside of that universe, but Truth, the being, had still been able to prevent me from creating offspring but was unable to in the Mortal realm because it is too far removed from his realm of influence, or that is what I assume. Truth isn't really big on clearly answering anything if he doesn't want to," I explained, rubbing my head and thinking about Truth and what he had said about my children. That made me slightly worried about them and what they might do in the future.
"Well, I hope it all works out for you and that your daughter is a happy, healthy one," Lexi said with a smile.
I smiled back at her as I started to float up into the air while still holding on to Umbrakinetic energy.
"Me too. Now, we just have to wait for Martha and Toto, and then I will be able to go through with the portal with minimal worries about what might happen when I am gone," I said with a laugh as I started to set traps that would morph the outside surface into stone dragon heads that would attack anything that tried to attack from above and break in. I explained everything as I did in hopes that I could give Lexi some confidence since she still looked a bit worried about watching the portal.
"Ha," Lexi laughed, "That is pretty cool. Hope it works well for us."
"Hey!" I heard Martha call from the other side of the big door as I finished. I floated down and waved a hand for one of the doors to open.
On the other side of the door were Martha and Toto, but there were a few other demon women that I didn't recognize.
"I brought some of my trusted people to help. I hope that this is okay?" Toto asked as she walked over with Martha and her group, and I nodded.
"Thanks. It will be more than fine as long as you're not planning anything bad to do to Lexi. I will be watching, and Lexi has to do nothing more than think of my name. If you betray me, know that I will not stop until I have decided you are thoroughly punished, do you understand?" I asked, and Toto flinched back.
"No! We are not going to try anything like that! I just want to make sure that you don't have to come back earlier than planned! I am your loyal demon!" Toto yelled in fear, and I just waved my hand.
"I am just explaining what will happen. As long as you know what will happen, I will leave you to defend the portal with Lexi. Now, if you are all set here, I am going to go open the portal. Be safe and keep an eye on each other, especially when the sun starts to go down. That is usually when things get bad," I said and then turned back to the center of the room.
I started to pull in Primal Energy, and soon enough, the energy began to swirl around me in a vortex. The single giant eye of Truth appeared briefly in the center of the portal before it shifted into a red tunnel leading to Eliza's Manor. I wasn't sure what that was about, but I was sure I was going to be getting a visit from him soon.
"Alright, girls," I said as I looked at them all, "I am leaving now. I need y'all to make sure that Lexi is safe here until I get back here. Get prepared, and stay focused. I will see you when I come back, hopefully, sooner rather than later."
The girls nodded and waved as I leaped through the portal. The swirling vortex closed down to a small hole, but stayed open behind me, and I took a deep breath in the fresh and non-charred air; then, I heard one of my favorite girls call my name.
"Galio!" Eliza screamed, and I turned with a big smile to catch my countess as she launched at me, still ten feet away!
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