Early that evening, the sun was already setting slowly. As the fog darkened much faster within than the outside, Bael, who had paused at a suitable spot, quickly created a small house that was rather apt for a few days’ stay.
In reality, it was more of a makeshift structure made of wood than a real proper house. The space had open sides, which was supported by only four pillars that held up the roof. In the center of the space, there was a single spacious bed. Aside from that, there was no other furniture, but since their stay would be brief, it didn’t seem that uncomfortable after all.
“I wonder how long it will take for these anomalies to appear. I really need to confirm them properly and report back to Lady Agares. I’m still a bit worried about whether or not I can actually handle it once it happens soon.”
She waved her hand in order to dispel the thick fog indoors, though it didn’t change anything other than making her feel a bit drained instead.
[▷SYSTEM
The surrounding level of devilism is very high. Once the player’s level of devilism reaches the number of 999, the awakening ending, ‘New Ruler’ will eventually be entered.]
The system window from earlier had popped up in her mind once again.
Julia turned her gaze briefly. Bael was still facing away from her while staring silently at something in the far distance. His well-defined shoulders and the perfect inverted triangular shape of his upper body showed no signs of movement even after waiting for quite some time.
It didn’t seem like such an opportunity would continue to arise once again, back when she stayed in the North. Julia eventually accessed the system to review the quest details that she hadn’t really looked at before.
[▷SYSTEM
Main Quest. The Secret of the Lake.]
[▷SYSTEM
– Conditions to unlock: To enter the base, the ‘Lake of Death’ along with Bael.
– Mission: To defeat the shadow monster, Beelzebub. The time limit is 3 days.
– Reward: 6 skill points
– Failure penalty: Player’s death]
[▷SYSTEM
‘The Secret of the Lake’ is a hidden event that only occurs when the relationship with the target character, ‘Bael’, eventually reaches a certain level.]
‘To defeat the shadow monster, Belzebub. That is the mission for this current quest. But can I really do it?’
They said that most demons would melt away even if they just happened to simply graze the red fog. Belzebub was a monster that had survived amidst the radioactive zone of the northern part of the Demon Realm. It obviously didn’t seem like a typical opponent at all.
‘The meteor shower was probably given to me because of this particular quest. I thought that it was really fortunate when I got that powerful weapon, but it’s not all that good.’
It was only fortunate that she hadn’t learned the weapon skill in advance. Julia summoned the skill tree while still keeping the quest window opened. The two weapon skills that she had seen earlier popped up in her mind again.
[▷Frozen Arrow
Launches a powerful 3-hit attack against an enemy with magic. Consumes 20% of one’s remaining HP. SP 20]
[▷Multi Sniping
Targets and attacks multiple enemies with magic. This will be affected by the ‘SIGHT’ stat. Consumes 30% of one’s remaining HP. SP 30]
Frozen Arrow was a single-target attack while Multi Sniping had been a multi-target type of offense. According to the description, the more targets there were, the more HP would be consumed and the attack power seemed to be distributed across them all.
So, for this time, the choice came rather easy.
“Frozen Arrow.”
As Julia entered the command, a small ice crystal spun at her fingertips before it gradually disappeared. She exited the skill tree and went back to scanning through the quest description once again.
The fact that there was a time limit of 3 days seemed to imply that the abnormality would ultimately occur within 3 days itself. She was relieved that she didn’t have to stay in the northern region for as long as she had initially thought. Of course, if she were to fail the quest, she would probably have to remain in the north forever, but that was not the whole point.
‘Player’s death…’
This short sentence seemed to be etched in her mind and kept on echoing inside her head. Her entire spine couldn’t help but to shiver uncontrollably. She closed the system window and tugged on the robe that she had temporarily taken off back onto her shoulders. Coincidentally, Bael had turned around as well.
He approached Julia, who was now crouching down slightly while clutching onto the robe.
“Why are you doing this?”
“……”
“Even if I look away just a little, you’re already in danger.”
Bael’s voice, as he brushed off her delicate cheek, sounded like it contained such genuine concern. Nevertheless, that wouldn’t be true at all. When the time finally arrived for him to make a choice, it was obvious what Bael would choose between her own life as the key as well as the power of the Demon God.
Ever since she saw the conflicted look on his face back in the hallway, she had kept her sight function turned off. She was afraid of knowing Bael’s own thoughts. She had been so sure that she would be easily sacrificed at any time.
She had firmly promised Bael that she would give him the power of the Demon God, so why was she feeling so afraid right now? She was, in fact, a liar.
“I’m just a bit scared since everything around us appears to be so red.”
“…”
“Is it that weird? But it’s true. People don’t usually like the fog. You never know what scary things might be hiding beyond this dense fog anyway.”
What could really be lurking beyond this dense fog with the smell of the sea? Perhaps the monster, Belzebub, was already lurking around with its eyes shining brightly—ready to launch an attack.
Julia hid such thoughts behind her usual faint smile. However, Bael did not respond to her at all. He simply swept his hand across her cheek once again, as if her smile didn’t really please him.
The touch of his warm skin against hers felt so comforting. Julia proceeded to lean her head cautiously against it.
She shouldn’t be expecting anything more. For the first time in her life, someone had come into her world, which had always been in an utter solitude. She was no longer alone. So, to ask for more would definitely be excessive and she would surely face consequences if she even dared to do so.
“Fog like this can be easily…”
Just then, a strong wind had swept over both of them completely. Julia’s dress and hair instantly fluttered in the air. Startled, Julia straight away looked for the source of the sudden surge of power. A red burst of magic was radiating from Bael’s hand right on the opposite side.
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