CH 61.2

On the other hand, that Lerazier? He had countless accidents that had already been caused by that reckless mouth of his.

Julia’s power could be seen as a double-edged sword. Magic resistance alone had actually been a rare and appealing ability, but there were still limited places for it to be used. So, there hadn’t been that many people who were aiming for it.

However, if it had been known that she had some other abilities, there was a possibility that someone would even risk Bael’s wrath in order to take her away. That was what Kimaris had truly been worried about.

“What, did Lerazier hurt Julia? How dare you do that in this body’s nest?!”

“No, that’s not it…”

“Give Julia back! Give her back right now! If she gets even slightly injured, this body will absolutely kill you!!”

Paimon, who straight away howled while clutching the sheet, turned into a dragon and spewed out such powerful flames. The mansion which he had painstakingly built was quickly engulfed in that fire. However, a stronger and more ominous power eventually passed through those three demons’ senses.

It was a very brief moment, but their intuition didn’t miss a clue at all. All the three demons’s gazes turned to one particular place in an instant.

“Could it be—the Mountain of Death?”

“Such nonsense…”

“This body knows. The demonic stone is responding at the moment. Julia is right over there!”

Paimon was born in the West and had been more sensitive to the changes in that specific land than anyone else. Lerazier’s eyes soon narrowed when he heard the cry.

“Julia Vestra is a unique and powerful key that can even unlock the magic crystal. If that kind of key were to meet the demonic stone, what will happen to the demonic crystal’s seal then?”

“……shit.”

At the end of his thoughts, Kimaris’s face became hesitant. It was the same for Paimon and even Lerazier, who had brought it up.

One price for a single life. Julia Vestra would die as the reward for unlocking the demonic stone.

“No, if I lose her, I’ll…!”

Kimaris, who stifled a despairing moan, immediately spread his wings and kicked against the floor. Paimon and Lerazier, who briefly exchanged glances with each other, hurriedly jumped up and followed after him as well.

* * *

[▷SYSTEM

4th Episode. The Whereabouts of Magical Power]

With each inhalation, a surge of hot steam rushed into her lungs. Legion’s figure that was already far ahead, swayed like a windy river and the path beneath her feet became blurry like an out-of-focus lens.

Julia held her breath against the wall as she felt that she might trip at any moment. The pebbles that were kicked at her feet seemed to crumble down a thousand mill cliff.

‘How long will it really take to get down to the bottom of the cliff?’

Through all kinds of hardships, she eventually reached the crater right at the top of the mountain. As expected, there was a demonic stone, which had been the stone of magical power as well as the source of the monsters’ birth. However, in order to reach the demonic stone itself, they still had to go down another steep cliff.

A path could be seen there, probably out of consideration for some players who possessed an insufficient amount of physical strength, but it was only wide enough for a single person to pass through. Legion tried to get past it by carrying or holding Julia on his back, but after realizing that it was utterly impossible, he left her in a safe place before trying to go down through the path alone.

Julia had to spend a considerable amount of time to convince him. Furthermore, in order to not become a burden to Legion, she pretended that she was able to endure as much as possible when she got down the cliff. But even right now, she seemed to have reached her limits already.

‘What to do—I can no longer move even a single step.’

The cliff was so narrow that only one foot could truly step upon it. On top of that, there had been no place to sit and rest even if it was for a while.

Her exhausted limbs gradually trembled. To make matters worse, even Legion himself, who just descended up ahead earlier, had now completely disappeared from her sight.

‘I’m going to eventually fall like this. Please let me see my front properly.’

As she was already all worn out and no longer able to focus properly, a thick cloud of steam obstructed her vision and it occasionally shimmered in red amidst the reflection of the fire. In addition, she was right in the midpoint where she could neither go up nor down. It was literally the worst situation ever.

[▷SYSTEM

The current remaining HP is less than 50%. Be cautious with the use of skill. It is not allowed to be retried.]

“Uht!”

A sudden flash of light in front of her eyes had almost thrown Julia off her balance. She could see more pebbles that were pouring down than before. And as soon as she took a deep breath, Legion’s cry rang from down below.

“Julia, are you okay?!”

“I’m, I’m okay. My legs felt weak just for a second.”

“Are you sure? No, I’ll go up right now. Just stay there for a moment!”

“I really am fine, so don’t come over. Just stay there and catch your breath. Plus, you’ve got to be fine.”

Legion, who had been checking her condition whenever he had the time, eventually showed signs of trying to come up. But the path was so narrow that there was no room for him to turn around at all. In fact, since it had been like that for her, Legion, who was much bigger than herself, would have been even in a more difficult predicament.

After Julia tried to dissuade him several more times while Legion kept on asking again and again as he demanded that if she could no longer stand it, she should tell him at once. Only after she had reassured him did she finally take a look at the system window once again.