I walked over to Elisee. "See, I have solved the weakened demon lord problem." I said with a grin. "Now we can focus on the important things in hell." My mouth was watering thinking of all the unknown delicacies!

I left the distressed elf behind and walked back to the portal. The roots on it seemed to be slightly redder than they were before. I shrugged and walked back into hell.

On the other side I found Ash standing next to the portal, frowning at it.

"Is something wrong, Ash?" I asked.

"Our roots have grown through the dimensions and are now in hell. I am not sure what happens if the portal goes out." She replied.

"Would losing those roots hurt? Can you pull them back?" I asked.

"It would hurt but do no permanent damage. I am not sure if we could simply pull them back. They seem to help stabilize the portal…" Ash replied.

"Are there any other benefits?" I asked.

"Hm. The soil here tastes strange. It could help us in the long run though. I assume hell has different nutrients. The corpses Shani keeps feeding us are nice." Ash replied.

"Could we extend the grove into hell? If we had more dryads." I asked.

"Possible. But I have no idea how bad a loss of the portal would be then." Ash replied.

It was definitely worth considering. Maybe the maid knight bond would help? I could feel the bond even if some of the maids were in a different dimension. As I contemplated that Lilith arrived.

She gave me a nod, then fiery wings appeared on her back and she started to fly. "My dear subjects, your queen lives. Not only that, my power has grown." She unleashed her aura. "Amaya Delphinium and Lucy Delphinium have proven to be trustworthy allies and I formally acknowledge them as such. Without them I would not be here today. Treat them with the respect they deserve, or answer to me."

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She paused, her eyes sweeping over her domain. "A new era is starting today. My allies, my friends, have established a gate to the mortal realm. Any demon using that gate needs to follow their laws. We will work together to establish trade and build a foothold in Iron Rock. Serve loyally and you will be rewarded. Betray me and you will share Sianderis' fate."

After Lilith ended her speech she landed next to me. "I apologise for the mess I have caused you. I will have to take a closer look at my servants and make sure to weed out any more spies or traitors. The portal will get the attention of many other lords."

I nodded. "I hope the fact that one of them became your snack will be a deterrent."

Lilith smiled. "Perhaps. Absorbing the power of another lord, even partially, is not an easy task. I could not have done that without your help. I wonder who forged that cursed weapon."

Lilith stopped talking, seemingly debating something in her head. Then she looked me in the eyes with a serious face. "Ever since we have met I have been considering ways to profit from this relationship. At first I even considered outright betraying you, but you seemed too powerful. Then I decided maybe I could use you, befriend you, steal your secrets. At the same time I expected you to do the same. I always expected a betrayal, a bad deal, something,..."

Lilith looked at her closed wound. It had healed completely, no mark of it remined. "And there I was, bleeding, at your mercy. Finally I would learn what you wanted. I was ready to swear myself to your servitude, become your concubine,... I had lost the battle of intrigue and was ready to accept my fate. But you shoved power into me. No strings, no deals, just a snack."

She smiled at the last word. "I have been at the second aura stage for hundreds of years. I am old but I never managed to reach the top. Now? I can feel this power in me. For the first time it looks like I might be able to break through. And it was given to me freely."

I nodded. "Life is better with friends. I was not sure about you at first either. I always just figured between Lucy and myself you were no threat. And you have behaved quite reasonably, for a demon lord. When I saw you bleeding, I got a bit angry. It made me realise I saw you as a part of our group. I saw you as a friend. Giving you that power was an easy choice. It will also strengthen our position here."

"Nice speech. Did I miss anything?" Lucy asked, as she arrived, still in her fox form. She looked at Lilith, then her snout poked the former wound. "Huh. Seems nicely healed. You also smell a bit different."

"Amaya has granted me the power of the slain demon lord." Lilith replied.

"Cool. I was not aware that something like that was possible." Lucy replied.

"He had this cursed spear. My magic ate it, then the spear ate him, then I sort of consumed their power. Did not taste right for us so I gave it to Lilith." I explained.

Lucy just nodded. "Makes sense. So, what about food? All this fighting made me hungry and I did not want to eat succubi. Or those lizard demons. Their blood tastes foul."

"You should take a shower first. Pretty sure there are bits of demon in your fur." I replied.

"You are free to use my baths. They should have survived the fighting." Lilith offered. "I will have a feast prepared while you freshen up."

"Good idea. Bath, then food." Lucy suggested. I nodded. This hell gate thing turned out pretty well so far.

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