Survival Guide After Accidentally Kissing a Demon - Chapter 362

*Her Garden Was Gray*

Who would have thought that even the Demons in Hell had meetings to attend?

And very frequent meetings, at that.

Ashera was the Demon Lord ranked twenty-ninth in Hell, the embodiment of sloth and indolence. When faced with an invitation to a gathering of the lords, he had no intention of going.

Just as he had not gone on countless occasions before.

Beili had certainly noticed that her Demon lover hardly ever left home. Aside from having far too many little schemes up his sleeve, he was actually quite the homebody.

“So what do seventy-two Demons talk about when they all get together?” Beili asked curiously.

The question drew a low chuckle from Ashera.

“I have attended very few gatherings, but as I recall, half of each one is spent fighting over territory and power, and the other half on pointless arguments.”

Amusement hovered in his golden eyes as he slowly added, “The one thing that never changes, though, is the discussion of how to fill the mortal world with depravity.”

As he spoke that last sentence, ribbons of black mist streamed from a certain Demon and danced rapidly through the air. He could not suppress the tremor of excitement in his voice at all.

Beili:

Oh.

That fit her stereotype of Hell’s Demons perfectly.

Perhaps because her expression had grown rather solemn while she thought, Ashera belatedly tried to repair the impression he had made.

“There is one thing you must know, however, my dear little butterfly. I am different from those Demons.”

The ingratiating note in his deep, rich voice softened it.

“Only you could make me leave my territory for the mortal world and willingly endure the torment of losing my heart, my eyes, and even my body.”

He lowered his head as he spoke, pressing cold kisses to her forehead, her cheek, and the corner of her lips.

O-okay.

Beili gently closed her eyes and felt those quiet, tender kisses gradually become lingering and insistent.

Then his cold body covered hers.

In truth, Beili had not been thinking about how wicked those Demons were.

Demons were wicked, naturally. If they were not wicked, they would not be Demons. Sin ran in their blood from birth, after all.

Beili had simply been considering another problem—

“About that invitation to the gathering. I think you really ought to go.”

Beili made the suggestion while Ashera was having his meal.

“Hmm?”

Sitting across from her at the long dining table, Ashera raised a brow and asked with a smile in his voice, “Why?”

Because she would never find anyone more suitable than Ashera to act as her mole at the gathering!

He had the proper status to appear there, and he could provide her with detailed intelligence.

“You are currently ranked twenty-ninth among the lords,” Beili said with a solemn expression.

“Since the rankings have nothing to do with combat strength, we have to consider the strong possibility that attendance at the gatherings plays a part. You are always absent, after all…”

The Demon did not contradict her. He simply kept smiling.

And so, although he was somewhat reluctant, Ashera obediently changed into a different outfit at Beili’s adamant insistence. He held her at the door for a long while, unwilling to part, before finally mounting the black dragon.

Beili waved to Ashera as he receded into the distance.

She did not know if it was an illusion, but the moment Ashera rode away on the black dragon, she felt the ceiling of her divine power begin to rise faster.

Even the range of her vision broadened.

She could make out the scenery and objects across the territory, and some things—even the castle itself—seemed rather strange.

The winding rivers of lava flowed incredibly slowly, almost as though they were motionless.

But this was Hell. Any strange phenomenon became reasonable once it happened in Hell, so Beili paid it no mind.

Besides, now that her sight had finally improved, the first thing she did after seeing Ashera off was race to the garden.

Since only the two of them lived in the castle, perhaps its flowers needed their mistress to water them, Beili thought.

When she reached the garden, however, she discovered that wisps of silken black mist had already taken on the role of gardeners.

But…

“They’re gray…”

Gray roses, gray tulips, gray lilies… As it turned out, the garden was filled with all kinds of gray flowers.

Their color was quite unusual, just like her wings.

She leaned in for a closer look and used her divine power to sense the flowers. They were real.

They had not been conjured by magic. A certain Demon had collected their seeds during his travels through time, then planted them in the garden with his own hands.

No wonder he unfailingly brought her here for a walk after every meal.

Beili’s mood brightened ever so slightly.

Now that she was the mistress of the castle, naturally she ought to handle something like watering the flowers herself!

Beili reached toward one of the silken wisps of black mist and eagerly took the garden hose from it, intending to tend the flowers personally.

Before long, however, she gave up.

She cleared several suspicious-looking bones from the clogged hose. Curious, she followed the hose to a large water vat, where she found a great many severed limbs.

Oh, that wicked creature!

‘The bodies offered by the dead souls make excellent fertilizer. They keep the flowers at the height of their bloom forever,’ the black mist following behind her explained.

All right…

Beili silently repeated *adapt to local customs* three times.

Only then did she murmur, “Mm,” return the hose to the black mist, and quietly delete the memory of the water vat from her mind.

A certain Demon who had gone into the depths of Hell for the meeting returned sooner than expected.

Beili was halfway through the *Encyclopedia of Hell* in the study when she suddenly sensed Ashera and the black dragon outside the castle.

The next second, a silver-haired figure in black robes appeared behind her.

“I hope you missed me while I was away.”

Cold arms wrapped around her with clinging affection, and laughter colored his voice.

Beili opened her mouth, about to say something, when she suddenly sensed that something was amiss and could not help knitting her brows.

Before she could investigate more closely, however, the Demon behind her spoke again. Icy breath spilled from his thin lips as he brought her the key intelligence from the gathering.

“They are creating a kind of book.”

“A book?”

“A book containing the methods for summoning all seventy-two Demons.”

Ashera lowered his lashes slightly. “They intend to throw the book into the mortal world, so that greedy humans will learn the summoning methods and offer up delectable sacrifices.”

According to the *Encyclopedia of Hell*, if a Demon voluntarily left Hell for the mortal world, their magic would immediately be severely weakened.

This unusual restriction had arisen naturally when the new world was born, allowing the God who protected that world to kill any Demon with ease.

And it was not only Demons who were affected. Gods were also bound by the restriction.

Aside from the worlds they had created themselves, Gods rarely ventured into other worlds.

A Demon who was killed would not truly perish. Even so, if a God beat one senseless and threw them back into Hell, it would be unbearably humiliating for those fiercely competitive Demons.

The other Demons would mock them.

Their status and intimidating power in Hell would plummet as well.

Thus, barring unusual circumstances, Demons would never choose to leave Hell and make their way to the mortal world.

But things were different if a human summoned them there.

Yes, these wicked creatures were exploiting a loophole in the rules!