Demons Beside You

When Chen Zhao left the gym, it was already noon.

Just like Gaia’s charge, her classes were all high quality. At least, Chen Zhao didn’t only get beaten up during this lesson.

Gaia taught Chen Zhao how to use his body to block attacks from the outside world. People with better fitness weren’t necessary better at taking hits. One had to practice the ability to take hits.

It was like the difference between a bodybuilder and boxer. The boxer might not be as muscular as the bodybuilder, but the boxer could definitely knock him out.

In boxing, the body accounted for 70% while technique was 30%. In a fight, if the opponent couldn’t hurt you, then you had a lot more choices for hitting them.

After finding a random restaurant to eat lunch, Chen Zhao went to Rutherford’s home.

Rutherford was recovering quite nicely. He always cooperated with Chen Zhao’s treatment.

He was an athlete. For ordinary people, a doctor only had to check every few days and it was enough. An athlete had to be checked every day, recording the entire recovery process and numbers.

According to Rutherford’s current condition, he would be able to do some therapy exercises in around five days.

Chen Zhao also called Bord to tell him to get ready.

On the way back, Chen Zhao called Gerlyn. She was in San Francisco now and didn’t know when she could come back. The case seemed to be a bit complicated.

After hanging up, Chen Zhao returned to town. It was only noon, so Chen Zhao and Blackie went to the so-called Gates of Hell.

“Blackie, how much farther?”

L.A’s temperature had dropped drastically, but Chen Zhao still felt hot and stuffy while walking through the forest. It was quite tiring.

“With our current speed, it’ll take another half hour,” Blackie said. “You have to climb this mountain.”

Blackie floated around Chen Zhao. Chen Zhao really envied this way of moving, but sadly, humans would never be able to fly without the help of machinery.

Half an hour later, Chen Zhao could see a huge bottomless pit in the middle of the mountain. It was more than 100 feet wide and the hole was deep and dark.

“This is the Gates of Hell,” Blackie said, floating above the pit.

“This is it? It looks like a normal pit,” Chen Zhao said, unconvinced.

There were some plants around the pit. Deeper in, there was moss. Chen Zhao couldn’t see anything special about it.

“If I jump down, will I go straight to Hell?” he asked.

“Normal people will just die if they jump down, but you can try.”

Chen Zhao rolled his eyes. He couldn’t see the bottom of the pit, but it was at least a few dozen feet deep. Even a man made of steel would break apart after falling into it.

He didn’t plan on proving how special he was by jumping down. Plus, it wasn’t very meaningful even if he could go straight to Hell.

He could go to Hell without these gates. There was no need to take this risk.

“It seems that someone is making sacrifices here,” Blackie said doubtfully while looking at the ditch. “The first time I was here, only a small portion was activated. Now, half of it is activated.”

“You can see that? How come I can’t see anything?”

“It’s not by looking. It’s a feeling. The aura of Hell is seeping from the pit. This means that it’s opening.”

Chen Zhao didn’t really mind this. Last time, Blackie had said that even if a human summoned a demon, only lower-level demons could come. They couldn’t even get subordinates of the seven sins like Beelzebub or Raymond.

So it had very limited danger.

After circling it, Chen Zhao decided to leave. It wasn’t very fun at all. Chen Zhao even regretted climbing the mountain for so long to come see the Gates of Hell.

At home, Chen Zhao took a shower, washing away all the dirt and fatigue from his body. Then he went to the basement to study demon magic again. Backie was interested in it too, so they studied together.

Right then, Chen Zhao suddenly felt something familiar.

“Chen Zhao, what’s wrong?” Blackie looked at him in confusion. Chen Zhao was slowly disappearing. “Is it some magical effect?”

“No...I think someone in Hell is summoning me again.”

Was it Beelzebub? How come he summoned him without any warning?

But when Chen Zhao reached Hell, he was somewhere unfamiliar. There was a black castle connected to a mountain. Black clouds shrouded the sky. Eerie cries sounded in the dark mass above the castle.

Chen Zhao looked down. There was a complicated magic array. It wasn’t Beelzebub?

He looked up and saw Beelzebub’s standing there in his true form. However, there was an even taller and bigger demon beside him.

Beelzebub’s true form was around 16 feet tall, but the demon beside him was like a mountain of flesh.

His lower body was like a fat insect. A total of eight legs stretched out from either side of his abdomen. His upper body was upright. Asymmetrical scales covered his dark skin and there were complex red lines on his stomach.

He had three pairs of stocky arms but no neck. There was a triangular head on top of the shoulders. He had a huge mouth but no teeth. His mouth was filled with red light.

There was an oddly-shaped horn, even bigger than his head, wearing a metal ring as an accessory. His deep and black eyes had no pupils. It was like a black hole. One wouldn’t dare to meet his eyes.

This demon emanated a terrifying aura. Chen Zhao didn’t know what an aura was, but he could genuinely feel the horror of Hell.

“Human. Living being,” the demon uttered with heavy and deep syllables.

“Beelzebub, who is he?”

Beelzebub walked over and stood between the unfamiliar demon and Chen Zhao. “Human, this is Lord Beelzebub Zofee.”

“He’s a subordinate like you?”

“Yes. We’re from the same family.”

“Living being, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Beelzebub Zofee said. “I summoned you here to ask for help.”

“Help? Lord Zofee, how can I help you?” Chen Zhao didn’t know Beelzebub Zofee, so he didn’t dare treat him casually like he did Beelzebub.

This demon lord didn’t seem easy to talk to either. Chen Zhao wasn’t sure why the demon had summoned him to Hell.