Gojo stared at Yog in silence for a few long minutes. He had remained still for all of that time, thinking about the implications of this space existing. It means that Death and the Mother of All Life could reach wherever they want. He then gasped. "Wait, this place is that powerful."

Liliana blinked behind him. Yog had just pulled her naked out of her bath here, she was behind him, wearing nothing, and hugging his back, and that’s what he has to say?

Liliana punched him on the back, knocking him to the ground. "Is that the only thing in your head. Are you..." She froze, noticing something strange.

He was on the ground, not moving, and not breathing. But what was even weirder was that her hand wasn’t hurting at all. Before, whenever she hit him, her knuckles would end up hurting for hours, as if she had punched a steel statue.

"Careful, little Liliana. Gojo is a mere human now, and you have just cracked his spine." Yog waved her hand, light seeping from between her fingers like rays of sunlight. They washed over Gojo, causing his body to glow faintly for a few seconds, before he started breathing again.

"What? No, I didn’t put any strength in that punch." Liliana cried and jumped down to check on Gojo. He was knocked out.

"Hitting anything hard enough for your hand to hurt is harder than needed. Before, he was a dragon, so even if you tried stabbing him with a knife, he would be fine. But now, please don’t forget that while he’s a mere human, you’re a half-demon and a paladin of Kali, even if your main calling is protecting orphans and not destruction, you’re still stronger than the average man."

Yog looked at her with a grin. "He got sneak attacked from behind, took the equivalent of a sledgehammer to the back, and survived. I’d say he is tougher than the average guy."

Liliana looked at her purple skin, long black nails, smooth horns, silky violet hair, and pinkish lavender eyes. Looking at Gojo’s pale face and white hair, she could see a massive difference between them.

The half-demons like her were similar to half-dragons, far more powerful than regular humans by birthright. She far outclassed regular humans in both physical and magic strength. Even as a four-year-old in the streets, she was capable of fighting adult thieves and thugs.

Liliana carried Gojo and looked at Yog. "I’m taking him to a nicer place. Is there a room anywhere around here?"

Liliana was already used to Yog’s bullshit. This pesky goddess had been bothering them for ages. She would randomly show up from time to time and try to get them mad. One time, Liliana was getting into a bath with Lucy and several maids, only to find Yog already swimming inside. There was another time when they found her in their bed, kitchen, and especially inside Gojo’s magic lab.

Yog pointed into the darkness, and a green door appeared. "Take some clothes with you. After he wakes up, take him to the bath. But reminds him, he lost a bet to me."

As Liliana carried Gojo away, she glared back at Yog for one last time. "Can’t you get us back to the kingdom?" That was the question racing through Liliana’s mind. If Yog could just bring her, can’t she send Gojo back? It would stand to reason that she could; not many spells were one-way only.

Yog shook her head. "Sorry, I can, but I won’t. Because it’ll cause too much trouble. It’s best to be patient here." She flicked her foot, causing several stacked and folded clothes to fall on Liliana’s head, neatly getting pinned between her horns.

Liliana would’ve preferred if Yog let her carry the clothes with her tail, but this worked as well.

Liliana then walked away, getting through the green vault door with Gojo in her arms. She found herself standing alone in the hallway, the cold air licking her naked and wet body. She was taking a shower when Yog snatched her away. The maids must be panicking now.

She looked at Gojo’s face, then walked away, heading for the nearest room. On the wooden door, a sign hung from an old rusty nail.

"Gojo, the White Mage."

Liliana frowned. "What white mage? He’s a skyblue one." She tried to open the door, but couldn’t. Gojo wasn’t light, and she carried him with both hands. Since she couldn’t use her hands, her thin, black tail whipped from her lower back and wrapped around the handle, turning it.

As the door opened, Liliana got a strong urge to curse Yog. The little goddess probably predicted she would need her tail to open doors, so that’s the reason she jammed the clothes between her horns.

She walked inside and looked around, getting reminded of the old rooms she had slept in before; this place looked a well-maintained inn. She laid Gojo on the bed and looked at the window from afar for a second.

She wanted to go take a look, but had to make sure there wasn’t a bustling city outside. She never made the mistake of standing at the window naked, but Gug did it multiple times.

She was still naked, but thankfully, the room wasn’t that cold. Outside the window was a vast forest engulfed in shadows and darkness. The animal corpses were visible, and the frigid cold felt sharp and deadly, making each breath painful.

Leaning out of the window, she took a deep breath and sighed. This snow and cold reminded her of Alina’s slums in the winter, decades ago. An image crossed her mind. A memory from time long past.

She was a little child, walking barefoot on the cold stone as it snowed, numb from head to toes, and barely holding on to life thanks to the agonizing hunger. She hadn’t eaten anything in days, and just about now, she started to feel dizzy and desperate for anything.

Even after getting out of that horrid lifestyle, she would still have a panic attack each time she saw snow or felt a bit too cold, getting overwhelmed by a painful sense of doom and dread.

"I guess, I’ve grown up a bit." Lamenting that she didn’t feel hunger, desperation, or the mind-twisting fear of death in decades. Now, she has everything. Even her panic attacks had disappeared, thanks to the idiot sleeping on the bed beside her.

On one of their missions, it happened to snow, and it was the first time Gojo, Gug, and Vars learned of Liliana’s fear of snow and cold. So Gojo wanted to help and had a plan. He took her with him to the peak of a snowy mountain, stripped her naked, and threw her in the snow. Each time, he would leave her there for several minutes, then return with warm foods and clothes.

After a tortuous month, it worked. Somehow, she never feared the snow or cold again, all of her panic attacks had stopped. Probably since he got her used to always receiving reprieve quickly after getting into the snow, while in the past she would spend days or weeks suffering.

She turned around and looked through the pile of clothes, finding some for herself, which caused her to frown. "Damn it."

Yog knew exactly what sizes she wore, which colors she loved, and even which brands she would prefer. The fact that the underwear had a small pocket to store small knives or needles, and a hole for her tail, made it clear that Yog knew about them far more than they knew about her.

^One day, I’ll kick her in the face.^