When Ash saw the third grand palace established in the depths of the trench, he was not surprised at all. Since the Double Hell is a deep blue world, the demigod’s residence naturally can only be set in the sea.

"This is it."

Death Mad crossed over the palace walls, overlooking the bright lake below like a full moon. Only in the mage’s world can one witness such a sight in the deep sea beneath eighty thousand tons of seawater.

"The wonder ’Water Moon’ of the Piercing Wolf Palace." Death Mad calmly said, "A series of miracles I created is based on this wonder. The moment I saw it, I realized it was the shortcut to my swordsmanship breakthrough. To seize this wonder, we spent three months plotting and scheming... Now you can just take it and surprise Sonia."

Ash stored ’Water Moon’ in the Heavenly Kingdom of Souls, and curiously asked, "You all? You and the Observer move together in Hell?"

"Forced compromise." Death Mad flicked ash, speaking coldly: "At that time, everyone knew we had taken a part of the Supreme Holy Grail, and all of Hell offered no place for us to rest, no trading partner, and we couldn’t even enter the ’Forbidden Hunting Zone’."

"Although I don’t trust the Observer and the others, we also coveted each other’s Supreme Holy Grail, but at least we had cooperated several times before, at least had some foundation for collaboration, so we could only tread carefully through Hell, wary of one another."

Ash entered the Piercing Wolf Palace, carefully scavenging for resources inside, and asked, "Just like us?"

"Except for the number of people being the same, how are we similar?" Death Mad looked disdainful, "We only gathered because there was no choice, if the environment were better I’d prefer to wander alone, whereas you fear not separating even if there was no survival pressure, right?"

"That’s hard to say," Ash said self-deprecatingly, "Saying this makes me sound arrogant, but without me, they would most likely part ways and grow old without seeing each other again, wouldn’t they?"

Death Mad unexpectedly fell silent for a moment, and after a long pause, slowly said, "If there’s something similar, it’s this... Precisely because the Observer mediated between us, we could... I don’t want to use the word unite, but in the lengthy chaos and escape in Hell, although survival pressure was overwhelming, with danger every day, we rarely quarreled. Even the first sign of an argument was swiftly suppressed by the Observer."

"In leading villains, he indeed has unique talent," she sneered, "He’s simply a Savior of Evil."

"Hey, there’s actually 1 Tribulation here, another 2 and I can go to Triple Hell." Ash found a treasure box storing Tribulations in a hidden compartment, and curiously asked, "In your view, what kind of person is the Observer?"

"Honestly, for years I’ve wanted to find a term more aggressive than ’beast’ to describe him, but everyone seems to consider it the harshest accusation, much to my disappointment." Death Mad bit her cigarette, showing immense disdain on her face, "Calling him a beast feels too cheap for him."

"What did he do?" Ash asked.

"I won’t talk about the big matters, you’d have trouble understanding them. Let’s speak of a small matter." Death Mad said, "When I was a mortal, I collaborated with him for a while. Then whether in an attempt to control me or some other reason, he sent... his subordinates to Dazzling Star to abduct my mother."

Ash was stunned, suddenly recalling the Sword Maiden’s bond item ’Death Mad Sword Maiden’s silver coin.’

"Did he succeed?"

"Of course not, if he had, even if the next moment Hell’s gods divided me, I’d still want him dead this moment," Death Mad said, "Do you understand his conduct? Unlike Youmo, who is obviously scum, you know to be cautious when you see her, the Observer is different, until you recognize his true self, he is still deceitful. Even after recognizing his true self, he can deceive you a second time... The reason Black Demon became insane was partly due to once having fantasies about him."

Listening quietly, Ash turned to look at the glass wall in the adjacent partition, a dim and blurred reflection watching him inside.

"In brief, it’s your sincerity paired with Vishi’s evil." Death Mad sneered, "If you’re so curious, have a child with Vishi, maybe you’ll raise a beast of that level."

Ash stopped walking, stared at her calmly, and said, "What do you mean by this?"

"Isn’t my meaning clear enough?" Death Mad glared at him without hiding her dislike, "Witch and Silver Lamp aside, consider it inexperience back then. But Vishi? Are you stupid?"

"I thought losing memory with Vishi would make you return to normal, but apparently you fell right into the trap? Are you dreaming of finding treasure in the mire?"

"If you have strong opinions, you can vanish, or get others to talk to me," Ash placed his right hand on the sword hilt, "Your concern for the Sword Maiden is welcome, but I don’t accept your right to interfere in my life, nor do I accept... your insults to them."

"Will you fight me for Vishi?" Death Mad’s eyes gleamed red, slowly drawing her blade, "For a scum like her?"

Ash silently watched her, within his soul Source Power surged, Wonders trembled, Technique Spirit cried out. The confrontation lasted briefly, then Death Mad slammed her sword’s hilt down, creating a crisp sound as it struck the sheath and continued moving forward: "I’m bored with this, even if you aren’t ashamed."

"No apology at all?" Ash asked.

"You’re annoying," Death Mad glanced sideways at him, "I won’t apologize to a demon like Ghost Prophet."

"At most, I’d apologize to the child who must bear having a demon for a mother all their life... if demons truly qualify to have children."

Ash sighed, followed in Death Mad’s footsteps, and said, "I actually thought I’d meet other people this time, like... the Observer."

"You can’t meet him. When the two of you meet, only one will survive."

"Why?"

"Because the vastness of time will force you to merge," Death Mad said. "If you were still a mortal, perhaps you could see him, but now you’re a Demigod, and the Flowing Gold River remembers you. You are unique in all timelines."

"Mortals are just a drop in the Flowing Gold River. When it splashes high, that’s its entire life. When it falls and merges into the river, it disappears without a trace. But Demigods are different. In theory, a Demigod can reach the end of time and attain Eternal Life, and thus a Demigod is like a gem in the Flowing Gold River, pushed forward by the long passage of time."

"The five of us moving backward in time are an anomaly that shouldn’t exist. Time does not allow for the simultaneous existence of two Ash Heaths or two Sonia Sevis, so once you and the Observer meet, or Sonia and I meet, it will be the end."

"As for why I’m the one receiving you..." Death Mad exhaled a smoke ring, casually flicked away the cigarette butt, and stuck his hands in his pockets, "It’s simply because the others aren’t interested in chatting with you."

"Really?"

Death Mad sneered, "What else? Do you think you can conquer the Black Demon Mirror Demon as you did with the Witch Silver Lamp and the others?"

"Just as I am curious about them, I think they would be curious about me too..." Ash shrugged. "And I never had that kind of thought. I always thought you all might be... but now it seems there’s unlikely any feelings beyond friendship between you, perhaps not even friendship at all."

Death Mad blinked, hesitated for a moment, and said, "That’s not the case."

"Huh?"

"The Observer was married to the Mirror Demon," Death Mad’s smile revealed a hint of imperceptible mockery. "A very formal wedding ceremony, complete with a spectacular after-party."

"What!?" Ash was shocked and pressed for details, "Only married to the Mirror Demon?" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Death Mad raised his hand and slapped Ash hard on the head, gnashing his teeth, saying, "Ha, the Observer isn’t as big of a beast as you in this regard, feeling proud?"

"Stop hitting and tell me more about their marriage!"

"There’s nothing much to say, and I’m not interested anyway. Plus, they essentially separated before becoming Demigods," Death Mad stopped and tapped a cigarette out of the box, grumbling, "But it’s like they were never truly apart. After all, they acted together the entire time... at least, the Mirror Demon never gave up trying to win him back, even now."

Ash continued to light a cigarette for his sister and asked, "So did they... have any children?"

"Never heard of any."

"I’ve always been curious if Demigods can have children with each other?"

Death Mad frowned, "Why do you ask? Who are you planning to—"

Who could he have children with?

When the Witch hadn’t separated from her sisters, no matter how insane Ash would be, he would hold the line;

Silver Lamp is a Divine Being, doesn’t have that function;

Vishi, who cares about her reputation, isn’t possible either;

Think it over and it could only mean one thing...

Death Mad bit down on the cigarette in his mouth, crossed his arms to crack his knuckles, and calmly walked towards Ash. Ash blinked, instinctively taking a step back, "Wait, why all of a sudden again? At least give me a reason!"

"A reason?" Death Mad suppressed his anger and said, "It’s like you’ve traveled back to your childhood, seeing yourself playing happily in the park, and then a naughty brat pushes young you to the ground, pulls down your pants, and uses the elastic for a slingshot!"

"That’s completely different! I don’t bully the Sword Maiden!"

"But you both like pulling down people’s pants."