"My Lord, why are you afraid?"

The Demon Lord looked at her friend that has supported her since she had taken the throne. One of the earliest Monsters that worked with her to take it, and one of the earliest to be turned into her new beautiful form.

She looked at the childish face that was twisted in confusion, and for a moment she was tempted to lower the barrier that separated her from everyone, just so she could say sorry that she had trapped her in that bubble.

But the swirling mass of inky black hanging behind the Baphomet in the same barrier, and her husband who was pacing back and forth with a hand covering his mouth as he muttered words that she hadn't heard from when he used to be from Order, convinced her otherwise.

"You're in danger," The Demon Lord told her "The energy inside you, it's eating your Demonic Energy as we speak so who knows what it's doing to you." Another thing that convinced her not to open the barrier.

She didn't know what it was, but the energy that was swirling inside of her friend was slowly consuming the Demonic Energy her. There was already physical changes, as she looked away from her energy she looked at the formerly purple but now yellow eyes, and her skin that used to be pale was slowly darkening to a brown.

A rather pleasant brown if she had to admit.

Shaking her head, the Demon Lord returned her focus to situation at hand. Turning away from the Baphomet and Dark Matter, she faced her Husband who was still pacing around with panic in his eyes. She furrowed her eyebrows "Dear, why do you seem so scared?"

Her husband paused in his pace, jarred out of his thoughts at her words. He turned to his head towards her sharply, he opened his mouth and raised a finger before he put it down and closed his mouth and clenched his hand into a fist and placed it over his mouth. He took a deep breath, his other hand joining his brother at his mouth, and exhaled slowly "I'm sorry," he answered shakily as he stared past her and at the Dark Matter.

It swirled in the air like a menacing ink blot. And occasionally from time to time, they could see what appeared to be a pair of yellow dots peeking through the swirling black.

The Dark Matter had gone silent after they had trapped both it and Baphomet in the barrier.

"I just," her husband tore his eyes away from the Dark Matter to give her an uneasy look "Remembered something back when I was at Order, when I used to be Human." He stepped past her and stood in front of the barrier, causing the two inside to look at him "I recall the lessons of the Holy and Demonic energies us, and I recalled that they also us that there were energies that were much purer that those," he looked at the Baphomet in her eye, who's own had widened at his words "said to be the energy that makes up the realm."

"You know about the energy?" The Baphomet asked, pressing her face against the barrier "You have to tell me, or better yet!" She pointed a clawed hand towards his wife "Tell her about it, tell her how it could help her achieve her goal of turning the Chief God's system to what she wants!"

That made the Demon Lord turn to the Baphomet in surprise, her eyes widened as her mouth dropped open slightly. She stepped past her husband, lightly shoving him out of the way, so that she stood in front of her magic adviser.

Purple eyes stared into yellow ones. There was mirth in the latter, while uncertainty was in the former.

"What do you mean?" She asked "Why do you think that this," her face scrunched up "twisted power could help me achieve my goal?"

"It's not twisted!" The Baphomet snapped back.

The Demon Lord winced at the tone, surprised at her friend's sudden angry tone.

"You heard what your husband said, this energy inside me and Dark Matter," she raised her claw and around it the same inky black that the Dark Matter was made of swirled around them like a flame "It's pure, and most importantly," she lowered the claw and snuffed out the energy from her claw "It's powerful." Her claws went to her chest "When I first felt this energy, it felted exhilarating as it entered me. I could feel my magic grow stronger just by being beside it," she raised her head "Imagine what it would be like, if you absorbed it directly!"

"NO!"

Both of them jumped at the voice. They turned to see the Demon Lord's husband snarling at Baphomet, before he turned his head towards his wife "Don't listen to what she says, whatever power that she got is not worth the risk of the changes it could do to you!"

"What are you talking about?!" The Baphomet asked in bewilderment "This energy could win us the war against the Chief God and change all of the Monsters that the she wants!" Her eyebrows furrowed as her yellow eyes narrowed "Don't you want her to win this war?"

"I do." He stated back with a bite "But I don't want my wife to turn into some," he struggled for the word for a few moments before simply glaring at the Baphomet as he said "A Monster because of whatever power you think she can use. She can win this war without being corrupted by whatever energy that's messed you up."

"There is nothing wrong with me, and the energy that I'm using" The Baphomet replied through gritted teeth.

The Hero pointed a hand towards the Dark Matter "Then what happened to her?"

"ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!"

The shout silenced them both. They turned to the Demon Lord who had her arms crossed over her chest "I won't have my magical adviser and husband come to blows with an energy in the end," she looked between the two with a glare "That I will choose whether to use or not."

"B-"

"No buts!" She cut both of them off before they could finish "I am the Demon lord unless you two have forgotten, it will be my choice to use this or not in the war against the Chief God." Her glare grew harsher "A choice that I will make on my own time, understand?"

Her husband nodded his head "Yes dear, forgive me for my outburst."

The Baphomet didn't say anything, merely keeping her head down.

"Well talk this over later Baphomet," the Demon Lord voice turned soft as pressed a hand against the barrier "We'll see if this power can really be used to help us, or we should find a way to purge it so that I don't lose a friend."

She received no answer from the child like Monster.

The Demon Lord sighed and turned away, this time facing her husband with a raised eyebrow "As for you, we have a lot to talk about this energy that you know about."

Her husband's face grew serious "I'll tell you what I know, and hopefully we can put this behind us."

The Demon Lord kept her eyebrow raised.

"Assuming you want to of course!" He quickly added.

[Scene]

As the Demon Lord and her husband left, the Baphomet couldn't help but be baffled silent.

Why was she so resistant to using something that she, her most trusted adviser for anything magical, told her could help her win the war? And why was the Hero so scared about that the power would corrupt her?

It was an irrational fear that had no basis!

So what if the energy that she was using was 'Eating' her Demonic Energy? That just meant that it was the naturally stronger energy, moreso when it was the same affinity as Demonic Energy so it meant that she would still be a Monster and not turned into ash once she fully absorbed it. It would just make her stronger.

"Why don't they get it?" The Baphomet mumbled to herself?

Was her words not convincing enough?

That must be it...

If words can't convince them, then she'd just need to show them how powerful this energy could be.

But she was still trapped in this barrier, she needed a way out.

As if it heard her, the Dark Matter that had been 'still' for the entirety of the conversation between her, the Demon Lord and her husband. It suddenly enveloped her.

Panic was her initial emotions, but when she felt the same energy that she had experience through the portal from the Dark Matter she calmed herself down and allowed it to do what it wanted.

And when it did envelop her entirely, it was only for a split second and the next the Baphomet found herself free from the barrier and she was outside the castle.

For a moment she was stunned.

The barrier that held her just now was one of her strongest spells, made to counter any kind of teleportation and dispelling method from the inside.

Yet this new energy not only freed her from the barrier, but teleported her far away away from it.

She looked at the new Dark Matter as it swirled around in the air. She then looked at herself, as she allowed the energy to surface.

This power could truly change the war against the Chief God.

All she had to do, to make it so that the Demon Lord used it, was to convince her.

She wondered if there was a group of Monsters near by that wouldn't mind some experiments?