Light poured over the entire square.
However, what those present here now felt keenly was not the light.
'Divine power...... No, is it a demon’s power!'
If one knew, then as one knew; if one did not, then as one did not.
Frondier’s demon power poured out over the entire square without distinction.
'Urgh......!'
Aphrodite froze at the suddenly appearing power of light and darkness.
The demon power was not that strong, but the light that filled the square was so intense that one could hardly see the surroundings.
'I see......! So that’s why he spilled light.'
A demon’s power lays the soul bare.
It is powerful, but the same as throwing off every piece of armor and becoming defenseless.
If the opponent uses the same power, Pandemonium must open, and during that time the body is frozen; if the enemy has allies, it becomes extremely dangerous.
Therefore Frondier poured out light.
So they could not aim at him.
'He used a magic of this much luminous output merely as a blindfold.'
If even she, Aphrodite, could not see the surroundings, then nearly all would be unable to grasp the situation around them.
Within a space where nothing could be seen, demon power poured down.
'Besides, this power—something is strange.'
A demon’s power generally possesses a certain characteristic.
If of the Seven Sins, that sin can be inflicted upon the opponent as-is; and even if a little less than that, most cases shake the opponent—seizing their mind with fear, allure, confusion, and so on.
Yet by Aphrodite’s view this power had no such effect. It was not a power to shake someone mentally.
The being who poured out this power was controlling it, so its exact nature was unknown.
It was not a power to threaten someone, but simply one that was there......
KWAaaaa......
The light gradually abated. The demon power ended a little earlier than that.
Aphrodite’s guess was correct. Frondier could not be dragged into Pandemonium yet.
Not because he feared losing to the opponent inside it, nor because he worried about his frozen body.
It was because there was still something he had to do here.
“......Ha......!”
When the light subsided and the demon power ended—
Atena looked around and let out a blank breath.
At the same time Aphrodite’s face twisted.
“How dare......!”
Countless humans lay collapsed in the square.
Almost all who had packed into the square for the vote.
Now a vote was impossible, but that was not the problem.
Even the demons who had tried to flee had all fainted.
'At this rate we can’t find the demons.'
Demons and humans were all amicably unconscious together.
From the standpoint of the gods, in this situation they could not simply strike anyone. Culling the demons was impossible.
'Fine-tuned to the edge—so that humans would ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ not die, yet even most demons would faint......'
But that was truly a razor’s edge; a god would not do such a thing. At the slightest slip, humans might die. Or serious aftereffects could remain.
'So he is indeed a demon.'
Aphrodite reached a conclusion.
A decision that treated human life triflingly—worthy of a demon’s way of thinking.
Now only a very few stood here.
The high-ranking gods, a few among the 72 Demons who had endured, and the Paladins. For reference, Paladin Antero had fainted at once and was swapped out with Bune.
Also, Frondier’s party—whom he had not aimed at with demon power from the start—were fine.
And—
“W-What is this.......”
Exactly one person who belonged to nowhere.
Ias had not fainted.
He had withstood the demon power, but his legs had given out and he had fallen.
Which meant he was lying among the fainted around him, pretending to be unconscious.
'Is Mother all right?'
Ias had come to vote with his mother, Eriboia.
He slithered along to check Eriboia’s condition.
Though she had fallen, there seemed to be no problem. Her breathing was stable, and her expression at ease—as if she were simply asleep.
'It was a moment, so I couldn’t see clearly, but—it looked like Teacher......'
It had been too brief a moment to be sure.
On top of that, there had even been something like demon wings.
But the face had certainly resembled Frondier.
'Then are you saying Teacher did this?'
Lying prone, Ias surveyed the surroundings.
And then he realized one fact.
'......There are others like me!'
This was one thing Aphrodite had mistaken.
The demon power Frondier had applied was far weaker than Aphrodite had thought.
Aphrodite did not know how much demon power had to be applied for humans or demons to faint. There are few beings who know such a thing. Testing that one by one would be a madman’s act.
Therefore, the madman knows.
At about this much power, humans may faint, but not all demons will. A few will certainly endure.
Frondier had chosen human safety over making every demon faint.
But even if they did not faint, Frondier had given the demons time.
Time to choose, while his wisps dazzled the surroundings with light.
As a result, even the demons who had not fainted were, like Ias, hiding among the fallen and pretending to be unconscious.
Of course there were demons who, failing to think even that far, were still standing; there was no thought of giving consideration to such demons.
If they were standing, it meant they had their own ideas. That was the extent of Frondier’s sentiment.
[Whichever demon you are, you dare to act so impudently.]
Aphrodite turned a murder-tinged gaze upon Frondier.
But Frondier was not looking at her.
“I see.”
His gaze swept the surroundings.
A few in the square who had not yet fallen and were still standing.
“Congratulations on passing the test.”
Frondier looked around at them and smiled faintly.
The fact that they had withstood his power was already a kind of proof.
“You impudent wretch!”
A few “humans” unleashed divine power. No—gods possessing humans were taking out their power.
“If you use demon power again, I’ll kill you myself!”
“No, I will!”
Since they had been caught out as gods, there was nothing to hide. Fortunately, all the humans were unconscious.
Though he had covered the demons, they too could be properly faced.
“Oh? Really?”
Frondier looked at them and smiled.
The weapons each held, the purple shimmer. From that alone it was unknown which gods they were, but granting they were high-ranking gods from Greek myth, he could narrow them down to some extent.
“Which of you wants to try first?”
As Frondier was slowly about to draw out his power again—
“N-No, don’t!”
A voice suddenly cried out.
Frondier leisurely slanted his gaze to the side.
There stood Atena.
“S-Stop. All of you......!”
Atena raised her voice with a chilly face.
At that, the other gods looked at her in puzzlement.
“Atena, what is it? What is the likes of this wretch that—”
“J-Just listen to me! Don’t rush this man!”
Atena had no time to explain in detail.
If she took time to say such things one by one and Frondier used demon power in that moment, it would be over.
The gods had already opened their divine power. Whether Pandemonium opened or not would be decided by Frondier.
“My, what’s the matter, Atena.”
Frondier’s lips parted in a thin white smile.
“As if my soul were stronger than that of the gods.”
“Please! Don’t provoke them like that......!”
That was right.
These were all Olympian gods.
High-ranking gods at that.
They were bound to Atena in inseparable ways; they were all her friends—and family.
“Atena! I cannot endure this! That deranged demon, I will at once—”
KUUNG─!
The instant a god, provoked by Frondier’s words, stepped forward, he felt a fierce pressure.
“Shut up, and listen to me.”
Atena’s eyes were chilling.
Using the maximum divine power allowable as Carla, she bound his feet.
“......?”
The gods, finding that sight uncanny, halted their movements.
Right now, if they tried to dispel Atena’s power, there would be nothing they could not dispel. Atena was, after all, in a state of possession.
But she was the goddess of war.
There should be nothing beneath this land that could make her afraid. It should have been so.
Why then was she stopping the gods so hard?
Why did she fear that demon so?
“Atena......?”
No one found it stranger than Aphrodite, who stood nearby.
This was her first time seeing Atena like this.
From the standpoint of Aphrodite, goddess of beauty, Atena as a warrior was beauty itself. Her outstanding features, the wisdom that surveyed the whole, her superb martial might—all of it like a painting that could not capture every moment.
Between them, Atena bit her lip.
'Frondier, you aimed for this! How neatly......!'
Gods possessing humans.
They attacked using human bodies, and what was injured was also the human possessed by them, so there was no risk. What Aster felt as disgust when fighting Apollo was exactly that.
But there was one fatal problem.
For them to exercise power while possessing, they must necessarily use divine power. Of course, because it was their very power.
Which meant they would necessarily become a target for Pandemonium.
If they fought in an ordinary way, Frondier could not handle those here.
However, now it was confirmed that almost all were gods—and possessing humans at that.
Under the condition inside Pandemonium, Frondier would, without fail—
“Atena, calm yourself. Even if that demon has the upper hand in Pandemonium, while we are inside it we can kill him.”
Aphrodite spoke.
It pained her to assume a demon who could defeat a god, but for the sake of persuasion there was no helping it.
Atena shook her head.
“Even if it goes that way, one of us will inevitably die.”
“......!”
Aphrodite was shocked.
What Atena’s words signified was far beyond expectation.
That the demon was guaranteed to kill a god in Pandemonium—and that the speed of it would be faster than dropping the head of his bared neck.
“He’s a man who will kill a god and go, even if he dies.”
It was a line that made clear exactly how Atena regarded Frondier.
She bit her lip.
“And that man is not a demon.”
“What?”
“Do you still not understand? He’s Frondier de Roach!”
Atena shouted. Frondier let out a sigh.
Everyone around turned their eyes to Frondier again.
“......Frondier de Roach?”
There was no god who did not know that name. At least among the Olympian high-ranking gods.
The man who gave Hephaestus disgrace.
Who fought on at least even terms with Renzo, who held Ares’s divine power, and, representing Hestia, stirred up conflict among the gods.
And above all, the man who felled Belphegor and prevented a war.
“......Come to think of it, that was the face.”
“Then the wings?”
“I heard he briefly showed something like wings when fighting Belphegor.”
“How does he use a demon’s power?”
“Perhaps he figured it out—that what demons call ‘a demon’s power’ is in truth the name demons use for Ecleksis (Ecleksis).”
The gods began to speculate among themselves.
Watching that in silence, Frondier spoke.
“Atena, what are you talking about?”
In a voice positively brazen.
Watching Atena’s face twist bizarrely at that,
“Frondier? Who’s that? Don’t you see the humans sprawled all over around here?”
“......You—what on earth are you thinking.......”
Atena was struck dumb with absurdity.
Frondier’s words were something Aphrodite also found puzzling.
A human using a demon’s power, and a human endangering so many humans to this extent. Though they had fainted, among them one might have died.
Since all the demons had fallen, humans, who were weaker than that, would surely be in even more danger. Aphrodite’s mistake.
Frondier pricked that mistake.
“Then I’ll prove it. The fact that I’m a demon.”
Frondier reached out his hand.
“By killing a human right here.”
His Heukcheon moved, and he unfolded Weaving.
Soon, a single bow was in his hand.
“Paladin Charon.”
“......!”
Charon’s face, watching the situation from a step back, changed.
“In this country of Palma, he is more trusted than anyone, a virtuous Paladin who sets an example.”
Frondier set an arrow to the string and drew. His face could not have been more serene.
“If I kill this man, that will be proof, won’t it?”
