Satan looked at the situation in Palma Square and fell into brief thought.
He spoke first.
“How is Frondier using that power?”
Demon power.
In truth, a power that is fundamentally the same as divine power. The fact that Pandemonium opens when the two meet is the same as well.
Those who know that fact generally call this power “Ecleksis.”
However, though one may have seen gods or demons use it, this is the first time seeing a human use it.
‘......No, I didn’t see it myself, but I heard the “Giants” used it.’
The war between gods and humans. Satan, who did not participate in it, doesn’t know, but there certainly was such talk.
Mammon spoke from beside him.
“We’ve been hearing reports about it since before.”
“Mm, and yet seeing it in person is surprising, I suppose.”
Satan tilted his head.
He had heard the talk that Frondier uses demon power. Along with that, those who did not know properly even clamored that Frondier was actually a demon.
Of course it’s nonsense, but to those who don’t know, demon power is the very greatest proof of a demon.
“In the end, does Frondier also have the fate of a Giant.”
“Well, we expected it to some extent.”
While the demons spoke like that, Satan still kept his eyes on the screen.
‘He’s turning to his advantage the fact that he was mistaken for a demon and driven out of the continent—this time he himself steps up first and says he’s a demon, is that it.’
On top of that, he understands the properties of Pandemonium and even prepared to blind them first with magic.
Satan smiled.
‘As expected, you’re interesting, Frondier. For someone strong, you’re awfully desperate.’
In the meantime, Lucifer’s eyes narrowed.
“Whatever the fate of a Giant or whatnot, I want to know what the trigger is.”
“Trigger?”
“For a human, Ecleksis is a power that cannot be used if one doesn’t know it. Even if one knows of the power’s existence, if one doesn’t reach the thought that he himself can use it, it’s the same. Look at how many humans have received divine power and yet have failed to manifest their own Ecleksis. There’s someone who told him that he could.”
At those words, Satan nodded.
A power you cannot use if you don’t know it. Certainly true. Humans were so close to divine power and yet had not used it until now.
Satan scanned the screen.
Among them, one thing caught Satan’s eye.
‘......That demon.’
There was a demon who had not fainted to Frondier’s power—who seemed not to have been affected in the first place.
A demon Satan also knew.
Arald, the man who was once the chairman of Hitchcock.
He doesn’t know why he is following Frondier, but he is the most likely candidate for the one who taught Ecleksis to Frondier.
There, Mammon cocked his head.
“......Frondier, it kind of looks like he isn’t being affected by the ‘Humanity Contract.’”
“Right. He’s using Ecleksis too easily.”
Beelzebub agreed.
Satan exhaled a brief “hm,” then spoke.
“We’re here in this place, so we can’t feel what kind of Ecleksis Frondier’s is, but the results boil down to two only. Either they fainted, or they didn’t.”
“Is it an effect that makes the opponent faint? That’s quite usable.”
“No.”
A voice denied Mammon’s guess.
It was Asmodeus.
“According to the reports, that fainting is nothing more than the result. Those who are struck by Frondier’s power feel something there, and as a result of failing to overcome what they felt, they faint.”
“......Then if it’s worse, could they die?”
“In fact, when Frondier used Ecleksis for the very first time, the demon who was struck died.”
At that, the Seven Sins knit their brows.
Mammon looked at Satan and asked.
“Satan, can you do that? Kill someone with Ecleksis.”
“If I’m consumed with wrath, I could result in making them die, but drawing out a reaction that immediate is a stretch. There’s no guarantee they’ll die just because they’re swallowed by wrath.”
Mammon, this time he looked to Lucifer.
“What about you, Lucifer?”
“Impossible. My power has little to do with human death. Rather, depending on the case, it can become an environment more suitable for living. Besides, the mind of a trained human is difficult even to break to begin with, and even if you do break it, it doesn’t directly lead to death.”
There, Beelzebub spoke to Mammon.
“Mammon, if there had been a demon who could kill someone at once with Ecleksis, we would have chosen a king long ago.”
“Ahaha. Don’t be categorical. That alone isn’t everything about demons, you know.”
Satan spoke first in a soothing laugh to calm Beelzebub. That’s how sensitive Beelzebub’s remark was.
However, Satan narrowed his eyes and said something heavier.
“......Well, the one who could cause the ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ most similar effect was Belphegor, wasn’t he?”
“Ugh!”
At that, Astaroth, who had been quiet, reacted.
Mammon paid that reaction no mind and touched his chin, nodding.
“Right. Belphegor turns people into living corpses.”
“If the goal is to make a corpse anyway, whether it’s a living corpse or just a corpse is the same, that’s what you mean.”
The conversation between Mammon and Satan.
Astaroth could not hold back and spoke.
“I—I could do at least that much if I put my mind to it......!”
“Ahaha, don’t get so heated, Astaroth. No one’s asking that from you.”
Satan admonished in a gentle tone.
The tone was gentle, but the content was nothing but cold.
You can’t. There was nothing in it besides that meaning.
Satan glanced at Beelzebub and spoke.
“By Beelzebub’s logic, our king should have been Belphegor.”
“......No, I only spoke so because I placed meaning on ‘death’ itself.”
Beelzebub shook his head. This and that are different. A tone that sounded categorical.
There, Lucifer folded his arms.
“I don’t particularly deny it.”
At that, all were surprised and looked at Lucifer.
Especially Satan, with a face that found it interesting, spoke to Lucifer.
“Lucifer rates Belphegor quite highly. The demon of Pride, I mean. I thought he’d be the farthest from your mind.”
“Mind or anything else, nothing matches. He’s stuffed full of things I cannot understand.”
With a snort, Lucifer spat out, displeased.
But his eyes did not contain hatred or contempt.
“One thing—he is strong. Most of the things I could not understand were weaker than me. That’s why I accepted it. The very parts different from me were proof that they were weak.”
This is the demon of Pride, Lucifer.
Because he stands at the apex of all strength, that which differs from him becomes that which is wrong—the extreme of pride.
“But Belphegor is different. He is stuffed with things of which I can understand none, and yet he is strong. He is an existence that flatly denies my principle. Therefore, just looking at him makes my irritation soar, but I can’t help but acknowledge him.”
“......That strength surpasses you?”
Satan once more tried a light provocation on Lucifer. He poked at his pride.
Lucifer shook his head.
“I don’t want to kill him. Even if I fought and won, I would never understand Belphegor to the end. So it’s fine if he becomes king. King, you say! Doesn’t that not suit Belphegor in the slightest! Hahahahaha!”
Lucifer laughed as if he were truly delighted.
At that, Mammon let out a sigh.
“......Well, it didn’t suit him so much that he himself had no intention of it whatsoever.”
“That’s right. A meaningless supposition.”
Satan agreed, and for a while they spoke among themselves on the topic of Belphegor.
Within that, only one, Astaroth, could not say a word and trembled.
The one sitting in the seat of Sloth right now is him. A body that is clearly standing in the same place as the other Seven Sins here.
And yet the remaining Seven Sins are all talking about Belphegor.
“Oh, looks like Frondier is about to do something.”
At that moment, Satan reacted.
Still without so much as a glance at Astaroth.
“......He says he’ll kill a human?”
“So it seems.”
Satan nodded.
The corners of his eyes lowered a little.
“I’d like him to get it over with quickly.”
***
Paladin Charon pulled one corner of his mouth as he looked at the drawn bowstring aimed at him.
“You say you’ll kill me?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the reason?”
“Because I’m a demon.”
A reason that is preposterous.
However, if he’s a demon, that reason might be sufficient.
Of course, from Charon’s standpoint it was absurd.
‘A demon, what bullshit is that.’
Charon had heard all the information from Atena and Bael. He knows well what kind of human Frondier is.
He’s fairly strong, but he has no divine power. He also hasn’t made a contract with a demon.
Bael had repeatedly and earnestly told him never to fight, but because those two powers were absent, Charon did not concern himself with Frondier.
The fact that he survived his stratagem was unexpected, but it was not something that would change the grand game.
“......Strange.”
Charon, still wearing a fishy smile, spoke to Frondier.
“A bow at this distance. Do you not know what will happen if it misses once? While you’re picking up another arrow, that neck of yours—”
Charon’s mouth, which had been speaking so confidently, stopped.
His eyes, which had been looking over Frondier’s bow, at last discovered one fact.
“......That bow.”
“Mm?”
Frondier blinked once.
“You know this bow?”
“......No, I don’t.”
At that, Frondier’s smile deepened.
“I thought so.”
This is a demon’s bow.
[Slindelis’s Bow]
• Grade : Unique
• Description : The bow used by the demon Slindelis. The demon himself died early, but as it passed through several demons its renown rose and the bow’s grade became higher. A case where the weapon’s own performance is superior to the weapon’s owner. However, because the demon’s name is fixed, there exists a growth limit.
Ability Details >
This is the very bow that was fired at Frondier’s party—the bow that shot the arrow which struck Pielot.
At the time of rescuing Pielot, this bow was lying beside the dead demon, and Frondier, of course, absorbed this bow into his workshop.
Like Kriselacatos, Artemis’s bow that Frondier originally used, this has Sure Hit attached, but the description is a little different.
‘Not a bow that surely hits the aimed-for enemy, but a bow that flies toward that enemy, huh.’
Arrows shot by Kriselacatos cannot be taken in someone’s stead like in Pielot’s case. To minimize damage, the very person who would be struck by the arrow must knock it aside, block it, or endure it with sturdy defense.
In short, this bow is somewhat a lower-grade substitute.
‘There’s no way you would say you know this bow.’
Of course Charon would know this bow, but since it’s a demon’s bow, he wouldn’t say so even if he were reborn.
And while Charon could not say those words, it becomes yet another piece of evidence that Frondier is a demon.
“Slindelis’s Bow.......”
“I thought it had disappeared, but it must have gone to a demon like that.”
Among the gods, a few recognized this bow. To that extent, among demon bows it is on the famous side. It was good for Frondier.
“Now then, try blocking this.”
With those words, Frondier released the bowstring,
Swoosh!
The arrow flew toward Charon in a curved trajectory.
“......Tch!”
Clang!
Knowing the bow’s property, Charon blocked it with his sword.
Sssk!
“?!”
Immediately after, another arrow grazed Charon’s shoulder.
‘How can it be this fast......!’
Once you shoot an arrow, there is a time until the next arrow. You take an arrow from the quiver, draw the bowstring and nock, aim, and shoot.
Because of the property, aiming might not be necessary, and yet the attack just now was too fast.
“Shall I take it a bit slower?”
And when he looked again, Frondier already had another arrow in his hand.
‘......That bastard, now that I look, he doesn’t have a quiver!’
Charon realized that there were no arrows at Frondier’s waist or on his back.
This is only natural—Frondier also weaves the arrows.
And those woven arrows—
“......Keh?!”
Thud.
Charon dropped to his knees.
After the arrow grazed his shoulder, a strange pain assaulted him.
“Ghh, ughk, urk......!”
Even if he tried to collect himself, the trembling at his fingertips would not be suppressed.
‘This, don’t tell me......!’
That’s right.
If he replicated the bow, there’s no reason not to replicate the arrows.
Arrows imbued with mana of the Demon Realm.
The pain Pielot suffered, Charon is feeling now the same.
‘It’s not the same.’
Frondier’s face is placid, but behind it unseen anger surges.
Pielot took that arrow in the abdomen to protect Selena.
And he was pulled by the lodged arrow and suffered a tremendous wound, and mana of the Demon Realm flowed.
Compared to that, this pain Charon feels now from an arrow merely grazing his shoulder is not even comparable—Pielot felt a pain that could not even be compared to this, and in that state he killed all the demons.
And yet a guy who calls himself a Paladin, drops to his knees just because his shoulder was grazed a little?
“How long are you going to writhe around there?”
Frondier smiled.
It was not cheerful, not joyful, not amusing.
A smile sparked by a very plainly murderous intent.
“Get up, Paladin.”
Frondier drew the bowstring and said,
“You’re supposed to protect people, aren’t you.”
