“Why, you ask.......”
When Atena shot the question back, Aphrodite pressed her.
“In Pandemonium one of the two must die without fail. I’m alive, so Frondier is dead. Why are you even questioning that?”
“.......”
Atena closed her mouth.
At her silence, the gods around them looked at her.
“Atena, you were afraid of Frondier’s Ecleksis. You said if Pandemonium opened, the god who entered with him would certainly die.”
“......Aphrodite, you.”
“How do you know that, Atena. How do you know Frondier’s power?”
“I fought Frondier too.”
“In Pandemonium?”
“Yes.”
“Then how did you get out? Why are you both alive?”
“......That is Frondier’s power.”
Cold stillness sank into Aphrodite’s eyes.
But not only her—the gods around them found Atena’s words strange.
“......Are you saying Frondier can cancel Pandemonium?”
“......No. He can re-enter.”
And by the same principle, probably, he can also exit. Atena hadn’t seen it herself, but she thought Frondier had likely slipped out of this Pandemonium with Aphrodite in just that way.
“Ridiculous.”
Aphrodite declared.
“No god will believe that, Atena.”
“Aphrodite.”
Aphrodite was full of suspicion.
To Atena, that—rather—was what seemed strange.
Their thoughts did not align at all.
'Aphrodite, you also went into Pandemonium and came out.'
Aphrodite had indeed entered Pandemonium with Frondier.
By Frondier’s lead, at that.
If so, she must have experienced Frondier’s Ecleksis. Even so, she doubted Atena.
No, that wasn’t even the bigger problem to begin with.
'How could Aphrodite have won?'
It wasn’t that she looked down on Aphrodite.
But with the Ecleksis Frondier possessed, there was absolutely no way Atena and Aphrodite’s power could beat him.
Frondier erased an enemy’s Ecleksis as if with an eraser. And since it was an eraser, he himself left no strokes in the scene.
If you drew a line with a pencil, the eraser removed it. This went beyond matchups and approached causality.
'Ordinarily Frondier would have won without fail. He must have held back.'
Then why?
What reason would Frondier have to go easy on Aphrodite?
'......Did the two of them join hands?'
The two had been in Pandemonium quite a while.
She didn’t know what they had talked about.
But Frondier had a silver tongue; he might have coaxed Aphrodite.
Aphrodite needed the Golden Apple. She dreamed of restoring her body and returning to Olympus.
But the vote was already a mess, and who knew when another chance to gain the Golden Apple would come.
If, at that time, Frondier said he would give her the Golden Apple by his own power—
'Aphrodite, did a god fall for such sugar-coating?'
For now, it was only suspicion.
But since Aphrodite had won in Pandemonium, Atena could not shake the thought that she and Frondier might now be on the same side.
Meanwhile Aphrodite thought exactly the opposite of Atena.
'As expected, Atena. You cooperated with Frondier. Re-entering Pandemonium? Such absurd nonsense.'
As Atena imagined, Aphrodite had spoken with Frondier.
But it had not been about joining hands.
Frondier did not spin such simple stories.
Rather, he told Aphrodite something Atena would have difficulty even imagining.
'Frondier chose death to save demons.'
Even if they were demons, the point of sacrificing himself for his subordinates was worthy of high praise.
At those words that he would step into Pandemonium of his own will and lay down his life, she had even felt a species of emotion.
And now they were saying that Frondier was alive?
'You just don’t want your lie to be found out, Atena.'
Atena had already persuaded those around her that Frondier’s Ecleksis was stronger than a god’s.
How did she know? Because she had suffered Frondier’s Pandemonium.
If she wanted to maintain that preposterous lie, she had no choice but to cry out that Frondier was alive.
In short, at this moment Atena and Aphrodite each thought the same thing about the other.
'You’re on Frondier’s side.'
Neither had joined hands with him, and yet the two began to suspect each other.
“......We can settle the truth of that later.”
Here, Hermes stepped in.
“Let’s return. Whatever Lady Atena thinks, our victory is clear.”
“......All right.”
Atena could not accept it, but she nodded.
Frondier is alive. She alone believed this.
Or perhaps he truly was dead. Aphrodite’s survival was the strongest evidence, and also why everyone was convinced of victory.
'......That Frondier.'
Was he really dead?
As Atena turned her body with the other gods and began to walk, her gaze lingered for a moment on the place where the demons had scattered.
***
“......Peaceful.”
I was lying inside Aphrodite’s Pandemonium.
Funnily enough, in the heart of enemy territory I had found a short rest.
“The most uncertain part of this operation was ‘losing,’ but it seems it somehow worked out.”
I wanted to stop the war.
I could let humans fight humans, but gods or demons meddling in it was something I could not tolerate.
If they played tricks on humans, then me playing tricks on them was fair in its own way.
Only, far more than I had thought, the buttons for war were already fastened in Agoris, and that so-called destiny seemed truly to be at work.
If the stone had not yet begun to roll, that would be one thing—but once a stone begins to roll, it doesn’t simply stop.
The stone of war was already rolling, and making war not happen at all was exceedingly difficult.
If you wanted to stop a war already begun, there was only one way.
Either win, or lose.
“Even if it’s fake, if everyone believes it’s real, then it’s a real victory.”
The gods killed the King of Demons.
A fitting punishment for demons provoking the gods, perhaps.
I had been defeated by Aphrodite and trapped inside her Pandemonium.
And this part was quite difficult.
I intended to lose to Aphrodite. Only then would Aphrodite be certain I was dead.
But I didn’t know how to lose.
'It was the same with Bael’s case, but being trapped in Pandemonium isn’t dying completely. You don’t need your mind to be utterly ruined to be judged the loser, either.'
Bael and Atena—I had won in Pandemonium and gotten out on my own, but the two of them were alive.
It had been close, of course, but in the end they came to their senses and returned as they were.
I could re-enter Pandemonium, but when I won I necessarily exited. That much wasn’t something I got to decide.
So I had to truly lose. At least enough that Aphrodite could leave on her own.
So I thought of one method.
'I can never tell my companions this.'
Just as I erased Bael and Atena and won.
To lose, I erased myself.
This power was unmistakably mine. Even if I erased myself, I was sure I would be fine.
Of course, whether I was sure or not, if I told this to the people around me they would probably blow their tops and beat me senseless. Ask me if I had any sense at all. I’m not joking.
'First, to deceive Aphrodite, I would accept her power, and in that process I would gradually erase myself.'
If I did that slowly, Pandemonium would, of its own accord, let Aphrodite out.
I had managed it at last.
Losing.
“And if I go out ten minutes after what I told Gregory, things more or less resolve.”
Just in case, I looked at my smartwatch, and sure enough it didn’t work.
Well, this was the world of souls; things like this were only decorations.
So I didn’t know when exactly ten minutes would be.
But it was better to give it some leeway. I didn’t know the situation outside; moving me might not be easy. If I woke too early and met eyes with a god, that would be bad.
“......All right.”
When it seemed a suitable time, I got up.
I didn’t know exactly, but ten minutes had certainly passed.
“Let’s go back.”
And so, just as I always had, I opened the door of Pandemonium.
***
When I opened my eyes.
“......?”
I was lying down, and I saw a number of people before me.
Elodie and Selena were looking down at me, and for some ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) reason both of them were on the verge of tears—no, crying.
'What’s this?'
Over there, Riri was grabbing Bael by the collar and shaking him.
“Why isn’t he waking up! Ten minutes passed ages ago!”
“I don’t know either! Let go of me! How dare you to the King of Hell......!”
“King of Hell or not! You’re the only one who’s experienced escaping Pandemonium with Frondier! What happens inside! What conditions are needed?”
“Aeii! Frondier is the one who pulled me out! How would I know about conditions or whatnot!”
“Y-you useless demon!”
It was unbelievably noisy.
And that wasn’t the only ruckus; everyone was murmuring seriously in their own ways.
But only for a moment.
“......Ah!”
Elodie’s eyes met mine. And Selena’s.
I slowly blinked to signal that I was fine.
At the sight of me, Selena started in surprise, her tear-streaked face twisting all up, and she came straight at me—
Slaaap!
“Ow!”
Smack!
“Gah!”
Elodie drove a fist into my gut.
“Hey! You! Bad! What are you that you’re only waking up now! Taking your sweet time all alone, huh! Oh! Be leisurely for life then! Die and be leisurely forever!”
“Ten minutes! You said ten minutes! If you were going to do this, why did we bother timing our escape! We even did a countdown!”
Thud! Slap! Smack! Slap!
“Yow! Ack! Wait! What is— ack!”
I got beaten senseless.
I’d thought I’d get hit if I told them what I did inside, but whether I talked or not, I was getting thoroughly beaten.
“H-how long has it been?”
I managed to ask while being hit.
Selena shouted.
“It’s already been an hour!”
......An hour?
Trying to go a bit over ten minutes turned into an hour?
Is my sense of time okay?
I was flustered with myself too, but I protested hard.
“A-as long as I’m alive, it’s fine.”
“Just die! Die already, you rotten jerk!”
Thud! Thud!
There was no true malice in Selena’s and Elodie’s hands and fists, but there was anger instead. So it hurt more than the actual damage I took.
“......Um, you two.”
A savior arrived.
It was Vasileo.
“Everyone is watching.”
“......Ah.”
At those words, Selena and Elodie looked around.
There was no time for those around us to rejoice that I had woken up; the two of them had been hitting me for quite a while, so of course everyone would be dumbfounded.
“......Ah, mm.”
Feeling a little abashed, I got up.
I looked around. A dense forest of tall, towering trees. A landscape that felt unfamiliar somehow.
“Where is this?”
“It isn’t anywhere yet. It’s the road to Edrium.”
“......Where’s that?”
It sounded like somewhere I had heard of.
Elodie gave me a cool look.
“You’ve been there before. The land of demons. You said you met Bael.”
“Ah, right. It was called Edrium.”
I’d heard it once and let it slide, so I hadn’t remembered.
Beside me, Selena spoke.
“After shadow transfer we moved to where Mr. Gregory was and then traveled while avoiding the gods’ sight. Though it seems like the gods weren’t planning to search for us in the first place.”
“If there aren’t humans with divine power nearby, a god’s eye doesn’t reach.”
Elodie added.
“Divine power......”
My eyes reflexively turned to Elodie.
Were her five gods all right?
“I’m fine. For Veda to reach all the way to Olympus is very difficult, and even if they want to possess someone, there’s no particular pretext on this side. They’ll just end up shaving their own faith for nothing.”
At that, I felt relieved.
Then a thought occurred to me, and I asked,
“Then why did you stop moving? Because I hadn’t woken up?”
“That’s one reason, and the other is—”
As Elodie spoke, she flicked her gaze aside.
There was Gregory. His human form, not as a crow, was still unfamiliar.
When Gregory saw me, he came at a slightly quick pace.
“Frondier, report.”
“......You really are the same as ever.”
“I’d love to trade trifling banter too, but it’s a bit urgent.”
At his words, I nodded.
It was important enough that Gregory should have woken me immediately. It had to be important.
“We found a Gate.”
“......!”
“Among the remaining 72 Demons who didn’t follow Bael out, a number were moving suspiciously, so I tailed them. They had hidden the Gate with concealment magic.”
“......So there wasn’t only one traitor.”
I had read that there was a traitor among the 72 Demons. If you wanted to hide a Gate, that was the surest method.
But if it wasn’t only one, hiding the Gate would be all the easier. If they covered a wide area around the Gate, the other 72 Demons would never find it.
“I still don’t know what those bastards are up to, but the Gate is still open.”
“As for their aim, we can just ask.”
“Ask?”
When Gregory asked back, I lifted my head and looked around.
The person I was looking for wasn’t in sight, so I raised my voice.
“Purpur, where are you?”
No answer came to my question.
Hm.
What would be an effective way to—
“R-right here.”
—torment this guy, I’d thought up about seven methods when Purpur of his own accord came to me.
Loyally, he went to one knee and bowed his head deep.
What now; I’d thought he intended to stay hidden.
“Purpur, I have a question.”
“Please speak.”
“What’s your aim?”
“......Sir?”
Purpur lifted his head and looked at me.
Wondering if he hadn’t heard, I asked again.
“I asked what your aim is—yours, all of you.”
