Frondier quietly asked Selena.
"Selena, do you see it? The thread binding Fenrir."
Selena nodded while still covering her mouth.
When it came to vision, Selena far surpassed Frondier. She had known from the beginning that Fenrir was tied.
She knew it—and still couldn’t move from fear.
Seeing that, Frondier thought:
'Selena’s intuition is incredibly sharp. She immediately reacted to the killing intent Ampere showed for an instant, and she instantly recognized the terrorist in the department store.'
And yet that same Selena was terrified upon seeing a bound Fenrir.
Which meant simply being bound wasn’t enough to feel safe from that wolf.
"......Stay here."
Frondier said that as he slowly began to walk forward. Standing here wouldn’t change anything. He had to make up his mind and move—
Grip.
Selena grabbed Frondier’s sleeve.
Her face was shaking left and right in a panic.
Her eyes were desperately screaming, Let’s just go somewhere else!
"......That’s why I said you should stay here."
Frondier lightly removed Selena’s hand as he spoke.
"Mmff...!"
Selena looked utterly flustered, but she still followed behind Frondier. Belphegor also matched Frondier’s pace with a tense expression.
'I have to confirm it.'
The thread binding Fenrir gave Frondier a very definite sense of déjà vu. No—déjà vu didn’t even cover it. He already possessed it.
Black Heaven.
That thread binding Fenrir looked far too similar to it.
'It’s not just because it’s pitch black. That mana, that feeling—it’s far too familiar for something I’m supposedly seeing for the first time.'
In mythology, that thread should originally be Gleipnir.
If so—was Black Heaven originally Gleipnir? Or, in this world, had things changed, and Black Heaven was the one binding Fenrir instead of Gleipnir?
But either way, one problem remained the same.
'......There’s no way my Black Heaven is binding Fenrir.'
As he stepped a bit farther forward, Fenrir’s full form finally entered his field of view.
Fenrir was a gigantic white wolf straight out of the myths. Of course, if it were exactly as the myths described, it should have been massive enough to swallow the ends of the sky and the earth—but it wasn’t that big.
Even so, he had to look far, far up at a four-legged wolf. The overwhelming pressure was there.
Krrrrk—
Fenrir’s eyes were watchful of Frondier and the others. He didn’t seem intent on attacking yet, but he was prepared to do so at any moment.
"......Hello, Fenrir."
Frondier, unsure how to speak to him, ended up giving the same trivial greeting he used for everyone.
Fenrir looked at him.
[...Demon. No, human?]
"!"
Frondier was shocked.
Not only was it surprising that Fenrir spoke without moving his mouth and that ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the meaning went straight into his head—what shocked him more was how Fenrir seemed to pierce straight through his identity at a glance.
Belphegor, standing next to him, said:
"New demon. He only became a demon recently."
[...Belphegor.]
Fenrir seemed to know Belphegor. Well, it had been a pretty long time since Belphegor fell into Nastrond—enough for them to know each other’s faces, maybe.
[You killed Nidhogg.]
But Fenrir seemed to know Belphegor even better than Frondier had expected.
Belphegor laughed.
"Sure, thanks to your help."
[You instilled sloth into Nidhogg and drove him into my domain.]
At those words, Frondier stared at Belphegor in disbelief.
"You said you didn’t know why Fenrir bit Nidhogg."
"I didn’t. It’s true I implanted sloth into Nidhogg, but that he entered Fenrir’s domain because of it, and that Fenrir bit him because of that—that part was unexpected."
Eclexus only influenced people. It didn’t allow the caster to predict or control exactly how the target would act. It wasn’t hypnosis.
[Nidhogg was always radiating killing intent toward me. You didn’t know that?]
"Nidhogg was?"
[Ever since I came here, all the wolves of Nastrond have been terrified.]
......Oh.
Frondier nodded, understanding to a degree.
Nastrond originally had not only Nidhogg but also wolves. They tormented sinners and endlessly devoured their bodies.
Nastrond’s king had originally been Nidhogg. So the wolves would have been obedient to him.
But when Fenrir arrived, everything must have changed.
Fenrir was, without question, king of all beasts.
[Belphegor, because of the sloth you gave him, Nidhogg’s self-control snapped.]
"So he lost reason and attacked you."
[He didn’t attack. I bit him first. He approached within biting distance. It was only natural. He definitely intended to attack me.]
What kind of lunatic logic was that—I bit him because I could.
[And human.]
Now Fenrir looked at Frondier.
[You’re within my attack range right now.]
"......"
Frondier examined Fenrir’s entire body.
Judging by the restraints, even if Fenrir stretched as far as he could, his teeth wouldn’t reach Frondier. Even a swipe of his front paw wouldn’t quite get him. Barely. And yet Fenrir said he was within attack range. Was this the dread that made Selena beg him not to approach?
"I came because I have something to ask."
Frondier casually ignored the warning.
[Hmph.]
Fenrir listened—and
KENG—!!
He roared at Frondier like a lion’s thunderous bellow.
"Urgh!"
A burst of aura. Frondier’s body lifted and was blown back.
KWA-CRRRRK!
He drew his sword and stabbed it into the ground. Crack-crack-crack, the blade scraped against the floor with a frantic sound. The pressure of the aura was immense—Frondier felt like he wasn’t embedding the sword into ground, but into a cliff.
It was aura pressure comparable to gravity itself.
[Get lost.]
A cold voice struck him from afar.
[If you can’t withstand even this much, I have nothing to say to you.]
"......"
Frondier closed his mouth for a moment.
And Selena and Belphegor, watching this, reacted at the same time—
"Ah."
Selena let out a short sound.
"Oh dear."
Belphegor sighed.
As though they had prepared for this, the two moved smoothly and efficiently.
Selena rushed to Frondier, and Belphegor stepped toward Fenrir.
"Lord Frondier. It’s a trivial provocation. It’s better for future battles if you conserve your strength."
"Fenrir. I know you’re sensitive, but there’s no need for this. We just want to talk."
Fenrir tilted his head with boredom at Belphegor’s words. He might not listen to Frondier, but it seemed he would listen to Belphegor.
Hearing a question was easy. Maybe he’d listen to what the human wanted to ask. Fenrir thought that far when—
"Selena, Belphegor."
Frondier’s mouth opened.
At his voice, Selena bowed her head, and Belphegor dropped his shoulders.
"Move aside, both of you."
Without a moment’s hesitation, the two stepped away.
The straight line between Fenrir and Frondier was cleared completely.
A straight line.
Fenrir—tied in place—directly forward of Frondier.
Only Fenrir in this world didn’t know what that meant.
"Hey, wolf."
[...What?]
"Judging from the way you talk, you’re one of those ‘I only acknowledge the strong’ types, aren’t you?"
Fenrir had just tested Frondier.
How well could he handle the burst of aura? How much could he endure?
And Frondier had failed the test.
The reason was simple.
He had no intention of being hostile to Fenrir.
"Alright, fine. I get it. I get you loud and clear. I’ve met plenty of guys like you. You laugh at the weak and respect the strong. I find you twisted freaks impossible to understand, but I’ve had it beaten into my body how to deal with you."
Frondier opened his right hand.
Weave: Mjolnir.
He opened his left hand.
Weave: Excalibur.
[...!]
The shift in Frondier’s aura made Fenrir’s eyes widen.
"I was worried you’d misunderstand if I used aura, that you’d think I was threatening you. But of course you wouldn’t. Naturally. You’re Fenrir. The king of beasts wouldn’t misunderstand something like that. I underestimated you."
And then Frondier swallowed a Dragon Heart.
BUUUUUM—!!
Frondier’s aura surged into both weapons.
His wings spread, and his mana skyrocketed.
Black Heaven activation.
The spreading Black Heaven dyed both weapons, and his mana gathered into Excalibur.
"In my experience, guys who chase strength like you don’t mind getting hurt a bit."
Like Renzo.
Renzo treated fighting strong people as fun, and he didn’t mind at all if he got hurt in the process. Of course, dying was a separate matter.
Though Frondier overlooked one thing—
Renzo was insane even by standards of humans, demons, and gods.
Fenrir was not that level of insane.
"I’ll pass your test."
[...No, wait a moment.]
Frondier smiled.
He smiled with an expression holding no killing intent or fighting spirit.
Because that wasn’t what he felt.
Frondier was not trying to fight Fenrir now.
Fenrir saw Frondier as weak, so Frondier needed to show he was strong.
And then—
"We could—"
Whirl.
Excalibur reversed grip.
The tip pointed toward Fenrir.
"—become friends."
Shiiing!!
He swung Mjolnir with the other hand.
KAAAANG!!!
Sword aura release.
Frondier Original.
Jeong.
[...Keng!]
For Fenrir to defend against this, he would have had to counter with aura—
But he was so shocked by Frondier’s attack that his body froze.
The sword aura ‘Jeong’ tore through the air and rushed before Fenrir’s eyes—
Ssssk—
Brushing past his ear—
Whooosh—
KWAaaaaaaaaaang!!!
It flew a great distance and slammed into a wall far beyond, shaking the cavern with explosive force.
The distant quake rolled all the way back to them, and clouds of dust surged up, filling their vision.
When the dust finally settled—
"Hmm."
Frondier flexed both hands lightly. The weapons were already gone.
"So this is what being a demon feels like."
From fighting Belphegor, Frondier had learned:
A demon was, by nature, a being closer to mana than a human. Thus they could almost innately handle aura.
But that trait didn’t only apply to aura. It applied to magic as well.
Belphegor, during their fight, skipped most magical processes entirely. That was why Frondier had chosen close combat.
The traits demons possessed had always irritated Frondier.
Yet now he was a demon. The trait that had angered him—he now possessed himself.
"Well? How’s that?"
Frondier spoke toward Fenrir.
Fenrir still had his head turned toward the distant impact site where Jeong had struck and destroyed the wall.
"Is this enough to earn the right to ask a question?"
Since Fenrir was facing backward, Frondier couldn’t see his expression.
But a moment later—
[...I see.]
Fenrir turned his head back forward and looked at Frondier.
[This is enough for me to at least hear you out. What is it.]
In an utterly calm face, Fenrir looked at him and spoke.
Frondier smiled brightly.
"Thank you."
