Olympus.
Hestia was fighting the gods of Olympus, leading her own army.
In that moment, she sensed a chill down her spine.
"This is......!"
Hestia turned her gaze to the left.
That gaze looked far, far away, to a world beyond Olympus.
What she sensed had discovered something very important.
A single line of light connecting the human world and Asgard.
Beyond Teiven’s Barrier, from above the branch of Yggdrasil inside a certain cave, a shaft of light stretched up to the end of the sky.
This was called—
"The Bifrost has opened!"
They called it Bifrost.
‘Frondier really did defeat the Moirai!’
Bifrost had originally been the bridge used by the gods of Asgard, but after the Ragnarok of the past, it had been shut off by the Moirai.
They had cut off Bifrost, erased the path between humans and gods, and then called the gods’ world the “World of Salvation.” They had built a world belonging only to the gods, one humans could never reach.
That Bifrost had opened again meant the Moirai were dead.
‘Now the gods will head for Bifrost!’
Now the gods would descend to the surface. From Asgard, from Olympus, they would flock there, regardless of where they were.
It was impossible for Hestia to block all of that. At the very least, she had to block as much as she could here on Olympus alone.
And that resolve was formed quickly.
"Hestia!!"
A sudden flash.
With a voice like thunder, a god appeared before her eyes, just as his name implied.
"Zeus......."
Hestia spoke his name in a tense voice.
With a hardened face, Zeus spoke in a heavy tone.
"Stand aside, Hestia."
"I refuse."
In the brief exchange that couldn’t even be called a greeting, gods appeared one after another, standing in front of Hestia.
Hestia, goddess of hearth and peace.
Her deeply compassionate nature had become a model and object of respect for all gods, and so Hestia had maintained amiable relations with most of them.
This was especially true of Zeus. Whenever he made hasty judgments or felt wrong emotions, he would look at Hestia and chasten himself.
Because of that, even in this situation where ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) they needed to get to Bifrost as quickly as possible, Zeus and the other gods had stopped instead of attacking Hestia right away.
Zeus spoke.
"What benefit is there for you in doing this?"
"Have you forgotten, King of the Gods?"
Hestia looked at Zeus, then at the gods around him, and spoke.
As if telling them all to listen.
"That I love humans more than any other god."
"......Hestia. In the past you gave divine power to Heldre."
Hermes, standing beside Zeus, spoke.
Before he became a Zodiac, Heldre had been an atrocious criminal. He had slaughtered people as much as he had slain monsters.
Hestia had given divine power to Heldre, of all people, and as a result Heldre had become a Zodiac.
"Seeing that, we thought you had finally come to understand our hearts."
"Heldre killed countless monsters and saved many humans. His sins are grave, but that is not something for me to interfere with. More importantly,"
Hestia spoke calmly.
"By giving him divine power, I was able to put a stop to his killings."
"......!"
Heldre had become a Zodiac in recognition of slaying so many monsters, but the biggest reason was still that he had received divine power.
Without a position, Heldre’s immense strength had nowhere to go and had turned him into a rampaging butcher, but after becoming a Zodiac, Heldre no longer killed people. Having gained status and authority, he had stopped senseless slaughter.
Hestia, who loved humans.
Her strength would always be directed toward saving the greatest number of people.
"Hestia. This war can no longer be stopped. If you take part, it will end with fewer humans dying."
"That’s true. I know that as well."
Hestia’s voice as she answered was colder than ever.
"That we can no longer deceive humans."
Zeus closed his eyes deeply.
He had known from the start.
That he could not change Hestia’s heart.
And that nothing Hestia said would persuade him either.
"......That path is the path where we all perish."
"That’s right."
All the gods standing before Hestia completed their battle stances.
Hestia’s flames flared up.
"I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner."
***
Asgard.
Except for Thor, who had set out toward Frondier, all the gods moved toward Bifrost.
Bifrost had originally connected Asgard and the human world. Naturally, it was much closer than Olympus.
However, the gods could not advance far toward that brilliantly shining shaft of light.
"No......!"
One of the gods cried out, looking up at the sky.
There was a shadow.
A shadow that laid a thick darkness over this sky-world.
Loftily hovering above the gods’ heads,
A huge, skeletal ship.
"──You!"
Odin, who knew the owner of that ship, shouted without hesitation.
"Hela! What do you think you’re doing!"
At his words, Hela slowly descended from the ship.
Arrogantly, she floated there above Odin, looking down at him.
"You have arrived."
"Hela. You dare come to this Asgard, and on top of that, you set Naglfar sailing!"
Hela should originally have been in Helheim, or in Niflheim. Why was she here?
Odin could not understand that. With a face full of anger, he glared at Hela.
"I apologize, chief god."
Hela lightly raised her hand.
In that hand, there was a lantern.
"Hela, you......."
"I have,"
She brought her lips close to the lantern.
"A duty I must fulfill."
Fwoosh.
In an instant.
Asgard was swallowed by darkness.
"Hela──!!"
All the gods opened their Ecleksis.
They lit Hela’s darkness with a massive blaze of light.
By then, Odin already had his spear Gungnir in his hand, but—
‘Damn......!’
Hela’s figure was hidden and gone inside the darkness.
Gungnir’s “certain hit” was an ability higher even than the skill of Criselachatos that Frondier used.
When it was thrown toward the target it had been aimed at, there was nothing that spear could not pierce.
But if he could not see, he could not aim.
Hela slipped away from the area the light had illuminated and moved her body to where the darkness was still deep.
At the motion of her hand—
CH-CH-CHAK!
All the soldiers of Naglfar drew their bowstrings and took aim at the gods.
‘......Belphegor.’
Before coming here.
Hela had heard a story from Belphegor.
After being defeated by Frondier, Belphegor had approached her.
"Listen carefully."
"Don’t come near me—"
"Shh."
Belphegor lowered his voice, gave Frondier’s receding back a sidelong glance, then spoke again to Hela.
"──It’s a message from Loki."
"W-what did you say?"
From Belphegor’s mouth came an unexpected name.
Is this some kind of joke? A demon’s prank? Thinking that, she looked at him—but Belphegor was more serious now than at any other time.
"Take command of Naglfar and head for Asgard. You’re the only one who can stop that army."
"What kind of bullshit is this. How is a dead Loki sending any message at all."
"This message is something he left with me when he was still alive."
Hela frowned in sheer disbelief.
She didn’t understand a single thing Belphegor was saying.
Loki had died in the distant past. And that Loki had left a message in advance for an age this far in the future? What could he have known, what could he have used as a basis, to leave such a message?
"Demon, stop mocking me there. Any further and I won’t tolerate it."
"Of course, whether you believe this or not is up to you. I’m only passing it on."
Belphegor said that and stepped away from Hela.
Then, as if that truly was all, he turned his back and started walking toward Frondier.
Belphegor grew more and more distant.
Watching him for a moment, Hela asked,
"......Belphegor."
"Mm?"
"Why are you helping Frondier, anyway? What do you even get out of it?"
"There’s no profit in it."
A nonsensical answer.
A demon making a choice that didn’t pursue gain? Logically speaking, that couldn’t exist.
"I already received my profit. A long time ago."
"......What?"
"I’m a demon, you know. Hela."
Belphegor looked at Hela and gave her a playful smile.
"It was part of the contract."
***
Demon Realm.
Satan left the fortress together with the other Seven Deadly Sins.
He’d sent Astaroth, but Astaroth probably wouldn’t be able to match them. That was only to buy time.
Satan disliked Frondier and Belphegor as much as he did, but he knew well how strong they were. In that sense, Astaroth was just right to peel those two apart for a while.
Satan was a demon. He was an enemy of the gods, and an enemy of humans.
From his standpoint, Frondier’s attempt to kill the gods was actually helpful. It would result in killing off the gods’ power and balancing things.
But it couldn’t go too far. No one yet knew just how strong Frondier had become as a demon. And if the sly Belphegor was at his side, developments beyond anything imaginable could occur.
So he had sent Astaroth with the intention of separating the two of them. That much had gone according to plan.
If Belphegor had then gone after Frondier.
Satan’s plan would have been a success.
NEEEEIGH─!!
The cry of a horse rang in the ears of the flying Seven Deadly Sins.
All of them felt a chill and looked back over their shoulders.
Far in the distance.
Four knights were coming.
Dudududududu─
Their horses’ hooves pounded harshly as they closed the distance with the flying Seven Deadly Sins.
"What are those things?"
"Aren’t those them? The ones Belphegor used to command."
Each of the Seven Deadly Sins spoke their piece as they looked at them.
From the four knights, they felt nothing but killing intent. The Seven Deadly Sins instantly understood that those knights had no intention of having any kind of normal conversation.
"Ha!"
Mammon, demon of Greed. The young boy split his mouth in a long grin.
"For his mere subordinates to come instead of Belphegor himself—how arrogant!"
With that, Mammon instead turned his body and flew toward the four knights.
"Wait, Mammon!"
Asmodeus shouted in alarm at the sight.
"Let him go."
Satan spoke.
Even when the four knights had appeared, even when Mammon had charged them, he hadn’t so much as glanced sideways.
"If he wants to buy us time, there’s no need to stop him."
"Buy time, Satan?"
"Why else."
Staring straight ahead with flat eyes, Satan spoke.
"Why else would Mammon have gone."
While he said that—
Mammon had already come within arm’s reach of the four knights.
"You lot! You’re Belphegor’s flunkies, aren’t you. How dare you direct killing intent at the Seven Deadly Sins—"
Then—
Rumble, rumble, rumble─
The knight on the red horse narrowed his eyes.
His horse—in other words, the horse made of heaps of corpses and blood—soon swelled in size. By then, the shape of a horse was nowhere to be seen.
The swelling mound of corpses, the blood dripping in heavy drops.
That bulk hurtled forward, turning into a gigantic maw large enough to swallow a forest, with the knight standing atop it.
"Ah."
Mammon was standing right in front of that gaping mouth, and—
CRUNCH!
The maw of corpses swallowed Mammon.
CRUNCH! CRACK! SQUELCH!
With every sort of sound from within, its volume shrank.
Soon, the corpse-and-blood horse was back again. The knight, as if nothing had happened, rode on and moved forward.
"Hey, did you actually kill him properly?"
The knight on the blue horse running beside him asked.
"No idea."
The other knight spoke without even looking back.
"The order was to pursue."
