Frondier had slain Orthos. Almost effortlessly.
However, the greatest gain for the group wasn't the fact that Orthos was dead.
It was that Pielott had nearly wiped out the devils who had devised the plan to kill Frondier, and,
[……That's roughly what happened.]
Gregory’s arrival.
“……Hmm.”
Many of Frondier's victories so far had been achieved through information asymmetry.
He concealed his true strength, and he hid the knowledge he possessed.
However, having long passed the point where he knew the future through the game, even Frondier was now unaware of how things would unfold, and much of his abilities had been exposed to others.
That's why Frondier understood the importance of information. He had narrowly escaped death countless times thanks to it.
And his greatest source of information was, needless to say, Gregory.
“So, Dier extracted information from Marco.”
[But Marco is a devil who excels at lying. Devils are generally known for it, but Marco is on another level. What Dier obtained could very well be false.]
“That's impossible.”
Frondier refuted without hesitation.
“Dier is certain that the information he obtained is accurate. Then it's undoubtedly true.”
[……Well, if you think so, I won’t say more.]
Frondier nodded and took a moment to organize his thoughts.
‘The reason Marco joined Satan's ranks. Could it be that he already foresaw the prelude to this war?’
Baal and the other devils led by him. The first time Frondier encountered them was, of course, during the attack on Falind from Agoris.
It was because Belpheghor had withdrawn from this land, and Baal saw it as the greatest opportunity for the devils.
However, there was no way they could have predicted Belpheghor's retreat. Frondier was a clear anomaly, regardless of whether it was humans, devils, or gods.
‘So that's why Dier thought there must have been an original plan. Indeed.’
The devils' original plan.
In other words, a plan to return to the Demon Realm without touching the Falind continent.
A plan so risky and with such a low probability of success that they abandoned it the moment Belpheghor withdrew and flocked to the Falind continent, a reckless plan…….
“……Tsk.”
Frondier clicked his tongue.
He had arrived at almost the same conclusion as Dier.
‘God doesn't differentiate between devils. Whether it's the 72 Devils or the Seven Deadly Sins, all devils are simply devils to them.’
The reason God didn't distinguish between them was simple.
Because neither side had a clear king.
The king of devils that Arald so desperately desired. The implications of his absence were now crystal clear.
Whether the devils clashed or united, there was no reason for God to separate them.
“......Baal is playing both sides.”
[Playing both sides?]
“Yes. Now I understand. What's happening in this capital of Palma.”
At Frondier's words, Elodie, who had been listening, asked,
“Are you saying the devils are pretending to be gods to avoid a war with them?”
“No, the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“Or to be more precise...”
Frondier sighed.
He scratched his head and said,
“Baal is using this war to draw Satan in.”
“……What?”
“To be exact, he's dragging all the devils in the Demon Realm into this. Of course, it was Satan who trapped them in Agoris, so drawing him in is no different from dragging them all.”
Elodie still couldn't grasp the situation.
However, Lily, who was originally a devil, and Arald, who had a general understanding of the situation in the Demon Realm, were the first to comprehend.
Arald spoke,
“For devils to impersonate gods is a clear declaration of war against them. This is a fact understood by both devils and gods. Therefore, devils wouldn’t dare to impersonate gods.”
Lily added,
“But what the devils fail to consider is that God doesn’t differentiate between them.”
Frondier concluded,
“So, if a devil provokes God, it’s considered an act of hostility by ‘all devils’ from the perspective of God, regardless of ‘which devil’ initiated it.”
Whether they were devils in the Demon Realm or devils in Agoris.
Whether they were the 72 Devils or the Seven Deadly Sins.
God made no distinction between devils.
“In other words, Baal has put his life on the line, along with the entire Seven Deadly Sins, by committing blasphemy against God.”
“......If it were a low-ranking devil, it might be dismissed as a minor incident, but for Baal, hailed as the strongest of the 72 Devils, to do such a thing... Naturally, the gods can’t overlook it.”
“So, it’s not the gods who want to stop what’s happening in Palma. Nor is it the humans. It’s the other devils, especially those in the Demon Realm, and most importantly, Satan.”
Baal had placed the lives of all devils on the line and issued a threat to Satan.
If you want to avoid a war with God, open the gate to the Demon Realm before it's too late.
Open the way for us to return to the Demon Realm.
“Whether God realizes what’s happening in Palma first, or Satan takes action against them first...”
Frondier recalled.
The three devils he had encountered before coming here.
They were Astaroth’s subordinates. One of the Seven Deadly Sins.
‘Was their true objective not me, but to meet with Baal?’
And this current battle, the enemies seemed to be aware of the strength of Frondier and his companions.
Information about Frondier was being leaked somewhere within the devils' exchange.
They were using Frondier and his entire group as pawns in their exchange.
“……Hehe.”
Faced with such blatant provocation, Frondier chuckled.
“In a whale fight, it’s the shrimp’s back that gets broken... That’s exactly what’s happening.”
“Huh? Whale? Shrimp?”
It was a saying from Frondier's previous world. To those unfamiliar with it, they were just confusing words.
But they would soon understand.
The meaning behind this saying.
“It's almost refreshing, how blatantly they're provoking us.”
And who the shrimp truly were.
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