The Goddess of Beauty, Aphrodite.
She had suffered more humiliation today than she had in her entire lifetime.
She had encountered numerous humans whose appearances threatened her own, her powers had failed to work, and she had even been kicked by a human.
That abominable human was now standing before her.
"So this is your Eclexis."
Frondier strolled leisurely through Pandemonium.
It took the form of a heavenly paradise that humans could easily imagine, but it was filled with an intoxicating fragrance that disrupted the emotions of both men and women.
The temple was adorned with splendid sculptures and paintings, all of which possessed an erotic allure.
Just like Aphrodite's inherent power, her Eclexis was also focused on captivating her opponent.
'How outrageous...!'
However, even in this space, Frondier remained unfazed. He seemed completely unaffected by her influence.
Aphrodite trembled with anger as she looked at Frondier's nonchalant face.
The strangest thing was that, unlike her, Frondier didn't seem to have a domain or any visible representation of his power.
'Though I haven't experienced Pandemonium often in my long life, whether the opponent is strong or not, Pandemonium is about clashing Eclecxes. So each person's domain should be visible, and the form of their soul should be revealed to the world.'
Therefore, whether large or small, the opponent's world should also exist.
However, Frondier's domain was nowhere to be seen.
There was no structure to the world that could reveal his soul, only he himself remained.
"We won't be interrupted for a short while. Let's have a chat."
"...Do you even know what Pandemonium is? You think we can just chat in here?"
Pandemonium was a battleground for souls.
A place where two individuals fought, wagering their very existence, and only one could emerge victorious.
Frondier smiled faintly and said, "I know. But well, we can at least exchange a few words before we fight."
If the fight wasn't decided, they couldn't leave Pandemonium anyway.
And as long as her powers didn't work on him, if Frondier had no intention of fighting, the battle wouldn't proceed.
So, having a conversation wouldn't be a bad thing for her, but...
"You dare kick a god and...!"
"That's because you were trying to control and use me with your powers. It was self-defense."
Self-defense?
A human who dared to kick a god and then claimed self-defense.
Trying to apply rules that only worked among humans to a god...!
"So, what do you think?"
Thump. Frondier plopped down on the floor in front of Aphrodite, sitting cross-legged.
Aphrodite stared at him in disbelief, but right now, the content of his words bothered her more than his actions.
"What do I think?"
"About this situation."
Frondier looked up at Aphrodite.
His eyes seemed slightly tired.
"I think you must be feeling a sense of dissonance."
"...!"
Aphrodite's eyes widened.
As if to add fuel to the fire, Frondier continued, "Your power is weaker than what I heard from Athena. I'm quite surprised, actually."
"As expected, Athena...!"
'As expected.' Aphrodite muttered those words.
She had already been suspicious of Athena.
Hearing her words, Frondier smiled inwardly and said, "Being confined within Palma, you haven't noticed that your power has weakened."
"You, who are you really? What is Athena thinking? What is she planning?!"
"I don't know what Athena is planning. I'm a devil; I only move according to contracts."
Frondier shrugged.
Aphrodite, her face full of vigilance, asked, "...Athena made a contract with you...?"
"Yes. The goal was to weaken your power within Palma. Or rather, that was Athena's goal. Whatever, it doesn't really matter."
It did matter.
Aphrodite couldn't believe that Athena would go to such lengths.
Frondier continued, "As you can see, the plan was clear. Bring in people with beautiful appearances and show them to the citizens of the capital for a long time. More importantly, it was about showing them to you. The Goddess of Beauty loses her power if she doubts her own beauty. That's what Athena said."
Aphrodite wavered at Frondier's words.
Under normal circumstances, if someone had said such things to her, she would have dismissed them as utter nonsense. However, her powers were indeed not working on Frondier.
They worked on humans, but they had weakened to the point where they didn't affect devils. This was the most logical conclusion for Aphrodite.
However, even so, Aphrodite couldn't bring herself to believe it easily.
"Athena is the Goddess of Wisdom. There's no way she would really join hands with a devil! Even if she wanted the Golden Apple, Athena would fight fairly...!"
"Think back to when I first appeared."
Frondier raised a finger.
"What did Athena do?"
"...!"
Of course, Aphrodite remembered.
Athena had—
—Oh, no!
—Stop it, everyone!
—Just listen to me! Don't attack him!
She had stopped the other gods from attacking Frondier.
Then, she repeatedly emphasized that the gods would be the ones to suffer if they fought him.
But was that even possible?
"There's a chance Athena was genuinely worried about the gods...!"
Aphrodite was now defending Athena to Frondier.
To Frondier, who claimed to have joined hands with Athena.
So, this wasn't about convincing Frondier. It was about convincing herself.
That Athena would never do such a thing, she tried to reassure herself.
"Aphrodite, be rational." [T/N: Now gaslighting a goddess]
Frondier said.
He was the one who had sown the seeds of doubt in Aphrodite's mind, yet he spoke as if he were on the opposite side.
"Athena's logic doesn't add up."
"W-What do you mean?"
"What was Athena's reason for stopping the gods? That my Eclexis could defeat them, right?"
"...Y-Yes."
Aphrodite found Frondier's power itself suspicious.
Even now, his domain remained invisible. Suspicious as it was, she couldn't be sure of its true strength.
The problem was that Aphrodite was so preoccupied with the question of how strong Frondier's Eclexis was that she failed to grasp one simple fact.
"Aphrodite, even if you don't want to believe it, let's assume that my power surpasses that of the gods. Let's assume that Athena was worried about that slim possibility."
Frondier described the probability of his power surpassing the gods as "slim."
Then,
"How would Athena know that?"
"...What?"
"Let me repeat what you already know. Listen carefully."
Frondier fixed his gaze on Aphrodite, his eyes seemingly filled with sincerity.
Or so Aphrodite thought.
Frondier's eyes had remained unchanged from the very beginning.
"When Pandemonium opens, one of the two inside will surely die."
"...!"
"But both Athena and I are alive. What does that tell you?"
Aphrodite's mouth fell open.
Confined within the capital, she was largely unaware of recent events.
Knowing this, Frondier continued calmly, "Athena is lying."
"H-How...!"
"She doesn't know what my Eclexis is, nor how strong it is. She lied just to protect me."
To weaken Aphrodite's power.
To achieve that goal, the god Athena had sided with the devil, Frondier.
An easily understandable scenario formed in Aphrodite's mind.
"...Why are you telling me this?"
"Because the contract is over."
The contract was over.
The condition of the contract was to weaken Aphrodite's power, and it had been fulfilled.
"But it seems Athena intends to kill me. In other words, she betrayed me first. Well, it's not like a god could trust a devil. Because I'm a devil."
Frondier shrugged.
Then he said, "I'm the Devil King, so I have to protect my own."
"..."
At those words, Aphrodite couldn't say anything and simply met Frondier's gaze.
His eyes seemed somewhat lonely.
The same eyes that hadn't changed at all from the beginning.
"...So you brought me to Pandemonium..."
"Did you think I'd really fight you to the death? You're the one who wins here. Don't worry, you can leave. Well, if I fight with all my might, I might be able to win if I'm lucky. But even if I win here, I won't be able to save the devils."
Frondier spoke as if it were no big deal. As if being trapped in Pandemonium for eternity meant nothing to him.
He spoke casually, "If you have something you want to protect too, you'll understand how I feel."
"...You want to protect the devils that much? Even if it means being trapped in Pandemonium?"
"That's what a king does."
Frondier smiled. With that same smile, he said, "I have a favor to ask, Aphrodite. To protect the devils, and to protect you."
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Lol, froinder rizz always work
ReplyDeleteFr tho
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