As time passed and night fell, everyone gathered at Frondier's house.
Well, not everyone.
Frondier looked around at everyone and tilted his head.
“Where’s Lily?”
Ria Lis was nowhere to be seen. And neither was Selena.
He wasn’t too concerned about Selena, as she would appear whenever she felt like it, but it was a bit strange that both of them were absent.
“……Selena, are you there?”
Silence.
There was no response from Selena, who usually reacted almost instantly to Frondier's call.
In an instant, Frondier's eyes turned cold.
“Which bastard took Selena…”
Swoosh—
“I, I apologize for being late.”
Before Frondier could finish his sentence, Selena emerged from the shadows. Kneeling on one knee before Frondier, her breathing was somewhat ragged.
At that sight, Frondier's eyes softened, and he asked,
“Selena, what happened?”
“I, I was teaching Lady Lily, and there was a slight accident……”
“Accident?”
Selena was teaching Ria Lis. Frondier had already heard about it.
Lily had asked for Frondier's permission before going to Selena, which was only natural considering the demonic hierarchy. Moreover, given the inherent danger of Shadow Transference, learning it secretly without telling him would be akin to Lily begging him to kill her.
Frondier had readily agreed, and Selena hadn't believed her when she said he readily agreed, so Frondier had met with Selena personally to convey his readily given permission.
Selena’s face had been full of displeasure at that, but she eventually agreed to teach Lily.
“Lady Ria Lis, how should I put it, she gained some confidence and wanted to practice a little more……”
“She threw a tantrum?”
“……Is that…… how I should put it……?”
Selena seemed unsure how to respond.
Meanwhile.
Crack!
“!”
From within Frondier's shadow, a hand shot out.
It was so grotesque that even Frondier felt a chill run down his spine.
Thump, thump, crack.
With strange noises, the hand pressed against the floor and pushed, gradually pulling the rest of the body out of the shadow.
“What the……?”
Frondier watched, frozen in place.
This method of movement was entirely within the shadow. The floor shouldn't be breaking or tearing.
Then what was that sound just now……?
Thud!
And finally, a face emerged.
“Hey! A tantrum? You wound me, Frondier!”
It was Lily.
And she was covered in blood.
“Lily?!”
Everyone looked at her in surprise.
“Just give me a sec, everyone. Ugh……!”
Crack…….
That’s when Frondier realized it.
The sound wasn’t the floor breaking.
It was the sound of Lily breaking.
“……Lily, aren't you going to die like that?”
“It’s fine, ah! I’m a devil!”
Lily struggled like that and finally emerged from the shadow.
Then, as if her strength had given out, she collapsed.
“Ugh, it’s so cramped in there.”
Selena spoke up.
“That’s why I told you not to go in until you perfected it.”
“What does it matter? I got through, didn’t I? Success!”
Was this really a success?
Frondier asked Selena,
“What happened?”
“The most important thing in Shadow Transference is widening the path you pass through. The space within a shadow is quite unique, so it feels completely different from just digging a tunnel through the ground. And because there’s a strong force trying to revert it back to its original form, you need to maintain it well……”
“If you force your way through a path that’s not wide enough and don’t control its reversion…”
“The path, unable to maintain its form, tries to return to its original shadow state, which means it gradually narrows. And then.”
“This happens.”
Frondier nodded, looking at Lily.
Lily was smiling, but the tendons in her face were bulging.
“Stop staring at me like I’m a lab rat and help me up! I can’t get up.”
“You should’ve just walked here.”
“I wanted to show off the results of my training.”
Frondier smiled wryly at Lily's words. But inwardly, he was quite surprised.
‘I don't know the process of learning Shadow Transference, but isn’t this quite fast?’
If a human had done this, they would be dead. Not that they'd even attempt it in the first place, out of fear.
But Lily was a devil. Her body was strong, and her fear of death was minimal.
Could that difference be accelerating her mastery of Shadow Transference?
“Miss Carla, could you help her?”
“Y-yes, of course.”
Carla, who was standing nearby, approached Lily.
Frondier had asked Carla to stay by his side as much as possible. It was partly because Carla was helpful, and partly because he didn't know when Athena might possess her again when he wasn't looking.
Carla actually thought, ‘Is Athena crazy enough to possess me again?’, but she decided to follow Frondier’s opinion for now. There was no harm in being cautious.
“……Oh my. Her legs are completely broken. No, shattered is a better word.”
“Oh dear, I didn't realize it was that bad.”
“Doesn't it hurt?”
“It hurts.”
Lily was having a peaceful conversation while receiving healing. As she was being healed, she asked Frondier,
“So, what’s the topic of the meeting?”
“You’re going to listen in that state?”
“Didn’t you hear? I said my legs are shattered. It’s going to take a while to heal.”
Well, it was her own fault.
There was no other way to describe it than she had shattered her own legs.
Frondier sighed and addressed everyone.
“First, let’s hear what Pielott has to say.”
“Are we really doing this? Leaving Miss Lily like that?”
“She said she’s fine.”
When Frondier replied, Pielott coughed lightly and looked around at everyone.
“When I was struck by the foreign Mana and lost consciousness, I had a dream. It wasn't a dream, but a kind of memory. But I couldn’t recall it for several days, and I only managed to remember it this afternoon.”
“Foreign Mana……. Can memories be contained within Mana?”
Arald muttered, seemingly lost in thought.
Pielott began to explain the contents of his dream. In the dream, he was another devil, reporting to Satan. Satan had summoned the Seven Deadly Sins and declared that he would become the Devil King.
“……That’s about it.”
As Pielott finished speaking, everyone wore a strange expression.
“Frondier.”
Elodie spoke up.
“This, we already know all of this.”
“That’s true.”
Satan had summoned the Seven Deadly Sins. They knew that.
Satan had declared he would become the Devil King. And he had already become the Devil King.
Both pieces of information were now meaningless.
Lily agreed.
“It would’ve been useful information if we had heard it back then, but now it’s pointless, isn’t it?”
“Hmm, I suppose you’re right.”
Pielott looked a little dejected.
Frondier thought for a moment.
Something was bothering him.
“Gregory, Athena was the reason Pielott forgot the contents of his dream.”
“There’s no proof, but it’s highly likely given the circumstances.”
“Why would Athena want to hide this information?”
“Why else? To conceal Satan’s plans.”
“Why? Athena and Satan aren’t on the same side.”
Far from being on the same side, they were clearly enemies.
They only refrained from interfering with each other to maintain the balance between Gods and devils, but in terms of emotions, there was no easier rivalry to understand than that between Gods and devils.
Yet, Athena had used magic on Pielott to conceal this information.
If not for the variable that was the Golden Apple, they wouldn't have known about it even now. It was that powerful a magic.
‘Athena had something she didn’t want me to know. What was it? Was it really the fact that Satan became the Devil King? Did she try to hide that?’
Frondier looked at Pielott.
“That’s all you remember? Satan declaring he would become the Devil King?”
“Hmm, I thought that was the important part.”
It was important, but it had become outdated information.
Pielott groaned and racked his brain for more of the dream. Even though he was freed from the magic, it was difficult to recall something from so long ago.
“……Ah.”
But he remembered.
And because he remembered, Pielott spoke.
“Belpheghor.”
“What?”
An unexpected name.
And it wasn’t just the name that was unexpected.
Pielott tilted his head, speaking as it came to him.
“Belpheghor is still… in Nastrond…?”
Nastrond.
When he heard that word, Frondier understood.
He understood what this conversation meant.
He understood what Athena was trying to hide.
“……You’re saying Belpheghoris in Nastrond.”
“What’s Nastrond?”
Lily asked.
It was Arald who answered.
“It’s hell. Located in Niflheim.”
“Niflheim…? That place is…”
“Yes. It has nothing to do with the Seven Sins.”
Belpheghor had said it himself.
He would lose his place among the Seven Sins and be cast into hell.
But that place shouldn’t have been Nastrond. He should have been sent to a hell befitting his sins.
“……I see.”
Frondier spoke.
“One of the Gods has joined hands with the devils.”
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