Nastrond (4)
Frondier asked Selena in a small voice.
“Selena, do you see it? The thread that binds Fenrir.”
Selena nodded with her mouth covered.
Selena’s eyesight was far superior to Frondier’s. She knew Fenrir was bound from the start.
Even though she knew, she was paralyzed with fear.
Seeing that, Frondier thought.
‘Selena has very sharp senses. She reacted immediately to Enfer’s briefly displayed spirit, and she immediately recognized the terrorist at the department store.’
Even Selena was terrified after seeing the bound Fenrir.
In other words, that wolf couldn’t be trusted just because it was bound.
“……Wait here.”
Frondier said as he slowly began to walk. Nothing would change if they stayed like this. He had to make up his mind and move forward, but…
Squeeze
Selena grabbed Frondier’s sleeve.
When he looked at her face, she was shaking her head rapidly.
‘Let’s just go somewhere else!’ she seemed to be shouting intensely with her eyes.
“……That’s why I told you to stay here.”
Frondier said as he gently removed Selena’s hand from his sleeve.
“Ugh……!”
Selena had a very perplexed expression, but she still followed behind Frondier. Belphegor also matched Frondier’s pace with a nervous look.
‘I have to check.’
Frondier definitely felt a sense of déjà vu from the thread that bound Fenrir. No, déjà vu or not, he already had it.
Obsidian.
The thread that bound Fenrir looked so similar to it.
‘It’s not just because it’s a black thread. That feeling of Mana… it’s too familiar for something I’m seeing for the first time.’
In mythology, that thread should originally be Gleipnir.
Then was Obsidian originally Gleipnir? Or had the situation changed in this world, and Obsidian bound Fenrir instead of Gleipnir?
But there was a common problem either way.
‘……I don’t think my Obsidian can bind Fenrir.’
As he got a little closer, the entirety of Fenrir finally came into view.
Fenrir was a giant white wolf, just like in mythology. Of course, according to the description in the myths, it should be huge enough to swallow the ends of the sky and the earth with its mouth, but it wasn’t that big.
Nevertheless, there was an overwhelming feeling from looking up at the quadrupedal wolf.
Growl—
Fenrir had eyes that seemed to be wary of Frondier and the other two. It didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking yet, but it was ready to do so at any moment.
“……Hello, Fenrir.”
Frondier wondered how to address him, and eventually gave the same old greeting he gave to everyone.
Fenrir looked at Frondier in response.
[……Devil. No, human?]
“!”
Frondier was surprised.
He was surprised that Fenrir could speak without moving its mouth, and that its meaning entered his head, but it was also because it was a statement that seemed to see through his identity at a glance.
Beelzebub, who was next to him, spoke.
“He’s a new devil. He hasn’t been a devil for long.”
[……Belphegor .]
Fenrir seemed to know Belphegor. It made sense, since quite some time had passed since Beelzebub fell into Nastrond, so they could at least recognize each other’s faces.
[You killed Nidhogg.]
However, Fenrir seemed to know Beelzebub a little better than Frondier expected.
Beelzebub smiled.
“I did, thanks to your help.”
[You instilled Nidhogg with sloth and led him into my domain.]
Frondier was dumbfounded by those words. He looked at Beelzebub.
“You said you didn’t know why Fenrir bit Nidhogg.”
“I didn’t. It’s true that I instilled Nidhogg with sloth, but it was unexpected that he went into Fenrir’s territory and that Fenrir bit Nidhogg because of it.”
Eclexis only influenced; it couldn’t predict or control how the influenced would move. It wasn’t like hypnosis.
[Nidhogg was always emanating hostility towards me. You didn’t know that?]
“Nidhogg did?”
[After I came here, all the wolves of Nastrond were frightened.]
……Oh.
Frondier roughly understood and nodded.
Originally, Nastrond was home not only to Nidhogg, but also to wolves. They tormented sinners and devoured their bodies endlessly.
Nidhogg must have been the king of Nastrond, so the wolves would have obeyed him.
But did that change when Fenrir came?
Fenrir was, for all intents and purposes, the king of all beasts.
[Because of the sloth you bestowed, Beelzebub, Nidhogg’s self-control snapped.]
“So he lost his mind and attacked you.”
[He didn’t attack. I bit him before that. It was only natural since he came close enough to be bitten by me. There’s no doubt that he was thinking of attacking me.]
What kind of crazy bastard was this? He bit him because he could.
[And human.]
This time, Fenrir looked at Frondier.
[You are now within my attack range.]
“…….”
Frondier examined Fenrir’s entire body.
Considering its bound state, even if Fenrir stretched out its body to its full length, its teeth wouldn’t reach Frondier. The same went for swinging its front paws. It was a close call, but still. And yet, Fenrir said he was within its attack range. Was this the anxiety that Selena had told him not to go?
“I came here because I have a question to ask.”
Frondier lightly brushed off Fenrir’s warning and spoke.
[Hmm.]
After hearing Frondier’s words, Fenrir…
Growll—!!
It let out a roar towards Frondier, like a lion’s roar.
“Ugh!”
Aura release. Frondier’s body soared into the air and was pushed back.
Crack!
He drew his sword and slammed it into the ground. Screech, the blade made an unsettling sound as it scraped against the ground. The pressure of the aura was so great that Frondier felt like he was slamming his blade into a cliff rather than the ground. It was the pressure of aura comparable to gravity itself.
[Get lost.]
A cold voice flew towards Frondier, who had flown a good distance away.
[I have nothing to say to someone who can’t even withstand this much power.]
“…….”
Frondier closed his mouth for a moment at those words.
And seeing that, Selena and Beelzebub…
“Ah.”
Selena let out a short sound, and
“This is…”
Beelzebub sighed.
As if they had prepared beforehand, the two moved in unison.
Selena towards Frondier, Beelzebub towards Fenrir.
“Master Frondier. It’s a petty provocation. It’s advantageous to conserve your strength for future battles.”
“Fenrir. I know you’re sensitive, but there’s no need for that. I just wanted to talk.”
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