When Frondier arrived at the place where the people were.

"As expected, it's okay to be caught here."

Only devils with their wings spread, seemingly ready for battle, were there.

"If someone can come up to this floor, they must be quite high-ranking. Are all such people devils?"

"Nonsense! We are here because we are the most suitable to kill you! Hitchcock does not discriminate between devils and humans!"

Ha.

Frondier felt like he was going to burst out laughing, so he raised his head.

All day today, the words he had spoken to Paul were similar.

Yet they were protecting a chairman who practiced cannibalism.

"Is that so."

"There's no need to hide since you've come this far! I'll pierce your neck!"

One of the devils thrust out a long spear. The sight of a man with devil wings holding a long spear was quite fitting.

"Loven! No! You guys, mmm! Mmm!"

Paul hurriedly shouted something, but Obsidian covered his mouth again.

Instead, Frondier said with a smirk.

"Is that so. From there on, it will be self-defense."

He took a step forward as he said that.

Swish!

The spear blade pierced the space where Frondier had been.

As expected, the devil didn't hesitate at those words. He immediately charged and thrust his spear at Frondier.

Frondier twisted his body to dodge, but inwardly admired the move.

"He really aimed for the neck. He's honest for a devil."

Click.

Frondier adjusted his gauntlet. He needed a little more.

Kwaaaaaaaa─!

A black wave poured out around Frondier. It filled the narrow hallway and approached the devils like a wave.

To be honest, the scene didn't look like a fight between a human and devils.

"It's good that you attacked first. It's refreshing. It reduces the need to worry."

"Ugh...!"

As Frondier's Obsidian slowly flowed towards them, the devils naturally retreated.

This was Hitchcock, a devil's field in a good way, or a devil's sanctuary in a bad way. It was the devils who would suffer if this place was destroyed.

Although the hallways of this company were wide, they were still not as wide as the outdoors, and the advantage of numbers was diminished in such a space.

Moreover, their opponent was Frondier, who was considered the best in terms of skill when dealing with multiple opponents.

"Since you announced you were aiming for the neck earlier, I'll also give you a warning."

Frondier stretched out his hand for more precise aiming.

"The five in front of me right now, I'll aim for your shoulders. I'll shoot them all simultaneously."

"Wh-What are you talking about,"

Swish!

Thud-!

As he warned.

The flowing Obsidian extended into thorns and pierced the shoulders of two devils. The remaining three barely dodged.

"Kugh, argh...!"

The two who were hit grimaced and retreated.

Obsidian pierced their shoulders but didn't penetrate them completely. Whether it was blocked by their aura or Frondier had shown mercy, they couldn't tell.

The pain was bearable, but the devils' tension was extremely high.

'...He warned us, but we couldn't dodge...!'

A devil's dynamic vision and reflexes were innately superior to those of humans.

This was not so much due to differences in physical structure, but rather because being familiar with aura meant they could operate their bodies at a faster rate. A faster engine resulted in better performance.

Yet, two of them were hit by Obsidian. The speed was a factor, but the lack of preparation for Obsidian's thorns was significant.

When a normal human thrust a spear, there were many signals that alerted the opponent, such as the pulling back motion, the muscles exerting force, and the eyes moving for aiming.

However, Obsidian simply approached quietly like water and then suddenly extended into thorns.

"Hmm, that's strange. Jeremy earlier and now these devils can't seem to react to Obsidian. Pielott managed to dodge it quite well. I thought Pielott's starting point was on the same level as a devil, but was he actually ahead?"

Frondier muttered something the devils couldn't understand.

"...I trained him every day using attacks that devils find difficult to deal with, so maybe I did something a bit unfair."

However, the devils seemed relieved that this 'Pielott' guy, whoever he was, was alive.

"Alright, next warning."

"....! This arrogant bastard!"

The devils hurriedly counterattacked, as they could clearly see what Frondier was going to do. They decided to push through the Obsidian that was approaching like a wave.

"Mmm! Mmm!!!"

Paul's eyes widened as he saw this.

Surprisingly, Paul understood the situation as accurately as Frondier.

'...They'll die if they do that.'

Frondier thought in that moment.

The moment the devils tried to push away the Obsidian, it would extend to the walls, floor, and ceiling, simultaneously enveloping them. Of course, Obsidian wouldn't move on its own; this was the most ideal situation from Frondier's perspective.

...In other words, since it was ideal from Frondier's point of view, he hesitated.

──If he went through with it, they would be annihilated.

"Stop."

At that moment, a voice caused the devils' movements to cease.

"!"

Frondier was genuinely surprised. The devils, who had been charging with their wings spread, suddenly stopped.

To stop such speed in an instant, Frondier would have to be prepared to injure them. He would have to erect a thick wall in front of them or pull them back from behind. Either way, they wouldn't just stop like that.

Yet, they had literally just 'stopped'. Their tremendous speed had completely vanished.

"Don't be reckless."

The voice came from inside a room.

It wasn't a voice with any dignity or solemnity, but rather one that seemed to be addressing a friend.

"Let him in. Everyone's going to die at this rate."

"C-Chairman!"

Someone blurted out, then their expression changed as if they had made a mistake.

However, given the flow of the situation, the identity of the voice was too obvious.

"Then I won't refuse."

Frondier walked, retrieving the Obsidian as he went.

The devils glared at him with eyes burning with anger, but Frondier ignored them all.

'The chairman of Hitchcock, huh.'

Although he had never met him in person.

He owed Hitchcock a lot and was familiar with them.

'I'm curious what kind of excuse he has prepared.'

Frondier slowly opened the door.