Appearance

Philly could sense that Frondier was aware of the Shadow Unit's involvement.

Aware that the Shadow Unit suspected a connection between Frondier and the devils, and had relayed that information to Philly. Even if he didn't know that, he must have realized that Ednet, who had just been hiding, was from the Shadow Unit.

This was a clear weakness for Philly. Especially when dealing with the current Frondier, whose power could no longer be easily suppressed even by the Imperial Palace, unlike in the past.

If Frondier used that weakness as leverage in their conversation, it would be much easier to gain an advantage, but then it wouldn't be a proper dialogue.

That's why Frondier decided to speak up himself.

That he was connected to the devils.

That this was his current weakness.

"...You control devils?"

However, Philly still found it difficult to accept and asked again.

A human controlling a devil? She had never even imagined it. In the first place, in this Empire where the actual appearance of devils could be counted on one hand, such an idea was too far ahead of its time.

"Yes. It turns out devils have a strict hierarchy. They obey those stronger than themselves and despise the weak."

Frondier spoke, concealing the story about the 'power of devils'. Explaining it now would be difficult to understand, and Philly might suspect that Frondier himself was a devil.

Philly's expression became subtle as she listened to Frondier's words.

"...So, Mr. Frondier, are you saying you're going to have a 'hierarchy sorting' with the devils?"

"Not that I'm going to, but I already have. In the process, there were some...unfortunate incidents."

"Unfortunate incidents?"

"...I failed to control my strength."

At Frondier's words, Philly narrowed her eyes, then soon wore a dumbfounded expression and said,

"The people who were recently found dead, the notes left there. It was all Mr. Frondier's doing."

Ha, a sigh naturally escaped Philly. Still, it was somewhat relieving to know who the unidentified indiscriminate killer was.

Moreover, she had been worried that the murdered people might actually all be humans, but if Frondier did it, they must all be devils.

"Ms. Philly, you must already be feeling it. The devils are slowly revealing themselves, and the large-scale devil attack that happened a while ago, it's no coincidence."

"...The smell of war."

Frondier nodded. As expected, Philly had a good sense.

"It's a fight between devils. There's no need for the battlefield to be the Empire. I will lead the devils and change the location."

"Can Mr. Frondier handle that number alone?"

"Not now, but I will soon."

Although, in reality, he could only control one devil right now.

That one would gather all the devils in the Empire.

"Then what does Mr. Frondier want from me, no, from the Imperial Palace? It seems you've already made sufficient preparations. Troops? Supplies? If you need support, we will fully join you."

Philly said. Devils fighting on the Empire's territory? Naturally, Philly couldn't allow that either. There was no reason not to support Frondier, who had prepared for it in advance.

But Frondier shook his head.

"Rather than support from this side, please strengthen surveillance within the Empire."

"...Surveillance? If Mr. Frondier can move the battlefield, is surveillance within the Empire necessary?"

Philly asked. The fight would take place outside the Empire, so why monitor the inside?

To this, Frondier brought his face a little closer.

"Ms. Philly, do you remember when the devils popped out of the Imperial Palace? When you and I went to see the Dragon Heart and met Satan."

"Of course I remember. Naturally."

"At that time, we thought Satan had re-summoned all his devils. He even grabbed his subordinate's neck with his own hand and proudly declared that he had retrieved them all."

"...But that wasn't all of them?"

"Yes. I don't believe Satan left just like that."

In other words, currently within the Empire, there were devils originally hiding and high-ranking devils recently left behind by Satan.

These high-ranking devils would be incomparably stronger than the ones originally hiding.

"Satan's original goal was, of course, for the three divided groups of devils to fight each other on the Empire's territory and destroy it all. But if things don't go his way, he'll try to do something, even if it's just with his subordinates."

"While the devils fight outside the Empire, there's a possibility that the high-ranking devils originally planted inside will run rampant."

"Yes. In the first place, they are powerful enough for Satan to leave behind. They alone would be sufficiently threatening."

Of course, he didn't know how strong they were.

However, in the case of Mizonas, who fought Azier, although Azier had the upper hand, the two remained in a stalemate until Satan retrieved them.

That's how strong Azier was, and he couldn't finish the fight.

He didn't know how strong the remaining devils were, but in the worst-case scenario, they would be comparable to him.

Philly fell into thought for a moment. As if speaking while thinking, her mouth slowly opened.

"Then where will they target? The Empire is vast. Even with surveillance, we can't see everything."

"The criteria are similar to the war with Manggot. They will target the places that would suffer the most damage in the current Empire. At the same time, the places that are the most robust. One of those places is this Imperial Palace, and another is,"

At that moment, a voice interrupted Frondier's words.

"──Constel!"

It was Elysia. She cried out involuntarily and then covered her mouth in surprise. She was merely Frondier's servant now, so it wasn't right for her to speak up in this situation.

However, the content of that answer was too significant, and Elysia was originally royalty.

Frondier nodded and looked back at Philly.

"...That's right."