The Academy’s Weapon Replicator

Marco briefly observed the black blades of the Obsidian aimed at him, then sighed as if giving up.

Even if he were to dodge the encircling blades now, it would be extremely difficult for him to escape this place with Baal having joined forces with Frondier.

Above all, Frondier himself was close to Marco's natural enemy. He possessed the power to immediately subdue him, with his near-immortal regenerative abilities.

Could he endure without fainting if he were to be struck by Frondier's devil power again? Honestly, Marco wasn't confident.

"...Alright."

Finally, Marco spoke.

"I'll tell you everything. The current situation of the devils."

At those words, Frondier retrieved the Obsidian. It was confidence that he could respond even if Marco attempted to escape using this opportunity.

"Baal, I need to hear from you as well. You know the situation in Agoris well, right?"

Baal nodded.

Marco remained silent for a moment, as if organizing the order of what to say first, then slowly opened his mouth.

"...First, I need to talk about how devils came to exist in this land."

And the story goes back to a very distant past.

"All beings reside in their respective worlds. This is both natural and fundamental. Humans in the human world, the dead in Helheim or Tartaros, and gods in the realms of their respective mythologies. This is the same for devils."

"...But in reality, it didn't turn out that way."

"Right. Even now, there are devils hiding in the Empire. Agoris is the same."

Why are they in the human world?

Do they all live like Lily, without even knowing why they came?

"Generally, there's only one way for a devil to enter the human world. By making a contract with a human."

"Yes. Like we used the Dragon Heart before."

But if it's a summoning through a contract, the devil summoned is basically just one.

There are too many devils in the human world right now.

"You know about the Monster War in the past, right?"

"Of course. It's the reason why the Empire's barrier was created."

The most humiliating record in the history of the Empire.

Due to the all-out attack of the monsters, humanity kept retreating, and after giving up much of the continent's land to the monsters, they finally ended the war by building a barrier.

"Frondier. You recently fought a war with Manggot. You defeated Belphegor."

When Marco spoke, it was Baal who was surprised.

"Th-This man, defeated Belphegor?"

"Yes. Baal, you devils tried to invade this land because Belphegor was gone, right?"

"That's right. But I firmly believed that Zodiac joined forces to defeat Belphegor. But was it the power of just one person? And a boy who hasn't even reached adulthood?"

Baal looked at Frondier with a surprised face.

Frondier, who had been listening quietly, realized something was strange and looked at Baal.

"Hey, Baal."

"What?"

"How do you know about 'Zodiac'?"

"...!"

Frondier's expression hardened slightly.

To explain that Zodiac was so famous, Frondier didn't even know about the existence of the land called 'Agoris'.

He didn't even know if there was land beyond the sea to the west, but the devils in Agoris already knew about 'Zodiac'?

Marco then spoke.

"That's what I'm going to talk about now."

"What do you mean?"

"As I said before, you fought a war with Manggot, and you know roughly about the previous Monster War, right?"

"...Yes."

He had also studied a lot of knowledge as a game, and he had repeated the war with Manggot quite a lot. Except for this time, they were all failures.

Marco then said.

"Don't you think those two wars are similar?"

"...What?"

"You guys seem to call it the Manggot War, but in the end, it was the monsters from the outside and the abyss that made things difficult for you. Without them, Manggot trying to attack the Empire head-on would be suicidal."

That's right.

This was the story Frondier had personally conveyed to the Empire's officials.

It was because all kinds of monsters were pouring in from all directions that the war with Manggot was difficult.

From that perspective, the war with Manggot would certainly be similar to the Monster War, where the Zodiacs fought a bloody battle in the past.

"...But it's different from then. The war I fought had a clear main force called Manggot, and in the past,"

Frondier stopped speaking there,

His mouth froze at the thought that arrived faster than his words, and the conclusion that the thought reached.

"In the past,"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

As if reading his thoughts, Marco said.

"Wasn't there?"

"...Then, could it be."

"The humans of the Empire record the war of that time as a 'rampage' of monsters. All the monsters on the continent suddenly invaded the Empire. As if it were a punishment from God. It's understandable. At that time, they were just busy blocking the monsters, and they couldn't find the cause."

"...But that was planned."

"Yes. It's like Manggot. Where do you think Manggot got the idea to use the monsters from the outside? It was Belphegor's plan."

He had predicted that it was Belphegor's idea.

But Frondier believed it was the first plan Belphegor had come up with.

But if he had done it before.

If that was the 'Monster War'.

"As you know, even devils don't mess with the monsters of the abyss easily. Maybe the Seven Deadly Sins, but the monsters of the abyss are very dangerous and intelligent. One of the Seven Deadly Sins had his eye on them."

"...That guy is,"

"Yes, Satan."

The types of monsters vary greatly, and so does their power, but there is one thing in common among all things called 'monsters'.

Hatred towards humans. That's the same for the monsters of the abyss, and in fact, their hatred is even deeper.

But the monsters of the abyss didn't touch humans until the Monster War.

The reason is simple. They know that humans are very cooperative compared to monsters, and if it becomes a battle of numbers, they will eventually lose.

For monsters to defeat humans, they also need to cooperate.

However, due to the nature of monsters, that's very difficult, and clumsy monsters don't have the intelligence to do so in the first place.

"Satan tried to teach the monsters of the abyss how monsters could unite."

"How?"

"You know, right? That monsters and devils are similar."

Low-level devils lack intelligence and have no individuality in their appearance.

The reason they can be controlled by high-ranking devils is because of the 'devil's power', and the root of that is ultimately 'fear'.

"The monsters of the abyss cannot use the 'devil's power'. Because they cannot see the shape of their own souls. But it's easy to instill 'fear' into the minds of lower beings. Since they are monsters, they know the ecology of monsters well."

"Even if it's not as efficient as the devil's power, that was enough."

"Yes. The monsters were able to unite with just their hatred towards humans."

Satan believed that if he taught this method, the monsters of the abyss would be able to control other monsters.

But he couldn't find a way to actually convey that method. Satan was in the demon world, and the monsters of the abyss were in the human world.

Just like the current situation. Just like Satan couldn't intervene while Frondier was suppressing his devils.

When nothing is happening, time is naturally on Satan's side.

Satan just had to wait for the time to come, descend, and use the gate created by humans.

He could do other things in the meantime, so Satan just kept this plan in mind.

"And finally, the human who summoned him appeared."

Marco said. His gaze briefly swept over Baal.

To be honest, from here on, he didn't want to tell Baal rather than Frondier.

"Keep talking."

Of course, Frondier didn't give him a chance to hesitate.

"...The situation was good for Satan in many ways. The place where the human summoned Satan was Agoris."

"There were people in Agoris back then?"

"People? There are still some now."

"What?"

When Frondier asked back in surprise, Baal nodded.

"Agoris is a place where devils and humans clash. It's like fighting monsters here. However, there are no outstanding individuals like Zodiac. They are holding out thanks to their numbers and thorough preparation."

"...So the reason you know about Zodiac's existence is ultimately,"

"Yes. Because the location where Satan caused the 'Monster War' was Agoris."

Marco continued speaking.

"Once a gate is opened, it doesn't close unless the medium is destroyed or the human's wish is fulfilled. Of course, Satan, as a contracted body, must continue to make efforts to fulfill the human's wish. But for someone like Satan, it's not difficult to extend that time with appropriate words."

"...While manipulating a human who doesn't understand the situation, he kept the gate open and gathered a tremendous number of devils from the demon world to the land of Agoris."

"Yes. Naturally, the humans of Agoris were frightened and started preparing. Of course, Satan wasn't interested in Agoris at that time. He just thought about swallowing up the land of the Empire after it was devastated by the monsters."

And that plan was 90% achieved.

Humans were pushed back by the all-out attack of the monsters, continuously shrinking their territory, and the lives of countless people were lost.

"There are two reasons why Satan ultimately failed to swallow the Empire."

Marco extended his fingers.

"One is that the Empire eventually held out. They built a barrier, and talented individuals like Zodiac were born, monstrous humans for whom the term 'one man army' is not an exaggeration."

Of course, by that time, the Empire had already suffered so much damage that there was a good chance it would be destroyed if the devils invaded.

But Satan felt something very unsettling there.

The more they were driven into a corner, the more lives were lost, the more powerful individuals appeared as if to maintain a balance.

Was this a law? Or a coincidence? In this world where God exists, it was not unreasonable for Satan to feel his shadow.

"And the second."

When Marco said that, Baal closed his eyes.

Because it was a story he naturally knew.

"Belphegor blocked his way."

"...What?"

Frondier asked back at the unexpected words.

"Actually, I don't know the details of that part. What kind of conversation they had, and what their thoughts were in the end. But as a result, Satan gave up on swallowing the Empire, and Belphegor stayed at the western end of the Empire."

The western end, Manggot.

Belphegor had been in Manggot since then.

Marco looked at Baal and asked.

"Baal, do you know? What kind of conversation Satan and Belphegor had."

"...Well. I was there, but my memory is faint now. Even at that time, it was hard to understand what they were talking about."

However, Baal narrowed his eyes.

"If I remember anything, there's something Belphegor said."

"What is it?"

"...'Giant'."

That one word.

It was enough to send chills down Frondier's spine.

However, Baal, who didn't understand the meaning at all, just muttered emotionlessly as if trying to recall his memory.

"Devils cannot kill giants."