Marco seemed to have just realized that Baal had lost, perhaps because he had fainted before Baal.
"Doesn't the ranking among the 72 Devils hold no meaning? It's just an order."
The 72 Devils of Solomon originally had no hierarchy of strength. The numbers assigned to them were simply the order in which they were recorded.
However, Marco shook his head.
"Baal is an exception."
"It's endless if you try to compare the strength of each of the 72 Devils. But Baal is an exception. He is undeniably the strongest devil among the 72."
Frondier made a subtle expression at those words.
In the case of Pandemonium, it was a matter related to the devil's power, so it was understandable that an unusual being like Frondier could win.
Even in their previous fight, Frondier had severed Baal's hand.
From his experience fighting him, he hadn't gotten the impression that Baal was the strongest among the 72 Devils.
'Are all of the 72 Devils weaker than I thought? No, that can't be. Among them are names comparable to the Seven Sins. Just look at Asmodeus.'
Asmodeus, like Beelzebub, was a name that belonged to both the Seven Sins and the 72 Devils. At least Beelzebub had a different name here from Baal, but Asmodeus was probably the same.
If Baal was said to be the strongest among the 72 Devils, it meant that Asmodeus was weaker than Baal.
For Frondier, who had faced Belphegor, one of the Seven Sins, it was impossible to accept.
"Anyway, tell me how to wake this guy up."
For now, dealing with Baal was the priority.
However, Marco shook his head again.
"He can't be awakened."
"Pandemonium is a battle of souls. The loser's soul is ejected. Even if he's breathing, he's no different from the dead. He will never wake up again."
At those words, Frondier looked at Baal. Certainly, aside from the fact that he was breathing and had a pulse, he looked just like a corpse.
But to say he was dead despite clear evidence that he was alive...
"But from your perspective, there's no need to wake Baal up, is there? You've achieved everything you wanted."
"I don't know how much time has passed since I fainted, but during that time, the Constel bastards must have attacked our comrades' base. It's impossible for the devils there to defeat Aster or Sybil without me."
Marco's expression as he spoke was dark, but not to the extent of despair.
He simply continued speaking calmly.
"From the looks of it, most of the low-ranking devils who were going to invade the Empire have died here, and only the high-ranking devils in the west remain. Even so, they wouldn't invade the Empire with just them. At this point, you've won."
"You don't look defeated."
"...No. I'm grieving enough."
Marco said with a face that didn't reflect his words at all.
Frondier approached Baal again. He examined his face once more, looked into his eyes, and checked his pulse.
Marco, who had been watching him, spoke up.
"It's pointless. Even if he appears alive, he won't wake up. Is it because of the negotiations with the western devils?"
"Well, yeah. The low-ranking devils I brought here are all Baal's forces, right? The western guys won't let this end here."
Among the 72 Devils, there were devils called 'Kings,' and most of them had their own armies.
Baal had lost his forces, so he would be subdued for a while, but as time passed, he would invade the Empire again.
Frondier wanted to completely eradicate the root of the problem.
"Marco, I'll ask again, this guy can't be woken up? No one has ever succeeded in waking someone up?"
"That's right. I told you, his soul has been ejected. Those defeated in Pandemonium are trapped within it and suffer eternally."
"So he's as good as dead?"
At that, Frondier nodded.
And for some reason, the corners of his mouth turned up, and Frondier smiled brightly.
"Then it doesn't matter what I do to him, right?"
"He's a dead guy anyway."
"...No, you bastard. What are you trying to..."
Marco stopped mid-sentence.
He realized that Frondier was about to activate the devil's power once again.
"Are you saying you're going to retrieve Baal's ejected soul?"
"That's right. If he's trapped in my Pandemonium, I should be the one to get him out."
"It's impossible. Pandemonium is born from the clash of devil powers. You can't do it alone. And even if you use another devil's power, it will just create a different Pandemonium."
That's why no devil had ever been rescued from Pandemonium.
However, Frondier said,
"Isn't Pandemonium a manifestation of my soul?"
For Frondier, his Pandemonium was rather shocking.
It was a void where everything within it seemed to spread meaninglessly and worthlessly.
At the same time, it was a paradox where only Frondier himself remained unaffected and perfectly fine.
"It doesn't make sense that I don't know where the entrance or exit is in the realm I created."
Frondier thought it was rather fortunate.
The first time he used the devil's power, he had done so without knowing anything.
After that, he had practiced controlling his power so as not to kill devils.
Even Pandemonium was something he had tried out of curiosity about Baal and himself.
Baal was as good as dead.
Even if he misused the devil's power, a dead guy would just die again.
Therefore, for the first time, Frondier...
He was going to pour all the power he possessed into one devil.
Of course, even this was just out of curiosity.