There is also the benefit of gaining mental immunity if he decides to trust her. With it, his mind won't be at the mercy of a god snooping in on his thoughts and making him ignore the god's presence.
He is not sure it is a good thing for him to be always aware when a god is around him, as it might indeed cause him to panic, but he would like the option because that is what freedom is.
He thought to himself, "If I can't protect my mind, then I am not truly free."
Of course, there is a probability that deciding to trust Wrath might be his doom and all her promises her just lies to get him to trust her. It is why he hasn't made up his mind about it yet.
On one hand is the powerful devil he thinks he knows, and on the other hand is the shadowy devil that hides secrets for him and might have a hidden agenda.
This is what he thinks of his situation and why he hasn't made up his mind yet. But it is undoubtedly true that he is inclined to trusting her.
His inclination towards trusting her is why he was extra sincere to her when he thanked her earlier. He wanted to deepen their relationship, but she noticed it and accused him of scheming against her.
It made him smile and say, "Why would she think I was scheming against her? What could she be afraid of about me?"
An answer came unbidden to his mind. It came from a loud, booming voice that echoed in his mind like a thunderclap.
The voice said, "She is suspicious because she is lying to you."
He clutched his head in pain as he stumbled.
Aganju sounded different from when he was talking physically to him earlier. His mental communication involved another language that was difficult to understand.
The mental connection was also too powerful for him, hence the headache. But he didn't let that stop him from asking, "What is she lying about?"
There was no reply. There was only silence.
It was as if the true god was really gone. Not that he would believe that for a second. But his mind did relax, and his headache disappeared.
But he wasn't happy. He continued to think about what Aganju had said.
He was thinking about it when Wrath appeared again. She was mellow but still bristling. It appeared that she had given up on taunting the god, but he knew that her surrender was only temporary.
He briefly considered asking her what she had lied about. But he didn't trust her to tell him the truth.
He wasn't sure he was going to believe whatever she would say, and he wasn't sure he should believe whatever Aganju had to say about her.
For all he knows, Aganju might just be trying to throw a divide between them. After all, it is clear that the true god doesn't like Wrath. So it is reasonable to think that Aganju doesn't want him to trust her and doesn't want her to gain anything from him.
It is also clear that Aganju is bored and looking for interesting things to while away his time. A fight between a paragon and his shadow spirit might just be the kick the true god needs to laugh.
Besides, even if Aganju was right, confronting Wrath about it might only make her aware that he was onto her. It might make her change her scheme.
He didn't know what to think or believe. The thought made him chuckle in deprecation.
"Damned if I do, damned if I don't."
Wrath asked, "What's the problem?"
He thought he had said that in his mind. Apparently, he had voiced his frustration for her to hear.
So he said, "I was talking about the need to grow stronger being opposite to the need to not draw attention to myself on the battlefield."
She nodded. "It is a serious matter. It is why the foreign battlefield is so problematic. Your safety can't be guaranteed."
He returned to cutting down trees as he said, "Yeah. I miss destiny games."
She laughed and said, "Of course you do. But don't forget that if you had remained at home, you wouldn't have earned so many kills and grown so strong."
He nodded. "That's true."
He doesn't know if she really bought his lie. But he knows that if she is lying, that will make the two of them. It isn't a situation that is good for building trust at all.
What's worse is that if Aganju was lying and she wasn't lying. By lying to her like this, his wish to trust her will be foiled.
Whichever the case is, he is sure that Aganju is having fun with it and probably loving his dilemma.
He is not even sure that the warning that she is hiding something from him is useful. To him, it is just a ticking time bomb with an indefinite time before it explodes.
It would have certainly been better if Aganju had told him what exactly she was lying about. At least that way he would be able to investigate on his own instead of being so suspicious and wondering without a direction.
He thought to himself in frustration, "This is exactly what I was afraid of."
He was afraid that Aganju would shift his focus to him after the true god got bored of Wrath. Now it seems he was right to be worried, and he was right to think that the true god doesn't need to act directly on him to make his life miserable.
His mind shifted, and he asked Wrath, "Are you sure you don't have anything against Aganju before? Because it seems you have unfinished issues with him the way you go all out against him.
Wrath scoffed. "Him?"
She scoffed again. "I have never met him before. I've never even heard of him before this expedition, which is not surprising since he is such a weak, spineless god."