The demons of Hellmond knelt before Frey.
Not through force.
Not through fear.
But through the power of a single Great One.
Disbelief spread plainly across the faces of the Upper Demons.
The same astonishment appeared on Maskith’s face as he finally revealed himself after the battle had ended.
The Great Earth’s ability had proven to be anything but ordinary.
Its power was so overwhelming that it had cast an entire race into a perfect illusion.
The Great One himself looked even paler than usual, clear evidence of the tremendous strain he had placed upon himself.
That much was only natural.
The number of minds he had manipulated was simply staggering.
Even so...
He had completed the task flawlessly.
Exactly as Frey had intended.
Looking into the eyes of the kneeling demons, Frey saw something unmistakable.
Genuine loyalty.
Turning toward the Great Earth with quiet curiosity, he finally asked,
"What exactly did you place inside their minds... to make them show such unwavering loyalty?"
The Great One answered without the slightest trace of emotion, calmly revealing the truth behind his ability.
"I planted nothing."
"I added no foreign memories. Minds cannot be controlled in such a crude manner."
His gaze drifted toward the endless sea of kneeling demons as he continued.
"All I did was exchange roles."
"I rewrote every memory connected to Agaroth and redirected it toward you instead."
"The loyalty they once held for him... now belongs entirely to you."
Frey nodded slowly.
There was unmistakable admiration in his eyes.
"No wonder you finished so quickly."
"If you had tried creating entirely new memories, it would’ve taken you far longer."
Manipulating existing memories within creatures vastly weaker than himself was effortless for the Great Earth.
Creating entirely new ones...
That was a completely different matter.
On that note, the Great One’s expression turned noticeably more serious.
"Maintaining my ability over this many minds means I won’t be able to use it again on anyone who has reached the SSS Rank."
His pale eyes lowered slightly.
"I’m already using the majority of my strength simply to stay beyond Odin’s notice."
He paused briefly before looking back at Frey.
"Are you certain this wasn’t a waste?"
"If I had used this ability on a single powerful individual instead, you could have gained an extraordinarily valuable subordinate."
There was undeniable logic behind his words.
Yet Frey calmly shook his head.
"There’ll be no need."
"A great many powerful allies will soon stand beside us."
His expression remained perfectly composed.
"What matters now... is making sure Odin never notices your existence."
He deliberately emphasized those last words.
The Pale Calamity needed nothing more than his voice to enslave a Great One.
None of them possessed the ability to resist him.
The Great Earth himself was no exception.
Had it not been for his own power of Forgetting, used against Odin long ago...
He, too, would have become nothing more than another servant.
’Now that I think about it...’
Frey silently studied the Great Earth.
’He can subjugate an entire race.’
’He even manipulated the Great Devourer of Chaos once.’
’And all the while, half his strength is constantly being spent hiding himself from Odin...’
If Frey’s assumptions were correct...
The Great Earth had never been fighting at full strength.
Only half of his true power remained available.
The rest was permanently tied down by Odin himself.
Without realizing it, Frey found himself growing more cautious around him.
After all...
There were no clear limits to the Great Earth’s power.
Especially when that power revolved around the manipulation of minds.
Meanwhile...
The strongest demons who had escaped the mental domination still stood frozen in disbelief.
Izalith’s crimson eyes moved from the countless demons kneeling before Frey...
To Yosefka, who now resembled little more than a corpse.
Alive...
Yet completely incapable of moving.
Then toward Asmodeus.
The Sixth-Ranked Demon remained equally helpless, his Death Soul suppressed by that terrifying gray power.
Finally...
Her gaze settled upon Frey.
Unable to regenerate the lower half of her severed body, she slowly dragged herself across the ruined ground.
Centimeter by centimeter.
Until she reached him.
Her trembling hand stretched forward.
She weakly grasped the edge of his boot.
Frey simply looked down at her.
Without moving away.
The once-proud Seventh-Ranked Demon had become pitiful.
Nothing about her resembled the overwhelming Upper Demon she had once been.
Her lips trembled before she managed to whisper,
"The demons..."
She lowered her head even further.
"What do you need them for?"
Her voice grew quieter.
"They’re nothing but weak creatures."
"They’ll never be of any use to you on a battlefield..."
She continued clinging to his foot.
Frey made no attempt to shake her off.
Instead...
He laughed. Mockingly.
"I never imagined the Upper Demons cared about their own race."
His violet eyes settled upon her.
"Do you pity them?"
Without waiting for an answer, he continued.
"The demons were born to devour life."
"To destroy everything that lives."
"Your numbers are so vast that losing millions in every war never affected your race in the slightest."
His gaze swept across the endless plains of Hellmond.
"Even though I’ve already taken control of many demons here..."
"...countless more still remain scattered across the worlds your race once invaded."
That...
Was precisely why the Shadow Sect had not accompanied Frey to Hellmond.
They were already occupied.
Suppressing the countless demons spread throughout the universe.
Capturing every last one they could...
Without killing them.
Demons were not a race known for compassion toward one another.
Their darker instincts always overwhelmed whatever emotions they possessed.
Which was precisely why Izalith’s concern had surprised Frey.
Even so...
It changed nothing.
"I’m sorry to disappoint you."
His voice remained calm.
"But I can still make use of them."
"Every single one of them."
He finished speaking aloud.
The rest remained inside his own thoughts.
’I can reclaim the aether from which every one of them was created.’
Rather than allowing that power to return to Clea...
He intended to claim it himself.
Turning his head, Frey exchanged a meaningful glance with Maskith.
The old man understood immediately.
In truth...
He had already guessed Frey’s intentions the moment the Great Earth seized control of Hellmond’s demons.
’Once every demon in this world falls beneath my control...’
’...Mother’s entire race will belong to me.’
Everything was unfolding exactly according to plan.
And Frey knew the next step had finally arrived.
A violent wave of aura swept across the distant horizon.
An extraordinarily powerful one.
Its pressure rivaled the very peak of the SSS Rank.
A colossal pillar of darkness descended from Hellmond’s crimson sky.
It struck directly toward Frey and those beside him...
Without harming a single kneeling demon nearby.
The attack’s power was monstrous.
Its darkness had been compressed to an absurd degree.
It surpassed every attack the Upper Demons had launched by an overwhelming margin.
The torrent of dark aura continued pouring down for several moments.
Only then did it gradually fade.
The darkness receded...
Revealing an enormous crater carved into the earth.
Everything within its range had been erased.
Everything...
Except the ground beneath Frey, Maskith, and the Great Earth.
Maskith had protected himself.
Frey had shielded both the Great Earth...
And the Upper Demons as well.
"That was quite an impressive attack."
Frey slowly lifted his eyes toward the sky from which it had fallen.
"So you’ve finally decided to interfere..."
"...now that the Upper Demons have failed?"
His voice carried open mockery.
The answer came from faces he had never seen before.
All except one.
That one...
He recognized instantly.
"We had hoped they could restrain you for a while."
"Or at least wound you."
"But aside from the First ..."
"The Upper Demons proved utterly useless."