Becoming so intimate with Hancock had come as a surprise to Sephiroth.
But even without the affair with the Empress, Sephiroth had intended to find some other way to provoke the World Government and make them step up their efforts to divide the Great Angel Alliance.
After all, as he had said before-
Dismantling an alliance inevitably began with schemes to divide it. They would never resort to force right from the start.
At present, the Great Angel had the biggest reputation and was widely considered the strongest.
But the World Government and the Navy knew Satellite Shining's actual combat capabilities. Taking all aspects of their strength into account, they considered the two evenly matched.
From the Navy's perspective, Satellite Shining posed the greater threat, with his incredible mobility and wide-ranging destructive power.
The World Government, however, was more wary of the Great Angel. They would inevitably order the Navy to focus on him.
And with the Great Angel's recent achievement of driving off Kaido of the Beasts, one of the Four Emperors, the Navy would most likely yield.
"If I were the World Government, I'd deepen my cooperation with Babbage and find ways to win Satellite Shining over further."
By then, Sephiroth had returned to human form and begun explaining some of his circumstances to Hancock.
"I see. Now I understand..."
Although Hancock had been startled at first, she had already fallen for him completely. Learning Sephiroth's "secret" even filled her with a fair amount of private delight.
Especially when she learned that very few people knew about it, she felt all the more that Sephiroth had accepted her. She pressed herself firmly against him.
If Sephiroth hadn't still been in his post-coital state of "enlightenment," he might well have been unable to continue the conversation.
"Have you seen