Ione Sala is mainly setup for a far bolder intervention, vastly more daring than Nethys usually tries: He will set off a lesser god-war early, tire out Asmodeus against Zon-Kuthon who otherwise would have fought on His side. And that, obviously, will raise divine interest levels very high; so he will need to trigger Otolmens's interdiction at nearly the same time.
It's the kind of bold ploy, interesting ploy, that Nethys wouldn't dare try if He had not on some level designated this universe a disposable one, permitted to end up as some alternate Nethys's learning experience.
