Hey, I'm back with a new chapter. It's been a tiring few weeks... and I've been working 6 days a week for the last two months.

But I finally got this done.

Daemon of Wrath, I can only say look forward to whichever Heroic Spirit I have planned. But you're right, the current Bell will definitely not show mercy to anyone, unlike canon Bell.

Guest, Bell technically can if he goes all out with every Heroic Spirit equipped. But he won't come out unscathed either. And besides, he won't be aiming to kill them, not yet at least.

worseman, for the current Bell, yes, but again, he pretty much has the entire FGO cast of Servants in him, so it'll just be a matter of which Heroic Spirit he uses.

As for Sinfjotli, I wouldn't say that. Bell's appearance with Hessian Lobo is more like turning into a werewolf in Danmachi. He is still physically a human, I guess the most accurate description would be like Naruto's Kurama chakra mode.

As for the Norse Servants he'll be unlocking, well, I'm sure you can guess which ones I'mma bring in.

daizuke, can't really read spanish, so I had to Google Translate. But at the moment, Freya doesn't really know the Loki Familia is against Bell. Once that comes out, well, she won't let them go freely.

Goonies117, a god slaying NP... hmm, that is an interesting idea. I'll keep that in mind.

SilverCrow, again I can't read Spanish... but I'm glad you liked Galahad's powers being shown.

abazaba, I don't plan to bring in any Danmachi based heroes, simply because the premise here is Bell inheriting heroes from Pan-Human history. But funny you brought up the Fianna Knights, cuz I do have something planned. Hint hint.

sadkali727, I doubt Orario can survive Gudaguda machinations, but it'll be fun to write them. Or a massive pain...

Guest, I'll just agree to disagree there... Can't really remember the specifics on Artoria understanding Gae Bolg, but that is just my take on Riveria and Lefiya's knowledge on magic and curses.

NarveraG, I personally considered a transmission device or recording item before, but I felt like it would be too convenient and a cheap way to have the enemy know about them, much like how you look at leaving one alive from the attack. But I guess in hindsight that would've made more sense.

AnimeFan13579, to be frank, that's also part of the reason why I'm not having Bell inherit Artoria/Arthur at the moment. But now that he's inherited the Round Table, he will be bound to get more Arthurian Heroic Spirits moving forward.

Guest, Bell has not inherited Asclepius yet, but yes, I will keep that in mind.

Guest, I don't quite understand what you mean by hating the sister. I can't understand Spanish, unfortunately.

nbjdawe2001, I'll just say look forward to those fights hahaha. As for Season 4, I am thinking on how to do that one, considering I do plan to bring in more of Sword Oratario in, but my knowledge on that is very limited. But the Juggernaut arc is definitely coming. And definitely, season 5 will be coming out before I finish season 4 at the pace I'm going.

Anyways, here's the newest chapter.

XXX

Finn and his team stood in the room in the dungeon the adventurer had told them about.

After encountering Bell and the Xenos, the group had made their way back to the area where the members of the Ikelos Familia were killed.

Bete walked around, scrunching his nose at the smell of death, "What the hell are we doing back here? There's nothing for us to see here anymore."

Finn looked around.

It was like Bete said. They had looked over the room earlier, but the prum was more focused on finding Bell first, so he figured there might have been something they'd missed.

Now that they knew Bell was helping monsters in the dungeon, it opened up a can of worms Finn was hoping he wouldn't have to face.

There were just too many questions.

The prum let out a breath, looking around at the corpses of the adventurers around him, "Bete. Tell me, do you smell Bell's scent on these corpses?"

The werewolf frowned, "... Not really. Some, yes, and I could definitely smell blood on him earlier."

He looked at Finn, "But the thing is, the rabbit's scent always changes slightly each time he uses a different hero. I can smell some of them, but none of them match the powers the rabbit uses."

Finn took that information in, and he nodded, "What do you smell then?"

Bete scowled, "A wolf. There's something else in there that I can't figure out for fucks sake, but definitely a wolf. An alpha has been here."

The prum folded his arms, "I see…"

Lefiya approached the two, "Captain, do you really think Bell killed all these men? I just… I just can't think that he'd kill them all… like this."

Finn nodded, "A lot of them were stabbed and beheaded. That doesn't fit how Bell fights as far as I know…"

He sighed, "Lefiya, I want to believe in Bell-kun too…but…"

Finn trailed off. There was just too much he didn't know.

Were Bell and the Xenos involved with the Thanatos Familia and the Evilus? Were they involved with Knossos?

Hell, Finn didn't even know if they knew about Knossos itself. This whole thing might have been a different matter in its own.

Ais' voice reached his ears, bringing him out of his musings, "It doesn't matter. We only need to kill the monsters."

Finn and Lefiya looked at the blonde, and the prum quickly saw the hatred and anger burning deep in her eyes, her fists clenched tightly to the point they were almost shaking.

Evidently, Lefiya saw it too, "Ais-san…"

Finn sighed, "At any rate… we should have a chat with the Hestia Familia. I want to know if Bell-kun is acting alone, or if they're in on it as well."

Riveria nodded, "Of course."

The prum added, "And until we find the truth, no one will mention anything about Bell-kun's involvement in this."

No one disagreed, even Ais nodded.

The group started to head back to the surface, and as they left the room, Bete stared at the back of the room, right at the wall where the siren had been chained to.

He scowled and turned away, "Fuck it."

Similarly, Finn stared at the corpses around them, "The Ikelos Familia…"

He sighed to himself. Knowing who they were, who they could be, they had still chosen to side with them.

Simply because Bell had chosen to help monsters.

Finn closed his eyes, before turning to join his friends.

He had much to think about. Way too much.

With Bell and the Xenos, they had made their way back to their hideout after a long detour.

Lyd looked down, "I… I cannot apologize enough, Bell-cchi!"

Bell blinked, "Huh? Why?"

The lizardman didn't meet his eyes, "Because we wanted to walk you to the next floor…"

The boy smiled, "You have nothing to apologize for, Lyd-san."

Lyd blinked, "Eh? But because your friends saw you with us…"

Bell lightly smacked him on the back, "It's fine. The moment Finn-san saw you, it was bound to happen."

The boy's lips thinned, "He is… he is just that sort of person."

Bell knew. The moment Finn, and even Ais and Bete saw the Xenos, they wouldn't let them go.

Perhaps if it were only Lefiya, or even Riveria or Gareth, Bell would have a chance of convincing them.

But not Ais, not Bete. And definitely not Finn.

Gros looked at the boy, "... What do you plan to do now?"

Bell shook his head, "I don't know."

He looked down, traces of Zhuge Liang leaking through, "I think… we need to find out who's hunting you."

Rei blinked, "What? Why?"

Bell narrowed his eyes, "What Finn-san said… What Lefiya said, they knew we killed those adventurers."

Gros nodded, "But how will we do that? We have no idea who they are."

The boy then remembered the item he had picked up from the ground, "I have a way."

Lyd looked at the sphere curiously, "What is that?"

Bell looked at the eye in the sphere, "We'll find out now."

He took a short breath, "Load: EMIYA."

The powers of the Counter Guardian filled his body, and he chanted again, "Trace. On."

He ran Structural Analysis on the sphere, and the moment he did, information flowed into his brain.

Bell tightened his grip on the Daedalus Orb, "The Ikelos Familia…"

The Xenos looked at him curiously, and Lyd asked, "Ikelos Familia?"

The boy nodded, "That's who's hunting you."

He narrowed his eyes as he thought back to his conversation with Ikelos, "I should've known."

Gros hummed, "Now that we know who it is. We can take them out, right?"

Bell nodded, "Yeah, and I know their trick now. They have a man-made labyrinth built connected to the dungeon."

That surprised the Xenos, and Lyd gaped, "To the dungeon?!"

The boy nodded as he explained, "The dungeon runs beneath the tower of Babel, the man-made dungeon Knossos is meant to be a counterpart to it. From what I could get from the orb, Knossos only reaches the middle floors."

Gros hummed, "So you know how to get there?"

Bell nodded, "There are a few entry points I could gleam from the orb. And since the orb belonged to Gran, I managed to see which their usual entrance points are."

The gargoyle nodded, "Then we can launch an attack and put an end to this."

Rei nodded, "And maybe rescue some of our brethren, only the dungeon knows how many of them were caught."

Ranye nodded in agreement, "Definitely."

Lyd hummed, "I'll call Asterius back, just in case."

Bell blinked, "Asterius?"

The lizardman nodded, "You remember how we said we had a few new brethren?"

The boy nodded, "Yeah, you did."

Lyd folded his arms with a complicated expression, "He's one of them. Young, but extremely strong. As annoying as it is, he can take the four of us here and walk out unscathed."

Bell blinked in surprise, "Really? He must be strong."

Gros nodded, "One of our strongest, if not the strongest."

The boy hummed, the name catching his attention for obvious reasons, "I see. I think it'd be good if you could. I have a good estimate of their forces, but better safe than sorry."

Lyd nodded, "I'll send someone to find him then. Once he's back, we'll launch our attack."

"Sounds like a lot has happened since I was away."

The group turned to see Fels coming out of the shadows.

Lyd greeted, "Fels!"

The sage nodded to him in acknowledgement, "I have bad news, Bell Cranel."

Bell raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

Fels' expression was unreadable, "The surface is in an uproar. Someone has spread word of you killing adventurers and helping monsters."

The boy nodded, "I know. I saw the Loki Familia earlier."

The sage was taken aback, "You what?!"

Lyd nodded, "We did. Bell-cchi protected us from them, used this giant barrier and blew them back! It was awesome!"

Fels fell silent, before they nodded slowly, "I see… I assume that Finn Deimne does not support the Xenos."

Bell nodded, "Finn-san… is… shall we say very loyal to his own ambitions."

The sage nodded, "I know. That's why I tried to keep the Xenos away from them."

The boy sighed, "We'll have to fight them eventually."

Fels agreed, "We will clash. But that's not my concern now."

Bell raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

The sage looked at him, "Bell Cranel. If you return to the surface, the residents of Orario will not let you run free. The enemy is nothing if not efficient. They have branded you a traitor."

The boy looked down, "It's that bad, huh?"

Fels nodded, "It is. I must apologize, I have no way of helping, and neither does Ouranos. It will be hard."

Bell nodded, "Frankly, I expected this to happen. After what happened with Finn-san, at least."

The sage stared at Bell, "What do you plan to do?"

The boy closed his eyes, "Nothing, at least nothing different. We still have to take down the Ikelos Familia, and from what I could get from the orb, the Evilus remnants are involved too, to some extent."

Fels' eyes widened, "Evilus?!"

Bell nodded, "The Thanatos Familia, at least. They're in Knossos, and whilst not as much as the Ikelos Familia, they too have attacked the Xenos."

The sage looked down, "This is concerning. I have to let Ouranos know."

The Heir to the Throne nodded in agreement, "That's why I'll need to gather more allies. The Xenos and I alone may be strong, but I'm worried we won't be enough. At the very least, I will need to get my Familia members to help."

If possible he also wanted Ishtar's help, considering now he knew it was the Ikelos Familia that Ishtar had dealt with before.

Fels hummed, "I see… I'll have to discuss this with Ouranos then."

The sage looked at Bell, "Will you be heading back to the surface?"

Bell nodded, "I have to. If only to tell my goddesses that I'm fine."

Fels nodded, "I understand."

Lyd spoke up, "How about you go up when it's quiet? Probably during the night?"

The boy nodded, "Yeah, I think I'll do that."

(Linebreak)

Earlier, Finn and his group reached the exit of the dungeon.

Bete stretched his arms, "By the gods, that was fuckin annoying!"

Tione nodded, "I guess."

Finn snorted, "We'll head back home for now. Then I want to speak to the Hestia Familia, I'll probably bring Loki along."

Riveria looked at him, "Do you want me to come with you?"

The prum shook his head, "No, just Loki and I will do. Bell-kun's probably not gonna be with them, so it should be fine."

The high elf nodded, "Very well."

The group walked out of the dungeon, walking up to the tower of Babel, and the moment they did, Finn immediately noticed a large number of people gathered at the entrance.

Lefiya blinked, "Huh? Is someone going on a raid?"

Tiona raised an eyebrow, "But there's too many people, I doubt they're all from the same Familia."

Finn looked around, and he spotted Shakti, along with several members of the Ganesha Familia.

Evidently, she saw him too, as she approached them.

The prum asked, "Did something happen, Shakti?"

The captain of the Ganesha Familia made a complicated face, "Word has spread that Bell Cranel killed a party of adventurers from the Ikelos Familia to save monsters. Everyone in the city knows."

Finn barely managed to contain his surprise, "I see… How bad is it?"

Shakti shook her head, "Very bad. It started off slow, but now all the people you see here genuinely believe he is a traitor to mankind. At the very least they want retribution for the people he's killed."

Lefiya looked at her worriedly, "It's that bad?"

The blue haired woman nodded, "I heard you went down to look for him?"

Finn nodded, before he looked around, "Let's talk somewhere quiet."

Shakti nodded, and she turned, "Follow me."

After a short walk, Finn and the others found themselves in a building owned by the Ganesha Familia.

Shakti closed the door behind them, "So what happened?"

The captain of the Loki Familia answered, "The rumors are not wrong, I suppose. Bell-kun did ally himself with monsters armed with adventurer equipment."

The captain of the Ganesha Familia raised an eyebrow, "Adventurer equipment?"

Finn nodded, "I have no idea if he supplied them with those equipment, but he was protective of them."

Bete scoffed, "The rabbit brought out a stronger fucking magic barrier of all things! Didn't think he had it in him."

Lefiya frowned, keeping silent as she remembered just how strong Lord Camelot was.

Shakti took in their words, before she asked, "So you saw these monsters?"

Riveria nodded, "We did. If I recall correctly, a lizardman, gargoyle, arachne, a vouivre and a siren."

The blue haired woman nodded slowly, "I see… And Bell Cranel protected them."

Finn nodded, "That's correct."

Shakti frowned, "This is a problem…"

The prum agreed, "Shakti, I'm gonna be honest with you. I think the Evilus are involved."

The captain of the Ganesha Familia's eyes widened, "Evilus?!"

Finn nodded, "I'm telling you this because you're someone who fought them too… I don't have the specifics, but I heavily suspect the Thanatos Familia to be involved."

Shakti narrowed her eyes, "I see…"

The prum looked at her, "But I might be wrong, and the case with the monsters Bell-kun is protecting might be a totally different issue on its own."

The blue haired woman folded her arms, "Do we know why Bell Cranel killed those adventurers? I don't know him that well, but as far as I'm aware, he's not one to attack anyone without reason."

Lefiya nodded, "That's true… Bell wouldn't attack anyone just like that… There must have been a reason."

Bete scoffed, "Who cares about the reason? He killed those dipshits for monsters!"

Riveria shook her head, "There's just too much we don't know at the moment. We shouldn't jump to conclusions."

Finn nodded, "At the moment, I think finding and taking Bell-kun in should be our first priority. What we need are answers."

Shakti nodded, "Agreed. I'll have my Familia members keep an eye out if he shows up."

The prum nodded, "That'd be appreciated."

The captain of the Ganesha Familia turned for the door, "Let me know if you find anything, I'll need to keep the other adventurers in check in case they start to storm the dungeon to look for him."

With that said, Shakti left the building, and the Loki Familia left to head home.

(Linebreak)

Back at the Hearth Mansion, the rest of the Hestia Familia stayed indoors.

Aisha frowned as she peaked through the windows, "Seems like we're quite popular today."

Haruhime looked worried, "What's happening?"

Welf sighed, "No idea… Lil Lili's gone out to check."

Mikoto nodded, "She should be back soon."

As if on cue, a crow flew into the room. The crow landed, before transforming into Lili.

Daphne asked, "How'd it go?"

The prum had a grim expression on her face, "It's worse than we thought. I don't know who it was, but whoever it is, they made sure everyone heard it. I think almost the entire population of Orario thinks Bell-sama killed a whole party of adventurers for monsters."

Cassandra gripped her dress tightly, "Why… Why didn't I get a vision?"

Aisha looked at the far side of the room, "So, Hestia-sama, what do we do?"

Both Hestia and Artemis had an unreadable expression, and the goddess of the hearth shook her head, "I don't know… We don't even know where Bell-kun is."

Welf spoke up, "But if the rumors are true, I'm pretty sure Bell did it for the Xenos. But killing a whole party is just…"

Mikoto nodded, "Bell-dono wouldn't kill anyone just like that, even if it's to protect the Xenos."

Haruhime nodded in agreement, "It's not something he'd do."

Aisha hummed, "I don't know about that."

Everyone looked at her, and the Amazoness explained, "When we were in the Ishtar Familia, Bell killed a good amount of us. Obviously we started it, but it doesn't change the fact that he killed Phryne and Tamus, along with many others."

Artemis' lips thinned, "She's not wrong. It's also something Hestia and I have been worried about for a while."

That caught everyone's attention, and Welf asked, "What do you mean?"

The moon goddess looked at Hestia, and the busty goddess explained, "I'm worried Bell-kun is being influenced by the memories he's inheriting from the Throne of Heroes."

Lili asked in confusion, "Memories? Wait…"

Hestia nodded, "Every time Bell-kun inherits a new hero, he gains their whole existence. He doesn't just inherit their abilities and powers. He also gets their memories, their emotions, their personality."

Artemis nodded, "So far Bell has been fine, but with Heroic Spirits with overwhelming personalities like Gilgamesh, it might be affecting him."

Mikoto asked, "So you're saying because of these memories, he might do things that he normally wouldn't do?"

The goddess of the hearth nodded, "It might be a possibility. Or we might be just thinking too much."

Everyone fell silent, until they noticed the gates opening, a pair of familiar figures walking through.

Hestia's eyes narrowed, "Loki… What does she want?"

Hestia and Artemis walked to the door with Aisha and Daphne, having told the others to wait.

Hestia gained an annoyed expression when the knocking on the door kept going, "I CAN HEAR YOU DAMMIT! STOP KNOCKING!"

In response, the knocking grew louder and faster, and the goddess of the hearth pushed the door hard, forcing it open.

Loki's laughter reached their ears as the door swung open, and both Artemis and Hestia were met with the sight of Loki and Finn.

Hestia scowled, "What the hell do you want, Loki?"

The redhead grinned, "What? Can't check on my two best buddies when the entire city knows your little hero killed a bunch of brats for monsters?"

Artemis sighed, "Loki…"

Loki's grin thinned, "We need to talk. As in seriously talk."

Hestia frowned, "About what?"

The smile on the goddess of mischief vanished, "About your Little Hero, about what he's doing, and about those monsters of his."

The two Greek goddesses immediately knew Loki was being serious, and Hestia sighed, "Come on in. We can talk inside."

The four women led Loki and Finn inside towards the living room, closing the gates and doors behind them.

After a short while, the three goddesses and Finn sat in the living room.

Loki looked at the two goddesses, "So, care to fill me in on what crazy shit is going on?"

Hestia looked the redhead in the eye, "What do you know so far?"

The goddess of mischief folded her arms, "Hmm, not much. Just that your kid killed a bunch of other kids, not that I care about that, and apparently he's helping a group of monsters armed with adventurer equipment."

Artemis spoke carefully, "Monsters with adventurer equipment?"

Loki grinned, "Oh, and apparently they can speak like humans."

Finn looked at the two goddesses, "Do you know anything about this?"

Hestia barely held back from narrowing her eyes, remembering who she was speaking to, "Why do you want to know?"

The prum nodded, "Because Bell-kun is my friend. He is someone who's trying to become a hero. I want to help him."

It wasn't a lie. Finn knew better than to lie to these two goddesses, especially when it came to Bell.

Finn pressed on, "But we can't help him if we don't know what's going on. If you know anything."

Hestia nodded, "To be honest, we don't know a whole lot either. But… about those monsters, yes, they can speak, just like humans."

Loki raised an amused eyebrow, "So you know about them?"

The goddess of the hearth nodded, "They're called the Xenos. They have absolutely no wish to harm humans or gods, or anyone on the surface for that matter."

Loki hummed, watching as Finn took in the information, "And what do they want? For your kid to have killed a party of adventurers for them, they must have done something to get his favor."

Artemis spoke up this time, "All they want is to learn the world outside the dungeon, to coexist with us."

The redhead almost snorted, but one look at Finn's face, and she knew, "So, are you saying you're siding with these monsters, these Xenos?"

That caught the two goddesses off guard, and Hestia nodded slowly, "At the very least, we want to help them see the outside world. They mean no harm."

Loki hummed, but said no more.

Finn looked at the goddesses before him, "Goddess Hestia, goddess Artemis. I see Bell-kun, along with your Familia as friends… as allies. I will be honest here. I met Bell-kun in the dungeon today."

He stood up, staring at the goddesses, but also preparing himself in case the other members of the Hestia Familia acted, "He was with a group of monsters, all bearing adventurer equipment."

Hestia didn't like where this was going, "And what happened?"

Finn let out a short breath as he closed his eyes, "It seems Bell-kun understood me more than I thought…"

He opened them again, "We fought. My team only sought to kill those monsters, leaving Bell-kun alive. But again, we underestimated him."

Finn immediately felt several more presences around them, and he chuckled humorlessly, "Relax, we're not here to fight. I only wanted to clear things up, and if it brings you any comfort, Bell-kun escaped with the monsters all unharmed."

The short man continued, "Unfortunately, monsters are a blight to this world. Whatever the reason, I cannot allow their existence, I'm sure a number, if not most of my Familia members would agree."

The prum looked around him, spotting Aisha and Daphne behind their goddesses, with Welf and Mikoto standing behind him and Loki.

Loki whistled, "Well this escalated quickly."

The redhead grinned, "The rabbit might stand a chance, but the rest of you probably won't even scratch Finn here."

Finn nodded, "Perhaps. At any rate, I suppose the entire Hestia Familia is with the Xenos. Bell-kun is not alone after all then."

Artemis narrowed her eyes, "Why go out of your way to do this? I'm sure your Familia has more than enough power to take us all in."

Loki shrugged, "That's what I said."

Finn explained, "Because despite what's going on, I genuinely see Bell Cranel, and by extension all of you as friends. But I guess that may come to an end soon."

The prum turned, "I think we have overstayed our welcome, Loki."

The goddess of mischief sighed, "Party pooper, I was hoping you'd take these kids on."

Finn snorted, "And risk Bell-kun coming after my head?"

Loki grinned, "You know you want to."

That got everyone on guard, but the prum shook his head, "No, not now. Normally I wouldn't bother, but I do want to settle this with him properly."

Finn looked at Hestia and Artemis one more time, "Many adventurers in Orario will be out for Bell-kun. Not to mention, the Ganesha Familia and the Guild will probably want answers."

Hestia asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Loki grinned, "You need to ask?"

The prum turned to face them again, "I suppose I should make it clear. The Loki Familia will look for Bell Cranel and apprehend him, and we will wipe out the Xenos."

As soon as those words left his mouth, everyone in the Hestia Familia tensed up, and Finn easily spotted a few of them getting ready to fight.

The short man smiled, "When you see Bell-kun, tell him to be prepared and not hold back. Because I will be coming at him with the full might of the Loki Familia."

With that said, both prum and goddess left the building, leaving the Hestia Familia's home.

As soon as they left, Aisha clicked her teeth in annoyance, "What a pain… This is bad…"

Mikoto asked, "So what do we do? The Loki Familia is our enemy now…"

Hestia pursed her lips, she should've seen it coming, but Finn had been sincere in his words, and she couldn't help but hope.

The goddess of the hearth took a deep breath, "We'll need help… A lot of help. This won't be the same as the Apollo Familia or even the Ares Familia."

Aisha nodded, "We should get Ishtar too. I can go talk to her."

Haruhime nodded, "Me too, I'll come with you."

Lili spoke up, "What about the Freya Familia? They've helped us before, right?"

Artemis nodded, "Considering how much Freya has been supporting Bell, I'd say it's worth a try. I'll talk to her."

Hestia sighed, "I'll try my luck with Hephaestus then."

Welf looked at her, "I'll come with you, Hestia-sama."

Mikoto clenched her fists, "I'll ask Ouka and Takemikazuchi-sama for help too. I'm sure they'll lend us a hand."

Daphne folded her arms, "But if the Freya Familia doesn't help… Will all of us stand a chance? They have a handful of Level 6s, and we don't even have a Level 4."

Hestia nodded, "I know. But we have to try whatever we can."

Lili asked, "What if we ask the Hermes Familia for help too?"

Both Artemis and Hestia immediately shot the idea down, "Absolutely not."

The prum sighed, "Guess that's out of the window. I'll try my luck with the Hostess then. Hopefully Ryuu-san will help us."

Hestia hummed, "Alright, everyone has something to do. Let's get to it. The sooner we get this over, the better."

Cassandra spoke up, "U-umm, what about Bell?"

Daphne raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

The healer clasped her hands together quietly, "I mean… Bell's still in the dungeon, right? What if other adventurers go down and well…"

Aisha snorted, "I wouldn't worry about that. Anything short of a Level 4 will not stand a chance against him. Unless the Loki Familia go down and hunt for him, he'll be fine."

Mikoto nodded, "Besides, Bell-dono has the Xenos with him."

Hestia sighed as she massaged her temples, "I hope that'd be the case."

(Linebreak)

With Finn and Loki, the two walked along the streets of Orario back towards their home.

As they walked, Loki asked with a grin, "You know, I thought you'd be more… shaken about this."

Finn raised an eyebrow, "Shaken? Why?"

The goddess of mischief hummed, "Well, I suppose shaken isn't really the right word. More… hesitant."

The prum hummed, "And why?"

Loki smirked, "Come on. It ain't just you, most of our top members like him. Normally people would be hesitant to fight their friend."

The redhaired goddess stared him in the eye, "But you? You seem to look forward to this, excited even!"

Finn chuckled in exasperation, "Nothing gets past you, huh?"

Loki just smirked expectantly, and the prum nodded, "I suppose I am looking forward to this. We trained him to fight the Apollo Familia, and without a doubt, he's grown in his way."

Finn clenched his fists, "Bell-kun is the heir to the Throne of Heroes. A true successor to the heroes of humanity, even if it is an alternate universe."

The goddess chuckled, "By the gods, it's always heroes with you, the both of you, eh?"

The prum nodded, "Everything I've done, everything I've built up until today. I want to put it to the test. Against him."

Loki grinned, "Really now? What about those monsters?"

The two turned into a quiet alley, only a short distance away from their home.

Finn snorted, "Of course, I stand by what I said. We will take them all out."

Loki hummed, "And that other matter? Surely you wouldn't put everything you have into fighting him?"

The prum smiled, "Unfortunately, we don't know anything more about Knossos. Our hands are tied, to be honest."

His smile dropped, "But… Bell-kun is serious, he wants to protect those monsters. I cannot go in half assed."

Loki studied him for a while, before she smirked, "Then go all out. You may not have the powers of the Heroic Spirits, but you shouldn't be any lesser than him."

Finn nodded, "Yeah."

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile, back in Knossos, Dix smirked after hearing the reports, "Great work people!"

He laughed, "For fucks sake, I didn't expect it to be this easy!"

Ikelos chuckled at a corner, "To think the heir to the Throne of Heroes is seen as a traitor. How ironic."

Dix scoffed, "That's what he gets for butting into my business! Fucking brat!"

The captain of the Ikelos Familia took a breath, "Anyways, it's a shame Gran and the others died… But I guess it can't be helped."

He looked at the man who used to be in Gran's team, "I'll need that spare key you have."

The man blinked, "Spare key?"

Dix nodded, "Yeah, now that Gran's dead, you don't need two keys, right?"

The man froze, and the captain narrowed his dangerously, "You did pick up the key Gran had for your team, yeah?"

The man's face paled, "I… umm…"

Dix glared at him, "You're not telling me you forgot, are you?"

The man backed away in panic, "I-I… Bell Cranel… took it…"

Dix pulled out his spear, "And you tell me this… NOW?!"

Ikelos spoke up, "Now now, no need for that, Dix."

The captain glared at the god, "Shut up, you useless piece of shit! If Bell Cranel has the key, everyone will know about Knossos!"

The god chuckled, "And? Do you think they'd believe him? Now?"

Ikelos patted the man on the back, "Look, we've turned the majority, if not the entire Orario against him. He cannot do much."

The god paused, "Actually, I think he has a Heroic Spirit that can see the history of any item, so he'll know about Knossos and everything else that's happened to the orb."

Dix glared at him, "Ikelos!"

Ikelos smirked, "Calm down, Dix. Bell Cranel will know that you are the ones hunting those monsters. He'll come for all of us here!"

The man growled, "What's your point?"

The god laughed, "This is amusing, so I'll give you a hint. You have other adventurers on our tail about Knossos, and Bell Cranel will be coming for us. How about we smash them together?"

Dix's eyes widened, and he smirked, "Ikelos… You annoy the fuck out of me every time, but just this once… You're actually brilliant!"

The captain looked at the frightened man, "Looks like you'll live, for now."

The man nodded frantically, "T-thank you, Dix."

Dix scowled, "Now get out of my sight!"

He quickly scrambled away to another part of Knossos, and as soon as he left, Ikelos cackled, "Now, I'm feeling good today, so I'll volunteer to lure the Loki Familia in here when Bell Cranel gets here, yeah?"

The goggled man clicked his teeth in annoyance, "... Do whatever you want, but don't you dare fuck this up."

The god laughed, "Oh don't worry, this is too amusing for me to mess around."

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile, with Asfi and Ryuu, the pair and the rest of the Hermes Familia were in a private room of an inn on the 18th floor of the dungeon.

Pock frowned, "We searched almost every one of the middle floors, but still nothing… Where the hell are these people?"

Lulune sighed, "There were too many different scents, and we have no idea which one belongs to them."

Ryuu stood at a corner, "But we are positive the remnants of the Evilus are involved."

Asfi nodded, "The Ikelos Familia's captain, Dix Perdix, also known as Hazer, is the younger brother of Barca Perdix, a member of the Thanatos Familia."

The captain of the Hermes Familia looked at her long time friend, "We suspect that whilst not directly involved, the Thanatos Familia is moving, and thanks to Hermes-sama's digging, we also know the Loki Familia is actively looking for them."

Laurier spoke up, "But the situation with the Xenos and Bell Cranel seems to be more… I don't know, urgent?"

Asfi shook her head, "We shouldn't assume that. But what we do know is that this will put Bell Cranel and the Xenos against the Ikelos Familia, and presumably the Thanatos Familia."

Ryuu fell silent, and if anyone could look past her mask, they would see her concerned expression.

Falgar sighed, "All of this is just speculation, unfortunately we're very much in the dark."

The blue haired woman nodded, "If we could only get into contact with the Xenos and Bell Cranel, this would be easier… But I doubt it'll help much with the Evilus' side of things."

Ryuu closed her eyes, before she asked, "Lulune, did you catch Bell's scent when we were looking around?"

The chienthrope nodded, "It was faint, but yes."

Asfi hummed, "I suppose since we couldn't find any of the Ikelos or Thanatos Familia members, he'll be our next shot then."

Falgar nodded, "Let's head out then, hopefully he's still in the dungeon with the Xenos."

The Hermes Familia and Ryuu left the inn, leaving the 18th floor.

XXX

Done. Honestly this chapter is more buildup than anything.

We'll see the Hermes Familia meeting the Xenos and Ryuu next chapter, and then officially the face off against the Ikelos Familia and the Loki Familia.

Until next time, read and review please.