Chapter 4: Awakening
The curtains of the mansion's main hall were drawn shut, keeping any light from seeping through. Silence enveloped the surroundings, and not a single sound could be heard.
Bell swallowed nervously.
The sudden sound of small bursts made the white-haired boy flinch and close his eyes in surprise.
Light flooded the room, and a shower of confetti fell onto his hair like winter snow. Balloons floated near the ceiling, and colorful streamers decorated the space.
Welf, Lili, and Mikoto stood by the now-open windows, smiling, while in front of them, Hestia held an enormous cake.
"Happy Birthday, Bell!" they all shouted in unison.
Bell had completely forgotten—it was his first birthday since arriving in the labyrinth city.
He felt truly happy. His life had changed completely in just one year.
He still remembered his last birthday. He had finally turned fourteen and was officially considered an adult. His grandfather had stayed home all day, celebrating until the sun dipped below the horizon... A few days later, he received the news of his death.
Driven by the tales of heroes he loved so much, he left his home after burying a coffin without a body in his memory and set off in search of his own adventure. It was a dream largely nurtured by his grandfather's personality.
He would find his destiny, grow strong, and fall in love in a fantasy scene straight out of the books. He would be the hero who saved the innocent and reached out to the damsel in distress.
His long-dreamed fateful encounter in the dungeon.
Dreams truly are beautiful. Those days felt both distant and vividly alive.
"Oh... my Bell-kun has grown so much," Hestia exclaimed as she hugged him, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her weight against the unsuspecting rabbit.
Feeling two soft mounds pressing into his arm, Bell was overwhelmed by a sensation from another world. His face turned bright red, and his legs lost all strength.
He had pushed both his body and mind too far. He wasn't ready to take two critical hits in such a short time.
Just before he lost consciousness, he heard his friends rushing toward him and his goddess's panicked shouts.
...
He didn't know how much time had passed since he'd been in bed.
When he woke up, the first thing he saw was Hestia's face, still streaked with tears and traces of snot. A warm, damp cloth rested on his forehead, while several potion bottles were scattered around him.
"You really shouldn't push yourself like that. We were all seriously worried," Welf scolded, arms crossed.
Lili and Mikoto looked at him sternly, while Hestia and Haruhime still hadn't managed to wipe their tears away completely.
"I'm sorry... I guess I got a little carried away," Bell said, apologizing.
"A little?!" Lili shouted, waving the empty bottles in front of him. "You barely woke up after chugging two stamina potions and a healing one!"
"That kind of training isn't human," Mikoto added.
Sigh.
"Kufufu, I really thought I had hurt you," Hestia said as she pressed her chest against Bell, causing his blood to rush in the wrong direction and pool in his head. Fortunately, Lili pulled her away just in time—or he surely would've passed out again.
"What do you think you're doing, Support?! How dare you pull me away from my Bell-kun?!" Hestia growled through clenched teeth, but no one moved to stop Lili.
"Bell-sama needs to rest. You're just overwhelming him with...that," said the pallum, her eyes glinting with envy as they fixated on her goddess's generous attributes.
"When was the last time you got a good night's sleep? That kind of fatigue isn't normal for an adventurer—especially not for a level 4 with high resistance to status ailments like you," Welf pointed out, gesturing toward Bell's eyes. Dark circles had formed beneath them.
An adventurer could go days without sleep—especially Bell, whose body was remarkably resilient. It shouldn't have been a problem to go over a week without proper rest and still function normally.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to worry you," he said, clenching his fists in frustration.
"Does Bell-sama still have nightmares?" Haruhime asked softly.
"Yes, they've lessened... but they still keep me up at night," Bell nodded.
Welf clicked his tongue in frustration.
"We're going to the dungeon," he declared after a few moments.
"No, he needs to rest. I won't allow it!" Hestia shouted as soon as she heard Welf's words.
"He needs to face it. He's not the same Bell who was helpless in the lower floors. His stats are far superior now," Welf stated firmly.
"I think it's a good idea too. We've all seen it. Every morning, Bell-sama trains alone. At first, we could still follow his movements, but it reached a point where we couldn't even see him move anymore," Lili added.
Everyone turned to look at her. Welf had assumed she'd side with Hestia in the argument, but surprisingly, she supported his decision.
"He should be fine. Bell-dono needs this. An adventurer who fears the dungeon shouldn't be an adventurer," Mikoto said—her words blunt, but true.
"Mmmnn... You're not allowed to go beyond the middle floors—I forbid it!" their reluctant goddess finally said, letting the words slip out.
"Thank you..." Bell murmured. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Even though part of him was afraid, he wanted to go back—he wanted to overcome himself, to surpass the Bell who had once known fear.
Splat!
"That's enough! Everyone, wipe those gloomy looks off your faces. Have you forgotten this is a party?" Welf exclaimed as he popped a confetti cannon.
"Right! Bell-sama still has to cut the cake," Lili said, lifting the cake from the table and carrying it over to Bell.
Laughter once again filled the room.
...
"This is my gift, Bell-sama," said Haruhime, handing him a small box wrapped in red ribbons, beautifully arranged like roses. "Mikoto-san helped me decorate it," she added with a light blush on her cheeks.
Bell smiled back at her.
He pulled the red ribbon, unraveling each rose in succession. Inside was a small book—one that could fit in the palm of his hand or a pants pocket. It was bound in monster leather, and the title"The Story of Bell Cranel"was etched into the cover.
"I asked Eina-san to help me get it, and I thought maybe you'd like to write about your adventures in it... but if it's not to your liking, you can use it for something else or just as a notebook," Haruhime said, turning her face away.
"It's an amazing gift," Bell said, gently running his fingers over the cover.
A soft sigh of relief escaped Haruhime when she heard those words.
She'd felt a bit embarrassed giving something so simple after seeing the others bring out priceless treasures.
That little book couldn't compare to any of the other gifts. Lili had given him a cloak made from monsters of the lower floors—extremely durable—and Mikoto had gifted a short sword forged with Far Eastern techniques.
And they couldn't forget the set of armor Welf had forged himself, using metals extracted from the dungeon.
"It's my turn now," said Hestia as she stood in front of Bell, her hands hidden behind her back.
There was a hint of unease in her eyes, which darted from side to side.
"My gift is... this." She took Bell's hand for a moment, then let it go.
All eyes turned to the albino's wrist.
A ribbon, identical to the ones the goddess wore in her hair, was now tied around it.
"Bell-kun, you were my first child. I'm not as beautiful as Freya, and I didn't have the resources of Loki. Honestly, it wouldn't be wrong to say we were the weakest familia in Orario," Hestia said in a bittersweet tone.
She took a few steps back, offering a charming smile.
"I'm not the smartest or the most cunning, and I can't help you in the dungeon—but even so, you chose me, and that made me very happy," she said sincerely.
She brought her hands to her chest and clasped them together. In that moment, she almost seemed to glow—just like the first time Bell had seen her in that alley.
"So... that ribbon will go with you in my place. When you feel alone or lost, remember that a part of me will always be with you," she said in a soft, heartfelt voice.
Bell's heart tightened at her words, filled with so much love and warmth. Even Haruhime, standing nearby, was moved by such an emotional moment.
Unfortunately, aside from those two, no one else truly appreciated the performance.
It was well known that gods didn't understand the concept of birthdays. As entities of the Tenkai, they were immortal by divine right.
Their mortal bodies would never age, and their souls would live on forever. Even if their vessels were destroyed, they would simply return to the heavens.
They had no need for that concept—a year more or less held no meaning in the face of eternity.
In fact, if Lili hadn't gathered everyone to organize the party, Hestia wouldn't have even known it was Bell's birthday.
The ribbon had been a last-minute gift she handed over just to avoid being the only one without something to offer. Backed by her decent acting skills, it had come across as a carefully planned gesture.
"Kami-sama... I should be the one who's grateful. I was rejected by all the other familias, if you hadn't..." Hestia quickly covered Bell's mouth with her hand, stopping him before he could finish recounting that day.
The embarrassment on Hestia's face reached a new level. Beads of sweat dripped down her forehead, revealing her guilt.
She didn't want the others to know. Back then, she had been searching desperately for a member to join her familia, but everyone had rejected her without hesitation.
In her desperation, she had followed and pursued Bell after watching him be turned away by others. That heartfelt scene in which she accepted him as her child had been nothing more than a carefully staged performance.
"It's alright, Bell-kun. You don't need to thank me," Hestia said with a strained smile.
She still had the whole afternoon to find the perfect gift for Bell before the celebration at the Hostess of Fertility.
It wouldn't be as heartfelt as this private moment with just their family, but surrounded by all his friends, her late gift would likely go unnoticed.
Ding-dong.
The mansion's doorbell echoed through the halls.
...
The mansion's doors swung open wide. Laughter filled the air as everyone walked toward the entrance to greet their guests.
It was a perfect day... for everything to go wrong...
As they reached the doorway, something in the world seemed to shift.
Everyone froze where they stood. The daylight's brilliance faded, replaced by a dim orange hue, like the last rays of a dying sunset.
The birds that had been singing just moments ago fell silent. Orario was blanketed in an eerie, deathly quiet.
Crunch!
Above, the sky fractured. A crack, so massive it dwarfed the mountains in the distance, split across the heavens like shattered glass straining under the weight of all creation.
Many collapsed to their knees, the weight of something unimaginable pressing down on the weak, whispering for them to scream—yet their throats couldn't even release a breath of despair.
Within that rift, there was only darkness—so absolute, not even light could escape it.
The gods trembled. As divine beings, they were inherently attuned to divine power... and whatever lurked behind that veil was something overwhelmingly beyond their worst nightmares.
It wasn't just the lower world that was affected by the awakening. The heavens and the spiritual realm were also struck by the presence of that abomination.
An eye opened upon the world, gazing down arrogantly at all beneath its existence.
Its iris, blood-red, gleamed—shining brighter than the dim sun teetering on the edge of the world.
It moved, searching... seeking something that should not exist in that world...
A guttural roar erupted, shaking every corner of the inhabited realms. Its echo carried a primordial fury, soaked in power and dominance. It was the cry of a being claiming sovereignty over this new world, one forsaken by its grace.
The land was torn asunder, the seas raged, and life withered. The souls of all resonated, and just before they were to be joyfully devoured, a power descended—dispersing the calamity that had nearly unfolded.
...
From its slumber, an ancient being had awakened—only to witness the arrival of a foreign entity, one driven by a hunger to consume reality itself.
Nine foreign worlds collapsed into its depths, feeding it and revealing visions of an end steeped in death... Yggdrasil... The remnants of those nine worlds scattered across its lands, seeking refuge from a fate they never truly understood.
Beings who disrupted the natural order—mere mortals and gods bound to a causality different from the one that birthed them.
...
Having failed in its attempt to bring about a true end, the creator slowly closed its eye, descending once more into slumber—awaiting the moment when the final seal binding it to its eternal prison would be undone.
It left behind a curse, a mark that would herald the beginning of its return. The one who was once destined to rule over all that fell under its gaze... returned to its sleep.