| Synopsis |
Volume 11[]
Prologue[]
In the sewers, a group of adventurers searched through the area for the Xenos. While they did so, they began mocking Bell, however Mord came to his defense, arguing in his favor. Soon after, they were confronted by Lyd who scared them off.
Sometime after the battle at Daedalus Street, Wiene awoke to find herself with most of the other Xenos, who informed her that they failed to regroup with Asterius and that their last hope was Bell.
Chapter 1[]
Four days after Bell's actions, the members of the Hestia Familia discussed the recent news headlines, except for Welf, who had been holed up in his forge for the past few days. Bell soon arrived, stating that he wanted to go outside, and while Hestia was reluctant at first, she agreed to it as long as she went with him. As both of them expected, the citizens gave him scornful looks, causing her to claim that she was just trying to pay off her debt, in order to protect him. Eventually they reached the Hostess of Fertility, where they learned that the employees still believed in him even though they didn't know why he took such actions, though Ryuu did want to know more about why he was at Daedalus Street.
Soon after, the two headed to Daedalus Street, subsequently encountering Ais with a group of Loki Familia members, however before she could say anything she was interrupted by Loki, who sent them to Finn in order to talk to the two by herself. Once they were gone, Loki expressed her interest in him, asking how it felt to be scorned by everyone. Partway through their conversation, he spotted a familiar person, prompting Hestia to tell him to go as she would keep Loki busy. He followed the person through the area until he reached Maria's Orphanage. While Fina and Roux were hesitant, Rye expressed his disappointment vocally, then took the others with him into the building, leaving Bell behind, and a minute or so later Syr came out of the orphanage to talk with him. She helped him sort his thoughts while giving him a lap pillow, mentioning at the end in a quiet voice that she loved the Bell that kept on running, but when he didn't hear it she simply told him that she liked him better as his usual self.
At Daedalus Street, Royman argued with a calm Finn, telling him and the Loki Familia to hurry up and get out. Despite his efforts, the Pallum revealed that they knew about Knossos, and made a deal that they would hand over all keys and report information to the Guild in exchange for being allowed to investigate Daedalus Street. Ais informed Finn that she encountered Bell at Daedalus Street, leading him to ask where she encountered him as he wanted to talk with him.
Chapter 2[]
On his way back from the orphanage, Bell was stopped by Finn, who, after taking him to a deserted area, attempted to ask him if he knew anything more about the incident. Bell thought about it and came to the conclusion that he could maybe trust Finn, but before he could say anything they were interrupted by Hermes. As he left, Finn asked him if he had a key, and then told him to forget about it when he saw that he was nervous. After he left, Hermes informed Bell that it was useless to try to reason with the Loki Familia, then revealed that the Hermes Familia had been working with Fels to track the Xenos, adding that the Hermes Familia had known about them for quite a while as they'd been working for Ouranos. Hestia found him a short while later, leading Hermes to leave them.
The same day, Asfi visited Ryuu with Aisha to give them the full details of everything that had happened, including the existence of both the Xenos and Knossos. Aisha wasn't happy about it, stating that she didn't see any reason to save the Xenos, making Asfi remind her that as a member of the Hermes Familia she needed to obey orders. To convince Ryuu, Asfi promised to provide information on the remnants of Evilus, telling her that they would interrogate any Evilus members they find within Knossos.
At the Hephaestus Familia branch store, Hephaestus, Miach, and Takemikazuchi discussed the incident, wondering if they really needed to help the Xenos, and came to a decision. Later on, Bell spotted Fels' owl familiar in Hestia Familia's garden, and brought the letter it was carrying inside so everyone could read it, which stated that they would head for Daedalus Street the following night. Bell didn't understand why the others would help him, to which they simply replied that they were a Familia.
Chapter 3[]
That night, Freya looked out from her the window in her room in Babel when Ottar asked her if they could trust the information Hermes had brought them. The God had stopped by two days earlier to request her help in the plan, but while she was surprised by their existence, she didn't really care about them as she was only interested in Bell. He changed the topic to Bell, prompting her to mention that he would return to his usual self, and as if to confirm her words she noticed his transparent soul return to its original brightness. Recalling everything that had happened, she ordered Ottar to follow her orders, instructing him to also inform Allen and the others of them.
Later that night, Bell and Lili visited Lenoa's shop. Once they told her the pass phrase, she recognized that they had been sent by Fels, and took them to a hidden storeroom filled with magic items. Around the same time, Hestia and Mikoto visited the secret passageway to Ouranos' chamber that Fels had taken Hestia through before, and she obtained Daedalus' Journal from Ouranos. After everyone returned home, they gave one of the Occulus to Fels' familiar in order for them to communicate, then went over their plan.
Five days after the Xenos incident, citizens still continuously visited the Guild to complain about the recent events, which included complaints about Bell. Misha complained to other Guild members about the hate Bell was receiving, stating that the Ikelos Familia was the one at fault, however Rehmer calmly pointed out how his fame and the damage to Daedalus Street caused this whole mess. Hearing this, she wondered what Eina felt, since she knew that she'd been depressed about the whole thing, but to her surprise Eina was angry at being left alone and demanded to know what kind of person Bell viewed her as. Reaching her limit, she announced that she was going to go patrol the city, causing the others to protest her decision as without her the work wouldn't get done properly, to which she suggested that they needed to change. Gathering up the equipment for patrolling, she decided to go and visit Bell herself.
That night, just as Bell was about to leave, Hermes visited him at the Hestia Familia home, asking him if he was going to go. When he told him that he was, he simply told him that he was going to cheer him on. Soon after Bell left to commence with the plan, Eina visited Hestia Familia's home, and upon spotting Hermes there, she demanded to know where Bell was. The God informed her that he left for Daedalus Street, then gave her a bracelet with a purple jewel on it, asking her to return it to him in his place.
Upon arriving, Bell was interrogated by several adventurers if he knew something about the monsters, yet he told them that he didn't know anything. Moving along, he noticed two Loki Familia members who quickly disappeared once they spotted him, and he was shocked to notice Ais' arrival on top of a building, realizing that she was there to watch him. She had asked Finn to let her watch him, nonetheless he questioned her ability to watch him properly, causing her to promise to do so.
Fortunately, Naaza arrived to help, informing him that Miach, Hephaestus, and Takemikazuchi decided to help Bell and the others who were trying to help the Xenos. At one point Naaza patted his head, and seeing this, Ais began patting the air in front of her, but stopped when she came to her senses. He handed her the necessary magic items and she left to follow the plan.
As Bell moved to the southern end of Daedalus Street, he was stopped by Ryuu and Aisha, who informed him that they would help him. Similar to his moment with Naaza, at one point Aisha put her arm around his neck and brought him to her, whispering into his ear that she definitely wanted a reward after everything was over, earning her Ryuu's anger. Remembering that he was being watched by Ais, he looked up to see her staring at him, though this time she was on her knees at the edge of the roof, holding her knees as she watched him.
Once they left, he desperately wanted to go to her to explain that he was innocent, nevertheless his hopes were dashed when he was stopped by Eina. Immediately, she began lecturing him, and at one point she asked him if she was just a convenient woman, however everyone else interpreted it in a different way than she intended, causing everyone around him to insult him. Ais noted that he met another woman, and when she heard the phrase convenient woman and watched as his expression cycled through a variety of different ones, she wondered if he was a delinquent.
On a tower in the south western part of Daedalus Street, Hestia and Haruhime listened to Bell's cries through the Occulus, wondering if he was alright. Leaving the matter alone for the time being, Hestia examined the huge map in front of her, known as Daedalus Legacy, that Fels had drawn up himself by actually navigating his way through the area. The map, when used in conjunction with Seeker Powder, allowed her to track the movements of everyone, which she and Haruhime took advantage of to issue orders through several different Occulus.
Complaining that she couldn't track the movements of the Loki Familia, she recalled her conversation with Loki the day before where she had asked for her support, however Loki refused, stating that her Familia members would reject her orders, and Finn would potentially cut ties with her. She added that it would be impossible for people and monsters to live together, though she promised that she wouldn't tell her Familia anything Hestia just said.
At the scheduled time for the plan to start, Lyd climbed on top of a building and let out a cry, giving the signal for the plan to start.
Chapter 4[]
Hearing the signal, Lili used Cinder Ella to transform into a male Pallum to rouse the crowd, then transformed into Arles in order to lure them. Shortly after, Bell heard the other adventurers mention that they spotted an Almiraj, and realized that Lili had already made her move, causing him to leave Eina behind to commence with the plan. In order to shake off the adventurers following him, he used his Reverse Veil to turn invisible, with Naaza using the pollen of two flowers to make them see illusions. Ais was unaffected by the illusions but was prevented from following him by a level boosted Ryuu, who wanted to fight with her.
Lili moved on to her next task, this time transforming into Finn in order to trick Raul into divulging information on the Loki Familia's formation, and ordered them to head to the southern part. Raul was confused as to why Finn didn't have his spear, nevertheless he still communicated Lili's orders to the others. Using the information gained from him, they were able to deduce that the western entrance was clear.
As Raul followed Lili's orders to move south, Finn was confused as to why he was doing so, but after piecing together different bits of information, he deduced that Lili's must've used magic to transform into him to trick Raul. He was soon informed of the appearance of the monsters to the west, however he was confused as to why they were moving straight east, leading him to think that there was an entrance they didn't know about. At that point, Loki arrived, telling him to ascertain things with his own eyes, though he didn't know if she meant about Bell or the monsters. He then stopped a Familia member, ordering them to have Raul come to him.
Intermediate Chapter[]
Outside of the Daedalus Street on the north western side, Maria, Rye, and Fina pleaded with Ouka and Chigusa to go look for Roux, who had returned to the church to retrieve a cat he'd been secretly taking care of. At first they were reluctant to take the children with them, but when they learned that they were orphans, they accepted their request.
At the north eastern side of Daedalus Street, Cassandra was busy carrying two wooden boxes through the area, yet dropped them when Daphne called out to her from behind, revealing an Almiraj and a Hellhound. Daphne was shocked by the appearance of the two monsters, forcing Cassandra to explain that as she had seen a nightmare with her precognition, she went to the spot specified in her dream to get the charm to prevent it, only to find the two of them there, injured from the battle that occurred five days earlier, and had taken care of them ever since. Despite this, Daphne tried to kill them, only for Asterius to arrive, who attempted to kill them. Fortunately, Arles and the Hellhound convinced Asterius to leave them alone, and left along with him.
While Lili made her way through Daedalus Street, she came upon a gruesome scene in the eastern area, as a large group of adventurers were collapsed in an area completely stained red with their blood. She felt relieved every time she could confirm that an adventurer was still alive as she looked for traces of any Xenos that might've been there.
Chapter 5[]
At the western area that the Xenos had already passed through, Tione and Tiona were checking the area for monsters. While Tione complained that they hadn't found any monsters, Tiona found two unconscious adventurers the Xenos left behind, and tried to ask them about the Xenos when the monster discovery alarm sounded, prompting them to head to the location. Above them, the Xenos were able to make their way through smoothly with Welf and Mikoto's help, as each of them were wielding an ice element magic sword under another Reverse Veil that they used to freeze the Loki Familia members. Unfortunately, the Hiryute sisters caught up to them from behind, forcing the two to use their magic swords against them, but to their horror the sisters easily broke through the ice.
Ordering the Xenos to go on ahead, Welf and Mikoto stayed behind in order to fight them, and succeeded in blowing them away with Mikoto's wind element magic sword. Although they succeeded in getting rid of them for the time being, they were subsequently attacked from the front by Gareth, who attempted to take out Fels. The two tried using their ice magic sword on him, however they had no effect on him as the Dwarf continued on with his rampage using brute strength, causing Fels to use his magic item Black Mist to cover the area in a black mist. At the point Tsubaki arrived with a whole load of her own magic swords to help him, and promptly told him to bring out everything he had to protect the Xenos. Stirred on by her words, Welf used his more powerful ice magic sword to successfully force Gareth to go on the defensive, ordering the others to move on without him.
As the others moved on, Wiene became separated from the rest of the group, a fact she realized herself, but she couldn't do anything about it since Loki Familia adventurers were chasing after her. To make things worse, she ran into Tiona, making her change directions. Suddenly, Roux appeared ahead of her, and the building next to the Half Elf began to collapse. She feared that the people would reject her again even if she saved the Half Elf, nevertheless she saved the Half Elf using her body anyway, then moved on as fast as she could. Seeing this, Tiona ordered the other Loki Familia members to tend to the Half Elf while she went on ahead. Once Roux regrouped with the others, Roux stated that Bell wasn't wrong in doing what he did, as the Half Elf had realized what had actually happened. Easily cornering Wiene in an alley, Tiona came close to killing her but then stopped, allowing Wiene to escape as she had realized that Wiene had saved Roux. Once she had left, Tiona wondered if Bell felt the same way as she did. Tione was annoyed that Tiona let the monster go, nonetheless she understood why she did so because she felt the same way.
Noticing that Wiene was moving further away from the group, Haruhime decided to go help her on her own, prompting Bell to ask Hestia for her location. Once they regrouped, he had her cast Uchide no Kozuchi on him, then took her along with him in case he needed a recast. Despite them successfully finding Wiene, they were found by Bete who had sensed them go by, though fortunately they managed to get under his Reverse Veil, but it proved to be no use as he sensed where they were hiding. To their surprise, Haruhime moved out from under the cloak to stand in between them and Bete in order to protect them, and indirectly told them to run. Bete repeatedly ordered her to move, which she refused to do, making him recognize her courage and resolve, leading him to also recognize her as an opponent. He even allowed her to finish casting Uchide no Kozuchi, which she used on a newly arrived Aisha, as a sign of respect. Despite this, Aisha was defeated by Bete.
While Haruhime stayed behind to deal with Bete, Bell and Wiene headed south, however their hopes were dashed when they were stopped by Ais, who told him her earlier decision wouldn't change even if she knew the Xenos had intellect, and the two began to fight. He immediately ordered Wiene to run, but to his surprise he saw Ais jump over him to catch up to her, feeling disappointed at the fact that Ais didn't see him as an opponent at all. Realizing that he wasn't going to make it in time to stop her, he used Firebolt instead, successfully stopping Ais from catching up to Wiene, who disappeared into a collapsed building. He attempted to reason with her again, nevertheless she simply told him that they didn't have anything to discuss, prompting him to tell her that he still did. Ais left him to chase after Wiene again, and Bell used the information from Hestia to find her first. Coming face to face for the third time, Ais mentioned that she didn't want to fight him, nonetheless she still refused to listen to him.
Fortunately for him, the alley they were in was too small for her to use her sword properly, letting him fight to his fullest with his knives. Soon after she was hit by his attack, she noted that he'd grown stronger, leading her to go all out in their battle, which she effortlessly won, leaving him behind to resume her search. Despite this, Bell recognized the area he was in as the place he'd gone through while running from the Silverback, successfully managing to let Wiene escape through a hidden passageway. As the two fought at the entrance, Ais finally decided to listen to what he had to say after he managed to leave a mark on her breastplate, and he took the opportunity to tell her that he wanted to save Wiene because she was different than other monsters, however she pointed out that not everyone wanted to accept them as monsters killed people, to which he pointed out that adventurers did the same thing, finally stating that he wanted a world that Wiene and the others could live happily in.
At that point, she refused to speak with him again, stating that their conversation was over. He still refused to let her pass, causing her to threaten to cut him for real, yet he still refused to give way, and suddenly Wiene appeared and stood in between the two of them. Wiene asked her not to hurt Bell, and upon seeing her speak, Ais' resolve began to waver for the first time, making her gather her resolve again, stating that Wiene's nails, wings, and Vouivre's Tear would hurt, frighten, and kill people.
In response to this, Wiene voluntarily mutilated herself, breaking her nails and ripping off her wing, asking Bell to kill her properly once she removed the stone. However, before she did so, she told Ais about her meeting with Bell, mentioning that she was all alone until he came by and helped her. By seeing Wiene's actions and hearing her story, Ais' resolve completely broke apart, telling them that she couldn't fight them any longer as she had begun to believe that they weren't wrong, and while she couldn't help them, she gave them an elixir for them to use, then turned her back to them. After they left, Bete, who had apparently been watching the entire scene, asked if it was okay for her to let them go, prompting her to tell him that it was. He then told her that he was going to go back ahead of her, earning him a mention of thanks, making him wonder why he was being thanked in the first place. As he left Ais simply mentioned something and stared up at the night sky.
Using the elixir to heal themselves, they were found by Haruhime, who in turn had found the remaining Xenos: Arles, Helga, Fear, and Let. Hestia informed them that there wasn't any way for them to catch up to Fels' group, but after seeing the key Let received from Asterius, Bell realized that there was an entrance to Knossos through the place where he had fought the Barbarian a while back. Once inside, he recalled Dix's words, and used a two minute charged Firebolt to destroy the wreckage blocking the entrance. Before they left, Wiene promised Bell that she wouldn't make them worry, and in turn he promised that he would make a place where people and Xenos could live together. Haruhime suggested that they pinky promise, which they did, and as they left he vowed to become stronger in order to fulfill his promise.
At the Loki Familia operations headquarters, Finn was busy reflecting over his mistakes, blaming himself for underestimating the power of the Hestia Familia. Still, he didn't understand why the monsters were heading to the location specified, as the Loki Familia had already searched the place and found no entrance to Knossos.
Relieved that they had returned safely, Hestia accidentally dropped Daedalus' Journal into a puddle of rainwater, only to discover that it was a fake as the journal itself sustained no damage. Around the same time, in the underground area close to the entrance to Knossos, Fels and the Xenos were overjoyed to learn that Wiene and the other Xenos safely made it back, declaring their victory. However, they turned the last corner specified in the journal only to come face to face with a wall, and at that point Hermes revealed himself, who pointed out that while Daedalus' Journal did indeed exist, the real one was most likely still in the dungeon with Dix's dead body. Having no other choice, Fels' group accepted his offer, which was for some of the Xenos to go on a rampage to let Bell redeem himself. Gros, a Crimson Eagle, an Iguas, and a Deadly Hornet agreed to go, and began rampaging in the clearing at main street.
Chapter 6[]
Realizing that the journal was fake, Hestia quickly informed Bell and Haruhime who were the closest, ordering Haruhime to bring the others back, then updated his status while she did so, expressing her surprise at the large growth in his status. He left just as the others arrived and they expressed their horror at the scene. Upon arriving, he immediately began fighting with Gros, who was trying to attack Eina. Hermes had given him a purple jewel, created by Asfi, that would enable him to identify the person who had the bracelet with the purple jewel, which happened to be Eina, forcing them to fight.
Noticing the Xenos beginning their rampage in the clearing, Finn felt his thumb tingle, making him recall Loki's words to him earlier. This influenced his decision, causing him to leave Raul behind to take his place at headquarters while he headed out to see things himself.
Moving to a high place where they could see the Xenos' rampage clearly, Asfi expressed her disgust at Hermes, pointing out that there was no need to involve citizens in the plan. He mentioned that as Bell's drop in reputation started with the citizens, he needed to include them, knowing that Asfi also didn't care for the Xenos either. Asfi didn't reply and instead simply informed him that she was going to move to her position. Once she left, Hermes began revealing his true intentions, believing that living with monsters was impossible, and mentioned that no one wanted a heretical hero. Turning his attention to the battle, he continued talking, adding that while it would hurt to kill the Xenos, he would get over it quickly, otherwise Eina would die.
The two fought until the Loki Familia group led by Finn arrived, causing Gros to worry as Bell needed to be the one to kill them, and used a flying attack against him. Bell, remembering that his grandfather told him not to let others decide for him as it was his own story, sheathed his knife and held his hands out toward Gros, who quickly stopped his attack partway through. Seeing this, Asfi began to launch a magic item towards Gros that would make him go out of control, but before she could, Asterius arrived, having been guided there by Ottar.
Chapter 7[]
Recognizing Bell, he sent him flying through several buildings in order to separate him from the others, then politely asked for his name, telling him of his dream to have a rematch with his greatest rival. As the two fought, Asterius kicked him back to the clearing again, and everyone around them watched their battle and began to cheer, spurred on by Mord, Rye, Fina, and Roux's cheers. The Loki Familia tried to intervene, however Freya Familia's executives blocked them, which in turn blocked the others.
Eventually, Bell shifted the site of their battle to Central Park, in front of Babel, to prevent citizens from getting caught up in their fight, and, after a while, lost the final clash against Asterius as his 20 second Argonaut slash was broken through by the Minotaur's strength. Celebrating his victory, Asterius took Bell with him as he smashed his way through Babel straight down to the 1st Floor, then told him that they would decide it next time, leaving him alone on a pile of debris. As he reflected over his loss, Bell resolved to grow stronger in order to fulfill his promises and protect people, but for now he decided to cry. Eina, who had run after him, understood his tears and stayed with him until help came, feeling something growing inside of her.
Epilogue[]
Several days after the battle between Bell and Asterius, Fels visited the Xenos at their hideout to heal them, with Asterius leaving to go train as soon as his wounds and arm were completely healed. Around the same time, Hermes reported on Bell to Ouranos, and agreed to keep working for him as long as Ouranos didn't get Bell involved with Xenos matters, adding that they might clash on things in the future. Ouranos agreed to his condition, stating that since Zeus and Hera were gone he didn't have that many people he could use. Once Hermes left, Fels returned, and Ouranos told him that while he couldn't bring himself to forgive Hermes, he was going to bet everything on Bell just like him.
At the same time, all of Hestia Familia's members, except for Bell, were gathered at their home, reflecting over the aftermath of the incident, which brought Bell's reputation back to normal. Though there had been traces of a break in and some rummaging, the home wasn't ransacked, and on top of that their money was safe, making it seem as if a strong Familia had managed the place while they were gone. Bell himself was at the wall where he had trained with Ais, with the girl herself arriving at sunrise, stating that she thought she'd find him there. She agreed to train him again, but as she had other stuff to do, she didn't know when they could actually start. Nevertheless, he told her that he didn't mind. As she left, he didn't watch her leave, instead directing his gaze to the tower and the dungeon beneath it. Resolving to grow stronger again, he turned his back to it, and began running again.