While Bell went to call for help, Finn and Gareth—who had just been explaining the situation to Aisha and Haruhime—walked over to join Riveria and Loki.
"Riveria, can you still piece your thoughts together?"
"I lost consciousness for a bit, but I remember most of what happened."
When it came to serious matters, Riveria composed herself, though her words still carried a lingering sense of unease.
"There was interference with mana inside the barrier. Any Adventurer with magical abilities who enters it will be affected—unable to use magic. On top of that, the mana goes wild inside the body, disrupting the senses."
"The one who severely injured me was the barrier’s counterattack mechanism."
"Once my mana was disrupted, it exploded inside me like a bomb. Under normal circumstances, no one could’ve survived that."
Yes. Riveria recalled the moment she was injured—the searing pain as her own mana detonated inside her, tearing most of her internal organs to pieces. Even if she hadn’t died instantly, not even the ’Dea Saint’ could have guaranteed pulling her back from death’s edge.
She was still surprised she was alive at all, and deeply curious as to how she’d been healed.
"Finn, how was I saved? Did someone use an Elixir?"
"Do you think a Elixir alone could’ve healed you in that condition?"
Riveria rejected the idea outright.
"With my mana in turmoil, I didn’t even have a chance to resist before it exploded inside me. If not for the resilience of my Level 6 body, I wouldn’t have even had a breath left."
"In that state, a simple Elixir wouldn’t have been enough to restore my shattered organs."
Finn agreed. Judging from her condition at the time, it was hard to believe that any ordinary medicine could’ve saved her.
Especially after hearing Riveria’s account, he felt more than ever that her survival was nothing short of a miracle—one in a million.
Finn gave a small shake of his head.
"The one who saved you was that boy."
"We’re not exactly sure how he did it. But take a look at the tree stump behind you."
Riveria turned to see a tree stump, surrounded by scattered black ash. Her eyes locked onto it—there was something about the aura radiating from the stump that felt oddly familiar.
"Don’t bother thinking about it."
Loki’s voice came as she slowly got up from the ground, brushing dirt off her clothes.
This time, her expression was stripped of the sleazy, perverse air she usually carried. What remained was an unusually grave seriousness.
"That kid reversed the Spirit Tree’s vitality and poured its entire life force into Riveria—that’s how she survived."
Riveria stared at Loki in shock, then quickly turned to look at the tree stump. No wonder the spiritual energy it gave off felt so familiar... it was the Spirit Tree.
But unlike Riveria’s shock, Loki was even more stunned. How had that kid managed it? Reversing the Spirit Tree’s life force and transferring it to Riveria, triggering her body to heal itself—it was a crude and simple method, essentially trading one life for another. But such a transformation wasn’t something an ordinary person could pull off. Even calling it magecraft would be pushing it—it was far too strange.
Loki knew the magic he used came from those magical scripts. Considering how the kid had previously used them to make a living, it just highlighted how versatile they were.
’Even if those magical scripts are incredibly versatile, there’s no way they could cover such a broad spectrum. Just where did that kid get them from?’
Loki had a strong sense that the origin of those magical scripts held the key.
But no matter how seriously she thought about it, it wouldn’t help. The runes came from Yggdrasil, the World Tree. They were etched into it—rules birthed naturally by the world itself.
Even if Bell gave a detailed explanation, no one would likely believe him.
There was one question that could shut him down completely.
’If those runes exist on Yggdrasil, then where did you learn them?’
That alone would leave Bell completely at a loss.
He couldn’t exactly say that he extracted the concept from a Caster-class Heroic Spirit named Cú Chulainn from another world, right?
Even if gods could tell whether a child from Genkai was lying, Bell’s answer would probably come across as sheer delusion. And worse, it’d be a delusion he himself believed wholeheartedly.
If Bell ever tried to explain that, they’d probably ship him off for psychological treatment...
Meanwhile, Bell quietly knocked on the basement door.
The voice of the Goddess-sama came from within. Hearing it, Bell opened the door and stepped inside.
As he entered, his eyes instinctively drifted toward Hephaestus-sama. But the moment he looked over, his gaze locked with hers.
Bell immediately remembered that sneaky kiss on the cheek from earlier, and a hint of red crept onto his face—but he quickly suppressed it.
’This kid is adorable.’
Hephaestus caught the moment, and it only made her find him even more amusing.
"Bell-kun, you’re the one who helped remove the stuff on my face this morning, right?"
Hestia, standing nearby, had also noticed the exchange. But remembering what Hephaestus had said earlier, she felt a bit embarrassed and chose not to bring it up.
She knew full well that she was a messy sleeper. She’d already heard Hephaestus complain about her stealing the blanket during the night.
Since Bell was the first one up, he must have seen Hephaestus lying there without a blanket.
Although Hestia had plenty to complain about, considering she was the one who took the blanket, she had no leg to stand on.
Bell quickly composed himself and nodded.
"Yes. When I got up this morning, I sensed some hostility and saw the part of Hephaestus-sama’s face that was hidden under the mask. I realized I could do something about it, so I helped out."