"So, the third force in the Dungeon comes from the Corrupted Spirits."
Bell retrieved the woman’s severed arm from four-dimensional space.
"This is the severed arm of the woman who beat the ’Sword Princess’ to a pulp. I only managed to cut it off with a sneak attack and a few trump cards."
Just thinking about how his Lightning and Accumulate Power techniques had been fully exposed made Bell realize how difficult it was to challenge someone across levels. If he hadn’t possessed Godspeed, Runes, and Accumulate Power, there was no way he could have severed her arm with a single strike. And with just that one blow, most of his cards were laid bare.
Even after nearly slicing through half her neck, she was still alive and well—proof of her terrifying vitality.
Despite the cost, Bell had extracted a wealth of information from the severed arm.
"From my investigation, there’s no doubt—she’s not human. Not even demi-human. She’s a full-fledged humanoid monster."
Bell displayed the severed cross-section of the arm, using Runes to magnify the image down to the cellular level.
"Take a look at this."
Everyone focused on the enlarged area and saw strip-shaped structures squirming within the flesh.
"These are the cells from her arm. But they’re completely different from those of ordinary people."
"Her cells show extraordinary regenerative capabilities, high infectivity, and even devouring properties similar to those of a Spirit fetus."
"And then there’s this."
Bell zoomed in on a clearly visible crystal embedded within the arm’s cross-section at the cellular level.
"A colorful Magic Stone?"
At the sight of the vibrant crystal, Loki instinctively thought of the Magic Stones extracted from monsters. And indeed, the tiny crystals embedded in the arm bore a striking resemblance.
"Yes. Based on my findings, these tiny crystals possess the same properties as Magic Stones."
"They can be found in several spots throughout the arm, mostly around the joints. It’s this discovery that confirms she isn’t human—she’s a completely different type of humanoid monster."
This investigation had taken Bell a considerable amount of time—hence the three days spent lingering in the Dungeon.
Thanks to his understanding of the side story, Bell gained a much clearer picture of the severed arm. But even with that context, the information he uncovered during the analysis was deeply shocking.
"Maybe the woman trying to reclaim the Spirit fetus was actually a surrogate created by the Spirits. Or maybe... she herself is the prototype of the mass-produced form the Spirits most desire."
That conclusion alone had shaken Bell.
After all, if monsters above Lv. 5—just a step away from Lv. 6—were produced in bulk, even Orario wouldn’t be able to withstand the threat.
But in the end, his research revealed the same flaw found in the fetuses—perhaps an even more dangerous one than the Spirit fetuses themselves...
"Still, the energy issue imposes a major limitation."
"The energy needed to mass-produce a woman like that is even greater than what it takes to create a Spirit fetus. I think that’s why the Spirits ultimately abandoned the idea of mass production."
What prevented Orario from heading toward destruction wasn’t manpower—it was the sheer energy required to sustain these beings.
If energy hadn’t been a constraint, and if the Spirits had the ability to mass-produce fetuses, Orario would’ve already been completely wiped out.
But if energy limitations capped the number they could produce, then one or two alone wouldn’t be enough to bring about Orario’s destruction.
Of course, Bell believed that if Orario didn’t have even a single Lv.7, the Spirits might have already begun mass-producing Lv.5s to mount a counterattack against the city.
"Maybe if Orario lacked a Lv.7, the Spirit pulling the strings would’ve given up on evolving the fetus to Lv.7 and focused entirely on mass-producing Lv.5s instead."
"That’s why Orario still needs the deterrent power of a Lv.7."
Loki raised an eyebrow but didn’t refute the point.
Without Freya Familia’s Ottar holding the line as Orario’s Lv.7 cornerstone, the Spirits might very well have chosen to flood the city with Lv.5s.
At the same time, she grew more convinced of that prior plan for a Lv.6 evolution...
Maybe the plan carried enormous risk—but now Loki realized that without a Lv.7 at the helm, Orario would be too vulnerable when faced with a crisis of this magnitude.
"That wraps up the explanation about the third-party faction."
"This is everything I managed to uncover over the past few days."
That was all the intelligence Bell could provide on the third-party threat. He had shared just about everything he could investigate—there wasn’t really anything left to hide. Not that he felt the need to, anyway.
In fact, the whole reason he was so forthcoming was to leak the intel to the Guild through someone else’s mouth.
Next was the issue of Hermes’s stance.
Neutrality was the most troublesome position to take, so since this opportunity came up, he figured he might as well drag Hermes into it too.
Bell didn’t exactly dislike the fun-lovers. But honestly, those types didn’t act like people at all.
So he never held back when it came to extreme views and plans.
What he said had nothing in common with a "hero"—it sounded more like something worse than a Demon King.
Hopefully, the fun-lovers wouldn’t take things too far, or even a flying kick from Goddess-sama might not be enough to fix the mess.
"As for the Guild’s influence in the Dungeon, we’ll need to hear directly from whoever’s really calling the shots. That’s why the Spirit fetus and the severed arm will serve as our way in."
"I’ve already sealed both items properly, so there shouldn’t be any major issues. And I’ve completely shattered the Spirit fetus’s will—it won’t react no matter how hard you provoke it."
"Since the one handling the delivery is that Chienthrope girl, we’ll have to leave the rest to Hermes."
Now that the trouble had landed on him, Hermes didn’t have much room to argue. Bell-kun wasn’t wrong.
Since it was his child taking on the transport job, it ultimately fell to him to get the Spirit fetus to the Guild.
"Alright, I’ll head over to the Guild later and hand everything over."
p@treon com / PinkSnake