After getting Hermes out of the way, Loki darted into the hall and vaulted over the back of the sofa, landing right on it.
Fortunately, when Bell designed the sofa with comfort in mind, he'd chosen to form it from soft, condensed spores—firm yet cushy, without sinking or shifting. Otherwise, with a jump like that, Loki might've shattered her own backside.
"How is it? How is it? Has it started yet?"
Hestia gave Loki an annoyed side-eye.
"Can't you look for yourself?"
Loki was momentarily choked by the comeback, but her eyes remained glued to the projected image.
On-screen, the boy, heavily wrapped in his cloak, was walking along the edge of the 59th floor. Every few steps, he stopped to set something up.
Loki recognized them as runes—once activated, they quickly melded into the walls without leaving a trace.
This was that kid's signature move.
Still, Loki couldn't help feeling uneasy—because of the sheer scale of the 59th floor.
"That kid's not planning to lay runes along the entire perimeter, is he?"
"What do you think? Bell-kun said that to avoid unnecessary interference from unwanted parties, proper precautions are essential. If not, he wouldn't go to all this trouble."
Loki stared wordlessly at the screen, watching Bell make his preparations.
Ordinarily, no one would go to such extreme lengths.
But knowing Bell was doing this to ensure the safety of the plan, Loki couldn't bring herself to call it madness.
She stayed quiet in her seat, watching as Bell continued his work.
Preparation was a dull process—especially with Bell's thorough approach to covering the entire 59th floor. It was clearly going to take time.
As he worked, Bell kept a close eye on the central area.
"Scritch… scritch…"
The faint, heavy sound of crawling made him pause and rush to the wall, planting his feet against it and clinging to the surface like he was fused to it.
His sharp eyes immediately locked onto several slowly emerging Virgas.
'Looks like the Virgas and Violas sent to the lower floors are finally returning. Did they manage to gather enough magic stones?'
He checked the life force of the central "Spirit Fetus"—still weak and hollow. Its aura lingered at the Lv. 5 range, not even close to Lv. 6.
'Still a long way to go before it's fully charged.'
He counted the number of returning Virgas—not many. Clearly, not all had come back. Worse yet, the ones that had returned seemed in poor condition—their auras unstable.
'Even Virgas need a certain amount of energy to function. With the Dungeon focusing all its resources on repairing the damage caused by the Black Dragon, there's no surplus to keep the other floors fully supplied.'
'Hah… failing to secure the food reserves on the 24th floor really did cripple the Spirit Fetus.'
...
Olivas Act was in an extremely foul mood.
'The losses among the Virgas and Violas are far worse than I expected.'
The monsters on the 60th floor were no joke. Even with their numbers and unique traits, Virgas and Violas could only suppress—not defeat—them.
And now, with the goddess unable to nurture them like before due to energy shortages, Olivas was finally forced to recognize just how bad his situation had become.
If he wanted to collect magic stones from the lower floors, he'd have to pay an even higher price in Virgas and Violas.
The problem was that the goddess could no longer draw in enough energy, which meant she couldn't mass-produce Violas and Virgas. And once again, everything came down to energy.
'At this rate of depletion, the Virgas and Violas won't be able to contribute much to capturing Aria. The focus now has to shift to nurturing the fetus.'
With that thought, he gave the order.
"Gather Magic Stones from the Deep Floors—at any cost."
The Virgas and Violas, born solely to collect Magic Stones, had no will of their own. They were created for this one purpose. So upon receiving the command, they dropped what Magic Stones they had and turned back toward the lower levels to continue harvesting.
Olivas picked up the scattered Magic Stones from the floor, placing them one by one along the outer membrane of the fetus.
Sensing the presence of the stones, the fetus stirred, its eyes—large and reptilian—cracking open to lock onto the Magic Stones.
One by one, the stones were drawn through the membrane and into its waiting hands, then fed into its mouth.
This scene did not escape Bell, who watched from his position on the wall at a distance.
'So it really is an extreme energy shortage, huh?'
But Bell wasn't surprised.
The Spirit fetus—perhaps the ultimate desperate strategy—was a creation born of its own body, a doppelganger tied directly to its source. Unleashing a swarm of such entities onto Orario and the gods was, undeniably, a potent plan for revenge.
The only downside was the staggering energy cost.
One or two Lv.6s weren't enough to destroy Orario. They'd be wiped out easily.
Even dozens of Lv.6s might not be able to bring down Orario, not when Lv.7 adventurers still stood in its defense.
That's why spawning a horde of Lv.7s was the highest priority.
But doing so demanded an immense supply of energy. Without it, how could the Spirit produce such a vast number of doppelgangers?
If the Dungeon's energy beds were still operating as they had before, then it would only be a matter of time. But with the Dungeon effectively "on strike," this kind of energy drain became a serious bottleneck.
'Looks like the Spirit side isn't an immediate threat.'
Having confirmed that, Bell dropped down from the wall. He still had more setup to do—any small oversight could become a fatal problem in the real battle ahead.
After landing, he resumed his rune placements.
Most of the 59th floor was already covered. Despite its size, there weren't many truly vulnerable areas. Only the two entrance and exit points were obvious weak spots, and those were best left until just before the battle—setting them up too early would make them easy to detect.
Next, he needed to completely sever the link between the 59th floor and the Deep Floors.
Not only to block other parties from barging in, but also to prevent any consciousness projections from the Spirit.
As long as interference from both directions was shut down, the success rate of the operation could rise by at least 30%.
And that—more than anything—was why Bell was being so meticulous.
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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