"Alright, it's about time I got to work."
After watching enough drama and hearing what felt like a series of farewell speeches, Bell couldn't bring himself to dwell in the gloomy atmosphere.
He was actually quite confident in his arrangements.
Everything was progressing just as planned.
Originally, the biggest issue had been the Dungeon's shortage of magic stones. The Spirits couldn't nurture the Spirit fetuses to the standard Bell had in mind.
But then, unexpectedly, Evilus had boldly declared, "No problem, I'll handle it."
As a result, they provided a huge supply of magic stones. Combined with those collected by the Spirits from the Deep Floors, the Spirit fetuses finally had the nourishment they needed to grow.
With the biggest hurdle for the Spirits resolved, Bell had little else to worry about. Of course, even though things were going smoothly, he wasn't about to go and report everything to Finn.
After all, this was supposed to be a trial. At the very least, he had to make Finn and the others believe it was. Otherwise, how could they fight desperately enough to gain Excelia?
He stopped monitoring the situation on the other side and sat up from the wooden bed.
"Snap!"
With a snap of his fingers, a rift opened in space.
Bell stepped through the crack at a leisurely pace. The moment he emerged, he was already on the 59th floor.
Since he'd been here before, Bell didn't waste time retracing his steps. He immediately locked onto the spatial coordinates for the 59th floor.
Normally, he wouldn't do this. The Dungeon was unpredictable, and sudden changes could easily render previously marked coordinates useless.
That's why Bell usually set spatial coordinates on stable floors.
Like the Safe Zone floors.
But this time was an exception.
The entire Dungeon was under the Black Dragon's influence, so the situation was far from ordinary.
Even if the Dungeon shifted, the spatial coordinates wouldn't be disrupted.
So he had some leeway this time.
Of course, just this once.
Upon arriving at the 59th floor, the first thing Bell did was check whether the Runes he'd set had been discovered.
'Hmm, still hidden.'
He confirmed that none of the Runes had been found.
But that was only natural. The faint magical energy had been hidden inside the walls—barely detectable, even if one looked carefully.
'The Black Dragon's influence really did work in my favor.'
This setup was only possible because the Dungeon currently wasn't spawning monsters. Otherwise, Bell would never have embedded the Runes within the walls.
After all, walls and floors were frequent spawn points for monsters. If Runes were placed there and a monster happened to spawn in that exact location, the entire setup would be destroyed.
Still, as he'd thought before—this was a one-time exception.
Bell shifted his focus to the central area—the location of the "Spirit Fetus."
He hadn't intended to check on the "Spirit Fetus" just yet. First, he needed to ensure that the 59th floor remained quiet and undisturbed. If anything disrupted his preparations, it could throw everything off.
But the sudden spike in the "Spirit Fetus"'s aura made it impossible to ignore.
'The aura is beginning to shift.'
It was transitioning from Lv.5 to Lv.6, now only half a step away from breaking through.
Concealing his own presence, Bell headed into the central rainforest of the 59th floor.
The area was still guarded by Virgas and Violas. The mountain of magic stones in the center had been reduced by nearly half.
The energy consumption was far greater than expected.
Seeing it for himself, Bell became even more certain.
'Cultivating the fetus takes far too much energy. Trying to raise them in large numbers is just unrealistic.'
Half of that mountain of magic stones had already been consumed—just to raise the "Spirit Fetus" from Lv.5 to Lv.6. The sheer cost of energy was overwhelming.
That enormous pile hadn't come easy, either. It likely ate into a significant portion of Evilus's stockpile.
And that just showed how desperate Evilus had become.
In order to force out the individual from Loki Familia's expedition who had affected the Black Dragon, Evilus had gone all in.
Unfortunately for them, all that effort was going to be for nothing.
Bell couldn't help but let out a small smile.
"Evilus, I'll be sure to thank you for your contribution."
It was obvious now—their grand scheme would yield no return.
Bell had no intention of showing himself to Evilus.
Even if they guessed correctly, it wouldn't matter. If even Freya couldn't track him down when he traveled, what chance did Evilus have?
Bell had absolute confidence in his ability to stay hidden.
After all, it was his signature strength.
"Excellent! Wonderful!"
Olivas was watching the transformation of the "fetus" with growing excitement.
He could sense the goddess's presence beginning to emerge within it.
This was a crucial stage for the "fetus." If it could just cross this threshold, it would meet the minimum standard for the goddess's descent.
"As long as you can project yourself onto the 'fetus', the mission to capture Aria will be completed in the shortest time possible."
"The Loki Familia won't stand a chance against you."
The current "fetus" wasn't meant to be released on the surface. Its purpose was to capture the key Spirit—Aria.
Only a Spirit could meet the goddess's requirements.
Only a Spirit could perfectly manifest the goddess's power.
And Aria was the best vessel to bring that power to the surface.
That's why they had to act now. It was rare enough that Aria had joined the team heading to the 59th floor. Who knew if such a chance would ever come again?
For Olivas, this was also a critical moment.
He needed to prove himself to his goddess. He had to show that he could accomplish what Revis could not.
This was his best opportunity to replace Revis.
"Goddess, I beg you—descend upon us."
Like a frenzied worshipper, Olivas's mind was filled only with the image of the "goddess" he believed stood before him.
But fate rarely follows plans.
"Splurt!"
His entire body trembled. Olivas's gaze dropped in shock—to see a hand piercing straight through his chest, clutching his core: the Magic Stone.