Prior preparation was essential.
The reason Bell hadn't started earlier was simple—he never intended to deal with Ikelos immediately after wrapping things up here.
Originally, Bell planned to begin preparations the next day before starting his experiment on analyzing a god.
But such a sudden upheaval had completely overturned his plans.
Perhaps because too many of his plans had already been ruined, Bell almost felt used to it by now.
'From now on, I should prepare for my plans to be broken before I even act.'
That might be the only way to keep things from falling apart.
Murmuring inwardly, Bell's hands moved quickly.
One rune after another was laid down, filling the temporary outdoor experimental treehouse with power.
Outside, several gods sat waiting on wooden chairs.
The fluctuations from within the treehouse were clear to all of them. And because he could feel them so strongly, Ikelos was far from calm.
"Whoa... that brat's turning this place into a fortress."
Loki could clearly sense the layers of protection stacking up around the treehouse. Even the surrounding space was beginning to solidify, leaving her secretly astonished.
"...That's Authority, isn't it?"
With so little effort to hide it, even Ikelos could tell the interior was wrapped in countless layers of Authority.
To divine eyes, the entire treehouse was brimming with techniques, each carrying a faint aura of godly power.
Had he not seen it with his own eyes, Ikelos would have believed the one behind this was a god well-versed in Authority. But he had just watched a child from Genkai walk inside and set it up.
"...."
So the one wielding Authority... was a child from Genkai?
Ikelos felt lightheaded.
"A mortal child able to use Authority... ha~ I must be dreaming. And a nightmare at that."
As the god who presided over nightmares, Ikelos truly felt like he was trapped in one.
Otherwise, how could a child of Genkai possibly wield divine Authority?
Instinctively, Ikelos looked down at the shackles on his wrists and ankles.
"Why didn't I notice this before..."
Only now did he realize the faint aura of Authority seeping from the restraints, binding both his body and soul.
Damn it!
The discovery set off alarms in his mind.
Captured, then forced to witness his enemy wielding Authority—there was no way he'd be leaving here alive.
A mortal child using Authority? That was beyond absurd.
'So those Rune Stones... they were crafted from Authority.'
Only now did Ikelos understand who had made the Rune Stones he'd once bought to strengthen his Familia.
Even back then, he'd sensed something unusual inside them—a trace of Authority, though not quite the real thing.
He had assumed it was remnants of ancient magical script.
Such scripts also carried traces of Authority, but their effects were weak, most half-broken and faded to the point of near uselessness.
When these new runes appeared, Ikelos thought someone had uncovered a lost legacy, or perhaps restored those broken magical scripts through research.
But now, he realized it was nothing like that.
They weren't fragments of old magic at all. They were true Authority, disguised as broken script.
"I..."
Ikelos felt a choking frustration rise in his throat, unable to get the words out.
His eyes swept over Loki, Hephaestus, and Hermes. He could rule them out immediately. Which meant... that little brat was Hestia's child?
Once Ikelos realized this, his whole face twitched.
'Holy shit! That idiot actually lucked into something this huge!?'
He was certain—that Authority must have awakened when Bell became part of Hestia's Familia.
As absurd as it was for a child from Genkai to awaken a "divine Authority" that only gods should wield, maybe that chance really did exist.
After all, Authority could never be transferred. It was something innate to a god—the very essence of their divinity, inseparable from who they were.
Which meant it couldn't have come from Hestia. That child must have awakened Authority on his own.
The thought sparked a surge of envy in Ikelos unlike anything he had felt before.
"Hestia, you... you really are disgustingly lucky."
Yeah, no kidding!
Hearing Ikelos spit those words with raw jealousy, Hephaestus, Loki, and Hermes all found themselves nodding.
They too felt Hestia had stumbled into an outrageous stroke of luck.
After all, Bell's background was already bizarre enough.
The offspring of Zeus's Familia and Hera's Familia. His aunt, once the very Incarnation of Talent. The last surviving orphan of the Heroic Age. Basically, his whole existence was stacked with buffs.
And on top of that, Bell himself had awakened a power called magic—his own Authority.
All those impossibly rare odds collided, and somehow every single one landed in the lap of Hestia, who hadn't even been in Genkai for a year yet.
That level of luck was simply unfair.
"Who are you calling lucky! Bell-kun and I were destined to meet."
"...Yeah, if you hadn't been freeloading at my place back then, maybe it wouldn't have been you."
"Hmph~ Too bad there are no 'ifs'."
Hephaestus's sharp jab was met with Hestia's radiant grin.
On this point, Hestia truly believed she had been blessed. Otherwise, she would never have met Bell.
But now, thinking back, it felt less like chance and more like fate.
Her decision to linger at Hephaestus's place had been the right one—destiny itself had arranged it.
While the gods spoke, Bell stepped out from the treehouse.
"Ahem, everything's ready. Ikelos, you should be prepared by now, right?"
Ikelos's face had turned completely pale.
He could already picture his end.
Maybe, just as Loki had said, exile really would have been the best he could hope for.
Unfortunately, that choice was no longer his to make.