Within the Hestia Familia, aside from Hephaestus, Hestia, Loki, and Freya sat together in the living room, watching the projected image while listening to Hermes's report.
"Tch, that guy's not just a messenger—he's got a sharp head on his shoulders too."
Loki crossed her arms and legs, clearly irritated by Hermes's overly composed expression.
"That's just how he is. You know that."
Freya chuckled softly, then turned her gaze toward Bell.
"Hermes already knows the situation. So, what do you plan to do?"
"..."
To her surprise, Bell didn't respond. His expression was solemn as he stared silently at the image before him.
Freya blinked, then followed his gaze to the object on the screen.
"Artemis's arrow? That's her companion weapon. She shares an instinctive bond with it. There's even an old rumor—she once used that arrow to reject countless male gods, saying, 'Only the one who can draw this arrow is my destined one.'"
"Bell, don't tell me you're interested in that legend?"
Bell shook his head slightly, his eyes still fixed on the projection, his expression growing even graver.
"No. That kind of rumor doesn't interest me. What concerns me is that the Goddess Artemis seems to have embedded a portion of her consciousness into that arrow."
"If I'm not mistaken... that fragment carries traces of her soul as well."
"What!?"
The three goddesses' faces changed instantly.
Hestia, Loki, and Freya had noticed the remnant of Artemis's consciousness on the arrow—but none of them had realized that within that consciousness lay fragments of her very soul.
A god's soul cannot be divided. Even a deity cannot willingly split their own soul.
Yet there was one situation where a god's soul could fracture—when they were on the verge of death.
"Then Artemis's condition is far worse than Hermes described?"
Hestia immediately grew anxious.
"If my guess is correct," Bell began, "when a monster devours a Spirit, the Spirit undergoes inversion—it turns against humans, even against the gods. So, if a monster devoured a god and prevented their return to Tenkai, wouldn't the same kind of inversion occur?"
He paused, thinking carefully before continuing.
Bell couldn't quite recall how things unfolded in the original story, but he remembered one crucial point—Artemis had been devoured by a monster.
Drawing from the phenomenon of Spirit inversion, it was entirely possible that a deity could undergo the same transformation.
The fact that Artemis could still act at all might mean she was resisting that inversion. That was why she wanted someone to send her back to Tenkai—it was the only way to prevent her from being completely reversed.
This theory echoed Bell's earlier speculation—whether sin itself could contaminate a deity's soul, separating the divine core within their body from the authority bound to their soul.
From his current understanding, that possibility seemed more plausible than ever.
Bell committed that thought firmly to memory.
"So, Artemis must have used the last of her strength to seal part of her consciousness and soul fragments within the arrow, entrusting the matter to Hermes."
Judging from the situation, Bell was almost certain Artemis now existed in a state between devoured and not—her condition dangerously unstable.
If a god were fully consumed, that god might immediately undergo inversion, annihilating the monster that had devoured them. But what came after was far more terrifying.
Once a god stood as an enemy to humanity, they would become a mindless engine of destruction—an unrelenting force that slaughtered humans without mercy or restraint.
If things truly reached that point, it would be catastrophic.
The three goddesses clearly understood the gravity of what Bell was saying.
"Damn it! That idiot Artemis—what was she thinking charging ahead like that!?"
Just the thought of the outcome sent Loki into a furious outburst.
"It's already too late to simply talk about Artemis now."
Freya quickly recovered from her earlier shock, regaining her composure as she turned to remind Loki.
"Hey, hey… Artemis…"
Hestia's expression had grown equally grim.
In Tenkai, she and Artemis had been close friends. Hearing now that Artemis was on the brink of death—and worse, that she might be consumed and reversed by a monster—how could she possibly stay calm?
But even so, Hestia held her tongue.
Bell, silently observing, understood why.
'So the bond between Goddess Artemis and Hestia really was that deep.'
The thought brought Bell's mind to the "Goddess's Divine Core (Artemis Exclusive)" lying dormant within the Four-Dimensional Space.
If used properly, it might actually be possible to pull Artemis back from the monster's grasp.
'The monster's devouring would start with Artemis's divine power. Only after her divinity was completely consumed would she lose her resistance—then the monster would move to devour her body.'
'So the key is time.'
With that realization, Bell had already made up his mind. Breaking the tense silence that had filled the room, he finally spoke.
"The matter of Artemis-sama is serious, but since she's still able to send messages through Hermes, that means it's not completely hopeless yet."
"Artemis must have already prepared herself to be sent back to Tenkai at any moment. Until then, she'll keep fighting to resist the monster consuming her divine power. Which means—right now—is still the best time to save her."
"She can still be saved?"
Hestia's eyes immediately brightened with hope. Bell gave a small nod.
"The situation with Ikelos last time taught me a lot. I confirmed that a god's soul is intrinsically tied to fragments of the world's rules. To erase a god's soul would be equivalent to erasing one of those rules themselves—which is impossible. That's why a deity's soul is immortal."
"However, once those fragments—the divine authorities—are returned to the world, the god's soul loses that protection. That's how I was able to completely erase the soul of the god Ikelos."
"So as long as the divine power within Artemis's Divine Core continues to resist being consumed by the monster, there's still a chance to save her."
...
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