'What a surprise. I didn't expect anyone to still know I was the one behind that incident.'
'But they don't know my real identity. It feels more like they spotted me during the cleanup last time.'
'How strange.'
The hidden floor on the 23rd level should have been cleared without a single mistake. So how could anyone still know?
The sudden appearance of someone like that made Bell wonder if he had actually missed something back then.
But thinking it through carefully, the entire purge had happened right in front of him. He had even taken part personally. There shouldn't have been any possibility of someone escaping.
And after the floor was cleared, he had set up strong Barriers around it to ensure that no one except the Xenos could enter that hidden level again.
With both exits sealed, how had that person learned about it?
"Tap, tap!"
As Bell pondered, footsteps approached from behind. He instinctively concealed his presence.
'…They're coming.'
Seeing who it was, Bell immediately understood—they had followed along the path he'd taken.
He'd sensed Ais heading this way earlier, so he'd sent a "Spirit Soldier" to intercept her. He hadn't expected it to be dealt with so quickly.
Although he hadn't seen the fight himself, judging by the timing and speed, Ais had gone for a swift, decisive strike.
He had to admit—that was the right choice.
Against an unknown enemy, slowly gathering intel, finding weaknesses, and then planning a counterattack works only when both sides are roughly equal in strength. When the gap is too wide, that approach is suicide.
Even though the difference in strength between a "Spirit Soldier" and Ais wasn't too large, their basic abilities and defensive power were worlds apart.
After all, a "Spirit Soldier" was still a monster. Humans couldn't compete with monsters head-on; otherwise, Evilus wouldn't have bothered creating things like the Spirit Soldiers.
Especially when they were covered head to toe in thick scale armor—fish-scale armor that dispersed impact easily. Trying to wear them down blow by blow was just asking to die.
'Should I go say hello?'
Bell thought for a moment, then dropped his concealment. The identity he was showing right now wasn't that of a member of Hestia Familia but of an unknown familia's prodigy.
He'd already stepped into the spotlight. There was no reason to dim it again.
With that thought, Bell let his presence return.
As she moved forward, Ais suddenly saw someone ahead. The sudden appearance startled her for a brief moment.
She instantly realized who it was.
Quickening her pace, she closed the distance within a few breaths and stopped before him.
"A little bit is missing, Sword Princess."
Ais was about to reply, but she hesitated. The person before her was concealing his identity, so she couldn't simply call him by name.
Seeing the conflict on her face, Bell spoke first.
"For now, just call me 'Zero'."
Ais nodded, then went straight to the point.
"...You're still here? I thought you had left."
"Well~ my mission is pretty complicated. Some things just aren't suitable for you all to handle. The responsibility is too heavy, and if you tried, you might even face resistance."
Bell didn't hide the reason he remained here.
"Responsibility...!?"
At first, Ais didn't understand, but when she connected it to their mission objective, it clicked.
"Godslaying… But... wasn't Dionysus supposed to handle that?"
Bell only gave a faint smile, leaning close to her ear to whisper the real answer.
"Because he's also a god who needs to be dealt with."
"!?"
Ais's eyes widened. She could hardly believe it. Dionysus was also a target?
Realizing how serious this was, she lowered her voice.
"Zero… is Dionysus a god of Evilus?"
"Not exactly. Evilus actually dislikes Dionysus quite a lot. Just like me, he likes hiding in the shadows. Treating other gods like chess pieces is one of the reasons the Evilus gods dislike him."
Ais felt her thoughts spinning.
"If he's disliked by Evilus, then why target him?"
"Because he is 'Enyo'."
"The city destroyer!?"
Even though she had mentally prepared herself, Ais still couldn't help raising her voice at his answer.
"Dionysus is 'Enyo'?"
"But—but didn't he say his Familia member was killed by monsters created by the Spirit?"
Dionysus had kept up the act well. Even Ais, who had been involved from the beginning, didn't expect this answer.
Bell, of course, wasn't surprised she didn't know. Some things simply weren't meant for too many people to hear. The more who knew, the greater the risk.
"Dionysus's Familia wasn't killed. They were replaced."
"Four months ago, Dionysus used Divine Wine to bewitch a member of the Goddess of Poverty Penia's Familia. Then he used Penia's Familia member to stage that entire annihilation scene."
"As for the Goddess of Poverty, Penia, he had already been under Dionysus's control. That incident wiped out nearly all of Penia's Familia, reducing the chance any surviving member could discover their god had been controlled—while also shifting the blame toward Evilus."
Ais felt a chill crawl up her back. She hadn't imagined such a massive secret was hidden behind everything.
But then another question surfaced.
She looked at Bell, unable to stop herself from asking:
"How did you know?"
"I saw it directly, of course."
Bell's matter-of-fact reply left her frozen for a moment.
He didn't hide anything and spoke plainly.
"At the time, my Familia needed financial support. But getting that help wasn't easy, so I figured I'd investigate some of Orario's Familia and gods. I didn't expect to witness something that enormous."