This agreement was essentially Bell's compromise.
Expecting him not to retaliate against the gods was impossible. If they made a grave mistake, they had to pay for it—especially gods who chose wrong at a critical moment. For them, the only path forward was death.
Hestia understood that this was Bell's bottom line after yielding.
He still planned on killing a few gods if necessary, but at least it wasn't the sweeping purge she'd sensed earlier.
"Alright. If those idiots really go that far, then I agree to your retaliation."
Hestia wasn't going to stand against Bell.
If a god actually laid a hand on her, she had no reason to just stand there and let them. Retaliation was only natural.
With her confirmation, Bell eased up. But he still had one matter to consider: passive counterattack.
Hestia's nature meant she would never attack others unprovoked, so her stance naturally became one of passive retaliation.
And while passive retaliation wasn't Bell's style, he truly had no time to waste playing games with the gods right now.
His own stat accumulation and level progression weren't the problem—the real issue was Ais's growth.
Ais was the key to him crossing that final threshold. Her level and stats absolutely had to reach the peak of Lv.7; otherwise, Bell wouldn't be able to advance further.
So for the next year, he would likely have to bring Ais with him constantly as they raced through the Dungeon.
It was precisely because Bell knew he'd be exploring nonstop with Ais for an entire year—pushing her growth as fast as possible—that he compromised. He simply wouldn't have time to deal with whatever trouble the gods stirred up. Otherwise—hmph. Bell had never been the type to spare gods who targeted Hestia. His usual response was to take them out in one decisive strike.
Unless he was too weak to kill them in one blow.
In the past, Bell had one concern: Freya.
But once Freya became one of his own, Bell had no reason to hold back against any god. His default choice was always a clean, instant kill.
"So those gods better start praying now, hoping they aren't the ones who make the wrong move."
"Otherwise, death will just be the beginning."
After saying that, a touch of warmth finally returned to Bell's expression.
"That's enough serious talk for now."
"Next, we should consider the Status Update."
But as the topic shifted, Bell froze for a moment.
"...Yeah, maybe we should wait a bit on the update."
"If we update my Status while Loki's gone, she's going to pester me to death when she comes back."
Bell knew Loki's personality all too well.
In the past, he wouldn't have worried. But now he truly had reason to.
Especially since Loki and Freya had both confessed to him—right in front of Hestia, no less.
At the time, Bell had promised to treat Freya and Loki like family.
So if he updated his Status while Loki wasn't here, he could expect a long stretch of chaos when she returned.
What made it worse was that Loki never bothered anyone else.
She targeted him specifically.
Seeing how much of a headache Bell was having, the four goddesses couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey! I am NOT as awful as you make me sound!"
Just as the four goddesses were laughing, Loki's voice rang out from the second floor.
When they looked up, Loki was standing there with a full-on scowl—she might as well have had "I'm upset" written across her forehead.
The truth was, Loki had been in a great mood just moments earlier.
This Evilus raid might've been more like a staged battle, but her children had genuinely made her proud.
They didn't shrink back in front of those "Spirit Elite Soldiers." Even Raul—normally painfully average—showed a completely different kind of resolve this time, killing two Lv.5 Spirit Soldiers. That definitely counted as overperforming.
The others were the same.
Level 4 Alicia, with support from several Level 3 and Level 2 members, even brought down a Lv.5 Spirit Soldier.
Other than Finn, Gareth, and Riveria, who acted as supervisors and didn't join the fighting, every other member gained solid combat experience—some might have even accumulated the Excelia needed for advancement.
Loki Familia really profited from this operation against Evilus. It even boosted Loki's reputation significantly among the gods.
And though Loki knew Bell's big reveal had stolen most of the divine attention, once Bell's situation settled down, her own children would inevitably become the gods' next point of focus.
Naturally, Loki wanted her children to draw more divine eyes.
Only by making her kids stand out could she divert some of that attention away from Bell.
Maybe it wouldn't reduce much, but as long as it continued, Loki believed it would absolutely help.
Feeling pleased with herself, Loki didn't immediately return to the Hestia Familia after the Denatus. She stayed to welcome her children home first.
Even if she wanted nothing more than to go home and check on Bell, a Familia God disappearing when her kids returned victorious would be ridiculous.
As for Level Ups and Status Updates—this was obviously not the time.
Loki wasn't in a rush anyway, so after welcoming her kids back, she instructed Finn and Riveria to prepare for the evening celebration banquet.
…
Since she had nothing else to handle personally before the banquet, Loki slipped back to her room and used the spatial tunnel connected to it to return to the Hestia Familia.
It should've been a cheerful moment—but the instant she stepped out of the room, she heard Bell talking about her downstairs.
And just like that, all her excitement and eagerness to share the news dropped off her face.
"Am I really that irritating? Huh?"
Dragging her feet with exaggerated heaviness, Loki stomped down the stairs, her narrow eyes glaring straight at Bell.
"Not that irritating," Bell said. "But I do remember last time, when I leaned on Hephaestus's leg for a moment, you clung to me the whole day. You insisted I lie on your lap instead—until your own legs went numb and you couldn't stand, right?"
Loki's angry expression stuttered mid-frame, and she quickly looked away, guilt flickering across her face.
"T-That wasn't clinginess. That was normal affection!"
Right. And I'm a frog, Bell thought silently, exasperated.
But considering Loki's pride—and her very tsundere tendencies—there was no way she would ever admit she was jealous.
Tsunderes always twist things when their actions and words don't match.
But Loki's tsundere was a different breed—she was the aggressive type.
She wouldn't say it out loud…
But her actions were always immediate.